Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 86

Who was that standing on the podium?

Something was wrong!

He glanced again, then again…

Staring at the increasingly familiar face, Meng Xuexiao sat frozen in his seat, lost in thought for a long moment.

The powerful figure who had sent him back to the Federation Military Academy in response to his tentative request had somehow inexplicably become… his classmate?

Was this what Shen Zekai meant by “clearing the air”?

How could this be…?

This…

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but glance around. The other students showed no sign of surprise, as if it were perfectly normal for the guy who had stood outside the dormitory all night yesterday to suddenly appear in their class today.

The teacher on the podium continued his introduction of the “new student,” detailing his impeccable background, flawless resume, and even his midterm and final exam scores.

The teacher spoke with focused enthusiasm, and the students listened attentively, occasionally casting admiring glances at the newcomer.

After hearing a few sentences, Meng Xuexiao lowered his gaze, his eyes tracing the wood grain on his desk as if he were determined to count every single line.

Fake. All of this is fake.

He suspected this was likely one of Yao Huai’s abilities.

From the beginning, Yao Huai had possessed the ability to make everyone ignore him, erasing all traces of his existence. Now, he had simply reversed the process, implanting his presence into everyone’s memories.

But this reversal felt… jarringly unnatural.

Yao Huai wasn’t the type to enjoy crowds; he always seemed to look down on others. Having him sit in the same classroom felt like taking a Michelin-starred cut of meat and swallowing it whole in a bustling market.

For a moment, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t quite articulate whether he felt the Military Academy was too small to contain Yao Huai’s immense presence, or whether Yao Huai’s very nature was fundamentally incompatible with the academy.

Lost in these thoughts, Meng Xuexiao suddenly noticed the shadow on his desk… flicker? For a split second, even the wood grain seemed to shatter and scatter.

He belatedly looked up, following the wheelchair’s rolling wheels to the towering figure of the Silver-Haired Man.

The man stood beside his desk, how long he had been there Meng Xuexiao couldn’t tell.

Meng Xuexiao startled and quickly glanced toward the podium. The teacher was still droning on with his lengthy welcome speech for the new students, but the guest of honor had already arrived.

Instantly, the classroom fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Meng Xuexiao reaffirmed his impression, Yao Huai truly was… willful, reckless, and utterly self-centered.

Even now, confined to a wheelchair with his eyes lowered, he still exuded an air of condescension.

So why would someone like him even bother enrolling in the Federation Military Academy?!

Before Meng Xuexiao could react, a deafening crash erupted beside him.

The class was arranged with two students per desk. The bespectacled boy who had been sitting next to Meng Xuexiao had suddenly fallen to the floor, his chair toppled over.

Just like Meng Xuexiao, the boy had noticed the sudden presence beside him. He instinctively met Yao Huai’s gaze and froze completely, like a mouse caught in a cat’s stare. Tripping over his own feet, he tumbled off his chair.

After a moment, he mumbled something and scrambled to his feet, abandoning even the textbooks spread across his desk. Head bowed, he hurried to a seat several rows back.

Yao Huai didn’t even bother to glance at the boy’s retreating figure. He maneuvered his wheelchair to take the boy’s place beside Meng Xuexiao.

The teacher on the podium frowned at this.

He felt a strange conflict within himself. The implanted memories told him that the person before him was just an ordinary student, yet when he tried to reprimand him, the words caught in his throat, his throat bobbing several times before he could force them out.

Finally, he swallowed hard, swallowing back both the words and his saliva. He turned to the class and barked, “Snap out of it, everyone! Let’s get back to the lesson!”

But after such a commotion, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t focus on the lesson. He was sitting so close to the silver-haired man that he could even feel the chill emanating from his skin.

Meng Xuexiao curled his elbow, buried his face in his textbook, and desperately tried to keep his attention from lingering on the strikingly handsome man beside him.

His head was bowed so low that his bangs nearly touched the paper. The pungent smell of ink rose from the page, causing him to wrinkle his nose slightly.

But the next moment—

“Student, please answer the question.”

The voice was so close that Meng Xuexiao looked up. The teacher’s gaze was fixed directly on him.

He took a deep breath, gripped the edge of his chair, and prepared to stand.

He wasn’t actually afraid of the teacher’s impromptu quiz. This theoretical class was his strongest subject. Even though he had been taken to the Empire and hadn’t attended classes for a long time, he had thoroughly studied the material beforehand.

The answer to the teacher’s question had already formed in his mind the moment he began to rise.

Just as Meng Xuexiao was about to speak, the teacher suddenly added, “Not you.”

Whether it was Meng Xuexiao’s imagination or not, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the teacher’s lips moved unnaturally, as if forced to say something they didn’t want to.

“Then… who is it?” Meng Xuexiao blurted out instinctively.

After all, in that situation, the teacher had clearly been looking at him.

No, wait…

Just because the teacher was looking in his direction didn’t necessarily mean she was looking at him…

After all, he wasn’t the only one sitting at this table.

So, the teacher had just asked Yao Huai?!

Yao Huai?!

That was a bit terrifying!

Meng Xuexiao’s eyes widened, and for the first time, he truly looked at the person beside him.

Yao Huai’s face remained unchanged, his arrogant posture now accentuated by a slight tilt of his chin, as if he were genuinely preparing to answer the teacher’s question.

Meng Xuexiao’s initial panic at learning the teacher had called on Yao Huai to answer subsided somewhat. A teacher willing to ask and a student willing to answer—this was the best possible outcome.

But he still couldn’t understand why the teacher had specifically chosen Yao Huai to answer this question.

The teacher herself possessed extraordinary strength and battlefield experience. She couldn’t possibly have overlooked Yao Huai’s dangerous nature.

In fact, Meng Xuexiao had noticed the teacher’s hesitation and unspoken reservations when confronted with Yao Huai’s earlier rudeness, indicating her own apprehension toward him.

Given all this… why would she specifically call on Yao Huai to answer? It made no sense…

Just as Meng Xuexiao was pondering this, the teacher urged again, “Student, please answer the question promptly.”

The voice was flat and lifeless, like a puppet’s mouth being manipulated to speak.

But no one answered. Silence hung heavy in the air.

The already subdued atmosphere grew even more awkward.

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but glance at Yao Huai again. The other boy had clearly shown a willingness to answer the question earlier, yet now he pressed his lips into a tight line.

At that moment, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t understand his teacher, let alone Yao Huai.

But he couldn’t let the tension linger. If things went wrong, it could escalate…

“Maybe… you could just… answer a little?”

His curled arm tentatively straightened, then quietly… nudged Yao Huai, before quickly retracting.

The warmth of human flesh brushed against the cold-blooded creature-like touch, parting instantly. Yao Huai unconsciously rubbed the spot where they had touched with his fingertip, then stared at his fingertip for a moment.

“Fine.”

Assured by the promise, Meng Xuexiao waited.

But a minute passed, then two, then three…

In the end, Yao Huai… still didn’t speak.

He had seemed so willing when he agreed just now…

Meng Xuexiao knew Yao Huai’s nature: his word was his bond. If he promised, he would deliver. But why…?

As a possibility flashed through his mind, Meng Xuexiao’s eyes widened in alarm.

Could it be that Yao Huai doesn’t know the answer to this question?!

It was entirely possible.

After all, Yao Huai was a true powerhouse, operating on a completely different level from ordinary people like them—like a Tyrannosaurus Rex compared to fish swimming in the water.

Would a Tyrannosaurus Rex bother to understand what those fish were doing all day, swimming around and studying?

Don’t be ridiculous! Impossible!

Meng Xuexiao nudged Yao Huai with his elbow again, but this time, he didn’t immediately withdraw it. Instead, he used his index and middle fingers to push a small slip of paper forward until its edge pressed against Yao Huai’s skin.

Intrigued, Yao Huai used two fingers to pick up the thin slip of paper and read the tiny, neat characters written on it. The ink was still wet, revealing the answer to the teacher’s question.

Yao Huai glanced at Meng Xuexiao, the corners of his narrow eyes curving slightly upward. But before he could react further, Meng Xuexiao impatiently nudged him again with his elbow, as if urging him to hurry up and discuss the matter.

The Silver-Haired Man’s eyes curved even more sharply, a hint of amusement coloring his mercury-like pupils.

His voice was slightly hoarse as he read the answer from the slip of paper, word by word.

“Correct! Answer correct!”

The teacher’s hesitant approval rang out, but Yao Huai paid little attention.

He thought, Integrating into Meng Xuexiao’s life isn’t so bad after all. At least, I’ve learned quite a bit since entering this classroom.

The Federation Military Academy was relatively open about students’ romantic lives. When Yao Huai arrived, he’d seen a couple canoodling in class.

The male student was called on to answer a question but couldn’t. The girl beside him panicked, frantically consulting classmates and texting her best friend. In a flurry of activity, she pieced together an answer for him, allowing him to barely scrape by.

After sitting down, the boy was both embarrassed and grateful. The girl, hands on her hips, scolded him for being a dummy, complaining about the trouble she’d gone through to find outside help.

A small incident, yet it seemed to have brought the two closer.

That’s why, when Meng Xuexiao buried himself in his book, ignoring Yao Huai, the Silver-Haired Man devised this plan.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that Meng Xuexiao would answer the teacher’s question immediately, his response far smoother than the couple’s clumsy exchange.

As expected, the person who had captured his interest was the best.

Mimicking the posture of that boy from before, He reached out to take Meng Xuexiao’s hand, leaning toward him as He did so. A deliberate kiss landed—

Just then, a sudden loud crash echoed from the classroom door for some unknown reason. Meng Xuexiao instinctively glanced toward the sound.

Because of this, the kiss that should have landed on his lips slid instead to his cheek.

The soft, rose-petal-like touch felt even better than when their elbows had brushed earlier.

Yao Huai pressed harder, simultaneously casting a sidelong glance at the door that had made the noise.

The door was made of translucent glass, through which a shadowy figure could be faintly seen. The person had pressed almost half their face against the glass, their gaze heavy and intense.

It was Shen Zekai.

Yao Huai narrowed his eyes, his lips tightening. His slightly pointed teeth, sharper than a human’s, extended from his lips, and he nipped lightly at Meng Xuexiao’s cheek.

The small patch of skin immediately flushed red, like a plum blossom blooming against the snow, vibrant and striking.