Chapter 5: Not a Mafia Boss

These days, Shen Ru was busy with schoolwork and classes. Since he was going to start with the act of a troublemaker becoming a diligent student, he had to actually take it seriously, which meant paying attention to class, doing his homework, and studying for quizzes.

This time after class, Jun Zixin arrived at their classroom to fetch them for tutoring. While Shen Ru was loading his items into his bag, he heard a conversation between a female student and Jun Zixin.

The female student asked, "Jun xuezhang, you've been coming here for almost a week. Why?"

"Oh, I'm tutoring Shen Ru, Gu Haoyu, and Jia Hao."

"Oh, okay— wait, what?!"

As shocked as the female student was, she didn't show it much when faced with the gentle and charming Jun Zixin. However, Shen Ru knew better than to think that this was the end of it.

"Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao aren't here today," Shen Ru spoke after the female student left.

"Oh, they aren't here?" Jun Zixin asked.

Shen Ru shrugged. "Family matters."

In actuality, he had ordered them to be absent from school today. Jia Hao was disappointed that he couldn't work on his studies, but Gu Haoyu was overwhelmingly thankful to him.

Why did he do it? To be honest, he was just curious about what would happen if he spent some time alone with Jun Zixin. Aside from the few minutes of confrontations when they stumbled upon each other in school, they hadn't had the chance to be alone with each other because of his two lackeys.

"I see." If Jun Zixin noticed that he was lying, he didn't show it on his face. "Let's go to Tango Café now."

When they arrived in their private lounge in Tango Café, Jun Zixin had already brought out mathematical exercises when Shen Ru spoke up, "What do you do usually?"

Jun Zixin paused for a moment and chuckled. "Why are you acting like someone on a blind date?"

Shen Ru frowned. "I just want to know more about my tutor, is there something wrong with that?"

"Well then, there's no harm in that." Jun Zixin shrugged. "Usually, I'm busy with studying, doing my duties as the student council president, and doing schemes behind the scenes. And no, I'm not the mafia boss you're thinking of. It's just that my family has many contacts and resources."

Shen Ru tried to find any information about Jun Zixin from the information given by the system but found nothing. The information only included the plot and the personal memories from the original Shen Ru, so this was inevitable.

"I assume your family is pretty rich?"

"Insanely rich, I wouldn't even need to work a day in my life if I wanted to," Jun Zixin answered. "Your family is pretty rich too, I've heard. I heard one of my uncles planning a collaboration between our family and yours, something about mining operations."

Shen Ru perked up at that. In the original plot, there was indeed supposed to be a business deal between the Shen family and some other rich businessman. Unfortunately, it all fell halfway through when Hua Xiu started attacking the Shen family. Even though she was still a college student at that time, she had already snatched a backer early in the plot.

"Hobbies?" Shen Ru changed the topic.

Jun Zixin laughed. "Now, this is definitely starting to sound like a blind date." He paused for a bit to think and said, "I don't have many hobbies, but I do like playing chess."

"Of course, you would enjoy chess."

"How about you? Do you have any hobbies?"

"I like playing piano—" Shen Ru suddenly went silent. Because of the comfortable atmosphere in the air, he had completely forgotten that he wasn't acting as himself right now. Who would even expect that the good-for-nothing Shen Ru would have enough self-discipline to learn piano?

Thankfully, Jun Zixin didn't seem to notice his blunder. He continued to talk, "You should play some piano for me sometime."

Shen Ru tried to hide his nervousness with a snark, "Considering that you may possibly be a mafia boss, I'd rather not."

"See? I knew you thought I was a mafia boss! When I was giving out clues to you, you always had that fearful expression on your face."

"If you toned down the intimidation, I would actually believe you."

"C'mon, me, intimidating? Many women would disagree."

"Oh wow, you're actually a self-aware ladies' man. My respect for you has gone poof."

"As if you had respect for me in the first place."

"I'm glad you're self-aware."

After a couple of minutes of back-and-forth bantering, the two of them finally started reviewing that day's homework. While Shen Ru listened to Jun Zixin talk about hyperbolas, he couldn't help but think that spending time alone with him wasn't that bad. At least Jun Zixin wasn't that much of an ass.

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It was inevitable that news about Jun Zixin and them would spread throughout the whole school. At first, Shen Ru guessed that it would take at least two days at the earliest, but the next day he returned to school, he was greeted with the assessing gazes of his schoolmates. While their hushed voices couldn't reach him, he knew exactly who they were talking about.

When he arrived at their classroom, Gu Haoyu instantly approached him. "Boss, why is everyone talking about us now? We didn't even go to school yesterday."

Shen Ru explained what happened yesterday and added, "It's not Jun xuezhang, don't blame him."

"Of course, it's not Jun xuezhang's fault!" Jia Hao seemed to have become Jun Zixin's superfan after a few days. "Have you heard them insult us, though? They even called Boss Ru a good-for-nothing. They're just jealous that Jun xuezhang is tutoring us."

Shen Ru gave Jia Hao a look, satisfied that the formerly braindead lackey had now gotten a brain. Now, if they could change Gu Haoyu's haircut, it would be even better…

Gu Haoyu, who was given a mysterious look by Shen Ru: "???"

Shen Ru was expecting that the rumors circulating about them would be the biggest thing to happen on this day, but he hadn't expected that someone's money-grubbing hands couldn't hold themselves back.

It was break time when a male student suddenly caused a ruckus, "Someone stole my phone!"

Shen Ru, who was chatting with Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao, was initially confused. Then, he recalled the information about the original plot and realized that this was one of the minor plot points where Hua Xiu stole things from other people.

Some of their classmates asked the student, "What happened? Where did you last see it?"

"I just left it here on my desk. When I went to the bathroom and returned, it wasn't there anymore," he explained. "Aish, that was an iPhone 14 Pro Max fully paid, whoever stole it, I'll sue them!"

Shen Ru sneaked a glance over at Hua Xiu, and as expected, she didn't seem the least bit guilty about committing a crime. Just like the rest of their class, she wore a confused and surprised expression on her face.

"Wasn't a wallet stolen a week ago? Do you guys think that it's the same thief?" Shen Ru spoke up.

"That's right, it might be the same person," one of their classmates agreed.

In the original plot, because cannon fodder extras were brainless, this theory was brought up by no one in the class. After they graduated from high school, no one discovered that the thief had been Hua Xiu. As the rich kids they were, they only thought it was normal to lose things and let bygones be bygones. However, now that the class was finally aware that there was a rampant thief in the class, Shen Ru was interested in whether or not Hua Xiu will crack under the pressure.

Shen Ru suddenly felt an angry gaze set on him. When he looked back at Hua Xiu, he only found her looking worriedly at the classmate who lost his phone. He smirked at this. Why are you angry at someone for stating the obvious?

In the end, the phone wasn't found, although Jun Zixin did visit again to facilitate the search for bags. Hua Xiu was ecstatic that she had seen him again, and it could clearly be seen on her face. For an unknown reason, Shen Ru felt uneasy by her blushing face while Jun Zixin was searching her bag, but he simply attributed this to what one would feel when seeing a toad lusting after a swan's flesh [1].

When the time came for Jun Zixin to search inside his bag, Jun Zixin gave him a subtle wink before moving on to his bag. Shen Ru looked sideways to hide him rolling his eyes.

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While the original Shen Ru failed to find evidence for Hua Xiu's thievery, it wasn't the same for the current Shen Ru. According to the original plot, after stealing the phone, Hua Xiu would bring it to one of those seedy phone repair shops to have its password unlocked. Because of Hua Xiu's seemingly innocent appearance, the staff believed her excuse that she had forgotten the password to her phone and then unlocked the phone for her. In the end, because the phone was relatively new, she was able to sell it for a high price.

After class ended, Shen Ru subtly looked at Hua Xiu. Hua Xiu was no different today, but he could see that she was rushing a bit. He knew that today, she wasn't going to visit her grandmother, but to the phone repair shop.

"I'll come late today, tell Jun xuezhang that I'm busy with something," Shen Ru told Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao.

Jia Hao was confused. "Why, Boss?"

Meanwhile, Gu Haoyu was more enlightened. "Boss is busy, Hao Hao."

"Oh," Jia Hao innocently said.

Because Shen Ru knew exactly which phone repair shop Hua Xiu was going to, he didn't need to stalk her again. He simply found a taxi to head to the same phone repair shop and paid the taxi driver a more expensive fare to speed up the travel.

When he arrived at the phone repair shop, as planned, Hua Xiu wasn't there yet. He approached one of the staff and politely said, "Hello, someone stole my friend's cellphone. May I ask if anyone with an iPhone 14 Pro Max came?"

The same male staff that Hua Xiu had talked to in the original plot replied, "I'm sorry, but no, we could contact you if we see one though. Can you give us more information about the phone, like its lock screen wallpaper or phone case?"

"It has a panda as the lock screen and its case is red. If you find it, you can contact my friend." After that, Shen Ru gave the name and phone number of the student who lost his phone.

Before Shen Ru could leave, the staff asked again, "Sir, may I ask your name? In case we can't contact your friend."

Shen Ru smiled. "No need to know my name, just think of me as my friend's guardian angel. If you can't contact my friend, call the police. It's even better that you call the police together with my friend. They'll know what to do."

With that said, Shen Ru didn't hesitate to turn around and leave, disappearing as fast as he had appeared. The staff had to pinch himself awake to determine if he was dreaming.

To avoid Hua Xiu who was probably on her way now, Shen Ru flagged down a taxi and gave the location for Tango Café. On the way there, he couldn't help but reveal a smirk. Evil people should get their punishment.

When he entered the usual lounge in Tango Café, Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao were busy doing exercise worksheets. Taking advantage of the fact that they were too focused to pay attention to them, Jun Zixin grinned and whispered to Shen Ru, "Why do I have a feeling that you came from the scene of the crime?"

Shen Ru had an innocent smile on his face. "What are you talking about?"

The two of them looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Jun Zixin said, "Do your work. I'm still angry that you tried to slack off."

Shen Ru chuckled and took a seat next to Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao. As he began to read the exercise worksheet, he was smiling from ear to ear.

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As soon as Shen Ru entered school the next day, he already sensed that there was something wrong in the air. Police cars were parked outside and a crowd of people were surrounding the hallway leading to the principal's office. The door to the principal's office was conveniently left open and everyone in the area could hear the principal's angry voice.

Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao were also there among the crowd, eating melon [2] with ecstatic faces.

Shen Ru spotted and approached them. He asked despite already having an idea of the situation, "What's happening?"

"It's Hua Xiu, she was actually the one who stole Xun Cheng's phone! We don't know what's happening clearly, but it seems to be that Hua Xiu got found out by the police. They brought her to school so Xun Cheng's parents and the principal can discuss what'll happen to her. She's still under 18 after all, she can't possibly get locked up." Gu Haoyu explained.

"Honestly, she's getting what she deserves. I still haven't forgotten what you said once about her, Boss. If she can steal coins from the wishing fountain, then she can definitely steal a phone!" Jia Hao remarked.

"I suppose classes will start late today," Shen Ru wryly said.

Shen Ru was indeed telling the truth. When the time came for classes to start, some teachers tried to have the students return to their classrooms. Unfortunately, this was a school filled with hot-blooded students that couldn't be disciplined. It took nearly half an hour before all the students finally went back to their classrooms.

Before they returned to their classrooms though, they were able to see Hua Xiu getting escorted out of the principal's house with a pale face. With how the police officers were letting her walk freely, she was definitely not going to be arrested. Unfortunately, this was not the worst part about this. Her reputation had already been tainted unless she found a way to bounce back from this.

Shen Ru was amused as he watched the circus that Little Red Riding Hood had created. He knew though that, as the protagonist of this world, she'll definitely find a chance to regain her reputation. Just like how Little Red Riding Hood could find a brave and strong huntsman to kill the wolf for her, she'll snatch up a golden master [3] to protect her from the consequences of her actions.

It's a shame though, that unlike the original fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood didn't even try to save her dear grandmother.

While Hua Xiu was walking toward the school gates, she accidentally made eye contact with Shen Ru. Shen Ru simply gave her a friendly smile. Her pale face became even stiffer.

"You really did come from the scene of the crime," he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind him.

Shen Ru turned around, only to come face-to-face with a smiling Jun Zixin. He chuckled and said, "I wasn't the criminal though, was I?"

Jun Zixin hummed and suddenly ruffled his head. Shen Ru frowned and tried to stop his hands from moving. "Hey, you're messing up my hair!"

"Ah, you're just too cute, Xiao Ru." Seeing that his intentions were not appreciation, Jun Zixin settled on just patting his head. "Tell me next time if you're thinking of some schemes. If I was involved in today's show, she would've been in a worse situation than now."

Shen Ru rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. What 'I'm not a mafia boss'? You're definitely one.

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Footnotes:

[1] Wishful thinking, like an ugly man lusting over a beautiful woman

[2] Onlookers looking at gossip

[3] Financial backer