Serenade

Sun Kai excitedly added Jin Xi as a friend and couldn't help praising her: "Beautiful junior classmate, your WeChat nickname is so artistic."

Shen Pingchuan's WeChat nickname was: Mountain Stream Tides.

Shen Pingchuan had been using this WeChat nickname for many years. He had racked his brains to come up with this nickname, which contained both his name and his sister's name, and looked particularly grand and imposing.

His WeChat profile picture was of a big white robot hugging a little girl. The little girl had buried her head in the big white's bulging, soft and fluffy belly. In the distance was a warm sunset.

It was him as the big white, and Jin Xi as the little girl.

Few boys would use such a warm cartoon image as their profile picture, so Sun Kai added him back without any suspicion, happily.

Shen Pingchuan, who had just gotten out of class, saw a new friend request but before he could open it, he received a message from Jin Xi.

Little Butt: "Shen Pingchuan, like last time and the time before that and the time before that, please politely decline for me."

Shen Pingchuan: "Flirting again. *typing angrily*"

Little Butt: "No I didn't. *sad face*"

Shen Pingchuan: "Whatever."

This was not the first time this had happened. Jin Xi was cute and charming, attracting admirers everywhere. Most of the time, directly rejecting them was enough, but some were so stubborn she had to get her brother to deal with them.

Generally, boys who added Shen Pingchuan would never appear in front of Jin Xi again.

Shen Pingchuan accepted the friend request and poked into the chat, intending to directly tell the person not to make a move on his sister.

Before he could send the message, Sun Kai sent Shen Pingchuan a nude photo.

Shen Pingchuan almost threw his damn phone away.

In the photo, Sun Kai was shirtless, showing off his biceps.

The muscular chunks looked disgusting.

Shen Pingchuan cursed "Damn you", and was about to block him, but when he enlarged the photo, he felt the boy looked a little familiar.

During the last dorm inspection, this boy seemed to have had a conflict with him.

How did he suddenly find Jin Xi?

Shen Pingchuan was puzzled, so he didn't directly block him, but sent a tentative question mark instead.

"Junior sister, my name is Sun Kai. I noticed you during military training."

Shen Pingchuan: "What do you want?"

Sun Kai: "I want to make friends with junior sister. *hee hee*"

Shen Pingchuan: "What's with the photo?"

Sun Kai: "Don't be so serious, junior sister. Do you think senior brother looks handsome in the photo? *playfully*"

Shen Pingchuan: ...

Sun Kai: "Junior sister, your moments cover photo is so nice."

Shen Pingchuan's moments cover photo was a picture of Jin Xi from their family trip last year. Jin Xi was eating spicy hotpot on the street, mouth wide open from the spiciness. Shen Pingchuan had captured this funny moment and made it his cover photo.

Jin Xi had asked Shen Pingchuan to delete this photo many times. The iPhone front camera was designed to "zoom in 360 degrees on your ugliness". What grudge did he hold to use this unfiltered candid as his cover photo?

But Shen Pingchuan thought it was really cute and real, and refused to take it down.

Sun Kai: "Junior sister, you're so beautiful, how come you don't have a boyfriend? That's not right!"

Shen Pingchuan: ...

Sun Kai: "Do you drink, junior sister?"

Shen Pingchuan: "No."

Sun Kai: "You can learn! Senior brother will teach you. Let's go to a bar together this Friday night. Bring your roommates and friends too."

In the student council office, the chair in front of Shen Pingchuan went flying from a kick.

Other boys had also mistakenly added him on WeChat before, but at least they genuinely wanted to get to know Jin Xi. So after he explained, he would delete them without any conflict.

This Sun Kai, on the other hand, tried to take his sister to a bar right after adding her. His ill intentions were clear.

Shen Pingchuan decided to teach him a lesson, and replied: "Sure, let's talk then."

**

In the male dormitory, Sun Kai sat shirtless on his bed, looking at his phone and shouted: "Damn! She actually agreed!"

Roommate: "Agreed to what!"

Sun Kai loudly said: "That beauty Shen Pingchuan's sister agreed to go out and play with me."

Roommate: "For real? You just added her on WeChat, and she agreed that fast?"

Sun Kai smiled smugly: "I sent her that photo I took at the gym. After seeing it, she's probably fallen for me already."

Roommate: "Wow Kai bro, you're so sly."

Sun Kai: "This Friday, I'll definitely score her."

Roommate: "Isn't that a bit improper?"

Sun Kai: "What's improper? Shen Pingchuan has taken so much from us, it's time we show him who's boss."

Roommate: "If you sleep with her, wouldn't you become Shen Pingchuan's brother-in-law?"

"Like hell I'll be his brother-in-law." Sun Kai said coldly: "If that little chick behaves, I can play with her for a while. If she's not fun, I'll toss her after a couple days."

Roommate gave a thumbs up: "Nice one Kai bro."

... 𝒻𝑟𝑒𝓮𝔀ℯ𝓫𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝓸𝓶

In a few days, the news that Sun Kai had a date with Shen Pingchuan's sister spread privately among the male students.

At B City University, Sun Kai had a reputation for being a scumbag. Relying on his muscles and decent looks, he liked to use social media to hook up with girls, claiming he just wanted a girlfriend. But in reality it was just for hookups. His relationships lasted at most a month, and at least 3-5 days. One could regularly see him taking girls to hotels near campus, utterly shameless.

Everyone lamented that a pig like Sun Kai could even get a date with Jin Xi. The world was unfair, full of scumbags running amok.

This news soon reached Bo Yan's ears.

In class, Jing Chi whispered: "I heard from the boys' dorms that Sun Kai has a date with little butt Jin Xi tonight."

Xu Chaoyang, who was playing a game, lifted his head: "Our neighbor Jin Xi?"

Jing Chi twirled his pen: "They said Shen Pingchuan's sister. Shen Pingchuan only has one sister. I heard they wanted revenge on Shen Pingchuan. Now they've made their move."

Xu Chaoyang put his phone down: "Can't let this happen. Jin Xi is my student. I can't let that scumbag Sun Kai take advantage of her."

Jing Chi smiled faintly: "They're both single adults going out to play. Teacher Xu, are you going to stand guard at the door and not let them leave?"

Xu Chaoyang thought about it and felt Jing Chi made sense.

"Then I'll go find Sun Kai!" Xu Chaoyang made to get up but Jing Chi pulled him back down: "We're in class! What are you going to do, beat him up and get yourself punished?"

Xu Chaoyang: "What do you suggest?"

"Master Bo hasn't said anything yet." Jing Chi turned and found Bo Yan's seat empty: "Oh, where is he?"

All that was left was a pencil, and a half-finished nude sketch of Xu Chaoyang.

Xu Chaoyang: ???

Is he a devil?

Bo Yan strode towards the classroom door, face cold. The liberal studies teacher quickly called for him to stop: "Student, where are you going!"

"Bathroom."

"Go after class."

Bo Yan raised a brow, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his eye: "Can't hold it, teacher."

The young female teacher was struck by Bo Yan's casual yet charming smile, and even blushed: "Then... hurry and go."

"Thanks teacher."

Bo Yan left without looking back.

"Wow." Jing Chi watched in a daze. Master Bo truly seduced teachers young and old.

Xu Chaoyang quickly hid away his nude portrait.

In the dorm, Jin Xi had dressed up beautifully. Just as she stepped out of her room, she saw Bo Yan lazily leaning against the wall.

Hands in pockets, he gazed absently at the ceiling, long and beautiful phoenix eyes clear like beads.

"Senior, shouldn't you be in elective class right now?" Jin Xi asked in surprise. "Did you skip class?"

"Mm."

Bo Yan's voice drew out, glancing at her sideways: "Class is boring."

Jin Xi frowned and righteously said: "Senior, skipping class is bad. What if the teacher takes attendance later and you get in trouble?"

"How would I get in trouble?" Bo Yan deliberately teased her.

"I heard that ethics teacher always takes attendance after class. If she finds out you're missing, she'll deduct points. You won't get a good grade at the end of term, and lose your scholarship!"

Jin Xi looked very serious, as if the scholarship was very important.

"What would happen if you didn't get a scholarship, senior?"

"If I didn't get a scholarship..."

Jin Xi thought about it: "I guess nothing much would happen."

"So why force yourself to do things you don't like?"

Looking at Bo Yan's aloof and indifferent expression, Jin Xi said: "Because it's the right thing to do."

Even if unwilling, one had to do the right thing, be a good student who could get scholarships, be a good child who didn't worry their parents, and become an outstanding person.

Bo Yan realized this girl had a very simple and direct mind, not prone to convoluted thinking. Only a warm family environment could nurture such a pure heart.

Although Shen Pingchuan acted like a jerk to others, he surely cherished this step-sister.

Bo Yan looked at Jin Xi. She was wearing a pretty plaid dress and had her hair in a scorpion braid with a red hair tie, looking cute and playful. The skin on her neck was very fair, and she had light makeup on her face.

He asked, "Where are you going?"

"I made plans to hang out with some friends."

Jin Xi was also holding a pink purse, looking like she was going to give out gifts.

Bo Yan's expression darkened: "Do you have to go?"

Jin Xi said matter-of-factly, "I made plans a long time ago, how could I stand them up!"

"Fine, I'll go with you."

Jin Xi: ...

When she was certain that Bo Yan was dead set on going with her to meet up with her high school girlfriends, she felt a bit uneasy.

Along the way, she asked more than once: "Senior, are you really going with me?"

Bo Yan walked briskly behind her and said lightly, "Not welcome?"

"That's not it." Jin Xi said nervously, "It's just...you don't know my friends either, are you sure you want to hang out with them?"

"I like meeting strangers." Bo Yan said.

Jin Xi didn't believe him. He didn't seem like the type who liked meeting strangers.

"You can still back out if you want, don't blame me for not warning you if you get bored later!" Jin Xi said in a muffled voice.

Bo Yan's expression darkened again: "What, am I not welcome to go?"

"That's not it either."

"Then that's settled."

Jin Xi gave up. He was set on going out to play with you, so she couldn't very well stop him outright.

The two got off the light rail and transferred buses, arriving at Mall A in the commercial district. Jin Xi located her girlfriends using the shared location function in WeChat.

They were browsing a very cute Hello Kitty themed shop. The store was filled with all kinds of cat merchandise. A few girls were standing at the entrance, madly taking selfies with their phones—

"Jin Xi is here!"

"You're right on time, come come come, let's take photos together!"

Jin Xi ran over: "This store is so cute! How did you guys find it?"

"Hehe, I've been following it on Weibo for a while. Today is opening day, so I made a point to get you all to come take photos!"

The girls looked at Bo Yan curiously: "Oh, Jin Xi, you brought a friend?"

Jin Xi: "He said he wanted to hang out with us too."

"Well if he's Jin Xi's friend, come take photos with us!"

"Aww, don't be shy, it's nothing. We're all friends, you can go shopping with us later."

Bo Yan: ...

He looked around at the girly cartoon merch, surrounded by girls striking poses and taking endless photos.

He was the only guy in the store, standing there sullenly with his hands in his pockets next to a few cute girls, embodying the definition of—

Awkward.