DMMB Chapter 7

After letting out a meow, Sheng Yan froze.

Whose voice was that?

Qin Zigui?

Doesn’t sound like him.

The blond guy?

Disgusting.

Then who else could it be?

Wait—what the hell?!

Sheng Yan finally came to his senses and, from the strange, complicated looks Qin Zigui and the group of blond punks were giving him, realized that he, the feared school tyrant of Shi Wai had just been caught red-handed meowing like a cat.

A wave of burning shame shot straight to his forehead, and his ears turned visibly red.

But years of being the boss of Nanwu’s lower district had trained him well; he quickly regained his composure, deciding to take the initiative and turn the tables. Standing up, he raised an eyebrow at Qin Zigui and demanded,
“What are you doing here?”

Before Qin Zigui could answer, Sheng Yan turned toward the group of unlucky thugs slumped in the corner and barked,
“And what the hell are you doing here?”

The blond-haired punks were still dazed, first beaten up, then meowed at, and now suddenly questioned, their brains hadn’t caught up. One of them hesitantly asked,
“Uh… isn’t this the back gate of our school?”

Sheng Yan: “…”

…He might have a point.

So why was Qin Zigui at the back gate of the vocational school?

Sheng Yan turned to look at him again, eyebrows raised high.

Qin Zigui calmly slid his injured right hand back into his pocket and answered casually,
“Was on my way to my tutoring class. Ran into them by chance, things got a bit physical.”

The blond guy, who had just been walking peacefully to find Lin Qian when Qin Zigui suddenly dragged him into an alley and beat him up: “?”

Is that how it went?!

He was about to protest when Qin Zigui shot him a cold glance. The punk froze mid-thought, then quickly clutched his head and nodded furiously.
“Y-yeah, that’s right!”

Sheng Yan frowned and asked again, “And last night?”

He didn’t specify what happened last night, but they both knew what he meant.

Qin Zigui’s expression didn’t change. “Passed by an internet café, heard them saying some nasty stuff, told them to stop, things got physical again. Nothing serious.”

The blond punk, who’d been happily playing games last night only to get dragged outside and beaten up again: “??”

That’s how it happened too?!

Then Qin Zigui’s cold gaze flicked toward him again. The blond punk instantly straightened up and nodded like crazy. “Y-yeah, that’s right too!”

After hearing those explanations, Sheng Yan had already pieced together a whole story in his mind, Qin Zigui must’ve accidentally offended these guys, and they’d been picking on him ever since.

Then he saw the injuries on Qin Zigui’s hand, and his face darkened. Squatting down, he smacked the blond guy on the head.
“Do you even know who he is? You dare mess with him? Didn’t you get enough of a beating yesterday? Want another round today?”

The blond punk, who’d been beaten three times in two days: “???”

No! He’s had more than enough!

And when did they ever mess with him?!

It was Qin Zigui who kept coming after them!

And the guy was so damn arrogant, before throwing a punch, he’d slowly roll up his sleeves, glance at you with those cold eyes that made your blood boil, and just when your rage reached its peak, one swift kick from his long leg would send you flying. He’d strike with precision, hitting all the painful but unnoticeable spots, not a single wasted move.

And through it all, not even a flicker of emotion as if taking on several opponents at once was routine, effortless, even boring.

And they’re the ones “bothering him”? Seriously?!

The blond guy, a long-time delinquent, had never felt so wronged. He couldn’t help but yell,
“Who messed with him?! We got beaten up like this, and you say we picked the fight? Do you even know what this guy—”

He got too worked up, letting go of his head and about to lift his shirt to show the bruises. But as soon as his eyes accidentally met Qin Zigui’s cold, indifferent gaze from behind Sheng Yan, he froze.

Instantly remembering what it felt like to be grabbed by the throat and slammed into a wall, he quietly placed his hands back behind his head and squatted down again.
“I’m sorry, my bad. Won’t do it again. So, uh… who is he to you, anyway?”

How could someone be that terrifying?!

Sheng Yan, unaware of what Qin Zigui had done behind him, thought the blond guys were just scared of him, so he didn’t dwell on it. But that last question made him pause.

Yeah… who was Qin Zigui to him?

A neighbor? A classmate? A rival he couldn’t stand?

None of those really fit what he’d just said.

After a brief silence, Sheng Yan suddenly remembered the wish he’d made earlier that day. Thinking quickly, he replied coolly,
“He’s my underling.”

Blond punk: “???”

That terrifying guy could be anyone’s underling?!

He turned to look at Qin Zigui in disbelief.

Qin Zigui, hands still in his pockets, leaned against the wall and nodded slightly.
“Mm. I’m his underling.”

Blondie: “…!”

How could this be?!

Someone that terrifying could actually be Sheng Yan’s underling?
That could only mean Sheng Yan must have some extraordinary power they didn’t know about. Which also meant that all those times Sheng Yan had “gone easy” on them, he must’ve been holding back! His real strength was probably way beyond what they could imagine.

The blond-haired punks instantly looked at Sheng Yan with newfound awe and fear.

Meanwhile, Sheng Yan who had been worried that Qin Zigui wouldn’t play along, secretly let out a breath of relief.

Good. Qin Zigui still knew how to give him some face.

Hmm, maybe that wishing system did work after all?

Feeling satisfied, Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow, stood up, hooked his thumb under his backpack strap, lowered his gaze, and looked down at the blond guys.
“Alright then. Tell me exactly what did you do wrong?”

His double eyelids were deep, and when his eyes lowered, the shadow that fell beneath them paired with the naturally upturned corners of his eyes gave him a kind of fearless, cocky recklessness.

And the thought that this was him while holding back made the blond punks tremble even more. Without hesitation, one of them blurted out,
“We shouldn’t have disrespected girls, shouldn’t have harassed girls, shouldn’t have forced girls, shouldn’t have said dirty things to girls and we definitely shouldn’t have touched people we shouldn’t touch!”

“‘Touched people you shouldn’t touch’?”

The first few sentences sounded fine, but that last one, Sheng Yan couldn’t help but feel something was off.

Thinking Sheng Yan was unhappy with his answer, Blondie quickly explained,
“I—I just repeated what Brother Qin said! That’s how he taught me!”

“He taught you?”

Sheng Yan frowned slightly.

Blondie nodded frantically. “Yeah, yeah! Brother Qin’s exact words were, ‘I’m beating you up today for no other reason than you touched someone you shouldn’t have.’ He told me the same thing yesterday when he came to beat me up.”

Blondie was so focused on sincerely apologizing that he completely forgot to check Qin Zigui’s expression for cues.

So when Sheng Yan heard that, his frown deepened.
“Wait. When he came to beat you up? You mean he didn’t just run into you by chance yesterday, he went looking for you?”

Blondie froze mid-apology.

Sheng Yan turned to Qin Zigui.

Qin Zigui lowered his gaze, hiding his eyes under his lashes.

So that was… an admission?

If Blondie hadn’t accidentally blurted it out, Qin Zigui had no plans to tell him?

But if Qin Zigui had gone after them on purpose, why hide it? It’s not even something shameful — it’s not like Sheng Yan would—

Wait.

In that instant, everything suddenly clicked.

Last night, when Qin Zigui was on patrol duty, he’d gotten upset after Lin Qian gave Sheng Yan a band-aid.

Then, after hearing that the vocational school thugs had harassed Lin Qian, he left campus immediately even skipped his competition class.

He must have guessed that Sheng Yan, with his temper, would go after the blond punks for revenge. So he waited for him outside the school wall, used a fake patrol ID to stop him, and warned him not to go.

And to make sure those punks really gave up, Qin Zigui had even shown up again today at the back gate of the vocational school, to beat them up himself.

When you pieced all of that together, there was only one explanation that made sense—

Qin Zigui liked Lin Qian.

That’s why he got jealous when she gave Sheng Yan a band-aid.

That’s why he went after the punks who had bothered her.

That’s why he said they “touched someone they shouldn’t have.”

That’s why he didn’t want Sheng Yan to get involved because Sheng Yan was his biggest rival in love.

Qin Zigui, the model student who never broke a single school rule, had actually skipped class — twice — just to fight. If that wasn’t love, what else could it be?

No wonder he turned cold toward Sheng Yan after Lin Qian confessed to him last year.

So the others had been right all along, Qin Zigui did like Lin Qian.

But seriously, was the girl he liked more important than his brother of over ten years?!

Was their lifelong friendship worth less than a crush?!

In his eyes, was Sheng Yan worth nothing at all?!

The more Sheng Yan thought about it, the angrier he got until he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He grabbed Qin Zigui by the collar, slammed him against the wall, and raised his fist, ready to punch him hard.

But when his fist hovered in front of Qin Zigui’s face, it stopped. His knuckles whitened, veins bulged on the back of his hand, he was clearly holding back with all his strength. Finally, he forced his hand down, clenched his jaw, and growled through his teeth,

“Qin Zigui, I don’t like Lin Qian! There’s nothing between us!”

Qin Zigui didn’t move, just looked at him calmly and said,
“Mm. I know.”

“You know?” Sheng Yan froze for a second, then exploded again.
“You fucking know I don’t like her, and you still cut me off? Are you out of your mind?!”

At that point, Blondie, who had been quietly crouching beside them, spoke up nervously,
“Uh…”

“The hell do you mean ‘uh’? Shut up!” Sheng Yan snapped without even turning his head, still glaring furiously at Qin Zigui.
“If you knew I didn’t like her, then why’d you turn on me? Did I ever do anything to you?!”

Before Qin Zigui could answer, Blondie tried again timidly,
“Uh, Sheng Yan…”

“I told you to shut up! Can’t you understand?!” Sheng Yan still didn’t look away, his voice shaking with anger.
“Qin Zigui, you’re gonna tell me today, what exactly did I do to offend you, huh?! Just say it! I swear, once you tell me, I’ll never say another damn word to you again!”

“Uh…”

Blondie spoke once more.

Finally, Sheng Yan lost his patience completely and turned his head.
“Can’t you see we’re in the middle of something serious here?! Can you just—”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Because when his head turned about ninety degrees, he froze.

At the end of the alley in that direction, a round, plump figure was storming toward them, face red with fury accompanied by a breathless, middle-aged roar:

“Sheng Yan! I knew it! You’re fighting again!!”

Holy shit?!

The weasel showed up?

If he drags him back, isn’t he going to make him stand for an extra evening study session and make him run ten laps on the field?!

Fear of being caught by the weasel instantly overrode Sheng Yan’s anger at Qin Zigui, and he froze on the spot.

The next second, someone yanked the backpack from his shoulder, grabbed his wrist, and a low voice hissed, “Run.”

Before his brain could catch up, his instincts took over, he followed the voice without looking back and ran into the summer dusk’s hot, stuffy alley.

As the warm, smoke-scented breeze from the evening whooshed past his face, Sheng Yan suddenly thought of his childhood for reasons he couldn’t explain.

Back then, Qin Zigui had only recently moved to Nanwu with Qin Ru.

He was good-looking, quiet, smart, clean — the kindergarten teachers and the little girls all liked him but he never talked and always wore a stern face, so the other boys hated him.

They ganged up to bully Qin Zigui: dirtied his clothes, hid his lunch, spat at him, called him a bastard without parents and a mute.

Qin Zigui only listened, he never argued, never complained so the boys pushed him further and further.

Until one day Sheng Yan caught them in the act. Not yet five years old, he ran with his short legs, charged the leader (a chubby bully), knocked him down, and bit his arm wildly.

But a little kid in middle class couldn’t beat a group of older kids, it was Qin Zigui who rushed up, shoved the others away, grabbed Sheng Yan, and hauled him out.

That day they ran for a long time through hot, humid summer alleys in Nanwu before finally escaping the nasty kids. So that year Sheng Yan’s birthday wish was that the chubby bully would get his comeuppance.

Sure enough, the next day the chubby bully did get into trouble, black and blue, crying his eyes out and promised Sheng Yan never to bully him or Qin Zigui again.

From then on, the previously distant Qin Zigui began waiting for Sheng Yan every day to walk to and from school, staying almost inseparable.

Later, when Qin Zigui had to take a year off school for some reason, he said it was fine, that way he could be in the same class as Sheng Yan and protect him.

Sheng Yan’s memory had always been good, but he didn’t expect to remember childhood so clearly.

Not everything was sharp, memories about his father, about Mrs. Xu back then, and many other things were fuzzy. What stayed clear were the old house overrun with vines and roses, the delicious food his grandparents made, and Qin Zigui, who filled almost his entire childhood.

But what good was remembering?

Qin Zigui was a two-faced bastard who’d forsaken their friendship for a crush!

When Sheng Yan pulled himself out of the flashback, they were already back at the apartment building. Sheng Yan jerked his hand free from Qin Zigui and barked, “Don’t touch me. Get as far away from me as you can!”

He was a little out of breath, his bangs tousled by the wind, his face faintly flushed.

Qin Zigui looked a bit tired too, but he noticed Sheng Yan’s T-shirt was soaked with sweat and said softly, “We’ll talk at home. Go change your shirt first so you don’t catch a chill.”

“None of your business!” Sheng Yan was furious and didn’t want to hear it — he just wanted to be mean.

After snapping, he turned to leave when an urgent shout came from behind: “Qin Zigui! Sheng Yan! You two stop right there!”

They turned and saw Qin Ru pushing open the glass door of the building. Her usually gentle face was unexpectedly angry; her long hair was hastily pinned up, and she hadn’t even had time to put on makeup, clearly she’d rushed out.

Sheng Yan froze and lowered his head guiltily, calling obediently, “Aunt Qin.”

Seeing him so, Qin Ru’s anger fell by half. She gave them a helpless look and said, “Come here. Turn around.”

So the school’s cold, aloof brainiac and its fiercest, most brutal school tyrant stood shoulder to shoulder and dutifully spun a full 360 degrees at the building entrance.

Okay — arms and legs still working.

Qin Ru relaxed and softened her expression. “As long as you’re not hurt.”

Then feeling she’d been too soft, she stiffened again and used her sternest tone: “You two know how to come back! Do you know the dean already reported this to me? Go tell him yourselves what happened.”

She pulled out her phone. The moment the call connected, her voice returned to calm and polite: “Hello, Director Huang. This is Qin Ru, Qin Zigui and Sheng Yan’s guardian. No big deal, just letting you know the kids have been found. Sheng Yan was supposed to be on sick leave this morning and hasn’t fully recovered. When he saw you earlier he panicked and now says he has a headache and feels like vomiting, so Zigui brought him back. As for the fight, I haven’t asked the details yet you can speak to them directly.”

She turned on speaker and held the phone up to them, raising her eyebrows to show she’d done her duty as a parent.

On the speaker came Director Huang’s furious roar like a weasel’s: “Sheng Yan! You fight, brawl, skip class, and don’t study — fine. But you’re dragging down Qin Zigui too! Do you have any sense of law and order?!”

“Who dragged who down?”

Sheng Yan mumbled. His voice wasn’t loud, but Director Huang, who’d been dean so long his ears were like a weasel’s heard it perfectly.

He blew a gasket: “Are you saying he corrupted you, or the other way around? Do you know how many points you scored on the final this term? 327! A new historical low! That’s 147 points lower than the second-to-last! I’ve been teaching and guiding students at Shi Wai for years and never seen grades like yours! Do you know what Qin Zigui scored? 723! First in the grade! If he really corrupted you, I’ll— I’ll cut off my head and kick it like a ball!”

A whole barrage of scolding even with some accidental rhymes.

After that furious outburst, Sheng Yan could practically picture Director Huang Shuliang’s righteous, smoke-blowing face in his head.

Then Qin Zigui calmly said, “Director Huang, it’s true, I was the one who led Sheng Yan astray.”

“?”

Qin Zigui continued evenly, “I was the one who picked a fight with those kids from the vocational school. Sheng Yan just happened to be passing by for dinner.”

“???”

Even through the phone, you could practically see three giant question marks popping out of Director Huang’s head.

Qin Zigui’s tone stayed steady and composed: “If you don’t believe me, you can ask those vocational school students or contact their dean.”

“…”

After a few calm sentences from Qin Zigui, the other end of the line went dead quiet.

A brief pause.

Then Director Huang finally spoke again: “I’ll go check the situation.”

When he came back, his tone had turned all warm and friendly:
“Qin Zigui, not that I’m scolding you, standing up for what’s right and punishing evil is admirable, it’s something worth praising but we don’t encourage this kind of method. You’re a good student from a good school, a future top scholar, a Qingbei (Tsinghua–Peking) talent, the hope of our nation. You must learn to protect yourself, understand?”

Beside him, Sheng Yan, who had been kicking pebbles for ages raised his head and arched a brow.
“Wait a second, Director. When I stood up for what’s right before, you sure didn’t say that to me.”

“You’ve got some nerve!” Director Huang instantly switched from gentle to volcanic. “Don’t think that just because you didn’t start today’s fight you’re off the hook! Wasn’t it you who skipped evening self-study?! Wasn’t it you who ran when you saw me?! Wasn’t it you who refused to wear your uniform?! Wasn’t it you who slept through the exam and scored dead last in the whole grade?! Count for yourself how many school rules have you broken?! Keep this up and you’ll become a menace to society, do you hear me?!”

Sheng Yan: “??”

Why was Qin Zigui “the future of the nation,” while he was suddenly “a menace to society”?

Before he could say that out loud, Director Huang had already concluded decisively:
“Alright, since your intentions were good and no real harm was done and since it’s Sheng Yan’s birthday, I’ll let you off this time. Qin Zigui, go attend your competition class and hand in an 800-word reflection tomorrow. Sheng Yan, you’ll copy the entire Shi Wai Student Handbook from start to finish, neatly. If you don’t finish, come to my office and keep copying tomorrow, got it?!”

Sheng Yan: “???”

“Why does Qin Zigui only have to write 800 words, but I have to copy over ten thousand characters of the student handbook? He’s the one who fought!” Sheng Yan finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Director Huang answered self-righteously, “Because Qin Zigui is first in the grade and you’re last! That’s why!”

Then he hung up.

And with that, he also shattered the already bruised heart of a boy wounded by the unfairness of the world.

Sheng Yan was livid.

First, the kitten he’d staked out for days was lost again, all thanks to Qin Zigui.
Then he found out Qin Zigui had thrown away their ten-year friendship just because the girl he liked had confessed to Sheng Yan.
And now, caught red-handed by the dean, he’d just witnessed the most blatant double standard in history.

Every bit of bad luck today had come from Qin Zigui!

He was done. He never wanted to see that guy again in his life!

The more Sheng Yan thought about it, the angrier he got. He snatched back his backpack, shoved open the building door, and stomped inside without another word.

“Sheng Yan,” Qin Zigui called from behind.

He didn’t even want to hear it. “Go to your competition class and don’t f***ing bother me!” he snapped, slamming the door shut behind him.

Qin Ru had wanted to say a few words of comfort, but she still had to get ready for a dinner engagement with Jiang Ping. So she just sighed and said softly to Qin Zigui, “Alright, Auntie knows you’re both good kids and wouldn’t do anything bad, but don’t do this again, okay? Next time I won’t cover for you with Director Huang. And you’re the older one, you have to be patient with Xiaoyan. Bring back something tasty after your class; he’s soft-hearted and easy to cheer up.”

Easy to cheer up, huh?

Hearing that last sentence from the elevator, Sheng Yan’s face turned dark as thunder.

This time, he was really angry. The kind of angry that no amount of good food could fix.

Even if Qin Zigui knelt down and begged for forgiveness right now, he wouldn’t forgive him.

After being real brothers for over ten years, Qin Zigui had never truly treated him like one — and to top it off, everyone, teachers and classmates alike, always took his side.

Why?!

Total garbage.

Back in his room, Sheng Yan locked the door, pulled out his giant cat-shaped pillow, grabbed a marker, and wrote “Qin Zigui” in big bold characters across its butt. Then he threw it on the bed and started pounding it mercilessly.

Like he was letting out all the punches he hadn’t thrown earlier in the alley, each hit harder than the last until the stuffing inside was flattened and barely springing back. Only then did he feel vaguely calmer.

He grabbed his pajamas and went to shower.

After soaking in the bath, finishing his anime, and enjoying Qin Zigui’s fancy bathtub with its “built-in massage and movie mode,” he finally cooled off. Slowly drying his hair, he went back to his room.

It was nearly ten o’clock.

Why wasn’t Qin Zigui back yet?

Just as he wondered that, there was a knock at the door. “A’Yan.”

“Go away!”

The person outside paused, then said quietly, “I’ll copy the student handbook for you.”

“No need. I wouldn’t dare waste our mighty Student Council President Qin’s precious study time. Wouldn’t want Shi Wai to lose its future top scorer, Director Weasel might just eat me alive.”

After Sheng Yan’s sarcastic jab, the hallway went silent.

“?”

That’s it? He gave up that easily?

What happened to bringing back good food to coax him?

He knew it, he was never important to Qin Zigui in the first place!

Fuming, Sheng Yan dug out an old, tattered notebook from the corner of his desk, opened the official website of Shi Wai High, downloaded the student handbook PDF, gripped his pen tightly, and began furiously copying it down line by line as he glared at the screen, trying to turn his anger and grief into strength, to show Qin Zigui what it really meant to be a man who takes responsibility.

…Only to quickly realize that he might not even be a man yet — just a boy.

Because after writing like a madman until his fingers cramped, he looked at the progress bar: 30%.

Sheng Yan threw his pen down, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long, miserable sigh.

What kind of sins had he committed in his past life? Did he steal Qin Zigui’s wife or something?
Why had his perfectly good birthday turned into this mess?

He closed his eyes in despair.

Then suddenly froze.

Wait — birthday?

Birthday!

He grabbed his phone and checked the time….sure enough, it was just past midnight. The Wish Fulfillment App had already sent a system notification:

[Dear little master, your weekly wish quota has been refreshed. Come make a wish~]

Without hesitation, Sheng Yan typed:

[I wish that when I wake up, the entire student handbook will already be copied.]

He stared nervously at the spinning white circle.

One spin. Two spins. Three spins.

Wish approved.

Sheng Yan exhaled in relief.

Whatever even if this app was a scam, it was worth a shot. Worst case, he’d just take a day trip to Teacher Huang’s office tomorrow.

Thinking that, he accepted a flowerpot and planted the daisy seeds as instructed.

Now all that was left was to wait for the task.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

He started to worry again, what if the app gave him some illegal or impossible mission? Then even this last shred of hope would be gone.

When the little mailbox beside the virtual garden suddenly dinged and lit up, Sheng Yan instinctively held his breath, pressed his lips together, and carefully tapped the [Receive Task] button.

And then froze completely.

What the hell kind of indecent task was this app giving him now?!

---

Author’s note:
Ding~ Qin the Dog’s thousand-layer scheme is now online. Little elementary chicken, you’re in danger.

[mfn]If you enjoy my translations, you can show your support by leaving a comment or donating to my Ko-fi. It will be much appreciated. Thank you![/mfn]