Dragon Hermit

“I just noticed you were having a nice chat with my little sister here. Are you her classmate?” Xia Yan rocked the hand he was holding onto up and down genially.

“You… let go of my hand! I beg you! Please let go of it!” Xiao Yuan began crying as he believed his hand would get crippled.

“You said you wanted to take my little sister for karaoke just now? Won’t you take me along then?” Xia Yan acted like he hadn’t heard him and grabbed the hand with his other hand like a boss.

“Xiaoyu… is a single child. You aren’t her brother!” Xiao Yuan tried to point out while he tried to break free of the grip.

“Can’t I be her cousin?” Xia Yan squeezed the hand a few more times after seeing he still had the energy to talk back, and then smiled towards Xiaoyu, “Cousin, aren’t I right?”

[Oh my! He’s so handsome!]

Xiaoyu blushed instantly. Actually, Xia Yan wasn’t that handsome, at least, not more than the norm. Although he wasn’t as handsome as Xiao Yuan, women were biased since they were perceptual creatures.

To Xiaoyu, Xia Yan appeared to have a halo around him when he arrived to help her out — just like the weak halo that covered the male lead when he makes an appearance in TV dramas — this halo could simultaneously decrease IQ and esthetic cognition of female creatures in its range.

“Yes, cousin!” She answered while nodding subconsciously.

Xia Yan felt a current pass through him when he heard her call him ‘cousin’ with her lark-like voice. His hair rose on its ends, and a pleasant sensation permeated all over his body.

“Cousin, do you wish to go for karaoke?” Xia Yan asked her.

“I don’t!” Xiaoyu shook her head vehemently.

“He says he can make you a star, though. Aren’t you interested in that?” Xia Yan followed up with another question.

“I don’t want to become a star!” Xiaoyu refused all the same.

“Did you hear that? My cousin said she doesn’t want to become a star, so you better look for someone else,” Xia Yan squeezed Xiao Yuan’s hand with force once again before letting it go. His fingers had now taken the form of a claw and become so rigid that he couldn’t even move them properly.

“Y-You…” Xiao Yuan looked at Xia Yan while clutching his hand yet couldn’t find any words to speak.

“I’m Xia Yan, from the History Department. You are welcome to look for me,” Xia Yan smiled at him while making a self-introduction.

“You will definitely regret this!” Xiao Yuan’s eyes filled with hatred.

At this moment, a Jeep Wrangler stopped before the entrance, and a young man got down from it.

Xiao Yuan’s eyes lit up when he saw this man. He rushed forth to welcome the young man right away, “Sir Quan, you’re here!”

“Who were you again… Xiao Yuan, right? What are you doing here?” The young man took off his sunglasses and asked casually. He had only recalled Xiao Yuan’s name after giving him a good look.

“Didn’t Sir Feng ask me to find a few university girls who he could have some night-time fun with? I had already found someone, but who could have known this freshman from the barn would meddle in it…” Xiao Yuan explained anxiously.

“That’s all you amount to? Can’t you even call a few guys to handle him?” Dong Quan looked around, and when he saw someone, his face lit up with joy. He immediately made his way over towards that person.

“Right. It’s him, Sir Quan. This country bumpkin was the one who meddled in!” Xiao Yuan felt overjoyed when he saw Dong Quan walk towards Xia Yan. [It will be easy to handle this freshman with Sir Quan!]

He never expected to see Dong Quan shake all over and turn back to look at him as if he were looking at a ghost, “You were talking about him?”

“Yes, this hick!”

“M•therf•cking bastard! You dare to entrap me?!” Dong Quan’s expression changed, and he gave a good hard slap to Xiao Yuan, who, in turn, was stupefied by the reversal and asked, “Sir Quan, why did you slap me?”

“What else do you want me to do, you f•cker!” Dong Quan slapped the other side of his face again and kicked him to the ground.

Xiao Yuan was utterly stupefied by the turn of events and stared blankly as Dong Quan sprinted towards the freshman. He immediately realized he had provoked someone he shouldn’t have when he saw Dong Quan fawn upon the freshman.

“M…” Dong Quan rushed towards Xia Yan and was just about to address him as ‘Master Xia.’ However, when he saw Xia Yan signal him with his eyes, he corrected himself cleverly, “Xia Yan, I have brought the things.”

“Thanks! Xia Yan stated indifferently and then pointed towards Xiao Yuan, who still laid on the ground, “Do you know him?”

“Not at all! He’s isn’t someone good, and even I felt vexed after seeing him. I hate scum like him the most!” Dong Quan stated firmly.

“He harassed my cousin,” Xia Yan interjected.

Dong Quan obviously didn’t believe they were cousins. He looked at Xiaoyu and praised Xia Yan’s taste internally. [This girl’s looks aren’t that bad, but how dare that f•cker, Xiao Yuan, target Master Xiao’s girl!]

Although he cursed Xiao Yuan in his mind, Dong Quan felt very thankful to this guy. [I was worried I wouldn’t find a chance to approach Master Xia, but you have provided me the perfect opportunity. If I don’t discipline you well, how would Master Xia’s impression of me change to make him remember me?]

“M… Xia Yan, just leave it to me. Your cousin is my cousin. Since he dares to harass her, I will teach this scum a good lesson!” Dong Quan patted his chest.

Xiao Yuan’s hand, which was propping up his body from the ground, wobbled, and he crashed to the hard cement floor again. He knew he had lost all chances of becoming a star now and wouldn’t be able to live the rest of his days in Chengdu in peace anymore. Dong Quan was Dong Feng’s elder brother, someone who he couldn’t even fawn upon even if he wished to.

[How do you even have the nerve to call me scum?!] Xiao Yuan grieved internally.

“Hello, cousin. I’m Dong Quan. If you need anything, you can contact me… No, wait. Your cousin is the true expert, so contact me if it’s something too trivial for him to deal with!” Dong Quan took out a card and handed it over to Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu received it with a stunned expression on her face and felt shocked when she looked down and saw the words ‘International’ and ‘Group’ on it. The name ‘Liu’ on it was especially remarkable as even though she was a student, she knew how famous the Liu Group was.

Because of this, the image she had of Xia Yan in her mind became even grander.

“X… Cousin, thank you!” Xiaoyu was planning to call him ‘Xia Yan.’ However, on second thought, she decided it was better to address him as ‘cousin’ or else she would expose him.

“Mhm. Return to your dorm now. Don’t mingle with this kind of man ever again, okay?” Xia Yan advised her earnestly, just like a brother caring for his sister.

“Okay!” Xiaoyu nodded cleverly and looked back at every step as she made her way back to the dorm.

[History Department’s Xiao Yan. Mhm, I’ll remember him!]

“Master, your taste is superb, this gal looks pretty good!” As soon as Xiaoyu left, Dong Quan began flattering Xia Yan.

“She is my cousin,” Xia Yan emphasized.

“Right! As you say, she is your cousin!” Dong Quan wore a look of understanding on his face that couldn’t have been any more perverted.

“Let’s go, we can chat after getting into the car,” Xia Yan suggested after seeing people were gathering around them.

“Alright!” Dong Quan unlocked the car’s doors, and the two of them got into it. The Jeep Wrangler then disappeared from the crowd’s vision.

Xiao Yuan crawled up in a daze, and when he saw the crowd of students giving him looks, he felt that this moment might as well be the most shameful moment of his entire life.

Just when he was preparing to escape and hide from the crowd’s gaze, his cell phone began ringing. He answered the call while wearing a wooden expression on his face and instantly heard Dong Feng roar at him from the other end, “Xiao Yuan, you f•cker! Didn’t you say you were going to bring a girl? How did you end up provoking my brother? Even if you did so, how could you even dare to provoke M… Xia Yan, you fool! And you were even planning to bring his cousin sister over. Do you even know who he is? Were you planning to entrap me, huh? F•cker!”

[How the f•ck am I supposed to know who he is?! If I knew, I wouldn’t have provoked him.] Xiao Yuan had no tears left to shed.

☠☠☠

Inside the car, Dong Quan had lashed out at Dong Feng and told him that his underling had provoked Master Xia, so he instructed him to play by the ear. Dong Feng, who was just about to go out, was scared shitless after hearing this. Although he hadn’t personally seen Xia Yan exorcise, his mother and elder brother had narrated the incident to him seventeen times already. Hence, he viewed Xia Yan as an enigmatic character who he absolutely couldn’t afford to offend.

Even though he was inside an air-conditioned room, when Dong Feng learned that Xiao Yuan had chosen Master Xia’s cousin to bring to the karaoke place, he began sweating profusely. He cursed Xiao Yuan and all his ancestors before deciding to give a good lesson to this idiot.

The backseat of the vehicle had three large suitcases and also a large, curved satchel bag. Dong Quan ended the call and said, “Master Xia, I assume it’s no good to store these things in the dorm?”

“Yeah. I think it’s fine to just rent a room and keep them there!” Xia Yan said with a nod.

“That’s an easy thing to do. Liu Estates have a lot of vacant rooms, you can just choose whichever one you find suitable. I just need to make a call to my uncle!” Dong Quan suggested.

“That’s no good. It’s fine for me to just rent a room nearby the university!” Xia Yan declined tactfully.

“It doesn’t matter, Master Xia, it’s just a room, that’s all. We all feel gratitude towards you for curing grandfather…”

“No. The Liu family has already rewarded me for that, so I won’t take anything more!” Xia Yan interrupted him in the middle.

Although this sounded like a good deal, Xia Yan really didn’t wish to get involved with the Liu family’s matters. He felt that it was better for old man Liu and Liu Shan to deal with the conspirator by themselves as they had enough money to achieve that.

Hence, Xia Yan held a clear stance regarding this matter. He accepted the skeletons and the tusk as they were part of his reward, so he wouldn’t owe the Liu family even if he took them. However, he absolutely couldn’t accept the room as that would force his hand in the future.

Dong Quan didn’t dare to suggest it again as he believed all experts had strange temperaments. He feared that he might offend Master Xia by saying the wrong thing and the consequences of that… wasn’t something he could afford to take on.

“We can only find a real estate agent then,” Dong Quan stated.

A few minutes later, the Jeep Wrangler stopped before the entrance of an established real estate brokerage, and the two of them alighted from it. Before they could even enter inside, a black-suited real estate agent came out to welcome them, “Are you looking to buy a place, sirs?”

As he asked this, he glanced at the Jeep Wrangler and rejoiced his luck in getting to handle this huge deal.

“We aren’t buying, but rather renting,” Xia Yan answered.

“We have enough apartments for rent in our listing from all the famous buildings. If sirs are planning to open a company, I recommend this apartment. Please take a look…” Although the black-suited man felt a little disappointed, he thought that renting out an apartment might net him a good amount too.

“We aren’t opening a company, it’s for living,” Xia Yan interrupted him.

“Ah, for living…” the black-suited man took another hit. Still, he showed the same dedication to his work, “There’s a place available on the 38th floor of the Prima Vida Building. It’s fifty square meters in size and fully furnished with lavish decorations, so you can move in with just your luggage. The monthly rent is only 3200…”

“Hold on! The rent is too high!” Xia Yan interrupted him for the second time, “The monthly rent must be less than five hundred. It must also be a room for a single-person close to Sihe University.”

“Hah? Less than five hundred?” The black-suited man blanked out. [Are you kidding me? You have come here in a Wrangler and are looking for a place with such low rent? Do you even have any awareness of a wealthy person? Shouldn’t you be looking for a place that has at least three thousand as the monthly rent?]

“Yes!” Xia Yan nodded to confirm.

“Well… A lot of students prefer renting apartments off-campus these days, so there’s no place with rent less than five hundred nearby to Sihe University. Moreover, none of them are single-person rentals, they are all shared rentals!” The black-suited man’s hope finally shattered and made him lament that not everyone who rides in a pricey car is rich.