As a counselor, it’s pretty normal for him to stop by the dorms.

But Ning Chu suspected the guy was just using that as an excuse. In reality, he was probably scouting the girls’ dorm for prey.

“If anything in your dorm breaks, go to the dorm supervisor and get a repair form. Someone usually comes by to fix it within a week.”

“If you have any problems, whether with daily life or your mental health, you can come talk to me. Just send me a private message in the group chat.”

Han Jingye always wore a gentle smile, and his voice was soft. He looked completely harmless. When he checked the dorms for cleanliness, he seemed less like a teacher and more like a big brother dropping by for a visit.

He strolled around the dorm as if he were just killing time, then glanced up at the beds and asked with a smile, “Whose bed is this? Look at them—they know to fold their blankets. Now look at the rest of you.”

The other two roommates looked at Ning Chu at the same time.

Ning Chu’s mind went blank. He glanced around in confusion. “Huh? I just got up too early this morning and folded it because I had nothing else to do...”

He really didn’t want anything to do with this counselor.

Best of all, he wanted to leave no impression on the man at all—not even enough for him to remember Ning Chu’s name next time they met.

“You’re Ning Chu, right? The one who fainted during military training last Monday?”

A few students watching from outside the dorm burst out laughing.

“...”

“What are you laughing at?” Han Jingye turned and glared at the students in the doorway, then gave Ning Chu a gentle nod. “Looks good. I’ll check next door. Tidy up a little, and remember to eat breakfast. Don’t be late for military training.”

Ning Chu replied without expression.

He hated people like Han Jingye, who were one thing on the outside and another on the inside. Harmless-looking, but rotten within—a complete hypocrite.

Then there was Zhang Shaoqing, who was exactly what he seemed: obnoxious enough to make everyone hate him, even before he’d turned into a villain.

Maybe it was Ning Chu’s less-than-friendly attitude—if anything, it was cold and standoffish. Han Jingye frowned slightly and gave him a thorough once-over.

He was a very clean-cut young man. His military training shirt was tucked into his pants, giving him a neat, sharp look. He just seemed rather frail, with a waist as slender as a willow branch.

Han Jingye had no idea what he’d done to make this student dislike him.

Without giving it much thought, Han Jingye headed toward the next dorm with his usual warm, approachable smile. The moment he opened the door, he saw a student making egg tarts in an oven... and his smile nearly fell apart.

“Whose induction cooker is this? And why are there an oven and a microwave in here?! Have you turned the dorm into a kitchen?!”

Well, damn. Did the people in the next dorm know how to live or what?

Through the wall, Ning Chu clearly heard the counselor’s furious roar.

“Ning Chu, let’s go. We’re getting breakfast in the cafeteria.”

“Coming, coming!” Ning Chu trotted after Wen Yang and out the door, looking thoroughly envious. “The people next door are way too good at this~ They get to cook for themselves, eat well, and spend less than they would in the cafeteria.”

“Hard to say. Once they get settled in, they’ll probably have to cook enough for ten.”

“True.”

Ning Chu chatted with Wen Yang about the neighboring dorm, but Han Jingye’s “smile and voice” kept drifting into his thoughts.

Maybe this counselor really was pretty responsible.

He hadn’t gotten angry about the state of their dorm; he’d just reminded them gently. But the unsafe appliances in the next dorm had made him furious.

Until now, Ning Chu had only seen the counselor’s warm, sunny side. That first impression had colored everything, making him seem fake and disgusting no matter what. But now he’d seen the counselor lose his temper over electrical safety, and the man seemed a little more like a real person.

Could it be that their counselor really was a good person now?

What’s that got to do with me?!

It was already a headache keeping the villain and the protagonist from going down the wrong path. Now he had to deal with the counselor too? He couldn’t split himself in half!

Better stick to the old plan: have Wen Yang keep a close eye on the counselor. If he found any evidence, they could make the first move!

In the best-case scenario, the counselor would end up in jail, and no female student would get hurt.

At the cafeteria, Ning Chu ran to the convenience store for a bottle of ice-cold cola, then sat down beside Wen Yang.

“You’re not eating?”

“I ate in the dorm. Bread and milk I bought last night.”

He tipped his head back for a drink of cola and let out a satisfied burp. Then he turned to the person beside him, trying to figure out how to subtly bring up Han Jingye.

“The counselor seems pretty popular with the class, huh?” Ning Chu asked casually, as if it had just occurred to him.

“He’s all right, I guess?” Wen Yang had bought only two big steamed buns and a bottle of water. Compared to the other students around them, it was a pretty meager breakfast, but Wen Yang didn’t seem to mind. “From what I’ve seen over the past few days, he seems like a good guy. But you don’t like him, do you?”

Even though Ning Chu didn’t like him, he seemed especially interested in what Han Jingye was up to.

“Did he do something to you before?”

Ning Chu stammered, unsure how to explain.

He’d considered telling Wen Yang what happened to Han Jingye in the book so he could get help. But when he thought about it carefully, Wen Yang wasn’t an idiot. There was no way he’d believe it just because Ning Chu said so.

Besides, Han Jingye seemed perfectly normal right now...

“Not really. It’s just that his smile seems kind of fake, and it puts me off.” Ning Chu hesitated, then added, “He didn’t make a great first impression on me.”

Wen Yang nodded as he ate. “I think he’s a pretty good person. He’s thorough, too—he’s looked into everyone in the class’s family circumstances.”

“Looked into them?”

“Yeah. You have to be from a low-income family to apply for the school subsidy. He rejected a few applications from people with well-off families who were trying to cheat the system.”

Ning Chu was even more confused now.

Could the counselor really be a good person after all?

Seeing him lost in thought, Wen Yang advised him helplessly, “Don’t judge people by your first impression. Look at Shaoqing, with his bleached blond hair and laid-back attitude. Who’d guess from first impressions that he was such a goofball?”

“He is a goofball...”

Ning Chu yawned. He didn’t dwell on it and simply decided to keep the counselor on his watch list for the long term.

A glance at the time showed it was almost eight.

“Time for military training.”

That was the real headache right now!

His upper body slumped, and he flopped onto the table, utterly defeated. Just thinking about the three slow laps and half an hour of physical training every morning during military training made his legs tremble.

“I just want to take the day off and lie in the dorm with the AC on~”

Wen Yang finished breakfast and stood up first, looking down at Ning Chu, who’d melted into a puddle. “It’ll be over once this week’s done. Just hang in there.”

“The forecast said it’d rain today. Why do we still have to do military training~”

Ning Chu followed behind Wen Yang with drooping shoulders. Military training always left him completely wrecked. By the time evening came, all he could think about was resting and sleeping; he couldn’t do anything else.

“It does look like it might rain. Look at the horizon.”

At that, Ning Chu perked up and followed Wen Yang’s gaze toward the distant horizon.

The thick bank of dark clouds filled him with excitement.

“Look at that! It’s got to be a torrential downpour at least! There’s no way they’ll make us do military training!”