"Have you seen the post on the forum? Because of the “Boys' High School Dorm” show, Room 408 has a new member, and he's not from our senior year!"
"Who is this mysterious person that just dropped in?"
"I heard he transferred from Qingyuan County in the south. Wonder if the show's producers brought him in."
"If the producers recruited him, he must be amazing, right?"
"I only care if he's handsome! Room 408 is already the hottest dorm, with one heartthrob after another."
"I heard he visited the school a few days ago. Someone saw him wearing big glasses, looking like a bookworm."
The bus suddenly jolted, and Sui Yi, who was lounging in the back row, adjusted the glasses on his nose.
The morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the boy's soft, thick hair. His skin looked creamy in the light. His slender, fair hands rested on the seat in front, with a red birthmark on the back of one hand that glowed like a translucent flower petal in the sunlight.
The traffic light turned green, and the bus started moving. The uniformed girls sitting in front of him continued their animated chat.
"Want to hear some inside info? I heard that because of strict censorship nowadays, the 'Boys' High School Dorm' producers are worried about promoting bad values, so they deliberately added a student with poor qualifications!"
"It doesn't matter, really. Even if they found someone with good qualifications, could he be better than the three heartthrobs of Room 408?"
"True, could he be more handsome than Gu Qingyang? Could his grades be better than Ling Xuezhu's? Could he be richer than Jiang Chengyao?"
Sui Yi scrolled through his phone.
Of course not!
"I heard Jiang Chengyao's uncle bought him a helicopter for summer vacation. Wonder if that's true!"
"Why are you so obsessed with Jiang Chengyao? I think he's just okay, not as handsome as Gu Qingyang!"
"Forget about Gu Qingyang, he's got so many beautiful girls after him. Who knows how many girlfriends he's had?"
"You think Jiang Chengyao doesn't? He's on the confession wall every day. Last week I even saw the beauty queen from No. 3 High bringing him bubble tea!"
"Ling Xuezhu seems better in comparison. He's definitely never dated anyone!"
"Ling Xuezhu? Would you dare to talk to him? He barely even acknowledges the teachers."
"We mere mortals can't melt the ice around that kind of emotionless academic genius. You think everyone's Yuanxiang Qin?"
"But Jiang Chengyao's temper is even worse. I feel like there's no one in this world he'd actually like!"
"Everyone's envying the new guy now, but don't you think it'd be super stressful to share a room with these three heartthrobs? Living with them, wouldn't he get depressed?!"
Is that so?
Sui Yi pursed his lips and opened the school forum.
As Jianghai's elite school where a set of uniforms was said to be worth as much as an apartment, Qingli High School had the city's most famous student forum. The forum was divided into several sections, with the most active one called "Ode to Youth". It covered everything from academic competitions to raunchy jokes after lights out.
He searched for keywords like "Boys' High School Dorm" and a flood of discussions popped up.
The other cast members were apparently very popular at school, with quite a fan following!
More accurately, they had admirers.
The forum was full of gossip about them.
The first image that caught his eye was of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy. He was very tall, and at first glance, the most striking feature was his face shape, with an extremely delicate and sharp jawline.
An incredibly handsome guy with a strong aura, excellent bone structure, combining the innocence of a puppy with the rakishness of a wolf. His youthful vigor was mixed with a hint of languid indolence.
A very unique temperament.
He looked at the name: Jiang Chengyao.
The hot guy stood at 184cm, with parents from wealthy families on both sides. His whole family was rich, but his uncle was the most famous – the chairman of Haili Group and the richest man in Jianghai.
A young tycoon.
The hot guy was very popular, with most posts about him saying things like "OMG someone confessed to Jiang Chengyao on the confession wall again". There were also lots of photos of him: leaning on the dormitory railing with a cigarette holder in his mouth, playing games with his feet propped on a chair, sleeping with his head on the desk... All the photos exuded a carefree, rebellious vibe.
But despite his laid-back appearance, he was the undisputed king of Qingli that no one dared to mess with.
Before he came to Qingli, the wealthy students were often easy targets for bullies from other schools and street thugs. After he arrived, peace reigned at Qingli.
Rumor had it that he was the only grandson to both sets of grandparents, and his uncle treated him like his own son, even better than his father did. In the future, it was unclear which family business he would inherit – a true prince in every sense.
Rich, handsome, tough – wherever he went, hearts fluttered.
Male fans' hearts fluttered even more than female fans'.
Some praised his good looks, some his long fingers, some his perky butt.
"Bros, come check out our Qingli boss's physique!"
The photo showed Jiang Chengyao in swimming class, with a handsome face that said "I'm in a bad mood, you'd better not provoke me". Fair-skinned, tall, and slim, but with broad shoulders. His vigorous frame combined youthful innocence with just the right amount of muscle.
His superior height reduced the classmates next to him to mere background.
Wait a minute... Wasn't this supposed to be about his physique? Why did the person who took this sneaky photo focus on the lower half with the black swim trunks, and even zoom in?
Several photos that needed pixelation elicited screams from countless perverts.
"Everyone knows not to stand next to Brother Yao in the shower, is this even a secret anymore?"
...Dude, your underwear is showing!
"My bro Yao is clearly a foam machine!"
...Pretending I didn't understand that.
This was actually the most popular post about Jiang Chengyao?
The internet is full of perverts.
Sui Yi closed the tab with a blank expression!
Next, he searched for his second roommate, Gu Qingyang.
There were also many photos of Gu Qingyang – in the broadcasting room, the library, on stage at the freshman welcome party, volunteering at a nursing home.
Hmm, clearly he had a rich extracurricular life.
His demeanor was the complete opposite of the first roommate – extremely positive and refreshing. His smile was bright, his skin glowed with clarity, and his features were clean-cut. Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, his smile was like a spring breeze. He looked less like a student and more like the male lead in a campus romance drama.
Definitely the school's heartthrob!
Gu Qingyang also came from an impressive background. His father was the vice president of Jianghai Academy of Fine Arts, and his mother was Huang Yingshi, a famous Kunqu opera artist in Jianghai.
This would be considered an artistic family, right?
Sui Yi scrolled down a bit more, and suddenly a swimming photo appeared on the screen.
"Girls, who do you think is bigger – the boss or the campus heartthrob?"
The bus suddenly lurched, and Sui Yi quickly grabbed the seat back.
Not a single pair of intact underwear to be found on this anonymous forum!
Close tab!
Surely there wouldn't be pool photos of the third roommate too?
Sui Yi searched for the last roommate, named Ling Xuezhu.
Compared to the first two, there were surprisingly few photos of the third roommate, Ling Xuezhu.
Not only were they few, but they were also very plain.
In contrast to the other two boys, he exuded an aura of purity and melancholy. Wearing a simple, clean school uniform, his build was even more slender. With fair skin and jet-black eyes, he looked refined and scholarly. Perhaps because he appeared so pristine, he radiated a "strangers keep away, let me be beautiful alone" vibe.
Both his parents were university professors, coming from a family of intellectuals. He was a famous academic genius in Jiangbei, reportedly never ranking below first place from elementary through high school. He had a mild disability in his leg and didn't like to talk. Despite his odd personality, all the teachers and students liked him.
A top student.
More than his appearance, his aura was outstanding. True to his name, he was like a lone bamboo standing in the snow.
Handsome high school boys had always been at the top of the aesthetic chain. They were healthy, clean, their bodies exuding the scent of youth, brimming with hormones. Like the sun rising between eight and nine in the morning, they were emotionally inexperienced but full of restless thoughts, embodying all the best qualities of both adolescents and adults.
Pure yet vigorous.
One such high school boy was already devastating enough, let alone three at once. Three high school boys as fresh as spring onions – if you didn't know better, you'd think they were holding auditions for a boy band.
The bus chimed, signaling they had reached the border between Jianghai's rich and poor districts. Next to it was a bustling urban village, with lush crabapple trees lining both sides of the road.
He put on his hoodie and stood up to get off the bus.
The girls who had been chatting animatedly looked over at him, then quickly averted their gaze.
Clearly, they didn't think much of him.
This feeling of being unnoticed was quite nice.
He hoped he could remain invisible in this world!
The novel he had entered was called "Boys' High School Dorm". His knowledge of this novel was quite limited - he only knew it was a complex love polygon story, dramatic and exciting, about four high school boys and the events that unfold in a campus-based reality show called "Boys' High School Dorm".
The three high school boys he had searched for earlier were his three roommates.
One was a super-rich school bully, another was a school heartthrob whose looks could put entertainment celebrities to shame, and the third was a particularly charismatic top student.
And he... was a seventeen-year-old pretty boy who could make "anyone fall for him with just a long gaze."
"Even the mist from his breath had a sense of beauty."
A reality show playing out complex relationships, multi-person roommate literature.
This familiar flavor seemed like something he had seen before.
Where the osmanthus flowers grow?
Whatever.
A love story involving four people was too crowded for a slacker like him. Moreover, his skin was naturally more sensitive than others, with even the slightest touch causing a physiological reaction. This character setting of "even the mist from his breath had a sense of beauty" made him sense danger.
He'd better not get involved in this messy roommate literature.
Let others deal with the complicated "I love you, you love him" situation.
He was determined to be a background character in this roommate literature.
An ordinary high school boy who wasn't the school heartthrob, the school bully, or the top student didn't deserve to be the protagonist in a campus story.
He had read quite a few novels before. The one with the lowest looks, lowest popularity, and who constantly praised the protagonists to highlight their excellence... that was the classic background character in BL campus literature.
To be a good, unnoticeable background character, Sui Yi had just gotten a pair of glasses.
Thick black-framed glasses that could seal away all his good looks, completely covering the beautiful eyes and brows that had been praised since he was young.
Now he was going to get a haircut.
No one leaves a hair salon smiling.
Except for Sui Yi.
"Actually, little brother, you're so handsome that any hairstyle would look good on you," the hairstylist said, hand on his heart.
This beautiful young man in front of him trusted him so much, specifically choosing him, the least experienced newcomer in the shop. But look what he had done, turning a handsome guy into such a mess!
Sui Yi's hair was already thicker than average, and after styling, it looked even more like a messy bunch of seaweed, covering his most striking feature - his eyes and brows.
His eyes were truly too beautiful. How could anyone have such attractive double eyelids, gradually extending outwards and slightly upturned? When he smiled, there was a kind of pure sensuality, and when he didn't, there was a cool allure.
Like a fox and a deer at the same time. Anyone who saw him at first glance would have their breath taken away. It was a beauty that made one's heart race.
"I can touch it up a bit more," the hairstylist struggled.
As soon as his fingers touched the back of the other's neck, the handsome guy slightly dodged, his neck flushing with an unclear redness. "No need, this is fine."
The hairstylist couldn't help but sigh:
Beautiful and kind-hearted.
No wonder he's so handsome!
September 1st, Wednesday, the official start of the school year at Qingli High School.
Qingli High School, located in the Dongshan New District of Jianghai City, was the most famous high school in Jianghai. Its fame wasn't just due to its academic achievements, but also because of its prime location. On one side, it was adjacent to the most expensive villa district in Jianghai, and on the other side, it was next to the city government. Those who could attend this school were either rich or influential.
Today, Qingli was particularly bustling. Maybachs, Porsches, Range Rovers, Bentleys, and other luxury cars, brands both familiar and unfamiliar, were queuing up to enter Qingli.
Not an aristocratic school, but might as well be one.
Sui Yi, carrying his backpack, rode his bike through the gaps in the traffic flow and stopped at the main gate. On his left was a black Porsche Cayenne. He turned his head to look through the car window and vaguely saw a boy of about sixteen or seventeen.
The boy seemed to sense his gaze and turned to look at him. He had a faint scholarly air, with handsome yet shadowy features, hidden in the white light reflected on the car window.
As the car in front drove in, Sui Yi pedaled and took the opportunity to ride into the campus.
He had been to Qingli twice before the start of school, so this time he took a shortcut, turning into the tree-lined avenue on the right. Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the plane trees, casting dappled shadows on him.
Except for his somewhat messy hairstyle, his cuffs, collar, and trouser legs were all neat and tidy, covering his sensitive skin. But as the wind blew his light autumn school uniform, making his chest tremble slightly, Sui Yi shrugged, suppressing the mild discomfort.
His dormitory building was in the southeast corner of the school, nicknamed the Little Soviet Building. It was painted red on the outside, completely in the style of early Soviet-era small Western-style buildings, with a total of six floors. His dorm, 408, was on the easternmost side of the 4th floor. Beyond the wall was a low-lying villa area, and beyond that was the wide expanse of the North River.
Before he even entered the dormitory building, he saw it was crowded with people.
Not just students from Qingli, but also students from neighboring schools who had come to see the excitement on the first day of school.
The Little Soviet Building had an outdoor spiral staircase, with boys constantly going up and down. From the stairs, you could see the corridors of all six floors, with the fourth floor being the most crowded, filled with lounging boys, creating a lively atmosphere.
Northern boys were generally taller and more robust than their southern counterparts, exuding testosterone.
Sui Yi stopped not far from room 408, carrying his heavy backpack.
He couldn't go further, there were too many people.
In the crowd, he saw a familiar face.
He was a bit taller than the boys around him, wearing a white shirt and thin gold-rimmed glasses. A beam of light fell on his face, the light and shadows moving across it. He truly looked like he had stepped out of an idol drama, with stunningly good looks.
Ten times more handsome than in the online photos, he seemed like a different species compared to the other boys.
The 2D world indeed set the highest standards for everything.
What he was facing was a group of divine high school boys who had walked out of the world of 2D characters into reality.
The kind where even their testosterone had a fragrant aroma.
"Sui Yi!"
The lady from "Boys' High School Dorm" who was his contact saw him first and hurriedly waved at him.
With her call, everyone turned to look at him.
Sui Yi pulled down his sleeve a bit, covering his slender white wrists, and walked through the crowd with his backpack to stand at the door of room 408.
In an instant, the chattering crowd, both upstairs and downstairs, suddenly fell silent.
They all stared at him in unison.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of a helicopter came from the playground behind. In the daylight shining on the playground, security guards ran over waving small flags as a helicopter slowly descended onto the field, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
Then he heard boys shouting from upstairs: "Holy shit, Yao-ge came in a helicopter, that's so cool!"
Someone got off the helicopter, a tall and slender boy who walked with a kind of lazy coolness.
Everyone on the entire floor was watching him. The wind seemed to surge out from under the helicopter's blades, making the plane tree leaves rise and fall. Sui Yi's old bicycle stood lonely in the shade of the trees.
The wind messed up Sui Yi's bangs, revealing his beautiful eyes and brows.
Sui Yi pulled up his collar and said, "...That really is cool."