Chapter 194: April 1st

Should he remind them? Xia Yu pondered.

However, his reminder might not be taken seriously; it might even be misunderstood.

Forget it. Fifty thousand wasn’t such a big sum. If it’s gone, it’s fine. It’s not a high price to pay as an intelligence tax, especially with him around.

Declining the invitation to stay for tea, Xia Yu got back on his motorcycle and visited other creditors one by one to repay the debts.

This was entrusted to him by Yin Shulan, who was afraid to carry so much money around alone.

The previous robbery attempt hadn’t frightened Xia Yu, but it had scared Yin Shulan badly.

When everything was finished and he returned home, it was already eight in the morning.

Xia Yu returned to his own body.

At that moment, he was on a high-speed train heading to the next city.

He didn’t plan to return to Zilang immediately but instead intended to stay in another city for a day.

This was for the sake of disguise.

Although it seemed like he was just tormenting himself, success or failure often depended on the details.

In fact, initially, he had planned to continue traveling all the way since he had nothing else to do anyway.

However, during these days of travel, he simply couldn’t muster any interest.

Mainly because no one was keeping him company.

When a person’s overall mood is negative, they tend to prefer solitude and traveling alone.

But Xia Yu’s mood remained positive.

Amidst the clamor, disgust easily arises; once disgust arises, one seeks escape in quiet emptiness. Prolonged solitude easily breeds loneliness; once lonely, one inevitably longs for past glories and prosperity.

Xia Yu had not yet grown disgusted with the clamor of the world.

On the contrary, the monotonous routine of his past life made him cherish the present life all the more.

At noon, he arrived at the city he had chosen as his final stop. At the hotel front desk, he casually picked up a tourist map.

Sitting on the sofa in his room, he looked at the tourist map.

There was a mountain? And a garden? There was even a national park in the suburbs?

Not bad.

After hesitating for a while, Xia Yu ultimately chose—to play video games in his room.

Those places, without saying, would be full of couples or parents and children. Going there alone would only make him feel lonelier.

Better to play games.

After finishing one round, a notification tone sounded from his phone.

It was the Penguin app’s alert tone.

Opening his phone, Xia Yu saw a one-star account requesting to add him as a friend.

The sender had no note, but seeing the profile picture—the same as Xu Youxiang’s main account—Xia Yu knew it was Xu Youxiang coming back to apologize for blocking him.

He clicked to accept.

[]

Xu Youxiang sent a photo.

It was a home outfit photo of An Siyao.

『???』 Xia Yu replied.

In his mind, words like “test,” “life-or-death question,” and the like flashed by.

“You got the photo—unblock me now!” Xu Youxiang bit her lip. She originally intended to send a photo of herself in her pajamas, but she couldn’t bring herself to click send. So she sent a photo of An Siyao instead.

Sending photos like that was just too immodest!

But if he said anything else, it wouldn’t be her being immodest anymore—it would be him being shameless, and she would have no choice but to send him the photo. That’s what Xu Youxiang thought.

However, what she received was Xia Yu re-adding her main account.

Xia Yu had absolutely no intention of asking her to resend the photo.

Throwing the phone aside, Xu Youxiang sulked.

After pounding the stuffed bear on the bed for a while, Xu Youxiang picked up her phone again, hoping Xia Yu had changed his mind—but Xia Yu still showed no signs of movement.

What a jerk! He doesn’t even want the perks!

Opening her photo album, Xu Youxiang wanted to delete her pajama photo, but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She should give him another chance.

That chance lasted until the next day.

On April 1st, Xia Yu logged into An Siyao’s account.

At that moment, An Siyao was eating breakfast at the table.

Because it was still early, there were only he and a maid in the dining room.

In his hand, he held a piece of bread just out of the oven—golden brown and emitting a faint aroma.

However, what was truly enticing wasn’t its color, aroma, or taste, but rather a small bite mark on the bread.

An Siyao had just taken a bite of the bread when Xia Yu took over his body.

Staring at the bite mark, Xia Yu thought for a moment, then bit into the bread himself.

What’s the problem with eating bread eaten by the same body?

The bread was a bit sweet, but by the second bite, the sweetness had diminished significantly.

After finishing the bread, Xia Yu noticed that An Siyao had been silent for a long time.

What happened?

After drinking the milk on the table, Xia Yu washed his hands with water brought by the maid and walked toward the door.

Once in the courtyard, with no one around, Xia Yu was just about to ask An Siyao what was wrong when An Siyao spoke first.

“It’s kind of hard to pretend to be dead.” The girl’s voice carried a hint of frustration.

“You were planning to joke by pretending to be dead?” Xia Yu thought for a moment and understood An Siyao’s intention.

It was April 1st—April Fools’ Day.

“Yeah, I originally thought staying silent would be enough, but if I don’t speak, maybe people will think I’ve disappeared. I just wanted to pretend to be dead.” An Siyao sounded dejected.

“Fool.” Xia Yu was amused by the girl’s words.

“It’s all Jiajia and Momo’s bad ideas.” An Siyao had not only learned to lie but also to shift blame.

“All right, my Xiaoyao is the smartest.”

“Actually, I’m still a bit dumb.” Although she was happy to be praised, An Siyao explained, fearing Xia Yu would really think she was smart.

“That last sentence was an April Fools’ joke.” Xia Yu continued.

“You’re bullying me!” An Siyao’s happiness vanished, and she became upset.

“It’s because you’re too dumb. Others would immediately know it’s an April Fools’ joke.” Xia Yu, who hadn’t teased An Siyao for a long time, felt a small sense of satisfaction today.

Arriving at the courtyard gate, Xia Yu got into the driver’s car.

The car headed toward the academy.

The driver silently stared at the road ahead.

In the past, Xia Yu wouldn’t have spoken to him, but today, having been slightly teased by An Siyao and briefly made anxious, he couldn’t wait to share this negative emotion with someone else.

“You’ve done a good job these past few months.”

The sudden words from Xia Yu caused the driver’s heart to panic.

Looking at Xia Yu through the rearview mirror, he struggled to find words: “All thanks to Miss’s guidance.”

Xia Yu silently initiated a threat: “Keep that attitude, or else you’ll have to keep company with your predecessor in Lanqi River.”

After making the driver’s skin crawl, Xia Yu added: “April Fools’ joke. Did I scare you?”

The driver forced out a dry laugh. He believed the latter part—”April Fools’ joke”—was indeed a joke.

Sure enough, the previous driver was drowned in the river!

The expression on Xia Yu’s face just now was unmistakable!

Cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and he dared not say another word.

Xia Yu had originally intended to amuse himself by making the driver tense and then relax, but at this moment, he saw only tension on the driver’s part, no relaxation.

Had the joke failed?

He didn’t dwell on it, because they had already arrived at the academy.

Stepping out of the car, he met Feng Yujia and Feng Yumo in the courtyard beneath the teaching building.

According to An Siyao, it was Feng Yujia and Feng Yumo who had encouraged her to pretend to be dead, giving him quite a scare.

Xia Yu was not a magnanimous person. If there was a grudge, he naturally wanted revenge.

Following behind the Feng sisters, after the two entered the entrance hall, he stepped forward, grabbed Feng Yumo’s wrist, and pinned her against the wall.

“Yumo, I like you.” He leaned his face close to Feng Yumo’s, gazing at the girl with deep affection, and activated his elegance.