Tao Yuan carried the paint box into the classroom. There were about twenty long tables in the classroom, and he chose one by the window and sat down, waiting for the Chinese painting teacher to come to class.

The classroom is clean and bright. There were vases in the corner for decoration. Fresh flowers were placed on the podium and in the last row’s table.

Several girls in the classroom sat together and talked in low voices. Even though class had not yet begun, students couldn’t talk loudly in the classroom; that was the policy of the National College. 

When Tao Yuan put down all his paintings tools, he supported his chin and went on a daze, looking at the tied-up ink-painted curtains framing the window. He then turned his head to the window and looked out at the scenery outside.

Such a clean classroom, such a good school environment. It had both the elegance and high-end technology, which needed a large amount of money to support; hence, the tuition fee of National College was very expensive. The parents of the original owner of this body, Du Qingyu, were both dead, and there was a sick brother at home. He would soon be unable to afford the tuition fee. But now that Tao had replaced him, he will certainly find a way to get the money for tuition fees and help him fulfill his dreams. 

The students entered the classroom one after another. Shortly after the sound of bell announced that lesson started, a middle-aged man with a big belly came in, wearing white shirt that had improvised traditional Chinese elements. It was their Chinese painting teacher and the head teacher of this class. His name is Hu Wenshan. He is a rich middle-aged man. I do not know if it is because he is a traditional Chinese painting teacher. Obviously, there is no ancient temperament, but he likes to wear ancient clothes.

Hu Wenshan sat down behind the podium, looked at the students below, and said, “Before starting the class, I have something to say. The list of scholarship winners has come out. This year’s scholarship, as well as the class scholarship in our class, is still won by Xu Shaoyan. Congratulations to Xu Shaoyan. Remember to guard against arrogance and rashness and continue to work hard to improve yourself.”

“Thank you, teacher. I will work harder now,” Xu Shaoyan said with a smile and nodded slightly to the classmates, who gave their congratulations, around him.

Hu Wenshan turned his eyes to Tao Yuan, observed his reaction, and found that his face was calm, which made him a little surprised. After waiting for a while, he still did not respond. He could only clear his throat and say, “Okay, then . . . Well, let’s start class.”

Tao Yuan was calm. It made the other students also very surprised and looked at him from time to time.

Hu Wenshan pressed the button on the desk, opening the control screen on the desk, and the screen behind him immediately lit up.

Hu Wenshan was ready to start his class, but in the end, he decided not to start teaching and couldn’t resist asking, “Du Qingyu, do you have anything to say?”

Tao Yuan was well aware of what he meant by this question but looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression and said, “Should I say something? What does the teacher want me to say?”

“Don’t you have anything to say about Xu Shaoyan winning two scholarships again?” Hu Wenshan looked at him and asked.

Tao Yuan turned his head indifferently and said to Xu Shaoyan, “Congratulations, classmate Xu Shaoyan.”

Xu Shaoyan was also surprised by his attitude. After a pause, he replied, “Thank you, thank you.”

“That’s it?” Hu Wenshan thought to himself, What happened to this person today? How can he be so calm? 

“I’ve already told him congratulations. What else teacher want me to do?” Tao Yuan asked.

“Well . . . Well, your attitude now shows that you have grown up.” After Hu Wenshan reacted, he knew that his performance was too obvious. In order to hide his guilt, he showed a gratifying expression.

“Today I want to talk about the way of painting mountains and waters . . .” Hu Wenshan finally began teaching, but his heart was not calm because he was waiting for Tao Yuan to quarrel with him so that he could give him a third demerit on the grounds of disrespecting his teacher.

At that moment, the one more regretful than Hu Wenshan and who wished that Tao Yuan would cause a fuss was Xu Shaoyan, who won the scholarship. Because he knew very well what kind of family situation have original owner, he also knew that if Du Qingyu did not win the scholarship, he wouldn’t be able to pay the tuition fee for the next quarter, and he would need to voluntarily drop out of school. If he cannot pay the tuition fee, why is he so calm? That made Xu Shaoyan quite confused and puzzled.

Xu Shaoyan thought, is he no longer short on money to pay the tuition fees? But he was keeping an eye on his movement and found out that he had no other way to get money. Moreover, he had recently offended people in his workplace, and he needed to find a new job immediately. He also had a sick brother and needed a lot of money for his medicine. Why is he so calm now?

If the original owner was sitting here, the possibility of quarreling with Hu Wenshan would be very great, but it was Tao Yuan who was sitting here at the moment. How could he not know the purpose of the other party but to also quarrel with them?

The original body’s owner was lonely and proud. He was a little anxious, especially after his father’s bankruptcy and death. The pressure of life and academic studies made him more impetuous but also more impulsive and irritable.

The original body’s owner made a lot of effort in order to get the scholarship this quarter because he wanted to use that scholarship to pay the tuition fee for the next quarter. Originally, he thought that even if he could not get the school scholarship, as long as he won the class scholarship, he would be able to pay the tuition fees for the next quarter, and his burden reduced a little. But he was in the same class as Xu Shaoyan, who was not only certain to win the class scholarship but the school scholarship as well.

If Xu Shaoyan really won the scholarship through his own abilities, the original owner would have nothing to say. After all, he could only accept his fate that he was not as good as the other person. However, the original Du Qinqyu’s cultural courses score were higher than that of Xu Shaoyan’s, and Xu Shaoyan’s Chinese painting level was slightly lower than that of his own, but every time his Chinese paintings were graded, something happens. Xu Shaoyan, whose skill in Chinese painting was slightly below his, received a much higher score than him every time.

Because the proportion of chosen major scores was relatively large, and Du Qinqyu’s total painting scores were lower than Xu Shaoyan’s, Xu Shaoyan won the scholarship.

That had happened more than once. The original body owner could only go look for Hu Wenshan for answers but was hit to the ground by the answer that Xu Shaoyan’s works were more artistic, so the score was higher.

After infuriating the original owner on the grounds of not respecting teacher, he was given demerits.

The original owner had been given demerits twice. And if he were given a third one, he  would not be able to participate in the Youth Cup, a Chinese painting competition at the end of this semester.

Hu Wenshan and Xu Shaoyan were very clear in their hearts that the original Du Qingyu’s  level in Chinese painting was above that of Xu Shaoyan’s, but Hu Wenshan could still grade him lower in his usual Chinese painting classes. However, in this kind of major competition where they send their works over to be judged by master-level Chinese painters, it would be very difficult for Xu Shaoyan to beat Du Qingyu.

That competition was very important to Xu Shaoyan, so he let his father bribe Hu Wenshan to make it that the original body owner would be unable to participate in the competition. But Tao Yuan’s calmness was completely beyond their expectations, making him secretly anxious in his heart. They missed the opportunity to infuriate him, so they had to think of other ways.

Hu Wenshan was absentminded during his lectures, and his heart was unable to to keep calm throughout with was in line with Tao Yuan wishes. Xu Shaoyan, who seemed to be listening seriously to the lecture, was in fact, also absentminded. 

Tao Yuan seemed calm and expressionless, and his heart was very disdainful of Hu Wenshan’s teaching. It was really ironic that a teacher, who could only teach the basics of traditional Chinese painting and had no achievement in artistic circles, would give him a lower score because of low artistic expression.

But if Hu Wenshan had a high level of artistic creativity, he would not be a teacher here. Instead, he would be a master whose works could be worth the value of a villa.

An art performance mainly depends on talent and inspiration, relying on acquired efforts. It was difficult to achieve a certain position.

After an hour and a half into the course, Hu Wenshan, who was collecting his things, still couldn’t help but glance at Tao Yuan. He deliberately moved slowly and waited anxiously for Tao Yuan to ask him questions.

Tao Yuan had packed his things, but Hu Wenshan did not leave the classroom. The students could not leave before the teacher, so he sat down and waited for Hu Wenshan to leave.

Hu Wenshan spent a lot more time packing his things than usual. When he saw that Tao Yuan had no intention of asking him questions at all, he had to leave the classroom unwillingly with his paint box.

Seeing that Tao Yuan was about to stand up and leave, Xu Shaoyan immediately whispered to him, “Qingyu, let’s go together. I want to talk to you about lending you money.”

“Thank you for your kindness, but I didn’t ask you to lend me money. You don’t need to take the initiative to lend me money.” Tao Yuan didn’t even look at him and went out directly.

“I know you’re embarrassed to speak about it, and I know you really need money now. You don’t have to be polite to me really.” Xu Shaoyan followed up with his art box.

Tao Yuan went to the corridor, stopped, and turned to look at him. He said earnestly, “I didn’t take the initiative to borrow money from you. Didn’t I satisfy your vanity? After all, you used to borrow money from me, and you lost a lot of self-esteem. You know I’m short of money right now, and you think it’s a good chance to regain your pride, so you want me to borrow your money. Am I right?”

Tao Yuen uttered Xu Shaoyan’s inner thoughts completely. He didn’t even say one wrong word and exposed him to the other students. Xu Shaoyan was very embarrassed but still said innocently, “What are you talking about? Why do you have to think so badly of me? We used to be friends, so I really want to help you.”

“I’m sorry,” Tao Yuan said. “I will not satisfy you whether it’s your self-esteem or your vanity or anything else you say. I won’t accept your help. I am so narrow-minded. Don’t you feel very angry? If so, that’s exactly what I want to achieve.”

“Do you have to talk like that?” Xu Shaoyan looked helpless and felt sour.

“Well, since you asked for it, I’ll change my way of speaking.” Tao Yuan thought, Since you are uncomfortable with yourself, then I will accommodate you. “As one of your father’s illegitimate sons, you have been feeling very inferior since childhood because, when you were young, your biological father and your adoptive father didn’t take care of you or your mother. The life of you and your mother was very difficult, so you often asked to borrow money from me.”

Xu Shaoyan immediately changed his expression. He did not expect that Tao would say those words. Those were things he never wanted to let people know.

“But I really don’t understand,” Tao continued. “I didn’t make you an illegitimate son. Your father is a stallion and sows his seeds everywhere. If you want to blame someone, blame him or your mother, who did not know how to behave herself and desire after bother men after marriage. Why do you have to mess with me? Because I lent you money when I was a kid? I’m sorry about that. I really shouldn’t have lent you money when I saw your pitiful self. I should let you starve, so you won’t trouble me now.”

“Don’t go too far!” Xu Shao’s burning face become purple. “Insulting other people’s parents, are you still human?” 

“Did I say something incorrectly?” Tao Yuan asked with a puzzled expression. “Did your father not have many illegitimate children or did your mother not have an affair while married or had she not given birth to you with another married man? As long as I said a word that is slandering you or your parents, tell me what I said that was incorrect, and I will apologize.”

Xu Shaoyan’s blood surged up, his vision blurred, and he could stop trembling, but he could not say a word.

“I didn’t say a word wrong, did I?” Tao Yuan said with a straight face, “Since you don’t want your shady life to be told, you shouldn’t provoke me.”

“You’ve gone too far!” Xu Shaoyan said gnashing his teeth.

“What are you talking about? Why do you say I gone too far?” Tao Yuan’s tone and manner became more proper as he said, “I’m telling the truth. If you don’t want me to talk about, why do you always keep messing with me? I thought you were trying to make me say this, so that’s why you did it. After all, in this school, I’m the only one who knows where you came from. We used to be friends, didn’t we?” 

Tao Yuan stopped minding his tone, sneered with the corners of his mouth, and turned away. 

Xu Shaoyan stood in place. He could not stand Du Qingyu. Clearly he was the person in trouble. Why could he be so carefree after he robbed him of the scholarship? But now, I am different from the past, but I still can’t trample on his dignity because of his past life he will not be able to achieve happiness?

Some of the students who had not yet left could not close their mouths after hearing them talk. It’s really a big slice of gossip to learn that Xu Shaoyan, who was usually mild and cheerful, unexpectedly had such a background. It was really a big piece of gossip ah.

“Don’t worry, Shaoyan. He is this kind of person with a strange personality. It’s not worth to be angry about him.” Several classmates who usually got benefits from Xu Shaoyan, surrounded to comfort him, but in fact, they were so surprised that they couldn’t be calm, and the comfort was perfunctory.

“I’m not angry,” Xu Shaoyan said with a lost smile as he tried to stay calm. “I’m just a little sad. I didn’t expect that I would always stay as his friend, but I didn’t expect him to misunderstand me so much.”

They looked at him, and one of the boys said, “Good intentions don’t necessarily pay off. People like him have a lot of hardships waiting for him, so you should leave him alone.”

Xu Shaoyan put on a strong smile and went with his classmates.

The original body’s owner was a haughty and unsociable loner. He was very indifferent to everyone. He never attended class gatherings on his free time. Xu Shaoyan was good at communicating with others, greeting everyone with a smile and often inviting his classmates to go out to play with him. So it was obvious who was more popular with the other students and who was, on the other hand, on the verge of being excluded by everyone.

As soon as Tao Yuan went downstairs, a man approached him, immediately stopped, and opened his mouth, trying to say something to him. Tao Yuan walked straight past the man, as if he had not seen him at all, so there was no time for the man to say a word. 

“Humph!” Liu Xiujie, who was ignored by Tao Yuan, expressed. His heart was very unhappy. He snorted coldly and continued moving on.

“When your boyfriend comes to pick you up, don’t treat him like a light bulb. Go with him.” Those students who went downstairs with Xu Shaoyan laughed and teased them after they saw Liu Xiujie. 

Xu Shaoyan smiled reluctantly and waved goodbye to his departing classmates.

In this world, same-sex love and marriage were normal things. Since ancient times, the world has legally approved same-sex marriage and legally protected it. However, the ancients people attached great importance to inheritance and succession, so the percentage of same-sex marriage was relatively small. 

But with the development of science and technology, medicine has already developed to such an extent, so people of the same sex can also have their own children, so there are more homosexual marriages nowadays.

Support translation: