Chapter 4: Behave Yourself These Days

Fu Shu approached the door of the guidance office. He didn’t step inside but stood there with his hands in his pockets, facing the light. “What’s up?” he asked.

The few young guides seated near the door grew excited. Blushing, they whispered among themselves, convinced that Fu Shu was effortlessly handsome in every gesture—whether he spoke lazily or furrowed his brow, his aura of raw charisma and charm was impossible to ignore.

Zhao Zhanlei was about to speak but suddenly his mouth formed an “Ow!” in surprise. The sharp pain in his toe made him glance back at Ji Xun with a mixture of disbelief and anguish.

Ji Xun, who had just stepped on Zhao’s foot, smiled faintly and looked toward Fu Shu standing at the door. “It’s nothing, Xu Ge. My mom told me to come home early today, so I won’t be waiting for you.”

What a joke.

If Fu Shu knew how much Ji Xun cared about not having a spiritual body, he’d undoubtedly mock and look down on him doubly.

Fu Shu’s fingers twitched in his pocket, but his expression remained unchanged. “Oh.”

Zhao Zhanlei, feeling puzzled, was about to ask something when he got kicked hard again. His expression instantly twisted in pain.

He dared not say another word. He picked up the little cheetah lying on the desk, still licking its paws with all the charm in the world, and said goodbye to Ji Xun.

Once they left, the previously quiet guidance office buzzed with excitement again.

Zhou Xiaoyun, sitting at the desk in front, turned around excitedly to Ji Xun. “Wow, Zhao Zhanlei’s Jason seems to have grown a lot! So handsome! The cheetah is like the long-legged heartthrob of the feline world!”

Grown up? Ji Xun hadn’t even noticed. He answered absentmindedly, worried Zhao might have let something slip.

“And so clingy and cute!” Julie Ying chimed in, equally thrilled. “Big kitty! I want to pet it so badly!”

Snapping back to reality, Ji Xun thought, “Big cats don’t look like this. If you’d seen a real ‘big cat,’ you’d know this is just a tiny kitten.” He said to Julie, “Next time Zhao Zhanlei comes, you can ask him to let you pet it.”

“Really? Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks, Xiao Xun!!!”

Zhou Xiaoyun quickly asked, “Xiao Xun, I want to pet it too! Can I?”

“Sure.”

“Wow, Xiao Xun, I want to pet it too!”

“Me too!”

“Me as well!”

The little cheetah had no idea how adored it was by the guides.

It hung in its owner’s arm, looking very different from before when it was busily licking its paws. Now it blinked slowly, clearly sulking.

Ji Xun’s unusually cold attitude, so unlike his usual enthusiasm, dealt an unprecedented blow to the little creature’s young heart.

It was questioning its existence.

Zhao Zhanlei rubbed its drooping round head hard and pinched its round ears. “It’s okay, it’s still mad at me. Once it cools off, it’ll be fine.”

Fu Shu glanced at the lethargic little cheetah, then asked Zhao Zhanlei, “What did he want from me just now?”

“Ah?”

Fu Shu looked at him again. “What did Ji Xun want from me?”

At the mention of this, Zhao Zhanlei felt sharp pain in his toe but since Ji Xun wasn’t saying anything, he didn’t want to blurt it out. His eyes flickered nervously as he laughed awkwardly, “Didn’t Xiao Xun already say? He had to go home early today.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“Don’t even think about playing with the J-20.”

“!!!!” Zhao Zhanlei gasped and stopped, staring at Fu Shu.

But Fu Shu didn’t look back; he headed downstairs on his own.

Loving his fighter jet more than anything, Zhao Zhanlei saw Fu Shu was serious and hurried after him. Without hesitation, he decisively betrayed Ji Xun: “Xiao Xun wanted to use the neural interface. I told him I sold mine last year, but you have one, so he could borrow yours. But when he heard he’d have to borrow from you, he changed his mind.”

Zhao Zhanlei said, “I think he’s still mad at you.”

Fu Shu asked, “Mad at me for what? Eggs?”

Zhao Zhanlei looked at Fu Shu twice, hesitating to speak.

He thought to himself, Don’t you know why Ji Xun’s mad?

Fu Shu said, “Speak.”

Zhao Zhanlei finally asked, “Xing Ge, you knew he was outside last night, so why did you say such harsh things?”

Fu Shu’s lips tightened instantly, then he sneered coldly. “And you, knowing he was there, still said those things on purpose?”

“Well, that’s not—” The words caught in Zhao’s throat; he changed his tone with a smile, “It was just a joke.”

Fu Shu replied, “I was joking too.”

Zhao Zhanlei whispered, “You joke like that? That hurts.”

“Then I wasn’t joking. I was stating facts.” Saying this, Fu Shu strode ahead, leaving Zhao far behind.

Watching his retreating figure, Zhao sighed, then suddenly remembered something and hurried after him. “Hey, Xing Ge! Wait for me! J-20!!!”

That morning’s outdoor class was about cooperation with spiritual bodies.

Ji Xun didn’t have a spiritual body, so he had to partner with classmates.

But today he hadn’t touched any little cats or birds, fearing that prolonged contact might turn his spiritual body into such small animals.

As soon as school ended, Ji Xun eagerly took a taxi home.

His mother was in the kitchen kneading dough, preparing meat pies for dinner.

Ji Xun, holding back all day, abandoned all subtlety and ran straight to the kitchen with a straightforward request: “Mom! Let me use the neural interface!”

Before he even entered, his mother sensed his energetic revival. She shook her head and smiled, thinking: Kids really do get over things fast. Yesterday he was crying as if the sky were falling; today he’s fine.

“Mom!”

“I heard you, I heard,” she said. “What do you want the neural interface for?”

“To research! To study!”

“Do you even believe that yourself?”

“Mom~~ I really am! It’s urgent!!”

“The neural interface isn’t for kids like you.” She washed her hands, gently tapped his forehead, then went to get the meat. While chopping, she said, “You don’t have enough mental strength; using the neural interface can easily cause problems. You might end up brain-dead.”

Ji Xun didn’t believe her. “Fu Shu can use it!”

“Well, ask yourself if your IQ compares to his. It’s fine if he’s a little slow, but if you’re any slower, you’d qualify for government disability benefits.”

“……”

His mother didn’t hear a reply. Looking back, she saw him pouting and brewing emotions, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Come help me chop some scallions. When you’re done, you can use it.”

Ji Xun’s mood brightened instantly. “Really??”

“If you ask again, that’s a lie.”

“Wow! Mom, I love you!!!”

A light brown lop-eared rabbit peeked out from his mother’s apron pocket. Seeing the little master happily brandish a large kitchen knife, it jumped out in fright and hopped onto the counter to supervise.

Ji Xun had no skill in chopping. By the time he finished a small bowl of scallions, his mother had already prepared all the meat.

“Mom, let me use it now!”

His mother pressed her index finger on her left wrist, and a faint white halo appeared. With a gentle swipe of her finger, a photon screen projected onto the wall.

“Use it.”

Staring at the familiar interface, Ji Xun was puzzled. “Isn’t this just a computer desktop?”

His mother said calmly, “The neural interface is just a computer.”

Without suspicion, Ji Xun said briskly, “Then I’ll just use the computer! Bye, Mom!”

Technology betrays me!

The sun was already setting!

Ji Xun hurried upstairs in long strides, but halfway up, the living room door was knocked again.

“Xiao Xun, Xiao Xun!”

Ji Xun: “……”

He had no choice but to turn and run downstairs to open the door.

Zhao Zhanlei stood outside, holding a pot with the lid lifted, releasing steam and the rich aroma of dozens of boiled eggs.

“How’s this? I made tea eggs myself!”

Ji Xun: “……” He really brought a whole pot.

The little cheetah circled from Zhao’s feet to Ji Xun’s, meowing twice.

Ji Xun looked down at the little cheetah, then at Zhao blocking the doorway, hesitating between letting him in or turning him away.

Across the street at the Ji family home, on the second floor by the bedroom window, the white tiger rested its two front paws on the windowsill and let out a howl.

“What are you howling about?” Fu Shu got up and stood beside it, speaking coldly. “Behave yourself these days.”

Fu Shu lifted his hand to close the window but saw Zhao Zhanlei talking with Ji Xun below.

His hand froze on the window.

He saw the two standing face to face; suddenly, Zhao bent down and leaned toward Ji Xun.

The Fu family’s barrier had been reinforced.

Fu Shu could not break through it.

The barrier, personally strengthened by Gao Mingyuan, Chief of Staff of the 12th District Military Region, was not a matter of mere tens of meters. Fu Shu couldn’t hear a thing going on downstairs in his own yard, as if deaf.

But since he was at fault, he had no right to complain.

The white tiger snarled, clearly hating the boundary-less sentry opposite it, and angrily roared, slashing three deep scratches across the window.

Zhao Zhanlei sniffed Ji Xun. “What’s that smell on you?”

Ji Xun raised his left hand. “Aren’t you sentries supposed to have a sharp sense of smell? You can’t even smell the scallions.”

“Oh, right! Scallions! Xiao Xun, what did you eat to smell like scallions?” Zhao asked casually, then rubbed his nose, puzzled. “I don’t know what’s wrong with my nose. It feels blocked all of a sudden, but I’m not sick…”

As they exchanged words, Ji Xun stepped aside. “My mom’s making pancakes tonight. I just helped her chop scallions. Come on in.”

Zhao Zhanlei was delighted. “Wow! Auntie’s making pancakes? Then I’m not going home tonight!”

Just as he followed Ji Xun inside, his communicator lit up.

“Wait a sec,” Zhao said and answered.

“Hey? Xing Ge.”

“J-20, you in?”

Zhao Zhanlei: “!!!”

“Right now!! I’m with Xiao Xun. Hang on, Xing Ge!!!”

He quickly hung up and handed the pot to Ji Xun. “Xiao Xun, make sure Auntie saves me a pancake! I’m off to save the world with Xing Ge! Bye!!!”

He ran off.

Ji Xun looked down at the big pot of tea eggs in his hands, then at Zhao’s rapidly disappearing back.

He looked up.

Fu Shu’s bedroom window was tightly shut.

Just one glance was enough to rekindle the small flame of determination in Ji Xun’s heart—

Revenge could not wait!

Cradling the pot, Ji Xun kicked the door open with his foot, placed the pot on the living room table, and called out, “Mom, Shi Tou sent over a pot of tea eggs. I put it on the table!”