Chapter 14: The Emperor

Chapter 14: The Emperor

Wen Yu finally got the boarding approval he had been longing for.

He'd forgotten to block Gu Junhan's number, so when he opened his phone, he found more than a dozen missed calls.

The screen was full of red missed-call notifications, making him a bit nervous, but he blocked the number anyway.

Wen Yu was studying finance—his father had used connections to get him into the finance department.

On the first day, the teacher stood at the podium, flipping through slides one by one, while the classmates beside him typed furiously on their laptops, the clatter sounding like rain.

Wen Yu sat in the last row, in the corner where he was least likely to be noticed.

After class, he heard people talking behind him.

"Only a two-million-yuan car?"

That mocking laughter was especially harsh, snorted through the nose. "Word is he's some hillbilly who struck it rich. No idea how he even got in here."

"Maybe he's selling his ass."

"Pfft, hahahaha."

Wen Yu knew they were talking about him. He lowered his head and ran out without a word.

No one likes me, I guess...

Wen Yu thought bitterly to himself, like a clumsy marionette. He made his way to the boys' dorm.

It was a four-person suite, each person having their own bedroom and bathroom.

When Wen Yu pushed the door open, people were already inside.

Three guys were lounging on the leather sofa in the living room playing games, expensive sneakers and empty beer bottles littering the floor.

"New guy?"

The speaker was a guy with brown hair, wearing a pair of limited-edition sneakers, glancing up at him lazily.

He was the dorm head, came from a real estate family, and was known for being a bully.

Wen Yu nodded and said quietly, "My name is Wen Yu."

The brown-haired man snorted and tossed his game controller onto the coffee table. "So you're Wen Yu?"

"So girly," the brown-haired man said dismissively, looking him over. "Your whole getup isn't worth as much as my boxers."

"Since you're living here now, you gotta learn the rules. We don't do cleaning, so from now on, the living room and common areas are on you."

Another guy wearing glasses chimed in: "And we can't be bothered to take our clothes to the dry cleaner, so you might as well wash them while you're at it. Guys like you, dirt poor, that's the only thing you're good for."

Wen Yu bit his lip, his face going pale.

He stared at the mess for a long moment, then lowered his head and rushed toward his room. Just then, a slender hand suddenly pressed against the door.

Wen Yu was startled, instinctively trying to push the door closed, but the hand outside was impossibly strong—it didn't budge an inch.

"Running away?"

The brown-haired man's face, wearing a mocking grin, squeezed through the gap. "You're pretty soft-looking."

With a sudden shove, he threw the door wide open. "Didn't I just tell you to clean? What, you don't want to?"

"I don't want to..." Wen Yu's voice was barely a whisper, his fingers clutching the doorframe desperately.

The brown-haired man's lips curled into a cruel smile, then, with a sudden burst of strength, yanked Wen Yu out of the room with one hand and hurled him into the middle of the living room.

"Bang!"

Wen Yu lost his balance, his knees slamming hard into the marble floor, sending searing pain through him.

"You won't what? You got a problem?" The brown-haired man looked down at him from above. "In this dorm, what I say goes. Nouveau riche, tch."

The other two roommates gathered around too, arms crossed, watching the show with mocking looks.

"Come on, don't start bawling like a girl."

"Yeah, trash like him doesn't even deserve to be at our school."

The brown-haired man's family business had once lost a bid to some nouveau riche upstart.

People are rotten anyway—he just wanted to mess with Wen Yu.

He picked up a half-empty bottle of Coke from the coffee table, deliberately tipped his hand, and splashed it in Wen Yu's face.

Wen Yu felt his face go sticky, cola stains spreading across the floor.

"Since you agreed to clean, start with this." The brown-haired man pointed at the stain, then kicked a filthy rag his way. "Clean it up."

Wen Yu didn't move.

"Hurry up! You want me to beg you?" The brown-haired man urged impatiently.

Wen Yu closed his eyes, his eyes starting to redden.

Trembling, he picked up the rag, knelt down, and wiped at the puddle of cola little by little.

"Tsk, look at those soft, delicate hands—scrubbing the floor like they're doing needlework," the glasses-wearing roommate mocked.

"Yeah, born to serve, clearly got practice at this."

Wen Yu's knees were numb by now.

The brown-haired man watched the now-shiny floor with satisfaction, then poured the rest of his drink on it again. "Do it again—this time, you have to lick it clean with your tongue, got it?"

Wen Yu snapped his head up, staring at him in disbelief, his eyes finally welling up. "You've gone way too far!"

"Too far?" The brown-haired man crouched down, grinning like a devil. "This is nothing, my dear roommate."

Wen Yu snapped. He grabbed the rag and smeared it across the brown-haired man's face.

"Grab him!"

The brown-haired man flew into a rage, his face red with anger.

Outnumbered, Wen Yu curled up on the ground, hugging his knees, and got thrown out of the dorm.

People from the other rooms stood around, watching the show.

Wen Yu was out wandering late at night, the cold night wind, laced with raindrops, hitting his face—it was starting to rain.

Rainwater slid down Wen Yu's jet-black hair, trickling into his eyes, stinging with a raw ache.

Luxury cars occasionally roared past on the main road, their headlights cutting through the darkness and illuminating that glamorous world, yet not one of them stopped for Wen Yu.

A black long-handled umbrella snapped open, steadily blocking the wind and rain.

"Hey, it's this late—want a tarot reading?"

Wen Yu froze, then lowered his arm, his gaze slowly traveling up from his soaked pant legs.

Under the umbrella stood a girl, wearing a fancy trench coat that didn't match his own bedraggled state, clutching a deck of tarot cards that looked pricey.

The girl blinked, smiling like a cat that swallowed the canary. "At this elite school, you're the first one to get kicked out at this hour. Want a reading?"

Wen Yu's heart clenched. "No thanks."

The girl tilted her head. "I just learned this, and everyone says I'm inaccurate. How about letting me try my hand?"

Wen Yu found it hard to refuse, especially with her looking at him so expectantly. "Well... what can you tell?"

The girl smiled softly. "I can read the future that's about to unfold?"

Wen Yu, confused, echoed, "The future?"

Wen Yu picked a card at random—it was "The Emperor," upright.

The girl glanced at Wen Yu. "You've got a benefactor by your side?"

"Then it sounds like you need someone to back you up, give you strength."

Wen Yu listened closely. Was he supposed to find a protector?

But no one was there to help him.

Suddenly, Wen Yu's phone rang—an unknown number. He answered instinctively, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Hello?"

A man's voice on the other end carried a commanding, masculine tone. "Fifteen minutes. Come to the school gate."

Gu Junhan had blocked him, yet he still tracked him down—how did he know he was at this school?

Wen Yu stared at the Emperor card, lost in thought: How did he find him? Was it fate?

Wen Yu gripped his phone tightly, his head feeling foggy.

The girl watched Wen Yu's retreating figure, then suddenly brushed her hair aside, and the earpiece by her left ear flashed briefly, revealing the ZAOHUA GROUP logo.