Detective at the Noble Male Academy — 9

09

'This is Ji Yue, one of our photography club's most capable members,' Fu Dao said, introducing him to He Yuanxi in a tone that hovered somewhere between genuine praise and dry sarcasm.

The two of them had already met before, though no one else knew — and Ji Yue didn't mention it.

So among the gathered photography club members, he greeted He Yuanxi as though for the first time, offering a simple 'Hello.'

Amid the warm, smiling faces all around, Ji Yue alone wore no particular expression — not even a polite smile — which made him stand out all the more sharply.

The boy's deep blue eyes rested quietly on He Yuanxi, the ends of his hair swaying in the breeze like the tail of an unresolved question.

The photography club was used to him being this way; no one found it strange. It was easiest to think of him as a cat that had simply settled itself among the crowd.

Perhaps for that very reason, He Yuanxi's gaze lingered on him for a moment, as though trying to puzzle something out, before finally drifting away.

He Yuanxi turned to Fu Dao: 'Will it be too much work for just these few people to handle all the photography?'

'It's like this every year — for the sailing competition, these comrades here will take care of the shooting, and when it's all done, dinner's on me!' Fu Dao announced to the group.

The photography club was assigned to shoot various competitions every year; this was Ji Yue's first time participating. He half-listened as the others told He Yuanxi about the championship He Yuanxi had won at the sailing competition two years ago — carefully skirting around why he no longer competed — before the conversation shifted to this year's school team, which included a scholarship student among its members.

Plot threads with no bearing on the detective's work held no interest for Ji Yue; his mind had already drifted off to wondering which shop was selling fresh meat pies.

'The scholarship student — I've heard of him,' He Yuanxi said with a nod. 'He's a new student?'

Ji Yue's attention returned. Unlike Li Xihé, who smiled pleasantly through every interaction in a way that started to feel faintly unsettling the longer you knew him, He Yuanxi gave a more straightforward impression — tall, dressed casually, mostly quiet and attentive, projecting an air of propriety and composure without being cold or distant.

Ji Yue glanced downward. He Yuanxi was wearing a pair of black gloves today.

[Today's original plot: F4's He Yuanxi encounters the scholarship student by the seaside; the detective trails the two of them along the beach by following their footprints, all the way into the F4 residence.]

He Yuanxi's home was said to be a private estate by the sea. Most of the villas within a considerable radius reportedly belonged to him, making it impossible to know which one he would sleep in on any given night — a man with more than enough boltholes to choose from.

That was no obstacle for the detective.

Ji Yue used the sailing competition as cover, making frequent trips to the seaside — ostensibly to raise his camera and shoot the surrounding scenery in a perfectly natural, unremarkable way.

He Yuanxi and his friends had already left, leaving behind only the noise of the photography club members arguing about where to go for barbecue. Fu Dao slung an arm around Ji Yue's shoulders: 'Want to join us for lunch?'

'No.'

Ji Yue tossed his hair and walked away.

That was what he said — but his eyes kept moving through the crowd, still searching for He Yuanxi. He Yuanxi had barely been attending classes lately. On the rare occasion when school let out, Ji Yue would catch a glimpse of a silver luxury car idling below the building, only for it to vanish down the street before he could make out the figure inside.

Not far away, beneath a sun canopy, a small cluster of students were discussing the competition schedule — some holding race programmes, some perched on tabletops, one with a head of silver hair tossing in the wind.

Si Jing was among them.

He was wearing the school team's black-and-white athletic uniform, rolling his cuffs up past his wrists.

Just as the System had noted, Si Jing wasn't this tall in the original story. Standing here now, he had a clear head on most of the others — likely the result of sailing training, his skin noticeably bronzed.

He kept his eyes lowered, discussing details with the others, offering the occasional quiet opinion — calm, focused, the unease that had clung to him on the day of the bullying seemingly gone without a trace.

[He's darkened. He's grown up!]

Even so, Si Jing had no idea that a detective was lying in wait behind the rocks.

The detective in question — Ji Yue — sat crouched behind a reef with his head bowed, a carton of orange juice in one hand and the other idly turning over shells in the sand, the waves lapping at his damp fingertips, waiting for the scholarship student and He Yuanxi to cross paths a second time.

Si Jing turned his head, rubbed the back of his neck, and happened to notice a corner of a shirt peeking out from behind the reef. Something clicked in his mind; he shifted his body and looked more carefully in that direction —

Waves. Sand. Sailboats. Two pairs of eyes meeting.

From Si Jing's expression, Ji Yue sensed something unmistakably genuine: delight.

Why was he happy?

[Maybe because he thinks of you as a friend. Coming here as the scholarship student, he lost his joy for a while.] the System said. [A pity — fate will deliver him to F4 in the end.]

The reminder brought Ji Yue back to the matter at hand: He Yuanxi's plot thread would probably unfold this afternoon.

There were quite a few F4 members appearing today, but he had no time for them — he was going to eat first.

Yan Min was sitting outside the shop reading an off-island magazine. In his peripheral vision, a figure drifted past in complete silence from a distance — long hair rising and falling lightly with each step — then, after a moment, drifted back the same way just as soundlessly, furtive, without making a single sound.

Yan Min set down his magazine.

The table some distance away had been claimed by that person: large tea-tinted sunglasses covering nearly half his face, the island enjoying a rare stretch of bright sunshine that had warmed his cheeks to a flush. The boy was dressed in a loose sun-protective shirt and long trousers, and was currently fiddling with a camera.

Yan Min went back to his magazine.

Click —

Ji Yue heard the shutter.

He looked up. Yan Min was photographing the sea — and seemed to have caught Ji Yue in the frame as well?

Ji Yue shifted position, raised a newspaper to shield his face, then pulled his sunglasses down and peered over the top. Sure enough, a few more figures had appeared on the beach.

Mickey and Si Jing?

[His name is He Yuanxi!]

'Are you looking for Si Jing?' the server said, setting a mango juice in front of him. 'He came by looking for you earlier, but you weren't here.'

'Oh. Got it.'

Ji Yue hurriedly asked for the bill and made to leave, but the server shook his head: 'A gentleman already paid for you just now.'

Ji Yue looked left, then right. Apart from himself, the only other person here was Yan Min.

Yan Min set down the magazine. 'Eat first. Then go and shoot.'

'I can't — there's a lot happening today.'

'I know. You've been busy lately.'

There seemed to be something else beneath those words.

Ji Yue had no time to think about it. He said his goodbyes and walked away at a brisk pace, not looking back.

———

Ji Yue adjusted the angle of his lens, training it on Si Jing and He Yuanxi.

He Yuanxi was the sailing team's sponsor — everyone knew that. He was here now to check on the team, partly out of genuine interest, partly routine. The leisure pursuits of wealthy young men always seemed to involve water, much like how Yuwen Qing was devoted to rowing.

Through the viewfinder, He Yuanxi stood beneath a parasol, speaking with team members, his posture unhurried and at ease.

Ji Yue's movements went unnoticed as he let a miniature camera record the scene of He Yuanxi and Si Jing talking and laughing together. This was the first encounter the original story had described.

[The plot will fast-forward: the others will have things to attend to and leave one by one, and the two of them will take a walk along the beach, ranging in conversation from poetry and song to the philosophy of life. The detective arrives fashionably late, follows their footprints all the way there — and gets caught!]

Several of the group did indeed begin checking their watches, then dispersed in different directions, leaving only He Yuanxi and the scholarship student behind.

What they talked about, Ji Yue couldn't say — but after about half an hour, He Yuanxi left with the others.

Ji Yue put his camera away and flagged down a car at the roadside.

At the mansion, the young men settled onto sofas, exchanging pleasantries.

'You haven't been back to the island in a long time — is it because of things at home?'

'I've heard the Yan family is in a similar situation.'

In this world, the F4 came from four great families, each of them heirs to their respective dynasties. Some of those families — the Li, the He, and the Yan among them — were rumoured to be riven by internal conflict.

While they traded whispers of high-society intrigue, Ji Yue strolled at leisure through the second floor, looking here, touching there, checking for any trace that the plot had passed through — and at the first sound of movement, he slipped silently behind a large decorative vase.

The lights flickered on and off; in the distance, he could make out figures moving from time to time. Someone had come upstairs.

They had no idea they had been followed inside.

According to the timeline, He Yuanxi should have returned from his walk and introduced the scholarship student to his friends — but neither of those things happened.

Ji Yue listened for a good while. Nothing else stirred.

He figured tonight's task could wrap up early; the scholarship student wasn't coming at all.

The laughter and conversation gradually faded, and the young men filed out of the mansion one by one.

'Oh, it's raining — training tomorrow is going to be a pain.'

One of them exclaimed.

'Getting soaked like this, you'll catch a cold easily.'

He Yuanxi said, glancing out the window.

Back home, He Yuanxi picked up his keys and went back downstairs.

A thunderstorm — the road was empty of pedestrians, only the occasional vehicle gliding slowly past. The villa district had few residents at the best of times; now it felt emptier still. The streetlights were diluted by the rain, their glow faint and uncertain. He Yuanxi turned the car onto the road that led down to the beach.

Visibility was poor. The wipers fought furiously against the rain, only for the next wave to obliterate their work an instant later. Through the curtain of water, He Yuanxi could just make out a slight figure in the distance — no umbrella, moving slowly, arms wrapped around themselves.

[Today's mission is failing in the most inexplicable way!] the System fretted. [Does that mean He Yuanxi and the scholarship student's first meeting ended badly? There were so many people around at the time, everyone was smiling — there couldn't have been an argument!]

Ji Yue didn't understand it either. Everything had seemed to go smoothly — the characters, the setting, all consistent with the original. He would have to go through today's footage and analyse it, but that would have to wait until he got home.

The rain tonight was too heavy. He hadn't brought an umbrella; he had no choice but to walk to the bus stop and wait.

A beam of light from behind cut through the darkness of the rain.

A silver car glided soundlessly to his side, and the window slid down.

'Let me take you home — photographer?'

A face with concern written gently between its brows, softened further by the rain.

He Yuanxi looked at Ji Yue through the downpour. In rain this heavy, Ji Yue's long wet hair was like spilled ink, streaming over his shoulders and down his back; the loose shirt he wore had been soaked through, tracing the slender lines of his frame.

He was very pale — drenched like this, that pale young face seemed almost translucent, like a piece of jade washed clean by the rain.

Anyone else caught in such a sorry state would have been wearing a look of miserable frustration. But Ji Yue seemed unaffected. Even now, his expression was the same as always — understated, carrying that faint air of quiet observation — as he looked steadily at the person who had arrived.

Weibo @LuBingYiYi — come read with me, sharing for free

He Yuanxi thought back to a conversation from earlier that afternoon.

'Those people over there — are they from the photography club?'

He had followed the direction of the sun and looked toward the boat, where several people hovered nearby, cameras hanging from their necks, some crouching, some standing.

Si Jing: 'Yes.'

'Just now there was one with long hair and blue eyes — do you know him? He mentioned you to me. Said you were exceptional.'

Si Jing's expression became complicated. 'He brought me up to you?'

Ji Yue introducing the scholarship student to the sponsor and emphasising his talent was, admittedly, a strange thing to do. Si Jing's reaction was strange too.

The two of them — they looked like people falling in love.

———

Ji Yue got in the car.

[F4 really does have a good heart!]

'Why is he driving out at this hour? Rain this heavy — who is he going out to pick up?'

The System caught the strains of a certain detective's theme music and immediately cried out: [Detective — that does seem a little suspicious!]

Inside the car, the heater worked at drying his soaked clothes.

Ji Yue took the towel and bowed his head, first wiping his cheeks, then working through his dripping hair and damp clothes — methodical, unhurried, stroke after stroke.

Afterward, with nothing else to do, he looked at He Yuanxi in the driver's seat, then looked out the window.

'What do you think of the scholarship student?'

He asked.

'You want my assessment of him?'

'Your feeling. Your instinct.'

'He seems fine.'

'Do you think the scholarship student is exceptional — that he could take the championship?' Ji Yue recited the line from the original story. 'The rising star of the boys' school.'

'What are you trying to prove with my opinion?'

'Because you were the national champion before.'

'There's nothing I can offer him.' He Yuanxi kept his eyes on the road ahead, his tone unchanged, then glanced at Ji Yue once more. 'Take the Coat — don't catch a cold.'

'Thank you.'

Ji Yue accepted a cashmere Coat and draped it over his shoulders.

'Why were you staring at my gloves earlier? You were looking at noon too.'

'...'

Because of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

'My hands have some scars.'

The self-driving car continued forward. In Ji Yue's line of sight, He Yuanxi said nothing more — and removed his gloves.

The mark of a gunshot wound crossed the centre of his palm: a jagged, circular scar.

'Would you like to touch it? You seem rather interested.' He Yuanxi said it as though he were joking, but his eyes were fixed directly on Ji Yue.