Chapter 18: The Chain Comes Off

In the black tea room, the aroma of Darjeeling was almost too rich.

Theodore was smiling, but his eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses never left Xu Zhou.

Gu Yanli sat deep in the shadows. His posture looked relaxed, but the pressure coming off him was so heavy that the Student Life Department aide standing by the door didn’t dare breathe too loud.

“Junior?”

Theodore saw that Xu Zhou wasn’t moving. He tapped the rim of his porcelain cup with a fingertip.

“Didn’t bring the key? If it’s not convenient, I can have Black Rose’s technicians run a manual check. The process might be a little rougher than verifying a key.”

He pronounced the word “rougher” very softly. The threat could not be missed.

Xu Zhou sat on the sofa, feeling two stares land on him like blades.

He knew Gu Yanli was watching whether he would take out the key properly. Theodore was waiting to use the safety check as an excuse to stir up trouble and gain an advantage.

As for the key having spent last night at Mateo’s place…

Xu Zhou lowered his lashes and let out a soft laugh.

Under the appraising eyes of two heirs from the most powerful families, he reached calmly into his school uniform pocket and pulled out a silver key, no bigger than a thumbnail.

He did not hand it to Theodore. He did not hand it to Gu Yanli.

Instead, right before both of them, he bent down, rolled up his trouser leg, and inserted the key into the silver lock at his ankle.

Click.

A faint sound.

Gu Yanli’s gaze went dark. In one smooth motion, Xu Zhou unlatched the silver chain engraved with “D.Gu”.

Clatter.

He tossed the cold, gleaming chain onto the long rosewood table, then pushed it, together with the key, squarely in front of Theodore.

“Since Senior Vale wants to run an inspection, checking the key alone wouldn’t be secure enough.”

Xu Zhou pulled his trouser leg back down over his now-free ankle and leaned back into the sofa. His voice was lazy but clear.

“Under Article 42 of the St. Lester Student Safety and Security Regulations, a security limiter is a specially managed device. Once the Student Life Department starts a safety inspection, it must impound and test the device itself. The test period is three working days.”

Theodore’s eyes narrowed behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

Xu Zhou looked at him and continued.

“Also, per the exemption clause in the same regulations, while the device is impounded for testing, the protected person’s security level is not downgraded, but the duty of safety custody automatically shifts from the Disciplinary Office to the party that requested the inspection.”

Xu Zhou smiled gently, as if he were discussing an academic question with an upperclassman.

“That is to say, from now until the end of the test three days from now, if I get hurt at school in any way, or if I face any harassment, the Student Life Department bears full responsibility for failing in its supervisory duty.”

He paused a beat, letting the meaning sink in, then delivered the final blow.

“Take Senior Reyes, for example. He is already furious over this chain. If he finds out it has fallen into the hands of the Student Life Department, he might think Senior Vale is trying to put me under his safety supervision.”

“If he comes crashing into the black tea room, Senior Vale will have to deal with the Crown Prince’s temper personally.”

The black tea room went so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The smile on Theodore’s face froze completely.

He had indeed wanted to use the safety inspection to make things unpleasant for Gu Yanli and to gain some leverage over Xu Zhou at the same time.

What he had not expected was that this special-admit student, usually so mild that he could not even be bothered to get up for an eight a.m. class, had memorized the school’s Security Regulations word for word.

It was a book as thick as a brick, and no one had opened it in ages.

Xu Zhou had tossed that hot potato right back into Theodore’s face.

Keep the chain?

Fine.

Then for the next three days, Xu Zhou’s safety, plus Mateo’s temper, which could explode at any second, would all fall on Theodore and the Student Life Department.

Gu Yanli leaned back in his chair and looked at the chain that had just been returned. The gloom on his face lessened.

He smirked at Theodore.

“Vale, are you starting the impound procedure now? The Disciplinary Office is ready to transfer the safety responsibility whenever you are.”

Theodore’s fingers under the table tightened slightly.

He looked at Xu Zhou’s calm, dark eyes. For the first time, he realized he might have misjudged this special-admit student, who was simply trying to survive in the cracks.

“Heh.”

Theodore let out a low laugh, both amused and helpless. He pushed the chain and the key back.

“Junior, you must be joking. The Student Life Department’s testing equipment has been under maintenance lately. I won’t hold you up.”

He picked up a pen, signed his name on the filing form, stamped it with the department’s seal, and slid it toward Xu Zhou.

“The filing is approved. President Gu’s device is perfectly safe. Junior, have a nice day in class.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

Xu Zhou took the form, folded it, and put it into his bag.

He did not touch the silver chain on the table.

Gu Yanli’s gaze moved from the coldly gleaming chain to Xu Zhou. His brow smoothed, and his voice was low.

“Xu Zhou. Wear it back on.”

“President Gu, I’m really sorry.”

Xu Zhou got to his feet, pointed at the clear red mark the chain had pressed around his ankle, and sighed. His face showed just the right amount of innocence and fatigue.

“Per Article 7, Section 1 of the Security Regulations, safety equipment shall not cause actual physical harm to the protected person.”

“This chain is too heavy, and the material is too hard. It chafed my skin raw. I request that the device be returned to the Disciplinary Office for soft wrapping and resizing.”

He looked at Gu Yanli with a sincere expression.

“Until the Disciplinary Office adjusts it to be comfortable, I have the right to refuse to wear it. During that period, I will keep the location service on my terminal enabled and cooperate with the President’s protection.”

Gu Yanli was speechless.

Theodore, watching Gu Yanli at a loss for words, let out an amused laugh.

Gu Yanli’s face was so dark it seemed ready to drip.

He stared at the rejected silver chain on the table, then at Xu Zhou’s pale ankle, which had slipped out of its restraint and now looked all the more provoking in the air.

His knuckles tightened.

He had always thought he could not lose when it came to pressing people down with the rules at St. Lester.

Today, this special-admit student who usually kept a low profile had used the very same rules to slap him across the face in front of a rival.

“…I understand.”

Gu Yanli forced out those words between clenched teeth. He swept the silver chain from the table into his hand and gave Xu Zhou a cold look.

“I will deliver it to you personally once the adjustment is done.”

“Thank you for your trouble, President.”

Xu Zhou gave a small, polite bow, put both hands back into his uniform pockets, and walked out the door without looking back.

His steps were light. The jingling at his ankle was gone. He radiated the ease of someone who had just regained his freedom.

The black tea room door closed behind him.

Theodore watched the silver chain in Gu Yanli’s hand get squeezed almost out of shape. He took a leisurely sip of black tea.

“President Gu, it seems the one under your protection is much harder to tame than you imagined.”

Gu Yanli did not even glance at him. He stood up with a cold face and walked out, carrying a wave of oppressive, brooding energy.

Outside the academic building, the sun was bright.

Xu Zhou stood on the steps and took a deep breath of fresh air.

Without that heavy chain weighing down his ankle, even the breeze felt a good deal nicer.

He pulled out his phone and turned it on.

A forum notification popped up.

[SHOCK! Special-admit student Xu Zhou rides a shared scooter, escorted in public by the Disciplinary Office and Black Rose’s big shot!]

Xu Zhou swiped it away without any change in expression.

‘Let it all burn. Right now.’

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