Lord Cong was wailing like a ghost as he called Office 404, but Zhou Mu directly snatched the phone and said, “I was just joking with him!”
…Not convincing at all.
Lord Cong strongly suspected that if he hadn’t called for help, he might have been eaten already. He weakly said, “But… but jelly really isn’t made from leather shoes. That’s just an internet rumor.”
“It is a rumor?” Zhou Mu actually seemed to care a little.
Although a Taotie devours everything, Zhou Mu only inherited many of its traits—he wasn’t a pureblood. And living in a time when food was abundant, of course, he paid at least a little attention to food hygiene!
“In that case, is it true that fruits are dyed, boneless chicken feet are sucked clean by old ladies, and pickled vegetables are stomped on with feet?”
Lord Cong: “………”
He was amused at first, but hearing the last one, he sighed deeply, “That’s not something I can explain in a sentence or two… I’ll explain it to you slowly!”
Fortunately, Lord Cong had some experience as a tour guide. He took Zhou Mu on a tour of the city, and aside from clarifying the rumors Zhou Mu had seen on his grandfather’s social media, he also—playing the traitor—pointed out some places that were popular among the local demon.
He felt a bit guilty. Sigh, even though he wanted to be a gentleman, it seemed instinct still won in the end.
“That’s enough for today, right? I have class tomorrow.” Lord Cong tried to get Zhou Mu to let him go.
“Mm, go ahead, school’s important.” Zhou Mu actually seemed understanding—but for some reason, Lord Cong still felt uneasy.
Sure enough, after taking only two steps, he heard Zhou Mu behind him say, “See you next time.”
Next time??
Lord Cong choked up, didn’t even dare to look back, and fled.
……
The next day was Monday, and Zhou Mu had to report to the school his father had arranged.
In the principal’s office, the principal looked at Zhou Mu’s file. He seemed to be from a mountainous area and had been accepted on orders from higher up. The assigned homeroom teacher hadn’t arrived yet, so the principal made small talk: “How long have you been here? Had a chance to look around?”
“I arrived the day before yesterday, went out yesterday—visited the provincial museum, the pedestrian street, Xiu Liu Park…” Zhou Mu listed the places Lord Cong had taken him.
“Other than the provincial museum, you only went out to play, huh? You should check out some historical sites too—like Wenxing Pavilion. It has over 300 years of history, a well-known all-wooden structure…” The principal, a local, was quite proud of the city’s landmarks.
“Three hundred years? That’s younger than my mom. No thanks.” Zhou Mu said.
“Hahaha! How can you talk about your mom like that?” The principal burst out laughing.
Zhou Mu chuckled too—after all, if the truth is outrageous enough, no one takes it seriously.
Before long, Zhou Mu’s future homeroom teacher arrived—a seasoned educator in charge of an honors class, surnamed Lin.
Teacher Lin didn’t beat around the bush. She gave Zhou Mu a few glances, frowning slightly, suspecting that this transfer student the principal was pushing into her class was some kind of nepotism.
Zhou Mu greeted her cluelessly: “Greetings, Master.”
Teacher Lin: “……”
Her brows almost couldn’t stay furrowed—Zhou Mu was cute and a bit deadpan. That ‘Master’ greeting made her lips twitch into a smile. “How many cultivation novels have you read, huh? You teenagers just love joking around like that.”
Zhou Mu: “?”
…That was just how he used to address teachers at his old school!
Despite the laugh, Teacher Lin still decided to give Zhou Mu a placement test. If his basics were terrible and he dragged down her class average, she’d rather argue with the principal than accept him.
Zhou Mu didn’t mind. He took the test paper and started answering.
In about two hours, he finished it. The test covered multiple subjects, and when Teacher Lin reviewed it, she was stunned—Zhou Mu was seriously imbalanced in his subjects!
He was great at math and geography, especially math. But his English and chemistry were a disaster, and his Chinese… hard to describe—not bad, but just weird.
But oddly enough, when you averaged everything out, it wasn’t too terrible…
All in all, he didn’t lower the class’s overall performance.
After thinking for a moment, Teacher Lin said, “Alright, you can join our class. Zhou Mu, your subject imbalance is quite serious. You’re starting your second year of high school, and soon, we’ll be dividing into science and humanities tracks. You’re great at math, so if you want to pursue sciences, you’ll need to catch up in chemistry!”
She’d seen this kind of student before—imbalanced, but not hopeless. People need two legs to walk steadily, after all. Zhou Mu looked clever enough, and she was already thinking about how to help him improve.
With the teacher’s approval, nothing was standing in the way.
“You still need to handle some paperwork, right? I’ll head back to my office. Once you’re done, come find me, and I’ll take you to class,” Teacher Lin said, rubbing her back. “Getting older… just two periods and I’m already this tired.”
“You’re still very young,” Zhou Mu said sincerely. Really—his previous teachers were all ancient monsters, hundreds or even thousands of years old. This was the youngest teacher he’d ever seen.
Though she’d been complimented before, Zhou Mu’s words were the most genuine and direct. Teacher Lin couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, alright—you’re a real character.”
……
After finishing the registration process, Zhou Mu walked alone toward the teaching building the teacher had mentioned. High School No. 2 was big, and since classes were in session, there were only a couple of PE classes moving around the field or gym.
He found Teacher Lin, who then led Zhou Mu to their class. When they arrived at the door, the third period was about to end, so they waited just outside.
Even having just the homeroom teacher standing at the door was nerve-wracking enough—this time, there was also a handsome boy standing beside her.
This boy was so good-looking that he drew everyone’s attention. Plus, he wasn’t wearing the school uniform. The students were itching to gossip—is he a transfer student? But with Teacher Lin standing at the door, they didn’t even dare to stare directly. Any glance at the boy lasted no more than half a second before they quickly looked away.
Thankfully, the bell rang soon. The students all stayed seated, watching as the teacher led the boy inside and said, “This is Zhou Mu, a transfer student joining our class. Let’s give him a warm welcome.”
Before her words were even finished, the class erupted into cheers and long applause.
Zhou Mu was stunned!
Wow, humans were so friendly! He’d never received such treatment at his old school—his classmates there didn’t even dare to move when they saw him.
This kind of warm welcome was truly rare…
“Hehe, let me assign you a seat,” Teacher Lin said, scanning the classroom before locking eyes on You Qi at the back. He was one of their top students—good grades, handsome looks, and even she knew he was super popular at school.
“There just happens to be a seat open next to You Qi. You can sit beside him. There are extra desks and chairs in the back—go ahead and move one over. You Qi is our class’s physics rep and is also good at chemistry. If you have any questions, feel free to ask him. You Qi, please help your new deskmate out, both in academics and day-to-day stuff—he didn’t go to school locally before.”
You Qi was tall. Even sitting in the last row, he stood out above the others. He lazily leaned against the wall, glancing toward the podium—and locked eyes with Zhou Mu.
Human.
Both of them silently came to the same conclusion. Neither could sense anything out of place from the other.
Zhou Mu gave You Qi a friendly smile. He was in a good mood, so the smile was sincere. So far, his impression of human schools and their teachers and students was excellent.
Those big almond-shaped eyes, when smiling, looked especially bright—and a bit cute.
You Qi actually felt a strange flutter in his chest…
It was such an unfamiliar feeling—and it was caused by a boy, no less. Feeling awkward, You Qi straightened his posture slightly and stood up to help Zhou Mu move a desk and chair.
But it wasn’t just You Qi—boys and girls across the classroom were all a bit dazed by Zhou Mu’s smile. He’s too good-looking! What kind of luck does our class have? First You Qi, and now Zhou Mu? We better start taking our eye exercises seriously so we don’t miss anything!
“Thanks,” Zhou Mu said as he watched You Qi easily carry a desk and chair next to his. The two desks were of the same size and lined up so perfectly that it was like they had always belonged together.
After Zhou Mu walked over, You Qi didn’t feel any odd aura or suspicion—just that Zhou Mu’s smile was unusually charming, which was rare. So he simply gave a casual “Mm” in response.
Teacher Lin came over again and handed Zhou Mu’s test paper to You Qi. “Zhou Mu, have You Qi go over the problems you got wrong when he has time.”
“Okay,” Zhou Mu replied, spreading the paper across the middle line of their desks and sliding it over to You Qi. “Sorry to trouble you!”
Because of his clear, bright eyes, Zhou Mu looked innocent and a little childish. Being new, he was slightly timid and very obedient—whatever the teacher said, he did it immediately, without even thinking of slacking off.
When You Qi looked down at the paper, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
Zhou Mu was definitely good at math, but his language arts skills were… all over the place.
His classical Chinese section was nearly perfect—he could translate ancient texts accurately. But then he messed up two characters in the names of the authors of the Four Great Classical Novels: Luo Guanzhong and Cao Xueqin. Ridiculously low-level errors. For both of those to exist on the same test paper—it was outright contradictory.
—Let’s be honest, even Teacher Lin would’ve suspected Zhou Mu cheated if she hadn’t written the test herself.
“You’re interested in classical Chinese?” You Qi asked, deciding not to immediately point out the dumb mistakes. Instead, he tried to ease into the topic—maybe there was more going on behind it.
His voice was noticeably softer than usual, which caught the attention of the students in the front row. It sounded like he was trying not to scare the shy new kid.
“Eh, kind of,” Zhou Mu thought for a second. “Oh, I just saw the illustrated edition of The Plum in the Golden Vase a few days ago. Lots of steamy scenes, pretty juicy.”
You Qi: “…………”
The sweet, shy Zhou Mu: “Deskmate, why aren’t you saying anything?”
