Chapter 4: Redemption Arc for Delinquents

At this moment, three delinquents who were usually out and about in hallways, finding trouble everywhere they went, were sitting like obedient students with books in their hands. Even the librarian who was a certified gossip-lover was staring at them with wide and confused eyes. Students inside the library tacitly avoided sitting at their tables.

While Shen Ru was trying to focus on the Math textbook in his hands, both Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao were communicating mentally with confused and perplexed eyes.

'What is Boss Ru planning?'

'Is Boss Ru doing this to impress a girl?'

Finally, after repeated eye contact to no avail, Gu Haoyu finally spoke up in a hushed voice, "Boss Ru, are you on drugs?"

Shen Ru was speechless. "Is that how low you see me?"

"Boss, are you mensao? [1]" It was Jia Hao's turn to ask.

Now, Shen Ru was completely confused. "What are you thinking in that head of yours?"

"I was thinking that you actually like Fang Li. I heard once that her type is the smart and intelligent school grass, just like Jun Zixin." Seeing the empty look on Shen Ru's face, Jia Hao continued, "Don't worry, Boss, you don't need to change yourself for a woman. Just like the popular quote says, 'Be yourself'. If someone really loves you, they would accept you for who you are."

It was a few more seconds when Shen Ru finally reacted. This time, Jia Hao's was so loud that people from other tables were now staring at them. He sighed and said, "Let's go outside, this is not the place for conversations."

The students in the library reflexively sighed in relief at this. The librarian, who had been expecting a brawl, was the same.

While Shen Ru led the way out, Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao kept giving each other cunning gazes. When Shen Ru noticed it, he just shrugged. Who knows what these little troublemakers are up to?

When they were finally out of the library, Gu Haoyu was the first to speak up, "Boss, you don't need to change yourself for others. Anyway, men like Jun Zixin are really uncool. They're just like a skeleton, all bones and skin. Jun Zixin probably can't even throw a punch."

Shen Ru felt speechless. "Okay, enough with the English similes, and don't mention Jun Zixin again. Haven't you heard of the idiom, 'speak of the devil and he shall appear'?"

"You're the one speaking English this time, Boss," Gu Haoyu replied.

"Aish, we're not using English anymore, okay?" Shen Ru said, "Let me explain this clearly to you. I don't want us to study because of some woman. I want us to study for our future. We have to take Gaokao next year, at that time we'll become adults, don't you think that we should start readying for our future?"

"Boss…. Why do you sound like my mother all of a sudden?" Jia Hao asked.

Shen Ru raised an eyebrow. "Who's your mother?"

"N-No, Boss, no one's my mother!"

"Boss Ru, are you really serious about this? The three of us are practically at the bottom of the whole grade," Gu Haoyu said.

Shen Ru nodded. "Haven't you noticed that I've been paying attention to class lately?"

"But, boss…we don't really want to study."

Shen Ru paused and decided to try out a tried and tested tactic for hoodlums like him. "Wouldn't rising up from the bottom of the grade irritate those pretentious honor students? They always call us 'good-for-nothings'. Don't you want to see them getting face slapped when they realize that they're wrong?"

The more Shen Ru talked, the more their facial expression changed. Finally, he added the cherry on top, "It would be even better if we scored higher than them on exams. They'll probably wail and cry that we're cheating, but they'll have no choice but to accept it in the end."

"I agree with you, Boss! We should do this, teach those pretentious guys a lesson!" It was as if Jia Hao was injected with chicken blood [2].

Gu Haoyu was more hesitant. "While I want to support you, Boss, don't you think this is a bit too impossible? These pretentious guys study more than five hours a day, and we haven't been listening to class for years. We have to study up on the previous years' lessons if we want to rise up."

Shen Ru nodded, understanding Gu Haoyu's point. He, himself, had already forgotten his high school lessons after years in the workforce. "That's true, maybe we could hire a tutor..."

"Don't worry about that, Boss, I can talk to my mother about this. She's been pestering me to get a tutor for years. She'll definitely be ecstatic if she discovers that I want to study," Jia Hao said.

"That's good." Shen Ru felt relieved. "Then, from now on, we should listen to the class and do homework. If Jia Hao finds a tutor, then we'll go there after class. No partying and no trouble-making. Don't even go pester Hua Xiu anymore. We don't want those guys finding trouble for us."

"Understood, Boss!" Jia Hao was enthusiastic.

While Gu Haoyu was a bit hesitant about this, he agreed anyway, "You got it, Boss."

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After class ended for the day, Shen Ru was waiting for his chauffeur when he stumbled upon Jun Zixin. He furrowed his eyebrows. Why did he keep meeting this extra that didn't even appear in the original plot?

"Hey," Jun Zixin greeted him.

In consideration for his student council position, Shen Ru replied politely, "Hello."

"You move very quickly."

Shen Ru was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Just a few hours after I gave you a clue, you've already had a private investigator going after him," Jun Zixin said. "I didn't expect that you had deep contacts in the underworld, I had underestimated you."

Oh, wow. Shen Ru hadn't expected that Old Hao was actually an important person in the underworld. With these thoughts, he replied with a question, "Are…you really just a student?"

Jun Zixin smiled and answered, "As the student council president, I need to keep an eye on school matters."

After he said that, Shen Ru spotted his chauffeur. He simply bid goodbye to Jun Zixin and entered the car. At that time, he had completely accepted that he'll keep encountering Jun Zixin for the rest of the school year. What he didn't expect though was that he'll stumble upon him again in another way.

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"Boss Ru, my mother found a tutor for us, there's bad news though…" Jia Ha looked a bit troubled two days later.

"What is it?" Shen Ru asked.

"As you know, my mother has connections in our school. She was a bit too excited when she found out that I was looking for a tutor, so she contacted the #1 student… I'm sure you already know how this is going to go."

Gu Haoyu was open-mouthed. "Jun Zixin's going to tutor us?!"

"That's Jun xuezhang for you," A police and gentle voice cut in.

The three of them turned their heads in the direction of the voice and discovered Jun Zixin listening to their conversation. Receiving their attention, he chuckled and said, "I'm Jun Zixin, your tutor. You can call me Jun xuezhang. I hope we get along well."

Shen Ru had a dark expression on his face. Initially, he was a bit gleeful that he could torture Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao, these two fools, into memorizing the multiplication table, but now, having to put up with this suspicious person was like shooting himself in the foot. He deeply regretted ever trying to give a redemption arc to these two delinquents.

"J-Jun xuezhang!" Both Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao exclaimed at the same time.

Shen Ru mentally clicked his tongue at these two fools and said, "Jun xuezhang, I didn't expect that you would be willing to become our tutor. Haven't you heard of our reputation?"

Jun Zixin smiled and nodded. "I have, but I still believe that every person has the potential to rise up and become a good student. Taking initiative to better yourself shows more potential rather than giving up without trying."

Jia Hao was even more enthusiastic now. "Thank you, Jun xuezhang, we'll definitely work hard to study!"

Gu Haoyu looked at Shen Ru as if asking, 'Should we tell him that this is not good news?'. In the end, Shen Ru shrugged in response. In actuality, he was a bit afraid of Jun Zixin. All the signs since the start pointed at the possibility that he had connections with the underworld. Becoming their tutor to watch over Shen Ru may be the worst thing that could happen.

"I hope you're as enthusiastic as now until the end. Now, follow me. I usually study at Tango Café. If you haven't heard of it, it's a study lounge café where we can rent a room for a few hours. Mrs. Jia has already paid me the rent fee so it's nothing to worry about."

All in all, getting tutored by Jun Zixin was actually nothing to complain about. In fact, Shen Ru's 100% sure that many girls would be jealous of them if they found out about this. Ignoring the suspicious vibes, Jun Zixin was meticulous and patient when teaching people. Even if you were a complete idiot, you would learn something from his explanations.

What's even more amazing was that Jun Zixin was teaching them lessons that they should've learned at most two years ago, with no impatience showing on his face. If Shen Ru didn't know about his connections with the underworld, he would've thought that he was Buddha.

At one point, when Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao were busy solving a mathematical problem, Shen Ru shifted his attention from his notebook and sent Jun Zixin a questioning look. The mirth in Jun Zixin's eyes could be clearly seen as he typed something on his phone.

Then, after a few seconds, he showed him his phone. On the Notes app, it was written, 'Let's talk later'.

Shen Ru nodded in understanding and continued on with his work.

When it was nearing 7:00 PM, one of the staff came to their lounge to inform them that the café was closing soon. Jun Zixin said, "We'll wrap up for today. For the unfinished exercises, you can do that in your home and I'll check it tomorrow. After class ends, I'll come to your classroom. If I'm not there yet, you can just assume that I was busy with something else. Just wait for me, I'll definitely come."

Jia Hao enthusiastically nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, Jun xuezhang!"

Both Gu Haoyu and Shen Ru shared a look and said the same, albeit more reluctantly.

Jia Hao and Gu Haoyu's chauffeur had already arrived, but Shen Ru's hadn't so he had to wait outside. Before leaving, Gu Haoyu had asked, "Boss Ru, would it be alright for you to be alone this late in the night?"

"Of course, he will be, our Boss Ru is strong and mighty!" exclaimed the superfan, Jia Hao.

Gu Haoyu felt helpless. "You know that's not what I mean…"

"Xiao Ru will be fine, I'll wait together with him, my chauffeur hasn't arrived yet," Jun Zixin said.

Shen Ru bowed down his end to cover the disdainful expression on his face. What his chauffeur hasn't arrived yet, he could clearly see the Mercedes-Benz with 'Jun' engraved on it right across the road!

Not to mention, why call him Xiao Ru? They didn't even know each other that well!

"See, Boss Ru will definitely be fine!" Jia Hao said.

Although Gu Haoyu seemed to have his suspicions, he backed down, seeing that Shen Ru didn't have any complaints. "Okay, see you tomorrow, Boss Ru."

Once the two had left, Shen Ru finally spoke up, "Do you have any connection to the matter of Li Zhong or do you just know about it?"

Jun Zixin smirked. "How are you so sure that something's up with Li Zhong? You're not related to the event that happened more than 20 years ago."

Shen Ru fell into silence. He was unsure if showing his cards too early in the game would be beneficial to him. From what he'd observed, the more he showed his knowledge, the more information Jun Zixin revealed. However, what if Jun Zixin was some kind of secret evil boss in the original plot? Then, revealing that he was in the know would be his doom.

"…Can't you tell me what's actually going on?" Shen Ru asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm not doing charity, of course not, but I'll give you a couple of hints occasionally if I'm feeling generous."

Shen Ru sighed. "You're a complete ass, do you know that?"

Jun Zixin laughed. "I know that and I'm proud of it."

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Back at his house, Shen Ru was working on his homework when a notification rang from his phone. He paused and began thinking about any rude person that would contact him at 1:00 AM, which yielded no one but a certain person. He opened his phone, and sure enough, it was Old Hao, his godfather that apparently had deep contacts within the underworld.

Old Hao: [File attached]

Old Hao: Here are the files from the private investigator, kiddo.

Old Hao: I already gave them a 5-star rating so you don't need to.

Shen Ru rolled his eyes and sent: 'You're welcome, old man.'

Old Hao: I'm not old, I'm still 42!!!!!!!!

Shen Ru ignored his last massage and moved on to the file attachment. The document's first page initially listed all the basic information about Li Zhong: his name, gender, age, and address, among others. The second page, which listed his family and relatives was more interesting.

As Jun Zixin said, Li Zhong's mother was surnamed Hua, whose full name was Hua Jiali, and was one of the many children of Hua Xue's grandmother. Their Hua family was actually pretty rich and well-known decades ago, with most of the money coming from their family company, but strangely, this family company filed for bankruptcy 24 years ago. Before the company filed for bankruptcy, the company's chairman was Li Zhong's father.

Shen Ru could see from a mile away that this was the classic case of family infighting. This was inevitable in wealthy and big families. Unfortunately, the document couldn't confirm his theory, as there was a note from the private investigator that he couldn't investigate any deeper because all forms of evidence from 24 years ago had vanished mysteriously.

This implied that the Hua at least had some power, even after bankruptcy, which may be the reason why even Jun Zixin was informed about their situation. Now, who held this so-called power? Of course…it was the one who held the money.

Shen Ru already had some theories about what happened 24 years ago. He only needed to confirm these theories through the main characters of the matter, and then he would complete his mission.

As he was smiling to himself, thinking of how to go about this, he received another message. This time, it was from Jun Zixin, who had vehemently convinced him to exchange numbers yesterday afternoon.

Jun xuezhang: Why are you still awake? Good students also need good sleep.

Shen Ru: Says the one who covers his eye bags with foundation.

Jun xuezhang: Why do you have to call me out like that? QAQ

Shen Ru chuckled. He had noticed this a long time ago. When he first saw Jun Zixin, he seemed too perfect. He was the student council president, the top student in their school, and was good at sports. After he had known that he was also involved in underworld matters, he seemed almost superhuman. It wasn't possible that he could handle these matters without sporting dark eye bags on some days of the week.

However, he wasn't particularly disdainful of this habit. Everyone wanted to show the most perfect version of himself, even himself.

Suddenly, the matters of the past repeated inside his head: their disdainful gazes, their mocking words, and—

The system suddenly spoke up: [Host, are you okay? I detect large emotional fluctuations from you.]

Shen Ru recovered from his stupor and replied hurriedly, "Oh, it's nothing."

Trying to erase the traces of those memories, he shifted his gaze onto his paper. Busying his mind with calculus would surely distract him.

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Footnotes:

[1] Being resentful to someone for not meeting expectations

[2] A person is excited