Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)

Even though He Juan had given his words that he would never show up at school, he was forced to break it today. But what was he supposed to do when Mu Yuze’s homeroom teacher suddenly called and asked to meet him?

Since He Juan took Mu Yuze under his wings, automatically he was also responsible for the boy’s education. He had wondered about it at first. With the shitty kind of father he had, how did Mu Yuze manage to continue schooling?

As it turned out, everything was thanks to this homeroom teacher surnamed Wei. She was aware of the predicament in Mu Yuze’s house and had taken it upon herself to pay for Mu Yuze’s school fee every month. No matter what, she did not want to see him dropout of school just because of unsupportive parents. Sometimes, she would cook more food and secretly share them with Mu Yuze during lunch time, especially after she found out how poor Mu Yuze’s eating habit was. It was also fortunate that the fee to the public school was not high and was still within the range of a teacher’s wage, enabling her to force Mu Yuze to keep attending school despite the boy’s reluctance to trouble her for it.

Until He Juan swooped in out of nowhere and compensated her thrice the amount she had spent on Mu Yuze.

He Juan had kept up the persona of being Mu Yuze’s distant uncle and thus, when he entered the teacher’s office, Teacher Wei called out to him warmly, "Mu Yuze’s uncle, thank you for making the time to come here. Please have a seat." She gestured at the chair in front of her.

He Juan had to cough to mask the laughter that almost escaped his lips. If Mu Yuze were to hear this address, he would certainly go mad in anger. Well, before that, he would already be mad at the fact that He Juan had come here without permission.

"Thank you, Teacher Wei," He Juan draped his jacket over the armchair and took his seat opposite the teacher.

He had come here straight from Jia Molei’s clinic and thus, had not changed out of his formal suit. He could already feel curious gazes falling on him, both from the teachers and students who dropped by bringing a tall stack of notebooks. After all, it was not everyday that such a youthful guardian would visit the school.

He Juan grimaced inwardly. Was it too much to hope that the rumors would not spread so soon? Judging from how sharp Mu Yuze was, as soon as he heard the description of the unusual man in the teacher’s office, he would definitely be able to connect it to He Juan. Alas, it would be a problem for the future He Juan to solve. Right now, he was more concerned as to why the homeroom teacher would call him here.

Had Mu Yuze fought with his classmate, perhaps? Or was he caught engaging in puppy love?

"Did something happen to my Xiao Ze, Teacher Wei?" he asked worriedly.

She gazed at him for one long moment before stating carefully, "It seems like you have no idea that Mu Yuze has been absent from school these past few days."

He Juan froze, seriously doubting what he had just heard. "...What?"

Teacher Wei let out a sigh. "This is the third day he has not come to school. It’s the exam period now, so for him to be absent for three days in a row is very detrimental to his final score. If he keeps this on, I’m afraid he will fail the class again. I have tried to talk to him about it, but that stubborn boy insisted not to say a word. That’s why I am wondering if you know something, Mr. Xiu?"

He Juan understood every word the teacher said, but when it was strung into one sentence, he felt like what entered his ears was unintelligible speech.

Mu Yuze... had not come to school for three days? How?

He knew that it was the exam period; Mu Yuze told him himself after they had dinner together that he would retreat to his room early to study for the exam. So how could he be absent? Impossible! Yesterday, He Juan had even personally dropped him off at school and watched as he walked past the gate! Unless...

Unless Mu Yuze snuck out after he drove away? But why?

"Wait..." He Juan suddenly caught on the crux of Teacher Wei’s words. "Again? You said that Mu Yuze will fail the class again? Meaning that this was not the first time??"

She showed a surprised look. "You have no idea about this?"

He Juan was rendered speechless. Not only that, he was also terribly ashamed of himself. Through the wits and brilliance Mu Yuze had shown him since they first met, he had audaciously assumed that the boy would excel in his class. Hell, he was even certain that Mu Yuze was a prodigy. And that’s why he had never checked the progress of Mu Yuze’s study or his grade report because he believed that there was no need to.

Thus, when Teacher Wei showed him the copy of Mu Yuze’s grade report that was filled with red marks, he was utterly discombobulated. In a split second, he had even suspected that the school was bullying Mu Yuze for being small and poor and manipulated his scores so that he would drop out by himself.

But then, Teacher Wei continued to show him Mu Yuze’s past exam papers that had been marked. He Juan looked at the round and wriggly handwriting and thought, ’Oh, this is Xiao Ze’s papers for sure.’

"I have no idea why," Teacher Wei let out a troubled sigh. "He usually has no problem keeping up in the class. But on the exam, he would either submit blank papers or never answer the questions seriously. When I asked him about it, he would apologize but repeat it again in the next examination. This is his second year staying in the first grade of junior high. If he fails his class one more time, then we will have no choice but to expel him..."

He Juan stared at the papers blankly as his mind started to do the calculation.

Mu Yuze was fifteen this year. Going by the normal procedure, he should be entering the third grade next year and sit in high school entrance examination the year after that, but right now, he was on the verge of being expelled because of failing the first grade...

Was this why he forbade He Juan from coming to his school? Because he did not want He Juan to know about his terrible scores?

He Juan furrowed his brow deeply. Something was not right. The Mu Yuze he knew would not flunk the exam and fail the grade on purpose. He must have his own reason for that.

He gripped the exam paper tighter until his knuckles turned white and gave a tight-lipped smile to the concerned teacher, "My deepest apologies, Teacher Wei. I... I will try to talk to him about it. Meanwhile, can I bring these papers and reports with me?"