Chapter 29: The Silver Chain

“Lloyd, don’t.”

Bai Qi said in a low voice, without stepping in.

Xu Zhou looked at the pile of books. The barcodes had been deliberately torn off halfway, and the spines were stained with coffee.

Under St. Lester’s rules, this was the classic aristocratic way to find fault: a cheap, ugly tactic to test a newcomer’s temper.

Xu Zhou didn’t take offense. He didn’t even lift his eyes. He just picked up the laser scanner and aimed it at one of the defaced books, the one whose cover was practically falling off.

Click.

Click.

The scanner let out its mechanical beep, sharp in the silent library.

“I said one minute. Didn’t you hear me?”

When Xu Zhou stayed silent, Lloyd went further. He raised a hand and made to slap the keyboard Xu Zhou was using.

“A special admission student who used his face to get ahead. Do you really think you can just…”

“Chapter 4, Article 3 of the St. Lester Library Management Regulations,” Xu Zhou cut in. His voice was flat, as if he were reading from a legal document. He didn’t stop. He didn’t even slow his touch-typing. His eyes stayed on the progress bar.

“Intentionally damaging a library barcode: one campus credit point deducted. Forcing a loan without proper classification: fifty-dollar late fee added.

And Master Lloyd, since you just hit the circulation desk, an act of harassment toward an on-duty post, I can revoke your borrowing privileges for this month on the spot, under Article 7 of the Student Handbook.”

Lloyd laughed in disbelief and reached out to grab Xu Zhou’s collar. “You think some crappy rulebook is going to scare me? This library doesn’t need you running your mouth!”

“I’m not the one trying to scare you.”

Xu Zhou stopped what he was doing. He raised his head slowly. Those pretty peach-blossom eyes held no trace of fear, only the pity one might give to an idiot.

He got up from the high stool, taking his time.

Because his movement was a little too wide, the silver chain Gu Yanli had locked around his ankle struck the edge of the rosewood counter, with no chance to avoid it.

Clang!

The metal sound rang through the empty library, sharp and resonant.

Only top-grade cold steel and pure silver alloy made a noise like that.

Lloyd’s hand froze in midair.

His gaze slid down and locked on Xu Zhou’s exposed right ankle. Sunlight through the stained glass landed precisely on the chain engraved “D.Gu.”

That monogram was like an invisible hammer slamming into the nerve endings of a minor noble like Lloyd.

Who at St. Lester didn’t know what that chain meant?

It was the territory marker of Gu Yanli, president of the Discipline Committee.

The forum thread from yesterday, the one that had reached over three thousand replies, titled “Analysis of the President Personally Locking a Silver Chain on the Special Admission Student,” was on a screaming loop in Lloyd’s mind.

He had been at this school for three years, and he knew some jokes could be played and some cats were not to be touched.

If Mateo’s battle robe was just a flamboyant form of favoritism, then Gu Yanli’s chain, carved with his family name and without even a keyhole, was a naked warning: you’ll answer for the consequences.

“Ah… I…”

Lloyd’s fingers trembled. His throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton.

He had assumed Xu Zhou was only a pretty pet favored by several presidents. On Bai Qi’s home turf, as long as no principles were involved, he could step on the guy once or twice without a problem.

But he hadn’t expected the chain to put this kind of pressure on him. It was terrifying, far beyond his imagination.

It was class coming down on him like a crushing blow.

“All entered.”

Xu Zhou acted as if he hadn’t seen the pale face in front of him. He sat back down and slid three printed fine slips and one payment notice across the smooth marble counter, stopping them right in front of Lloyd.

“Two and a half points deducted in total. According to the system, any student whose credit score falls below the passing line is automatically removed from the Golden Terrace dinner roster. Master Lloyd, I don’t think Senior Theodore wants to see you at the venue tonight.”

Xu Zhou tossed his pen into the holder and made a polite “please” gesture. “Take your time leaving. I won’t see you out. Next.”

Lloyd stared at the red notice showing his credit score had gone to zero, then at the silver chain still swaying slightly on Xu Zhou’s ankle.

It was as if his bones had been scooped out. He didn’t dare say another word. Hugging the ruined books, he scrambled out of the library door with his followers.

Bai Qi watched from the side, his fingers pressed hard into the edge of his lecture notes.

The library order he had tried so hard to maintain always came off as timid and careful before those nobles.

But Xu Zhou, just by sitting there with that humiliating chain and running his own small errand the way he always did, had sent those people fleeing as if they’d seen a ghost.

What was this?

The restricted zone guarded by a superior’s chain had actually become Xu Zhou’s most solid shelter in this class jungle.

“Xu Zhou.” Bai Qi’s voice was so low it was almost inaudible. “Do you really believe that chain is protection?”

“I told you. It’s compensation.”

Xu Zhou split open the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar and answered casually. “If I have to haul an iron chain to work, I need at least some money for emotional damage. Otherwise I might not stop myself from breaking into Gu Yanli’s bedroom tonight and smashing the place up.”

Bai Qi said nothing. He gave Xu Zhou one long look, then turned and left the hall.

At five, Xu Zhou clocked out.

He used his freshly earned hourly wage to buy a half-price strawberry yogurt from the vending machine in the basement. He squatted on the library steps, peeled off the lid, and took a sip.

There wasn’t much fruit pulp in it, but on this cool late autumn evening, that cheap sweetness felt incredibly solid.

This was life.

He had dodged a few crazy seniors, wiped out a troublemaker’s points, and gotten himself a free yogurt.

He was just wondering whether to go back to Arden House and keep locking horns with Mateo, or head to Joey’s dorm and scrounge a bowl of instant noodles, when a voice came from behind him.

“Xu Zhou, wait up!”

Joey rushed out of the library door, squatting down beside the stone pillar next to Xu Zhou. He jabbed his straw hard into his own drink box.

“Man, that was solid back there. You just wiped Lloyd’s score into the gutter. I was watching from the back. The second he saw that chain on your ankle, his face looked like he’d seen a ghost.”

Xu Zhou was about to answer when he looked up and froze.

A low-key, all-black custom business vehicle was parked on the curved driveway in front of the main library entrance.

The “Sinclair” six-pointed star emblem, set with tiny diamonds, glittered on the hood with a precise, icy light in the dusk.

The rear window slid down.

Adrian Sinclair was leaning against the light gray velvet cushions, holding a stack of clinic physical exam sheets covered in red annotations.

He wasn’t in school uniform today. He wore a deep-colored suit with subtle patterns, and his light chestnut curls tumbled over his gentle brow. He looked like an elegant pianist fresh from a tour.

“Off work, junior?”

Adrian smiled at Xu Zhou, faint dimples showing at the corners of his mouth. His tone was mild, like he was talking about the weather, but it left no room for argument.

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