Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 12

With him…?

At first, Meng Xuexiao didn’t quite register what he’d heard, until he met the young man’s suggestive gaze. The other’s eyes were amber, thick and sticky like honey.

A flush of pink quickly spread across the tips of Meng Xuexiao’s ears, “What kind of joke are you making?!”

Using beauty to curry favor was a common tactic in this world, but Meng Xuexiao hadn’t expected it to happen inside the Federation Military Academy.

In his previous life, he hadn’t even had a single romantic relationship. He’d turn his eyes away shyly even just seeing couples kiss in public. So the man’s blunt words completely caught him off guard. And just to make things worse, the red-haired youth leaned in closer, one hand casually in his pocket, looking like pure trouble.

“So, what do you say? Yes or no? I’m way better than that Shen Zekai guy, I don’t put on airs.”

This distance had already crossed the line, making Meng Xuexiao feel like he was being stalked by a wild predator. Only then did he finally react, his fingers tightening around the key he was still holding. And he was suddenly grateful that he hadn’t gotten around to returning it yet.

Meng Xuexiao held the key up in front of Shen Zekai, “This is my room. Please leave. Otherwise, I’ll have to resort to… other means to make you leave.”

The metal object swayed just inches from the young man’s eyes before he grabbed it with one hand, looking half amused and half exasperated.

“Calling the dorm supervisor, huh? Seems like you’ve got the dorm rules memorized pretty well!”

According to dormitory regulations, to protect the privacy of top-performing students, the school had equipped their dorms with emergency measures. If someone barged in without permission, the key could be used to activate a defense system that would forcibly “escort” the intruder out. This was a privilege reserved for elite students only. And the 10th floor, where Meng Xuexiao now lived, was for the best of the best among those elite students.

Judging by Meng Xuexiao’s appearance, the red-haired youth had initially thought he was some delicate little white flower, but now it turned out he was pretty good at using the resources available to him.

Meng Xuexiao remained calm and composed. In truth, he wanted to tell the other boy, memorizing dorm rules was nothing to him. He had even learned the rulebook, as thick as a dictionary, by heart.

Everything… was for the sake of survival.

The youth raised his eyebrows, just about to say something, when the half-closed dorm door swung open again, revealing Shen Zekai’s face.

Shen Zekai frowned. “Wu Zian, what are you doing here?”

“Oh? And what, Shen Representative’s room is off-limits to me now?”

Wu Zian drew out his words lazily, licking his lips. “Weren’t you all about being the model student before? Turns out that was all an act, huh? I wonder what all those students who voted for you would think if they found out?”

Wu Zian and Shen Zekai were both S-class students at the Federation Military Academy, evenly matched in all areas of achievement, undisputed top-tier elites. Unfortunately for Wu Zian, he lost by a narrow margin when it came to the selection for student representative. He never expected that after the physical assessments, the school would suddenly add an anonymous vote from the entire student body. It was in that vote that he lost—to Shen Zekai.

To him, that meant Shen Zekai stole the position that rightfully belonged to him.

“Since you already stole my position, letting me borrow your boyfriend for a few days isn’t asking too much, right?”

Meng Xuexiao was nearly shocked speechless by Wu Zian’s shameless remark.

Shen Zekai’s brows immediately furrowed tight, “Don’t say things like that!”

But Wu Zian only laughed, completely brushing him off.

Shen Zekai took a deep breath, his gaze sharp as a blade, “If I were you, I wouldn’t hang around here any longer. The instructor was just looking for you. Go or not, your call, but you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

In the military academy, the stricter the teacher, the less power or status could shield a student. And the more outstanding a student was, the harsher the expectations placed on them.

Wu Zian clicked his tongue, “That old fossil always ruins my fun.”

After Wu Zian left, Shen Zekai turned to Meng Xuexiao, “Sorry. I didn’t expect him to show up here all of a sudden. Did he bother you?”

Meng Xuexiao hadn’t expected Shen Zekai to apologize first and quickly shook his head, “You don’t need to apologize. Actually, I should be the one thanking you. The dorm supervisor told me, you’re the one who helped report my situation to the school, and even arranged for my room change.”

Shen Zekai blinked, looking a bit caught off guard, almost as if he felt flattered.

Earlier, after negotiating with the school, he had given Major Shen a call. Major Shen hadn’t been very pleased. He thought what Shen Zekai had done was far too petty.

At the time, his tone was blunt, “Didn’t I tell you to take good care of Meng Xuexiao? You went to all that trouble negotiating with the school and the best you could get him was a dorm room change? You should’ve rented him a private apartment near the academy.”

Shen Zekai had reflected on that, humbly accepted his father’s criticism, and was still trying to figure out how to explain it all to Meng Xuexiao. When, unexpectedly, Meng Xuexiao had turned around and thanked him. All over something as simple as a dorm transfer. Shen Zekai looked at Meng Xuexiao and Meng Xuexiao was also looking at him, eyes focused and sincere, as if they held stars inside them. Sometimes, it was truly hard to believe that Meng Xuexiao could be a Judicator’s acquaintance.

Unable to help himself, Shen Zekai added, “Be careful around Wu Zian. He’s… not exactly well-behaved.”

“It’s not the first time he’s tried to steal something from me, and his methods are usually extreme. Things he’s snatched from me never seem to end well.”

Normally, Shen Zekai wouldn’t say things like this, talking behind someone’s back just wasn’t his style, especially not when it involved himself. But this time, the words just slipped out.

Meng Xuexiao blinked and listened earnestly, his eyelashes long and curled, looking especially well-behaved, “Mm, I understand.”

Shen Zekai, almost on instinct, reached out and gently patted the boy’s head. Just as he imagined, the touch was soft, like stroking a newborn lamb.

“Good.”

…

After moving into the new dorm, Meng Xuexiao’s sleep quality had improved significantly. The room’s light incense carried a soothing, calming scent, a bit like the kind his old caregiver aunt used to use. The next morning, as Meng Xuexiao got up and got dressed, a hint of the fragrance lingered on his clothes.

He couldn’t help but lower his head and sniff it, it was warm and pleasant.

The way he wriggled into his clothes like a little animal amused Shen Zekai, “You like that scent so much? How about I give you a bottle?”

He grabbed a new, unopened bottle from the bookshelf and handed it to Meng Xuexiao.

Meng Xuexiao opened his mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say at first. He wasn’t too keen on accepting more help from Shen Zekai the dorm change alone was already a huge favor. He didn’t like owing people. It added up quickly, and one day, it would become something others could use to point fingers at him.

Before transmigrating into the book, Meng Xuexiao had a frail body and was frequently ill, he was a regular in the hospital’s inpatient ward. His caregiver aunt didn’t earn much to begin with, and after several visits, she could no longer afford the hospital fees. In the end, she had no choice but to borrow money from relatives and friends.

While she borrowed money, Meng Xuexiao watched the thin woman bow over and over in gratitude, her meticulously combed hair gradually becoming messy and disheveled from the repeated bending. He watched as her trembling hands signed one IOU after another. His caregiver aunt hadn’t received much education, and her handwriting was crooked and uneven, but every stroke was careful and earnest. The debt amounts, written in dark ink, stood out harshly on the pale sheets of paper, like glaring knife wounds.

Little Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but step forward and tug on her sleeve, shaking it gently. At the time, he was burning with a high fever, and even with all his strength, he could only make the patch-covered fabric flutter slightly,

“Let’s stop the treatment. Let’s go.”

But the caregiver aunt pulled his hand away from her sleeve and forced a smile as she said to the relatives who lent her money, “He’s just a child, doesn’t understand things—please don’t take it to heart.”

Just as her voice fell, Meng Xuexiao, fevered and woozy, heard a poorly stifled laugh. He lifted his heavy head and saw a little boy clutching a toy ball, his eyes curving into a grin.

The boy pointed at Meng Xuexiao and the caregiver aunt as if pointing at some dying stray cat or dog on the roadside, “Mom, why are we lending them money? They’re probably not going to pay us back. They still haven’t paid off the last time!”

“Next time, give them less. Break it into lots of small amounts, at least we’ll get a few more bows out of them!”

It felt like a sledgehammer had smashed into Meng Xuexiao’s head. The world spun wildly, and all he could see was the caregiver aunt’s hunched back—still bent, not yet able to straighten.

Ever since then, Meng Xuexiao made it a rule to return everything he borrowed as soon as possible, even if it was just a napkin. The moment he had one, he’d swap in an identical one right away, never a moment’s delay.

That was before, when it was just napkins. But now that he had transmigrated into this world, what Shen Zekai had given him went far beyond something as trivial as that.

Meng Xuexiao was terrified he wouldn’t be able to repay it.

He refused immediately, “No, I can’t accept anything else from you.”

The boy’s voice was firm, leaving no room for compromise. It cleanly severed all possibilities, so much so that Shen Zekai, who had just been about to hand him the incense, froze for a second.

Meng Xuexiao noticed that hesitation.

He had rejected it too bluntly just now. Shen Zekai had offered the incense out of goodwill, it wasn’t that he meant anything by it. Meng Xuexiao just didn’t want to owe him another favor.

He coughed lightly and forced a smile, “Sorry, I was a bit too abrupt just now.”

The boy fumbled to grab his bag, gazing at the floor and ceiling—anywhere but at Shen Zekai, “I’ve got class soon, so… I’ll head out first.”

A pretty lousy excuse.

Watching Meng Xuexiao’s retreating back, Shen Zekai could only shake his head helplessly. Even though they weren’t in the same year, he was a student representative, he knew full well that class wouldn’t start for another full hour.

However… kind of cute.

Like a flustered little cat overwhelmed by too much kindness.

Shen Zekai found it harder and harder to believe that someone like Meng Xuexiao could be associated with something as brutal and bloodstained as the Arbiter.

He glanced at the bottle of incense still in his hand and in the end, placed it back on the shelf.

Then, he made a call to one of the students in charge of dorm environment management, “Let’s use more incense in our dorm from now on. Find out what scent it is exactly. If possible, ask the cleaning staff to switch the laundry detergent to the same fragrance, too.”