Three days later, at the Murong Family residence.
The week-long Guardian Angel game had come to an end, and everyone gathered around the table for a "review" session.
Murong Huan spoke first, looking at Quan Le, "I'm giving you 60 points, barely passing."
Quan Le stood up immediately, protesting, "Wasn't I good enough? You're only giving me 60 points? Are you doing this on purpose?"
Murong Huan looked at him with a cold smile, saying, "Well, yes, you were certainly 'good enough.' We were supposed to meet at 9 AM, but you came at 7 AM to wake me up. Making me exercise with you in the cold wind without any makeup on? Is that even humane?"
"I was just thinking about your health! With your current physical condition, you get out of breath after walking just a few steps."
"Why do you care? I have a driver and a car, why should I walk anywhere?"
As the two were about to start arguing, Song Yi quickly interrupted them, "Stop fighting, stop fighting. But Huan, how did you figure out that Quan Le was your guardian angel? None of us could tell."
Of course, Song Yi was lying; she just wanted to change the subject.
Quan Le had been following Murong Huan around like a shadow these past few days - anyone with eyes could have guessed.
Murong Huan fell for it and proudly spent the next few minutes detailing how she had uncovered Quan Le's identity.
Everyone played along, responding with three consecutive "wows" and pretending to be impressed by Murong Huan's cleverness.
Murong Huan then asked, "Yi Yi, what score would you give your guardian angel?"
This question was difficult for Song Yi to answer because she wasn't entirely sure who her guardian angel was.
Hang Feng had always been caring and gentle, but then Shen Yujing had held her protectively that day when she fell in the snow...
Well, she decided it didn't matter who it was.
Song Yi answered, "I'll give my guardian angel 90 points."
Murong Huan pressed, "What about the other 10 points?"
Song Yi said, "I deducted them because I couldn't figure out who it was, though it must be someone who's usually very kind to me."
Shen Yujing looked at her and said, "What do you mean by that? Has anyone ever been unkind to you?"
Shen Yujing's response was enough for Song Yi to confirm that he wasn't her guardian angel - otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to ask that question.
So Song Yi directly asked, "Hang Feng, are you my guardian angel?"
The usually quiet young man simply nodded and said, "Mm."
He seemed afraid to look into her eyes or see her reaction.
"Wow!" Murong Huan grabbed Song Yi's wrist, saying with a smile, "Both of us guessed correctly!"
Then it was Quan Le's turn.
Quan Le declared without hesitation, "I'm giving my guardian angel 60 points too."
Song Yi: "..."
Her fists clenched.
She had helped Quan Le with his studies all this time, always took his side when he argued with Shen Yujing, and actively mediated when Murong Huan scolded him - and all she got was 60 points?
The next moment, Quan Le's confident voice rang out, "The reason I'm giving 60 points is because I know my guardian angel is—"
His voice was so enthusiastic that everyone turned to look at him, curiosity evident in their eyes.
Then, Quan Le pointed at Shen Yujing, "I knew it was you all along, stop pretending!"
Song Yi: "..."
Not only did he give her a low score, but he hadn't even noticed her guardianship.
But Shen Yujing shook his head, "It wasn't me."
"Huh?" Quan Le was stunned, still not quite believing it.
Shen Yujing lifted his chin proudly, "I'm not like you petty people. I'm giving my guardian angel 100 points - they're the most perfect being in this world."
Shen Yujing continued with even more exaggerated praise, saying, "My guardian angel is incredibly charming, flawlessly beautiful, both intelligent and lovable - absolutely the most outstanding student at Saint Slee. Anyone who sees them can't help but fall in love."
Everyone fell silent.
Song Yi rested her chin on her hand, looking around the room - was there anyone here who matched Shen Yujing's description?
Murong Huan voiced everyone's doubts, "Do we even have someone like that at Saint Slee?"
"Of course we do," Shen Yujing nodded, his face full of certainty, not looking like he was joking at all.
Jiang Yiheng looked down at Shen Yujing, his gaze complicated, as if he had already figured it out.
But Quan Le was still hanging on Shen Yujing's every word, urging, "Who is it? Let us see!"
So under everyone's puzzled gaze, Shen Yujing took out the paper slip he had drawn that day and placed it on the table.
Quan Le grabbed it and opened it - there were three characters written on it:
Shen Yujing.
Everyone: "???"
Song Yi: "..."
Of course - given Shen Yujing's exaggerated description, she should have known.
Who else would he praise like that except himself?
While everyone was giving him looks of speechless disdain, Shen Yujing still held his chin high proudly, "Why are you all looking at me like that? Am I wrong?"
Since his first year of high school, he had received countless love letters from girls, and on Valentine's Day his desk would be completely filled with chocolates - wasn't that enough proof of his charm?
Just as Shen Yujing was feeling smug, a hand suddenly pressed down on the back of his head.
When his face was pressed against the table, Shen Yujing was bewildered.
He demanded, "Who's jealous of my handsome face!?"
"Heh." Song Yi's cold laugh rang out, followed by, "You're too much."
Quan Le shouted, "Hit him!"
Shen Yujing: "..."
Fists and palms landed on his back.
He felt wronged but endured it.
Finally, the other results were announced - Hang Feng's guardian angel was Jiang Yiheng, and Jiang Yiheng's angel was Murong Huan.
Everything made sense now.
No wonder Jiang Yiheng had been so attentive to Hang Feng's affairs lately. As for Murong Huan, she hadn't done anything for Jiang Yiheng to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, but Jiang Yiheng had still gentlemanly given her a high score.
But because of Shen Yujing's luck in drawing himself, his perfect score naturally became the highest score any guardian angel received.
Murong Huan still found it incredible, muttering, "What kind of luck is this? Drawing yourself?"
It was hard to say if it was good luck that let him give himself a high score, or bad luck that he didn't get to participate in the game properly.
Song Yi thought seriously for a moment and said, "Maybe it's because he's a lonely wolf."
Murong Huan and Quan Le burst out laughing, and the others could barely contain their amusement - even Jiang Yiheng's lips curved slightly upward.
While Shen Yujing wasn't exactly brilliant, he wasn't stupid either - he could tell they were laughing at him.
To be honest, "Lonely Wolf" was Shen Yujing's first online username, created probably in elementary school, and he had never changed it.
But clearly, now this lonely wolf was being mocked for his name.
"Is it that funny?" Shen Yujing looked at Quan Le, expressionless.
"Of course it is," Quan Le was laughing so hard he fell back onto the sofa.
Murong Huan chimed in, "Shen Yujing, I have to tell you, we've privately made fun of that username countless times, we just never had the heart to tell you to change it."
Shen Yujing: "..."
He turned to look at Song Yi, his beautiful phoenix eyes full of hurt.
Was it really... really that stupid?
Before Shen Yujing could ask his question, Song Yi jumped in with an answer: "You should change it."
Shen Yujing: "..."
That night, Shen Yujing faced two challenges in his life - or you could say one short-term task and one long-term task.
Short-term task: Change the username that had been with him for twelve years.
Long-term task: Fix his reckless and impulsive bad habits.
For the first task, Shen Yujing sat at his desk for an hour, flipping through Tang and Song dynasty poems, but couldn't find a suitable replacement username.
So Shen Yujing decided to put it off for now and think about it tomorrow.
Then...
Shen Yujing held his pen, lost in thought.
After a while, he went downstairs to find his mother, calling out, "Mom!"
Shen's Mother, sitting on the sofa wrapped in a blanket watching palace dramas, didn't even look up, "If you have something to say, just say it."
Shen Yujing sat down beside his mother and said, "I want you to help me find an etiquette teacher."
"Of course, I'll find you ten if you—"
Shen's Mother stopped mid-sentence and quickly paused the palace drama with her remote control. Even though the next scene where Concubine Xi was about to be reported for having an illicit affair was incredibly exciting, she couldn't care less about it now.
Shen's Mother reached out to feel Shen Yujing's forehead while exclaiming, "What did you just say? Son, are you delirious with fever or have you lost your mind? You want an etiquette teacher?"
Shen Yujing felt quite embarrassed at this moment.
It made sense though. Throughout his life, Shen Yujing had always been known for his arrogant and unruly behavior. From his mother's perspective, it must be incomprehensible why he would suddenly want to learn etiquette...
"How strange," Shen's Mother withdrew her hand, still in disbelief, "You have such an elegant mother like me, yet you want to find some other etiquette teacher?"
Shen Yujing: "..."
So that was what shocked her, not his sudden change in attitude... Never mind.
Shen Yujing's gaze fell on his mother's crossed legs, and though he said nothing, his look spoke volumes.
Shen's Mother immediately uncrossed her legs and said with a serious expression, "Well, we're at home, aren't we? I can be casual here. You should know that in public, your mother is the epitome of etiquette in the entire Imperial Capital. Why hire a teacher? I'll teach you myself!"
In Shen's Father's study.
The young man stood expressionlessly by the window with a vase balanced on his head.
Shen's Mother sat on the sofa, saying, "Very good! Walk forward! Walk! Walk..."
"Crash—"
The vase fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Shen Yujing instinctively stepped backward.
Shen's Mother frowned, "That won't do. The broken vase isn't a big deal, but when startled, you should remain steady in place. You absolutely must not move around – that's a breach of palace etiquette!"
"Come on! Son! Pick up that ugly vase on your left and put it on your head again. Yes, that's right, stand firm!"
"Take two steps forward, maintain your balance! How does it feel? Don't you feel elegant? Now turn around and walk back..."
"Crash—"
As Shen Yujing turned, the vase fell and shattered on the ground again, but this time he remained perfectly still.
Looking at the familiar vase on the floor, Shen Yujing seemed to realize something.
He asked suspiciously, "Wasn't this the one father bought at the auction last year..."
"That's not important, we have plenty of these ugly things at home," Shen's Mother cut him off and continued, "Did you remember what I just taught you? Let's try with another one! Come on! Give it a try!"
Shen Yujing: "..."
Although... he had one question—
Is this really how one learns etiquette???
