Chapter 19: A Bite Mark and a Seat Change
Quite a few children in the senior kindergarten class were losing their baby teeth, and Jiang Yiyi had just lost one as well, right when her gums were especially itchy.
But she was not interested in biting people. She bit chicken drumsticks.
And she bit them fiercely, baring her teeth.
Watching Jiang Yiyi gnaw on a drumstick so “viciously,” Gu Qinian subconsciously reached up to touch his own ear.
Good thing Gu Tang had shown mercy and had not bitten him that hard…
“Usually when little kids are losing teeth, their gums get itchy, so they tend to bite whatever they like most.”
Jiang Yiwen gave this bit of science like a little grown-up, and after speaking, he did not forget to ask Gu Tang, “Tang Tang, what do you like biting?”
Gu Tang answered frankly, “Niannian!”
Jiang Yiwen: “…Huh?”
Gu Qinian: “…”
Hearing Gu Tang’s answer, young master Gu’s mood turned a little strange.
If people bit whatever they liked most…
Then if that was the case…
Getting bitten a little did not seem so unacceptable.
Over the next few days, whenever Gu Qinian slept at night, he openly left his head uncovered and did not use the blanket to wrap up his ears.
But Gu Tang never took another bite out of him.
Even more infuriating was that one night, he heard rustling beside him. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Gu Tang holding the plush teddy bear he had given him and chewing on it with great enjoyment.
Gu Qinian: “…”
Young master Gu irritably raked a hand through the hair covering his ears.
The next day, Gu Qinian said he wanted a haircut.
Madam Su looked at her grandson’s smooth, obedient hair and asked in confusion, “It’s not even long. Wait a few more days and get it cut together with our good little darling.”
But young master Gu refused. He insisted on getting his hair cut.
Su Mei had no way to deal with him, so she could only invite a hairstylist to come to the house. Unexpectedly, Gu Qinian even wanted a buzz cut.
“No way, that wouldn’t look good!”
Madam Su firmly opposed it, and even the hairstylist felt sorry for his hair.
Gu Qinian thought for a moment, then could only stress, “Then make sure my ears show.”
After saying that, he deliberately glanced at Gu Tang, who was sitting nearby.
The little milk dumpling was bent over, intently chewing on the teddy bear’s ear, not even sparing him a glance.
Gu Qinian: “…”
So annoying.
Gu Tang had thought things through.
Although young master Gu’s ears felt better to bite, the teddy bear was not bad either.
Since there were no twisted missions for tormenting or bullying the male lead for now, he decided he might as well chew on the teddy bear and let young master Gu off the hook.
But the problem was that he suddenly could not find the plush teddy bear anymore.
Gu Tang ran all over the Gu residence, upstairs and downstairs, but saw no trace of it. In the end, he ran to young master Gu’s room on the second floor.
Just then, Gu Qinian was sitting by the window reading.
His hair had been cut very short, with both sides trimmed up high, revealing two pale, delicate ears. Under the sunlight, they almost looked as though light could shine through them.
They looked very biteable.
Gu Tang licked his itchy gums and stepped forward to push young master Gu lightly. “Where’s my bear? Have you seen it?”
Gu Qinian did not answer. He only moved one ear slightly.
Gu Tang: “…”
He still would not let him bite.
And yet he had suddenly cut his hair so short, sticking those little ears out every day to tempt him.
How hateful…
Just when he was about to ask something else, the butler knocked on the door, holding a familiar little teddy bear in his arms. “Good little darling, do you not want this teddy bear anymore?”
The bear had been thrown up in the attic.
The butler had found it while checking the cleaning and remembered that Gu Tang had been holding it all the time recently, so he deliberately came downstairs to ask.
“I want it!”
Gu Tang happily hugged the teddy bear back, opened his mouth with an “aowu,” bit down on the bear’s ear, and started chewing.
Oh dear, the little darling was really adorable.
The butler had just been about to smile when he felt a sharp, icy gaze.
Gu Qinian: Nosy.
Butler: “?”
The kidnapping of the teddy bear had failed. Watching Gu Tang cuddle with that little bear every day, young master Gu found it more and more irritating no matter how he looked at it.
Until one day—
Gu Tang suddenly rushed over and threw his arms around him excitedly. “Niannian! I’ve grown a tooth!”
He was so happy that he practically flew into him.
When Gu Qinian turned his head, the two of them almost crashed face-to-face.
Gu Tang opened his mouth wide to show him his new tooth. “Look, ah—”
Against the sunlight, Gu Qinian could see that on the little child’s missing front tooth, there really was a tiny tooth tip emerging, about the size of a grain of rice.
But before he could get a closer look, Gu Tang suddenly grinned mischievously. Taking advantage of how close they were, he tilted his head and bit Gu Qinian on the cheek.
“A stamp to celebrate my new tooth!”
After doing something naughty, Gu Tang ran off like a gust of wind.
Young master Gu stood there in a daze for quite a while before remembering to walk over to the mirror and take a look—
On his fair cheek, there was a round little bite mark.
It looked as though someone had stamped him.
Gu Qinian touched the uneven imprint of the teeth and muttered, “Boring.”
Not long afterward, though, he came back and took a photo of the little bite mark on his face in the mirror.
The little milk dumpling had said it was to leave a memory…
—
Because of Gu Tang’s elementary school issue, a small dispute broke out in the Gu family.
Shen Ningqing discovered that Gu Tang was extremely gifted in music. He had never seriously studied it, yet he had been able to play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” at the orphanage. If that was not talent, then what was?
She believed Gu Tang should be sent to an elementary school affiliated with the arts for professional training.2
But Gu Quan felt that the two children had never been apart since they were little, so it would be better for them to attend the Gu Group’s affiliated experimental elementary school together.
Shen Ningqing furrowed her elegant brows and insisted on her opinion. “With my standing and his godmother’s standing in the art world, if our good little darling takes this path, his future will be limitless.”
The “godmother” she referred to was film queen Li Weiwei.
Ever since meeting him at the ceremony for choosing objects, Li Weiwei had never forgotten Gu Tang. She came every year to celebrate his birthday, firmly establishing her title as his godmother.
Shen Ningqing herself was a three-award-winning actress who had now moved behind the scenes to work as a director, while Li Weiwei remained active in front of the camera. With the two of them backing him, if Gu Tang wanted to enter the entertainment industry in the future, it would be like being born straight in Rome.
But Gu Quan had personally seen how Gu Tang communicated with Director Luo.
That child was obviously a natural talent for business. Would it not be a pity for him to go into art?
The head of the Gu family did not dare directly oppose his wife, so he could only coax her softly. “Don’t be in such a hurry. The child is still little. Deciding his future so early may be a bit premature…”
Su Mei, who had been listening from the side for a long time, elegantly smoothed back her hair. “Why don’t you ask the child?”
The inexperienced couple looked at each other. “Right!”
The two children were brought over together and sat side by side on the large sofa in the living room.
After hearing their parents out, Gu Qinian turned his head to look at Gu Tang.
He had a rather bad feeling.
He knew exactly how much the little milk dumpling liked playing the piano. Most likely, he would not choose to go with him to the Gu Group’s experimental elementary school.
But that was all right.
He could go to the arts-affiliated elementary school too.
Anyway, elementary school classes were not difficult for him.
Gu Tang did not interrupt the adults while they were talking. After listening quietly all the way through, he did not spend even one extra second thinking before saying directly, “I want to stay with Niannian.”
He was not choosing one school or the other.
He was choosing to stay with Niannian.
Gu Qinian could hardly believe it, but then again, the little milk dumpling had always been so clingy with him, so it was normal enough.
Still…
He felt a little happy?
Young master Gu lowered his head and pressed his lips together, restraining the corners of his mouth from turning up.
The system was also surprised by Gu Tang’s choice.
[Host! Choosing the arts-affiliated elementary school would be so great! Your future stardom would be wide open!]
Gu Tang said, “Have you forgotten what you came here for?”
[?]
Gu Tang lovingly patted the silly little system. “We still have cannon-fodder villain tasks to do, and there are still so many plot points left unfinished. I can learn art no matter what, but if I leave the male lead, how am I supposed to complete the missions?”
[You’re right…]
The system suddenly woke up as if from a dream.
The host was too capable, to the point that its working state had become too relaxed, and it had completely forgotten the main quest!
Danger, danger!
It had to tighten up from now on!
—
The night before school started.
After washing up, Gu Tang was stopped by young master Gu.
Although they had long since been given separate rooms, over the years Gu Tang still often ran downstairs to sleep, and Gu Qinian never chased him away. As a result, it had become a situation where he had two rooms—sometimes he slept on the third floor, sometimes on the second.
Gu Qinian said seriously, “Tomorrow is the first day of school. We have to get up early.”
Gu Tang scratched his head in confusion. “Mm.”
He knew that. Was he not about to go to sleep?
Young master Gu raised an eyebrow. “Can you get up by yourself?”
Gu Tang said uncertainly, “I think so…”
“No, you can’t.”
“?”
How could he not?!
Gu Tang had just been about to protest when young master Gu gently said, “You should sleep downstairs. That way I can wake you up.”
That made sense!
Little Gu Qinian was always strict with himself and never slept in.
If he slept with young master Gu during the school term, there was no way he would be late!
Gu Tang happily went to fetch his little pillow, climbed into young master Gu’s blanket, and obediently closed his eyes. “Niannian, good night!”
“Good night.”
After turning off the light, the corners of Gu Qinian’s lips lifted ever so slightly.
The next day, school began.
Because of his health problems in his previous life, Gu Tang had never properly attended school for many days, so he was curious about everything at school.
Elementary school was very different from kindergarten in many places. For example, seats were assigned. The children could not just sit wherever they wanted; after finding the classroom, the teacher arranged them.
Gu Tang and Gu Qinian were in the same class, but they did not get to sit together.
Gu Tang was assigned to Row 6 of Group 1, while Gu Qinian was placed in Row 7 of Group 4.
An entire classroom stood between them.
After the seating arrangement, the homeroom teacher gave a speech, followed by the opening ceremony, and then there were two more classes.
The whole morning was busy, and Gu Tang never got the chance to go talk to Gu Qinian.
Every time he turned to look in young master Gu’s direction, he found that the other boy was gazing out the window with a calm expression, looking completely lost in his own thoughts.
At any rate, he definitely did not look like he was listening in class.
His deskmate was a boy with tiny glasses. Following Gu Tang’s gaze, he spotted young master Gu and clicked his tongue. “You can tell at a glance he’s one of those rich second-generation kids who never studies properly!”
Gu Tang nodded, then shook his head.
A rich second-generation kid, yes.
But not studying properly? Impossible.
In the original story, Boss Gu had been a top student in his youth.
The two of them were not the only ones in the classroom discussing Gu Qinian.
Young master Gu’s appearance was far too outstanding, attracting the attention of some of the girls.
Although they were only first-grade elementary school students, their basic sense of aesthetics was already online. The girls whispered among themselves that it would be nice if they could sit beside Gu Qinian.
The boy with little glasses snorted. “Who’d want to sit with a bad student like that? The two of you would score zero together.”
Gu Tang: “…”
Boss Gu had always had excellent grades during his student years. Getting a zero would actually be quite difficult…
When the lunch break began, the boy with little glasses wanted to bring Gu Tang to go eat. But when he turned his head, the person was gone.
He pushed up his glasses.
Then he saw his cute little deskmate run over to the side of that rich second-generation “bad student,” tug on his school uniform sleeve, and ask sweetly, “Niannian, do you want to go eat? I’ve been hungry forever!”
Gu Qinian lifted his eyelids. “Are you happy sitting in Group 1?”
Gu Tang honestly nodded. “It’s pretty good.”
[Host! Aren’t you working a little too hard at this?!]
Gu Tang: “Huh?”
[The ‘Torment the Male Lead x100’ mission was completed ages ago. Why are you still tormenting him?]
Ah, well…
If the system had not reminded him, he really would not have noticed that young master Gu was angry!
Gu Tang hurriedly changed his words. “Well… maybe not that happy?”
Young master Gu narrowed his eyes and looked at him for a while, then nodded in satisfaction. “Very good. Then go apply for a seat change.”
***
Author’s Note:
Little Glasses: Where did my huge adorable deskmate go?!!!
