Chapter 21 Breeder Official Announcement
That evening, as soon as Lin Yan came out of the laboratory, he was stopped by a junior student who he was quite familiar with.
With Lin Yan's gentle and kind face, the junior student described the "shocking" Zaun showdown in the corridor that afternoon in a halting and exaggerated manner, emphasizing the "glorious deeds" of how I "debated with the scholars", "scolded Zhao Lei to death", and "fought against many people alone", as well as how Zhao Lei's face turned ashen and he threatened to cause trouble for me.
The smile on Lin Yan's face, as warm as the spring sun, remained unchanged. He even nodded gently to his junior: "Really? Chen Rui is a little impatient. Thank you for telling me. I will keep an eye on him."
His voice was as gentle and pleasant as always, as if he was discussing the weather.
The younger student was comforted by his gentle smile and waved his hands repeatedly: "It's okay, it's okay, Senior Lin, I'm just worried that classmate Chen Rui will suffer. Zhao Lei is a bit of a scoundrel..."
"Don't worry," Lin Yan smiled and patted his junior's shoulder, his eyes so gentle that they could drown people, "I'm here. Thank you for your hard work. I'll treat you to milk tea another day."
The junior student was so overwhelmed by Lin Yan’s “central air conditioning”-level care that he thanked him repeatedly and left.
However, the moment the junior turned around and disappeared at the stairs, the perfect and gentle smile on Lin Yan's face disappeared quickly like the tide, and the temperature in his eyes instantly dropped to freezing point.
He pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, and the lenses reflected a cold light.
He didn't come to me immediately.
He walked calmly, like a gentle breeze, back to the laboratory computer room and locked the door behind him. The room was dimly lit, with only the computer screen dimly lit.
He sat down with a sullen face, no trace of a smile on his face anymore, only a kind of heart-pounding calmness.
His fingers tapped away at the keyboard, the screen's pale blue light casting a shadow on his hard-lined face, like a layer of frost. He didn't immediately open social media to contact me, nor did he check the student directory.
He simply clicked on the entrance to the school's academic affairs system and entered the administrator password - this was the temporary permission he had obtained when he assisted in optimizing the system as a core member of the previous programming competition, and it had not yet been fully revoked.
The cold, cold database behind the system unfolded before him. Lin Yan's eyes, sharp as an eagle's, precisely filtered out irrelevant information. His fingertips slid across the touchpad, pulling up all the major exam records from the previous semester, exam room monitoring anomaly reports, invigilator feedback documents... row after row of data scrolled rapidly.
His target was very clear: Zhao Lei.
The dormitory was unusually quiet, with only the faint sounds of mouse clicking and keyboard tapping, which carried a cold rhythm, as if operating precision weapons.
Time ticked by. On the screen, he locked onto a record of an abnormality in a certain exam room during the final exam for "College Physics (Part 1)" last semester.
The invigilator noted in the records that a male student (named Zhao Lei) from the back of the fifth row entered the exam room with illegal cheat sheets. The invigilator discovered the cheat sheets, which closely matched the exam paper. However, due to his abusive attitude, he refused to acknowledge the cheat sheets and even attempted to seize and destroy the evidence. The result was recorded as a "serious warning, zero score, and retake."
Lin Yan's eyes narrowed slightly.
He quickly switched interfaces and retrieved the examination room surveillance video archive of the same time and the same examination room.
The multiplied image quickly passed by, his gaze fixed precisely on a specific moment. The image zoomed in, and while the clarity was limited, it was still enough to make out:
Before the exam began, Zhao Lei sneakily pulled a folded piece of paper from the bottom of his shoe and stuffed it into his sleeve! As the invigilator approached him, he suddenly crumpled the paper into a ball and tried to stuff it into his mouth to destroy it! But the teacher, quick-witted and quick-witted, grabbed his wrist and snatched the paper away!
Take screenshots. Save video clips.
But that's not enough.
Lin Yan continued to dig deeper.
He accessed the internal work mailbox archive of the Academic Affairs Office (the existence of this permission itself is not legal).
By filtering by keywords and time, we quickly found the email that the invigilator sent to the secretary of the Academic Affairs Office and the department counselors. The email described in detail Zhao Lei's cheating behavior, bad attitude, and attempts to destroy evidence, and attached a scanned photo of the cheat sheet that was taken away with clear content!
The email also mentioned that Zhao Lei later tried to find someone to "smooth the relationship" to reduce the punishment, but failed.
The corners of Lin Yan's mouth curled up into an icy arc, completely different from his usual warm smile.
He created an anonymous email account and logged in. He compressed the key surveillance video clips (especially the screenshots of hiding the note, attempting to swallow it, and having the note snatched away), screenshots of the proctor's emails, photos of the cheat sheet, and a concise written explanation (clearly listing the time, location, name of the person involved, the cheating, and the bad attitude).
Recipient address: Special mailbox for reporting disciplinary violations of the Academic Affairs Office (secondary reporting).
Subject: Supplementary real-name report: Zhao Lei, a 2022 undergraduate student from the School of Automation and Electrical Engineering, engaged in serious cheating in the final exam of "College Physics (Part 1)" last semester (supplementary evidence).
He typed the final line: "The previous punishment was too lenient. We now have complete surveillance and email records proving that he cheated, and his attitude was extremely bad, attempting to destroy evidence. Such behavior seriously undermines academic ethics. I implore the school to re-investigate and deal strictly with him to serve as a warning to others."
The cursor moved to the "Send" button. Lin Yan's eyes were calm and terrifying without any hesitation, and he lightly tapped it with his index finger.
A notification popped up, announcing the successful email delivery. He logged out of the anonymous mailbox, cleared all local access traces, and shut down his computer.
The whole process was smooth and calm, as if it was a standard procedure that had been executed countless times.
After doing all this, Lin Yan slowly leaned back in his chair and pinched his eyebrows.
The rage that had been burning in his chest since he heard the news didn't completely die out. Instead, it settled into something deeper and colder. He didn't care how those people framed him or talked about him, and he could even maintain that perfect mask of gentleness.
But directing those dirty words and malicious provocations at me? No.
Maybe I could just laugh it off in the past, but now, absolutely not.
Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys? Then start with the noisiest and most jumpy "chicken".
Not only did he want Zhao Lei to pay the price, he also wanted to let everyone know that the consequences of touching Chen Rui were far more serious than imagined.
Now, whenever I have free time, I go back to this long-missed dormitory. There’s no point in going home too early. Plus, Lin Yan has been busy with lab work lately, so there’s no one to accompany me. Wait, since when did I need someone to accompany me?
Thinking of this, I curled my lips and continued playing the game, cursing my teammates for being so bad with my headphones on. Then the dormitory door was pushed open with a "click".
Without even turning my head, I said, "Hey, Boss Lin is here to inspect the suffering of the people?"
Lin Yan didn't respond, but just smiled gently, as if it wasn't him who had just transformed into the "Punisher" in front of the computer.
He walked behind me, bringing with him a refreshing smell of laundry detergent, and holding a cup of the taro bubble milk tea I had just talked about.
"I brought you milk tea." He put the milk tea next to me, his voice as gentle and pleasant as ever.
I took off my headphones irritably and turned my head away: "Thanks... Hey? What's wrong with your face..." I always felt like there was something hidden under his smile.
Lin Yan didn't say anything, just looked at me. The look behind the glasses was still gentle, but seemed a little deeper than usual.
He reached out and very naturally smoothed out the tuft of hair on my forehead that had stood up from the excitement of playing games.
"...what happened this afternoon?" My heart skipped a beat, and I guessed it instantly. My tone couldn't help but weaken a bit, with a guilty conscience. "Damn, you knew that too? That idiot Zhao Lei was just asking for trouble! I didn't do anything, I just talked to him, so it's not illegal, right? Didn't you hear how rude he was..."
"Yeah, I heard about it." Lin Yan's voice was still gentle, even with a hint of soothing. "Next time you encounter something like this, tell me." His tone was flat, as if he was talking about a trivial matter.
"Why should I tell you?" I stiffened my neck. "Tell you to argue with him? Don't you want to have the image of Master Lin as the central air conditioner? You are not good at this. Besides, I can handle this trivial matter myself!" I had a stubborn and proud look on my face as if to say, "I can do it, don't underestimate me."
Lin Yan looked at me for a few seconds, and that gentle smile seemed to deepen a little, but a hint of helplessness and something deeper flashed in his eyes.
He suddenly leaned over, put his hands on the armrests of my chair, and trapped me between him and the table, so close that we could feel each other's breath.
I could even make out the subtle textures on his cold, pale skin and the gentle yet unmistakable look in his eyes beneath his thick lashes.
"Chen Rui," Lin Yan's voice was soft, yet strangely penetrating. "You've dealt with the scolding you received. What about me? Watching you get scolded, listening to those words, am I supposed to... remain indifferent and continue being my 'central air conditioner'?"
I opened my mouth to retort but choked.
The clear concern in Lin Yan's eyes, hidden by his perfect smile, was like a needle that pierced through my thorny shell.
"I..." My Adam's apple rolled, and for the first time I was a little at a loss for words about something like this.
This guy usually acts gentle, polite and modest to everyone, but now the look in his eyes... is a bit scary.
Lin Yan had always cared about this, so he had kept it a secret from others and even reduced his contact with me in public.
He tried his best to protect me, fearing that he would say bad things about me, but I am not a dodder, and what I want has always been simple.
Lin Yan, but I only care about you. I secretly said in my heart
Lin Yan didn't ask any more questions, but just stood up, and the smile on his face became perfect again.
He took out his cell phone, swiped his fingers a few times, and then showed the screen to me.
That is Lin Yan’s WeChat Moments interface.
The latest status was posted one minute ago.
No long text, just a photo.
The photo was obviously taken at night. Two equally beautiful hands with distinct joints were clasped together, casually placed on the dark center console of the car.
One hand is slightly darker in color, with a touch of casual tension; the other is fairer and more slender, exuding a sense of calm control.
The blurred city lights outside the car window served as the backdrop, and the two tightly clasped hands were like rocks, firmly embedded in this flowing light and shadow.
The accompanying text consists of only one line, concise and powerful, with a decisive declaration of sovereignty, forming a subtle contrast with his gentle tone:
"Legal breeder, licensed. @锐不止"
I stared at the post, my mind going blank. My heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, aching and swollen, and a surge of hot emotions rushed to my eyes.
I looked at the clasped hands in the photo, then at Lin Yan's face, adorned with a perfect, gentle smile. His forced air of irreverence completely shattered. This smiling tiger... is he serious?!
"...You, you idiot!" I turned my face away suddenly, my voice choked with a barely perceptible sob, the tips of my ears red as if blood was dripping out. "Who told you to post it? Who told you to be so high-profile? It's not a big deal... and you're even saying 'work with a certificate'! Where's the certificate?!"
"It's enough as long as you have proof in your heart." Lin Yan put away his phone, his tone as calm as if he was stating a theorem, and the smile on his face was still impeccable, "So that there will always be people who are blind and make you unhappy."
"But..." I still wanted to struggle, and I swiped my phone screen with my fingers, clicked on my circle of friends homepage which was so desolate that you could directly film "Man vs. Wild" and got in front of Lin Yan.
"Look! Look at my circle of friends! There are only three active people! One sells Putian shoes, one is a face mask purchasing agent, and the other sells insurance! If you post yours, everyone in the group will see it! What's the difference between me posting and not posting? It's a waste of data!"
Lin Yan glanced at my pitiful twenty-odd contacts, his brows didn't move, a gentle smile still on the corner of his lips, and uttered two words: "Background."
"Change the background of your Moments." Lin Yan's tone was matter-of-fact, with an unquestionable tone, and it was paired with his harmless smile.
I stared at him for several seconds. The afterglow of the setting sun slanted in through the window, casting a furry golden edge on his cold, pale profile.
This guy is usually as warm as spring to everyone, but at this moment, for my sake, he did such "tyrant" behavior as reporting in real name (although I didn't know it) and announcing it on WeChat Moments.
He clearly knew that I didn't care what others thought, but he still cared, and declared it in this... creepy way.
The sour and hot feeling in my heart suddenly exploded, turning into a warm and slightly fuzzy feeling - this thing is indeed black when cut open!
"Fuck..." I cursed softly, trying to hide my surging emotions. I lowered my head and fiddled with my phone screen.
I found the photo in the album of the two of us holding hands at the beach, with our shadows stretched out by the setting sun - that was the photo Lin Yan dragged me to the beach to take at the end of summer vacation.
Settings. Moments background. Confirm.
I turned the phone screen towards Lin Yan, my face still turned to the side, my tone pretending to be fierce but actually lacking in confidence: "Changed...changed! Are you satisfied? Boss Lin! Could you please check if it meets the requirements for your identity as a licensed breeder? I smiled like a fox..."
Lin Yan's gaze fell on the warm background picture: the sunset, the beach, and clasped hands.
The cold calculation deep in his eyes finally melted away, revealing a genuine and extremely gentle smile that diluted the perfect mask.
He reached out and rubbed the back of my head, which looked a little hairy because of the new hair color, in a very natural way.
"Yeah. Passed."
I felt uncomfortable with his kneading, and waved my hands to open his claws: "Get lost! Stop touching me... Give me the milk tea!"
I had an inappropriate thought in my mind: If this were at home, they might have already done it.
This dirty thought was swirling in my mind. Just as I was about to pull Lin Yan out of the dormitory to kiss her in the woods, my phone on the table suddenly rang with several WeChat notification sounds.
Lin Yan and I were both stunned for a moment. Puzzled, I picked up my phone and unlocked it.
The news came from my three contact lists that had been silent for a long time and were like ancient tombs.
[Putian Lao Zhang]: Bro! Is your sister-in-law the background on your Moments? [Thumbs up] Handsome and handsome! When are you having the wedding? Bro, do you have any idea about these high-end AJs? They're all original! Cheaper than drugs!
[Hong Kong agent May]: Oh my god!!! Brother Rui, are you no longer single?! That background picture is so cool! [Starry eyes] Congratulations! May you have a long and happy marriage! Need some men's magic water? It just arrived! I'll give you guys a husband-and-wife price! [Blowing kiss]
[Ping An Manager Li]: Hello, Mr. Chen! Heartfelt congratulations on your happy marriage! [Rose] Family responsibilities are important, and protection safeguards your love and future! We've designed a sweet insurance plan just for you and your loved one, with premiums as low as...
As I looked at these three blessing messages with completely different styles but equally "sincere and warm", the corners of my mouth twitched and my expression instantly cracked and twisted into an extremely wonderful picture.
I raised my head and met Lin Yan's deep eyes, which were slightly smiling and flashing with all-seeing light behind the lenses.
"Lin! Yan!" I finally let out a roar of rage, picked up the pillow next to me and threw it at him, "You absolutely did this on purpose! You smiling tiger! Is there a power leak in the central air conditioner?!"
Lin Yan caught the pillow easily, and the genuine, slightly cunning smile in his eyes deepened, like the surface of a lake where a stone was thrown, spreading out in circles, strangely blending with the perfect and gentle "central air-conditioning" smile on his face.
Outside the window, the late summer evening breeze passed through the treetops and blew into the open window, bringing a hint of coolness, but it could not blow away the lively and noisy worldly fireworks in the room, nor could it blow away the sharp warmth that was lit just for one person under someone's gentle appearance.
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