ICFF4CN - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Parental Notification

Wen Xiao had just entered the classroom when he walked straight to the back row, only to find Song Jingbai already gone.

As he sat down and flipped open his textbook, he suddenly remembered something he'd forgotten—he hadn't asked the teacher to change his seatmate.

To be honest, he didn't want to sit next to Song Jingbai. That name alone brought back nothing but unpleasant memories.

Since he'd been reborn, there was no reason for him to do nothing. It was already generous enough that he wasn't going out of his way to deal with them—how could he possibly get along peacefully?

Besides, he'd just run into Huo Zhanyan in the office.

The saying "a leopard never changes its spots" really held true—hot-tempered, utterly lacking in empathy, and self-righteous. That was Huo Zhanyan in a nutshell.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a shadow burst into the classroom. The figure scanned the room before swiftly making his way to the back row and slamming his hand down on Wen Xiao's desk with a loud bang, instantly silencing the class.

"You go tell the teacher right now that you want to change seats!" Huo Zhanyan ground his teeth, glaring at him fiercely. But the angrier he looked, the more ridiculous he appeared with his face half-swollen and covered in band-aids.

The young Huo Zhanyan, still free from any concerns about his image, probably hadn't realized how disfigured he looked.

Wen Xiao wondered if Huo Zhanyan had been punched so hard by Song Jingbai that his brain had short-circuited—his words made no sense and came out of nowhere.

Even if Huo Zhanyan hadn't said anything, Wen Xiao had already planned to ask for a seat change. Anyone would be better than sitting next to one of the F4.

"You are not allowed to sit with Song Jingbai!" Huo Zhanyan enunciated each word slowly.

Wen Xiao finally caught on—so the reason Huo Zhanyan wanted him to change seats was still because of Song Jingbai, the same guy who had beaten him up just yesterday.

Holding a grudge against Song Jingbai and then trying to drive away his seatmate so no one would sit with him? How childish could you get...

"Who I sit with is none of your business," Wen Xiao said, looking up at him with an expressionless face, though his tone dripped with undisguised disdain. "You can't beat him, so you resort to petty tricks like this."

His voice was quiet, and the other students were too far away to hear, leaving them curious as to why Huo Zhanyan was picking on the new student the moment he arrived.

Huo Zhanyan had leaned forward when he slammed his hands on the desk, bringing him face-to-face with Wen Xiao—close enough to hear every word clearly.

His eyes widened as he stared at Wen Xiao, as if the words had struck a nerve, turning his face red with fury.

But Wen Xiao wasn't done. He just wanted to get rid of this nuisance as quickly as possible, so he poured fuel on the fire.

"And yeah, you heard right—I was laughing at you just now..."

The next second, Wen Xiao felt his collar being grabbed as Huo Zhanyan yanked him forward, knocking over a nearby chair in the process.

His grip twisted Wen Xiao's neatly tied navy-blue tie, crumpling it into a wrinkled mess.

"You admit it," Huo Zhanyan hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes burning red as he glared.

If Wen Xiao didn't know how much strength Huo Zhanyan had in his hands, he might have thought the other boy was on the verge of tears from anger. But he knew better—that might happen to anyone else, but never Huo Zhanyan.

He was always the one bullying others, making them cry. Who would dare bully the young master of the Huo family?

He looked at Huo Zhanyan, his emotionless eyes suddenly curving slightly. When those beautiful eyes smiled at someone, it seemed they could soothe even the angriest person—though Huo Zhanyan was clearly an exception.

"Aren't you ridiculous?" Wen Xiao said.

Seeing the force in Huo Zhanyan's grip, Wen Xiao couldn't help but wonder how Song Jingbai had managed to beat him up without leaving a single mark.

Because whether now or in his past life, the Song Jingbai he remembered was never the type to fight.

He was more like a gust of wind laced with knives—by the time you felt it, you were already covered in tiny cuts, while the other person wore that perpetually indifferent, impossibly gentle smile, as if nothing had anything to do with him.

"I swear I'll hit you..." Huo Zhanyan clenched his fists, finally forcing out the words after a long pause.

Wen Xiao wiped the smile off his face, losing all interest in continuing the conversation. "Huo, violence doesn't solve anything. You need to use this..."

He raised a finger and lightly tapped his own temple. Huo Zhanyan's expression instantly turned as colorful as an overturned dye vat—a riot of red, green, and purple, shifting so fast Wen Xiao almost wanted to suggest he start a class on it.

"You calling me stupid?" Huo Zhanyan's eyes widened.

Wen Xiao figured Huo Zhanyan was about to lose it. Just as he thought the teacher should be arriving soon-since a classmate had already gone to fetch them—the grip on his collar suddenly loosened.

To his surprise, instead of escalating, Huo Zhanyan said something completely unexpected.

"I'm telling my mom! You're just faking it all!" Huo Zhanyan's chest heaved slightly. Despite his towering height and bulky frame, standing there in front of Wen Xiao, he somehow seemed... small.

It had always been him bullying others into tattling to their parents. This was the first time he wanted to do it himself.

Wen Xiao found it absurd. "Who do you think Auntie will believe—me or you?"

Huo Zhanyan fell silent. He remembered how eagerly his mother had doted on Wen Xiao earlier, treating him like her own son while he might as well have been picked up from the roadside.

If he complained, he'd probably just get scolded for bullying a classmate...

For the first time, he felt a deep, crushing helplessness.

Huo Zhanyan didn't move, just hung his head low, fists trembling. "You and Song Jingbai... you're in this together."

Song Jingbai beat him up. Wen Xiao mocked him.

They had to be teaming up to bully him. And when he got bullied, his mom wouldn't even take his side—she'd punish him too.

Suddenly, Huo Zhanyan felt utterly wronged.

"What the hell are you—“ Wen Xiao was about to say "What the hell are you freaking out about?" when Huo Zhanyan shot him what was probably meant to be his fiercest glare before bolting out of the classroom.

Wen Xiao paused. Unless he was mistaken, it looked like Huo Zhanyan had been... crying?

But then again, in his experience, Huo Zhanyan was always the one making others cry.

Even if he did cry now, even if he felt wronged—he'd never put himself in someone else's shoes. He'd only ever care about what he wanted.

So in the end, this Huo Zhanyan was still the same Huo Zhanyan from his memories. Nothing had changed at all.

Wen Xiao opened his textbook as usual, unaware that the entire class was looking at him differently now.

Just moments ago, they had been staring at him like he was a monkey in a zoo. But now, their gazes held a strange mix of awe, as if they were looking at the king of beasts—a lion.

"No way, he actually scared Huo Zhanyan off? This is the first time I've ever heard Huo Zhanyan getting called to the principal's office."

"Did you see? Huo Zhanyan didn't even dare to hit him. I'd have been terrified!"

"Last week, Huo Zhanyan stole my toy car. If my dad hadn't promised to buy me ten more, I would've lost it!"

"So... is Wen Xiao stronger than Huo Zhanyan?"

"Obviously! Even Huo Zhanyan didn't dare to mess with him!"

The kids' chattering gave Wen Xiao a headache, especially the way they hovered around him but kept their distance.

Then, a few children stepped forward and respectfully placed toy cars, water guns, snacks, and comic books on his desk.

Under Wen Xiao's bewildered gaze, they spoke in unison: "Boss, these are for you!"

The way they reluctantly let go of their little treasures, as if parting with something precious, made Wen Xiao feel like he was somehow exploiting children.

From the other students' excited chatter, Wen Xiao pieced it together—these were Huo Zhanyan's lackeys.

Since he had driven Huo Zhanyan away, they now saw him as even more formidable.

So not only had he inherited the snacks and toys meant for Huo Zhanyan, but he'd also inherited his followers?

"Boss, are we still going to find the treasure left by the Pirate King?"

"Yeah, will you still take us on adventures?"

Wen Xiao's face darkened with embarrassment, and he nearly buried his head in his book. He snapped it shut, instantly silencing the kids, who stared at him expectantly.

"First," he said, holding up one finger, "take these things back. I don't want them." Then, he raised a second finger. "Second, whoever promised you those things, go find them. Don't come to me."

The bell rang, finally ending the farce. As the kids walked away, he could still faintly hear them whispering about how "the boss is so cool."

Wen Xiao felt utterly drained. This exhausting day might just be the beginning of his miserable new life.

In his past life, he had been nothing but a cannon fodder character—his days had been hard enough. Now that he'd been reborn, he had a sinking feeling that his suffering would just take a different form.

The eerie premonition sent a shiver down his spine, and right at that moment, he spotted Song Jingbai standing at the doorway, smiling at him.

Song Jingbai had a well-proportioned figure, with long, straight legs—though "long" was relative for their age.

Even as a child, he carried an air of composure and elegance that was rare among his peers, always neatly dressed in his uniform.

Even first-graders could tell he wasn't the type to get into fights.

Yet, against all expectations, he had once beaten the much larger Huo Zhanyan into submission. Wen Xiao studied Song Jingbai's slender frame with suspicion.

Song Jingbai sat down beside him and said casually, "New deskmate, you're impressive."

Wen Xiao noticed he was holding a paper bag—judging by the packaging, it seemed to be... breakfast.

In his past life, he had essentially starved to death. Reduced to utter poverty, he could only afford to live in a basement. Having gone days without food and weakened by illness and anemia, he had collapsed in that very basement.

Suddenly seeing food now, Wen Xiao felt that intense hunger wrap around him again, making his entire body uncomfortable—even though he knew he wasn't the slightest bit hungry at the moment.

"When did you get here?" Wen Xiao forced himself to shift his focus, already thinking that after class, he could check if there was still breakfast available for purchase.

At the same time, he regretted not keeping at least one of the snacks his so-called "lackeys" had offered him earlier. Not that he liked those snacks anyway.

"Right when Huo Zhanyan ran out," Song Jingbai said. "But he didn't see me."

Wen Xiao didn't understand. Even though he had just rejected Song Jingbai, the other boy was smiling at him as if nothing had happened. His mental fortitude was too strong.

Wen Xiao thought he had made his stance perfectly clear. Anyone else, hearing such a direct rejection, would have realized he wasn't interested.

"So what?" Wen Xiao wasn't sure if Song Jingbai's tone carried happiness or disappointment.

"Otherwise, we would've ended up fighting at the door again."

Hearing him casually mention fighting as if it were as ordinary as eating or drinking almost made Wen Xiao blurt out a question—what exactly had Huo Zhanyan said to make Song Jingbai so angry that he resorted to violence?

But he held back. He didn't want to pry into whatever grudges existed between the childhood "F4." With Huo Zhanyan's mouth, anything was possible.

Wen Xiao watched as Song Jingbai nudged the paper bag slightly toward his desk. Under Wen Xiao's puzzled gaze, he said, "For you. Consider it an apology for waking you up earlier."

Inside the bag was a sandwich. Wen Xiao could practically feel the warmth radiating from it and smell the rich aroma.

So Song Jingbai thought he had rejected him out of anger for being woken up.

Was he really that childish?

"What if I've already eaten and can't stomach anything else?" Wen Xiao resisted, unwilling to touch the sandwich.

But Song Jingbai, no longer as composed as before, turned his face away. "I didn't have enough time, so this was all I could get. If you don't like it, just throw it away."

Wen Xiao stared at the paper bag and suddenly thought—if only someone had given him a sandwich in his past life. It wouldn't even have needed to be warm.

What a shame.

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