Chapter 25

Taoran began attending classes normally. The medicinal soups were all with Wang, who provided them twice a day. When Wang dropped Taoran off in the morning and picked him up in the evening, he watched as Taoran finished drinking them and mentioned that it was a request from Mr. Li. It didn't really delay anything.

When Tao Ran arrived at school on Monday, Qiao Ye was very happy to see him. He approached Tao Ran with a smile, asking, "You're here! Are you feeling better?"

As Tao Ran was looking for a book to read in the morning, he spoke to Qiao Ye and said, "I'm much better now, there's nothing to worry about."

This morning, Qiao Ye didn't seem to be sleepy at all. Tao Ran was a bit surprised and jokingly asked, "Mr. Qiao, aren't you going to catch up on some sleep for your health?"

Qiao Ye's face was full of frustration, with a tone of resentment he said, "My older brother confiscated my motorbike...there's nothing else fun to do, so I'll just lie down early tonight."

Tao Ran just wanted to comfort him for a moment, but then he heard Qiao Ye continue, "My brother said that thing is not safe when it speeds up. So, he got me a McLaren. But I don't like sports cars..."

Tao Ran was momentarily choked, was this man trying to force him to hate the wealthy? However, he couldn't deny that he was envious. He enjoyed watching Qiao Ye's eyes sparkle when he spoke, with a kind of willful and carefree nature, as if he had never been hurt before. It turns out that the gap between people has always existed, and it is so obvious that one cannot help but feel envious and unable to think of anything else.

"During the holidays, I'll take you out to play," Qiao Ye hooked his arm around Tao Ran's shoulder and grinned, "There are many beautiful girls around, I'll introduce you to two of them. Oh, is that you, little Tao?"

Due to the nauseating sound of this particular address, Tao Ran's conditioned reflex kicked in and he frowned with an irritated tone: "Don't call me that."

However, Qiao Ye didn't take it to heart. He smirked and reached out to touch Tao Ran's face, saying, "It's just a nickname, why are you so stingy about it?"

Tao Ran ignored him.

Qiao Ye leaned closer and said, "Why are you resisting? Don't you like pretty girls? Then, what about the handsome guys?"

Tao Ran fiercely raised his head to look into Qiao Ye's eyes, with rare anger: "Stop making this kind of joke!"

Qiao Ye's face also darkened. He rarely tried to please or tease someone like this, and even brought them into his own circle. He didn't realize that his words were harsh, only focused on being angry that Tao Ran repeatedly refused to give him a face. "Hey, are you done yet? Why are you being so dramatic!"

Tao Ran's hands were shaking, he's the type of person who gets so angry that he can't speak. So he just sulked and ignored Qiao Ye.

Qiao Ye was feeling stifled, but didn't know how to start his reform. He stared at Tao Ran viciously like a little wolf, but suddenly his gaze froze. On Tao Ran's neck as white as jade, half of a bright red mark was exposed where his collar had not covered it.

"Damn it!" Qiao Ye rushed up and pulled Tao Ran's collar, somewhat disbelieving his own eyes: "I really can't fucking tell..."

Taoran was shocked and struggled fiercely from Qiaoye's hand, asking, "What are you doing?"

They were causing quite a stir, and the class leader cast several glances back before weakly calling out, "Qiao Ye, do not bully your classmates."

Qiao Ye ignored him but still relaxed the grip on Tao Ran's collar and laughed: "I thought you didn't know anything, where did you find such a little wildcat?"

Tao Ran was stupefied, not knowing what Qiao Ye was saying. He turned his head coldly and didn't say a word.

"Isn't it just getting a girlfriend? Why are you afraid of people talking"? Qiao Ye pushed Tao Ran's shoulder grumpily and asked, "Are you angry?"

Tao Ran gritted his teeth and fiercely declared, "I don't fucking have a girlfriend"' He was really angry, cursing for the first time.

Qiao Ye began to doubt his judgment a little bit this time. Do impure thoughts make everything seem impure? He fell into deep confusion and began to daydream. He hadn't seen the mark clearly, what if it was from a scraping or he scratched himself...As he thought about it, he realized that he might have been wrong.

"...Don't be angry." Qiao Ye said, "Can't you just consider it a misunderstanding on my part?"

"Would you mind minding your own business?"

Oh, by the way, what's up with Guan Taoran? Qiao Ye exploded, he...I hope he wasn't led astray by his brother.

When Tao Ran returned home to take a shower at night, he noticed the marks on his neck. His face turned red and white, and he felt lucky that he had not known about it during the day. Otherwise, if Qiao Ye had asked him, he would have been guilty and tried to hide under the table. He wouldn't have been able to speak with such confidence to force the young master to apologize.

Tao Ran rolled back and forth on the bed, muttering and cursing at Li Zekun.

Qiao Ye drove his McLaren with full horsepower down Chang'an Street, but a sports car was not as thrilling as a motorcycle. He pulled over on the roadside and stared into space for a while. Suddenly, he heard his phone ringing and saw that it was his brother. He quickly answered the phone.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm playing outside for a bit and come back soon."

"Okay, I'll come back to see you next month. I'm heading back to Hong Kong tonight."

Qiao Ye replied, if it were their usual topic, it might have ended here. However, today Qiao Ye seemed to be holding back something.

"Brother..."

"Hmm?"

Qiao Ye's earlobes gradually turned a slight shade of pink as she said, "My desk mate is super, super cute... but... he's a boy."

The person on the phone chuckled, his laughter reverberating from deep within his chest. he found his younger brother quite amusing. "If you're interested, why not give it a try? If you like to play, just play. Besides, you're still young." He is really weren't suitable for teaching children.

Qiao Ye didn't think that his elder brother's ideas were problematic at all. He fell silent for a moment before asking, "I don't know if he can accept these."

"Wouldn't it be better to not accept it? Once you have subdued him, he will be yours. Different situations require different methods. The Qiáo family's seedlings are not cowardly thieves without courage." Qiáo Míng's voice was calm, like the most strict and serious teacher.

Qiao Ye remained silent on the phone for a moment before finally speaking, "Okay, got it. Bye, brother."