《To Burn On Touch》 CH 1 ¡°As everyone knows, Yu Ran is a dumbass.¡± In August, Ronggang City ushered in the hottest day of the year. The internet cafe owners on Jiangdong Road had all gathered in a QQ chat group and were having a heated discussion about a person named Yu Ran. ¡°Last Saturday, the police came to check IDs. I hurriedly rushed upstairs and shouted for the group of kids playing to sneak down using the stairs and leave. All of them were very cooperative, except for this fucking Yu Ran¡­¡± ¡°I told him to move faster and promised that he could play for two hours on the house next time. But he just refused to leave, and even shouted at me, ¡®Ge is about to reach climax! Ge is about to reach climax! I can¡¯t leave!¡¯. At first I thought he was watching porn, but after taking a look, I found that both of his hands were on the keyboard and he was actually gaming.¡± The owner of Haoyue Internet Cafe took a deep drag of his cigarette and sighed, typing: ¡°Later I found out that this little bastard was playing LOL while listening to music, and he would usually use his ult. when the music reached its climax. In the end, he managed to kill five and I was also taken away by the police. He criticised the education system; I was fined ten thousand dollars. Goddamn it.¡± Others in the group quickly expressed their sympathy. Some said that Yu Ran always fought in front of their internet cafes, causing the police to head there to catch people. A supervisor at one of the cafes even suspected that Yu Ran was an accomplice sent by the police, a sort of ¡°bait¡±. Recently, the police station on Jiangdong Road had become stricter about arresting minors who accessed the internet. No one wanted to have their business suspended. After today¡¯s discussion, they unanimously decided that they would no longer entertain primary and middle school students during the summer vacation, especially that troublesome Yu Ran. In the following week, all that aired on TV were reports about the London Olympics and warnings for rising temperatures. The scorching rays of the sun burned the asphalt roads and the city buildings appeared to waver in the thin air. On this day, Yu Ran stood at the entrance of Haoyue Internet Cafe and saw a sign with a warning from the police, stating that the minors were prohibited from entering the cafe. Under the sign, there was a new rule personally written by the owner of the internet cafe: Yu Ran and dogs are not allowed to enter! Yu Ran sneered and turned around disdainfully to head to another internet cafe. Upon arrival, he found that there was also a sign at this door. It said ¡°Dogs can come in, Yu Ran can¡¯t.¡± He stared at this line and fell into deep thought, coming to a realisation: He had been cancelled by Jiangdong Road¡¯s Internet Cafe Alliance. The heat of summer lent itself to impulsive thoughts. Just a few seconds after anger had risen in Yu Ran¡¯s heart, it was smothered by an inexplicable satisfaction ¨C carefully thinking about it, no one on the whole of Jiangdong Road had ever been jointly boycotted by the owners of internet cafes. What did this imply? It implied that, in their eyes, his abilities were already strong enough to pose a threat to them. In short, he had reached the level of existence of a BOSS even though he was still a minor. ¡°Damn, I¡¯m awesome!¡± With his sudden realisation, Yu Ran was even feeling a bit proud. The air-conditioning in the convenience store was strong. Yu Ran grabbed a can of iced cola and lined up for check out. His phone kept vibrating. He took it out and saw that he had received a new order. [¡ãBuerxin]: Are you there? Help me kill someone. The other party had gotten straight to the point, sending a picture of a boy. Te Ejc ogbhf lc qijmf, jiwbra obgufaalcu ab qjs obg tlr mbij. Coafg tlr tlut rmtbbi fcagjcmf fzjwlcjalbc, tf tjv yfuec ab ajxf bgvfgr bc HH. Zjlcis, tlr bgvfgr kfgf obg wlvvif rmtbbi olutar (lcmievlcu nfgyji lcalwlvjalbc), qijslcu bc yftjio bo batfgr lc ujwfr, bcf-bc-bcf sb-sb aeabglcu fam., jii bo ktlmt kfgf mifjgis qglmfv, gjculcu ogbw 50 ab 100 sejc. Kbvjs kjr atf olgra alwf tf tjv fcmbecafgfv j gfdefra yfsbcv tlr jylilalfr. Snfc atbeut tf kjr kbcvfglcu lcafgcjiis, ¡°lr la ralii qbrrlyif ab mbwwla wegvfg mjrejiis lc j rbmlfas ecvfg atf geif bo ijk¡±, ja atlr alwf, obg atf rjxf bo wjlcajlclcu atf jqqfjgjcmf bo ubbv wjccfgr, Te Ejc ralii rfglberis mbcrlvfgfv atf kbgvr jcv gfqilfv ab atf batfg qjgas. ¡°Sorry but I¡¯ve already washed my hands clean of this business. It¡¯d be better for you to go find another killer.¡± His words were filled with a subtle arrogance. After sending this pretentious reply, Yu Ran casually threw two coins into the cashier counter, as if he was a mysterious adventurer in a wuxia novel, throwing down his money pouch and grabbing a flask of wine before sauntering off. After leaving the convenience store, his phone vibrated again. The other person asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you help others with in game battles?¡± Yu Ran reacted slowly, ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t mean actual murder?¡± [¡ãBuerxin]: ¡­¡­ [¡ãBuerxin]: Forget it, I¡¯ll find someone else. Yu Ran: ¡°Wait a minute! All who come to me are clients! I¡¯m super cheap!¡± The other party said: ¡°Two hundred fifty solo-kill that person. Use my account, and remember to take a screenshot.¡± Yu Ran scrolled through the chat log, clicking on the photo of the boy above. He saw a line of words below: Telecom District Three PVP Champion ¡°Marija¡±, fifteen years old. Instead of the handsome features of this person, the first thing Yu Ran noticed was actually his school uniform. That was the uniform of students from Ronggang Overseas Affiliated School, one of the best schools in the city. Yu Ran had always thought that the minds of the city¡¯s top students were enriched through reading alone. It turned out that not only were top students also exposed to online games, some of them could even rank first in the entire server. As expected, truly intelligent people could do more than just study. Yu Ran didn¡¯t have experience with this unpopular online game, but he believed that he was quick to learn in this area, so he took on the order without hesitation. Since all the internet cafes on Jiangdong Road no longer welcomed him, Yu Ran had to take the bus to Jiubao Street. That was the No. 1 commercial district in Ronggang City. After one grew tired of playing games, they could even conveniently check out the new styles of sports shoes for the summer season. For the next several days in a row, Yu Ran spent all his time in internet cafes. He diligently practiced his PVP skills, expertly wiping out the arena. Sometimes he would log on to the game forum for to read the posts. He saw that the most popular posts on the forum were screenshots of players showing off which district PVP champions they had solo-killed. It seemed like the business of playing on behalf of others was also booming in this game. On Tuesday afternoon, the heat was unbearable. With half a stick of an ice pop in his mouth, Yu Ran was engrossed in observing the scrolling announcement bar on the lower left corner of his screen ¨C [Legend] Player ¡°Marija¡± has entered the arena. The time was finally here! Yu Ran sucked in a mouthful of crushed ice, the taste cool and sweet as it slid down his throat. He quickly tapped the keyboard with his fingertips, manipulating his in-game character onto the battlefield before issuing a challenge to ¡°Marija¡±. His opponent quickly accepted and rapidly unleashed his skills. Fortunately, Yu Ran had placed a transparent shield in advance, otherwise he definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to react in time. The two changed positions constantly, confusing each other. Yu Ran¡¯s health bar took a couple hits. After doing his best to rescue himself from the precarious situation, Yu Ran managed to fight against his opponent anew. Suddenly, ¡°Marija¡± jumped onto the city wall. Yu Ran thought that he was going to use his ult. against him, and reflexively dodged. But even after a few seconds, no extra sound effect could be heard. Yu Ran looked intently, discovering that the person had stopped moving. Lag? Or pretending to be MIA to bait me? Doubts flashed through his mind, but Yu Ran had always preferred to use brute force when gaming. So without further ado, he rushed to attack, unleashing a few combos in the direction of the city wall. Bright yellow flames burst forth from mid-air, falling heatedly and burning ¡°Marija¡±. Yu Ran clearly saw his health bar drop to zero in just a few short seconds, before the entire character¡¯s body toppled over. The chat suddenly exploded. The champion of the server¡¯s PK rankings had not only been rapidly defeated by another, he was even hanging upside-down on the city wall like a pendant. In that instant, as his face swept the floor, he had completely lost his reputation. Yu Ran knew that this person must have temporarily disconnected, which was why he had won so easily. This was very unfair, and the victory felt unsatisfying. Yu Ran sent a message into the chat to help his opponent explain the reason for their failure, before promising to challenge his opponent again when he returned online. Then, Yu Ran privately messaged ¡°Marija¡± and asked him if his internet connection had improved. After waiting for a while, there was still no response. So Yu Ran simply left the game and opened Kuwo to listen to songs. Yu Ran was prone to sleepiness in the afternoon. He was feeling drowsy, when suddenly, the sounds of a commotion woke him up. The volume of noise from the crowd overpowered the music playing in his headphones. He raised his head sleepily, just in time to see a few people pushing and shoving at each other in front of the row of computers opposite him. One of the boys directly picked up a computer chair, abruptly slamming it down on the others. A couple of people cursed. Following that, the chair fell heavily, and the noise of its wheels breaking apart instantly shocked everyone in the internet cafe. The ruckus drew the attention of the supervisor, who tried to persuade the boys to stop fighting. However, his efforts were futile, so he immediately grew stern, kicking the troublemakers out of the internet cafe. If they wanted to fight, they would have to fight outside. Otherwise, he would call for the police. Yu Ran observed that the conflict had occurred between the boy who threw the chair and a group of thug-like young men with tattoos on their arms. Additionally, this group of people were carrying batons and machetes on their waists. They looked as though they were ready to fight at any time. Yu Ran reckoned that things wouldn¡¯t end well for the boy once he stepped out of the door. This boy was tall and slender. Even in a crowd of people, his cold expression and air of arrogance was especially eye-catching. Raising his head, Yu Ran absent-mindedly took a glance at his appearance. The other party was walking in a hurry, so Yu Ran was only able to catch a glimpse of his clean, white skin and attractively sharp nose. Looking straight at his face, the boy¡¯s indifferent expression seemed a bit familiar. Yu Ran hesitated for two seconds before taking out his phone to check the photo of ¡°Marija¡± that he had saved a few days ago. After comparing it with his impression of the boy just now, he quickly got up and ran out of the internet cafe to follow the group of people. As expected, upon getting closer, he saw that the boy¡¯s path had been blocked by the gang. Their leader was a thin young man with fierce eyebrows and a hoarse voice. He was cursing with swear words that even Yu Ran found vulgar. The leader raised his hand, shoving the boy roughly. But the boy didn¡¯t stumble backwards, and merely raised his arm to block the blow. The lout fished out a butterfly knife that he carried with him. The sharp blade gleamed with a chilling light in the scorching sun. A follower next to him smiled crookedly, raising his chin as he said to the boy: ¡°In future, have a bit more situational awareness, alright didi? You even have the guts to provoke Xu Si from Jiubao Street¡¯s Tongque Terrace. Why insist on lying on a hospital bed when there¡¯s a wide road to walk on?¡± The tip of the other party¡¯s knife swung threateningly in the air. The boy stood there unmoving, saying calmly: ¡°Albino Honduran milk snakes are already extremely rare. Not to mention those that are double-headed due to mutation. The probability of something like that appearing is most likely only one in ten thousand. I don¡¯t believe anyone else in Ronggang can find a second snake with these characteristics.¡± ¡°Stop fucking pestering me.¡± The young man named Xu Si was very angry, and aimed the knife at the youth¡¯s soft abdomen. However, the nature of Ronggang¡¯s gangs had always been ¡°if you can use your mouth, try not to use your hands¡±, and the boy in front of them was obviously underage. Xu Si knew that if he hurt him, he would definitely be punished severely, so he was simply adopting a fierce attitude. ¡°It was originally mine.¡± The young man said forcefully. ¡°Oh, yours? Laozi just paid the balance for it this morning and suddenly it¡¯s become yours with just a glance?¡± Xu Si was angered into laughter by the boy¡¯s arrogant attitude. He swung the butterfly knife in his hand, and the people next to him understood his implicit message. They stepped forward, pressing on the boy¡¯s shoulders and neck respectively, as if they really wanted to sort him out. The boy reacted very quickly, immediately bending down and raising his arms horizontally. He hit their lower abdomens with the joints of his elbows, and decisively kicked the inside of their knees before his opponents had the chance to fight back. With jelly legs, they fell to the ground in a kneeling position, a continuous stream of swear words escaping their mouths. The boy frowned and stared at Xu Si. He spoke a little faster: ¡°Then tell me where you bought it. Did the Forestry Bureau approve the purchase?¡± Xu Si was somewhat anxious, and his fist clenched around the knife tightly, ¡°You little fucking rascal! Where did you come from to toy with me?!¡± From beginning to end, Yu Ran had been hiding in a corner and observing quietly. Upon sensing that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, his innate sense of justice prompted him to stand up immediately to prevent a murder from happening. He rushed over and yelled in a practiced manner: ¡°The supervisor has called the police!¡± As soon as they heard his words, the gangsters who had taken out their weapons immediately withdrew them. Just now, there had been some distance between Yu Ran and the group of people. When he ran over and shouted at them, it just so happened that he ended up behind the boy. As a result, he was unable to see his expression at the moment. However, Yu Ran could see the expressions on the other people¡¯s faces very clearly. Hearing that the police were nearby, they all reflexively put away the weapons in their hands. Just as Yu Ran was breathing a sigh of relief for the boy, he saw the back of the person in front of him swaying. In the next second, the boy fell backwards stiffly, like a robot that had been suddenly powered off. Fortunately, Yu Ran was sharp-eyed and quickly supported the boy¡¯s shoulders with his hands from behind. The other party¡¯s body had lost its centre of gravity. It pressed down on Yu Ran, slowly forcing him into a crouching position, until he was nearly kneeling onto the ground. The situation in front of him stunned Yu Ran for a while. He looked at the face of the boy in his arms. He had both eyes shut tightly. Just like that, the first chill he experienced in the midst of this scorching summer swept from the bottom of his heart to the tip of his head. Yu Ran raised his head incredulously, and asked with a panicked expression: ¡°You guys¡­.. scared him to death?¡± CH 2 ¡°We didn¡¯t even move our hands! Fuck, does he look injured to you? There were also cameras in the Internet caf¨¦. Just wait for the police to come and see who was the one to start the fight, and smash people with chairs¡­¡± Xu Si cursed while putting away his knife. The person next to him leaned in to whisper a reminder, and it seemed as though he had really seen a police car coming. The group of guys were a little afraid. After all, several of them had a criminal record. They could not afford to be detained because of a mere boy today, and there was especially no need to implicate Tongque Terrace in this trivial matter. Without much discussion, they turned around and left after exchanging a couple glances. Seeing their figures disappear, Yu Ran lowered his head and patted the person who had fallen into his arms, ¡°Brother, wake up. They¡¯re all gone so you can get up now.¡± Even after he finished speaking, the boy didn¡¯t move a muscle. ¡°Fuck, you¡¯re not pretending?¡± Yu Ran squatted on the ground and shook his shoulders hard, ¡°Dude, wake up? Comrade, are you okay? Hey, holy shit, you didn¡¯t really die all of a sudden, did you¡­¡± Yu Ran felt panicky, and hurriedly tested the other person¡¯s breathing and heartbeat. Only after confirming that he was still alive did he breathe a sigh of relief. He must have had a heatstroke. Yu Ran didn¡¯t know whether the person¡¯s condition was serious, so he simply took out his mobile phone and prepared to call an ambulance. At this moment, the boy in his arms regained consciousness. Even before he opened his eyes, he said, ¡°No need to call 120.¡± Yu Ran put down his mobile phone and helped him up. The two looked at each other and the boy asked, ¡°Was it you who shouted just now?¡± Knowing that his loud shout had changed the situation at the scene, Yu Ran shook his head dismissively and said, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mention it. One should help when seeing¡­¡± The word ¡°injustice¡± had yet to pop out, when the other boy began to walk straight ahead, no longer paying any attention to Yu Ran. Yu Ran thought to himself that this person was really addicted to the Internet ¡ª even after waking up from heatstroke, he went straight to the Internet caf¨¦ instead of going to the hospital. He had seriously fought with all his might to get the title of PVP champion in the entire district. However, after catching up with him, he saw the boy take out a few pink bills and hand them to the supervisor, apologizing and saying that it was the compensation for the computer chair, before turning around and leaving. ¡°You¡¯re the first in Mystic Battle¡¯s District Three, right? I saw your picture in the forum during the in-person event.¡± Yu Ran asked him as he caught up with him. The boy¡¯s voice didn¡¯t fluctuate: ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± Yu Ran grinned, ¡°What a coincidence, brother. I just PK-ed with you.¡± He naturally stretched out his hand to shake hands with the other party. The boy didn¡¯t give any particular reaction. He simply ignored Yu Ran and walked into the shade without looking at him. Cicadas were buzzing over their heads. Yu Ran continued: ¡°You suddenly hung up halfway through the fight. I unleashed a few moves, but you just died¡­¡± Hearing ¡°died¡±, the boy paused, turned his head and stared at Yu Ran with a gloomy expression, and concluded: ¡°So you are saying, you did a sneak attack on me?¡± Yu Ran immediately retorted loudly: ¡°What ¡®sneak attack¡¯?! How would I know what your situation was like just then¡­ Besides, winning without a fight is the most meaningless thing. I haven¡¯t even complained about you being disrespectful towards your opponent and ruining my gaming experience.¡± When the boy didn¡¯t say anything, Yu Ran made a new proposal: ¡°How about this, let¡¯s fight one-on-one again.¡± ¡°Not free.¡± ¡°Then when will you be free? I can wait for you in the arena anytime.¡± ¡°I¡¯m never free,¡± the boy said, ¡°Since I lost once, I don¡¯t want that account anymore.¡± Yu Ran was taken aback by this person¡¯s calm expression. Then, he couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and applaud. ¡°Wow brother, you¡¯re quite cool,¡± he exclaimed, ¡°Can I post about this on QQ?¡± Llr jqqijerf wjvf atf ybs oeggbk tlr fsfygbkr jcv aegc tlr ojmf jkjs. Lf qegrfv tlr ilqr klatbea rjslcu jcsatlcu. ¡°Tbe gfjiis vbc¡¯a kjca ab qijs klat wf jujlc? Tbe¡¯nf jigfjvs ibra bcmf jcskjs, ktja¡¯r atfgf ab yf jogjlv bo atf rfmbcv alwf?¡± Te Ejc kjr mbcolvfca atja fnfc lo atfs UB-fv jujlc, atf nlmabgs kbeiv ralii yfibcu ab tlw, ¡°Lfs, vbc¡¯a kjix rb ojra. Qtja lo sbe ojlca ogbw tfjaragbxf jujlc?¡± The boy took a deep breath impatiently, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you shouting so suddenly, how could I have fainted like that?¡± ¡°Damn, you¡¯re blaming me for that too? You actually dare say that you fainted because of my shout?¡± Yu Ran sneered, feeling that he was being unreasonable. His sneer had yet to fade when Yu Ran thought instead, what if the other person had really fainted because of his loud shouting? As this thought came to his mind, the corners of Yu Ran¡¯s mouth suddenly froze. ¡ª Fuck, could it be that a mysterious power has been awakened in my body? ¡ª Is this finally the day¡­ that I¡¯ve been waiting for? Yu Ran first froze in place, and then was overjoyed, laughing several times behind the boy¡¯s back in a gleeful manner. This bizarre and rapid change in his mood caused the other boy to immediately raise his guard and quicken his pace to get away from him. However, since Yu Ran now thought he had a superpower, he was very smug and started making demands of the boy: ¡°Forget about the game first, let¡¯s talk about how you fainted just now. At least I helped you stop those people, or else you would have been beaten to death by them. So, brother, it¡¯s not too much for you to say ¡®thank you¡¯ to me, is it?¡± The boy didn¡¯t even bother giving a side glance at Yu Ran. ¡°You caused me to faint suddenly, and you still want me to thank you?¡± Yu Ran had only wanted to give him an out. After all, it was easy to get quite irritable in the summer. There was no need for strangers to look for trouble with each other. On top of that, he was no longer an ordinary human being, so he had to be more generous with others. This was what he thought, but the boy didn¡¯t appreciate it at all, and left without saying a word. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare get cocky with me, or else I will unleash my ¡®conqueror''s haki¡® on you again,¡± Yu Ran said in a low voice. The boy stopped, staring bewilderedly at the steely-eyed Yu Ran, ¡°¡®Conqueror¡¯ what ¡®haki¡¯?¡± ¡°You want to try my power?¡± Yu Ran vigorously moved the muscles near the corner of his left lip, and threw an aggressive smile at the boy, not forgetting to let out a ¡°heh¡±, ¡°It won¡¯t feel too good¡­¡± Looking at Yu Ran¡¯s smile, the boy fell into a defensive state, and he subconsciously stepped back. ¡°What do you want?¡± The boy frowned. ¡°Do you know why you suddenly fainted just now?¡± Yu Ran raised his youthful and handsome face and tilted his head, ¡°Go into the Internet caf¨¦ and fight me fair and square, and I¡¯ll tell you my secrets. The boy wasn¡¯t interested in knowing what secrets Yu Ran had on his person, but based on his observations in the past few minutes, he felt that Yu Ran probably had a bit of an IQ problem. So he only answered the first half of Yu Ran¡¯s question frankly: ¡°I already told you ¡ª my fainting, your fault.¡± ¡°I admit it was my fault, sorry,¡± Yu Ran scrunched up his face and said frustratedly, ¡°I can¡¯t help it. I don¡¯t have much control over my ability now either¡­ But you weren¡¯t the only one present just now, how come the others didn¡¯t faint?¡± Just as the boy tried to explain the reason, Yu Ran continued: ¡°Maybe you¡¯re just too weak.¡± The word ¡°weak¡± touched the boy¡¯s nerves. He didn¡¯t move his feet, but the hands hanging by the side of his legs were already clenched into fists. Yu Ran said thoughtfully, ¡°But¡­ even if you hadn¡¯t fainted, you certainly wouldn¡¯t have been able to beat a group of adults with knives all by yourself, right? So judging from the results, I still helped you, didn¡¯t I? ¡± ¡°So?¡± The boy narrowed his eyes. ¡°PK with me! Let me beat you fairly for once!¡± As expected, the topic returned. The boy moved away his gaze, indifferently dropped the words ¡°dream on¡±, and left without stopping for a second. ¡°Hey you¡­ C¡¯mon man, at the very least I saved you just now.¡± This time, Yu Ran didn¡¯t bother to catch up with him. Muttering that ¡°kindness isn¡¯t rewarded¡±, he went back to the Internet caf¨¦ alone to continue playing computer games. This year¡¯s summer was fiercer compared to previous years. The temperatures in many parts of the country had exceeded historical extremes. Even the coastal city of Ronggang was stiflingly hot, and the air was filled with the smell of tar as the asphalt roads baked in the hot sun. In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun between puffs of clouds intertwined into blurry dashes of oil paints, splashing the horizon with its dazzling brilliance. Yu Ran had satisfactorily completed the task he had undertaken from ¡°¡ãBuerxin¡±, but he was still struggling with the fact that he had won without a fight, so he only took half of the payment. [¡ãBuerxin]: Just take it, you deserve it. [¡ãBuerxin]: You are really awesome, you even made Marija directly delete their account. Yu Ran was stunned upon hearing the words ¡°delete their account¡±. He thought that the boy was just joking. After all, it took a lot of energy to raise an account to such high levels. No one would easily give up their past efforts because of a single failure; it was simply too much of a pity. Unexpectedly, there was one such person. Yu Ran no longer continued chatting, and merely sighed at that person¡¯s determination. It just so happened that the computer balance was insufficient, so it was also time for him to go home for dinner. Yu Ran took Bus No. 861 home. Upon entering the house, he saw his brother crying on the sofa. The TV volume was very loud. Yu Ran walked over and kicked the boy, saying, ¡°Go cry over there, make some room for me,¡± he sat down and threw a packet of tissues to his brother. ¡°Is the 110-meter hurdle race over?¡± Hearing his question, Yu Jin cried even harder, lowering his head and burying his face deep into the palms of his hands to sob. Coincidentally, the commercial on TV finished showing, and CCTV-5 showed a recap of the race. On the screen, a string of white words on a red background came into Yu Ran¡¯s view: Liu Xiang kissed the fence, bidding farewell to the Olympics. ¡°Huh ¡ª ?¡± Yu Ran froze, staring intently at the video of the race being replayed on TV. Only after a long time did he finally recover and ask Yu Jin: ¡°Holy shit, really? He can¡¯t make it to the semi-finals? ¡± Yu Jin said with reddened eyes, ¡°What¡¯re you saying? His injury hasn¡¯t recovered yet. The host said he is going to retire.¡± This explosive news shocked Yu Ran, ¡°Didn¡¯t he win three consecutive championships before¡­¡± ¡°How long ago was that? I was only in third or fourth grade then.¡± ¡°Really¡­¡± Yu Ran hadn¡¯t perceived the speed of time passing at all. It felt as if it was not too long ago that Liu Xiang had made a comeback to win the National Games. He had originally thought that the video clip of Liu Xiang dashing to the finish line in first place would be repeated countless times on TV today, just like in previous years, constantly repeating and making people¡¯s blood stir with excitement, but the reality unfolded into an unexpected ending. His mother was cooking, the cooker hood in the kitchen buzzing. The spicy smell of cooked green pepper wafted into the living room, making Yu Ran¡¯s eyes water. Yu Jin was still weeping sincerely for the Olympics, and was ridiculed by Yu Ran, ¡°You¡¯re crying as if Liu Xiang had been close to you.¡± The little boy even set his ambitions, saying that when he grew up, he would win gold medals for his country too. Yu Ran asked him, ¡°Which sport can you compete for in the Olympics? You can¡¯t swim; you can¡¯t run ¡ª why don¡¯t you sign up for the discus throw?¡± Yu Jin thought for a while and said, ¡°But the discus is too heavy, I can¡¯t throw it.¡± Yu Ran: ¡°Who said you would be the one throwing it? You be the discus, and let the Olympic athletes throw you straight into the sky so you can daydream.¡± Li Guirong came out of the kitchen after cooking, and saw her two sons squabbling on the sofa. She put down the plate and urged them: ¡°Ai ai ai, stop for the night. Wash your hands and come eat quickly. I made cola chicken wings for you today.¡± As soon as he heard ¡°chicken wings¡±, Yu Jin immediately jumped up from the sofa like a carp and ran straight to the bathroom, followed closely by Yu Ran. The two nudged each other frantically with all their strength in front of the sink, and began a new round of hand-to-hand combat. Yu Ran originally wanted to use his ¡°superpowers¡± on Yu Jin, but was afraid that his younger brother¡¯s body couldn¡¯t withstand it, so he had no choice but to suppress his power. When they finished washing their hands and sat at the dinner table, they had already exhausted most of their energy. While panting, they still scrambled to grab the biggest chicken wings with chopsticks. It wasn¡¯t that they were short of food. It was just that the two brothers had been passionate about snatching each other¡¯s favorite things since they were little, and had grown close through squabbles and fights. Li Guirong scolded them, but the two just laughed loudly. ¡°These days the temperature is around 37 degrees. Remember to bring an umbrella when you go out so that you don¡¯t get sunburned.¡± Li Guirong filled three bowls of mung bean soup to let it cool, ¡°Every day, the news is full of people fainting from heat stroke. What if they get hit by a car while crossing the street? How dangerous!¡± She sighed, ¡°Why don¡¯t you two go for extra classes during the summer vacation. Especially you, Yu Ran. The contents in senior high are much more difficult than junior high. If you continue to play around, you definitely won¡¯t be able to catch up.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s chopsticks stopped in the pile of rice for a moment. Yu Ran wasn¡¯t listening carefully to what she was saying. When she finally asked, ¡°Did you take what I said to heart?¡±, he merely lowered his head and shoved rice into his mouth, making a few vague ¡°mmm¡± sounds. Yu Jin looked up to add: ¡°We¡¯re trying to help you save money.¡± ¡°No need. All you two have to do is study hard so that I don¡¯t have to worry,¡± Li Guirong said, ¡°You two drink more mung bean soup, it will relieve you from the heat.¡± The night was quietly approaching, and the continuous broadcast of Olympics news on TV added more excitement to this home. When all the lights in the neighborhood were dimmed, only the monotonous cries of grasshoppers were left in the dark night. Like countless other ordinary days in the past, Yu Ran unknowingly enjoyed another bit of ordinary but tenacious happiness today. Occasionally being sad and feeling regret over things that were irrelevant, but more often than not, laughing endlessly at trivial pleasures. According to the calendar, today was the beginning of autumn, and the textbooks always associated autumn with words such as ¡°cool¡± and ¡°chilly¡±. It was easy to overlook that there was the character . When Yu Ran saw ¡°beginning of autumn¡±, he subconsciously thought that the weather would get colder, but he knew that when he opened his eyes tomorrow morning, he would still be greeted by the scorching sun. So he deeply believed that autumn was a season full of confusion. It came silently while people were still immersed in summer and by the time they realized, most of 2012 was already over. Curled up quietly in the embrace of the night, Yu Ran drifted off to sleep with hostility towards autumn. In late August, the sky was clear and cloudless. On this day, Chengjun Middle School held the opening ceremony for freshmen. Yu Ran entered the school early and saw a large bronze horse statue situated at the entrance. It had a strong and beautiful body, with three feet up in the air as though it was leaping into the sky. There was a large crowd in front of the bulletin board. Yu Ran easily squeezed his way through and made it to the front row using his advantageous height. He browsed the class list posted there, and finally found his name in the list for senior year one, class one. The banner ¡°Welcome New Students¡± was hanging in front of the school building. As soon as he entered the building and took a turn, he found his class. After signing his name with the homeroom teacher, Yu Ran walked to the window seat and sat down. The surrounding classmates were chatting enthusiastically, but when such a tall and handsome new face suddenly appeared in front of them, it was hard not to be distracted. The boy wearing glasses in the seat in front of him raised his hand in greeting: ¡°Hi.¡± Yu Ran said ¡°Hello, hello¡± and reflexively reached out to give him a high five. ¡°My name is Fang Zhao,¡± the boy turned his upper body towards Yu Ran, ¡°Are you Chu Mian?¡± ¡°Who?¡± Yu Ran shook his head, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oh you¡¯re not? I guessed wrong then,¡± the girl in the seat on the right looked slightly disappointed, but looking at Yu Ran¡¯s face, she quickly refreshed her spirits again, ¡°Did you sign an agreement to enter?¡± Yu Ran asked back, ¡°What agreement?¡± Fang Zhao explained: ¡°If your score is high enough, and you put Chengjun as your first choice school, you¡¯ll get a scholarship worth a few ten thousands.¡± After listening to him, Yu Ran was visibly stunned for a moment before immediately shifting into a more stable posture so as to express his astonishment: ¡°Holy shit, this is the experimental class?!¡± ¡°Yeah, class one,¡± Fang Zhao pushed his glasses up, ¡°Dude, you didn¡¯t come to the wrong class, did you?¡± Yu Ran also hesitated a bit, but he had already looked through the list of all ten classes on the bulletin board just now, and there was no one with the same name as himself in the whole year. So he told Fang Zhao his senior high school entrance examination results, and the other party said: ¡°It¡¯s about there. I heard that the minimum score in the experimental class is even a couple of points lower.¡± ¡°Wow, I¡¯m really awesome¡­¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help laughing at this twist of fate, and immediately took out his mobile phone to text his mother about the good news. Fang Zhao and the others started chatting about a new topic: ¡°Hey, do you guys think it¡¯s Chu Mian or Cui He who is the top student coming in?¡± ¡°Which one is Cui He? I only know Chu Mian.¡± ¡°She¡¯s from Ronggang No. 1 Middle School. I saw her during the military training in junior high school. She is definitely a school flower.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on this year? There are so many top students who didn¡¯t do well in the exam. Aren¡¯t they supposed to be on scholarship?¡± Yu Ran wanted to get acquainted with his new classmates quickly, and immediately participated in their discussion excitedly after sending the text message. At this moment, someone said, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, there shouldn¡¯t be anyone who is more ¡®powerful¡¯ than these two in the whole year, right? One graduated from Ronggang Overseas Affiliated School, and the other was from Ronggang No. 1 Middle School. Somehow, they were both admitted to Chengjun.¡± Yu Ran answered naturally, ¡°There is someone who is even more powerful.¡± Fang Zhao pushed his glasses up: ¡°Who?¡± Following his example, Yu Ran pushed up the air on the bridge of his nose, and introduced himself solemnly: ¡°Yu Ran, graduate of No. 44 Middle School.¡± CH 3 When the others heard the name ¡°No. 44 Middle School¡±, they became unusually silent. The students from No. 44 Middle School had the lowest promotion rate (to high school) in Ronggang City. It was also a place where delinquents gathered who repeatedly violated the law and discipline, and it also had a notorious reputation for having bad school culture. Almost every playful student living near Jiangdong Road would be threatened by their parents with ¡°if you don¡¯t study, you will be sent to No. 44 Middle School¡±, which demonstrated how bad the school¡¯s reputation was. Fang Zhao was the first to give a concerned and sympathetic look at Yu Ran, ¡°I heard that your teachers there often didn¡¯t conduct classes, is that true?¡± ¡°True,¡± Yu Ran nodded, ¡°But in the third year of middle school, the teachers taught us very seriously.¡± That was true, but Yu Ran had omitted a premise: he had dragged the teachers who didn¡¯t conduct classes into the hallway and beat them up, so since then no one had a perfunctory attitude when they taught the third years of middle school. At that time, Yu Ran had only done it on an impulse. After all, one of his principles in school was ¡°don¡¯t involve adults¡±, but he didn¡¯t regret it afterwards. On that day, the first monthly exam results of the third year of junior high was announced, but the math teacher had no intention of explaining the test papers at all. The math teacher had only said ¡°It¡¯s a waste of time to teach you guys anyway, a bunch of losers who can¡¯t do anything¡± before turning around and leaving. Yu Ran, who was prepared to listen carefully, immediately stood up, and moved his hand against an adult for the first time. After that incident, Yu Ran was suspended from school, which almost affected his registration for the high school entrance examination. However, thanks to him, ordinary students who wanted to study properly got the teaching they deserved. ¡°Is there a fight every day at your school?¡± ¡°I heard that a girl got pregnant, is that true?¡± ¡°Do the parents know that the students there fight?¡± Some people around him were curious and rushed to ask Yu Ran questions. Before Yu Ran could answer, the homeroom teacher told everyone to line up and go to the auditorium for the entrance ceremony. Yu Ran, who was relatively taller among boys, stood at the end of the line. Seats for each class were arranged in the auditorium in advance, and class one was the closest to the front so they could clearly see the faces of the teachers on stage. After singing the national anthem, the opening ceremony of Chengjun High School officially began. The first forty minutes were spent on long and boring leadership speeches, and only when it was the turn of the student representatives, did the drowsy audience finally gain some spirit. ¡°Dear teachers, dear classmates, hello everyone, I am Chu Mian from senior year one, class one. I am honored to be able to speak today as the freshman representative¡­¡± Yu Ran was sitting in the second row, and from the beginning of the ceremony, he had been looking down and playing on his mobile phone, and hadn¡¯t raised his head for a moment. Just as he heard the calm and deep voice over the loudspeaker, a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu made him look at the stage. On the stage, the boy had his head lowered as he read his speech from the script, he looked tall and his clean white shirt made his shoulders look wider. He occasionally glanced briefly at the audience, but his eyes never stopped at anyone¡¯s face. Te Ejc tfjgv atf rteaafg rbecv bo j qtbab yflcu ajxfc ogbw yftlcv tlw jcv aegcfv tlr tfjv ab rff j ofk ulgir tjralis tlvlcu atflg qtbcfr. Lf delmxis vlufrafv atf ecfzqfmafv fwbalbc lc tlr tfjga jcv aegcfv tlr ojmf ab ktlrqfg ab Mjcu Itjb: ¡°Pr atlr ybs, atf bcf sbe uesr pera ajixfv jybea¡­¡± ¡°Yes, Chu Mian, the one from a prestigious middle school outside Ronggang,¡± Fang Zhao leaned towards Yu Ran a little so it would be easier to talk, ¡°I heard that many of them outside Ronggang gave up their scholarships before the high school entrance exams because they didn¡¯t plan to go abroad, or wanted to go to another school to study science. But every year there are people who can¡¯t get into the city¡¯s top three schools because they fail to get a high enough score on the high school entrance exams, so they can only study on loan. How miserable! Can you imagine how much of a psychological loss they¡¯d feel? ¡± Yu Ran got it now ¡ª it was very likely that this Chu Mian couldn¡¯t keep up his grades because he was addicted to playing video games, so he only managed to get into Chengjun despite coming from a middle school that had prestige nationwide. Of course, Chengjun wasn¡¯t considered mediocre either. After all, it was the second batch of model ¡°Triple A¡± schools in Ronggang City, and even though it¡¯s position had remained in the middle, neither at the top nor at the bottom, in recent years, it still had a stable university acceptance rate and hence attracted local students. It was just that for someone of Chu Mian¡¯s background, it was quite embarrassing to get admitted to Chengjun. After Chu Mian, the freshman representative, finished his speech, he bowed to the audience in an exemplary manner. The wave of applause from the audience was overwhelmingly deafening, and Yu Ran heard a few girls in the back row excitedly commenting on Chu Mian¡¯s looks. It was normal for young girls at this age to start to have thoughts about love and they made no secret of their admiration in their words. Even Fang Zhao couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration: ¡°Chu Mian is really handsome. I¡¯ve long heard people say that he is particularly good-looking; this is why when you entered the classroom today, we thought you were Chu Mian,¡± Then he turned to Yu Ran and said, ¡°But I think you are more handsome. Chu Mian¡¯s eyes are too feminine, not manly enough.¡± Yu Ran was originally looking at the podium in daze, and only when he heard Fang Zhao speak did he pull his attention back, ¡°Huh? Did you just say that I am handsome?¡± Seeing Fang Zhao nod, Yu Ran came to life, ¡°Fang Zhao, I¡¯ll make a deal with you as my friend! In the future, I will be responsible for covering you in Chengjun, and you will be responsible for praising me.¡± ¡°You have a very clear division of labor,¡± Fang Zhao let out a laugh, ¡°You said you graduated from No. 44 Middle School, so do you like to fight?¡± Yu Ran: ¡°You may not believe me, but the rule of our No. 44 Middle School is ¡ª just fight it if you don¡¯t agree.¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°You guys are too aggressive¡­ Hey, then how about this, if there¡¯s a fight in the future, you will be responsible for fighting, and I will be responsible for cheering for you.¡± Yu Ran: ¡°Damn, so you¡¯re not gonna do anything?¡± Fang Zhao thought for a moment and said, ¡°I¡¯ll clap for you.¡± The friendship between the boys heated up rapidly in the bickering and frolicking. After the entrance ceremony, Yu Ran and Fang Zhao also added each other as friends on QQ, and then mocked each other¡¯s usernames. Fang Zhao looked at his phone and read out Yu Ran¡¯s username aloud, ¡°¡®The wolf is hiding next to the dog¡¯? What are you reading, ni¨¢ng?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Liang¡¯.¡± Yu Ran had originally felt that his username sounded like the return of a prodigal son to become tough and tender, but after Fang Zhao read it out directly, he immediately felt ashamed. Back in the classroom, it was the homeroom teacher¡¯s turn to give a boring entrance speech. In order for everyone to hear her clearly, she turned off all the ceiling fans, and everyone had to restrain their restlessness. Halfway through her speech, someone knocked on the door and told the students to get their books from the library, and the students immediately regained their spirits and ran out. Chengjun High School was bigger than Yu Ran had imagined. There was a bridge connecting the two buildings. There was also a wide green soccer field that could be seen from a high vantage point, and the library, although small, was built independently. In terms of the overall environment of the school, Chengjun could definitely be ranked among the best in Ronggang City. Yu Ran grabbed a pile of ¡°Language ¡ª Mandatory Book One¡± from the table in front of him. He was not sure if he had taken enough for everyone in his own class, so he wanted to confirm it with someone else. As soon as he looked up, he saw Chu Mian standing next to the circulation desk checking the booklist. Yu Ran walked over to him without thinking. He said ¡°Hey,¡± raised his chin and asked, ¡°Still remember me?¡± Chu Mian indifferently lifted his lower eyelid, his thin lips closed tightly, ignoring him. Yu Ran was not surprised that he was ignored by him again and said with a chuckle: ¡°Pulling a long face again? Seems like you still remember me.¡± Chu Mian did not deny this time, and asked Yu Ran bluntly: ¡°Still want to fight one-on-one?¡± ¡°Fight what? Didn¡¯t you delete your account?¡± Although Yu Ran was tall, he was still half a head shorter than Chu Mian, so if he wanted to look directly into the other party¡¯s eyes, he had to raise his face slightly. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it take a long time to get to the top of the server? You sure deleted it easily.¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t want to see the losing record,¡± Chu Mian said casually, ¡°Also, if you delete the account by yourself, you can still see the CG of crossing the Naihe bridge. That¡¯s way much better than just having the data erased by the system.¡± ¡°Sounds quite ceremonial¡­ Hey, since you also love to play games, why don¡¯t we go play LOL after school?¡± Yu Ran took the initiative to invite him. He felt that the two of them being in the same class was fate, and new students should be polite to each other. ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about what happened last time. You can give me a face this time.¡± The students who got the books all reported to Chu Mian before they left. Chu Mian was busy counting the number of books and replied to Yu Ran without looking up, ¡°I don¡¯t care that you accidentally caused me to faint last time, but this time you stay away from me.¡± Chu Mian voice didn¡¯t have any emotional inflections when he spoke, and if one were to ignore the content of what he said, one would even think that his way of speech was somewhat gentle. ¡°Why do you always have this attitude, can¡¯t you be kinder?¡± The smile on Yu Ran¡¯s face faded, ¡°Why do you just refuse to accept the fact that I had ¡®helped you out¡¯?¡± ¡°Do I need to?¡± Chu Mian asked him back, ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you were the one who had meddled in other¡¯s business.¡± ¡°If I hadn¡¯t meddled in, you would have been stabbed,¡± Yu Ran was a little annoyed, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you, have you never learned how to say ¡®thank you¡¯? Don¡¯t leave after school, I¡¯ll teach you.¡± Hearing this, Chu Mian raised his heroic eyebrows, finally willing to raise his face to look Yu Ran in the eyes, ¡°Or do you want to fight one-on-one?¡± It was just that this time the fight was changed from a virtual game to the real world. ¡°Since you¡¯re so delicate and prone to fainting, I¡¯ll fight you with only one hand, okay, little princess?¡± Yu Ran, relying on the ¡±special power¡± in his body, made no secret of his contempt, ¡°Let¡¯s make the rules fairer. If you win, I will call you brother, and if I win, you will call me Dad.¡± Being provoked by him like this, Chu Mian¡¯s frosty face finally showed some heat, and he said with a smile: ¡°You don¡¯t have to make it so troublesome. If you win, I¡¯ll let you do whatever you want. If I win, you will disappear. ¡± Yu Ran was stunned. The air conditioner of the library blew right on the back of his neck, making him shrink his neck untimely in the tense atmosphere. He stared at Chu Mian, the sharpness under his eyes suddenly disappearing without a trace, and said angrily: ¡°Fuck, you say such scary things. If I disappear, won¡¯t the teacher take disciplinary action against me for being absent?¡± Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but knit his brows. He subconsciously wanted to explain that what he said about ¡°disappear¡± was merely a metaphor, which could be inferred as ¡°shut up and be quiet¡± and ¡°keep your distance¡±. After all, the emotional state of the two people just now was obviously to suppress each other¡¯s aura first by using harsh words. He didn¡¯t expect that Yu Ran would take it literally, which caught Chu Mian, who was originally poised for a fight, off guard and made him choke on the air. Just at this moment, Chu Mian clearly felt that his body was beginning to feel heavy. He could not move, so he directly threw the pen and paper in his hand to the nearest table. The crisp sound of the ballpoint pen dropping sounded like a war cry to Yu Ran. He hesitantly asked Chu Mian, ¡°Are you sure you want to fight with me in the library?¡± But Chu Mian didn¡¯t answer the question, ¡°I want to sleep.¡± As soon as the words left his mouth, Chu Mian stilled and closed his eyes, his body lost the strength to support him and fell straight to the ground facing Yu Ran. ¡°Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?¡± Yu Ran subconsciously stepped forward to help him, stretched out his hands from under Chu Mian¡¯s arms and hugged his back. As a result, the pile of books in his hands all got scattered on the ground, which caught the attention of everyone in the library. ¡°I said to fight one-on-one, I won¡¯t let you deceive people like this!¡± Yu Ran separated his legs back and forth to stabilize his center of gravity. The collar of the summer T-shirt was quite open, so he could clearly feel Chu Mian¡¯s protruding Adam¡¯s apple pressing against the skin of his shoulder socket, making him feel a bit itchy as and when he moved a little. At first glance, their posture looked like a tight embrace, but in reality, Yu Ran was supporting Chu Mian¡¯s weight fully. It was not until the male teacher nearby came over and carried Chu Mian to the infirmary that Yu Ran was able to catch his breath. Fang Zhao came over to help him pick up the language books that had fallen on the ground, and asked in passing, ¡°What were you two doing sticking like glue just now?¡± Yu Ran hugged the book and froze for a few seconds before answering with puzzled eyes, ¡°Chu Mian said he wanted to sleep¡­¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°He just fell asleep on me¡­¡± Yu Ran looked confused. CH 4 It was the first day of school, and the seating chart of the class hadn¡¯t been assigned yet, so all the students chose the seats as per their preference. Yu Ran chose the second to last seat that was by the window, and invited Fang Zhao to sit in front of him. ¡°Aren¡¯t the seats at this side too conspicuous? And the light is also brighter here.¡± Fang Zhao was a little worried about being noticed by the teacher in class. Yu Ran lightly dropped his school bag on the chair before turning around and sitting down, and said, ¡°What do you know, all the male protagonists in the manga sit here.¡± Fang Zhao nodded, ¡°Then the one sitting behind the male protagonist must be the girl whose heart was captured by you.¡± The two of them looked back at the last seat in unison; it was empty. Yu Ran didn¡¯t care about any girl; it was meaningless to care. A real man aspired to travel far and make one¡¯s mark, so where would he have time for romance? Yu Ran thought that there were too many things in this world that caught his attention, so he definitely wouldn¡¯t waste his precious youth by falling in love. ¡°The protagonist is going to take out a book!¡± Yu Ran took out the chemistry book from the school bag and slapped it on the table. Lifting a pen, he said, ¡°The protagonist is now going to write his name on it!¡± Fang Zhao turned around and saw Yu Ran earnestly scribbling out matchstick-like characters stroke by stroke. For the rest of the class, Yu Ran was fully immersed in the fun of playing the role of the male protagonist as well as the narrator. With his mouth just open by a slit, and through clenched teeth, he kept whispering dialogues behind Fang Zhao¡¯s back. ¡°The protagonist picks up the pen with one hand!¡± ¡°The protagonist secretly drinks Wangzi!¡± ¡°The teacher found out! The protagonist was glared at!¡± Yu Ran hastily lowered his head and pretended to listen to the class, waiting for the teacher to turn around and walk away before quickly licking the milk that had remained at the corner of his mouth. After the chemistry teacher introduced his class requirements, he began to randomly ask questions about basics to help everyone review and recall the contents of middle school. ¡°What method should be used to separate the solutes in a solvent? The last student sitting by the window should get up and answer.¡± The whole class¡¯s gaze immediately focused on the window, and Yu Ran, who was lost in thought, also turned around to look behind him. He took one look and was shocked ¡ª the last seat by the window was totally empty. He grabbed Fang Zhao¡¯s shoulder and asked anxiously, ¡°¡­ Is there something behind me?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to whisper to ask others, it doesn¡¯t matter even if your answer is wrong.¡± The teacher said gently. Mjcu Itjb rijqqfv Te Ejc¡¯r tjcv jkjs, ¡°Ktf afjmtfg lr jrxlcu sbe!¡± Te Ejc kjr vewyobecvfv, jcv ribkis rabbv eq klat atf mtfwlrags ybbx lc tlr tjcv. Coafg ibbxlcu ja atf ybbx obg j ofk rfmbcvr, tf ktlrqfgfv ab Mjcu Itjb: ¡°Ktf wjif qgbajubclra kbc¡¯a. Zjif Ofjv Rb. 9, sbe mbwf ab atf rlvfilcfr ab tfiq.¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°¡­¡± Every time Yu Ran turned around to get something from his school bag, he would see the empty desk and chair behind him. It wasn¡¯t that there was an extra set of desk and chair in the classroom, but that the student who was supposed to be sitting there hadn¡¯t come to school today. ¡°Is Chu Mian¡¯s hypoglycemia that serious? He didn¡¯t even come to class.¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but ask Fang Zhao. ¡°Maybe he doesn¡¯t want to listen to Chengjun¡¯s teacher¡¯s lectures. Isn¡¯t Cui He from our class also doing the same? Taking time off to study at home by themselves and only coming to school to take the test.¡± Fang Zhao wasn¡¯t overly bothered. Yu Ran felt a little guilty, regretting that he had impulsively mocked Chu Mian as a ¡°little princess¡± in the heat of the moment that day. As a boy, being evaluated like that would have definitely hurt his self-esteem. At least, he had to remove the word ¡°little¡± from the little princess. However, he really didn¡¯t expect that Chu Mian, who looked tall and sturdy, wasn¡¯t actually in good physical condition. After the morning flag-raising ceremony, Yu Ran went to the small shop near the school to buy a packet of white rabbit candy and ten Alps. After returning to the classroom, he stuffed them all into Chu Mian¡¯s bookcase as a gesture of goodwill to his new classmate. The fourth class in the morning was English held by the homeroom teacher, Bai Yuzhu. After she came in, she didn¡¯t open the lesson plan and multimedia, but stood on the stage and talked about Chu Mian to the class. ¡°Some students may have heard that on the day of the opening ceremony our classmate Chu Mian had suddenly fainted in the library and he also didn¡¯t come to class today.¡± Bai Yuzhu said with a serious expression, ¡°I¡¯ve contacted Chu Mian¡¯s parents before the start of the school year to confirm his physical condition. Chu Mian suffers from a rare disease called ¡®episodic sleeping sickness¡¯. He usually sleeps a lot. He had actually fallen asleep when he had fainted the other day.¡± Hearing the word ¡°rare disease¡±, the classroom went silent. ¡°When Chu Mian¡¯s mother called me, she wanted me to convey to the students that if Chu Mian falls asleep while talking to you or suddenly falls to the ground, there¡¯s no need to panic, Chu Mian doesn¡¯t do it on purpose, he just can¡¯t control his body when the episodes happen. I request the students to take care of him and go easy on him.¡± Bai Yuzhu paused and looked down at the paper she had placed on the lecture table. The paper was filled with notes about Chu Mian¡¯s rare disease. ¡°Chu Mian¡¯s disease doesn¡¯t affect his health, but it does hinder his normal academic life. Last week in the office, he also told me that he had accidentally fallen asleep on the morning of the two days of the high school entrance examination, which caused him to have no time to write Language composition and a last couple of big math questions. All of you here went through the same high school entrance examinations as Chu Mian, so I believe you should understand his regret better than I do.¡± ¡°As the homeroom teacher, I¡¯ve the responsibility and obligation to take good care of every student, and I also hope that when you are at school, you can be more tolerant and considerate towards classmate Chu Mian, so that our experimental class can become the most united and friendly class with the most positive morale of the whole year.¡± Yu Ran listened intently to the homeroom teacher¡¯s words, and the whole class was frozen in a state of shock. As soon as the bell rang, Yu Ran immediately grabbed Fang Zhao to discuss Chu Mian¡¯s disease: ¡°My God¡­ did you understand what the teacher said? A rare sexually transmitted disease that can¡¯t be cured!¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes were wide in disbelief, the corners of his mouth twitching with a sigh, revealing his deep inner sympathy and regret. ¡°My God¡­¡± the corners of Fang Zhao¡¯s mouth twitched along, feeling sad for Yu Ran¡¯s below-than-average language comprehension, ¡°Did you even understand what the teacher said? Teacher said ¡®episodic sleeping sickness¡¯, what ¡®sex disease¡¯¡­ I think it should be narcolepsy.¡± ¡°So it was like this,¡± Yu Ran, who learned the truth, breathed a long sigh of relief, ¡°Scared me to death. I thought Chu Mian had some kind of terminal illness.¡± At the same time, Yu Ran also realized another fact ¡ª it wasn¡¯t that a mysterious power had awakened in his body, but rather Chu Mian was the one who had a real ¡°supernatural ability¡±. No wonder when he glared at the neighbor¡¯s old Chow Chow these days, it didn¡¯t show even slightest signs of being intimidated. Yu Ran was disappointed. He sighed in frustration as he followed Fang Zhao to the cafeteria to eat. The cafeteria of Chengjun High School was renovated during the summer vacation, and the tables, chairs and cutlery were obviously brand new. After Yu Ran got his meal card, he followed Fang Zhao to the window to line up. After getting the meal, he looked around the cafeteria to find empty seats. Yu Ran carried a plate full of Kung Pao chicken, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go upstairs?¡± ¡°No, upstairs is the dining area for faculty and staff.¡± Fang Zhao shook his head, ¡°If you become friendly with the teachers right after school starts, they¡¯ll order you every day in class.¡± The two looked around and finally found an empty seat in the corner. But before they could even put down their plates, a few people suddenly squeezed in front of them to take up the chairs. Yu Ran swept a glance at them. There were both men and women. Their school uniforms were either not zipped or tied directly to the waist, and the trouser legs were also rolled up to reveal the ankles. Just by their devil may care attitude, it was obvious that these were a little group of delinquents. Yu Ran was not afraid at all, and said calmly: ¡°We were here first, get out of the way. ¡± In front of him was a dark-skinned second-year high school girl. She raised her chin at Yu Ran and said playfully, ¡°Give me your QQ number and I¡¯ll get out of the way.¡± Fang Zhao quickly understood ¡ª this social sister had taken a liking to Yu Ran, and it was clear from her eyes that she was flirting. He was worried that Yu Ran¡¯s response would be too straightforward and hard, and that it would cause conflict, so he wanted to quietly remind Yu Ran to make up a random number for her. Fang Zhao, who hadn¡¯t opened his mouth yet, saw Yu Ran frowning, and responding to the girl in a neither haughty nor humble manner: ¡°Why should I give you the number that I¡¯ve used for several years? ¡± The girl was taken aback. Fang Zhao was also taken aback: ¡°¡­huh?¡± Yu Ran put down his plate, his expression obviously unhappy. He was also a graduate of No. 44 Middle School where extortion and the like was a common thing but today was the first time he had encountered someone trying to rob his QQ account. He now used the beautiful eight-digit account given by his uncle. Even if he didn¡¯t play computer games, he usually had to turn on and log in to QQ to upgrade and save stars and moons. In addition to membership and Yellow diamond Level 7, he also had several sets of out-of-print QQ shows. These were the sacred and inviolable fruits of his many years of painstaking efforts, which he had accumulated since the fifth grade of elementary school. Yu Ran now had an aura of a person who was ready to fight at any time, his eyes stared vigilantly at these second-year students. The girl was speechless and choked for words. She would rather admit that she had been rejected politely than to believe that she was being treated as a QQ account robber by Yu Ran. The latter really hurt her self-esteem. The boy who was with her tilted his body and laughed, and said to Yu Ran, ¡°Brother, she wants to add your QQ account to chat with you, you wanna add it? ¡± Yu Ran shook his head without thinking, mainly because he was afraid of his account being hacked. The girl¡¯s face was showing a bit of embarrassment after being rejected so mercilessly. She glanced at the plate on the table and jokingly said, ¡°Then you can stand and eat.¡± Fang Zhao looked into the distance and whispered, ¡°Yu Ran, there¡¯s a seat over there, shall we go over there? ¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t move. He could see that these people were looking for trouble. Seniors usually ragged the new joinees for some fun, so he wasn¡¯t interested in paying attention to it, but if he didn¡¯t solve this matter today, they would still provoke other students tomorrow. This time, they asked for a QQ account, and the next time they will be extorting money. Thinking about it this way, Yu Ran was even more reluctant to admit defeat, and said with a calm face: ¡°If you want me to stand, then you¡¯ve to kneel down for me first. ¡± The boy who was still laughing until just now immediately looked fierce, slapped the tabletop, and enunciated each word as if something was in his mouth: ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too cocky? We kindly asked you for your QQ account but this is how you appreciate others¡¯ kindness?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face was expressionless: ¡°What?¡± The boy tilted his head and deliberately lowered his voice when he spoke: ¡°Apologize to my sister, then stand here and eat.¡± Yu Ran said calmly: ¡°You idiot.¡± The other party was instantly pissed off. The boy slapped the table with enough force to even shake the plate on the table. He stretched out a finger at Yu Ran, and with a hoarse voice he said, ¡°If you¡¯ve the courage, you can fight with me this Saturday, you decide the time. Meet me outside of McDonald¡¯s on Baicao Road, whoever doesn¡¯t come is a grandson! Let¡¯s see if I still can¡¯t fix a little hairy kid like you¡­¡± Even though Yu Ran wasn¡¯t afraid of committing crimes, he didn¡¯t want to take the initiative to cause trouble. Not to mention, he was now already a high school student and unlike when he was in middle school, he had already left behind the bad habit of fighting and bragging and pretending to be an adult. He just wanted to be a law-abiding, ordinary student in Chengjun and spend three years of a healthy, sunny and positive life. Unfortunately¡­ Yu Ran sighed silently from the bottom of his heart. It was a pity that his own dashing and unrestrained temperament was too much like a male protagonist of a movie. So as the person in the limelight, he had to bear the brunt of this protagonist¡¯s halo. The side characters could only add a bit of a drama by being abused by the protagonist. Incompetent people would only bully juniors to establish prestige. And as the protagonist, he must stand up bravely at the right time to bring justice ¡ª ¡°Do I need to pick a day to beat a fucking dog?¡± CH 5 ¡°¡­ As the saying goes, ¡®Before you beat a dog, you''ve to look at the face of its owner.¡® What happened in the cafeteria at noon today made me realize this deeply. I swear to my teacher that I won¡¯t make the same mistake a second time, and I won¡¯t beat the vice principal¡¯s nephew a second time, and only if Cai Hanchuan provokes me first would I do it again, or else I¡¯ll be struck by lightning from heaven¡­¡± During the class meeting, Yu Ran stood on the podium, and recited his (self-criticism) review full of emotions, recited every sentence of the self-reflection with rhythmic ups and downs and finally ended it with a sonorous and powerful ¡®Sincerely yours¡¯.¡± After he finished reading, he also unconsciously gave a vigorous and respectful Young Pioneer¡¯s salute to the whole class. The moment he raised his palm above his head, the girls in the first row covered their faces in fright, thinking that they were going to be slapped by him. The homeroom teacher Bai Yuzhu, who was standing at the back of the classroom, sighed and then frowned before asking Yu Ran, ¡°Are you really admitting your mistake?¡± With bright eyes, Yu Ran nodded firmly. There were more important things to talk about in the class meeting. Bai Yuzhu didn¡¯t bother to pursue the matter with him since he was a first-time offender. Furthermore, Yu Ran wasn¡¯t the one who had started today¡¯s cafeteria fight incident. She waved her hand, and Yu Ran immediately went back and sat down. This was the first time Bai Yuzhu was leading an experimental class since her appointment at the school. The average grade of the new students was also the highest in the past five years, which made her secretly happy for a while. During noon, while having lunch with other teachers, she talked about how many recommended students she had in her class. Before she could finish speaking, the sound of breaking glass suddenly came from downstairs, and the head teacher and the grade leader immediately ran downstairs. Soon after, they called Bai Yuzhu over and asked her to take away the students of senior year one, class one. Fortunately, the cafeteria was newly installed with cameras, and the two students¡¯ fight was fully recorded. Also, a student surnamed Fang who had witnessed the whole incident said that ¡°the person in the school uniform was the one who started the fight¡±, proving that Yu Ran was defending himself the entire time. After checking the surveillance records, the teachers also agreed that the responsibility lay with the small group of the second-year seniors led by Cai Hanchuan. This group of people were temporarily suspended for a few days, while Yu Ran, as a freshman, only received a lenient punishment ¡ª writing a review. ¡°The vice-principal¡¯s relative didn¡¯t even get punished. He got off so easily,¡± Fang Zhao felt unfair for Yu Ran, ¡°but you were also smart enough, waiting for him to make the first move before you responded back, and making sure he was not hurt anywhere.¡± Yu Ran snorted and laughed, feeling quite proud of himself: ¡°I¡¯ve also practiced it, okay? If he got hurt, I¡¯d have to pay for the medical expenses. Now it was enough to make him lose face. Who told him to insist on acting like a prick toward me¡­¡± Fang Zhao also laughed along, not because he was happy for Yu Ran¡¯s victory but because he just recalled the image of Yu Ran just simply and crudely pressing his opponent¡¯s head into the Kung Pao Chicken, which was really way too funny. He said, ¡°You, the main protagonist, aren¡¯t showy enough. In the movies, don¡¯t the two sides fight with each other in the rain with hundreds of people?¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t care: ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as I win. Do you think we are living in a movie? At best, it¡¯s a third-rate novel.¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°But you aren¡¯t a third-rate male protagonist.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m definitely not,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°I¡¯m a first class man.¡± In fact, Yu Ran used to fantasize about a high school life that was full of rebellion and excitement, just like in ¡°Crows Zero¡±. At that time, he had aspired to be a delinquent like Takiya Genji, so he, who had gotten an E grade in the middle school entrance examinations, decided to secretly change his application to No. 44 Middle School. When Li Guirong found out, she was so angry that she tied him to the toilet door handle and beat him for two hours. He had entered the school with lofty aspirations and high ideals, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to discover that his life was not as wonderful as in mangas and movies. The plot that belonged to him was of a youth who just muddled through his life, moaning and groaning without any illness. He still remembered the first time he had watched a fighting scene in the No. 44 Middle School. The two seniors were not as powerful, handsome and charming as Oguri Shun. One was an idiot with dyed-red hair and another was a douchebag with blue-dyed hair. The red-haired had yelled ¡°I¡¯m your father¡± in the middle of the playground, and the blue-haired rushed up and pushed his shoulder. So the two of them then seemed to start a turn-based shoulder-pushing competition, swearing profanities at each other¡¯s whole family, but in reality, their actions were still stuck in the warm-up phase of the battle of shoving each other¡¯s shoulders. Weaklings. Yu Ran had watched them push each other all the way from the playground to the school gate, and then the two ran out together to surf the Internet when the security guard wasn¡¯t looking. ¡°The male protagonist¡¯s school is over for today!¡± Yu Ran one-handedly flung his school bag and hung it over his right shoulder. Leaning slightly, he looked out the window, ¡°The male protagonist is watching the sunset ¡ª fuck, it¡¯s so bright!¡± Te Ejc rdelcafv tlr fsfr jcv aegcfv jgbecv jcv gjc, atlcxlcu tf mbeiv ub tbwf fjgis jcv ugjy vlccfg klat Te Alc. Ktf cfza vjs kjr jcbatfg reccs vjs. Te Ejc fcafgfv atf mijrrgbbw kfjglcu tfjvqtbcfr, ilrafclcu ab j rbcu jcv obecv atja rbwfbcf kjr rlaalcu yftlcv tlr rfja. Jte Zljc, ktb tjv tlr tfjv ibkfgfv, gjlrfv tlr fsfr ab ajxf j ibbx ktfc tf tfjgv wbnfwfca lc ogbca bo tlw, jcv atfc mbcalcefv gfjvlcu lcvloofgfcais. Te Ejc rkfqa j uijcmf ja atf ybbx qjuf. Pa kjr atf qbfw ¡°Hlc Tejc Jtec ¡ª Wef¡± atf afjmtfg tjv fzqijlcfv sfrafgvjs. Fang Zhao hadn¡¯t arrived yet and Yu Ran wasn¡¯t familiar with the other people around him, so he could only speak to Chu Mian first: ¡°Ai, you¡¯ve come.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Seeing that Chu Mian did not ignore him, Yu Ren was a little surprised. He sat down, twisted his body to look at the other party and asked in a small voice: ¡°Did you eat the candies?¡± ¡°What candies?¡± ¡°The ones that I had put inside your bookcase.¡± Chu Mian leaned back and looked down and saw a large packet of white rabbit candy and a bunch of Alps. He asked Yu Ran in confusion, ¡°What are you giving me candies for?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Yu Ran tightly pursed his lips, his eyes gazing at Chu Mian¡¯s desktop, ¡°I thought you were hypoglycemic before¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Chu Mian took out the candies and handed them to Yu Ran, ¡°You can take them back.¡± ¡°I never take back the things I¡¯ve given as a present. You can throw it away, but don¡¯t return it to me,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°But it¡¯s a pity to throw them away, so just keep them to eat.¡± Chu Mian did not refuse again, lowered his eyes and stopped looking at him, and said softly: ¡°Thank you.¡± This ¡°thank you¡± was automatically regarded by Yu Ran as a sign that the two of them had cleared up their past disagreements, the old scores that were not worth mentioning could be written off at once, and they would be friendly classmates from now on, which made Yu Ran finally feel as if a load had been taken off his back. He turned back, and leaned against the window sill to play ¡°Fruit Ninja¡±. A gust of wind blew in through the open window, and a cup was blown to the ground by the fluttering curtains. Yu Ran bent over and picked it up, and looked back to see Chu Mian sleeping on the table, the wind blowing through his dark hair. Yu Ran put down his phone and got up quietly, and closed the window next to Chu Mian. Even when the class started, Chu Mian was still sleeping, and Yu Ran hesitated whether to wake him up, but soon found that the teachers had unanimously turned a blind eye towards Chu Mian¡¯s sleeping behavior, and if they asked questions according to the roll call, they all skipped Chu Mian by default. In addition to this, Chu Mian had the privilege of not participating in inter-class exercises, he could stay alone in the classroom to sleep or read a book. All of this was understandable, but at lunchtime, Yu Ran saw Chu Mian walk to the first floor of the cafeteria that had a ¡°closed¡± sign on the window, and the aunt inside handed out a tray, on which there were at least five or six exquisite small plates with dishes on them. Yu Ran sat down and said to Fang Zhao in surprise, ¡°Holy shit, did you see that? The school seems to have opened a window specifically for Chu Mian.¡± Sitting next to them were a few girls from their class. The acting class president Xiang Xuehua answered smoothly: ¡°I heard the teachers say in the office that Chu Mian¡¯s family had paid for the renovation of our school cafeteria. They also replaced a bunch of cooks, some of whom cook for him alone.¡± ¡°His family has enough money to renovate the cafeteria and hire a cook¡­ so it¡¯s not a problem for them to send him to No. 1 Middle School, right?¡± Fang Zhao asked, ¡°I had previously thought that Chu Mian would show his face at the freshman assembly in this school, and then study elsewhere in the future.¡± Xiang Xuehua thought about it for a moment before saying, ¡°It must be very stressful to study in No. 1 Middle School. Didn¡¯t Teacher Bai say that Chu Mian fell asleep during the high school entrance examinations? Studying at the top three schools in the city is definitely not as easy as studying in ours.¡± Yu Ran asked hesitantly, ¡°Can¡¯t he drink Red Bull or something to refresh himself?¡± ¡°It¡¯s useless. I even saw him take medicine this morning,¡± Xiang Xuehua said, ¡°Alas, I had suffered from insomnia when the high school entrance examinations were nearing. I also want to try the feeling of falling asleep just by putting my head down¡­ Oh, by the way, have you memorized ¡°Qin Yuan Chun¡±? We¡¯ve Silent Writing this afternoon.¡± Fortunately, a reminder from the class president reminded Yu Ran of this assignment, and he scrambled to recite it during the lunch break until language class. But when it came down to writing on paper, he forgot how to write several words in a row. ¡°All the students who haven¡¯t finished writing from memory, hurry up! I¡¯ll let you write for another half minute,¡± The teacher observed the whole class from the podium and waited for a moment before saying, ¡°Okay, pass the paper from back to front.¡± Just as Chu Mian was about to raise his hand, Yu Ran, who was sitting in the seat in front of him, quickly turned his head to grab the paper from his hand, and using Chu Mian¡¯s paper, he quickly filled all the places that he had left empty. Yu Ran did not know that Chu Mian was staring at his back at this moment, a trace of disgust in his eyes. He was relieved to finish writing and passed the two papers forward. After school, Yu Ran held a yellow peach yogurt flavored Cornetto as he waited for the bus. Fang Zhao could have taken the subway, but he thought it would be more fun to go home with Yu Ran. The two of them were waiting for the bus while playing ¡°Temple Run¡±, a game that Yu Ran had only downloaded yesterday, but today it had already exceeded one million points and would soon surpass Fang Zhao¡¯s record. ¡°Did you know, someone abroad has cleared the game, they escaped this level and returned to the city,¡± Fang Zhao exclaimed admiringly, ¡°Must have played exceptionally well and achieved hundreds of millions of points! So awesome!¡± ¡°What will it be like after escaping?¡± Yu Ran really wanted to look at that picture to open his eyes, but the two of them searched the Internet for a long time and only saw many text descriptions in the news. Finally, they found a screenshot of a blurred harbor that was said to be the end point of the space. Yu Ran put down the phone in disappointment and looked up to see if Bus No. 861 was coming. He inadvertently glanced at the pedestrian crosswalk and found that Chu Mian was waiting for the red light to cross the road. ¡°Why is he standing there alone? Shouldn¡¯t his family be picking him up and dropping him off?¡± Yu Ran frowned. Fang Zhao followed his gaze and looked over, ¡°Chu Mian? I think he didn¡¯t seem to sleep much in the afternoon. He was quite energetic today.¡± Yu Ran began to worry a little: ¡°What if by chance he falls asleep while crossing the road?¡± ¡°How can it be so serious¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know, it¡¯s actually that serious,¡± Yu Ran remembered the scene when he had seen Chu Mian for the first time. The other party was in a dangerous situation yet he suddenly fell asleep, ¡°I¡¯ll go over and look at him, you wait a moment.¡± Yu Ran quickly ate the chocolate-filled cone tip of the Cornetto, then trotted to the nearby crosswalk. Chu Mian¡¯s headphones were playing some industrial metal music that had an intense rhythm. A few pedestrians started to cross the road in front of him and without thinking twice, he followed the crowd forward. At this moment, he saw a rushing figure suddenly flash by in the periphery of his vision. Chu Mian felt something was wrong, and instinctively put the mobile and wallet inside his pocket, but unexpectedly the next second, his chest was hit head-on by someone. The sudden impact made his body unconsciously stagger backward a few steps, the heel of his shoe hit the steps. Suddenly he lost control and fell back, his headphones fell off in the process, there was only the clear blue sky left in his field of vision. Chu Mian felt himself being pressed to the ground. He subconsciously raised his elbow ready to attack the other party¡¯s head, neck or any other vulnerable places, but fortunately Yu Ran¡¯s timely voice made him stop his behavior: ¡°You crossed the road without looking at the lights!¡± Chu Mian was stunned. He retracted his hand, surprised to see himself lying in Yu Ran¡¯s arms. Yu Ran quickly got up, and by the way, he grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s arm to make him stand up, and exactly like how a mother would scold her child for running carelessly on the road, he said to Chu Mian as if the other party was a child: ¡°You followed others to go forward, and you didn¡¯t even notice that you ran the red light? Fortunately, just now, the vehicles weren¡¯t driving fast, otherwise, you would have gone to heaven!¡± Chu Mian frowned. He looked down at his palm which was smudged with a good deal of filthy dirt and grit from the curbstone. Compared to accidentally running a red light, the dirt on his skin caused him more alarm in his heart, and now he just wanted to get home quickly and wash it off. ¡°Thanks for the reminder,¡± Chu Mian tried hard to maintain his demeanor on the surface and restrained himself from being impatient with Yu Ran, ¡°But still, you popping up out of nowhere is more frightening.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s lips moved, wanting to say something but then stopped. He thought that giving Chu Mian candy would mean that the two of them would get along happily in the future, but he didn¡¯t expect that the other party would still act aloof and unapproachable, as if he had no intention of getting acquainted with his classmates. ¡°You¡¯re getting cocky with me again,¡± Yu Ran quietly snorted in a cold manner, shrugged his shoulders and went back to wait for the bus. ¡°You really acted like a protagonist just now,¡± Fang Zhao said sincerely, ¡°I had once followed my cousin to watch a Taiwanese TV series. The male and female protagonists fell down on the road in the middle of the night, and guess what ¡ª the two of them bumped into each other and ended up kissing each other accidently! Coincidentally, the surrounding drivers also turned on their headlights and the couple was in a circle of lights. Truly, what a coincidence! If I were there, I would just step on the gas and run them over.¡± Yu Ran bent down to pat his trousers clean, and heard Fang Zhao say: ¡°Fortunately you¡¯re short, otherwise, with that distance just now, I guess you¡¯d have forced-kissed Chu Mian.¡± Yu Ran suddenly raised his head: ¡°Who is short?!¡± Yu Ran was obviously more sensitive to the lack of height than the ¡°forced-kiss¡± part. He straightened up suddenly and strode to Fang Zhao¡¯s side, ¡°I am still taller than you!¡± Fang Zhao stood on tiptoe, ¡°I mean compared with Chu Mian!¡± Yu Ran jumped straight up, ¡°I¡¯m taller than him now!¡± ¡°You¡¯re so childish!¡± Fang Zhao pressed Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder, trying to push Yu Ran short by his own strength, ¡°I want to try to be taller than heaven!¡± The two were immersed in the fun of laughing and joking at the bus stop and managed to miss one Bus No. 861. When Yu Ran got home, he was inevitably scolded by Li Guirong. The dishes were almost cold, while he was playing outside. Yu Ran said that he had heroically protected his classmate who was almost hit by a car when he ran a red light after school, and the other party knelt down and kowtowed three times on the spot, saying that this kindness would never be forgotten, ¡°You just wait for him to come to our house to send a banner.¡± Li Guirong was used to her eldest son¡¯s frequent nonsensical talks, and only rolled her eyes at him. But, Yu Jin took his brother¡¯s words seriously, his eyes full of adoration: ¡°Really! Will the banner say ¡®Live Lei Feng!''¡± Yu Ran pretended to be thoughtful and said, ¡°I reckon ¡®Miracle Worker¡® will be written.¡± ¡°Just ¡®shameless¡¯ will be written for you!¡± Li Guirong tapped him on the head with the handle of her chopsticks, ¡°It¡¯s just you. Who else will play with you at school? The students must think you¡¯re too crazy and will lead them astray.¡± ¡°You just wait,¡± Yu Ran said in an imperative tone, ¡°I¡¯ll make a friend one day to show you! I¡¯ll gather one hundred and seven to go to Mt. Liang!¡± Li Guirong kicked him, ¡°Hurry up and eat!¡± CH 6 Just as the evening fell, Chu Mian returned to the Hanning Mansion in downtown Ronggang. The faucet flowed with bubbling warm water, and he slowly rinsed the foam from his fingers. His aunt called from outside: ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, your mother gave me a call this afternoon and said that she helped you arrange a lounge in the school so that you can go there for naps in the future.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s fingers paused a little. His aunt didn¡¯t hear him respond and asked, ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, did you hear me?¡± Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but sneer. He shook off the water droplets from his hand and said in a loud voice, ¡°She might as well build a dormitory building in the school, wouldn¡¯t that make it more convenient for me?¡± His aunt, who was sitting silently at the table, vaguely heard the sound of the bathroom hand dryer buzzing. After Chu Mian finished washing his hands, and came out to sit down, she asked tentatively, ¡°Then I¡¯ll call her back later and say you¡¯ll figure it out yourself, okay?¡± ¡°Ignore her,¡± Chu Mian slowly and methodically mixed his vegetable salad and sent a small, plump tomato into his mouth, ¡°She always makes a mountain out of a molehill, exaggerating to the school how much my illness affects my daily life and routine, and now all the teachers are taking special care of me.¡± Chu Mian swallowed the sweet eggplant juice, and then without any inflections in his voice he continued: ¡°Did you know that there is actually a window for me alone in the school cafeteria? What does she want, for me to enjoy the attention of others when I eat at noon every day? ¡± She didn¡¯t know since when, but the teenager¡¯s beautiful face had started to become unconsciously shrouded by a layer of inexorable indifference when talking about his mother. As an aunt, Chu Heng saw his emotions that were betrayed by his eyes and tried to give him the maximum level of comfort: ¡°After all, she¡¯s not by your side, so her way of pampering you would inevitably be over the top. When you¡¯ve time, try to communicate with her, or I can help you convey¡­¡± ¡°No, I said, ignore her,¡± Chu Mian looked straight into the young woman¡¯s eyes, ¡°She just wants to act like a young lady of a rich family, but she always feels guilty for this tiny amount of parental responsibility she has, so she uses this so-called ¡®concern for her son¡¯ endlessly to satisfy herself, and inturn embarrass me, do you understand?¡± As soon as the teenager¡¯s words fell, Chu Heng felt the oppressive force coming from his cold eyes. She had a momentary trance, and when she settled down to look at Chu Mian again, he had already pursed his lips and bowed his head, concentrating on cutting the beef on his plate into small pieces and eating it in a refined and orderly manner. Chu Heng quietly heaved a sigh in her heart as she looked at this young boy¡¯s calm and collected features that showed a maturity beyond his age. She also completely agreed with Chu Mian¡¯s statement, so she simply changed the topic that would make him feel unpleasant. The chatting atmosphere returned to its usual light-heartedness. ¡°Hey, the ¡°Harry Potter¡± film set is open to the public this year. Why don¡¯t we go play when you have your National Day holiday? I¡¯ve seen many people posting pictures on Instagram, it seems very fun.¡± Chu Mian was not very interested, but still agreed for this trip. After eating, Chu Heng went back to her room to do route planning with great enthusiasm. Compared to Chu Mian, her fifteen-year-old nephew, she was obviously a bit more playful. Since the third year of middle school, Chu Mian had moved into his aunt¡¯s house on the grounds that ¡°staying with his parents felt too stressful¡±. Chu Heng was an online comic artist with relatively free working hours. In her spare time, she would help Chu Mian study the nutritional balance of his diet. In addition, she was just twenty-five years old, and the generation gap between her and Chu Mian wasn¡¯t too big. The relationship between the two was more like friends who could have fun together and take care of each other. ¡°The bowl you drank the soup from¡­¡± Chu Mian frowned halfway through eating and looked at Chu Heng as if he wanted to say something but then stopped. Chu Heng looked down to check the bottom of the bowl and found that on the white porcelain three words were written using a marker by Chu Mian at some point: mi¨¥mi¨¥¡®s soup bowl. ¡°Yt, atfs jii ibbx atf rjwf¡­ rbwfalwfr P jmmlvfcajiis ugjy atf kgbcu bcf.¡± ¡°Jjc¡¯a sbe pera ajxf j ibbx yfobgf sbe ajxf la? Tbe¡¯gf mjgfifrr cba pera bcmf bg aklmf.¡± ¡°Mlcf, olcf, olcf, P¡¯ii yes wsrfio j cfk rfa abwbggbk, jcv P¡¯ii ulnf jii atfrf ja tbwf ab sbe,¡± Jte Lfcu afjrfv, ¡°Ktfc, sbe mjc kglaf ktjafnfg sbe kjca, bxjs?¡± Influenced by his mother¡¯s education, Chu Mian liked to distinguish his own things from others since he was a child. As he was slightly mysophobic, he would always find ways to put names on the imported tableware and cups to prevent others from misusing them. At home, he would rarely share the same items with his aunt, so Chu Heng would often see sticky notes that read ¡°mi¨¥mi¨¥¡®s remote control¡±, ¡°mi¨¥mi¨¥¡®s cushion¡±, ¡°mi¨¥mi¨¥¡®s juicer¡± and so on. The sticky notes appeared in various places in the house, as if they were silent warnings from the teenager. As night fell, Chu Mian sat on a soft chair on the balcony to rest, looking out at the bright lights of Ronggang¡¯s commercial district and the shimmering Lanjiang River, the evening breeze crossed over the water and blew gently on his cheeks. He was holding a snow-white python in his arms. Among the polygenic mutation Ball Pythons, the one with the all-white appearance was specially named ¡°White Wedding¡°, and the name Chu Mian gave it was ¡°Fiona¡±. Fiona could be considered as Chu Mian¡¯s closest family member. It had extremely good character and gentle temperament, and often shrunk into a ball. Chu Mian had been taking care of it for two years already. Now its body had grown to the average thickness of the teenager¡¯s arms. Chu Mian stroked its smooth scales, let it coil on his forearm, got up and went to the living room to get his school bag. Chu Heng was lying in front of her computer watching the reports on the Harry Potter film site on the Internet, unable to decide whether to wear a Gryffindor Academy School Uniform on the plane or not. Just as she turned her head, she saw Chu Mian enter the room calmly, with the snake in his arms. She was instantly filled with alarm and panic as if she had seen Voldemort, screaming and holding the keyboard in front of her to resist the other party¡¯s Avada Kedavra. ¡°Wanna eat candy?¡± Chu Mian waved a bunch of Alps lollipops in his hand. When Chu Heng dazedly nodded her head, still not having recovered from her fright, he hugged Fiona again and deliberately took a step forward. Chu Heng was so scared that she backed away to her bed and waved the pillow as if to ward off. The corner of Chu Mian¡¯s mouth seemed to rise up, revealing a calm and innocent look, as he gently tossed the candy over. ¡°Didn¡¯t you quit sugar a long time ago?¡± Chu Heng shrunk in the corner and asked him. ¡°Someone else gave it to me, so you can eat it for me.¡± ¡°A classmate?¡± Chu Heng asked with bright eyes, ¡°You made friends so soon?¡± ¡°Not a friend,¡± Chu Mian denied, a blurry face automatically appeared in his mind, ¡°How to say, he should be the type who is inexplicably enthusiastic about others.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. You¡¯ve to keep in touch with such lively kids, so that you¡¯ll also become more cheerful,¡± Chu Heng stared at Chu Mian, and said earnestly, ¡°Don¡¯t refuse to make friends just because it¡¯s too troublesome to maintain friendships. True friends won¡¯t mind that you¡¯re troublesome, mi¨¥mi¨¥.¡± Chu Mian lowered his head to avoid her sharp eyes. His originally calm emotions suddenly turned into irritation in an instant, and his fingertips stroked Fiona¡¯s skin texture a bit uneasily, as if he could calm himself by trying to soothe it. ¡°What a bunch of nonsense,¡± Chu Mian drily dropped a sentence and left Chu Heng¡¯s view, holding the snake in his arms. Chu Heng tore open a grape lollipop and put it in her mouth, inevitably feeling worried about her nephew¡¯s situation. Her impression of Chu Mian when he was a child was that of a boy who loved to make some noise and occasionally prank the adults and after succeeding in his scheme, he wouldn¡¯t stop laughing, but as he grew up, he slowly became more and more quiet and introverted, even to the extent of treating people coldly. In fact, the main reason for this was ¡°narcolepsy¡± which not only made him sleep unrestrainedly but it also triggered cataplexic symptoms in addition. This cataplexy was often triggered by sudden, strong emotions such as laughter, sadness, or anger, so Chu Mian had to maintain a stable mood at all times, otherwise once he got a little excited, it was possible for his whole body to suddenly lose its strength and fall to the ground. If he wanted to laugh out loud, he had to hold on to the support in advance so as to avoid hurting his body when he suddenly collapsed. With the exception of very rare situations, Chu Mian was in a clear state of consciousness and could talk to people normally even during cataplexy. So this year, during the summer vacation after the high school entrance examination, in order to train his ability to control his emotions, Chu Mian specially asked his aunt to read him the ¡°Collection of Jokes¡± and funny online jokes. When Chu Heng had read ¡°I¡¯ve lived for 42 years, and they¡¯re the two most boring people I¡¯ve ever seen¡±, Chu Mian had tried biting his lips to keep himself from laughing out loud, but he still lost his strength and collapsed on the bed. A minute later, Chu Mian regained his strength and sat upright. Chu Heng had asked him compassionately, ¡°Do you still want to listen?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Chu Heng couldn¡¯t bear it: ¡°Then I¡¯ll read a not so funny one to you¡­ It¡¯s written by that Professor Yin ¡ª ¡± ¡°Ha¡­¡± The corners of Chu Mian¡¯s mouth curled up, and surprisingly, he lost his strength once again and collapsed on the bed. Because he naturally had a low laughing point, Chu Heng had to repeatedly read to him a full thirty pages before he was too tired to laugh again. After that, even if he heard the funniest content, Chu Mian just lay on the bed and praised in a weak voice ¡°pretty funny¡±. For ordinary people, ¡°laughter¡± was a symbol of happiness, but for Chu Mian, it was a risk where happiness and pain coexisted. Especially in a lively and happy atmosphere, if he suddenly fell to the ground, not only would he get embarrassed and be humiliated in public, it would also overwhelm others. So normally, in addition to taking anti-cataplexy medication, he also forcibly stabilized his emotional changes in a safe range, which meant he must be cautious when he came in contact with recreational activities. This did indeed ease the symptoms of cataplexy, but Chu Heng was very worried that Chu Mian would miss the opportunity to have fun with his classmates for the sake of his so-called self-esteem. But Chu Mian did not seem to care about it. After being pulled into the class group by the class president, he directly blocked the group messages, and when a classmate added him as a friend, he only used auto-reply to perfunctorily greet the other party. He was more concerned about studying than building friendships with them ¡ª To him, suddenly collapsing in public was not the most humiliating thing, rather it was not getting the first place in an ordinary high school like Chengjun. It was precisely because he slept longer than anyone else every day that he had to work twice as hard when he was awake. He put Fiona back into the snake box and sat down at his desk to carefully recite the ¡°The Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion¡± and the commentary at the bottom of the book, striving to master all five mandatory language books by the end of the National Day holiday. After he finished reviewing that day¡¯s lesson, Chu Mian took out his black leather notebook as usual. On the title page was a neat script he had written a long time ago ¡°Everything that Mi¨¥mi¨¥ Hates¡± When he first learned to speak, apparently he used to always pronounce ¡°Chu Mian¡± as ¡°Chu Mi¨¥¡±, so everyone lovingly called him ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥¡± when referring to him. When he started elementary school, his parents seemed to agree that he was beginning to have a sense of independence, so they just directly called him by his full name, lest Chu Mian complained later that the nickname they gave him was too childish. But in reality, Chu Mian still preferred to be affectionately called ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥¡± by the adults, but now only his aunt was willing to call him that. Chu Mian turned the page of ¡°Everything that Mi¨¥mi¨¥ Hates¡± to the most recent record. [August 2012] 1. Mung bean soup made by my aunt, not delicious. 2. Phone case, heavy. 3. Mosquito coil, causes irritation and choking. 4. Bluetooth headphone, hurts my ears. 5. Carbon ink. ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ 38. Communist Youth League, intuition. 39. Chengjun¡¯s next-class bell, a little sad melody, obviously everyone likes to get out of class. 40. After writing down the next even number out of habit, Chu Mian lifted his pen and thought about what to fill the position with. The tip of the pen first paused, then it fell smoothly on the paper, finishing the three words neatly. ¡°Yu Ran, Muggle.¡± CH 7 ¡°Ri ri ri ¡ª diu diu ¡ª Super Digivolution! Block, dangdang, dangdang, dangdang ¡ª block, dangdang! Fangzhaomon!¡± Before the second physical education class in the morning, the newly promoted high school student Yu Ran forcibly led Fang Zhao to play the role-playing game of ¡°Digimon¡±, where he played the part of the ¡°DigiDestined Child¡± and personally sang the digivolution theme song, while Fang Zhao was reluctantly forced to become a Digimon, who angrily condemned this behavior as childish like that of an elementary school student. ¡°You¡¯re just purely trying to take advantage of me, right? Do you have the ability to make me digivolve all at once?¡± Fang Zhao was indignant, ¡°Hold on. Do you even have a Crest and a Digivice that lets me super digivolve?¡± Yu Ran said earnestly: ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve the Crest, it¡¯s engraved on my heart. It doesn¡¯t need to have a physical form to make you super digivolve.¡± ¡°Then what does your Crest represent?¡± Fang Zhao stared at Yu Ran¡¯s face and saw that the other party obviously hesitated, ¡°You hesitated! I figured it out! You really don¡¯t have a Crest at all, you fake DigiDestined Child!¡± The two of them mimicked the dramatic and exaggerated tone of the anime while chasing and fighting. Yu Ran kept walking backwards as he resisted Fang Zhao¡¯s dark attacks and almost hit the person passing behind him. He subconsciously turned his head to apologize: ¡°Sorry¡­ Ai? You still need to attend this class?¡± Seeing that Chu Mian didn¡¯t ask for leave in physical education, Yu Ran felt it was very novel. Chu Mian nodded looking straight ahead, avoiding the two of them and walking towards the green football field. As he walked, he found Yu Ran and the others following him. Fang Zhao asked curiously: ¡°Chu Mian, did you need to take physical education for the high school entrance examination?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How many points did you get?¡± ¡°Thirty points.¡± ¡°Full score? Really¡­¡± Yu Ran interjected, ¡°You didn¡¯t fall asleep that morning?¡± Chu Mian did not bother responding. He did not understand how this matter was worth questioning. It goes without saying that the human brain gets excited when exercising, so physical education was the easiest of all the subjects to keep him awake. Fang Zhao: ¡°Yu Ran, how much did you get?¡± ¡°Huh, do you even need to ask?¡± Yu Ran sneered loudly, pretending to arrogantly stretch his collar a few times, ¡°I got thirty points, that¡¯s because the full score is only thirty points.¡± Fang Zhao raised his hand to stop his movement, ¡°Ok, ok, I kind of know what your Crest represents, it¡¯s ¡®Deceit¡®.¡± The physical education teacher blew a whistle and paced unhurriedly to the running track with a stopwatch, calling for the boys of Class 1 and Class 2 to gather for roll call. ¡°Class 1 in the front and Class 2 in the back. Stand in four rows according to your height,¡± Teacher Dou put down the roll call register, ¡°Sports Committee members of the two classes, step forward.¡± The Boys¡¯ Sports Committee of Class 2 stepped forward, but no one in Class 1 moved, ¡°Is there no Sports Committee in Class 1?¡± Teacher Dou looked at them, ¡°Whoever wants to be in the committee, come out. If not, I¡¯ll pick someone pleasing to the eye.¡± After waiting for a while, no one volunteered, so Teacher Dou simply pointed to the boy at the end of the first row: ¡°You, standing without a proper posture, you should practice well as a Sports Committee member.¡± Yu Ran was caught off guard: ¡°Me?¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Te Ejc.¡± Kfjmtfg Gbe ibbxfv vbkc jcv obecv atf cjwf bc atf gbii mjii, ¡°Qfii, cbk fnfgsbcf rtbeiv ilcf eq lc akb gbkr jcv gec j ijq, klat atf akb Vqbgar Jbwwlaaff wfwyfgr ifjvlcu atf ilcf lc ogbca jcv yftlcv.¡± Jtfcupec¡¯r agjmx kjr j rajcvjgv obeg tecvgfv wfafgr. Gbhfcr bo ybsr delmxis ilcfv eq lc ilcf jmmbgvlcu ab atflg mijrr. Te Ejc tjv cfnfg yffc j Vqbgar Jbwwlaaff wfwyfg. Pc atf qjra, ktfc tf kjr lc Rb. 44 Zlvvif Vmtbbi, qtsrlmji fvemjalbc mijrr kjr cbatlcu yea j ojgmf. Snfgsbcf kjr ogff ab wbnf jgbecv jr atfs qifjrfv. Lf cbk rabbv ja atf ogbca bo atf ilcf. Lf abbx j rafq, jcv atf gfra bo atf qfbqif obiibkfv tlw jcv gjc. He ran a little faster, and everyone had to speed up after him; he shouted ¡°one, two, three, four,¡± and everyone yelled the slogan in unison. This feeling of ¡°the rhythm of others is under my control¡± allowed Yu Ran to find the joy of being a Sports Committee member in just a few seconds and he ran even faster. It was only when he reached the bend did Yu Ren remember about the classmate who had a special condition. Chu Mian was the tallest in the class, so he was running in the front of the team. Yu Ran asked him in a whisper: ¡°Can you still run? If not, you can now switch to the inner circle to run.¡± Chu Mian frowned, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that you would fall asleep and get into an accident. ¡± ¡°Even if I get sleepy, it¡¯ll be after the run,¡± Chu Mian¡¯s expression was as usual, ¡°I¡¯m very much awake now.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± After a pause, Yu Ran spoke again, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you follow me after I shouted ¡®one, two, three, four¡¯? What¡¯s the matter? Are you dissatisfied? Is there some dark corner in your heart that is planning to snatch my position as a Sports Committee member?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian, who was at the end of his patience, took a deep breath and gave Yu Ran a sidelong glance, ¡°I advise you to talk less, it¡¯s easy to get side cramps.¡± Chu Mian was actually admonishing the other party, but he didn¡¯t know that Yu Ran didn¡¯t pay attention to other people¡¯s expressions and tone, and only listened to the literal meaning. The corners of Yu Ran¡¯s mouth rose, and he smiled and said to Chu Mian, ¡°Thank you for your concern.¡± ¡ª Where am I concerned about you? Chu Mian was speechless. After running 400 meters, Yu Ran¡¯s fair and clear profile had turned red, and his body became a little hot. He kept shaking the hem of his T-shirt to let the cool air in. Teacher Dou asked everyone to enter the gymnasium for a Sit and Reach Test. Before he left, Yu Ran didn¡¯t forget to look back at Chu Mian to confirm that he was not sleepy. The Sports Committee members of both classes took the test first, and then they recorded the data of the rest of the class. The Sports Committee members of Class 2 were tough and stocky, and coupled with the fact that they had never exercised after the physical education exam on high school entrance examination, their test results were quite mediocre. Yu Ran, on the other hand, had a slender figure, explosive power and flexibility that were very outstanding compared to the people of the same age. As soon as he bent his waist, the cursor was directly pushed out to 23.5 cm. ¡°Ok,¡± Teacher Dou laughed, ¡°You¡¯re like a flip phone.¡± Yu Ran was very proud of himself. Afterwards, he was next to his classmates analyzing whether their sitting posture was standard or not and enthusiastically shared his skills and pointers. Soon it was Chu Mian¡¯s turn, and he leaned down neatly ¡ª the cursor slid to 24.1 cm. ¡°Ooh,¡± Teacher Dou couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Yu Ran¡¯s performance was already considered quite high among the boys, and he didn¡¯t expect Chu Mian to easily break his record. Teacher Dou patted Chu Mian¡¯s back, ¡°Get up. Next, Zhou Weixi ¡ª ¡± The boy whose turn was next had already come over but Chu Mian was still sitting on the ground with his back bowed, with both his arms hanging down weakly. Teacher Dou pushed him without thinking, and the teenager¡¯s body tilted to the side with a force because of the push. Yu Ran reacted quickly by kneeling down to support Chu Mian, and he looked down and saw that Chu Mian had already fallen asleep with his eyes closed. Teacher Dou realized something and asked incredulously, ¡°Is he the one your Teacher Bai told me about having¡­ umm ¡®sleeping sickness¡¯?¡± Yu Ran nodded his head. ¡°How long will he sleep?¡± ¡°Maybe until the end of this class.¡± Teacher Dou got up and went to the equipment room to drag out a dark green mat, ¡°Let him lie down and sleep on this, it¡¯s cold on the ground.¡± Yu Ran and the other Sports Committee members lifted Chu Mian up, but their movements did not disturb his sleep. Many people were curious about Chu Mian, after all, there were many classmates who snoozed in class, but it was really rare for people to just close their eyes and fall into a deep sleep without saying a word, anywhere, anytime like Chu Mian. Fang Zhao recounted his impression of the homeroom teacher¡¯s words, and briefly introduced Chu Mian¡¯s narcolepsy to them. A boy in Class 2 remembered something and said: ¡°There was also a girl in my middle school who slept every day, and couldn¡¯t wake up at all. We all used to call her ¡®Sleeping God¡¯.¡± ¡°The same disease as Chu Mian?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ she shouldn¡¯t have gone to the hospital to have it checked. We all thought she didn¡¯t want to listen to the lecture. Teachers scolded her but it was all useless,¡± the boy thought for a few seconds, ¡°Maybe she really did have this disease.¡± Fang Zhao sympathized and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t that mean she was scolded by the teachers in vain? She couldn¡¯t help herself when she fell asleep. So tragic.¡± Yu Ran, who was quietly sitting on the edge of the mat where Chu Mian was sleeping, turned his face to look at him. Initially, he felt Chu Mian¡¯s strange illness to be mystical, but after paying attention to it yesterday, Yu Ran found that Chu Mian had slept for at least five hours in class. Even during the times when he felt lazy, Yu Ran would take a nap for one or two classes at most, because he would only end up feeling tired if he slept for too long. Thus, he quickly realized the detrimental impact of ¡°narcolepsy¡± on Chu Mian. Chu Mian wasted all his time sleeping all day long, and was often out of touch with the real world. In the second half of the class, Teacher Dou took them to review the radio exercise ¡°Dancing Youth¡±. Just as the class ended, it was recess. As soon as the bell rang, the boys were dismissed and left the gymnasium immediately, while Yu Ran, as a Sports Committee member, stayed back to take care of Chu Mian, who was still sleeping. Before leaving, Teacher Dou told him: ¡°If he still doesn¡¯t wake up even after the exercise is over, you can go back to the classroom. I¡¯ll call the teacher from the PE group to come and watch over him.¡± Yu Ran nodded, and as soon as Teacher Dou left, he unceremoniously pushed Chu Mian to one side of the mat to make room for himself to sit. The two of them were the only ones left in the large gymnasium, and the music outside was too loud, so Yu Ran took out his earphones and put them on to listen to songs. Recently, firms and shops in the streets and alleys had been crazily playing the song ¡°Gangnam Style¡± in a loop. Yu Ran had listened to it a few times casually but hadn¡¯t liked it, but once his mind calmed down, the melody of this song lingered in his mind. The song was very magical, and he added it to the song list on a whim. Yu Ran was paying close attention to the lyrics to savor their meaning, when suddenly his back was tapped lightly, startling him. ¡°Woke up?¡± Yu Ran pulled off one side of the earphones and turned around to look at Chu Mian. Chu Mian¡¯s eyes hadn¡¯t fully opened yet, and he looked at Yu Ran in a daze, breathing a sigh of relief, as if relieved of a heavy load. In just thirty minutes, he had several complicated and bizarre nightmares in a row, and even though his consciousness had already returned to reality, his body had not still freed from that sense of terror, with his heart palpitating wildly. Yu Ran saw Chu Mian raise his hand to lift the hair on his forehead, revealing neat and sharp eyebrows. He was lying lazily on the mat, and his expression seemed a little impatient. Chu Mian looked at the ceiling, his voice was a little hoarse: ¡°Where¡¯s this?¡± ¡°The gym,¡± Yu Ran stared at him in bewilderment, ¡°Have you lost your memory?¡± Chu Mian closed his eyes and endured the anxiety in his heart. After adjusting his breathing, he slowly sat up. His hair was a bit messy. He combed his fingers through to straighten it. When he opened his eyes again, his gloomy gaze shot straight at Yu Ran. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Ran froze and felt that something was wrong, ¡°Holy shit, it¡¯s over, it¡¯s over, you really have amnesia!¡± He muttered in a panic, and immediately grabbed his mobile phone in a hurry, and tried to run out to inform the homeroom teacher of this serious situation. ¡°Yu Ran,¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice sounded from behind again. Yu Ran turned his head and saw that Chu Mian was breathing a little bit heavily, and had a very helpless expression as he spoke, ¡°Can¡¯t you use your brain?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± He was half a beat slow to realize that the other party had played a trick with him just now. Yu Ran had a false alarm, and he returned to Chu Mian¡¯s side angrily, and pushed him hard on the shoulder, ¡°You fucking scared me! I even thought ¡ª it couldn¡¯t be that you¡¯re schizophrenic and awakened your second personality¡­¡± Chu Mian heard that his tone was extremely serious, ¡°You don¡¯t just casually run into this kind of thing in real life, do you?¡± ¡°What if I run into one?¡± Yu Ran had no doubt about his luck, ¡°The protagonist was originally enjoying a beautiful school life every day¡­ But he didn¡¯t expect that the boy sitting behind him turned out to be a cold-blooded murderous demon! This person slept during the day, but when night fell, he ¡ª ¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Chu Mian rubbed his temples and raised his eyebrows. ¡°If I were a murderous demon, would I want your money or your looks?¡± ¡°Who knows, maybe you just want to suck the men¡¯s essence.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to continue this inexplicable topic with the other party anymore. He stood up and patted the folds of his clothes, ¡°Is the classroom door locked?¡± ¡°Maybe. Don¡¯t worry, anyway, the exercise is almost over. Now it¡¯s probably the time for jumping exercises,¡± Yu Ran listened carefully to the words on the radio exercises playing outside, ¡°Hey, if you¡¯ve to sleep for so long every day, why don¡¯t you just hire a tutor to teach you, and save yourself the trouble of coming to school.¡± Chu Mian asked him back: ¡°If it were you, would you be willing to stay at home alone every day?¡± ¡°I¡­ probably won¡¯t be willing,¡± Yu Ran thought, ¡°Although I don¡¯t want to listen to class and do homework, I can still play with everyone at school. My middle school was too chaotic, students always quarrelled and fought, and there was no fun. However, Chengjun is more like a school.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it,¡± Chu Mian retracted his gaze and walked out of the gymnasium, ¡°If I am at school, at least the environment is lively. If I stay at home by myself, I¡¯m more likely to get more sleepy.¡± Yu Ran tucked his phone inside and followed him, ¡°Then why don¡¯t I see you taking the initiative to talk to others? Are you shy, huh?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk to others about meaningless things. If one has time to play, might as well do more questions.¡± When Chu Mian came outside,the bright light stung his eyes and he squinted, ¡°Where is the nearest snack shop?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take you there!¡± Yu Ran was very active, and led Chu Mian to the small shop behind the cafeteria. He went in and familiarly picked up fried potato chips, noodles and AD calcium milk from several shelves. Once he turned his head, he found that Chu Mian hadn¡¯t taken anything and was standing in front of the cashier waiting for him. ¡°If you want to eat something, I¡¯ll find it for you,¡± Yu Ran said. Chu Mian shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ll pay for the bill.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll pay it myself.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to owe you.¡± Yu Ran was surprised, ¡°Owe me what?¡± ¡°You gave me candies yesterday,¡± Chu Mian replied, ¡°so I¡¯ll buy something for you today.¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to pay back? Didn¡¯t you say ¡®thank you¡¯ yesterday?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the same thing,¡± Chu Mian said, ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t want to owe anyone anything.¡± This statement made Yu Ran¡¯s expression sink. If it was a courtesy exchange between classmates, then Yu Ran would have gladly accepted Chu Mian¡¯s kindness. But the other party had used the word ¡°owe¡± to describe something that was not a big deal. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t understand the other party¡¯s psychological burden, so he could only say in low spirits: ¡°You don¡¯t like candies? Then I¡¯ll give you potato chips.¡± ¡°No need,¡± Chu Mian lowered his head and took out his wallet, and said in a nonchalant tone, ¡°Why don¡¯t I just give you the cash. Yesterday¡¯s ¡ª ¡± ¡°You¡¯re really so boring,¡± Yu Ran directly interrupted his words. When Chu Mian heard Yu Ran¡¯s heavy breathing, he raised his head, and saw that the other party¡¯s youthful and handsome face was obviously showing an expression of rage. However, Yu Ran didn¡¯t throw a fit on the spot. He just glanced at Chu Mian deeply, then ignored him, and went ahead to the cashier to check out. Just as Yu Ran failed to empathize with the insignificant feeling of indebtedness in Chu Mian¡¯s heart, Chu Mian also could not understand the reason for Yu Ran¡¯s anger. In Chu Mian¡¯s opinion, accepting a favor from someone meant that he had to repay a favor afterwards. At that time, a mere ¡°thank you¡± was definitely not enough. Especially for classmates who were unfamiliar, it was only right to draw a clear line. His self-esteem did not allow him to take advantage of others. However, since he knew that Yu Ran was angry because of this, Chu Mian also felt that there was no need to provoke him anymore. It was a better choice for them to ignore each other in this way. Chu Mian simply put away his wallet silently and walked away. After that day, neither of them took the initiative to talk to each other again. CH 8 ¡°Peking Union? You mean the medical school in Beijing? Of course, it¡¯s very good. If you can get admitted, your grandfather would feel very happy. He had told us that when he was young, he had always wanted to practice medicine. After he retired from the military and had nothing to do at home, he started to read books on internal medicine¡­¡± Chu Heng carefully put the poached eggs on top of the slices of whole wheat bread and pushed them in front of Chu Mian as the two ate breakfast and chatted about school exams and majors. ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, I tell you, oh. Your father will return to Ronggang next month. There¡¯s a possibility that he¡¯ll find someone to transfer some special teachers to your school. Remember to tell him whether you¡¯ll choose arts or science in the future.¡± ¡°Science,¡± Chu Mian poured oatmeal into the milk bowl, ¡°I want to take the clinical medicine examination of Peking Union Medical College.¡± ¡°Clinical medicine¡­ the eight-year program one?¡± Her nephew¡¯s goal sounded ambitious. Chu Heng was very pleased that he could be so firm about his future direction at this young age, so she asked one more question: ¡°What¡¯s Ronggang¡¯s approximate minimum score line?¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice was calm: ¡°The lowest score this year was six hundred and ninety-seven.¡± When the three numbers ¡°697¡± were arranged in Chu Heng¡¯s mind, she almost smeared jam on her fingers. After years of graduation, she had long been insensitive to college entrance examination scores, but she still had some common sense: ¡°With this score, one can almost go to Tsinghua, right?¡± Chu Mian lowered his head and replied: ¡°Students in the 8-year program have to spend the first 2.5 years at Tsinghua before moving onto Peking Union Medical College to complete the last 5.5 years in clinical medicine. The score required to get admitted to the regular courses in Peking Union is almost equal to the average score required to get admitted to the special courses in Tsinghua.¡± In other words, if you wanted to be admitted to the clinical medicine program of Peking Union Medical College, then you must score more than the qualifying score of Tsinghua University. Chu Heng knew that he was already preparing for the college entrance exam target, so she didn¡¯t need to worry too much, but she was silent for a moment and still couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t your college entrance exam result in science be at least in the top ten in the entire city for it to be more stable?¡± Her wavering tone was noticed by Chu Mian, and the teenager looked up and asked in return, ¡°You think I can¡¯t make it?¡± ¡°Hmm? Of course, you can,¡± Chu Heng didn¡¯t want to hurt his self-confidence, so she immediately smiled, ¡°Talent isn¡¯t something that everyone can have, and the pressure of college entrance examinations in Ronggang is relatively small. For you, to get into the city¡¯s top ten is quite simple¡­¡± ¡°It used to be simple,¡± Chu Mian turned his face away indifferently, ¡° But that was a long time ago.¡± For more than two years since the onset of narcolepsy, Chu Mian had been expecting everyday for his body to recover miraculously to how it used to be after waking up from his dream. The so-called ¡°drowsiness¡± and ¡°cataplexy¡± were nothing more than a nightmare that could be forgotten at any time. But day after day, not only did he show no signs of improvement, his academic performance also declined seriously. He had changed from the first place in the whole school outside Ronggang to the bottom of the class, and from a gifted and outstanding student to an alien in the eyes of others. ¡ª Chu Mian, go home if you don¡¯t want to listen to the class, school isn¡¯t a place for you to sleep! ¡ª Look, Chu Mian is sleeping again, hahaha¡­ ¡ª Don¡¯t think you can skip your homework just because you¡¯re smart. You¡¯re the only one in the entire class who can¡¯t keep up with the progress rate, so why don¡¯t you put in some more effort? ¡ª Hey, straight A student, you always sleep during the day, what do you do in the middle of the night? There were only a handful of doctors in China who were familiar with narcolepsy, and very few people who understood it. Not only did he have to endure the taunts aimed at him before he was diagnosed with narcolepsy, but he did not receive any understanding even after the diagnosis. In the process of being repeatedly pulled into nightmares, Chu Mian had gradually learnt to face the disappointed gazes of everyone all by himself. ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious, mi¨¥mi¨¥, didn¡¯t the doctor say that narcolepsy improves with age?¡± Chu Heng put down her spoon and her voice returned to its most relaxed state, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s not talk about it anymore. How are you feeling these days in Chengjun, are you adapting?¡± ¡°Pretty good. But except for the language class, the other teachers¡¯ lectures are very slow which causes a lot of delay.¡± ¡°Have you gotten closer to your classmates?¡± Chu Heng asked, ¡°Did the classmate who gave you candy that day play with you every day?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t gotten closer,¡± Chu Mian drank the bowl of milk in one go, and a milky white circle was printed around his light red lips. He took out a tissue to wipe his mouth. Before his aunt could ask for the reason, he took the initiative to add: ¡°and he and I aren¡¯t the same kind of people, we can¡¯t get along.¡± He got up, dropped the sentence ¡°I¡¯m going to school¡±, lifted his school bag and left the house. Today, the school issued a brand new sports jacket to the first years. The main color was ink black and white and the collar and cuffs were embellished with lemon yellow stripes. The fabric was a bit smooth, the texture was close to that of a windbreaker. The students, who were tired of wearing ¡°Smurfs¡± in the past, were very satisfied with the Chengjun school uniform. Chu Mian put on the jacket to confirm the size. He used to only wear uniform shirts in the past and felt weird to wear this loose tracksuit now. The sleeves were always a little uncomfortable when writing. ¡°Our school emblem is actually not a horse!¡± Yu Ran was surprised by this newly discovered detail, ¡°What¡¯s this? It¡¯s triangle-shaped¡­ Di¨±g¨¥, you look! Our school emblem is a Z¨°ngzi!¡± Fang Zhao stared at the emblem on the school uniform and retorted: ¡°How could it be Z¨°ngzi! This¡­ this is obviously more like Sh¨°ut¨¢o!¡± The two of them started a heated discussion about this trivial matter, and the sound of their voices filled Chu Mian¡¯s ears when he had accidentally fallen asleep, causing him to dream that he had turned into a ball of stuffing, stuffed inside the crowded rice grains to make a rice ball. Jte Zljc kjr wbra qgbcf ab riffqlcfrr veglcu atf wbgclcur. Vbwfalwfr tf wlrrfv iecmt alwf joafg riffqlcu abb wemt, jcv tf kbeiv ugjvejiis yfmbwf wbgf fcfgufalm lc atf joafgcbbc. Pc atf vlrmlqilcf-gfijzfv tlrabgs mijrr, Jte Zljc mbcmfcagjafv bc gfnlfklcu ktja tf tjv wlrrfv lc atf wbgclcu wjat mijrr. Lbkfnfg, atf gfnlfk vlv cba ub kfii, yfmjerf Jte Zljc obecv atja atf tlrabgs afjmtfg jikjsr ibbxfv tlr kjs. Gfrqlaf tjnlcu atf qglnlifuf bo cba ilrafclcu lc mijrr, Jte Zljc ralii vlv cba kjca ab lucbgf tlr afjmtfg¡¯r qgfrfcmf lc tlr jkjxf rajaf, yfmjerf la wjvf tlw rffw abb vlrgfrqfmaoei abkjgvr tlr fivfgr. The reason for the history teacher¡¯s constant attention towards this direction of the window was actually because of Yu Ran, who was seated in front of him. In the first history class, Yu Ran had successfully attracted the attention of the teacher. The male teacher was young, wore glasses, had a gentle demeanor, and had a kind face and voice, however, the most distinguishing feature was his long and slender arms. The classmates sitting in the front row couldn¡¯t help but sigh when they saw it: ¡°Teacher, your arms are so long, you can definitely touch the floor directly, right?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± The history teacher readily straightened his legs and bent down, and his fingers touched the ground without much effort. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but sigh when he saw it: ¡°Wow! Then if your phone falls into the toilet, you can definitely fish it out directly!¡± Just as he finished speaking, the teacher¡¯s phone slipped out of his pants pocket and fell onto the podium. The screen shattered after rolling twice with ¡°click, click¡±. Yu Ran immediately covered his crow''s mouth. From the first class, the history teacher had remembered Yu Ran¡¯s name and often asked him questions. Yu Ran was also very supportive. If he could answer, he would answer. If he couldn¡¯t answer, he would make up some random answer. He would sometimes catch the teacher stammering or have brief mental lapse, then lead the other students into making a ruckus. The atmosphere in the history class was always lively from beginning to end, and there was basically no one who wanted to skip it. ¡°What were the two sets of contradictions that accompanied the central administrative system in ancient China? Yu Ran, you get up and say.¡± ¡°Well¡­ the country and the people, industry and agriculture¡­ right?¡± Yu Ran watched the teacher¡¯s increasingly surprised expression, ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t know!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even know this? Isn¡¯t the question I asked something taught in middle school?¡± ¡°To tell the truth Xuan g¨¥, I¡¯ve long forgotten middle school knowledge,¡± Yu Ran said sincerely, ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I still remember ¡®Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing¡®¡­¡± ¡°You, you, you. Quickly sit down and repent!¡± Every time Yu Ran made the history teacher exasperated, his exasperated expression made the students laugh happily, and in a harmonious atmosphere in the classroom, only Chu Mian¡¯s brows furrowed more and more tightly. From his childhood, his experience in class was always very disciplined; very few people would answer the teacher loudly without raising their hands, and no one would talk to the teacher about anything other than their studies. The students also strictly abided by classroom discipline and listened to lectures intently. But now? Obviously, it was an experimental class but many of the students around him had a loose attitude, casually talking, laughing, and doing mischief¡­ Some students even wanted to go to the toilet in the middle of the class, refusing to endure until after class. The key problem was that the young teacher on the podium, indulged them over and over again, and the relationship between teachers and students was too frivolous. Chu Mian was indeed dissatisfied with this type of classroom style in his heart, but he understood the reasoning that since he was here, he might as well stay and make the best of it, so he was forced to ignore everyone and expressionlessly bow his head to study by himself. ¡°Students, second and third classes in the afternoon will be spent on cleaning up the class. I¡¯ll now assign everyone¡¯s tasks,¡± After the history class, the homeroom teacher came in with the school¡¯s arrangement notice in her hand and announced, ¡°From Group 1 and 2, girls will sweep the floor, and boys will mop the floor; Group 3 and 4 will follow the arrangement of the class president; Group 5 will be responsible for the front and rear doors and windows; and the boys from the Class Committee will be responsible for cleaning the four fans.¡± Yu Ran, who was a Sports Committee member, went to ask the class president who were the classmates who would be cooperating with him in cleaning up this time, and Xiang Xuehua told him that there were only two boys in the Class Committee, one was himself and the other was Chu Mian, the Student Committee member. ¡°Oh,¡± Yu Ran pursed his lips and asked Xiang Xuehua for a new rag. Chu Mian didn¡¯t care about the Class Committee members list, he only cared about doing his work in a disciplined manner. After stepping on the desk and he quickly finished wiping the two ceiling fans of the front row, Chu Mian found that Yu Ran was still wiping the first one in the back row. The reason for the inefficiency was probably that he was not tall enough. Standing on the desk, Yu Ran had to stand on tiptoe and straighten his arms but only after a few wipes, his body would wobble and then he had to start again. Chu Mian didn¡¯t say a word, and after properly washing the rag, he stood up on the desk and started to wipe the last ceiling fan in the back row. He was wiping the dust, and suddenly felt that the desktop under his feet was knocked twice. He looked down to see Yu Ran looking up at him from the bottom. ¡°Come down, I¡¯m in charge of this side of the fans,¡± Yu Ran¡¯s tone was unyielding. Chu Mian wasn¡¯t fazed, and said condescendingly: ¡°I can wipe it.¡± ¡°The class president assigned you to wipe the front two and me to wipe the back two, but now you¡¯ve wiped three of them, is it appropriate?¡± Yu Ran strained his neck, and said very reluctantly, ¡°Don¡¯t do my work, I don¡¯t want to owe you.¡± Chu Mian felt that the other party¡¯s words were quite familiar, and after pondering for a few seconds, it seemed that he had said the same thing the day before yesterday. So he suddenly realized that Yu Ran was deliberately looking for trouble. Chu Mian didn¡¯t expect that the other party would still hold a grudge even though two days had already passed since the little incident. Chu Mian didn¡¯t know whether to call Yu Ran calculating or unreasonable, so he had to say in a deep voice: ¡°By the time you finish wiping one, I can wipe two of them. Why can¡¯t you see where the problem lies?¡± ¡°There is no need for you to finish it for me,¡± Yu Ran refused to give up, ¡°Since you¡¯ve finished your part of the job, you should just go to the side to rest and not come over to get in the way.¡± The other party¡¯s commanding tone made Chu Mian lose his patience and he took a deep breath and he said, ¡°Can¡¯t you see that the mopping team have been waiting at the door for so long already? Only after we finish wiping the fan and move the desk away can they come over. So, who the hell is in the way, Yu Ran?¡± The two of them, one standing at a high and another at a low position, were in a stalemate, and they felt each other¡¯s hostility the moment their eyes met in midair. Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to waste time with him, so he glanced at Yu Ran lightly, before turning his head to continue wiping the fan blades. Just as Yu Ran¡¯s gaze moved to the top of Chu Mian¡¯s head, his expression suddenly changed, and he said loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t raise your hand!¡± Chu Mian stopped his movements subconsciously, and when he lowered his head again, he saw Yu Ran was striding towards the back door of the classroom. He grabbed the short-haired girl who was cleaning up the wall, and quickly turned off the switch of the ceiling fan. Suddenly, a gust of wind passed by his ears, and Chu Mian looked up to find that the fan blades slowly turned for a few moments before returning to stillness. ¡°What are you doing? It¡¯s dangerous, don¡¯t you know?¡± Yu Ran had not restrained his volume, and the questioning voice attracted the attention of the surrounding students. The short-haired girl didn¡¯t dare to raise her eyes to look at him, and hurriedly apologized: ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I didn¡¯t know that the switch was so loose¡­ I just wanted to tear off the tape on it¡¯s top¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Chu Mian jumped off the desk quickly, landed safely, walked over and touched Yu Ran lightly with his elbow, and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Then he looked at the girl with a gentle attitude, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, you go on.¡± Yu Ran sighed and instructed her, ¡°Be careful in the future.¡± The girl¡¯s back stiffened, thinking that Yu Ran was threatening her with something, and she nodded hurriedly in fright. Since Chu Mian had already come down from the desk, he didn¡¯t bother to climb it up again, lest Yu Ran start ranting at him again. He threw the rag into the basin, went out to the bathroom to wash his hands, and went downstairs to buy an eraser in passing. In the shop, Chu Mian saw several boys from his class. One of them always hung out with Yu Ran. He had an impression of the other party. ¡°Hey, what a coincidence,¡± Fang Zhao saw him and took the initiative to greet him, ¡°Chu Mian, did you oversleep at noon and didn¡¯t eat? Are you okay now?¡± ¡°Quite okay,¡± Chu Mian smiled drily at him and casually took a bottle of pure milk from the shelf. ¡°Why don¡¯t we wake you up at noon, it¡¯s easier to get sleepy when you¡¯re hungry,¡± Fang Zhao decided so, and didn¡¯t give Chu Mian a chance to refuse and after a pause, he casually mentioned: ¡°Yu Ran was very concerned about you while we were eating. He originally wanted to bring you something to eat, but he was afraid it wouldn¡¯t suit your taste, so he didn¡¯t.¡± The milk on the shelf jingled and banged several bottles. Chu Mian cleared his throat and quickly put them in order. He didn¡¯t look back, and asked Fang Zhao as if nothing had happened: ¡°Is Yu Ran very generous? ¡± Fang Zhao didn¡¯t think twice: ¡°Of course, he shares his snacks with me.¡± ¡°Only with you?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s because right now he¡¯s more familiar with me¡­ What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fang Zhao thought about the reason why Chu Mian asked the question, ¡°Oh, you also want to eat, huh. Then I¡¯ll remind him to give it to you first the next time.¡± ¡°¡­not like that,¡± Chu Mian pursed his lips, and after hesitating a bit, he asked Fang Zhao, ¡°He gave me a lot of candies before. What do you think is appropriate for me to buy him?¡± ¡°What ¡®appropriate¡¯ and ¡®inappropriate¡¯ are you talking about? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re buying him a present,¡± Fang Zhao said matter-of-factly, ¡°Yu Ran shouldn¡¯t be picky. I see that he doesn¡¯t eat the same food every day, and he even made a snack schedule for next week.¡± Chu Mian nodded and then chose a bucket of Star Cup on the recommendation of the shop owner. ¡°Can you give it to him for me?¡± Chu Mian asked. Fang Zhao felt puzzled, ¡°What will happen if you give it to him personally?¡± It was true that nothing would happen, but Chu Mian just didn¡¯t want to be the one to take the initiative to reconcile. After all, he didn¡¯t do anything wrong. Of course, he also didn¡¯t think it was Yu Ran who was in the wrong. It was just that the two of them had different principles, and friction was inevitable. So it would be better if the two of them overcame this awkward phase so that they have a quiet and peaceful time in the future. He didn¡¯t want to deal with interpersonal relations, and waste his precious study time. Although Fang Zhao clearly didn¡¯t understand why Chu Mian was beating around the bush, he still agreed to carry the bucket of Star Cups and put it on Yu Ran¡¯s desk while the other party was away. In the classroom, the desks and chairs had already been returned to their original positions after the cleaning up was completed. Yu Ran saw the bucket of chocolate biscuit chips and thought it was forgotten here by someone, so he held it up and asked who the owner was. Fang Zhao pulled Yu Ran aside and quietly told him that it was from Chu Mian. Yu Ran looked at Chu Mian¡¯s seat and found that the other party was sleeping on the desk. ¡°He was awake just now,¡± Fang Zhao once again sighed at Chu Mian¡¯s speed at falling asleep. Without saying anything, Yu Ran went back to his seat and put the Star Cup on the ground, then twisted most of his body, and gently said ¡°Hey¡± to Chu Mian. Chu Mian didn¡¯t move, his face buried deep in his arms, and he seemed to be sleeping very heavily. Yu Ran opened the lid of the Star Cup, took out a few and placed them in the corner of Chu Mian¡¯s desk. The school leader came to inspect the results of the cleaning, after which the students resumed their classes. Chu Mian was still lying on the desktop, half of his face peeking out from his arm, silently opening his eyes to look at Yu Ran¡¯s back. Usually, during class, Yu Ran could never sit still. One moment he would tilt his head, moving from side to side as he read the words written on the blackboard, and then the next moment, he would twist his upper body out of his seat to borrow correction tape from someone, often blocking Chu Mian¡¯s line of sight. Only when facing the vigorous and resolute Language teacher would he quietly sit up straight. ¡°Too much time was lost in checking hygiene earlier, so we won¡¯t do Silent Reading today but a pop quiz instead,¡± Language Teacher Wang stood on the podium and looked at the faces of all the students, ¡°Yu Ran, get up. I¡¯ll ask you about the notes at the bottom of the pages of your book first.¡± Yu Ran sighed and stood up with a bitter expression on his face. ¡°In the phrase ¡®separation of the distant through another country¡¯, how did the author use the word ¡®separation¡¯?¡± Yu Ran stammered, ¡°Separation, separation.¡± ¡°What?¡± Teacher Wang raised her voice, and her demeanor was so stern, both in voice and countenance that Yu Ran was too scared to speak. The nearby students tried to remind Yu Ran but due to the long distance, it was difficult for them to convey the answer. Chu Mian felt that Yu Ran was wasting too much time trying to answer the question and delaying the class time, so he opened his mouth and prompted: ¡°He used a noun as a verb.¡± Chu Mian had thought his volume was just the right amount; the result was that Yu Ran didn¡¯t respond, but Teacher Wang, who had a keen sense of hearing, heard him: ¡°Chu Mian, you love to remind him so much, then you get up and answer for him, what is the use of ¡®separation¡¯?¡± Chu Mian got up and said without thinking: ¡°He¡¯s using a noun as a verb. It means to separate using something.¡± ¡°And ¡®distant¡¯?¡± ¡°He uses an adjective where a noun should go. It refers to a distant land.¡± Teacher Wang asked him seven or eight notes in the book one after another, and Chu Mian answered them smoothly, not a word different from the textbook. ¡°Yu Ran, and all the students who didn¡¯t get asked any questions today, in the future, you should be as proficient as Chu Mian when you stand up in the future. You can¡¯t hesitate to answer questions and form a conditioned reflex enough to have that kind of speed. Keep in mind, okay?¡± Everyone nodded one after another, and Teacher Wang asked the two of them to sit down and started the lecture. Chu Mian lowered his head to take notes carefully, and suddenly heard a ¡°d¨¡d¨¡¡± sound coming from the slight movement in front of him, and raised his eyes to catch a glimpse of a few more Star Cups in the corner of his desk. He moved his gaze upwards, and noticed Yu Ran¡¯s hand, which was hanging in the air, and had not been withdrawn yet¡­ was making a ¡°V¡± for victory at him. CH 9 As Chu Mian walked down the road after school, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed that someone was quietly following him from behind. He deliberately stopped for a moment when he passed by a store, and through the mirror reflection of the metal plaque at the entrance of the store, he identified the person who was following him. ¡°Yu Ran, come out,¡± Chu Mian shouted at a poplar tree, ¡°How long are you going to follow me?¡± The sides of the boy¡¯s body had long been exposed from behind the tree, and he kept shutting his eyes, thinking that Chu Mian could not see him. Chu Mian walked over and his attention was drawn by the twin dragon play bead embroidery on Yu Ran pitch black school bag. Looking up, there was a huge golden lion head door knocker. He could see that this person¡¯s taste was very¡­ overbearing. Without saying a word, Chu Mian held the door ring on Yu Ran¡¯s school bag and dragged him out from behind the tree. ¡°I was afraid that you would fall asleep while walking and get hit by a car,¡± Yu Ran shrugged, ¡°I was only going to follow you to the station, but then you had to keep walking. Why didn¡¯t anyone pick you up and take you home, huh? Aren¡¯t your Mom and Dad worried?¡± After a bucket of Star Cups reconciled the two, Chu Mian didn¡¯t expect that Yu Ran would become such a busy body. He considered his wording and replied: ¡°My illness isn¡¯t so serious that I need to be looked after at all times. You don¡¯t have to pay attention to me like this anymore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not looking after you,¡± Yu Ran justifiably explained, ¡°I¡¯m secretly protecting you.¡± Chu Mian indifferently said, ¡°No need¡±, and was curious about the reason why the other party continued to show goodwill to him, so he asked him directly: ¡°Do I look like I need to be protected so much?¡± ¡°Teacher Bai said so. She asked us to take care of you more and give you all the warmth in the world,¡± Yu Ran said while stretching out his arms, drawing half a circle, as if sowing seeds of hope, ¡°And I, as the main male lead of Chengjun High School¡¯s first year, have to take up the task of covering you even more.¡± It was really an inexplicable sense of responsibility. Chu Mian was indifferent to Yu Ran¡¯s answer. He quietly stared at the other party for a while, and spoke once again in a deep voice: ¡°Yu Ran, do you think I¡¯m weak?¡± Hearing Chu Mian¡¯s serious tone, the careless smile on Yu Ran also unconsciously vanished, and his expression also turned serious. Not waiting for Yu Ran¡¯s reply, Chu Mian continued, ¡°You just think that I, who have a strange illness, am fragile and need to be taken care of, and that caring for me can also fulfill your personal heroic fantasies, right?¡± He found that Yu Ran did not immediately deny it, as if he was acquiescing silently. Chu Mian was still in a calm mood: ¡°I advise you to put away your meaningless sympathy. Don¡¯t treat me as a vulnerable person. I¡¯m not any different from you except that I sleep more every day.¡± Chu Mian was probably driven by his self-esteem to say these words, but immediately after saying these, he felt a lot more relaxed, and his eyes were a bit more calm when he looked at Yu Ran. Finally, he said to Ran: ¡°If you can understand what I mean, then we should be able to get along peacefully in the future.¡± Yu Ran quickly let out a ¡°oh¡±. He raised his hand to lift the strap of his school bag on his shoulder, stared thoughtfully at Chu Mian¡¯s face, and slowly said, ¡°So you¡¯re afraid of being taken care of.¡± This light-hearted conclusion accurately hit Chu Mian¡¯s insignificant arrogance. He subconsciously wanted to refute Yu Ran, but he couldn¡¯t find any stronger explanation in his mind other than the words ¡°No¡±. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then stopped before turning his face away, ignoring the other party. ¡°Chu Mian,¡± Yu Ran called out to him, ¡°I understand what you mean. If you don¡¯t like others getting worried, then I believe you¡¯re fine alone. But whether you feel weak, or strong, I¡¯ll continue to protect you.¡± This unquestionably cheerful tone left Chu Mian speechless. Yu Ran regained his smile and said in a matter-of-factly tone: ¡°Who let us be in the same class?¡± Jte Zljc kjr vewyobecvfv. Lf obecv atja atfgf kjr j xlcv bo rlcmfglas lc Te Ejc atja kbeiv wjxf qfbqif offi jyregv. Pa kjr cflatfg ilxf tf kjr mbcvfrmfcvlcuis qlaslcu jcsbcf, cbg ilxf tf kjr rtbklcu tlwrfio lc j ugjcvrajcvlcu wjccfg, yea obg Jte Zljc, atlr xlcv bo mjgf kjr j yla lcmbcnfclfca jcv agbeyifrbwf. After all, he didn¡¯t need things such as ¡°friendship¡± anymore. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going home for dinner now, goodbye!¡± Yu Ran hadn¡¯t yet gone through the change of voice at puberty, and his voice was still completely loud and clear, ¡°Where are you going now?¡± Chu Mian turned around and faced the largest store on the street, ¡°Right here.¡± Yu Ran raised his eyes and saw the big, gleaming golden words ¡°Copper Sparrow Business Club¡±. ¡°Ah! I know this place!¡± Yu Ran opened his eyes wide, ¡°My mother had said that this place is a ¡®chicken coop¡¯. Why are you here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to find someone,¡± Chu Mian walked straight towards the store door. From the first time he saw that two-headed mutant Honduran milk snake in the summer, to the official start of the school for a week now, he had come here from time to time to look for the man called Xu Si, however, each time the staff had turned him away, saying that he was a minor and thus, couldn¡¯t enter. ¡°Looking for someone¡­?¡± Yu Ran repeatedly mumbled Chu Mian¡¯s words, feeling unconvinced. Then it dawned on him, ¡°So you¡¯re a regular customer here.¡± Chu Mian abruptly stopped and cast a meaningful and complicated look at Yu Ran. ¡°Don¡¯t do this, Chu Mian,¡± Yu Ran grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s arm worriedly and pulled him back hard, ¡°This kind of thing is dirty! You¡¯re still young. Look back and the shore is at hand.¡± Chu Mian couldn¡¯t hold bear and quietly gave a blank glance at him, and held Yu Ran¡¯s wrist with his backhand, ¡°I have business.¡± Yu Ran followed Chu Mian half believing, half doubting. Both of them were all carrying school bags and were stopped by someone from entering as soon as they arrived at the door of the clubhouse. Without waiting for the waiter to open his mouth, Chu Mian took out a few pink banknotes from his pocket and patted them on the other party¡¯s suit. Even if they were underage, they would be respected for being so generous, and the waiter would only let them in through the back door after collecting the money. But Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to stay here too much. A pungent smell of perfume and alcohol filled the air. He directly went to the lobby manager and asked the other party where the person named Xu Si was. The female manager impatiently ruffled her hair, ¡°Why are you here again? I have told you before that he was busy in the field,¡± She put her palms down, put her fingers together and waved them outward, as if driving them away, ¡°You should go. This isn¡¯t a place for children like you to come.¡± Chu Mian did not panic: ¡°I saw his followers when I came in, they were not here before.¡± ¡°So what?¡± The female manager pursed her lips, ¡°Xu Si works for our boss. When he goes out to do something, can he still drag the whole family? Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t lie to you. You just want to find Xu Si to buy that long worm. What¡¯s the hurry?¡± Chu Mian asked her for Xu Si¡¯s contact information, but she shook her head and refused to give it. Even when he handed over some money, she didn¡¯t bother to look at it, she just lowered her head and focused on picking her nails perfunctorily, ¡°You¡¯re only a minor, don¡¯t trouble me. Go back through the same door you came in from. If you can be good, the next time I see Xu Si, I¡¯ll help you ask him where he got those things from.¡± ¡°Those things¡± referred to reptilian pets, and Chu Mian¡¯s ball python Fiona also belonged to this category. Before leaving, Chu Mian, who was still unresigned, asked a question one last time: ¡°Have you seen how long the two-headed snake raised by Xu Si is?¡± The woman naturally had not paid attention to such details, as she was busy avoiding this kind of scary pet. Xu Si had brought the snake to the store to show off and play with it. She recalled the snake¡¯s length from that time and gestured with her fingers, ¡°He had put the snake on this bar. From here to here, it was this long.¡± Chu Mian eyed the length, nodded his head and said thanks, finally willing to leave this place of temptation. After coming back outside and breathing fresh air again, Yu Ran stretched out in relief, ¡°It turns out that you were looking for the person who had fought with you in the Internet cafe last time¡­ I thought you were here for ¡®that¡¯.¡± Chu Mian brushed his sleeves vigorously, wanting to pat away the odor left on his body, and said lightly on the passing, ¡°It¡¯s not impossible.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Ran stopped halfway through yawning, his nose itchy and unbearable, ¡°Holy shit, I was wrong about you! Fang Zhao and the others had also said that although you¡¯re an aloof Male God, you¡¯re still pure. Wh-why are you acting like this¡­ it¡¯s just too¡­¡± Seeing that the other party took his joke seriously again, Chu Mian glanced at Yu Ran, and a word silently appeared in his mind: Muggle. The two returned by the original route, and halfway down the road, Yu Ran asked curiously, ¡°Why do you want to find that man? You want to buy something from him?¡± Chu Mian was silent for a moment, his thoughts staggering against the wind. Only after a long time did he tell Yu Ran: ¡°I had a very rare two-headed snake in my first year of middle school. I had taken it to a fair, but it was stolen.¡± ¡°Heavens¡­ did you call the police?¡± ¡°At that time, I didn¡¯t dare to call the police, afraid that my parents would find out about it, but just after a few days, they still found out,¡± Chu Mian inadvertently slowed his pace, and looked at the dark blue sky where the afterglow was about to end, ¡°My father said the responsibility lies in my negligence, and my mother was too lazy to care, so she directly bought me a new one. The police didn¡¯t help me find it later, so I just let it go.¡± ¡°How can you just let it go?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s reaction was a bit intense, ¡°The pet is also a living thing, and if it was replaced by a human being, won¡¯t that be the same as child trafficking? You¡¯re like a poor mother! Why didn¡¯t they help you when a mother and a child were separated?¡± Chu Mian was originally immersed in the memories of the past, repeatedly savoring the sorrow. Suddenly hearing Yu Ran¡¯s righteous and indignant tone, he was immediately pulled back to reality. ¡°It¡¯s not that serious. After all, snakes don¡¯t have emotions and don¡¯t recognize their masters. Moreover, the two-headed snake is genetically mutated, and because of its body structure, it¡¯s not destined to live for too long¡­¡± Chu Mian¡¯s Adam apple rolled up and down, ¡°But I¡¯ve had narcolepsy show it¡¯s effects since this incident, so I couldn¡¯t accept it.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to think back about the depressed mood he had during that period. Soon after losing ¡°Marija¡±, he had started to feel drowsy. At the beginning, when Chu Mian was sleepy for a while, he had thought that it was because he was too exhausted from constant crying. But later he directly fell asleep while taking a shower. He even closed his eyes and fell asleep and fell down halfway through answering questions in class, scaring his teachers and classmates to hurriedly call an ambulance. The clinicians in Ronggang thought that he was very sleepy because of the stress of his studies, and his mother took him to the United States before he was diagnosed with ¡°narcolepsy¡±. It was said that this kind of sleeping disorder mostly started in adolescence. The pathogenesis was unknown and couldn¡¯t be cured, only medicines could be used to control it a little bit. Yu Ran¡¯s voice was a bit heavy: ¡°Did that man steal the snake?¡± Chu Mian hesitated and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Double-headed snakes are indeed rare, but others have raised them before me, and none of them could survive.¡± When he had seen Xu Si¡¯s snake box during the summer vacation, Chu Mian was actually not so sure about the age of the snake. If judged by the length described by the club manager, Xu Si¡¯s snake was only about seven or eight months old, and if his Marijia was lucky enough to be alive, she would be almost as long as the two-year-old Fiona. Chu Mian adjusted his breathing and made up his mind: ¡°Even if it¡¯s not the same one, I still want to find him to buy it from him.¡± Yu Ran wondered, ¡°Why? Wouldn¡¯t looking at it make you remember some sad things?¡± ¡°I can think of it as Marija,¡± Chu Mian naturally said the name of his pet, ¡°so that I can feel better in my heart, and maybe narcolepsy can be alleviated.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Ran pulled the corners of his mouth very exaggeratedly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you just using substitutes to deceive yourself and others?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± Chu Mian was categorical, ¡°I only have two choices, either I keep thinking about it in my heart, or I find a chance to forget it. The former option will make my narcolepsy worse, so I choose the latter one.¡± Yu Ran hung his head and thought about it, then whispered, ¡°Okay,¡± then he added a sentimental comment, ¡°Fortunately, the snake has no feelings, otherwise it would miss you as much as you miss it.¡± Hearing this, Chu Mian¡¯s long suppressed nostalgia gushed out once again. He was caught off guard, and his heart started to warm up, and even his eyes started to get moist. Fortunately, the sky was dark, and even if there was light flashing in his eyes, it would not be easily discovered by Yu Ran. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I like snakes,¡± Chu Mian smiled indifferently. When living together with Marija, Chu Mian always regretted that this low IQ animal couldn¡¯t cultivate attachment, but after losing it, Chu Mian was extremely glad that the pain of ¡°separation¡± could only be borne by himself, a human being, and as long as Marijia continued to work hard to survive, it would be enough. ¡°Ugh¡­ thieves are really hateful,¡± Yu Ran empathized, ¡°If your snake hadn¡¯t been lost, would you still have narcolepsy?¡± ¡°Maybe not.¡± Although Chu Mian replied in this way, he knew in his heart that the greater possibility was ¡°yes¡±. Even if some patients had experienced strong emotional stimulation before the onset of the disease, this was definitely not the direct cause of narcolepsy. Chu Mian would rather think that he was stimulated than admit that it was purely bad luck that he encountered narcolepsy. Seeing Yu Ran¡¯s sullen look for a long time, Chu Mian felt that he might have had another empathy attack, so he took the initiative to restore a relaxed mood and said to him: ¡°It¡¯s okay, I believe that luck is conserved. Since now I¡¯m more unlucky than ordinary people, I¡¯ll definitely be luckier than ordinary people in the future.¡± His calm confidence easily infected Yu Ran¡¯s emotions. Yu Ran nodded vigorously and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll also share a little bit of luck with you so that you can get better soon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not necessary,¡± Chu Mian looked at Yu Ran with much gentler eyes, ¡°I said, you don¡¯t have to care about my sleeping sickness, just treat me as an ordinary person just like you.¡± Yu Ran opened his mouth to retort: ¡°I¡¯m not ordinary.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Yu Ran¡¯s voice became bright and cheerful: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll treat you as a man who is as strong as me.¡± Chu Mian had a shallow smile at the corner of his mouth, and agreed with Yu Ran¡¯s words: ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Since Chu Mian said that he didn¡¯t want Yu Ran to be concerned about his sleeping sickness, he shouldn¡¯t make a fuss over him anymore. It was just that there were still doubts lingering in his heart for a long time, and he really couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve another question. I wanted to ask when you entered the Copper Sparrow Club just now.¡± Chu Mian looked back at him, ¡°Ask.¡± Yu Ran asked cautiously, ¡°When you¡¯re doing ¡®that¡¯¡­ will you fall asleep?¡± His demeanor and tone were particularly sincere. Chu Mian pondered for a few seconds before realizing what topic he was asking about, so he immediately replied with confidence: ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Yu Ran probed, ¡°Is it because you¡¯re excited when doing ¡®that¡¯, so you won¡¯t get sleepy?¡± The more specific and in-depth question caused Chu Mian¡¯s cheeks to get hot, and he hurriedly said, ¡°How would I know?¡± Yu Ran asked: ¡°You don¡¯t know? Then, have you ever done ¡®that¡¯ or not?¡± He immediately realized that his question was too direct, so he hurriedly mobilized his vocabulary reserves and asked in a more elegant way, ¡°Are you still clear as ice and clean as jade?¡± ¡°Yu Ran,¡± Chu Mian¡¯s ears gradually burned red hot, and he took a deep breath and then laughed out in exasperation and said, ¡°You really need a spanking.¡± CH 10 Ch10 - The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog Over the weekend, Chu Mian was online on QQ watching movies, when he got a new friend request in the bottom right corner of his screen. The other person¡¯s username was ¡°The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog¡± and had a profile picture of the main character of ¡°Yu-Gi-Oh!¡±. Chu Mian had an impression of this person. He often discussed games and anime in the class group chat, and would say good night to everyone every night. Chu Mian accepted the friend request. The two did not communicate, but they were on each other¡¯s friends list. Chu Mian was busy for quite a while and had already forgotten about this person. It wasn¡¯t until he was about to turn off the computer before going to bed at night that ¡°The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog¡± sent a message: ¡°Have you finished your homework?¡± Chu Mian thought it was a casual greeting from his classmate, and told the truth: ¡°I¡¯ve finished it.¡± [The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog]: D¨¤g¨¥, can you please show me the Physics Sunshine Classroom [pitiful] The workbooks for several major subjects were ripped off by the teachers before they were distributed to the students. The students could only solve the problems by themselves, or search the Internet for reference. However, there was a more convenient way, which was to directly copy someone else¡¯s answers. Chu Mian despised all kinds of cheating, so he refused directly: ¡°No, you go and borrow it from others.¡± [The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog]: Coincidentally, they didn¡¯t write either. [The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog]: It¡¯s all because of the language homework! I¡¯ve written it six hundred times! My hands have been broken for the past two days! Chu Mian remembered that this week¡¯s Language homework was to copy the Silent Writing mistakes fifty times. The more mistakes one makes, the heavier the burden. He didn¡¯t think this homework was too much. After all, it was the first semester, materials were very simple and as long as one was not playful and willing to spend some time reciting, it was not a problem to write all the right things in Silent Writing. But¡­ six hundred times was too much, which meant that four parts out of five were wrong answers. Chu Mian indeed had an impression of Language Teacher Wang criticizing a classmate by name one day for extremely poor Silent Writing quality. ¡°Yu Ran?¡± Chu Mian uncertainly asked the other party¡¯s identity. [The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog]: That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me [cool] ¡°The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog¡± shared the single ¡°Small Sword Society Overture¡± with you. Click here to open QQ Music. ¡ª This was shared a bit behind time, right? Chu Mian replied to him with a ¡°¡­¡±. Yu Ran started bombarding him with messages, begging Chu Mian to take a few pictures of his Physics homework so that he could hand it in tomorrow. Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to agree, but Yu Ran made a crying expression every time he said a word, and also described that his arm was sore and he almost became crippled after completing the Language class¡¯ writing lines punishment, and now he was miserable and helpless. Chu Mian was pestered so much by the other party that he started to hesitate, slowly his attitude softened and then finally compromised: ¡°Then you¡¯re not allowed to let others copy from it.¡± Yu Ran: ¡°En!¡± Chu Mian took a few pictures and sent them over, and Yu Ran asked after a while, ¡°What about the last two big questions?¡± Chu Mian: ¡°Those two questions are too difficult, you wouldn¡¯t be able to solve them.¡± Yu Ran: ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve taken even this into consideration! So thoughtful [great]¡± He didn¡¯t even think that I was taunting him for being stupid¡­ Chu Mian felt incredible. Yu Ran: ¡°Thank you, D¨¤g¨¥! I¡¯m going to copy it. Good night bye!¡± ¡°Sc.¡± Pa tjv yffc j ibcu alwf rlcmf Jte Zljc tjv gfmflnfv j rfqjgjaf ¡°ubbv cluta¡± ogbw jcsbcf. Pc atf ibcu vjgxcfrr bo atf cluta, tf vlvc¡¯a fnfc xcbk ktja ¡°rfcrf bo rfmeglas¡± kjr. Ggbkrlcfrr veglcu atf vjs, lcrbwclj ja cluta, ogfdefca clutawjgfr, jcv rbwfalwfr kjxlcu eq jygeqais vef ab riffq jqcfj¡­ Ktf jczlfas jcv lgglajylilas ufcfgjafv ys jii atlr nfgs fjrlis bnfgoibkfv veglcu atf ibcu kjxlcu clutar. He looked at Yu Ran¡¯s ¡°good night¡± and for the first time in a very long time, he envied the people who could truly rely on sleep. Starting this week, the first year of senior high school would have a morning study session. Yu Ran stepped into the classroom just as the bell rang and dashed inside. The classmates watched him run from the door to the window seat. As he threw off his school bag, he greeted the people on the front and the back seats panting, and then took out a few homework assignments and handed them to the group leader in the first row. The action was done in one go, and when he ran back, he also adjusted his slightly fallen pants. ¡°You look handsome,¡± Fang Zhao twisted the upper half of his body and looked at Yu Ran in his school uniform, ¡°You look so spirited in dark clothes.¡± Yu Ran snorted and grinned complacently, then rolled up his sleeves on both sides, revealing his white and powerful arms. He pulled his school uniform jacket¡¯s zipper upto the end, and lowered his head slightly to hide his mouth and chin behind the collar of his jacket, thinking that this would add a mysterious and uninhibited temperament to his young and handsome face. But his coolness didn¡¯t last long, as he was called by his Chemistry Teacher to write an equation on the blackboard. He stood on the podium with a chalk in his right hand, while his left hand clutched the waistband of his pants, lifting it from time to time. Yu Ran had a slim waist and hips. Though his school uniform jacket fit him well, his pants for the corresponding size were quite loose on him. If it was left unattended, he could feel his pants slipping down slowly with every few steps he took. That morning, walking to school had taken a lot of time as he had to keep pulling his pants up the whole way. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tie it up with a skipping rope? There will be Physical Education classes in the afternoon, so loose pants will be very inconvenient,¡± Fang Zhao gave him an idea. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll just pull it up for now, and when I get home, I¡¯ll ask my mom to sew an elastic band for me,¡± Yu Ran pulled up his pants before sitting down, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say you wanted to show me something?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s this,¡± After confirming the teacher¡¯s position, Fang Zhao very cautiously pulled out his phone and put it on Yu Ran¡¯s desk before blocking it with a book, ¡°I saw this post in our school¡¯s Tieba. There¡¯s a group of students from second and third year from our senior high school who want to clean you up, saying that they want to show support to Cai Hanchuan. Many people have already followed the post.¡± Yu Ran was holding a small wooden comb, fished out from who knew where, to organize his hair. Hearing what Fang Zhao said, he paused and asked Fang Zhao in surprise: ¡°Who is Cai Hanchuan?¡± ¡°The one you had pushed into the Kung Pao Chicken last week! I¡¯m convinced of your memory¡­ You had even written about him in your self-criticism review.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± After suddenly recalling his memory, Yu Ran soon regained his calm demeanor, and continued to use the teeth of the comb to press the hair that was standing up on the top of his head. Yu Ran blamed himself for sleeping too much last night and ending up with this hairstyle. When he woke up in the morning and looked in the mirror, he actually saw a small dark brown antenna on his head, shaking in the air. He held it down with his hands and only let go after a long time, but it still managed to pop up tenaciously. ¡ª Even my hair follows my steps. I¡¯m really an indomitable man! ¡°What to do, someone has already blown up your name and class in the post, saying that they¡¯ll block you this week,¡± Fang Zhao was obviously more worried than the person concerned, ¡°Do you want to make the first move, so that the surname Cai will be well-behaved?¡± The ¡°little antenna¡± was still swaying from side to side. Yu Ran lost his patience and dropped the comb. He then unscrewed the lid of a mineral water bottle and poured some water into his palm, wiped it on the top of his head and held it down. Fang Zhao read everyone¡¯s comments in the post very carefully. After estimating the approximate number of people, he was even more nervous and anxious for Yu Ran: ¡°They¡¯re even mixing with the people from outside, and it seems that there are people from outside the school who want to come over to help Cai Hanchuan. Yu Ran, how many people can you call?¡± Yu Ran ¡°g¨±d¨­ng g¨±d¨­ng¡± drank water, swallowed a big gulp, and said straightforwardly: ¡°I¡¯ve always fought one-on-one.¡± Fang Zhao looked at him incredulously, ¡°You, you want to fight with so many of them by yourself?¡± ¡°Who said I¡¯m going to fight with them,¡± Yu Ran casually picked up the phone on the desk and handed it back to Fang Zhao, ¡°I don¡¯t fight meaningless fights.¡± ¡°But I read on Tieba¡­¡± ¡°Just let them be,¡± Yu Ran interrupted Fang Zhao and said softly, ¡°These seniors are just this useless,¡± he laughed, ¡°Leave them alone. Fang Zhao, help me borrow a mirror.¡± ¡°All right,¡± Fang Zhao quietly asked the girl sitting in the seat in front of him for a mirror. After Yu Ran got a small mirror, he couldn¡¯t help blurting out: ¡°Fuck¡ª¡± After the hair on the top of his head was moistened with water and then dried, not only did the ¡°little antenna¡± not return to normal, but it also brought along another handful of hair next to it to curl up. Yu Ran turned his face and saw a small hollow peach heart on his head ¡ª simply frustrating! For the next half day, Yu Ran insisted on covering the top of his head with his palm, afraid that others would see his humiliating hairstyle. Only after he hung his hands down from soreness, did he realize that there was one of his own kind in his class. ¡°Chu Mian! You¡¯ve got horns on your head!¡± Yu Ran pointed to Chu Mian¡¯s forehead enthusiastically. Chu Mian was concentrating on his homework and didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to Yu Ran, so he casually replied, ¡°You also have a tail behind you.¡± ¡°There really is!¡± Yu Ran picked up the small round mirror and handed it to Chu Mian, and laughing loudly, he said, ¡°Look, you slept on the desk and pressed the hair on your forehead. Now it¡¯s all sticking up, looks so stupid!¡± When Chu Mian saw himself in the mirror, his eyes immediately became serious, and he raised his left hand to cover his forehead before continuing to lower his head to write his homework. Now that Yu Ran felt a sense of belonging, he wandered around with the little peach heart on his head. If he was laughed at by others, he would say that this was Chu Mian¡¯s and his ¡°inductive antenna¡±, and usually they relied on electric waves to communicate in class. Of course, no one believed his nonsense. From the beginning of the school year to the present, Yu Ran had gradually become accustomed to the normal senior high school life. There were no more frequent fights and brawls in sight, and he rarely heard unpleasant expletives. The teachers were all dedicated to teaching, and the students were more approachable and easy to get along with. The sound of pages flipping inside and outside the building, the fragrant flower beds covered with light golden sunlight; even the trivial things seemed to be heading in the direction he expected. ¡ª If Cai Hanchuan hadn¡¯t appeared once again, Yu Ran would have been able to bring today¡¯s senior high school routine to a successful conclusion. ¡°Yu Ran, you fucking cunt! Do you dare come over here if I give you the stage?¡± Fang Zhao and Yu Ran were walking side by side. Although the two heard the voice coming from upstairs behind them, they didn¡¯t turn their heads. Cai Hanchuan was provoking by swearing loudly from the fourth floor window. The surrounding students whispered and some even stopped to watch the fun. ¡°He¡¯s shouting in the presence of so many teachers, how fucking reckless! In a while, after the big break, they won¡¯t be blocking you in front of the class, will they?¡± Fang Zhao was a little worried, and turned his face only to find that Yu Ran still looked as if nothing had happened. Fang Zhao was helpless: ¡°How about I go talk to the homeroom teacher?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give her any trouble. I had promised her last week that I won¡¯t make the same mistake twice,¡± Yu Ran calmly tore open a packet of Lonely God, and the fresh smell of vegetables wafted up his nose, ¡°I¡¯ve no reason to fight with Cai Hanchuan. I won¡¯t do something as stupid as showing off some power like him.¡± Fang Zhao was first stunned, then could not help but be filled with awe: ¡°Holy shit, it turns out that I had been underestimating you all along, Yu Ran. I thought you were the vindictive type, but you¡¯re more composed than I thought.¡± Yu Ran laughed, passed the Lonely God to Fang Zhao for him to take some, and then started to play the profound thinker: ¡°Male Lead No. 9, you should remember, whether a man is really strong doesn¡¯t depend on how many people he has defeated with his fists.¡± ¡°¡ª but whether he can still hold on to his beliefs in the face of overwhelming dark forces.¡± Fang Zhao was clueless when he heard it: ¡°Which anime is this line from?¡± The two of them were talking when all of a sudden, Fang Zhao¡¯s back was lightly hit by something. He was startled and turned around to see a red coke can rolling on the ground. Frowning, Yu Ran looked upstairs and found that it really was Cai Hanchuan¡¯s doing. He guessed that the other party had wanted to smash him, but the can deviated from its course in the air and landed on Fang Zhao¡¯s back. ¡°It¡¯s the first day of wearing this school uniform.¡± Looking at the cola stains on Fang Zhao¡¯s school uniform, Yu Ran¡¯s face became grave, ¡°You hold this Lonely God, I¡¯ll go and ask him to apologize to you.¡± Fang Zhao hurriedly stopped, ¡°No, no, no, it¡¯s okay. If I wash it today, it¡¯ll be dry by tomorrow. Let¡¯s hurry back to class.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you hold it,¡± Yu Ran directly stuffed the snack packet into Fang Zhao¡¯s hand. He glanced outside the window and saw the place where Cai Hanchuan was standing, looking bored, and immediately walked into the school building. Cai Hanchuan had long been waiting for him here with a few second year boys. If Yu Ran did not come today, they were planning to continue insulting and provoking him tomorrow. As long as this person had a little bit of ego, he would certainly take action against them one day. ¡°Brother Han, no, Master Han,¡± the short boy deeply thought about how to address the Boss to make him appear domineering and solemn, and finally came up with a new nickname, ¡°King Han, you said that Yu Ran was unlikely to chicken out, but he hasn¡¯t shown up here even after so long.¡± Cai Hanchuan tilted the corner of his mouth and jokingly said, ¡°Get someone to go to check then. I¡¯d like to see just how many people this first year bastard can gather.¡± During more than a year of being the ¡°Flag-bearer¡± in Chengjun Middle School, Cai Hanchuan had never had such a strong animosity towards anyone as he did now. In terms of strength, no one could beat him, and in terms of background, no one could compare to him as he had the vice principal as his backer. Originally, he was like a fish in water in Chengjun, and he fully deserved the title of ¡°Boss¡±. Unexpectedly, on the first day of his second year of senior high school, he was robbed of the limelight by a freshman. If he had lost in a fight, he wouldn¡¯t have lost too much face, but the opponent hadn¡¯t done much, just had directly pushed his head into the food, which had caught him off guard. An entire week had passed since then, but he had still been washing his hair frantically every morning and evening till date, which had almost made his scalp inflamed. Maybe it was because of the psychological effect, he could still vaguely smell the spicy and greasy smell of Kung Pao Chicken. Also, this incident had already spread throughout the second year students, and he didn¡¯t know how many people were making jokes about him behind his back. ¡°Brother, he¡¯s here.¡± Several people looked at the figure of the teenager at the end of the corridor and automatically entered a state of war readiness. Cai Hanchuan took a look, ¡°How many people has he brought?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, no one came out from behind¡­¡± The short boy pushed his glasses up, ¡°It seems like he has come alone.¡± Cai Hanchuan sneered: ¡°He wants to fight one-on-one? All right then!¡± While walking towards them, Yu Ran stroked his hair lazily, trying to create a sense of slack for himself, to seem like he had just woken up, and he used this as a pretext to raise his hand to cover the hair on top of his head. Soon, a few students came forward to surround him, blocking his way out, leaving Cai Hanchuan standing directly opposite Yu Ran, his voice mocking: ¡°Yo, you really dared to come, huh.¡± Yu Ran was a little annoyed when he heard the other party¡¯s strange manner of speaking: ¡°Didn¡¯t you fucking shout for quite a while for me to come? Did you want me to come or not?¡± ¡°Are you my dog that you would come when I ask you to come, and do what I tell you to do?¡± Cai Hanchuan didn¡¯t like that the other party dared to be so aggressive with him, so he wanted to humiliate him some more, ¡°Let¡¯s discuss the last account now. If you kneel down today and say ¡®Brother Han, I was wrong, I¡¯m your dog¡¯, I¡¯ll let you go, and can also recognize you as a younger brother, and from now on, the first year will be under your control! ¡ª This condition, this brother is really generous, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°The first year will be under my control?¡± Yu Ran subconsciously narrowed his eyes and stared suspiciously at Cai Hanchuan, ¡°You want me to be the leader of the first year?¡± The good negotiation rhythm was disrupted by the other party¡¯s words, making Cai Hanchuan almost unable to restrain his desire to do something: ¡°¡­are you a fucking idiot?¡± ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m not interested in managing others,¡± Yu Ran spoke for himself, ¡°and even less interested in calling you a brother.¡± Cai Hanchuan¡¯s eyes were cold and his voice hoarse: ¡°Then you can only be a dog.¡± As soon as the words left his mouth, the helpers around him began to rub their fists and wipe their palms, eager to have a fight. At this time, they saw Yu Ran¡¯s palm finally move away from the top of his head, as if to take out some murder weapon from his pocket. ¡°Fuck!¡± Cai Hanchuan realized that he was careless for not expecting this freshman to actually carry a knife with him. In case he was accidentally stabbed, it would be a big deal. He hurriedly winked at the others, trying to get everyone to hold down Yu Ran¡¯s arm, lest the other side take out something powerful. But they were a step too late. Yu Ran¡¯s hands had already dropped to the sides of his body ¡ª And then in full view of everyone, he pulled up his pants with force. CH 11 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Yu Ran had one hand wrapped tightly around the waistband of his pants to prevent it from slipping down. The other was inserted in his back pocket as he feigned a calm and casual pose. There were so many people in front of him that he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat them, so he had to win at least in terms of temperament. ¡°Why do you want to fight with me?¡± Yu Ran asked Cai Hanchuan, ¡°Just because I pressed your head into the Kung Pao Chicken last week?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare fucking mention it!¡± When Cai Hanchuan¡¯s gaunt face glared down, his eyebrows looked even more fierce, ¡°If you¡¯re a man, talk honestly with your fists, don¡¯t fucking use those dirty tricks! You¡¯re a disgrace!¡± ¡°Fighting over such a frivolous thing, it¡¯s you who¡¯s a disgrace,¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but laugh a little, ¡°Are you trying to make a name for yourself in our first year? It¡¯s funny¡­ Prestige gained by violence will one day be taken away by an even greater violence. If you can¡¯t get someone¡¯s respect, then you simply can¡¯t get it. Don¡¯t bother trying.¡± Cai Hanchuan held himself back from attacking for a while, tilted his head and asked with interest: ¡°Are you here to fucking educate me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to make you apologize,¡± Yu Ran said calmly, ¡°You¡¯ve dirtied my friend¡¯s new clothes.¡± As soon as these words fell from his mouth, several people around him laughed out loud, calling him ¡°stupid cunt¡± and ¡°he¡¯s crazy¡±. Cai Hanchuan laughed the hardest. His cheekbones were almost raised to his eyes, and he even tilted his head several times to express the novelty of this feeling. Only when he had laughed enough did he say to Yu Ran: ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve got character. Then I¡¯ll give you the stage ¡ª you can choose one of us to fight one-on-one.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t move his gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t fight, it¡¯s stupid.¡± ¡°Then what do you want to do?¡± ¡°If you admit your mistake, I¡¯ll forgive you.¡± Yu Ran said. The smile on Cai Hanchuan¡¯s face faded, and he stared dead at Yu Ran with his muddy eyes. He clenched his fists and moved towards him, ¡°L¨£ozi gave you an inch and you actually dared to take a mile¡­¡± Even before he finished speaking, he violently swung his right arm out hard and fast, straight towards Yu Ran¡¯s head. ¡ª The punch was followed by a heavy muffled sound. When Fang Zhao ran out of the office and came across Cai Hanchuan¡¯s location, he was met with Yu Ran leaning against the wall, relying on his arms to support his shaky body. Beads of blood were faintly visible at the corners of his mouth as they snaked down his chin. ¡°Memx!¡± Jjl Ljcmtejc abbx jcbatfg rafq obgkjgv jcv ugjyyfv Te Ejc ys atf mbiijg, jiwbra iloalcu tlw eq jr tf obgmfv Te Ejc ab ibbx ja tlw, ¡°Qtja jgf sbe qgfafcvlcu ab yf vfjv obg? Qtfgf¡¯r atf rkjuufg sbe tjv ktfc sbe tjv mtjiifcufv wf yfobgf? Gjwc sbe, oluta wf yjmx!¡± Yu Ran could smell the metallic scent of the blood on his lips. He opened his mouth and breathed slowly, before pursing his lips and wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth. When he looked up at the ruthless-looking Cai Hanchuan, he also happened to see Fang Zhao at the entrance of the corridor. Yu Ran averted his gaze and continued to look directly at Cai Hanchuan¡¯s face, his Adam¡¯s apple rolling a few times: ¡°I am¡­different from you.¡± After saying that, Yu Ran raised his hand and squeezed Cai Hanchuan¡¯s sturdy wrist tightly. After a bit of struggle, he finally broke the other party¡¯s hold on his shirt collar. Although at this moment he was forced to raise his head up, the endless hatred in his eyes was completely exposed to Cai Hanchuan. ¡°Fight back?¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but sneer, his eyes shining even brighter, ¡°Fighting for face is the most humiliating thing¡­ Even if I¡¯m beaten down by you ten thousand times, I¡¯ll never let myself fall to the same level of stupidity as you.¡± Cai Hanchuan furrowed his eyebrows. Towering with rage, he clutched the back of Yu Ran¡¯s neck and tried to smash his head against the wall. But Yu Ran suddenly gained strength from an unknown source. He actually straightened up his neck, resisted Cai Hanchuan¡¯s brute force and stood firmly in place. Since his childhood, Cai Hanchuan had beaten up many people who had acted like a pretentious prick in front of him. But he had never crossed paths with a person like Yu Ran, who was so willing to go out of his way to act like a pretentious prick that even if he was beaten and bleeding, he still insisted on holding back and refused to strike back. The battle of force between boys was the most addictive thing for Cai Hanchuan. It could not only release his natural violent tendencies, but also satisfy his desire for conquest by dampening his opponent¡¯s spirit. Bruises, blood, scars¡­ He was used to greedily and readily turning each and every high-spirited and vigorous teenager into his own defeated minion. But the prerequisite for his boiling passions was a fair duel. When his own flesh and blood bore the fresh pain, he would transform this pain into energy that would stimulate his fighting spirit, thus becoming fiercer and more powerful and achieving triumph in every battle. And so, beating someone who didn¡¯t fight back was humiliating for Cai Hanchuan. However, he fucking met Yu Ran, this frustratingly stubborn person, who was willing to take a beating but not fight back, and go as far as to actually want to stand on a high ground and look down upon him, put on airs and say ¡°I¡¯m different from you¡±. Cai Hanchuan had no choice but to gradually reduce the strength of his fists. ¡°Motherfucker¡­¡± Cai Hanchuan finally let go of his hand, ¡°Are you fucking here to court death?¡± When Yu Ran tugged the corners of his mouth, he felt a tearing pain, but he still insisted on smiling and slowly raised his head. He gazed across Cai Hanchuan¡¯s shoulder, and met Fang Zhao¡¯s stare. Maybe he really was courting death¡­ But since he had said that he would not fight over meaningless things, Yu Ran didn¡¯t want to break this promise. ¡°I had already told you, I¡¯m here to make you apologize,¡± Yu Ran straightened his back, his right fist had finally gathered enough strength, and then he growled lowly, ¡°You fucking got my friend¡¯s new clothes dirty ¡ª !¡± In the blink of an eye, Yu Ran directly threw a very heavy punch at Cai Hanchuan¡¯s face. This caught the other party off guard. Cai Hanchuan¡¯s vision went black, he took half a step back, and almost fell to the ground. Fang Zhao stared at the scene in a daze. He saw Yu Ran¡¯s right hand trembling continuously under the reaction force, so it was clear how much strength he had poured into that punch. Cai Hanchuan grew dizzy and he felt like something was buzzing in his head. The people around him rushed up to help him finish off Yu Ran but he raised his hand to stop them. He frowned and sucked in a mouthful of cold air because of the pain on his face. He saw Yu Ran rubbing the blood on his lips forcefully, but there was still a layer of light red crusted on his cheeks, which made him look a bit comical. ¡°Yu Ran, I¡¯ll just ask you one thing,¡± Cai Hanchuan found that there was a faint taste of blood in his mouth, ¡°Do you fucking have to act like a pretentious prick to this degree?¡± Yu Ran raised the zipper of his school uniform jacket back up to its highest point and the collar stood up, covering the lower half of his face. His hair was a bit messy, and the two strands of hair that had stood up to make a hollow peach heart were already tilted out of shape. ¡°A real man¡¯s fist only fights for his beliefs. A lowly nobody like you won¡¯t understand this,¡± Yu Ran cleared his throat, lifted his pants tightly and went away, leaving Cai Hanchuan with only the dashing view of his back. ¡°Have you guys ever seen such an¡­¡± Cai Hanchuan cast a bewildered and puzzled look at the people around him, ¡°such an astoundingly big fool like Yu Ran?¡± The others shook their heads one after another, not knowing how to evaluate the fight that had occured just now. The bell rang at the end of the big break, and peace returned to Chengjun Middle School. ¡°You really scared me to death. When you didn¡¯t fight back, I thought your arms were broken by him¡­ Are you okay? Let¡¯s, let¡¯s go to the infirmary first,¡± Fang Zhao followed him closely, and anxiously kept on asking him where he was injured. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Only a few scratches, not even as painful as a mosquito bite,¡± Yu Ran waved his hand, not at all caring about the wounds. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to class. What¡¯s the third period?¡± ¡°Today¡¯s Monday, so there¡¯s a class meeting.¡± ¡°¨¡iy¨¡, I¡¯m doomed! The homeroom teacher is going to know about it,¡± Yu Ran found himself in a real predicament, ¡°She won¡¯t punish me by making me write a self-criticism review again, will she?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­she would,¡± Fang Zhao said, ¡°I just went to the Academic Affairs Office to tell the head teacher about Cai Hanchuan. When Teacher Bai knows, she¡¯ll definitely understand you.¡± Yu Ran nodded, and the two hurried back to the classroom. The homeroom teacher was not in the class, and all the students were engaged in self-study. Chu Mian had already finished all his homework, and now he was busy memorizing his Geography notes. He thought that the two in the front of his seat had disappeared for quite a while to buy snacks. He inadvertently glanced at the oncoming a Yu Ran and found that there was a shallow wound at the corner of his mouth and an inconspicuous bloodstain on his chin. But Yu Ran looked as relaxed and cheerful as ever, not like he had just had a fight with others. Chu Mian, who was holding the notebook and totally distracted, suddenly realized that he had wasted half a minute of his precious time. While continuing to review, Chu Mian heard the two people in front of him discussing what they had just done. Soon, he picked out some key information from their words, pieced together the chain of events and understood what had probably happened. At the end of the day, it turned out that the guy sitting in front of him was beaten up but did not fight back. ¡°I had already told you, I don¡¯t fight meaningless fights,¡± Yu Ran lifted up his sleeves again and leaned back in his chair to talk to Fang Zhao, ¡°Compared with getting bruised all over, fighting back because of anger is what the biggest losers do.¡± Behind them, Chu Mian casually said in a low voice: ¡°I think that it¡¯s you who can¡¯t win against him.¡± Yu Ran suddenly turned around and retorted, ¡°How, how hard is it to win? My biggest opponent is only myself! I can¡¯t go against my own beliefs!¡± What belief and nonbelief¡­ Chu Mian scoffed at this. This was what he could not stand the most about Yu Ran ¡ª all day long, his words and actions were abnormal. What came out of his mouth were words that were irrelevant to his daily life, and he liked to call himself the ¡°the male protagonist¡±. In the end, what kind of mediocre work would choose a muggle like Yu Ran as the male protagonist, huh? Only someone who was simply too presumptuous. ¡°Just say you can¡¯t win if you can¡¯t win. You think not fighting back is another kind of victory, but actually, it¡¯s just an Ah Q Victory, nothing more,¡± Chu Mian could not help but finish speaking, but felt that, with Yu Ran¡¯s level of intellect, he might not even know who Ah Q was. Yu Ran looked at Chu Mian and pondered, ¡°Well, that¡¯s the difference between you and me.¡± He seemed to have pulled the corners of his mouth again when he just spoke, and some beads of blood oozed out. He quickly pulled out a tissue and pressed it down. Chu Mian silently lowered his head to review but after a while, he found that he was still stuck on the same page of notes, unable to calm down and concentrate. Perhaps it was because of his increased frequency of contact with Yu Ran recently, but Chu Mian¡¯s original dislike towards him had slowly decreased. Knowing that the other party had been beaten up so many times for nothing, he had a momentary attack of empathy and couldn¡¯t help but feel a little irritated. But the object of anger was not the person who had beaten up Yu Ran, but Yu Ran himself ¡ª he could shamelessly beg others in order to copy homework, but when his body was injured, he foolishly let people beat and scold him. How was this driven by ¡°belief¡±? It was clearly a problem with his choice of values, right? The more Chu Mian thought about it, the more he hated iron for not turning into steel. Fortunately, he had a strong ability to regulate his emotions and didn¡¯t fall asleep directly because of anger. He took a deep breath, turned around and took out a few band-aids from his school bag, and threw them forward forcefully. Because of his cataplexy, it was easy for him to knock against something and get wounded, so he had to carry many medicines on him at all times. Suddenly something flew onto his desk, which startled Yu Ran. After staring intently at the band-aids, his eyes softened immediately and he turned his head to look at Chu Mian gratefully. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me.¡± Before Yu Ran could thank him, Chu Mian spoke impatiently, ¡°Your stupidity is contagious.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t care about Chu Mian¡¯s tone, he just grinned because of Chu Mian¡¯s concern for him: ¡°What? You just said my stupidity is contagious, then if you stare at someone, won¡¯t that person get pregnant¡­ Hey, you¡¯re staring at me right now! It¡¯s over! I¡¯m pregnant with Chu Mian¡¯s¡ª¡± Chu Mian immediately covered his mouth, prohibiting him from talking nonsense in class. CH 12 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Soon, Bai Yuzhu, their homeroom teacher, learned of the conflict from the head teacher. Fortunately, after weighing it up, the grade group did not take any disciplinary action against Yu Ran and Bai Yuzhu reluctantly let it go from her heart. It hadn¡¯t been long since the school had started, but Yu Ran had already been involved in two conflicts in a row. Bai Yuzhu had no choice but to keep a close eye on him. ¡°Ye Xi, you hand out these keyrings to everyone, one for each person.¡± Bai Yuzhu carried up a small cardboard box and handed it to the short-haired girl beside her, ¡°There are also identity cards, also one for each person; it¡¯s attached to the keyring.¡± The girl named ¡°Ye Xi¡± nodded and took it, and returned to the classroom with the box of keychains. She started to hand them out from the first seat by the window, and when she was about to reach the last row, her footsteps suddenly stopped, and she hesitated to step forward. ¡­ It was that thug who had threatened her last week with ¡°Be careful in the future¡±. Moreover, she had just heard in the office that he had fought twice with the leader of the second year of senior high school. The process was incomparably hair-raising and savage. The band-aids on his face were strong evidence. Ye Xi took a quick glance at the boy, and her heart chilled. However, Yu Ran was completely unaware of the fearful look the girl was throwing at him. At this moment, he was holding a large bag of Guai Guai, grabbing one piece and throwing it into the air, which was followed by him tilting his head and opening his mouth to catch it. The pieces hit the bridge of his nose or the top of his head several times in a row, but not even one successfully fell into his mouth. ¡°Damn it!¡± Yu Ran vented his anger. He reached into the packet to grab a handful of Guai Guai, and thinking ¡°If I throw a lot of them at once, at least one will definitely enter my mouth¡±, he directly tossed all of them at once above in the air. Patter, patter ¡ª Chu Mian looked at his messy desktop in astonishment. ¡°I was wrong!¡± It was too late for Yu Ran to beg for mercy. Chu Mian had already lifted him by his collar and dragged him to the window, as if he was ready to directly throw him out. Now is the time. Ye Xi walked towards them at the opportune moment, took out a keyring and threw it on Yu Ran¡¯s desk. Just one more for Chu Mian¡­ Ye Xi moved forward and before she could extend her hand, Yu Ran suddenly stepped backwards and bumped into her hard. Ye Xi grabbed the corner of the desk in order to maintain her balance, but unfortunately the cup on the desk fell to the ground. Ye Xi¡¯s heart sank, and there were only two words left in her mind: I¡¯m doomed. I was already warned to ¡°be careful¡± during the cleaning before, but I actually made a mistake again. This time I¡¯ll definitely be beaten by the gangster¡­ Afraid of seeing Yu Ran¡¯s expression, Ye Xi lowered her head in despair, and her mouth kept chanting ¡°sorry¡±. Yu Ran and Chu Mian stopped in their tracks at the same time, and gazed at the girl. ¡°What is this thing?¡± Yu Ran curiously picked up the mini doll keyring on the desk, ¡°Did you put it here?¡± ¡°Teacher Bai asked me to hand it out to everyone¡­¡± Ye Xi replied cautiously, ¡°This is our school¡¯s mascot.¡± ¡°Need to pay?¡± Yu Ran asked. Ye Xi was taken aback. Need to pay? Soon she suddenly realized what was happening, took out her wallet, and respectfully handed fifty yuan to Yu Ran as a protection fee. Te Ejc vlvc¡¯a ecvfgrajcv atf wfjclcu bo tfg jmalbc, rb tf lucbgfv atf yliir, jcv aegcfv tlr jaafcalbc ab atf mjgvybjgv ybz lc tfg jgwr. Qtfc tf tjv j mifjg nlfk bo atf njglber xlcvr bo wjrmba islcu lcrlvf atf ybz, tf mbeivc¡¯a tfiq yea fzmijlw fzmlafvis: ¡°Gjwc, atfs¡¯gf rb meaf! Cgf atfs rbiv ab er ys atf rmtbbi? Jjc P mtbbrf la wsrfio?¡± Only after hearing his pleasant tone did Ye Xi pluck up her courage to look up and observe the situation, and found that Yu Ran¡¯s smiling demeanor revealed a desire for the mascots. It was completely at odds with the swift and fierce temperament between his eyebrows. ¡°Each person gets one, it¡¯s a free gift from the school.¡± Ye Xi silently put away fifty yuan and handed the cardboard box to Yu Ran, ¡°You, you can choose whatever you want!¡± She quickly bent over and picked up Yu Ran¡¯s cup and checked it thoroughly, and sighed in relief after finding out that the plastic shell was not damaged. Yu Ran was very excited to choose a mascot. He also took the box over to Chu Mian to look at the mascot¡¯s information card with him. ¡°Introduction to the members of the ¡®Zizi Family¡¯¡ª¡± Yu Ran read it out loud, ¡°The meat z¨°ngzi ¡ª Niu Zizi, the jujube z¨°ngzi ¡ª Tian Zizi ¡ª the red bean paste z¨°ngzi ¡ª Mian Zizi¡­ Chu Mian, I¡¯ll give this ¡®Mian Zizi¡¯ to you, it has the same name as you!¡± ¡°Whatever, all of them are ugly anyway.¡± Chu Mian glanced a few times at the triangular-shaped z¨°ngzi dolls, and could not help but ask: ¡°Can one person only have one?¡± ¡°En, that¡¯s why it¡¯s very hard to choose.¡± Yu Ran was entangled. He felt that the expression of each z¨°ngzi was very cute. Each emotion ¡ª happiness, anger, joy and sadness ¡ª corresponded to a different flavour. For example, Chu Mian¡¯s ¡°Mian Zizi¡± was a blushing and shy z¨°ngzi girl. Eventually, Yu Ran chose a pure white round z¨°ngzi named ¡®Xiao Zizi¡¯, which was a black sesame t¨¡ngyu¨¢n. It was obviously the smallest in the family, but its expression was the most fierce ¡ª this was the reason why Yu Ran liked it; it looked very dangerous and intimidating. He handed the rest of the mascots back to Ye Xi. The girl hugged the box and fled in fear. Throughout the class, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t stop playing with the soft body of ¡°Xiao Zizi¡± and couldn¡¯t put it down. ¡°Take out your ¡®Sunshine Classroom¡®, I¡¯ll be teaching Classical Chinese.¡± The Language Teacher Wang looked at Yu Ran¡¯s desk and saw that Yu Ran¡¯s desk was messy. There were books on all subjects, but she didn¡¯t see the Language book. ¡°Yu Ran, you didn¡¯t bring your homework again! Did you even write it, huh? In fact I¡¯ve no doubt you didn¡¯t write it, so hurry up and look at it together with Chu Mian!¡± The speed at which Teacher Wang talked was always like a series of cannons, urging people to rush their hands and feet. Yu Ran pulled a long face at her and dragged his chair to the side of Chu Mian¡¯s seat. ¡°I see that there¡¯s still little time, so I¡¯ll go through the previous section all at once.¡± As soon as Teacher Wang said this, the class understood that their lesson would not end in time again. ¡°I¡¯ll read the answers once ¡ª CADBACB. Raise your hand if you got all of them right.¡± The students looked around, the class was quiet. Yu Ran, resting his chin in his hand, stared at Chu Mian¡¯s choice and found that it was the same as the standard answer, but Chu Mian didn¡¯t react at all. ¡°You got all of them right, so why don¡¯t you raise your hand?¡± As Yu Ran said this, he grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s arm and tried to lift it upward forcefully. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Chu Mian frowned and clicked his tongue, and pushed Yu Ran¡¯s hand away, ¡°Won¡¯t lift.¡± ¡°Men shouldn¡¯t carelessly say ¡®won¡¯t lift¡¯ kind of thing¡­¡± Yu Ran gritted his teeth and insisted on helping Chu Mian raise his hand to prove to everyone that he did everything right. Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to stand out in the class, so he exerted force on his arms to compete with Yu Ran. In the end, it was Chu Mian who was superior, and when he came back to his senses, Teacher Wang had already finished the multiple choice questions. Yu Ran breathed heavily, relaxed his arms, leaned weakly against Chu Mian, and lamented: ¡°You¡¯re so strong, I¡¯m exhausted.¡± Teacher Wang continued to talk about the next question. She raised her head to confirm that Yu Ran was carefully listening to the class, but saw him lazily resting on Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder, the two of them whispering. ¡°Yu Ran! Why are you acting like an endearing little bird?¡± Teacher Wang¡¯s roar made the two of them tremble in shock. Chu Mian¡¯s limbs automatically became limp and he immediately fell down. Yu Ran quickly put his arms around Chu Mian to stabilize his body. ¡°Even hugging each other? Even if you two want to bill and coo, you have to listen to the lecture! This will be in the next monthly exam. Don¡¯t you know that this exam¡¯s score is related to your future placement? Still not hurrying up to learn,¡± Teacher Wang lectured. While tapping her knuckle against the exercise book in her hand, she reminded the class not to laugh anymore and to pay attention to the lecture. Because he was physically powerless now, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t justify himself even if he wanted to. He could only glare at Yu Ran with his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s carefully listen to the lecture.¡± Yu Ran ignored Chu Mian¡¯s eyes. He wrapped one hand around Chu Mian, picked up a pen with the other, and pretended to make notes on the exercise book. ¡°Yu Ran, you wait for me.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice was gloomy. ¡°I¡¯ll wait, I¡¯ll wait.¡± Yu Ran glanced at the clock on the wall. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you at the third window of the cafeteria in a while.¡± After a few minutes, Chu Mian¡¯s body gradually regained its strength. The first thing he did was take back his exercise book from Yu Ran, then he deliberately did not show it to the other party. Yu Ran gave a continuous ¡°¨¡i¡± to express his dissatisfaction, ¡°Let¡¯s look at it together, the teacher has instructed us to look at it together.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even listen to the lecture, why do you even need to look at it?¡± ¡°Then we must pretend like we¡¯re looking, or else Teacher Wang will scold me again.¡± But Chu Mian had already made up his mind. Not only did he put the exercise book on the edge of the desk, he even moved his chair a little away from Yu Ran. It was crystal-clear that Chu Mian had forbidden Yu Ran from coming close to him, let alone have any physical contact. Yu Ran also simply snorted coldly, and sat to one side and took out his mobile phone to secretly play ¡°Temple Run¡±. The small fights between schoolboys would not easily rise to the level of contradiction. When the bell rang signifying the end of the class, Yu Ran immediately became energetic, and with a playful smile, dragged Chu Mian to the cafeteria to eat. He also didn¡¯t forget to turn his head and call Fang Zhao¡¯s username: ¡°Di¨±g¨¥, let¡¯s go! ¡± In recent days, the three of them had been eating together. Chu Mian originally had no intention to go with them, but these two people didn¡¯t listen to his protests and brought him along, so he had to accept this enthusiasm. The window from where Chu Mian picked up his food was fixed and the chef was also private, dedicated exclusively to Chu Mian. If one wanted to manage the symptoms of ¡°narcolepsy¡±, one had to be strict with their diet. Spicy and sweet foods were the first thing to be avoided. His daily lunch looked rich in ingredients, but in fact, it was so light that Yu Ran lost his appetite after tasting it a few times. ¡°Hey, I had told you the other day that our school emblem is Z¨°ngzi, but you didn¡¯t believe it! Even the mascot is Z¨°ngzi.¡± Yu Ran and Fang Zhao queued up at the ordinary window to get food, and the two resumed an old conversation. ¡°Z¨°ngzi has nothing to do with the school emblem, okay? Don¡¯t you know that our cafeteria¡¯s signature dish is Z¨°ngzi? The students who ate it were all able to get into a first-tier school. Making this into a mascot, I think it¡¯s for the cafeteria¡¯s advertisement.¡± Fang Zhao pushed up his glasses. ¡°Oh, Z¨°ngzi is available only in the morning. You¡¯re fucking late every day, so you don¡¯t know about these things.¡± ¡°Then later I¡¯ll ask the Cook Aunt what our school emblem is,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°Let¡¯s bet.¡± ¡°Bet on what?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s make it an exciting bet¡­¡± Yu Ran thought carefully, and said slowly, ¡°Whoever loses will have to ¡®kanch¨­¡® Chu Mian.¡± Fang Zhao froze and could¡¯t help but let out a ¡°fuck¡±, ¡°Yu Ran, you¡¯re too much. Even the punishments in Truth or Dare aren¡¯t as ruthless as you!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Chu Mian only looks as if he has a bad temper, but actually¡­he¡¯s pretty easy to coax,¡± Yu Ran said optimistically, ¡°Anyway, you won¡¯t get killed, at most you¡¯ll be second-degree disabled.¡± Fang Zhao shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of Chu Mian getting angry. The main thing is that it¡¯s impossible for a person to want to do¡­this kind of thing to Chu Mian, right? Who the hell would go to ruin the image of a male god, huh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± Yu Ran asked strangely, ¡°Then, if you don¡¯t want to do ¡®kanch¨­¡¯, then can you pull out his bird.¡± Fang Zhao could not listen to this anymore: ¡°Yu Ran, you¡¯re sick! Don¡¯t do such things to the male god!¡± ¡°Tch,¡± Yu Ran dismissed him, ¡°Forget about the bet, you really can¡¯t afford to lose.¡± The two of them holding their dinner plates found Chu Mian¡¯s location and sat down to eat together. During the meal, Chu Mian slept for a few minutes. When he woke up from his nap, Fang Zhao found that Yu Ran was always glancing at Chu Mian, and occasionally put down his chopsticks, his right hand eagerly stretching forward. Fang Zhao felt that something bad was going to happen. While Chu Mian was not paying attention, he quickly kicked Yu Ran a few times, signaling him to be more well-behaved, and not try to ruin Chu Mian¡¯s image. ¡°Chu Mian.¡± Fan Zhao shot him a warning look but Yu Ran ignored it. ¡°Will it stand up every time you wake up?¡± Chu Mian was still a bit confused, and his brain was blank. He slowly turned his head to look at Yu Ran, his expression dull. Fang Zhao immediately kicked Yu Ran hard. And Yu Ran, as if no one was there, continued to talk to Chu Mian like he was complaining: ¡°Don¡¯t men often react when they wake up from sleep? Inexplicably, there¡¯s no solution for this. And since you sleep so many times, won¡¯t you always¡ª¡± ¡°Yu Ran!¡± Fang Zhao observed Chu Mian¡¯s expression, and immediately interrupted Yu Ran¡¯s question. ¡°Don¡¯t discuss such a deep topic while eating.¡± The plan in Yu Ran¡¯s mind was actually very good. As long as Chu Mian was willing to answer his questions, he would take advantage of the other party¡¯s inattention to quickly reach out between his legs to give him a surprise! However, because he was worried that this would cause Chu Mian to have a cataplectic attack, he decided to go a little slower to avoid scaring Chu Mian, giving him time to be mentally prepared. ¡°Speak up man, just say ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯ and satisfy my curiosity,¡± Yu Ran asked sincerely. Fang Zhao clearly saw that Chu Mian was already getting angry. ¡°Where did you get so much curiosity from?¡± Chu Mian stared at Yu Ran coldly. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, why don¡¯t you come and confirm it yourself?¡± Normal people would definitely back off when they hear this, not to mention Chu Mian¡¯s tone of voice was very sarcastic. But the result was that Yu Ran calmly said ¡°Okay¡±, and directly got to it, lightly grabbing and rubbing the place mentioned by the other party with his hands at once. Fang Zhao gasped, feeling that the scene was too shocking. The unusual feeling made Chu Mian sober in an instant, and he looked down at Yu Ran¡¯s thin hand with distinct joints in a daze. Next, Yu Ran¡¯s description of Chu Mian¡¯s manhood made Fang Zhao see darkness in front of his eyes ¡ª ¡°What you have in there, it¡¯s heavily laden with fruits.¡± CH 13 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans It was a well-known fact that Yu Ran was stupid, but he didn¡¯t realize it himself. ¡°Why are you so sensitive? Hey, Di¨±g¨¥, when you were in junior high school, you must have also played ¡®kanch¨­¡¯ and ¡®pulling out birds¡¯ with friends, right?¡± Yu Ran was puzzled, ¡°Why, Chu Mian, you haven¡¯t played these before?¡± Before Fang Zhao could answer, Chu Mian who was behind him coldly answered: ¡°Normal people are unlikely to be as vulgar and rude as you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with vulgarity?¡± Yu Ran struggled to turn around. ¡°Vulgarity and elegance are the two sides of the same coin!¡± Fang Zhao patted Yu Ran on the head and persuaded him: ¡°Can you not speak too much? How can you describe Chu Mian that way? Doesn¡¯t he only have one? What you said makes it sound like there¡¯s a bunch of it in his crotch¡­¡± The words had yet to fall, but Fang Zhao quickly noticed that he was a little out of line, and he quietly looked at Chu Mian, and sure enough, he was met with the other party¡¯s gloomy eyes shooting daggers at him. He hurriedly squatted down and took the borrowed scissors to help Yu Ran cut off the skipping rope on his body. Earlier, after coming back from the cafeteria, Yu Ran was directly tied to the chair by Chu Mian with two skipping ropes, all trussed up with a dead knot tie. Yu Ran still felt quite aggrieved. Didn¡¯t he praise Chu Mian for being more plump ¡°there¡±? Why would he be angry about that? Fang Zhao cut several knots of the skipping rope to free Yu Ran. He looked at the knots all over the floor and sighed, ¡°Chu Mian, you¡¯re so professional in tying up people, no wonder Yu Ran can¡¯t even move a little.¡± Yu Ran looked at the red marks on his arm and sighed: ¡°What¡¯s the matter, I felt good being tied up.¡± Fang Zhao was surprised: ¡°Wow, Yu Ran¡­ you don¡¯t have any special fetish, right?¡± Yu Ran was confused: ¡°What?¡± Fang Zhao felt that this kind of thing was not convenient to say in public, so he approached Yu Ran and whispered it to him. ¡°Holy shit, you¡¯re so disgusting!¡± Yu Ran reacted fiercely after hearing the explanation, crossed his arms on his chest to make a protective gesture, stepped back away from Fang Zhao, and let out an iambic ¡°ewww¡± to express his disgust. ¡°What does it have to do with me? You¡¯re the one who said you felt very comfortable being tied up by Chu Mian!¡± Fang Zhao turned his head to look at Chu Mian. ¡°Chu Mian, don¡¯t tie him up in the future, just use the whip. Yu Ran must like it even more.¡± Chu Mian only felt a headache when he heard them bickering. He rubbed his temples and, unable to stand them anymore, he said: ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep, you all shut up.¡± Within five seconds, Chu Mian really closed his eyes and fell unconscious on the desk. Yu Ran stretched out a finger to gently poke his cheek to see if he would react. Fang Zhao raised his hand to stop him, and whispered, ¡°Okay, don¡¯t provoke Chu Mian all the time, he¡¯s different from others.¡± ¡°Where is he different, doesn¡¯t he just sleep more than we do?¡± ¡°Rba pera atja, yea jirb lc¡­ wjcs batfg atlcur,¡± Mjcu Itjb mbeiv tjgvis rewwjglhf. Lf tjv atbeuta Te Ejc mbeiv ecvfgrajcv ktja tf wfjca. Pc Mjcu Itjb¡¯r fsfr, Jte Zljc rtbeiv tjnf j tlut jcv iboas lwjuf. Lf tjv j ubbv ojwlis yjmxugbecv, bearajcvlcu jqqfjgjcmf, jcv kjr jirb ubbv ja rqbgar jcv raevslcu. Snfc lo tf reoofgfv ogbw ¡°cjgmbifqrs¡±, tf kjr ralii qfgofma. Lf kjr pera ilxf atf wjif qgbajubclra ktb mjwf bea bo j wjctej; j wfijcmtbilm Uglcmf Jtjgwlcu klat mbecaifrr tjibr. Not to mention rude games such as ¡°pulling out birds¡± and ¡°kanch¨­¡± between boys, Fang Zhao was embarrassed to even tell ordinary jokes with erotic connotations in front of Chu Mian, always feeling that it would tarnish the other party through the air. ¡°Fang Zhao, do you know what¡¯s the biggest difference between you and Chu Mian?¡± Fang Zhao blurted out ¡°everything¡±, but Yu Ran told him, ¡°You wear glasses, but Chu Mian doesn¡¯t.¡± What kind of ¡°biggest difference¡± is this¡­ Fang Zhao thought Yu Ran was running his mouth again. Yu Ran sat up straight and said, ¡°I had promised Chu Mian that I would treat him as a man as strong as me, and from that moment on, he was nothing different to me, merely sleeping more than me. So¡ª¡± ¡°What we can do, Chu Mian can do too.¡± Listening to his unquestionable tone, Fang Zhao was a little shaken: ¡°That¡¯s true, but that doesn¡¯t mean that Chu Mian is willing to be pranked by you¡­ He¡¯s obviously the type that likes to be alone.¡± Yu Ran asked back, ¡°Don¡¯t you think Chu Mian has become a lot more active recently when he is with us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s only because you make him angry, okay?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, if Chu Mian is really angry, he¡¯ll definitely stay away from me.¡± As Yu Ran said this, he could not help but lie on the back of the chair and observe Chu Mian, who was asleep in the seat behind him. The boy¡¯s eyelashes were naturally upturned, and the curvature of his eyes was also incredibly beautiful. Yu Ran grinned and then said, ¡°Chu Mian¡¯s mouth says no but his body is very honest. I gave him crab melon seeds yesterday and he secretly ate them in class. I think he might also like to play ¡®pull out birds¡¯ with others.¡± ¡°¡­there¡¯s no direct relationship between these two things!¡± ¡°In short, Chu Mian doesn¡¯t need to be treated as special,¡± Yu Ran solemnly told Fang Zhao this conclusion, ¡°If you treat him as a friend, don¡¯t care about how he¡¯s different from you, you¡¯re a unique person as well.¡± Fang Zhao was taken aback. He hadn¡¯t expected such words of wisdom to pop out of Yu Ran¡¯s mouth. Just as he had started to feel a little admiration, he heard Yu Ran heave a sigh and say proudly: ¡°Hey, like me, I¡¯m the Chosen One.¡± The warm afternoon passed in a few loosely disciplined classes. After the end of the big break, the first year students of senior high school finally ushered in the long-awaited club activity class. Fang Zhao packed up his school bag and turned around to ask, ¡°Yu Ran, what did you sign up for last week?¡± ¡°Basketball.¡± ¡°Bullshit, didn¡¯t the class president say that there are no spots left in the basketball team, you can only choose volleyball or badminton.¡± ¡°She lied to us.¡± Yu Ran got up and leaned close to Fang Zhao, with his palm on his mouth, looking very mysterious. ¡°I secretly saw the registration form that day. ¡®No spots¡¯ wasn¡¯t written at all. The column of our class was empty. Maybe some class grabbed all the spots or our teacher deliberately didn¡¯t let us join.¡± Fang Zhao was skeptical: ¡°It¡¯s unlikely. What are the benefits of targeting our class?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we the experimental class? It must be Teacher Bai who thinks that playing basketball will interfere with boys¡¯ studies. I heard that Chengjun¡¯s basketball team has a lot of training, and players often miss classes before the game!¡± Yu Ran said, the corners of his mouth raised, ¡°Fortunately, I was witty and took advantage of Xiang Xuehua¡¯s inattention to fill up my name.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really quite something!¡± Fang Zhao smiled, ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll go first, to the choir.¡± Yu Ran gestured ¡°OK¡± to him, turned around and asked Chu Mian, ¡°Where are you going? ¡°Rooftop.¡± Chu Mian packed his schoolbag in an orderly manner. ¡°Rooftop? Oh, you¡¯re talking about the roof of the laboratory building ah.¡± Yu Ran followed him out the door, ¡°What kind of club are you in, the ¡®Suicide Club¡¯?¡± ¡°¡­ Natural Science Club.¡± Chu Mian really did not want to seriously explain to Yu Ran, so he told him in an easy-to-understand way, ¡°Folding paper planes, see who can throw it farther.¡± Yu Ran instantly felt a sense of superiority: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s boring. Do you know where I¡¯m going now?¡± ¡°Basketball team, I heard you just now.¡± Chu Mian expressionlessly took a deep breath, and perfunctorily filled in the would-be-coming bragging for Yu Ran: ¡°Chengjun¡¯s No. 1 Club, it¡¯s amazing. You will miss classes and there are no spots left. You¡¯re clever.¡± Yu Ran was very gratified, laughed ¡°hehe¡± a few times, and finally got so carried away that he forgot to say bye to Chu Mian. He carried his school bag and, facing the sun, went straight to the gym. Then he was dumbfounded ¡ª In the huge venue, he actually couldn¡¯t find any male other than himself. In front of him were tall girls wearing hurdle tank tops and shorts. The physical education teacher blew a whistle to call everyone to gather, and when she saw a handsome young man standing aside in a daze, she was also puzzled: ¡°Is this¡­ also a girl?¡± The Girl¡¯s Sports Committee member of Yu Ran¡¯s class was present and, finding it both funny and extremely embarrassing, asked, ¡°Yu Ran, why are you here?¡± Yu Ran replied stupidly: ¡°For club, I signed up for basketball.¡± The coach laughed: ¡°Our school only has girl¡¯s basketball, how did you sign up? Your homeroom teacher didn¡¯t tell you?¡± That hit Yu Ran like a bolt from the blue, and all the joy from not long ago dissipated. He threw his bag and squatted on the ground in despair, muttering to himself, ¡°Why didn¡¯t they write the word ¡®only females¡¯ on the registration form? How can I remember what the teacher said in class¡­¡± The coach comforted him, ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can go join some other club now, it¡¯s still early.¡± Yu Ran squatted on the ground in silence for a long time, and suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, tilted his head and said firmly: ¡°Coach, I want to play basketball.¡± After all, he had just shown off to Fang Zhao, Chu Mian and the others for a long time, so if he just went back in such an ignominious manner, he would definitely be ridiculed for days. ¡°¡­ We¡¯re the girls¡¯ basketball team.¡± ¡°Just let me play with you guys!¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes glowed and he bloomed into a smile and begged her. The coach¡¯s face showed signs of difficulty and she hesitated. Yu Ran was born with an amiable face, and his facial features were comely and gorgeous. When he smiled, he could clearly show the innocent and handsome look typical of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy. Especially when making any request to others, his eyes were full of clean and pure expectation, and the expression on his face when he obediently raised his face could easily make people subconsciously agree to his requests. After much deliberation, the coach finally agreed to his request. In this way, Yu Ran gloriously became an honorary representative for Chengjun Middle School¡¯s girl¡¯s second basketball team¡¯s reserve players.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t touch the ball at all!¡± Yu Ran was so helpless that he had to leave the basketball court. There was still a long time before the end of school, so he wandered around the school with his school bag, boredly watching his classmates playing soccer on the playground. After killing some time, Yu Ran remembered that Chu Mian was folding paper planes on the rooftop, so he went straight upstairs to find him to play. The roof of the laboratory building was only three stories high and was connected to the school building by a rooftop bridge. The rooftop was very wide and had been the activity site of the unpopular clubs, and was surrounded by a high protective net. Usually, many students came here to eat lunch and chat, and during evening self-study, many young couples in senior year two and three of high school often came here for dates and to enjoy the evening breeze. Yu Ran came up and inquired about Chu Mian¡¯s location with others, and then found him in a shady corner. Chu Mian was sleeping on the ground, with a lot of clean newspapers placed under his body. Yu Ran sat down and felt that the ground was a bit cold, so he gently held up Chu Mian¡¯s head. It was not easy for Chu Mian to perceive the movements of the outside world in his sleep. This time the nightmare scene was in the water, where he was being chased by a giant shark with a bloody and widely-opened mouth. On the way to escape, he only felt that his throat was about to dry up, he wanted to breathe, he wanted to shout, and then he suddenly woke up ¡ª Every time he got out of a nightmare, it was like he just survived a disaster, his heart pounding loudly and palpitating with fear. But this time, he smelled a light smell of apple-scented soap, sweet but not cloying ¡ª the air seemed to have become gentle. He, who was not completely awake yet, only subconsciously moved closer to the smell. ¡°Have you slept enough?¡± Someone asked him gently. Chu Mian was slow to recall the familiar voice of the other party, then suddenly raised his head and found himself lying in the other party¡¯s arms. This inexplicable situation made him more nervous and alert all of a sudden, and the palpitations continued for a few more moments. He got up holding the ground, rubbed his hair, avoided Yu Ran¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°Basketball isn¡¯t really that interesting,¡± Yu Ran said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯d rather find you to play.¡± Chu Mian was stunned and replied with a faint ¡°oh¡±. Yu Ran did not know the consequences of his deliberate concealment of the true reason, which would actually cause Chu Mian¡¯s frame of mind to turn from suspicious to subtle. Chu Mian soon forgot about the nightmare he had a moment ago, his mood gradually regained clarity, and he even gained a little reassurance. Yu Ran squinted at the sky and said, ¡°The rooftop is too sunny. Does my face look red?¡± Chu Mian glanced at him, ¡°No, looks normal.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s hot,¡± Yu Ran covered his face with both hands, ¡°Let¡¯s go and buy popsicles.¡± When he put his hand down, he felt a pain on his face, and raised his eyes to find that Chu Mian was pinching him, ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Try how hot it is.¡± Chu Mian put more force into the pinch, and Yu Ran immediately bared his teeth and grinned with a very funny expression. He suddenly felt that he was too childish, so he immediately let go of his hand, kept away the faint smile at the corner of his mouth, and returned to his calm expression. Yu Ren looked at Chu Mian while rubbing his face, and found that his face was covered with a layer of crimson that was deeper than the glow of the sunset. ¡°Chu Mian,¡± Yu Ran called out to him and raised his arm towards him, ¡°You twist me, just like twisting a towel, with both hands.¡± Chu Mian did as he said. When the skin on both sides of the arm stretched taut in different directions, Yu Ran immediately groaned: ¡°Feels so good!¡± This sound not only scared Chu Mian, but also attracted sideways glances from the surrounding people. Yu Ran was still not done, and stretched out his other arm, ¡°This side too.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you ashamed?¡± Chu Mian quickly shook off his arm. Face red, he lifted his school bag and left angrily. CH 14 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Chu Heng called ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥¡± a few times but there was no answer, so she thought he had fallen asleep again. She went over and found that Chu Mian was wearing headphones and writing with his head down. ¡°Are you writing in your ¡®Death Note¡® again?¡± Chu Heng put a plate of fruits on the table. The movement attracted the teenager¡¯s attention, and he immediately put his arms across the notebook and quietly moved it into his arms to keep Chu Heng from prying. Chu Heng had accidentally seen the contents of the notebook before, but she hadn¡¯t expected that her nephew had a habit of recording things he disliked, and there were quite a few things related to her. Seeing that Chu Mian hadn¡¯t given up this habit since the start of school, Chu Heng said solemnly: ¡°You should also change the approach and write down the things you like the best. This way, wouldn¡¯t your mood get better when you flip through the notebook?¡± ¡°I can remember the things I like without having to write them down.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t bother to look at her. ¡°But the things one hates have to have a reason. If I encounter them again in the future, I can remind myself to avoid them.¡± Chu Heng spread out her palms at him, ¡°Then show me what you have just written, why were there so many? You wrote bad things about me again, didn¡¯t you?¡± Chu Mian clutched the notebook and denied, ¡°No, I was just filling in what I had forgotten to write recently.¡± As the monthly exam was approaching, the homework load was getting heavier. So as soon as he reached home, he would directly go to bed after reviewing to ensure that he was full of energy. Moreover, he had been in a relatively good mood at school recently, as he often didn¡¯t encounter the things he disliked. ¡°Oh¡­ I had originally prepared a surprise for someone,¡± Chu Heng deliberately raised her voice sharply, ¡°but since he isn¡¯t telling me the truth, I¡¯ll keep the good thing for myself.¡± This made Chu Mian hesitate a little, and he looked up to see that his aunt¡¯s hands were really hidden behind her back, holding something. He pursed his lips, let go of the notebook that was in his arms, threw it on the table, and muttered, ¡°Do you want to give it or not?¡± Chu Heng snorted, and reluctantly handed him the prepared box, which was a brand new iPhone 5. The mainland China version hadn¡¯t been released yet, so she had asked a friend to send two sets from the United States, one of which was for Chu Mian. For Chu Mian, this was indeed an unexpected surprise, but he did not show any happy reaction. With a long face, he just took the box in his hand, and swept two glances at it before putting it aside, as if the new phone was not as attractive as English words. ¡°I see, you still think that the mung bean soup I cook isn¡¯t delicious, but I don¡¯t think you have drunk any less¡­ thirty-nine¡­ forty¡­ Who is this Yu Ran?¡± Chu Heng was curious about the ¡°new word¡± written on the notebook. ¡°Is he your classmate?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Why do you call him a ¡®Muggle¡¯?¡± ¡°He¡¯s stupid.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s words were brief and concise. When they had first met, he had thought that Yu Ran was stupid and annoying, but now he thought that the other party was stupid to a point that it was outrageous. Especially in the past few days, Yu Ran had learned a strange behavior from who knew where, always pestering and begging him to ¡°twist his arms¡±, saying that his lower arms would feel a burning sensation, as if an electric current was passing by, making him feel particularly comfortable. So as soon as class was over, Yu Ran would sit sideways and stretch out his arms, one to Fang Zhao and the other to Chu Mian, letting them twist his arms together. What a weirdo¡­ Chu Mian felt a burst of shame just by recalling the feeling of being stared at by his classmates with weird gazes. He even felt that Yu Ran might really have some special fetish. What made him even more angry was Yu Ran¡¯s ¡°loose tongue¡± problem. In the self-study class, they would often play ¡°tic-tac-toe¡± on paper, one person drawing a circle and the other a cross. Every time Yu Ran wanted to play, he would turn around and ask loudly, ¡°Chu Mian, let''s OOXX¡±; if someone was looking for him for something, he would loudly refuse: ¡°No time, Chu Mian and I are in the middle of OOXX¡±. It was quite normal for 15 or 16 year-old teenage girls and boys going through puberty to have their imagination roam wild hearing such ambiguous words. Anything related to ¡°sex¡± would make them smile secretly in a tacit mutual understanding. Yu Ran always talked without thinking, but it was Chu Mian who suffered, having to bear the strange and ambiguous gazes of others. ¡°You go out please, I want to sleep,¡± Chu Mian urged Chu Heng. ¡°Vb fjgis?¡± ¡°Tfjt,¡± Jte Zljc cbvvfv tlr tfjv. Lf tjv jigfjvs jugffv atja tf kbeiv ub ab atf mjofafglj klat Te Ejc obg ygfjxojra abwbggbk. ¡°Yxjs, gfwfwyfg ab olclrt atf ogela.¡± Cr rbbc jr Jte Lfcu ifoa atf gbbw, Jte Zljc qea vbkc tlr qfc, delmxis ecqjmxfv atf qtbcf mjrf, atfc abbx bea atf Vlw mjgv ogbw tlr biv lUtbcf 4V jcv qea la lcab atf cfk qtbcf, jcv atfc vfmlvfv ab ub ab yfv klat la ab qijs. Fcobgaecjafis, tjiokjs atgbeut atf kjix, tlr ifur yfujc ab kfjxfc. Pa kjr qgbyjyif atja tlr fzmfrrlnf tjqqlcfrr tjv agluufgfv j mjajqifmalm jaajmx. Lf obgmfv tlwrfio ys uglaalcu tlr affat jcv ribkis ijs bc atf oibbg klatbea wjxlcu jcs rbecv. Since the beginning of autumn, the weather had been stuck in the lingering summer heat, and it was not until the end of September that there was a hint of cooling. There were many junior high school students who fantasized about a beautiful senior high school life just like in manhua, but just after a month into school, everyone had gradually come to realize that their everyday life was actually still filled with homework and exams, and fantasies were just fantasies. ¡ª Only Yu Ran still firmly believed that there was a magic power in his body that was about to awaken. ¡°My eyelids keep twitching, this seems to be some kind of omen.¡± Yu Ran frowned slightly, the space between his eyebrows filled with a touch of sorrow. He stood in front of the window and looked up at the sky, and said melancholically, ¡°Maybe in a while during the exam, I¡¯ll awaken my ¡®Heaven''s Eye¡® and know the answer to everything¡­¡± ¡°Only in your dreams.¡± Chu Mian mercilessly shattered his wish. ¡°You¡ª¡± Yu Ran immediately gritted his teeth and glared at him, ¡°I¡¯ll show you now!¡± After Yu Ran said that, he turned both his hands into the shape of binoculars and brought them in front of his eyes, looked at Chu Mian through the hollow in the middle, and yelled in a rough voice: ¡°Aha! I saw it! I saw the dark secret in your mind! Truly dirty and evil! Filthy and nasty! Ha¡ª¡± Chu Mian gripped Yu Ran¡¯s wrist and forcibly took apart his ¡°binoculars¡±, then pinched hard both of his cheeks and pulled them outwards. Yu Ran felt like crying without tears and he conceded and shouted ¡°I was wrong¡±, but once Chu Mian let go, he played his same old tricks again to provoke the other party. Two invigilators entered the classroom, patted the lecture desk so that everyone would sit quietly and wait for the exam papers to be distributed. This first exam was conducted with randomly arranged seats. Chu Mian and Yu Ran happened to be in two adjacent rows in the same exam room, and they could see each other as soon as they turned their heads. Chu Mian took advantage of the fact that he was not sleepy and had a clear mind, and finished his composition first, and then slowly did the questions at the front. When he was engrossed in analyzing and reading, a few sniffling sounds came to his ears, as if someone was quietly sobbing. Curious, he turned his head, just in time to see a crystal clear teardrop streaking across Yu Ran¡¯s cheek. Chu Mian was stunned. He didn¡¯t know what had happened to Yu Ran during the exam who was normal before the exam. He put away his doubts for the time being, and threw over a pack of tissue papers he was carrying while the invigilator was not paying attention. Yu Ran naturally picked it up, and continued to write in his exam paper while wiping his face. It was difficult for his abnormal state to go unnoticed, and Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but turn his head to confirm whether the other party had recovered properly. Just as the bell rang signaling the end of the exam, Chu Mian heard Yu Ran talking to himself while choking with sobs as he passed the exam papers from back to front: ¡°Hey, I wrote my composition so well, especially touching. I¡¯m sure I can get full marks¡­¡± Chu Mian was speechless, the concerns in his heart suddenly disappeared, and he almost crushed the pen in his hand. In the second subject which was mathematics, Yu Ran hadn¡¯t brought scratch paper, so he coaxed and pestered Chu Mian to give him one. Chu Mian thought that Yu Ran would solve questions seriously, but the result was that in the middle of the exam, he heard Yu Ran deliberately cough several times, obviously trying to attract his attention. Chu Mian cast a sidelong glance at him and found that Yu Ran was really not writing the answer. The scratch paper he had given the other party was full of drawings of strange and weird things. ¡ª Look! Yu Ran moved the paper under the table, and motioned Chu Mian with his mouth. Chu Mian frowned, as if asking him ¡°what is it¡±. ¡ª The Avengers! Yu Ran was bursting with good spirits. Chu Mian knew that it was a new movie released this year, but he hadn¡¯t seen it yet, so naturally he didn¡¯t know the characters Yu Ran had drawn. It was just that, based on the drawing technique, he thought that Yu Ran¡¯s drawing looked quite impressive. ¡ª I don¡¯t recognize. Chu Mian shook his head. ¡ª This, Iron Man. Yu Ran pointed, then took a pen and wrote ¡°Iron Man¡± on the character¡¯s armor. ¡ª This, Thor. Yu Ran continued to introduce the characters to Chu Mian. Chu Mian was not interested in knowing who they were, but he had already finished writing all the answers, and now that he was bored and not at all sleepy, he might as well accompany Yu Ran to relieve his boredom. But just after the two of them had started to interact quietly, Language Teacher Wang slowly walked from the invigilator seat at the back of the classroom to behind Yu Ran, silently staring at Yu Ran who was making small moves. Chu Mian had been half-lying on the table all along, holding his chin in his hand, so it didn¡¯t look like he was communicating with others. When Teacher Wang walked over, he didn¡¯t warn Yu Ran, and with a smile at the corner of his mouth, he waited for the upcoming good show. Finally, Teacher Wang¡¯s voice rang out above Yu Ran¡¯s head: ¡°What are you doing?¡± Uttering ¡°Oh my!¡±, Yu Ran bounced up from his chair like a frightened bird, covering his heart pounding inside his chest. Chu Mian could not hold back his laughter, so he hurriedly plopped down and hid his face in the crook of his arms. ¡°After you finished writing, you started to find trouble again, didn¡¯t you? Huh? I wasn¡¯t the one who invigilated the Language exam just now, how was your exam? Huh? Yu Ran, I¡¯ll look for you after I finish checking your paper, you just wait and see.¡± Teacher Wang pointed to the drawing in his hand, ¡°What¡¯s this? The drawing is quite good. Are you still going to answer the questions? After checking your answers once, hand in the papers, go out and stay there, so as to save yourself from fidgeting here.¡± When Yu Ran heard that he could hand in the papers in advance, he immediately handed his exam papers to Teacher Wang, got up and prepared to leave the classroom. After receiving Yu Ran¡¯s paper, Teacher Wang turned to look at Chu Mian and asked, ¡°Chu Mian, will you also hand your papers in?¡± Chu Mian was caught off guard because he was called, ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you have a good time exchanging glances with him just now? If you¡¯ve already finished checking, just hand in your paper. You two can go out and accompany each other.¡± Chu Mian just wanted to say ¡°No¡±, but Yu Ran reacted faster. He strode forward to grab his two exam papers, respectfully handed them to Teacher Wang and said, ¡°Thank you, Teacher, for helping us out.¡± Once they left the classroom, Chu Mian pushed Yu Ran into the corner of the hallway and pressed him against the wall to prevent him from moving. Chu Mian stopped only when Yu Ran said with difficulty that he could hardly breathe. Yu Ran immediately recovered his spirits, and pulled Chu Mian to sit on the windowsill together. ¡°Did you know the answers to all of the questions?¡± asked Yu Ran. ¡°They¡¯re all questions taught during class. Even the final math questions were the same questions from our homework.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Yu Ran was shocked. ¡°Holy shit, then I¡¯m finished, I¡¯ve not even written my own homework.¡± ¡°In that case, serves you right,¡± Chu Mian sneered. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t care about the points given to me for free.¡± Yu Ran moved his neck a few times, ¡°It¡¯s so boring. Chu Mian, let¡¯s compete in cooking up rumors.¡± Chu Mian turned to look at him, ¡°How do we compete?¡± ¡°By seeing who cooks up the fakest rumor. I¡¯ll start.¡± Yu Ran bit his lower lip and fell into thought. ¡°Well¡­ Fang Zhao¡¯s penis is two meters long and usually coiled around his waist.¡± ¡°You¡¯re disgusting.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what he bragged about himself! He said he could grow up to twenty centimeters. I didn¡¯t believe it, so I just said two meters.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s elbow touched Chu Mian, ¡°Well, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Chu Mian pondered for a while, and after a few seconds, he whispered to Yu Ran a rumor he had cooked up. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± Yu Ran was speechless, and at the same time, laughed wildly. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell Fang Zhao that you actually think that his cock is detachable, it¡¯s too much.¡± Chu Mian was a little annoyed: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say we compete by making the fakest rumor? You can¡¯t tell him.¡± The two sat on the windowsill until the end of the exam, and when Fang Zhao finished turning in his papers, they left school together to have dinner. Halfway through, Fang Zhao always felt that the two of them were whispering while he was not paying attention but when he turned around, they acted as if nothing had happened, which was very suspicious. Fang Zhao asked directly: ¡°What are you two plotting?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Yu Ran shrugged his shoulders, his expression innocent, while Chu Mian stared ahead, remaining silent. ¡°Looking at the two of you, it¡¯s just like that 4399¡¯s game¡­¡± Fang Zhao said, ¡°where you¡¯ve to kiss when the boss isn¡¯t paying attention. You can¡¯t be discovered by him. What is it called? ¡®Office Affair¡®?¡± He suddenly stopped in his tracks and hesitantly asked Chu Mian and Yu Ran: ¡°You two just now didn¡¯t¡ª¡± The two of them said in unison: ¡°No!¡± Standing under the sun, Chu Mian¡¯s ears began to turn red, and he later regretted why on earth he was in cahoots with Yu Ran. ¡ª Sure enough, Yu Ran¡¯s stupidity was contagious. CH 15 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Under Fang Zhao¡¯s combined coercion and cajolery, Yu Ran finally told him the truth. Of course, he didn¡¯t directly say ¡°Chu Mian made a rumor that your cock is detachable¡±, but held up a piece of Want-Want Ice Pop to demonstrate to him. ¡°Your part there, is like this.¡± Yu Ran held the two ends of the ice pop with both hands, and snapped them with a ¡°break¡±, making Fang Zhao tighten his legs unconsciously. Fang Zhao looked at Chu Mian in disbelief. Then he tapped Yu Ran on the shoulder with righteous indignation, and reprimanded: ¡°It¡¯s all your fault! The male god was led astray by you!¡± ¡°Come on dude, he¡¯s just revealing his true nature.¡± Yu Ran faced Chu Mian and handed him half of the broken ice pop, only to be met with Chu Mian rolling his eyes in disgust. Yu Ran simply put both pieces in his mouth and sucked. The ice pop melted into water and slowly flowed down its plastic soft shell. Without thinking, he stretched out the tip of his tongue and licked it clean. Chu Mian caught sight of this scene from his peripheral vision and didn¡¯t mind it. However, when Yu Ran took a few sips of iced water and couldn¡¯t help but let out a refreshed sound, Chu Mian hurriedly accelerated his pace and moved a little away from him. Yu Ran held the ice pop shell in his mouth and asked, ¡°What exams do we have in the afternoon?¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°Politics and History, open-book exam. Don¡¯t worry, the main points were all underlined during class.¡± ¡°¨¡iy¨¡, I didn¡¯t underline.¡± Yu Ran looked at the two of them. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry back. Lend me your notes to copy.¡± The three did not stay outside for too long. When they returned to school and walked into the corridor, they found that their class was abnormally quiet. Yu Ran entered through the back door and didn¡¯t see the teacher keeping an eye on the students during the lunch break, but noticed a strange girl. She wasn¡¯t wearing her school uniform and sitting in the middle of the classroom. Yu Ran only saw her back. Her long straight black hair was casually draped behind her, her top was also black, and her thin white shoulders were exposed. Her head was cocked and she was speaking to a slender-eyed girl in the class: ¡°You. Didn¡¯t your parents teach you not to touch other people¡¯s things casually, huh? You don¡¯t even know how to clean it up after using it without permission. Are you deliberately giving others a hard time or are you just born wicked?¡± Yu Ran had never heard such an aggressive tone among his peers, and her every word was sharp and mean. The one who was being scolded by her was a Class Committee member. It seemed that she had never encountered such a situation before, so she just stood there, dumbfounded for a while. The class president Xiang Xuehua couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, so she stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯ve never been to school, that¡¯s why we always use your desk and chair¡­¡± The black-haired girl immediately interrupted her explanation: ¡°Just because I didn¡¯t come to school, do you think you can use my things casually? The desks and chairs are the public property of the school. Except for the teachers who are qualified to sit here for a while, who are you to touch them? You¡¯re the class president, right? Ask everyone who has used my desk and chair to come out and apologize to me one by one, otherwise this matter won¡¯t be over.¡± After she finished speaking, she crossed her arms on her chest and leaned back in the chair impatiently. The classroom was silent, and everyone looked at each other without knowing what to do. The atmosphere solidified to the freezing point. At this moment, a clear male voice was the first to break this stiff atmosphere: ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Everyone followed the voice and looked, and saw Yu Ran walking towards the girl, apologizing sincerely: ¡°I have sat here a few times because my desk was too messy and there was no place to sleep.¡± ¡°To sleep?¡± When she heard the boy¡¯s voice, the girl got even more annoyed, ¡°Don¡¯t you know ¡®men and women are different¡¯? Even if no one has been here to sit before, do you think it doesn¡¯t matter that this might be a girl¡¯s seat?¡± Her brow furrowed as she prepared to unleash a new round of malice. But when she turned around to face Yu Ran and found out that the teenager had such handsome features, she hurriedly swallowed back the harsh words that had come to her mouth. She smoothed out her furrowed brows, waved her hand indifferently at Yu Ran and said: ¡°It¡¯s okay, since you look handsome, I forgive you.¡± ¡ª Directly judging people by their appearance was the basic principle of her life. Jte Zljc tjv yffc rajglcu ja atf ulgi rlifcais fnfg rlcmf tf tjv fcafgfv atf mijrrgbbw. Rbk tf olcjiis mbeivc¡¯a xffq tlr mbbi, rb tf kjixfv bnfg jcv xlmxfv tfg mtjlg. Ktlr jmalbc kjr ajcajwbeca ab qgbnbmjalbc, jcv atf ulgi lwwfvljafis rajgfv ja tlw rtjgqis yfobgf tfg fzqgfrrlbc ogbhf klat rtbmx. Her hostility dissipated without a trace, and her lips trembled as she asked Chu Mian: ¡°Why are you here?¡± Chu Mian looked down at the eyeliner that was smeared at the corner of the girl¡¯s eyes, ¡°Have you been drinking? Go out and wash your face.¡± The girl¡¯s head was a little dizzy. She didn¡¯t know if it was the effect of alcohol or because she saw Chu Mian. She lowered her head and hurriedly bumped through the crowd to get out of the classroom. She didn¡¯t come back for a long time. As if witnessing the end of a farce, everyone slowly returned to their original place. The Class Committee member, who had been scolded the most fiercely by the girl just now, finally remembered to get angry, and began to complain endlessly, and then was persuaded by Xiang Xuehua to review. When the atmosphere of the classroom became lively again, Yu Ran asked, ¡°Who was that?¡± ¡°One of our classmates who had never come to the class¡­ Cui He?¡± Fang Zhao recalled her name and looked at Chu Mian, ¡°Is she okay?¡± Chu Mian took out his History book and handed it to Yu Ran, and replied smoothly: ¡°She just likes to ask for trouble, don¡¯t mind her.¡± Yu Ran asked, ¡°Did you two attend the same school before?¡± ¡°No, but we often participated in competitions since we were young, so we knew each other from early on.¡± ¡°She¡¯s so fierce.¡± Yu Ran lay down on the book and started underlining. ¡°I was shocked just now, I thought she was going to hit me.¡± Chu Mian looked askance at him, ¡°You¡¯ve even beaten the vice principal¡¯s nephew before, what are you afraid of her for?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a female. A big guy like me raising a hand against such a thin girl, if you were in my shoes, would you be willing to do it?¡± The two open-paper exams in the afternoon were very easy, and class notes could be used as answers. Yu Ran motioned to Chu Mian with his eyes to hand in the papers in advance, and the two went to the playground to play badminton. ¡°Finishing Move ¡ª Phoenix Swirling Flame Ball! Look at my move!¡± Yu Ran tossed the badminton cork up high and swung the racket as hard as he could to hit it towards Chu Mian, but it was perfectly caught by the other party before he hit it back. ¡°Damn it, I can¡¯t believe you actually saw through my feint¡­¡± After the continuous exercise, Chu Mian¡¯s cheeks had become warm, and were doused with a faint layer of pink. After playing for several rounds, both of them were tired, and they put down their rackets and gasped for breath. Yu Ran raised his eyes and saw a person sitting on the steps outside the school building in the distance, also looking at this side. He reminded Chu Mian: ¡°Cui He seems to be looking for you. I¡¯ll buy water first and come back later.¡± Chu Mian nodded, picked up the racket for Yu Ran, and walked towards Cui He. Cui He was chewing gum, and her first sentence was the question she had asked before: ¡°Why are you in Chengjun?¡± ¡°Got admitted by passing the exam,¡± Chu Mian sat down and lightly explained, ¡°I overslept during the senior high school entrance examination, so I wasn¡¯t able to solve many questions.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe it,¡± Cui He said without a least bit of hesitation, ¡°How could you make this kind of low-level mistake? You must have taken medicine in advance.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, ask the teacher about my senior high school entrance examination results.¡± Chu Mian took off his school uniform jacket and put it next to him, and lifted the hair on his forehead with his fingers, which made him feel a little cooler. Cui He was silent for a moment. She stared straight at Chu Mian¡¯s face, as if trying to find a trace of guilty conscience in the boy¡¯s eyes. But Chu Mian remained stingy in showing any emotion, which left Cui He helpless. She could only ask him tentatively, ¡°Are you trying to avoid them?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Just your junior high school teachers and classmates,¡± Cui He said, ¡°Don¡¯t you hate them very much?¡± ¡°You were not in the same school as me, so you don¡¯t understand the situation.¡± Chu Mian took out wet wipes and wiped his hands slowly. ¡°Avoiding them or not has nothing to do with it. I can¡¯t get into the city¡¯s top three schools, Chengjun is my real level now.¡± ¡°Nonsense. What about the recommendation?¡± ¡°There was no quota.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There was no quota for me in No. 1 Middle School¡¯s experimental class, and I gave up the recommendation outside Ronggang because I wanted to study science,¡± Chu Mian explained quickly, and without waiting for Cui He to ask, he directly turned the topic to her: ¡°Will you come to class after the exam this time?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Damn, it¡¯s so annoying. My dad actually called the head teacher the day before yesterday to ask about how I was doing at school.¡± Cui He felt agitated. She took out a hairband from her pocket, and tied her hair randomly, ¡°Then he knew that I hadn¡¯t been to class for a month, and almost broke my leg after he returned home.¡± After saying that, she rolled up her trouser legs and made Chu Mian look at the bruises on her skin. Chu Mian frowned. ¡°So how did you ask for leave before school started¡­¡± ¡°Got someone to pretend to be my dad.¡± Cui He sighed. ¡°Forget it, I don¡¯t want to talk about that idiot.¡± Chu Mian retracted his gaze and said to her, ¡°Come to class on time from now on.¡± ¡°How boring¡­¡± ¡°So is acting like a bad girl interesting?¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice was cold, ¡°That look of yours at noon was truly and awfully stupid.¡± This familiar disgruntled tone of his voice made Cui He laugh out loud but in the end, just like how extreme joy begets sorrow, she accidentally swallowed her chewing gum. She immediately pinched her throat and tried to dry heave. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, but the gum eventually slipped down her throat and into her esophagus. She let out a long sigh of sorrow. Then, Cui He remembered another thing: ¡°Who was the handsome guy who played with you just now? Your friend?¡± ¡°Yu Ran.¡± Chu Mian introduced his name to her, and then denied that there was any ¡°friendship¡± between them. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯m more familiar with him recently, nothing more. We can hardly be counted as¡­friends. Anyway, after the students are divided into different classes, we¡¯ll probably not have much contact¡ª¡± Before he finished speaking, a burst of sleepiness hit him quickly. Cui He turned her face to find that Chu Mian had closed his eyes and was bowing deeply. She hurriedly grabbed him by the shoulder to prevent him from falling forward and down the steps. When Yu Ran came back with water, he saw Cui He looking around at a loss. Their eyes met and the girl smiled at him like a natural socializer and beckoned him over to help. Yu Ran walked over without saying a word, put down the two bottles of Maidong on the ground, and raised his hand to take the sleeping Chu Mian into his arms. This action was so natural that Cui He did not react for a moment. Only after a few seconds did she look at Yu Ran blankly and ask, ¡°Are you going to carry him back to class?¡± ¡°Huh? Just let him sleep first,¡± Yu Ran said matter-of-factly, ¡°Leaning on me is so comfortable, so how can I let him lie on the floor.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Cui He was rendered speechless, but she laughed soon after that, feeling that Yu Ran was quite novel. ¡°Are you two friends?¡± Cui He asked the same question to Yu Ran again, and the other party did not hesitate to give her a positive answer: ¡°Of course.¡± Cui He asked again: ¡°At school, do you often take care of him?¡± ¡°More or less, yeah. He sleeps every day.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you find it troublesome?¡± Yu Ran felt puzzled and asked, ¡°What¡¯s so troublesome about this? My eleven-year-old brother is more troublesome than him.¡± When Yu Ran saw the girl laugh, her face looked heroic, gentle and beautiful, just like the heroines of Hong Kong martial arts movies he had seen when he was a child. Cui He stood up, patted the dust behind her trousers, and said, ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll believe you for now. Don¡¯t bully Chu Mian, or I¡¯ll beat you.¡± As she turned around and walked up the steps, she took off her hairband and her hair spread out once again. She took a few steps before stopping, stared back at Yu Ran, and asked again, ¡°Are you really willing to be friends with Chu Mian?¡± Yu Ran looked up, just gave a heavy ¡°En¡±, and didn¡¯t say anything more. But his gaze was sincere enough, so Cui He no longer doubted him and smiled at him before walking away. Chu Mian slept very deeply this time, and during this period, many students who had finished their exam failed to wake him up when they were leaving school. When the last rays of the sun setting on the horizon dissipated, he slowly regained consciousness. He felt that his face was rubbing against a certain familiar cloth, and realized that it was Yu Ran¡¯s. His neck was too sore from sleep and he was too lazy to move, so he continued to lean on Yu Ran¡¯s chest and asked, ¡°Where is Cui He?¡± ¡°Everyone went home to have a meal after school,¡± Yu Ran said softly, ¡°I called you a few times, but you didn¡¯t wake up.¡± Chu Mian closed his eyes to rest, and his voice was a little hoarse: ¡°What did she say to you?¡± ¡°Nothing much, she just asked me if I think of you as a friend.¡± Chu Mian suddenly opened his eyes, and he could smell the refreshing scent of laundry detergent on Yu Ran¡¯s school uniform while breathing in. He straightened up, rubbed his tired shoulders, and changed the subject: ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s not stay out too late.¡± When Chu Mian picked up his school bag and lowered his head, he found that Yu Ran was still sitting in the same place and so he urged: ¡°Not leaving yet? The usual joy in Yu Ran¡¯s voice was absent, and he said in a somewhat strange and low voice: ¡°Chu Mian, I just discovered something.¡± ¡°What?¡± As the night closed in, their field of vision was dark blue, and they couldn¡¯t see each other¡¯s faces clearly. With the cool breeze blowing, Chu Mian unconsciously curled up his fingers, twisting his fingertips and rubbing his palms. Then, he heard Yu Ran slowly say: ¡°You were crying in your sleep.¡± CH 16 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Chu Mian¡¯s chest suddenly became stuffy. He raised his knuckles and touched his eyes, but didn¡¯t find any traces of dampness. It had probably dried up a long time ago. He calmed down and simply found an explanation: ¡°It¡¯s okay, I just had a nightmare.¡± Although he couldn¡¯t remember the specific content, it was ordinary and inevitable to get emotional in dreams. It was just that he was afraid he would unintentionally lose his cool in reality. He especially didn¡¯t want to lose his face in front of Yu Ran, this idiot. ¡°Dreamt of monsters or bad guys?¡± ¡°Probably¡­both,¡± Chu Mian concentrated his attention and recalled. He seemed to have not dreamed of acquaintances for a long time. They were all abstract images of supernatural creatures. Even if he was awake now, he felt extremely disturbed, his heart was floating up and down, and he was unconsciously feeling repulsed by everything he saw. Yu Ran thought of a way for him: ¡°Then¡­why don¡¯t you think about me more?¡± He slung his school bag over his shoulders, picked up Chu Mian¡¯s sportswear and handed it over. ¡°What one sees during the day is what one dreams of at night, so the next time you have nightmares, I can help you fight off the monsters and bad guys!¡± His tone was so serious that Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help laughing, and he replied lightly: ¡°Forget it, dreaming about you is even more terrifying.¡± Anyways, Yu Ran¡¯s serious and stupid words easily pulled Chu Mian back to reality. He put on the school uniform handed to him by the other party, and noticed that the weather had recently started to get cooler. Every day after school, Yu Ran would accompany Chu Mian across the road, and then he would turn back to the bus stop to wait for the bus. The distance from the school to Hanning Mansion was only a few hundred meters, but after getting used to Yu Ran¡¯s presence in the first half of the journey, Chu Mian would feel that time became longer when he went home alone. When passing by the trash can, Yu Ran quietly threw away the ball of paper he had used to wipe Chu Mian¡¯s tears before. Then, he quickly followed up and asked Chu Mian where he would go to have fun during the National Day holiday. ¡°I¡¯ll be reviewing at home.¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to review? Isn¡¯t tomorrow the end of the exam?¡± ¡°There are midterms and finals next.¡± A calendar automatically emerged in Chu Mian¡¯s mind, many days on it were marked with red circles. ¡°I have three types of function problems that I¡¯m not proficient in. The seven days of the National Day will be just enough to consolidate them solidly.¡± Yu Ran gave an unintelligible ¡°ah¡±, then stopped and said, ¡°If you get tired of studying, remember to call me on QQ to play League of Legends. I¡¯ll always be waiting for your call!¡± Chu Mian¡¯s lips curled up. He had found that Yu Ran often turned up his volume while speaking, and he would practically shout the last sentence. He assumed that even Yu Ran hadn¡¯t noticed this small problem. Chu Mian told him: ¡°I can¡¯t play team games. If I fall asleep halfway through the game, I¡¯ll only be a hindrance.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t mind this, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll protect you while I carry everyone.¡± It was ¡°I¡¯ll protect you¡± again, and Chu Mian reflected on these words again and again. He had heard ¡°I¡¯ll protect you¡± many times from Yu Ran. When it came to acting together, Yu Ran was consciously inseparable from him, and would actively ask him ¡°Are you sleepy?¡±, or ¡°Now sleep for a while, I¡¯ll look after you¡±. Although Yu Ran was always very thick-skinned and insensitive, he would show meticulous patience in many small details. If it was someone else who was taking care of him, Chu Mian would have had a strong psychological burden, but Yu Ran had gradually become an exception after they had spent many days talking and laughing. While investigating the reason, Chu Mian thought that it was because Yu Ran¡¯s risk factor seemed to be too low, so he let down his guard. But when he thought about it carefully, Chu Mian actually couldn¡¯t come to a definite conclusion in his heart ¡ª did Yu Ran really have no ill intentions or was he just using his appearance to disguise as someone innocent? ¡°Te Ejc,¡± Jte Zljc olcjiis mbeivc¡¯a tfiq yea rabq jcv mjii tlw. ¡°Lww?¡± Jte Zljc rajgfv ja atf gbjv oliifv klat fcvifrr ragfjwr bo nftlmifr jcv jrxfv, ¡°Ljnf sbe fnfg tjafv batfgr?¡± Te Ejc aliafv tlr tfjv ab gfmjii, ¡°Tfr, P tjnf¡­ yea P mjc¡¯a gfwfwyfg ktb la kjr.¡± Jte Zljc jrxfv tlw jujlc: ¡°Ktfc tjnf sbe fnfg tjafv wf?¡± Yu Ran obviously didn¡¯t react, and after a few seconds, he looked at Chu Mian hesitatingly and shook his head. ¡°Not even once? Or feel that I always trouble you, I¡¯m also a burden when taking physical education classes, and a waste of your time¡­ or something like that, you may feel more or less like this usually, right?¡± Chu Mian sped up his speech a bit, ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can tell the truth, I¡¯m just asking casually.¡± But when his words reached the end, even Chu Mian himself felt guilty when he said the words ¡°just asking casually¡±. He just desperately wanted to get an affirmative answer from Yu Ran. It was best to tell him honestly ¡°Yes, I do think you¡¯re a bit troublesome¡±, or a kind of magnanimous and decent truth like ¡°It¡¯s not too annoying¡±, so that he could rest assured and boldly abandon the idea of making friends with others, and stop wavering for the illusory sense of security in his heart. Yu Ran withdrew his hand from his pocket, walked to Chu Mian, raised his head and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t hate you before, but I hate you now.¡± Chu Mian was stunned, then he pursed his lips in silence. While he was hesitating, Yu Ran suddenly grasped his collar and pulled hard. Chu Mian leaned forward involuntarily and almost hit the other party¡¯s face. ¡°What if you fucking cause me trouble? Can I blame you for it when you¡¯re my friend?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes were firmly fixed on him. ¡°What, do you feel you ¡®owe me¡¯ again? One shouldn¡¯t repeat the same mistake thrice. I didn¡¯t care about it last time, and I¡¯ll forgive you this time, but if you fucking mind about this with me once more, I¡¯m telling you, Chu Mian¡ª¡± The other party¡¯s warm breath was in close proximity, and Chu Mian listened intently to his next words. ¡°I¡¯ll have no choice but to be sworn brothers with you!¡± Yu Ran snorted angrily and let go of his collar. ¡°¡­¡± Yu Ran¡¯s understanding of the friendship between boys was very simple. It was normal for friends to cause trouble with each other. You shouldn¡¯t easily apologize or say thank you. The more polite you are, the easier it is to lose friendship. Brothers should not bother about trifles, and should rely on each other. What he hated the most was when his friends acted estranged from him, treating him courteously like how grown-ups treated each other. Chu Mian lowered his head and smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes. ¡°Also,¡± Yu Ran kicked the tip of Chu Mian¡¯s shoes, and his voice slowed down, ¡°if you encounter unhappy things, feel free to talk to me. Even if you cry in front of me, I won¡¯t laugh at you.¡± When these solemn words fell, Chu Mian¡¯s throat suddenly tightened. He turned his face away, avoided Yu Ran¡¯s gaze, and said softly, ¡°Okay.¡± So far, Chu Mian had not found a standard for how to define the relationship between ¡±friends¡±. He only knew that human feelings couldn¡¯t be controlled, and they would always rush out before rationality perceived them, or converge into streams, or overflow into disasters, or form a dependence on others. And what Chu Mian hated the most was ¡®depending on others¡¯. He hated it. Hated it. Really really hated it. He hated it so much that in the ¡°Annual Summary of Everything That Mi¨¥mi¨¥ Hates¡±, it had the Top 1 spot. He didn¡¯t speak for a long time, and even forgot that it was time to go home now, and only when he heard Yu Ran¡¯s self-satisfied words beside him did he recover¡ª ¡°Heh, as expected of me. A few words can make Chu Mian extremely flattered. My ¡®Talk no Jutsu¡® seems to have upgraded to the maximum level.¡± Chu Mian keenly noticed the word ¡°flattered¡±, so without thinking, he raised his hand and pushed Yu Ran away, telling him, ¡°Stop showering affection on an uninterested party.¡± Yu Ran stared at his eyes: ¡°Why? Didn¡¯t you just feel that I set off a stormy wave in your heart? I think you are ready to submit to me, was I wrong?¡± Chu Mian was most uncomfortable with the other party¡¯s provocative words, so he stretched out his hand to pinch Yu Ran¡¯s soft cheek and twisted it fiercely, ¡°Yu Ran, have some common decency.¡± ¡°You let go. Oh, you won¡¯t?¡± Yu Ran was grinning as Chu Mian pulled his cheeks. At this moment, his eyes dropped down and he stared at the other party¡¯s legs, ¡°You won¡¯t let go, huh?¡± Chu Mian sensed that he seemed to be trying to play that dirty trick again, so he quickly let go of his hand and grabbed his school bag to block the front of his body. This defensive action made Yu Ran burst out laughing, causing Chu Mian to hit him with his school bag in annoyance. Taking advantage of the green light, Yu Ran ran and quickly returned to the bus stop opposite the zebra crossing. Chu Mian breathed a sigh of relief. He looked over and saw Yu Ran standing under the warm yellow street lamp, smiling and waving goodbye to him. The evening breeze was gentle, as always. After the monthly exam, the whole country ushered in the National Day holiday. Yu Ran hadn¡¯t opened his school bag since the start of the holiday. He only played games for several days in a row. When the vacation came to an end, he and Yu Jin wailed together in anguish and the two of them stayed up all night to finish their homework, and continued to catch up the next morning. ¡°Why is there so much homework for Chinese Language? I¡¯m going to die, I can¡¯t finish copying.¡± Yu Ran wrote until he started panting, then threw away his pen and lay on the table. ¡°I¡¯m exhausted. Where¡¯s mom? I want her to come over and help me copy.¡± Yu Jin wiped away his tears and said, ¡°She went hiking with her boyfriend and won¡¯t be back until tomorrow. By the time she comes back, school will have already started.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Yu Ran straightened up in disappointment. He finally finished copying the homework of translating traditional Chinese, opened QQ to look at the homework list in the class group, and immediately felt his head ache again, ¡°Fuck, there¡¯s also homework for Chemistry.¡± And since there were no reference answers for Science homework, he could only do it on his own. Yu Ran scrolled through the chat list irritably, found Chu Mian¡¯s dialog box, and sent a message: ¡°Have you finished writing the homework for Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics?¡± ¡°Let me take a look.¡± ¡°Brother.¡± ¡°Dad.¡± Chu Mian replied, ¡°Why are you in a hurry? It¡¯s not due until after military training.¡± Yu Ran: ¡°Holy shit, I forgot there was military training! Hahahahahahaha!¡± This unexpected surprise caused him to slap the table directly, and he circled around Yu Jin with great vigor, ¡°D¨¬di, you never expected this, right? G¨¥ will abandon you first. ¡± ¡°Then, then you help me write something!¡± ¡°Impossible. In the face of homework, I¡¯ll disown all my relatives and friends.¡± Yu Jin was crying and writing over there, while Yu Ran lay comfortably on the bed with his mobile phone in his hands, and sent a message to Chu Mian: ¡°Bring your Science homework tomorrow.¡± In fact, Yu Ran didn¡¯t have much hope. After all, Chu Mian¡¯s usual mantra was ¡°Dream on¡±, and he always sneered at things like copying homework. But after Yu Ran sent the message, the reply he got was: ¡°You don¡¯t want English homework?¡± ¡°I do!¡± Yu Ran hit a row of exclamation marks in succession. ¡°Chu Mian, from today onwards, you¡¯re my brother from a different mother, thank you Dad!¡± Chu Mian on the other side couldn¡¯t help laughing when he saw this messy address. He put down his mobile phone and got up to organize his homework for all the subjects. During the period, his mobile phone kept ringing on the bed, but he didn¡¯t care much, thinking that Yu Ran was expressing his gratitude again by going out of his way to excessively praise him. When he went over and picked up the phone, he found that it was a message from QQ ¡ª [Classic Motto of Life]: I only believe in three types of people in my life: one is the person who has shared my ups and downs with me, the other is the person who has helped me up when I fell, and the third is the person who never left me even when I had nothing! It¡¯s okay if one doesn¡¯t recognize words but one must not fail to recognize people! Just like how a tree that stands tall will never forget its roots, a person who is glorious should also never be ungrateful! ¡ª The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog @You: For xi¨­ngdi to take a look at! [Hot-Blooded Quotes Book]: What are friends? Friends are like underpants, throughout your significant ups and downs, they will support you. What are Xi¨­ngdis? Xi¨­ngdis are like condoms, no matter how big of a trouble you cause, they will cover for you. If you have friends and xi¨­ngdis around you, share this post! ¡ª The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog @You: Forwarding to my xi¨­ngdi! Yu Ran enjoyed flipping through the quotations from everywhere. Whenever he saw words such as ¡°xi¨­ngdi¡± and ¡°friend¡±, he forwarded it to Chu Mian to see, in order to consolidate the friendship between the two. [The Most Embarrassing Sentence of 2012]: Xi¨­ngdis are like hands and feet, and women are like clothes. A real xi¨­ngdi will be your clothes when you run around naked! ¡ª The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog @You: Support xi¨­ngdi! Chu Mian expressionlessly read all this, and then added Yu Ran to his blacklist without saying a word. Finally, the world turned quiet. CH 17 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans After the autumn rain, the weather turned cold and foggy, and the yellow leaves became sparse. In the early morning, a layer of mist lingered in the school grounds. The first year students, who were about to undergo military training, were gathered in the field outside the school building. Xiang Xuehua counted the number of students twice, but one person had still not arrived from their class. When Bai Yuzhu was ready to contact his parents, Yu Ran finally arrived, dragging his huge luggage. ¡°What are you bringing so much stuff for? Are you moving?¡± Bai Yuzhu looked at Yu Ran as he struggled to lift a 28-inch trolley bag up the steps. ¡°We let you participate in military training so that you¡¯ll be able to bear hardships, but you take it as going to a party, don¡¯t you?¡± After successfully moving the suitcase, Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief. While gritting his teeth, he picked up the heavy hiking backpack on the ground, before replying to the homeroom teacher: ¡°I¡¯ve brought the ¡°English-Chinese Dictionary¡±¡­¡±Oxford Dictionary¡±¡­¡±New Concept English¡±, and listening tapes¡­ One can have a broken head, but one can¡¯t have broken English!¡± As he said this, his body was almost unable to support the weight of the bag, and he was almost lying on the ground with his waist bowed, his back looking like a hill. Even so, he had to hold on and tell the teacher: ¡°The power of knowledge is about to crush me¡­¡± Bai Yuzhu was amused by the look of his flushed face, and personally went to help him hold his luggage. In passing, she told him: ¡°Yu Ran, you¡¯ve to be well behaved during the military training. Don¡¯t get into trouble, otherwise any disciplinary action will be recorded in the file as a serious demerit.¡± ¡°¨¡iy¨­u¡­ I¡¯m not that disobedient.¡± Yu Ran was displeased and felt that she was being long-winded. ¡°I still haven¡¯t finished a bunch of vacation homework, so I don¡¯t have time to do anything else.¡± Bai Yuzhu deliberately stared at Yu Ran fiercely, and pointed a finger towards him as she said, ¡°You better remember today¡¯s words. Also, I¡¯ll ask you one thing. Did you ride the statue in front of the school before?¡± Yu Ran said righteously: ¡°Yes, what¡¯s the matter?! Isn¡¯t the horse for people to ride?¡± Bai Yuzhu was so angry that she almost smacked him. ¡°You¡¯ve really set a great example! Now there are people secretly riding the horse every day, and its base is about to crack. Can those things that are meant to be on display be able to withstand your wild act?¡± ¡°It means that its quality isn¡¯t good. Look at the bronze horse statue on Jiubao Street. I rode it and it¡¯s still fine.¡± Yu Ran was full of innocence and had a strong argument. Bai Yuzhu gave him a fierce look, turned her face to a row of boys in the class and said, ¡°You guys watch Yu Ran, supervise each other, and abide by the rules during military training.¡± After the number of students in each class was counted, it was also time for the bus to depart. Even though the students were already in senior high school, there were still many parents gathered at the entrance of the school, and they would feel relieved only after watching their children get on the bus with their own eyes. Chu Mian was sitting in the first row of the bus, and was organizing his headphone cable with his head lowered. The seat next to him suddenly sank, and he turned his face to see Yu Ran leaning over. He immediately refused Yu Ran coming over: ¡°Don¡¯t sit with me, it feels too crowded.¡± ¡°Fang Zhao insisted on sitting in the last row, and I have motion sickness.¡± Yu Ran put his bag by his feet and took off his camouflage jacket. ¡°Why do you have so little luggage? I¡¯d bought snack boxes but they couldn¡¯t be stuffed in.¡± ¡°All the snacks you bought were puffed food, right? The packaging is full of air. Of course it takes up space,¡± Chu Mian put on the headphones and said casually, ¡°Bringing a few buckets of feed will suit you.¡± ¡°Why, to feed you?¡± Yu Ran leaned back relaxedly, his eyes focusing on the backpack on Chu Mian¡¯s lap. ¡°What did you bring? Is there something delicious?¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t say a word, but directly picked up the bag and placed it on Yu Ran¡¯s lap, tacitly allowing him to rummage through it. Yu Ran opened its zipper and glanced inside, and a golden bottle in one of the compartments attracted his attention. Chu Mian was in the middle of skipping a song when he heard Yu Ran ask loudly: ¡°Chu Mian, why did you even bring sunscreen, huh?¡± Chu Mian pulled off his earphones, feeling surprised. Last night, he had fallen asleep in the middle of packing his luggage, and his aunt had added the rest. He didn¡¯t expect that she would put sunscreen in his bag. Chu Mian grabbed the bottle and stuffed it back into the compartment, and warned Yu Ran in a low voice to not make any noise. Yu Ran was still yelling: ¡°Hey, please don¡¯t say you also put heating pads under your clothes in the winter? If you really do that, I¡¯ll look down on you, Chu Mian. Are you still a man if you¡¯re afraid of the sun and cold wind?¡± He turned his head towards Chu Mian and found that the other party had turned his face away, facing the bus window and ignoring him. After that, no matter what he said, Chu Mian didn¡¯t reply. Yu Ran had to carefully shake the other party¡¯s arm, and confess his mistake in a soft voice: ¡°Okay, okay, I won¡¯t say it anymore. How good is sunscreen! If a man can¡¯t even protect his skin color, what else can he protect?¡± Yu Ran craned his neck to observe Chu Mian¡¯s face and found that his eyes were closed, maybe he was asleep. In order to make him sleep more comfortably and not have nightmares, Yu Ran lowered his head and found the switch to adjust the angle of the seat¡¯s backrest, and held it down without thinking, causing Chu Mian¡¯s seat¡¯s backrest to quickly fall backwards¡ª The girl in the back seat was caught off guard and screamed. Her mobile phone fell to the ground, which caused the earphone plug to fall off. Before Chu Mian could react to the surprise of suddenly falling backwards, he heard a man¡¯s endless moan near his head. The moan was clearly let out in a state of confusion and infatuation, sounding sexy and ambiguous. ¡­No matter how you listened to it, it seemed to come from some R18+ material. Chu Mian suddenly opened his eyes and got up, awkwardly put on his headphones again, and pretended to not have heard anything. Tf Wl ibbxfv vfjatis qjif. Vtf bqfcfv tfg fsfr klvf jcv rajgfv ja tfg qtbcf atja kjr ecvfg Jte Zljc¡¯r rfja, ktfgf atf rmgffc mbcalcefv ab qijs ¡°Vfcrlalnf Ubgcbugjqt¡±, atf DO tfcajl rtf tjv vbkcibjvfv ijra cluta. Aera cbk, gluta ktfc rtf uba ab atf qjga atja wjvf tfg tfjga reguf, atf ogbca rfja revvfcis ofii yjmx, ktlmt rtbmxfv tfg rb wemt atja rtf agfwyifv jii bnfg, tfg qtbcf ofii pera ilxf atja, jcv bcis atf fjgqtbcf mbgv kjr ifoa yfakffc tfg olcufgr. The most terrible thing was that Chu Mian¡¯s seat¡¯s backrest was just in front of her, so there was no room to bend over to pick anything up. She could only listen to the amazing performances of the voice actors in the video. In the stiff atmosphere of the bus, every moan from the anime characters¡¯ voices seemed to slap her fiercely through the air; every gaze directed towards her by the surrounding students were slashes to her self-esteem. ¡ª Wow, the weather today is good enough¡­to directly jump out of the bus and die. In Ye Xi¡¯s blank brain, only this sentence, written in bold letters, slowly appeared. However, this was not the pinnacle of her embarrassment today. After Yu Ran was attracted by these sounds, he tried his best to peek at the phone on the ground through the gap between the seats, and directly sentenced Ye Xi to death with a single sentence¡ª ¡°¨¡iy¨­u, what are they talking about?¡± Ye Xi stretched her legs and escaped into the land of ultimate bliss. Chu Mian hurriedly covered Yu Ran¡¯s eyes, pushed him back to his original position, and hurriedly straightened his seat¡¯s backrest, so that Ye Xi could pick up her phone and put an end to this embarrassing accident. After a long time, the atmosphere in the bus warmed up. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t sit still, and began to harass Chu Mian again: ¡°Do you know what ¡®hentai¡¯ is?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to discuss this with him, and responded coldly: ¡°I don¡¯t want to know.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you some knowledge in this area.¡± Yu Ran rolled up his sleeves enthusiastically. Chu Mian gave an impatient ¡°tsk¡± and pushed him away. Yu Ran kept chattering beside him all the way, telling Chu Mian what ¡°hentai¡± and ¡°ero¡± meant in a serious manner. However, during his explanation, he didn¡¯t delve deep into the topic, but only stayed at the level of noun interpretation. Chu Mian¡¯s face was originally hot, but after listening to him, he calmed down. The bus gradually slowed down and arrived at the military training site smoothly. Yu Ran¡¯s arms crossed Chu Mian¡¯s chest and raised the curtains. Then, he loudly read the words outside: ¡°Ronggang People¡¯s, Defense Education Base.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Civil Defense Education.¡± Chu Mian patted him on the forehead. ¡°Sit down, the bus will continue to drive in.¡± Ten minutes later, the bus stopped steadily, and the students slowly came down to get their luggage. Yu Ran was carrying a mountain-like package on his back and dragging a large box along, so he was unsurprisingly left behind from the group. After Fang Zhao and the others had selected the dormitory, they went downstairs to help him move his things up. ¡°Yu Ran, how is it that I can hear the sound of clanging and banging from inside?¡± A boy asked him. Yu Ran said lightly: ¡°Oh, that¡¯s hot pot.¡± The boy who asked this question was named Zhou Weixi, and he was a classmate who had recently become acquainted with Yu Ran. In fact, at the beginning, the two of them had disliked each other very much. Zhou Weixi had felt that Yu Ran was noisy, fierce, and had the aura of a hooligan, and Yu Ran had felt that Zhou Weixi was too fond of acting like a pretentious prick. From time to time, Zhou Weixi would recite a few ancient poems or English prose, and he always wandered around with a folding fan in his hand, so he looked like he needed a spanking. In the previous History class, Yu Ran had been called again by Brother Xuan to answer a question, and he had stammered and hadn¡¯t been able to say anything, but Zhou Weixi, who was a few meters away, had stolen the conversation, and in the end, even ridiculed him by saying ¡°You don¡¯t even know this.¡± Yu Ran was very upset at that time: ¡°Do I need you to take my place and answer? Why do you have such a bad mouth?¡± Zhou Weixi closed his folding fan lightly, and slowly said, ¡°I think you are wasting too much time. Do you understand?¡± Yu Ran patted his desk and almost wanted to go over and beat him up: ¡°¨¡nd¨¦s¨©d¨¤n your ass. If you¡¯re Chinese, don¡¯t pretend to be a westerner with me!¡± The hatred they had formed in the History class was all resolved in the Physical Education class. The reason was that they had played Happy Corner, a popular and timeless game for middle school boys in the country. In northern cities like Ronggang, this kind of behavior was commonly known as ¡°Conning people¡±. ¡°Con¡±, a verb, referred to the playful behavior of a group of boys lifting a boy and holding his arms and legs to collide or rub his private part against other objects. This ¡°object¡± was mainly trees or railings, but of course, it could also include cacti, mace, or even ceiling electric fans, or another boy¡­ Zhou Weixi was the one who had been ¡°conned¡± the most in the class, because his usual way of saying sarcastic words in an elegant way indeed indicated that he needed some discipline. From the classroom door frame to the multimedia computer, from the central flower bed to the stage, every corner of Chengjun Middle School had been left with the messy traces of Zhou Weixi being conned. This morning, Yu Ran had even suspected that the bronze horse statue at the gate of Chengjun was actually damaged by them playing Happy Corner. In the midst of repeatedly joking and mocking each other, the friendship between young boys always easily increased. Soon, Zhou Weixi gained a nickname, ¡°Zhou Shuren¡°. A few days later, his nickname evolved into ¡°Cha G¨¥.¡± ¡°Cha G¨¥, do you want to sleep in the upper bunk or the lower bunk?¡± Yu Ran placed his luggage and discussed the allocation of bedding with Zhou Weixiu. In the end, the two of them simply went with deciding based on rock-paper-scissors. Yu Ran regretted losing, for he could only choose the upper bunk. He took out the sheets Li Guirong had prepared for him and put them on the bed. Looking up, he found that Chu Mian was in the upper bunk next to him, and their pillows were only ten centimeters apart. Yu Ran crawled forward and asked, ¡°Do you like sleeping on the upper bunk?¡± Chu Mian laid the clean sheets flat and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need to train.¡± Firstly, it was troublesome to climb up to the upper bunk. And after coming back from training, everyone would definitely want to immediately lie down and rest, and would find climbing up to the upper bunk too tiring. Chu Mian was suffering from narcolepsy, and overwork during military training would only aggravate the symptoms. The leader had allowed him to stand aside and learn during training. As the position of the bed was not important to him, he thought it would be better to let others feel comfortable. The instructor blew the whistle in the corridor, urging them to quickly change into their military uniforms and gather outside. Yu Ran rolled up his trouser legs and paired his camouflage suit with white Adidas casual sneakers, which made him look more energetic. Everyone changed into their military uniforms, gathered outside the building, and arranged themselves in line according to their dormitories. The instructor blew his whistle again before shouting: ¡°Those who want to be the dorm head, come out of line!¡± Yu Ran was laughing and whispering with the people next to him when he was suddenly pushed hard on his back, and he stumbled and almost hit the instructor. ¡°Fuck, Chu Mian, you fucking¡­¡± Yu Ran turned his head, gritting his teeth. Chu Mian stood upright and raised his eyebrows at him with a smile. Yu Ran was forced to become the head of the dormitory, responsible for waking everyone up and counting the number of people every day. If anyone in the dormitory made a mistake, he would also be punished. After the election of all the dormitory heads was over, the instructor reinforced discipline and then led the team to a military training mobilization meeting. The male dormitory was far away from the meeting place, and when they arrived, students from many classes had already gathered there. However, in less than a minute, Chu Mian became the focus of the girls around him. Not only did the teenager have handsome facial features, there was also a kind of indifferent and cold arrogance ever present in his eyes. This sense of detachment happened to be the most charming thing in the girls¡¯ hearts. Especially since he was now wearing a camouflage uniform like everyone else, his unique temperament directly made him stand out. They saw Chu Mian occasionally smiling and talking to a boy who was squatting on the ground tying his shoelaces. His expression was not gentle, as if he was sneering at something. When the boy next to him stood up and turned his face, a group of teenage girls¡¯ hearts burst open again ¡ª the boy looked handsome and bright, which was completely opposite of Chu Mian¡¯s temperament. His brows and eyes were full of youthful spirit and wit; although it made him look swift and fierce, he still looked friendly. From the beginning to the end of the mobilization meeting, the two teenagers firmly attracted the attention of the girls of the same age, and some girls thought about writing a note, and giving it to them. However, since Chu Mian¡¯s face read ¡°I don¡¯t want to be approached by strangers¡±, they didn¡¯t dare to talk to him rashly, so they could only focus their target on Yu Ran. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Yu Ran unfolded a note and saw a series of numbers. He couldn¡¯t help but fall into deep thought, then he said in a deep and low voice, ¡°This mysterious number seems to indicate some kind of disaster in the future¡­ Well, I see, thank you for performing this dangerous act of bravely risking your life to convey this message to me.¡± He frowned, then nodded meaningfully at the girls. Chu Mian lowered his head and asked him, ¡°What did they write to you?¡± ¡°A code word.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face was gloomy. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know which organization is targeting me. I¡¯ll study the meaning of these codes later.¡± Chu Mian took the note from his hand, read it and just smiled before giving it back to him. After the meeting, each class was led by the instructor to the dining hall to have lunch. As soon as they got inside, they had to follow a strict sitting posture. Whenever someone laughed, everyone was punished with fifteen squats. When it was time to distribute the dishes and chopsticks, everyone¡¯s legs were a little sore. Chu Mian went back to take a nap early after eating. Not long after Yu Ran and the others rested, they ushered in afternoon training. ¡°Chu Mian, since I, this dorm¡¯s head, won¡¯t be here for a while, you will have to behave yourself.¡± Yu Ran tightened his belt and jumped a few times, then said in a sincere tone, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t open the door if someone knocks, and you also shouldn¡¯t touch the power supply, okay?¡± Chu Mian rolled over on the bed and stared down at Yu Ran. It was rare for him to cooperate with Yu Ran once: ¡°Then remember to carry the key, dormitory head.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s smile deepened at the corner of his mouth, and he hurriedly went out with a water bottle and a folding stool. Chu Mian lay down and closed his eyes, and could vaguely hear the voice of the instructor downstairs giving orders. After a while, it became quiet, and he breathed smoothly, having already fallen asleep. This time, he dreamed that there was a dark blue whale in the sky, wandering among the clouds, and it seemed to be crying. It was a pity that as a human, he couldn¡¯t hear the ultrasonic waves it emitted, so he could only follow it all day and night. The dream had no emotions, it started silently, and ended smoothly. The time in the real world was slowed down by it, extending from noon to dusk. When Chu Mian woke up, it was almost dark. The light was not turned on in the dormitory, and when he got up to stretch, he found that a cell phone screen was lit up below. ¡°Why are you alone?¡± Chu Mian asked him, ¡°Turn on the lights.¡± Yu Ran put away the phone and went to press the switch. When his field of vision suddenly turned bright, Chu Mian squinted and just sat on the bed for a moment, before opening his eyes to look at Yu Ran. He smacked his tongue, turned his face to the wall and said, ¡°Yu Ran, put on your pants.¡± ¡°What ¡®put on your pants¡¯? I¡¯m about to take a bath. I didn¡¯t come back to call you.¡± Right now, Yu Ran was wearing only a black vest, with a pair of briefs underneath, and his two slender and fair legs were completely exposed. He took the shampoo and shower gel he had brought, and raised his head to urge Chu Mian: ¡°Come with me, there¡¯s hot water now. It¡¯ll definitely turn cold if you go later.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t go.¡± Chu Mian lowered his head in order to avoid seeing Yu Ran¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the teacher¡¯s dormitory to bathe in a while. I¡¯ve already told the History teacher about this earlier.¡± ¡°Ah? Why won¡¯t you wash with us?¡± Yu Ran looked at him strangely. ¡°Are you afraid of us seeing ¡®it¡¯?¡± It was a matter of dignity. Chu Mian¡¯s nerves were tense, and he almost blurted out: ¡°Don¡¯t you already know the size?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Yu Ran had almost forgotten that he had personally felt Chu Mian¡¯s thing. ¡°Well, it¡¯s as if you¡¯ve raised a gourd kid, seven flowers on a vine. Chu Mian clenched his fists while sitting on the bed, and his knuckles cracked crisply. He couldn¡¯t wait to turn his head and scold the other party, but as soon as he changed his line of sight, he was met with Yu Ran¡¯s two bare legs again. The youth was slender and well-proportioned. His leg muscles were just right, neither too thick nor too thin. His legs looked a bit skinny when standing ramrod straight. He must have hurt himself a lot, because his knees were white with a touch of red. When Chu Mian¡¯s words came to his lips, they turned into an impatient sentence, ¡°Yu Ran, put on your pants.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve to take it off after a while anyway, so putting it on now is really troublesome.¡± Yu Ran pulled off the towel. ¡°What are you doing? You don¡¯t want to take a bath with us and you¡¯re also asking me to wear pants. Are you crazy?¡± Chu Mian calmed down and said, ¡°It¡¯s you being shameless.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Yu Ran put the basin in his hand on the ground, quickly walked to Chu Mian¡¯s bed, raised his head and said threateningly, ¡°Do you or do you not believe that I¡¯ll just take off my underwear now? Chu Mian, if you take a look at it, you¡¯ll also be shameless!¡± As he said this, he lifted the edge of his underwear with his fingertips. Chu Mian quickly closed his eyes and turned his face to the side. He felt his bed swaying, and when he listened carefully, he found that Yu Ran was trying to climb up to his bed. ¡°Yu Ran, you go down!¡± Chu Mian closed his eyes tightly. His face was completely red up to the roots of his ears, and then he said the word ¡°go away¡± for the first time in history. He knew that Yu Ran had already climbed up, for the other party¡¯s breathing was very close to him, and perhaps he was still naked. His nerves were tense, and he heard Yu Ran whisper ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid¡± beside him. ¡°¨¡iy¨¡, I¡¯ll stop teasing you. Look how scared you are.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s arms were propped up on the bed board, and Chu Mian could feel the other party¡¯s breathing when he laughed beside his ears. ¡°I¡¯ve covered it with a towel, so even if you want to see it, I won¡¯t show you.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s eyebrows slightly smoothed out, but he still didn¡¯t believe Yu Ran and kept his eyes closed. ¡°Here¡¯s milk for you,¡± Yu Ran placed it on Chu Mian¡¯s quilt. ¡°Don¡¯t you drink it every day at school? As it happens, there are some shops close to our military training base, so I bought it for you.¡± In Chu Mian¡¯s daily diet, milk was absolutely indispensable, but it was inconvenient to carry liquid in the suitcase, so he had decided to endure it for a few days. Only when his stretched out hand touched the straw on the milk carton, did he slowly open his eyes and glanced down at Yu Ran on the bedside, who was indeed honestly using a towel to wrap his lower body. ¡°Why not take a bath together?¡± Yu Ran stared at his face. ¡°It¡¯s very fun when everyone is washing together.¡± When Chu Mian thought about the structure of the public bathhouses in the north, he felt conflicted. He couldn¡¯t accept standing naked in front of so many people. It was like stripping off one¡¯s demeanor and dignity in front of others. Yu Ran carefully looked at Chu Mian¡¯s dodging eyes and couldn¡¯t help asking: ¡°Chu Mian, are you shy?¡± CH 18 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans The huge male bathhouse was filled with dense water vapor, and the voices of the boys laughing and fighting echoed endlessly. Yu Ran rubbed his face as he went in with a basin to change his clothes. Fang Zhao had taken up two more shower seats in advance. Seeing Yu Ran come alone, he asked where Chu Mian was. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to wash with others ¡¯cause he feels ashamed.¡± Yu Ran turned on the shower, and warm water gushed out. ¡°We are all men, what¡¯s there to be ashamed of¡­ Oh, I see.¡± Fang Zhao¡¯s face was covered with shampoo foam, and he squinted his eyes to face Yu Ran. ¡°Is Chu Mian afraid of ¡®picking up soap¡¯, huh?¡± ¡°What does that mean? I always see this phrase on the internet.¡± Fang Zhao felt that this topic was quite difficult to explain in a public place, so he quickly rinsed the foam on his face, moved two steps toward Yu Ran, and whispered: ¡°When you¡¯re taking a bath and bend over to pick up soap, your butt will be facing others, and then you¡¯ll be taken advantage of!¡± His expression and the final words were quite intriguing. Yu Ran pondered it twice, and then asked Fang Zhao: ¡°How do you get ¡®taken advantage of¡¯?¡± Fang Zhao smiled mysteriously: ¡°This can only be understood and not explained.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Yu Ran raised his hand and neatly knocked Fang Zhao¡¯s soap box to the ground, ¡°You can teach it by showing an example.¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°Fuck!¡± A piece of milky white Safeguard drifted on the slippery floor and moved slowly along the water towards Fang Zhao¡¯s feet. His scalp suddenly tingled and his legs unconsciously clamped together. Yu Ran laughed: ¡°You fucking show it quickly.¡± ¡°You, do you think this can stump me?¡± Fang Zhao was unwilling to show weakness. He first looked around and made sure that there was no suspicious person around him. Then he straightened his back and took a deep breath, before bending his knees forward, and kneeling on the ground with a ¡°thump¡±, his face neither haughty nor humble. He laughed out loud: ¡°Haha! Yu Ran, you didn¡¯t expect it, did you? How can I really bend over to show you?¡± However, when his fingertips were about to reach the soap in front of him, Yu Ran raised his leg and kicked it away. With the help of the accumulated water on the floor, the white soap bar slid directly into the center of the crowd and stopped in front of the Class 2¡¯s tough and stocky class president. ¡°Yu Ran, you fucking¡ª¡± Fang Zhao was shocked. Yu Ran laughed so hard that his shoulders shook and he had to hold the wall to stand up. He watched as Fang Zhao very bravely went over, did a split in the crowd in order to pick up the soap, and finally slipped back to him as if fleeing, swearing several times in a row. ¡°Yu Ran, you just wait. Later, I¡¯ll call some people to have you conned!¡± Fang Zhao flew into a rage from shame and said harshly, ¡°Con a trash can! Con a tractor! Con a light bulb!¡± Without waiting for Yu Ran to finish bathing, he hurriedly packed up his toiletries, grabbed the towel, and walked away. Before he knew it, there were fewer and fewer people in the bathhouse. Yu Ran was drenched all over. He didn¡¯t rush to use the shower gel, but first enjoyed the touch of the warm water flowing across his skin, making it feel weak and numb. He was pouring water while being in a daze, his thoughts lightly entangled with the air. The pain on his cheeks had long since disappeared. Yu Ran unconsciously raised his hand and pinched it where Chu Mian had pinched it just now. Then he laughed softly, feeling that Chu Mian really was a strange boy. He was different from all the classmates he had met before. He was always very reserved and elegant. He didn¡¯t even hit hard when fighting, and pinched other people¡¯s faces at most, which was ridiculously childish. But sometimes he was very domineering, standing by his words and telling others what to do and what not to do, just like a dignified adult. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but recall Chu Mian¡¯s usual actions, and when he came back to his senses after he laughed foolishly, he realized that he was the only one left in the bathroom. It was getting dark, and the temperature had dropped a lot in the autumn night. It was a bit cold for Yu Ran to walk outside wearing only a black tank top, and he felt a bit more comfortable when he was back in the dormitory. He looked up and saw Chu Mian sitting on his bed in his pajamas, playing with his phone. His hair was fluffy, it seemed that he had just taken a shower from the teacher¡¯s dormitory. ¡°Hey.¡± Yu Ran raised his arms to Chu Mian, signaling him to twist his arms. Chu Mian frowned before letting go of his phone. Then, he held Yu Ran¡¯s forearm as if completing a daily task, and warned him at the same time, ¡°Be quiet, don¡¯t make a sound.¡± Yu Ran felt that the feeling of his arm being tightened was simply more comfortable than a massage. He had looked for many boys in the class to cooperate with himself, but only Chu Mian¡¯s hand strength was just right every time, neither light nor heavy, which made him feel refreshed and particularly content. After his arm¡¯s meridians were ¡°opened up¡±, Yu Ran moved to the side with great energy to flip through his luggage, and then climbed onto the bed with a pen and paper. Chu Mian thought he was making up his homework for the National Day holiday. After a while, he took a closer look and found that Yu Ran was sketching on the bed, with a 2B pencil in his hand, and he had lowered his head to trace the lines without any distractions. Yu Ran, who had just taken a bath, had a red nose and all the hair on his forehead was lifted back, making him look very competent. Chu Mian usually saw more of his careless and casual side, so now when he saw Yu Ran¡¯s serious expression, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. Lbkfnfg, Jte Zljc vlvc¡¯a vlraegy tlw ys wjxlcu j rbecv. Lf pera delfais ibbxfv ja Te Ejc¡¯r jaafcalnf jqqfjgjcmf jr tf xfqa vgjklcu, fgjrlcu, jcv wbvloslcu. Ktfc, Te Ejc ibkfgfv tlr tfjv jcv yifk bc atf regojmf bo atf qjqfg, jcv atf fgjrfg rtjnlcur gbiifv abkjgvr Jte Zljc¡¯r yfv. Jte Zljc lwwfvljafis sfiifv ¡°Te Ejc¡± lc vlruera, gertfv bnfg ab qlmx eq tlr qliibk, jcv xfqa qjaalcu atf rtffar klat tlr qjiwr. Yu Ran laughed wildly, threw the pen on the bed, then stretched himself hard. Chu Mian glared at him, then looked down at the paper, ¡°What are you drawing?¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°I¡¯m just drawing randomly.¡± Chu Mian recognized that it was a sketch of a gypsum geometric shape. He had seen many of them in Chu Heng¡¯s sketchbooks since he was a child. Although he was a layman in fine arts, he could also judge that Yu Ran¡¯s sketching was very standard, so he asked him, ¡°Have you ever studied drawing?¡± ¡°No.¡± Chu Mian wanted to say something, but hesitated and did not continue. He didn¡¯t want to praise Yu Ran to his face saying something like ¡°Then you are quite talented¡± and so on, lest the other party get carried away. Perhaps because it was the first day of military training, the instructors were fairly tolerant, and only called everyone out to do dozens of squats at night before letting them go back. After turning off the lights, Yu Ran played with his mobile phone on the bed, and heard the movement of the instructors going from room to room to check the bed and give instructions. As a dormitory head, Yu Ran had to remind everyone to pay attention to put away their phones. After the room was dark, he asked a question out of the blue: ¡°Do you guys think¡­when the instructor comes to check on us, he will find me if I stand behind the door?¡± The room was quiet for a few seconds, then the others laughed and rebuked Yu Ran with ¡°stupid¡± and ¡°you¡¯re crazy¡±. ¡°I¡¯ll try, don¡¯t expose me by laughing later.¡± The more Yu Ran thought about it, the more he felt that his proposal was feasible. He quickly got out of bed excitedly and stood quietly behind the door. His ears were against the wall, and he felt the instructor¡¯s footsteps getting closer. Creak¡ª Bright hallway lights rushed in as the door was pushed open. ¡°You guys are quite obedient here.¡± The instructor saw that there was no light from cell phones in the room, and was very satisfied. ¡°Good good. Tomorrow I will praise you guys individually for playing a very good role and setting an example.¡± At this moment, there was only the door between Yu Ran and the instructor who was talking. If the instructor opened the door at a larger angle, he would definitely feel that someone was hiding behind the door. This tense and exciting feeling stirred everyone¡¯s nerves, and Yu Ran bit his lower lip to keep himself from laughing out loud. But the happiness didn¡¯t last long, and the instructor¡¯s next words froze his smile¡ª ¡°Who is the dormitory head? Get out of bed and come out for a meeting.¡± The instructor waited, but no one answered. He felt strange: ¡°Where is the dormitory head? Asleep?¡± Yu Ran wanted to beckon them to get up and pretend to be him, but the lights in the room were all off, and with only the light from the corridor, they could not see each other¡¯s expressions clearly. The instructor urged again, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and slowly move from behind the door towards the instructor: ¡°It¡¯s me¡­¡± When a ghost-like figure suddenly appeared in front of him, even the instructor, who had seen the wind and waves, was taken aback. ¡°You, what are you doing?¡± Not surprisingly, Yu Ran was taken out by him and severely criticized. When he came back, the dormitory was filled with a cheerful atmosphere. ¡°Fuck, you guys have no tacit understanding with me at all! Just now, why didn¡¯t anyone come out to replace me?¡± Fang Zhao laughed so hard that his stomach hurt, and told him while stammering: ¡°We would have, but we all wanted to see you get caught hahahaha¡­¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± Yu Ran remembered the course of events just now, and laughed out loud along with them. After going to bed, the boys chatted in small voices again, and before long they all fell asleep. The snoring of Zhou Weixi and the other two boys was so loud that Yu Ran couldn¡¯t sleep and he stared at the darkness in a daze, bored out of his mind. He turned his head and asked Chu Mian, who was next to his bed, ¡°Are you awake?¡± Soon, the other party let out a deep ¡°En¡±. Yu Ran did not feel sleepy at all. He turned over and lay on his stomach before asking again, ¡°Wanna go out for a walk?¡± ¡°What do you want to do again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s boring, they¡¯re too noisy, and I don¡¯t want to sleep either,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°When we came here this morning, I saw a lake in the woods, it looked like a park. Wanna go and have a look?¡± Chu Mian actually did not care about the surrounding environment, but he slept too much during the day and suffered from insomnia almost every night until late night. Instead of listening to the deafening snoring of others in the dormitory, he might as well take the risk to go out and kill some time with Yu Ran. The two quietly got up, put on their jackets and shoes, and left the dormitory with very light steps, crossed the corridor, and walked outside. ¡°Wow, there really is no one in the middle of the night.¡± Yu Ran began to get excited again. The base¡¯s road was very quiet. They deliberately avoided the building where the instructors were resting, and detoured into the woods. There was indeed an artificial lake in the center, which was very small and the water level was not high. The road lamps were faint white, attracting flying insects to collide against them. Yu Ran found a bench and sat down, and called Chu Mian to come over. ¡°I almost laughed to death in the dining hall earlier tonight. There was a boy in Class 3 who was too fat to fit into the pants he was given. He had only taken a breath and a button popped out. The instructor was talking, and the button flew directly into his mouth.¡± Yu Ran laughed heartily, and was reminded by Chu Mian to restrain himself so that they would not be discovered. ¡°It¡¯s okay to be discovered. You can¡¯t be punished for not sleeping, right?¡± ¡°This is discipline, Yu Ran,¡± Chu Mian said softly, ¡°Even if it¡¯s just not sleeping, it¡¯s still a mistake, so it¡¯s not strange to get punished for it.¡± Yu Ran turned his face to look at him and asked, ¡°Then since you know, why did you still come out with me?¡± Chu Mian remained silent, as he looked straight at the calm lake ahead. The water only reflected the light of the road lamps, and when you looked up, you would find that it was cloudy tonight; there was no moon, let alone stars, and there was only a bleak night sky. In the silence, Chu Mian heard Yu Ran¡¯s clear voice: ¡°Chu Mian, what do you want to do when you grow up?¡± The faint night breeze swept across the back of his neck, and Chu Mian shrank his neck unconsciously. ¡ª What kind of person do you want to be when you grow up? In the past, Chu Mian didn¡¯t put the matter of ¡°growing up¡± into consideration. Since birth, he had been able to see the world higher and farther than his peers. Whether it was talent, family background, or any other precious things that others had been longing for, they were all at his fingertips. All the conditions he had were the best, and he firmly believed that he would never need to wait for the ¡°best time¡± like others. So the word ¡±growing up¡± did not have much special meaning for him in the past. ¡°I want to be a doctor,¡± Chu Mian replied after taking a deep breath, ¡°Preferably in neurology.¡± Yu Ran nodded, ¡°It¡¯s related to your sleeping sickness, right?¡± ¡°En, after all, we still don¡¯t know what its pathogenesis is, nor can it be cured.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s line of vision gradually turned lax. ¡°The doctor had said that many people will recover automatically when they grow up, but he did not say how many years old is considered ¡®grown up¡¯. If you are a little bit unlucky, you might have to sleep like this for the rest of your life.¡± Yu Ran stared at the distinct contours of Chu Mian¡¯s side profile, opened his lips, and said, ¡°Have you ever met someone like you?¡± ¡°Not yet, but this is certainly not a rare disease.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s tone was very confident, ¡°Narcolepsy is very common abroad, but in China, there are very few people diagnosed with it. Also, no one will go to the hospital just because they sleep too much. Anyone who sees this kind of person will only find it strange and feel that this person is very lazy, and perfunctory in everything he does.¡± After a pause, he continued: ¡°There is almost one in every two thousand people who suffer from narcolepsy. This figure is much higher than that of a real rare disease. What¡¯s more, this is only the number of people diagnosed in China. Most of the patients actually unknowingly¡ª¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice stopped abruptly, the Adam¡¯s apple of his throat rolled up and down. He felt that his emotions were fluctuating, so he didn¡¯t really want to finish his sentence. Most of the patients actually unknowingly¡ª Reproach themselves and blame themselves, unable to understand themselves. Watching their grades regress, screwing up the simplest things, accepting the cold ridicule of others, arguing with friends and family¡­ So many ¡°people of the same kind¡± had similar experiences. Their originally beautiful lives get shattered by their sleep little by little. They could only curl up during the day, and be lonely at night. ¡ª But it was obviously not their fault. ¡°That¡¯s why, I want to be a doctor.¡± In the quiet night, Chu Mian repeated again. Yu Ran knew that majors like Medicine and Finance required high grades, so of course he could understand why Chu Mian was racing against time to study every day. ¡°Then which college do you want to go to?¡± ¡°Peking Union Medical College.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it. It must be the best, right?¡± ¡°Until this year, probably. Maybe it¡¯ll change in 2015.¡± ¡°I knew it,¡± Yu Ran laughed, ¡°You¡¯d definitely want to go study in the best one.¡± Chu Mian lowered his head and raised the corners of his mouth. When talking about his goals in front of Yu Ran, he would easily get the other person¡¯s affirmation. Because Yu Ran basically had no idea about the college entrance examination scores, he would not know how difficult it was for a narcolepsy patient to achieve high goals. But even if the other party was ignorant, Chu Mian was willing to hear Yu Ran¡¯s trust in him. ¡°It¡¯s a coincidence, I also want to take the entrance examination of schools in Beijing.¡± Yu Ran leaned back in his chair comfortably, looking up at the gray night sky. ¡°Do you know the Central Academy of Fine Arts?¡± ¡°I know,¡± Chu Mian replied. He, of course, remembered the place from where his aunt had graduated. ¡°Baidu said that this is the best school for painting.¡± Chu Mian thought of the gypsum geometric sketch that Yu Ran had done today, and asked him, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you haven¡¯t studied it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true that I haven¡¯t studied formally, but my Master has taught me before,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°He said that in painting, practice makes perfect, so he asked me to practice more, and there are also many online tutorials. There¡¯s no need to go to the studio before the third year of senior high school.¡± Chu Mian turned his face and glanced at him. ¡°Do you want to be an illustrator?¡± ¡°I want to be a manhua artist.¡± Chu Mian had heard from his aunt before that the domestic manhua industry was very narrow, and the possibility of taking this as a career and being successful was very slim. Most of the manhua artists would transition to illustration or design. He wanted to tell this to Yu Ran, but just as he opened his mouth, he immediately held back. Just as Yu Ran trusted him, he didn¡¯t want to say anything that would disappoint Yu Ran. After thinking about it, he seriously told Yu Ran, ¡°You sketch very well, better than those who have studied formally.¡± ¡°No, I think it¡¯s very bad.¡± Although Yu Ran said so, the luster in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Inevitably there¡¯ll be a day when I¡¯ll improve to a very good level.¡± Chu Mian had thought that Yu Ran would be complacent after hearing the compliment, but he did not expect him to be unexpectedly humble in this regard. ¡°Then which kind of manhua do you want to draw?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Like ¡°One Piece¡±.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t heard of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®H¨£iz¨¦iw¨¢ng¡®! How come you don¡¯t even know its real name?!¡± ¡°Oh.¡± When Yu Ran mentioned something he liked, his eyes would always gleam especially brightly. Chu Mian looked sideways at Yu Ran¡¯s smile, but what appeared in his mind was the appearance of him lying on the bed and concentrating on sketching not long ago, expressionless, calm and steady. Chu Mian felt that he might have seen another side of Yu Ran that no one had ever seen before. Yu Ran had restrained himself from publicizing his talented side, and this was more eye-catching than any unrestrained behavior. It was also at this moment that Chu Mian reflected on this fact ¡ª however rather slowly ¡ª it turned out that he was talking about his dreams with Yu Ran. Everything that was hidden in the softest corners of his heart had, unknowingly, been revealed to Yu Ran. When he was in a daze, Yu Ran had clenched his left hand into a fist and raised it to the height of his chest. ¡°Since we both want to take the entrance examination of schools in Beijing, let¡¯s make a promise to see each other in three years.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian came back to his senses and looked him straight in the face. Although there was nothing wrong with the current atmosphere, the fact that two boys were sitting here in the middle of the night with their fists raised, to ¡°promise¡± on something¡­was a little weird and shameful. But in the end, Chu Mian stretched out his right hand, and clenched it, before gently bumping into Yu Ran¡¯s fist. The teenagers¡¯ joints were interlocked, and the space in between their fingers had the same temperature. Chu Mian suddenly felt his chest getting warm, and everything becoming clear at once. He wanted to talk to Yu Ran, but now he couldn¡¯t lift his head, his eyelids slowly closed, and his body fell unconscious. Yu Ran hurriedly opened his arms to embrace him. Chu Mian fell asleep smoothly, as his head rested on Yu Ran¡¯s shoulders. Yu Ran felt his warm breath rubbing against his skin, which felt as comfortable as the temperature of the water in a hot bath. Now that he was the only one who was still awake, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but smile dumbly. Then, he leaned close to Chu Mian¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°Good night.¡± CH 19 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°Have you guys heard?¡± ¡ª What? ¡°Two boys were caught sleeping in the woods last night.¡± ¡ª Really? ¡ª Fuck, so exciting. ¡ª Someone from our school? As soon as the sky turned bright in the wee hours of the morning, the girls¡¯ dormitory was already engaged in chatting in a lively manner. Ye Xi wasn¡¯t familiar with anyone in the room. To be precise, she was ignored by them. So she couldn¡¯t participate in their conversations and could only prick up her ears and listen quietly. ¡°They¡¯re from our grade. My boyfriend said that in the morning, he saw the director and the group leader go to the instructor, in order to plead for the two boys.¡± ¡ª Tsk tsk. ¡ª Huh? Can two men really do it? ¡ª I¡¯ve never seen a gay guy in Ronggang. Ye Xi eavesdropped while changing her clothes, and used a shirt to block the deeply raised corners of her mouth. As a fan of the fictional 2D world, the type of manhua she usually came into contact with the most was ¡°BL¡±. Because the works in the ¡°Boys Love¡± genre was very niche at present, she could hardly find people with the same interests as her in real life, but watching two boys fall in love could bring her supreme happiness. Therefore, when her classmates felt unbelievable about ¡°Two boys meeting in the woods in the middle of the night¡±, Ye Xi only felt that they were shallow and ignorant. It was just two boys who were in love, what was there to fuss about? A sense of superiority spontaneously arose in her heart. When she was smiling secretly, a pillow flew over from above with a powerful lethality, and it accurately hit the girl who was talking loudly. ¡°You¡¯re a group of blabbermouths. Since you guys fucking know how to babble early in the morning, you may as well go out and crow with the chickens!¡± Cui He, whose eyes were still heavy with sleep, suddenly startled everyone when she roared with rage in a husky voice. After a while, the people below cursed in a low voice but she turned a deaf ear, turned over and continued to sleep. Half an hour later, the girls who had finished washing lined up at the meeting place under the orders of the instructor. The boys had already been lined up early, and judging from their grim expressions, it seemed that something bad had happened. The girls came to line up and found that there were two boys in front who were being punished with push-ups. Judging from the fact that their speed was gradually slowing down, the punishment should have been going on for a long time. At this moment, one of the boys raised his head to talk to the instructor, and they recognized that it was Yu Ran. ¡°Just punish me, what does it have to do with him?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s voice clearly reflected his lack of physical strength, but his tone still remained unruly. ¡°I¡¯d forced him to accompany me out, threatening him that I¡¯d beat him up if he didn¡¯t obey. It¡¯s not like he voluntarily¡ª¡± ¡°Yu Ran, stop it,¡± Chu Mian gently interrupted him from the side, ¡°There are thirty push-ups left.¡± The instructor paced up to the two teenagers and sneered: ¡°Not bad, it¡¯s said that you see who your true friends are when you go through tough times together, so you didn¡¯t sleep for nothing.¡± These words surprised the students who were watching. Many people didn¡¯t know what had happened to Chu Mian and Yu Ran. Only a few people in the 206 girls¡¯ dormitory looked at each other and smiled. The corners of Ye Xi¡¯s mouth froze. She had not expected that they were the two boys who had met in the woods. Although she wasn¡¯t surprised, she couldn¡¯t feel excited either. After all, as soon as she saw them just now, the feeling of embarrassment of dropping her mobile phone yesterday started to spread over her again. The matter concerning her self-dignity was obviously much more important than watching others fall in love. The push-ups of the two boys became slower and slower, and in the end they were almost lying on the ground. The instructor was lenient and ended today¡¯s punishment ahead of schedule, leaving the rest for tomorrow. Anyway, before the end of the military training, they would each have to complete 500 push-ups. When Yu Ran got up, he was unsteady on his feet and Chu Mian supported him by putting his hand on the small of his waist. This little action caused the breathing of the ¡°informed¡± girls to stagnate. Since they knew that the two were hugging and sleeping in the woods in the middle of the night, any simple interaction between them could make their imagination run wild. On the way to the dining hall for breakfast, Yu Ran was in good spirits. He was already chatting and laughing with the people around him. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you guys snoring as loudly as honking pigs, would the two of us have any need to go out and stay in the middle of the night? Especially the Great God who can¡¯t wake up even after we shouted and screamed, I thought you were pretending to be asleep.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s sore arms were hanging on both sides of his body, and his walking was a little wobbly. ¡°Fuck, this dormitory head is giving you an order. You can sleep only after I fall asleep tonight, do you hear?¡± Zhou Weixi said: ¡°I can understand going out in the middle of the night, but what¡¯s the matter with you two sleeping outside without coming back?¡± ¡°You ask him,¡± Yu Ran raised his arm strenuously and patted Chu Mian¡¯s back, ¡°Who told him to fall asleep while talking.¡± Chu Mian retorted, ¡°Me falling asleep gave you the reason to fall asleep as well?¡± ¡°Damn, I¡¯d have carried you back, but I couldn¡¯t lift you, okay?! Be content, Chu Mian, at least I didn¡¯t leave you there alone.¡± Fang Zhao asked curiously: ¡°So what on earth were you two talking about in the middle of the night yesterday, in order for you to get so carried away with the conversation?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s a secret between men,¡± Yu Ran said with a smile. Sometimes, like a child hiding a beloved toy and refusing to share it, Yu Ran liked to keep his precious memories to himself, so it went without saying why he would refrain from mentioning his dream promise with Chu Mian. From the moment their two fists met, Yu Ran had believed that something known as a ¡°bond¡± had grown between them. After a meal and a rest, it was time for training again. Because of the serious mistake made last night, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t stay in the dormitory to rest and had to train outside. The fellow classmates were goose-stepping in the sunlight, while Chu Mian was in the shade, resting his cheeks in his hands in a daze, dozing off from time to time. ¡°Strict requirements! Study hard! Win glory for the school! One, two, three, four¡ª¡± Marching back and forth, the team shouted slogans in unison, and everyone meticulously completed the command issued by the instructor. Every time Yu Ran did goose-stepping, his arms could not be raised to the standard height. The instructor knew that he was too tired from the push-ups in the morning, so he turned a blind eye and didn¡¯t give him a hard time. But when the company commander and Chengjun school leaders came to inspect, Yu Ran who was standing on the far right side of the team would undoubtedly stand out, so the instructor had no choice but to show a non-discriminatory attitude and be strict with him. In front of the leaders, Yu Ran was punished with squatting while holding his head. When the company commander and the others walked away, the instructor hurriedly let him go to the side to rest. Yu Ran¡¯s legs and joints were very sore and painful and as soon as he walked up to Chu Mian forcibly, he immediately relaxed and fell forward. Chu Mian stood up in advance to hold him firmly, and then helped him sit down. ¡°I think my limbs have been severed, just like five horses splitting the body.¡± Yu Ran fell weakly on Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder, groaned a few times in pain, and suddenly remembered something, ¡°Hey, which parts of the body are the five horses tied to in ¡®Five Horses Splitting The Body¡¯? Two arms, two legs, and¡­¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be¡­¡± As he said that, Yu Ran lowered his head and stared between his legs, and a chill went down his spine. ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s too cruel!¡± Chu Mian sneered: ¡°You really don¡¯t have an IQ, you¡¯re better off without your brain.¡± Yu Ran suddenly realized: ¡°Oh, there¡¯s still the head.¡± With Yu Ran accompanying him, Chu Mian¡¯s probation period finally didn¡¯t seem as long anymore. They tacitly didn¡¯t mention last night¡¯s incident, as if they really didn¡¯t have to say anything, but both of them attached importance to the promise they had made under the night sky. As long as they trusted that the other party would go all out to achieve their goal just like they would, it was enough. The sun was shining brightly, and the morning training was about to come to an end. The instructor whistled for them to join the team and go to the dining hall. Yu Ran stood up with trembling legs, grabbed Chu Mian, and whispered, ¡°My legs are broken, I can¡¯t walk.¡± The two exchanged glances, and Chu Mian saw the other party snickering. Yu Ran¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t look like he was suffering at all. After understanding Yu Ran¡¯s meaning, Chu Mian gave him a helpless look, then bent down, and said, ¡°Come up.¡± Yu Ran laughed heartily. After his little scheme succeeded, he exhausted his last bit of strength to pounce on Chu Mian¡¯s back and found that the other party¡¯s shoulders were wider than he had thought, so he immersed himself in lying on Chu Mian¡¯s back with peace of mind. When he spoke, he could smell the fragrance of shampoo left between Chu Mian¡¯s hair, and he closed his eyes as if he could see a sweet and fragrant honey peach, which was crunchy and juicy when bitten into. ¡°Chu Mian, let me ask you a question.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s a sudden zombie virus outbreak in the military training base, there¡¯s no means of transportation, and the surviving humans doubt and kill each other, then would you be willing to be bitten into a zombie, or keep your sanity and find a way to escape to a safe city?¡± Of course Chu Mian would choose the latter, but his first reaction was actually to ask Yu Ran: ¡°Then are you a zombie or a human?¡± Yu Ran answered matter-of-factly: ¡°I¡¯m the protagonist who would save the world. I have antibodies in my blood.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian was silent for a few seconds, and then after serious consideration, he said, ¡°Then I¡¯m a vampire. I¡¯ll bite you first and take a sip of your blood.¡± Yu Ran did not expect this kind of setting: ¡°Fuck, who allowed you to add drama without permission?¡± The two chuckled and accused each other of having too much of the Protagonist¡¯s Halo. When Chu Mian was walking on the road with Yu Ran on his back, he kept on hearing the movement of someone running a few paces behind him. He didn¡¯t care at first, but after a while, he saw a group of shadows on the ground closely chasing after them. He turned around vigilantly with Yu Ran on his back, only to see Cui He holding her mobile phone in one hand and waving her other hand hard in the air. She ran in front of them from behind with an unkempt appearance while laughing wildly. Her slender body leapt to a high platform with agility, like a dedicated war reporter. Even though she was laughing until she trembled, she did not forget to aim her phone¡¯s camera at Chu Mian and Yu Ran. ¡ª Then under Chu Mian¡¯s cold gaze, she slipped and fell from the platform, screaming. Yu Ran opened his eyes and saw a group of dark and unidentified objects falling from the sky. He was so shocked that he hurriedly shouted in Chu Mian¡¯s ear: ¡°Zombies are here! Escort the Emperor! Escort the Emperor!¡± ¡°This is a female ghost.¡± Chu Mian looked down at Cui He who was lying on the ground. ¡°What do you want?¡± Jel Lf iloafv atf wfrrs tjlg lc ogbca bo tfg ojmf, jcv atf olgra kbgvr rtf rjlv kfgf ab rtlgx gfrqbcrlylilas: ¡°Memx, lrc¡¯a la rb P mjc rtbba sbe uesr!¡± Jte Zljc ibbxfv ja tfg tfiqifrris: ¡°¡­kts jgf sbe rtbbalcu?¡± ¡°Tbe jmaejiis tjnf j vjs ktfc sbe mbcvfrmfcv ab mjggs rbwfbcf bc sbeg yjmx.¡± Jel Lf uba eq jcv rkfqa atf vera ogbw tfg ybvs nlubgberis, yfobgf qlmxlcu eq tfg wbylif qtbcf ab mbcalcef gfmbgvlcu. ¡°Lbk mjc P fjrlis ifa ub bo klacfrrlcu atf clcat kbcvfg bo atf kbgiv?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also honored to meet the protagonist of ¡®Resident Evil 6¡ä,¡± Chu Mian said with a nod. Cui He¡¯s phone rang, and the system prompted that there was not enough memory, so she turned it off angrily, and followed them to the dining hall. She stroked her hair and said, ¡°You two are really wild. Isn¡¯t it too cold to go to the woods in the middle of the night to have a secret love affair?¡± A few certain words she spoke stirred Chu Mian¡¯s nerves, and he immediately frowned and retorted: ¡°I had just accidentally fallen asleep, nothing more.¡± Cui He: ¡°Why does your tone sound like you are a little disappointed?¡± ¡°¡­Get lost.¡± When they reached the entrance of the dining hall, Chu Mian slowly bent down to put Yu Ran down. ¡°Not bad, I¡¯ll appoint you as my exclusive mount today.¡± Yu Ran patted Chu Mian on the shoulder. ¡°Go ahead, the dining hall is full of my rewards for you.¡± Chu Mian, without saying anything, stretched his arms to strangle Yu Ran¡¯s neck and hooked him as they entered the door. The two of them were walking staggeringly, and almost ran into others head-on. Yu Ran was messing around with a soft voice when a masculine and heavy voice suddenly called out to him from behind¡ª ¡°Yu Ran?¡± He subconsciously turned back and saw a familiar face. Chu Mian felt Yu Ran¡¯s shoulders tightening, so he couldn¡¯t help but put his arm around him, before asking, ¡°An acquaintance of yours?¡± Yu Ran said ¡°En¡± lightly, his face was as usual and he said: ¡°You go first, I¡¯ll say a few words to him and then find you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Chu Mian retracted his arm and walked directly to the table where the other boys in the dormitory were sitting. As soon as he left, the smile on Yu Ran¡¯s face immediately faded and he turned to look at the boy who had called him to stop. ¡°Long time no see, I almost didn¡¯t recognize you just now.¡± The tall, dark boy grinned, and looked up and down at Yu Ran. ¡°You¡¯ve grown taller, Yu Ran.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t have the patience to pay attention to his odd way of speaking, nor exchange pleasantries with him, so he said calmly, ¡°What¡¯s up, Huang Feng? I want to have breakfast with my friends.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the hurry? We¡¯ve finally met again, so why don¡¯t we come out to reminisce about our old days?¡± Huang Feng smiled and shook his head. The wrinkles in the corners of his eyes were deep, making him look threatening beyond his age. Yu Ran pursed his mouth, ¡°If you have nothing else¡ª¡± ¡°Come out.¡± Huang Feng was still smiling, but his eyes couldn¡¯t hide his hostility. Yu Ran took a deep breath, followed him out of the dining hall, avoided the crowded road, and turned towards a small road. When the surrounding environment quieted down, Huang Feng slammed a punch towards Yu Ran¡¯s head without saying a word, but unexpectedly fell through. He shook his arm, nodded, and said, ¡°Not bad, Yu Ran, you¡¯ve made progress. Now you know how to dodge.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t fight during the military training, Huang Feng.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face was expressionless. ¡°My homeroom teacher won¡¯t let me. If you want to fight, then you can make an appointment next week.¡± Huang Feng mocked while laughing, ¡°Would you fucking die if you stop showing off?¡± ¡°I¡¯m indeed a bad student,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°but not as much as you.¡± Huang Feng clenched his fists and pressed his knuckles, making several clear pops in succession. Yu Ran saw the school uniform shirt exposed at the collar of his camouflage uniform had the school badge of No. 72 Middle School on it. The bad reputation of this school in Ronggang was second only to No. 44 Middle School. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to settle accounts with you now, but you still need to remember, as you sow, so shall you reap.¡± Huang Feng stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯ll make you never dare to act like a pretentious prick again in your whole life, Yu Ran.¡± He cast a fierce look, and before leaving, he didn¡¯t forget to hit the opponent¡¯s shoulder hard. Yu Ran was indifferent, he was only thinking about going back to the dining hall to eat with Chu Mian and the others. When he went back, everyone had almost finished eating. A few people were washing the dishes, leaving Chu Mian to accompany him. Chu Mian kicked him lightly, ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Junior high school classmate.¡± ¡°It seems like the two of you don¡¯t have a good relationship.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Yu Ran put down the soup bowl. ¡°We had a fight, and I fractured a bone.¡± Chu Mian frowned and asked, ¡°For what?¡± ¡°A girl.¡± Chu Mian was dumbfounded. This answer was outside his expectations. He always thought that Yu Ran was a guy who was emotionally dull to the opposite sex, and naturally he couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of girl this stupid person would like. Chu Mian asked in a deep voice: ¡°Who won?¡± ¡°Of course, I won.¡± Yu Ran took out a tissue from Chu Mian¡¯s pocket and wiped his mouth. ¡°Although I didn¡¯t win by using force, since then¡­ the students in No. 44 Middle School started to listen to me.¡± Chu Mian was not interested in the process of Yu Ran dominating the school. What he cared more about was the result of the fight for the girl: ¡°So did you talk to her?¡± ¡°Talk about what?¡± Chu Mian wanted to say something but stopped, because he just couldn¡¯t say the word ¡°love¡± in front of Yu Ran. He always felt that it didn¡¯t match Yu Ran¡¯s temperament at all, and he didn¡¯t want to discuss such silly topics with other boys. It was just that¡­ It was just that his impression of Yu Ran had become too different, which made him very curious. While Chu Mian was still hesitating on how to say it, Yu Ran had already thrown away the tissue and gotten up, ¡°I¡¯m full, let¡¯s go.¡± On the way back to the dormitory, Yu Ran grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s arm with interest, and started the sitcom topic: ¡°If you fall asleep now, and wake up with no one around you, and you go back to the dormitory and find no one there, and your phone doesn¡¯t have a signal, and you search every corner of the base, but can¡¯t see even a trace of people. Then, please listen to the question¡ª¡± ¡°Yu Ran,¡± Chu Mian suddenly interrupted him, then continued the previous topic, ¡°That girl¡­ What was she like?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The one you fought for.¡± Yu Ran waved his hand and told him the truth: ¡°I don¡¯t remember what she was like, I even forgot her name.¡± This nonchalant appearance stunned Chu Mian, and then his thoughts about the other party became even more complicated. But if he thought about it, he could understand ¡ª which of the students who could live a carefree life in the No. 44 Middle School was not cynical? Perhaps in the eyes of such people, playing with girls¡¯ hearts would give them bragging rights. Chu Mian was quite disgusted with this kind of behavior, but the strange thing was that if this happened to Yu Ran, he felt that the other party just had a bad memory. After the topic was brought up, Yu Ran began to recall his time in junior high school: ¡°When I was in my first year of junior high school, I thought that anyone who could be the Boss of the school was fucking awesome, but then I found out that they are just like that¡­ For example, the idiot you just met, and Cai Hanchuan from our school, they¡¯re all mentally retarded.¡± Chu Mian chuckled, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that all the students in the No. 44 Middle School listened to you?¡± ¡°Nonsense, can I be the same as them?¡± Yu Ran rolled up his sleeves. ¡°I became the Boss by virtue of my charisma! I also raised the average score of our grade with my own power!¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t believe his nonsense. ¡°Elaborate.¡± Yu Ran whispered: ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t fight very much in school before, especially in the third year of junior high¡­¡± This wasn¡¯t a lie, he had been really well-behaved in the year of the senior high school entrance examination. He didn¡¯t arrive late nor leave early, and even did his homework after going home. He wanted to take the senior high school entrance examination, because only then could he be qualified to enter the Central Academy of Fine Arts he yearned for. There were very few girls in the No. 44 Middle School, but there was one in his class, and she seemed out of place among the boys. She never talked to others, kept away from everyone, always wore a mask, and studied silently. The first time Yu Ran spoke to her in the three years of junior high was when she begged him to help avoid Huang Feng¡¯s harassment. There were a few tears on the girl¡¯s delicate face. Although Yu Ran usually did not have a high desire to protect the opposite sex, he had no reason to refuse when he saw someone crying for help. Huang Feng was the school¡¯s gang leader at that time. He was probably tired of fighting, and became interested in females in his third year. He saw a girl in the school wearing a mask every day and forced her to take it off. When he found that she looked good, he forced her to date him. The girl didn¡¯t dare to worry her parents, and she couldn¡¯t count on the teachers, so she was forced to find the tallest boy in the class. Yu Ran went to Huang Feng alone, and then there was no suspense ¡ª he was completely suppressed by his opponent¡¯s force. However, in Ronggang, fighting was not purely about the pursuit of real fighting to the point of losing one¡¯s life. On the contrary, the more hotheaded the people were, the higher the position they occupied. Especially teenagers like Huang Feng, who really wanted to ¡°mix in the society¡±, subconsciously distinguished themselves from ordinary hooligans, and paid great attention to the so-called ¡°Gangster Rules¡±. At that time, half of Yu Ran¡¯s arm was stained with blood, and he had fallen to the ground for a while, before he got up with a struggle and continued to clench his fists. Huang Feng repeatedly knocked him down several times, but at last he got annoyed and let him go, but Yu Ran turned a deaf ear to him, got up and threw a contemptuous sentence in a hoarse voice, ¡°If you have the ability, beat me to death.¡± After he finished saying this, he fell to the ground from exhaustion. He stretched his body and blocked Huang Feng¡¯s path in full view of everyone. With so many pairs of eyes around him, Huang Feng hesitated. If he stepped directly over Yu Ran and left, it would mean that he didn¡¯t dare to really beat Yu Ran to death. As a gangster in Ronggang, if he admitted that he was not courageous enough and was guilty of wimping out, it would be far more humiliating than being beaten to a bloody pulp. Huang Feng knew that he had met a tough opponent. He squatted down, patted Yu Ran¡¯s face, and asked, ¡°Do you have a crush on her too?¡± Yu Ran just shook his head, his injured throat was hoarse: ¡°I promised her that I¡¯ll make you stay away from her¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ I have to keep my promise.¡± Huang Feng was immediately annoyed, and he couldn¡¯t tell where the anger in his heart came from. He just knew that he had lost this fight. Unless he really killed Yu Ran, he had no chance of winning from a moral point of view. ¡°Get lost.¡± After that day, the students in the No. 44 Middle School unanimously determined that Yu Ran was qualified to carry the school¡¯s flag, and they all followed him willingly. On a sunny afternoon, Yu Ran stood on the roof of the school building with a loudspeaker and shouted, ¡°Brothers¡ª¡± There were endless cheers downstairs, and everyone was waiting for him to give orders. ¡°It¡¯s the third year of junior high school! Study hard!¡± Immediately, everyone below started scolding him. ¡°Hey, Chu Mian, do you think our senior high school entrance examination papers were difficult? After I finished the exam, I heard other students say that they couldn¡¯t solve the questions, but I found them very easy¡­¡± Yu Ran stretched his back and walked into the dormitory building. ¡°Is it because I have a talent for learning?¡± Chu Mian avoided answering his question, his thoughts were diverted by another matter. ¡ª There was no inconsistency in my perception of Yu Ran. Sure enough, this Muggle and the word ¡°love¡± don¡¯t match. After all, he himself hadn¡¯t experienced the feeling of liking others yet. If Yu Ran was ahead of him in this aspect, Chu Mian would have had a strong sense of frustration. Of course, he didn¡¯t want to be distracted before the college entrance examination. No matter how good a girl appeared, he believed that he would be able to be indifferent towards her. In the afternoon training, Yu Ran again had a sore waist and leg pain. He couldn¡¯t concentrate, moved half a beat slower than others, or made wrong movements. In the evening, he sat on the lower bunk, and after careful consideration, proposed to everyone: ¡°Shall we ask for rain?¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°How to ask? By throwing dry ice towards the sky?¡± Yu Ran picked up his phone, found a photo of Jam Hsiao on the Internet, placed the phone on the table respectfully, and surrounded it with snacks. He told everyone: ¡°Come on, let¡¯s kowtow to the Rain God.¡± The crowd scoffed at his superstitious behavior, and only one person came over obediently and knelt on the ground with him. ¡°Look at Zhao Wuli guys, obeying my command.¡± Yu Ran, the dormitory leader, praised the other person heavily, ¡°Such a collective sense of honor.¡± However, when Yu Ran turned around again, he found that Zhao Wuli had already torn open the tribute to the Rain God and started eating it. Fang Zhao walked over to get something, and saw that Yu Ran¡¯s suitcase was open, and there was a pot and an induction cooker in it. ¡°You fucking brought these. Aren¡¯t you afraid of getting punished?¡± Yu Ran asked him back: ¡°What? Hot pot or punishment, which is more important? Isn¡¯t hot pot worth taking risk for?¡± ¡°What about the ingredients? You wouldn¡¯t have brought meat in your suitcase, would you?¡± ¡°Meat should of course be eaten fresh ah¡­¡± Yu Ran said as he pulled out a knife from the compartment of his suitcase. ¡°Come over here, Di¨±g¨¥.¡± ¡°Fuck, go away!¡± Fang Zhao was indignant. ¡°The Great God¡¯s meat is thick, you cut his.¡± Yu Ran stopped joking, put away the dangerous weapon, rubbed his shoulders, and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t they studying Agriculture in senior year two? When my legs don¡¯t ache anymore, I¡¯ll go there with Chu Mian to steal some vegetables, and after we come back, we can eat hot pot.¡± Chu Mian, who was lying on the bed, immediately refused with a calm expression on his face. Fang Zhao said solemnly: ¡°You two haven¡¯t finished the push-ups punishment for staying out in the night, so don¡¯t go to steal vegetables first.¡± The next morning, the Rain God¡¯s power didn¡¯t show its effect. Everyone got up and got dressed in disappointment, and suddenly heard Yu Ran groaning in pain: ¡°Fuck, why does my leg ache even more than yesterday?! Which one of you secretly hit me in the middle of the night!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just lactic acid buildup,¡± Chu Mian explained indifferently, ¡°You can ask for leave from the instructor.¡± As long as he didn¡¯t need to bear the mental torture of training, Yu Ran would rather endure the physical pain. In order to show that his legs were too painful to move, he begged Chu Mian to carry him to the instructor. The instructor glanced at them, then quickly closed his eyes, and waved his hand and shook his head, allowing them to stay aside. Sitting on a folding stool, Yu Ran kept hitting his sore spots in an attempt to fight poison with poison. Tired from sitting in the same position, he raised one leg and put it on Chu Mian¡¯s knee. Chu Mian didn¡¯t bother to push him away, so Yu Ran became insatiable. Using his identity as the dormitory head, he ordered Chu Mian to massage his legs. Without saying a word, Chu Mian pinched him hard. Yu Ran immediately wailed, successfully attracting the attention of the people around him. Only then did they realize that not only the instructor was nearby, but the company commander of the base and the leader of Chengjun School were also walking their way, staring closely at the posture and movements of the two. Yu Ran realized that the situation was not good, so he quickly put down his legs and sat upright. But it was too late. This time, the company commander decided to personally teach the two of them a lesson: ¡°Have you finished the five hundred push-ups?¡± Neither of them said a word. ¡°Then a thousand!¡± The company commander was furious. ¡°Get up, finish it today!¡± Yu Ran bit his lip and got up, but Chu Mian held his shoulders down, and said: ¡°Yu Ran has a muscle strain, he can¡¯t do it.¡± The company commander didn¡¯t show any kindness, and only logically said, ¡°Then you can do his share.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t hesitate, and directly leaned over on the ground, thinking about the number in his heart. Seeing the anxious expression on Yu Ran¡¯s eyes, the company commander ordered him: ¡°Don¡¯t you like to stick to him? Go and sit on his back.¡± Yu Ran was taken aback, and curses immediately came to his mouth. Fortunately, Chu Mian spoke in time to draw his attention back: ¡°Yu Ran, listen to the company commander.¡± Yu Ran reluctantly stood up and walked to Chu Mian¡¯s side. He didn¡¯t sit down directly, but kept a slight distance from Chu Mian¡¯s back, to avoid putting his weight on the other party. But his foul play was very obvious to the bystanders. In order to prevent the two of them from being punished more, the instructor simply came over and sternly advised Yu Ran: ¡°If you want to release his burden, you should be well-behaved and listen to your superior. He told you to sit down, so you should just sit down!¡± Yu Ran remained silent and straightened his neck. Chu Mian felt his rebellious mood and had to call him softly, ¡°Yu Ran, sit down.¡± Only then did the young man¡¯s expression ease. He endured his irritability, and pressed down his body weight. Chu Mian usually exercised a lot at home, but since he was afraid of accidents during military training, he didn¡¯t bother to train with everyone. With his arm strength and waist strength, he could do standard push-ups even if he was bearing Yu Ran¡¯s weight, but he knew that Yu Ran was worried about him, so he also became restless. ¡°Stop!¡± A few minutes later, the company commander finally gave the order. Just as Yu Ran was about to get up, Chu Mian propped up on the ground, and reminded him again: ¡°Don¡¯t move, he didn¡¯t tell us to get up.¡± The company commander paced around them, warning them loudly and at the same time letting everyone hear: ¡°In the army, discipline is above all else! Military orders must be obeyed and cannot be resisted! Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards¡­¡± He admonished all the students present about the importance of discipline articulately. Yu Ran listened absently, his eyes all focused on Chu Mian, and he didn¡¯t even notice that the company commander had already arrived in front of him. ¡°You,¡± a loud voice resounded above his head, ¡°You¡¯re a student in the experimental class, and you must play an exemplary role! Don¡¯t let others think that you can only study!¡± Yu Ran raised his head in surprise. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to, ah.¡± Chu Mian frowned, ¡°Don¡¯t talk back.¡± Yu Ran immediately closed his mouth and looked directly into the company commander¡¯s eyes. When the company commander finished speaking, his anger subsided, and the two of them were finally able to get off and stand up, but they were punished with writing two thousand words of review. They needed to go back and write it now and hand it in tonight. After leaving the sight of the leaders, Yu Ran rushed up and asked Chu Mian with concern: ¡°Does your back hurt?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°And does it hurt when you bend over?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Ran put his mind at ease, grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s wrist, and said with a smile on his face, ¡°Then, let¡¯s go steal some vegetables.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian was speechless and turned his head to stare at Yu Ran in surprise. ¡°Why are you staring at me? Didn¡¯t I say yesterday that I wanted to eat hot pot?¡± ¡°You¡ª¡± Chu Mian was rendered speechless by his innocent reaction, and nearly collapsed suddenly from weakness in his limbs. ¡°Yu Ran, is it your hobby to court death?¡± ¡°My hobby is to eat hot pot.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s eat when we go back, I¡¯ll take you to eat.¡± ¡°No,¡± Yu Ran giggled, ¡°It¡¯s exciting to eat in the dormitory.¡± Chu Mian really wanted to punch him right now. Today, the sky was clear, the wildflowers on the roadside had long decayed, and the withered grass swayed in the wind, waiting for the rebirth of spring. On the way to the field, Yu Ran chattered endlessly: ¡°Look at you, always like this. Your mouth says no, but your body sure is damn honest. You obviously want to eat hot pot, but I still have to beg you to come along.¡± Chu Mian was no longer in the mood to care about him, and secretly planned to beat up Yu Ran one day, but Yu Ran¡¯s physique was too resistant to being beaten, and it was very likely that Yu Ran would even enjoy getting beaten at the same time. In short, the other party was a troublesome Muggle. When they reached the vegetable shed near the base, Yu Ran stopped. He let Chu Mian stay in the same place to act as a lookout, and went in to poke around by himself. Chu Mian came along because he was worried that Yu Ran would cause trouble if he went by himself, but no matter what he didn¡¯t want to do anything like stealing, so he was okay with helping him by keeping an eye on things. After Yu Ran went in, Chu Mian squatted on the ground alone to pick up some stems. He picked up two stems and linked them like the way chain links were linked together. In one hand, he held both ends of one stem and in the other hand, he did the same with the other stem. Then, he exerted force outwards. When one of them got broken, he went to find a new one, and repeated this again and again, to verify which stem was the most invincible of them all. After breaking dozens of stems, pressure marks had appeared on his fingers. He looked up and finally saw Yu Ran leisurely walking towards him. ¡­leading a donkey by the reins. Chu Mian put the stems into his pocket, strode forward and slapped Yu Ran¡¯s hand holding the reins, and yelled at him with a cold expression: ¡°Let¡¯s hurry back.¡± ¡°Donkey meat is delicious!¡± Yu Ran deliberately licked his lips. Seeing Chu Mian¡¯s handsome face gradually showing anger and irritation, Yu Ran was afraid that the other party would be offended, and quickly told the truth: ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be angry, this donkey was lent to me by the vegetable growing uncle. He let it carry meat and vegetables. Look¡ª¡± Yu Ran turned around and lifted the cloth on the back of the black donkey. ¡°He also sent me some condiments. Do you eat coriander?¡± Chu Mian turned his face away, and Yu Ran picked up a cabbage and stuffed it into his arms. ¡°Carry this.¡± The two hurriedly returned to the vicinity of the dormitory building, and Yu Ran asked Chu Mian to go upstairs with all the ingredients, while he went back by himself to return the donkey. Chu Mian went up the steps of the building and looked around to check for any instructor or teacher, but suddenly noticed a familiar figure on the other side of the perimeter wall. This was the male dormitory, and girls were not allowed to enter and leave. Offenders would be punished with at least 50 squats. When Chu Mian saw that Cui He seemed to be arguing with someone, he hesitated for a few seconds before walking over to confirm the situation. ¡°At any rate, shouldn¡¯t you at least pay fucking attention to proceeding step by step in a relationship? We confirmed our relationship just yesterday and have yet to hold hands, but you want to use your mouth already?¡± Cui He stroked her hair impatiently, and squinted at the boy in front of her. Cai Hanchuan smiled crookedly, grabbed her slender wrist hard, and spoke in a low voice: ¡°You mean like this? Baby, come over and open your mouth.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t touch me.¡± Cui He shook him off. ¡°We¡¯re breaking up, I don¡¯t want to talk to you.¡± Cai Hanchuan¡¯s expression turned dark. He clasped Cui He¡¯s jaw with his palm, and forced her to look at him: ¡°Fuck, we¡¯ve only been together for less than 24 hours, are you playing with me?¡± Feeling that he was going to force himself upon her, Cui He was a little out of breath and stared at him with wide eyes: ¡°You, you have to follow a process for falling in love! So much intimacy in the beginning of a relationship, which girl can stand it¡ª¡± Before she could finish her sentence, the pain in her jaw abruptly decreased, and Cai Hanchuan¡¯s hand suddenly broke away from her. Something flashed across her eyes, and then she heard a ¡°bang¡±. When she looked up, she saw Cai Hanchuan¡¯s head being held down and slammed straight into the red brick wall once again. Debris fell from the wall rapidly, making a rustling sound. Cai Hanchuan saw stars and couldn¡¯t react to what had happened for a long time, until he heard Cui He calling ¡°Chu Mian¡± from behind. Cai Hanchuan had some impression of this name. He had also acknowledged many girls in his grade as his younger sisters. From the beginning of school year to the present, they had successively sent confession letters to a boy in senior year one, but all the love letters were like stones dropped into the sea ¡ª there was no response at all. Cai Hanchuan had originally wanted to help them teach this kind of pretentious junior a lesson but later, because of a conflict with Yu Ran, a group of teachers stared at him every day. He had no chance to stroll around the first year students, so he had to give up. ¡°So it¡¯s fucking you.¡± Cai Hanchuan¡¯s anger had reached its peak, which he tried his best to suppress. He looked up and stared dead at Chu Mian. ¡°You know me?¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t let go of his hand, he just raised an eyebrow at him. Cai Hanchuan sneered: ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I know? You¡¯re in the first year experimental class, a classmate of Yu Ran, that trash.¡± He clenched his fists, ready to do his best to smash Chu Mian¡¯s delicate face in the next second. However, before the corners of his mouth were raised, the other party had already pulled his hair and ruthlessly slammed his head against the wall again. Cai Hanchuan instantly lost his voice. When his ears were ringing, Cai Hanchuan felt the boy leaning towards his ears and saying slowly: ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with you calling Yu Ran a trash, but don¡¯t compare him with me.¡± Cui He glanced nervously at Chu Mian¡¯s face from the side, and couldn¡¯t help but persuade him: ¡°Chu Mian, forget it, pay attention to your emotions.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Chu Mian glanced at her. ¡°I¡¯m in a pretty good mood right now, I haven¡¯t vented in a long time.¡± Cui He¡¯s heart sank and she sighed deeply. She knew that Chu Mian was not someone who liked violence, and he was usually well-behaved. Ever since he suffered from narcolepsy, he always forced himself to maintain a peaceful state of mind ¡ª he avoided getting angry, and didn¡¯t easily express joy and sorrow, so as not to aggravate the symptoms. But being calm on the surface did not mean that he could completely digest his negative emotions. Once these energies accumulated to a critical point in the teenager¡¯s body, they would be ignited and get out of control. Until it got cleared, his state of mind wouldn¡¯t get better. Today, Chu Mian was angry with Yu Ran many times, and he was worried that he didn¡¯t have a sandbag to vent himself with during military training. But he didn¡¯t want to hurt Cai Hanchuan too much, so he pulled the other party¡¯s hair, pressed him firmly to the ground, and calmly discussed: ¡°In the future, it¡¯s better not to bully the first years. What do you say, senior?¡± Cai Hanchuan felt a chill down his spine. His heart was palpitating, and the pain of his Adam¡¯s apple against the ground made him want to vomit. ¡°Yu Ran told me that he didn¡¯t fight back because of his belief. It¡¯s stupid, right? I know you think so, because I think so too.¡± Chu Mian looked down at Cai Hanchuan, and added weight to his palms, causing the other party¡¯s face to grind over the rough gravel on the ground. ¡°Obviously there¡¯s only one reason why he didn¡¯t fight back¡­ that is, he can¡¯t beat you.¡± Cui He tilted her head to the side, unable to look at the scene, but she could still hear Cai Hanchuan¡¯s groans of pain. After a while, she said cautiously: ¡°Chu Mian¡­ I think it¡¯s time to stop.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The teenager stood up, took out a tissue to wipe the dirt on his palms, and commented on her boyfriend-selection criteria in passing: ¡°You always have such bad taste.¡± Cui He stared at Chu Mian intently, and tentatively asked, ¡°What were you laughing at when you hit him just now?¡± Chu Mian paused, and replied in confusion, ¡°I didn¡¯t laugh.¡± Cui He was stunned, suspecting that she might have seen it wrong. Chu Mian picked up a few plastic bags on the ground, held a cabbage, and said, ¡°I¡¯m going back first. I still have to write a two thousand word review.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Cui He nodded, ¡°What are you holding in your hand?¡± ¡°Hot pot ingredients.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cui He was puzzled. ¡°Ea-eating hot pot in the military training dormitory?¡± Chu Mian coughed. ¡°Yu Ran came up with the idea, it has nothing to do with me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Cui He looked at Chu Mian¡¯s clearly expectant expression. She couldn¡¯t believe that he would do such a rebellious thing. ¡ª It was so out of mind that it could be included in the ten wonders of the world. CH 20 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans After the training, the boys went back to their dormitory one after another. When they entered the door, they saw Yu Ran lying in front of the table and cutting vegetables. A hot pot had been placed in the middle of the aisle, and the water had just reached the boiling point and began to churn ¡°burble burble¡±. Yu Ran cut the ginger slices, turned around and threw them into the pot, then asked Chu Mian, who was doing nothing next to him, to pour the hot pot base ingredients. Chu Mian moved very slowly. No matter what ingredients he took, he had to read the instructions first. He seemed to be completely unfamiliar with them. ¡°Yu Ran, are you really going to do this in the dormitory?¡± Fang Zhao entered the door in a daze, and then faced Chu Mian. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop him?¡± Chu Mian calmly said, ¡°You think I can stop him?¡± Yu Ran rolled up his sleeves and sat down before dividing six sets of bowls and chopsticks. He smiled and said to Fang Zhao: ¡°You worry about this and that every day, just like my mother. Don¡¯t worry, you guys just have to eat. If something happens, I¡¯ll be responsible for it.¡± Fang Zhao exhaustedly hung his head and quickly turned back to lock the door. The others cheered for Yu Ran¡¯s boldness and picked up the chopsticks unceremoniously. Zhou Weixi put the pork slices in. ¡°It¡¯s actually a mandarin duck hot pot, you¡¯re so well prepared.¡± Yu Ran explained casually: ¡°Well, Chu Mian can¡¯t eat spicy food.¡± Being suddenly named, Chu Mian lost his original train of thought. He quietly watched Yu Ran¡¯s profile, and after a while he also sat down to help put the vegetables into the pot. Fang Zhao confirmed that the door was tightly closed before returning to sit down and asked, ¡°Where did the meat come from?¡± Yu Ran licked the tip of his chopsticks and said: ¡°I took your dick off yesterday and cut it while you were asleep.¡± Zhou Weixi, who was chewing meat slices, instantly stiffened. Fang Zhao retorted with a roar: ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s not detachable! It¡¯s still on me!¡± Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help laughing. He glanced at the meat plate and asked Yu Ran, ¡°I don¡¯t think you can cut this much, right?¡± Fang Zhao was stunned and couldn¡¯t believe it: ¡°Chu Mian, why are you¡­¡± Yu Ran laughed loudly and almost fell on Chu Mian. ¡°Why is your mouth so fucking poisonous?¡± While he was laughing, he found that there were a few shallow scratches on the back of Chu Mian¡¯s right hand, which were very conspicuous in contrast with his fair skin, so he asked him how he got them. Chu Mian looked down, but didn¡¯t care about it at all. During the past few days of living together, everyone had learned that Chu Mian paid special attention to nutrition and following a balanced diet. Therefore, when they put the ingredients in, they would pick the good ones first and put them in the clear soup pot for Chu Mian. Chu Mian had never been able to respond enthusiastically to other people¡¯s thoughtfulness and thus, had inevitably been perceived as having a cold personality in the past. But now, the situation had changed for the better. Yu Ran seemed to have become his agent. Without any regard for courtesy, he would directly pick up the food and stuff it into Chu Mian¡¯s bowl without any explanation, and would deliberately grimace and order him to eat it. Zhou Weixi had also secretly brought a laptop with him to the military training, but in the past few days, he had been too tired to take it out. Now that he had eaten hot pot until he was full, he asked everyone: ¡°Want to watch a movie? I¡¯ve downloaded several of them.¡± Maybe it was because Yu Ran¡¯s bad acts were too contagious. Following his footsteps, everyone was becoming more and more unruly. Fang Zhao was worried again: ¡°If the instructor comes in, we¡¯ll all die.¡± Yu Ran pointed to the computer screen: ¡°Cha G¨¥, I want to watch this!¡± Ktf wbnlf tf tjv mtbrfc kjr ¡°2012¡±, ktlmt tjv yffc nfgs qbqeijg lc atf qjra ofk sfjgr. Lf tjv jikjsr obgubaafc ab kjamt la. Rbk, tf mbeiv pera fcpbs atf fzmlafwfca klat tlr oglfcvr. Kjxlcu jvnjcajuf bo atf ojma atja atf lcragemabg tjvc¡¯a sfa mbwf ab atf vbgwlabgs ab lcrqfma, atfs tegglfvis mifjcfv eq atf gfwjlcr bo atf tba qba, atfc aegcfv boo atf ilutar, gjlrfv atf delia bc atf ibkfg yecx, jcv qea atf ijqabq lc yfobgf qijslcu atf wbnlf. Chu Mian had already seen ¡°2012¡± a long time ago, so he didn¡¯t watch it with them again. Instead, he went to the side and turned on the desk lamp he had brought with him, turned down the brightness, and began to write a self-criticism review ¡ª today¡¯s punishment. But he couldn¡¯t write more than a few paragraphs because Yu Ran was too noisy. He would exclaim ¡°wow¡± in every thrilling scene in the movie, and explain every one of his guesses about the upcoming plot (as opposed to just thinking about it). Chu Mian couldn¡¯t concentrate without earplugs, and could only have his attention attracted by Yu Ran. Chu Mian simply put down his pen and sat with them to rewatch the movie. He had fallen asleep halfway through the movie, and when he woke up, the dormitory lights were on again, and he could hear Yu Ran¡¯s anxious voice: ¡°Where can I buy tickets from? Is there an age limit? Maybe it¡¯s only scientists who can get on it¡­¡± A boy said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Yu Ran. I¡¯ve already pinched my fingers and calculated, you won¡¯t die in 2012.¡± Yu Ran pressed the other party¡¯s shoulder eagerly, and said piously: ¡°Great God, can you help me calculate the survival rate of my mother, father, and brother?¡± ¡°Okay, wait a minute.¡± The boy sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyelids blinking as he rolled his eyes. ¡°Well¡­ They are all fine too, but you may have to face mortal danger on the day of the end of the world.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Yu Ran realized the seriousness of the situation and began to fidget. Chu Mian was confused and couldn¡¯t understand what was going on with Yu Ran until he heard Fang Zhao say: ¡°Yu Ran, are you stupid? How can you believe what the Great God says? Don¡¯t you remember, last time he had even said that he could see the tails of humans. Okay, the world isn¡¯t going to end this year. But if you don¡¯t write your self-criticism review, you¡¯ll definitely die.¡± Chu Mian remembered that there was still work to do, so he immediately went over to grab Yu Ran by his collar and dragged him to the table. Yu Ran poked his chin with a pen and asked seriously, ¡°Chu Mian, do you know how to buy tickets for Noah¡¯s Ark?¡± Chu Mian paused in the middle of writing. Now he finally understood what Yu Ran had been anxiously worrying about just now, and sighed: ¡°Yu Ran, you¡¯ve broken through the limit of my understanding of your IQ.¡± ¡°Tsk.¡± Yu Ran curled his lips. ¡°I¡¯m asking you something, what are you doing praising me!¡± ¡°Hurry up and write the review.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not writing it!¡± Yu Ran threw away his pen and shouted, ¡°The protagonist must find a way to save the world!¡± He said that he wouldn¡¯t write, so he really ran to the side to play with his mobile phone. Chu Mian sat alone at the table for a long time, and finally completed a review that had a correct attitude and clear logic. Looking up, he saw Yu Ran sitting listlessly on the upper bunk in a daze. It was getting late now and evening training would begin soon. There would definitely be a serious punishment for failing to submit the review on time. Chu Mian hesitated, but still couldn¡¯t leave Yu Ran alone: ¡°Come down now and copy what I wrote.¡± The corners of Yu Ran¡¯s mouth were drooping: ¡°I don¡¯t want to write, so I¡¯ll just give an impromptu speech later.¡± Chu Mian tried to persuade him, but a sharp whistle sounded from the corridor, and everyone put down their phones and arranged their clothes to go out to stand in line. Yu Ran got out of bed unhurriedly. He was halfway through tying his shoelaces when someone slapped his head with a piece of paper. A page of neat handwriting appeared in front of his eyes, and then he heard Chu Mian say, ¡°Take it.¡± Yu Ran subconsciously took it and found that it was Chu Mian¡¯s review, but his name was written in the blank space at the top. After understanding, Yu Ran asked: ¡°Then what about you?¡± ¡°Anyway, our school¡¯s teachers won¡¯t punish me, let alone give me any disciplinary action,¡± Chu Mian said with certainty. He knew very well that the school was taken care of by his mother, so he would naturally be given preferential treatment in all aspects. But Yu Ran was different from him. If ordinary students made mistakes repeatedly during military training, they would definitely be criticized when they returned to school. ¡°The school might not care, but the instructor will definitely punish you,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°with a lot of squats and push-ups as well as frog jumps.¡± ¡°If I get punished, treat it as you owing me,¡± Chu Mian lightly dropped these words before walking outside the door. Yu Ran hurriedly followed, and felt deeply moved in his heart: ¡°You¡¯re so fucking kind, you care about me so much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I care about you,¡± Chu Mian seriously corrected his thoughts, ¡°I¡¯m just weighing the pros and cons and minimizing the punishment we might possibly receive.¡± Hearing the word ¡°we¡± in the other party¡¯s words, Yu Ran¡¯s smile deepened. He knew that Chu Mian was confirming their friendship, so he didn¡¯t say anything more, put the review paper in his pocket, and followed Chu Mian closely. When they walked out of the dormitory building, there was a sudden sound of thunder in the night sky. Yu Ran was overjoyed: ¡°Fuck, prayers to the Rain God worked!¡± The instructor blew the whistle to tell everyone not to be too happy too early, and asked them to squat down and listen to the command. As a result, he didn¡¯t know who from which class started to sing Jam Hsiao¡¯s ¡°Princess¡±. The rest of the students were also eager for rain, and they also disobeyed the instructor¡¯s command and sang along loudly. The instructor said in a loud voice: ¡°Don¡¯t be superstitious!¡± As soon as his words fell, the sky thundered loudly. After about half a minute, raindrops poured down pitter-patter, quickly soaking the ground. This time there was no need for the instructor¡¯s command. Everyone leapt up with excitement and ran back to the building while singing loudly. The self-criticism review had been ignored by the instructor. Yu Ran reached into his pocket. The folded corners of the page sliced his fingertips and caused him a little pain, but he started to like the feeling and kept pressing the sharp corners with his fingers. After thinking about it, he decided not to return the review to Chu Mian. This thing was a testimony of their friendship, and Yu Ran wanted to keep it as a memento. After the lights went out at midnight, Chu Mian noticed that there was still a faint light in his field of vision. He listened attentively and found that in addition to the sound of the rain outside the window, Yu Ran was also muttering something in front of his pillow. Chu Mian was annoyed by the noise, and asked, ¡°Why are you still awake?¡± Yu Ran immediately rolled over to lie on his stomach, crawled forward a little, and asked softly, ¡°Do you know the Mayan calendar?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already told you, there¡¯s no end of the world.¡± ¡°The Mayans predicted the world¡¯s end in December this year. It¡¯s already October now. Who knows what will happen next on Earth?¡± Chu Mian did not want to dwell with him on this kind of unscientific topic. He covered himself tightly with the blanket before saying, ¡°If you want to believe it, believe it.¡± Yu Ran approached him again, and his head almost squeezed past the railing between the two beds. ¡°Chu Mian, are you afraid of death? What if the next month is really the end of the world? We promised that day¡­¡± Chu Mian felt that Yu Ran¡¯s voice seemed to be close to his ears. He raised his hand and fumbled in the air. When his palm touched Yu Ran¡¯s forehead, he pushed it out hard and said in a muffled voice, ¡°Then we will die together.¡± Seeing the other party ignoring him, Yu Ran was forced to retreat back to the quilt silently and browse ¡°What are the items I need to prepare to survive the end of the world¡± in Tieba. The next morning, the rain had stopped. Chu Mian woke up early and got out of bed to look for water to drink. He habitually glanced at the next bed and found that it was empty. Forgetting his thirst, he immediately sent a text message to Yu Ran to confirm his location, and told him not to get into trouble. ¡ª I¡¯m performing a soil survey. Requesting help! Chu Mian frowned as he read Yu Ran¡¯s reply. At this moment, Yu Ran was squatting beside the flowering shrubs outside and concentrating on stirring the soil with a wooden stick. When Chu Mian found him, he had already dug out soil the size of a cup, and was still poking the wooden stick inward. ¡°I saw it!¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Earthworms are coming out!¡± Chu Mian heard the word ¡°earthworms¡± and took a half step back without thinking. He stared at Yu Ran¡¯s back in disgust and asked him what the hell he was doing. ¡°I¡¯m analyzing the activity level of the earth¡¯s surface through the state of color of earthworms to predict the disasters before the end of the world.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t know where Yu Ran had learned this technique. ¡°It¡¯s disgusting. Go back and wash your hands quickly.¡± Yu Ran was immersed in his own world and couldn¡¯t extricate himself. ¡°Fuck, why does it drill so fast, it has already opened a tunnel in the soil¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t describe it.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s face sank. ¡°Come on, Chu Mian!¡± Yu Ran turned his head and smiled brightly at him. ¡°This is the breakfast I prepared for you!¡± Chu Mian held back the word ¡°get lost¡± that was about to spill out of his mouth, walked over and glanced at the soil, then immediately looked away and told Yu Ran: ¡°They only come to the surface after it rains, so find a damp place.¡± ¡°Found it, now what?¡± ¡°Then attract it out.¡± Yu Ran said ¡°Ok¡±, put down the small wooden stick, and heartily cast a wink at the soil. ¡°Not this kind of attraction.¡± Chu Mian did not hold back and directly kicked him into the shrubs. CH 21 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans The air was clear and cold, and occasional drops of rain fell on the tip of the nose. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me.¡± Chu Mian walked forward quickly, afraid that Yu Ran would catch up to him if he wasn¡¯t fast enough. ¡°You fucking got me dirty! So you can¡¯t be clean either!¡± Yu Ran jogged a few steps to catch up with him, spread his arms and hugged Chu Mian tightly from behind. He took advantage of Chu Mian¡¯s unpreparedness to rub against him, causing the other party¡¯s camouflage uniform to be stained with mud. Chu Mian laboriously swayed his body from side to side in an attempt to get rid of him. When he saw several instructors smoking and walking towards him, he quickly turned around and said, ¡°Yu Ran, there are people in front of us.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t let go, but just poked his head from behind Chu Mian and looked at him. ¡°So what? It¡¯s not training time now.¡± Without saying anything, Chu Mian twisted his wrists, separated their bodies forcibly, then turned around and nodded politely to the instructors. The instructors in charge of Chengjun Middle School had all heard about the incident of the two boys ¡°sleeping in the woods¡±. Now that they saw the two handsome boys getting up early to hug and cuddle, they immediately understood the relationship between the two of them. ¡°Very good and energetic.¡± The instructor laughed teasingly, and when he saw Yu Ran frowning and shaking his wrists, he told Chu Mian meaningfully: ¡°A girl needs to be loved, and a boy needs to be spoiled. When both parties have contradictions, you shouldn¡¯t keep being stubborn. Ah, you two are both men, so you have to support each other even more, alright?¡± Chu Mian was overwhelmed by the earnest teaching of the elder, and he could only nod awkwardly and meekly. As soon as the instructors left, Yu Ran, who was next to him, laughed. ¡°Why are you still laughing? What¡¯s so funny?¡± Chu Mian was annoyed and pinched Yu Ran¡¯s left cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t laugh anymore.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s voice was slurred: ¡°Why the fuck are you so well-behaved in front of adults. You¡¯re so good at pretending.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just being respectful to elders, unlike you who considers everyone beneath your notice.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also cordial to elders, okay? Or else why else would uncle growing vegetables send me food?¡± While talking, both of them felt small water droplets falling on their heads, and they could predict that rain would fall in a short while. Yu Ran was now very happy because a day without training that he had longed for had finally come. So, he hurriedly took Chu Mian to a nearby shop to buy drinks to celebrate. After returning to the dormitory, Yu Ran sat at the table and took out his unfinished National Day homework. With bread in his mouth, he worked hard to copy Chu Mian¡¯s test paper answers. But he copied the homework without using his brain. After half a page of Physics had been written, he turned it over and found that he had copied the front and back sides backwards, and he frantically took the correction tape to fix it. The noise of the plastic gears rubbing together was very sharp, and it made other people wake up one after another. Chu Mian couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and said: ¡°With these correcting marks, it¡¯s obvious that you¡¯ve copied. It¡¯s better to tell the teacher that this page got lost.¡± ¡°Ho, you¡¯re quite good at finding excuses,¡± Yu Yan laughed, ¡°Have you ever copied homework before?¡± ¡°No.¡± Not only that, he had also never lent his homework to other people to copy before. It was probably because others didn¡¯t dare to be so shameless like Yu Ran, so he could easily reject them. At first, Chu Mian really minded that the answers he had deduced seriously were copied by lazy people. Later, Yu Ran begged him more often and he became accustomed to ¡°lending homework¡±, unknowingly violating his own principles and morals as a student. Ciatbeut ktfc tf gfjiis atbeuta jybea la, tf ofia atja Te Ejc kjr jybwlcjyif. Dea rlcmf tf kjr j oglfcv, Jte Zljc tjv ab rlifcais lwqifwfca jcbatfg rfa bo qglcmlqifr ¡ª jr ibcu jr Te Ejc kjr rlcmfgf jcv vlvc¡¯a qgbnbxf tlw, tf mbeiv mbwqgbwlrf j ilaaif. Yearlvf atf klcvbk, atfgf kjr atf qlaafg-qjaafg bo gjlc. Snfgsbcf obecv atja atfs vlvc¡¯a cffv ab agjlc, rb atfs pera ijs bc atf yfv jcv mtjaafv ijhlis. Jte Zljc rfivbw abbx atf lclaljalnf ab qjgalmlqjaf lc mbcnfgrjalbcr jcv yjrlmjiis ilrafcfv delfais. Vbwfalwfr ktfc tf tfjgv atflg fcaterljralm ijeutafg, tf kbeiv ecmbcrmlberis gjlrf atf mbgcfgr bo tlr wbeat. His eyes gradually became heavy, and he couldn¡¯t tell whether it was a dream or reality. Like many ¡°narcolepsy¡± patients, Chu Mian often retained the illusion of being awake after falling asleep, such as he would think that he was still reading, but actually he would have been lying on the table for a while; he would think that he was still answering teacher¡¯s questions, but in fact, he would have already fallen down in full view of everyone. So when he heard Yu Ran climbing onto the bed next to him and talked to him, Chu Mian hesitated subconsciously for a long time. ¡°In the past few days of military training, you haven¡¯t fallen asleep as often as when you first started school,¡± Yu Ran asked in a low voice beside the railing, ¡°I checked Baidu Encyclopedia. It says that if one is in a good mood, one¡¯s condition would be relieved and they won¡¯t always fall over. So does that mean you are very happy these days?¡± Chu Mian subconsciously wanted to answer ¡°yes¡±, but he couldn¡¯t open his eyes and mouth, and understood that his body would go to sleep again in a few seconds. Before he was disconnected from the real world, he heard Yu Ran ask him again: ¡°If you are happy every day, will you be able to get better soon?¡± Before Chu Mian had time to give an answer, his brain stopped thinking. He slept for a rather long time. Not only did he miss lunch time, but he also failed to wake up before everyone went to visit the memorial hall in the afternoon. Sleeping during the day led to severe insomnia at night, and when the others went to sleep, he quietly got out of bed and turned on the desk lamp to review. After a while, there was movement on Yu Ran¡¯s side. ¡°I¡¯ll finish my homework, make some room.¡± Yu Ran smiled lightly and sat down next to him, and flipped open Chu Mian¡¯s exercise book. ¡°You don¡¯t need to finish the next few units right? You learned them beforehand?¡± ¡°En, since I don¡¯t have the chance to listen in class.¡± Chu Mian turned his face to look at Yu Ran, and saw that the warm yellow light of the table lamp had cast a deeper shadow on his high nose bridge. Chu Mian wanted to ask him to confirm ¡°Did you ask me any questions today?¡± but he hesitated, feeling that the question was meaningless. Even doctors all over the world could¡¯t find a cure for this disease, and of course they couldn¡¯t jump to the conclusion that it could be cured in the future. There was only one thing that Yu Ran really got right: keeping a happy mood could effectively alleviate excessive sleepiness. But Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to say this to Yu Ran, because he knew that with Yu Ran¡¯s character, he would definitely find a way to make him happy every day. But how long could such a method last? In the future, they would go through the division of classes, go through the college entrance examination, go through graduation, and one day Yu Ran would disappear from his daily life. If he relied on the happiness Yu Ran brought him now, he would definitely welcome more sadness when Yu Ran would leave his life, and perhaps his condition would worsen. ¡ª I can¡¯t rely on others. Chu Mian reminded himself once again. ¡°Ai, I guess I won¡¯t be able to finish even if I write all night today,¡± Yu Ran said in a low voice, ¡°Why is this stupid little slider moving in the direction of force in all directions? Can¡¯t it be well-behaved and stop running around? I really want to get a saw¡ª¡± Chu Mian patted him lightly on the back of his head, motioning him to be quiet and not to disturb others¡¯ sleep. ¡°You still have tomorrow afternoon and six more days to write. You can also take my homework back to copy.¡± ¡°You sure you want to give it to me? Aren¡¯t you afraid that I might lose it?¡± ¡°You try losing one.¡± ¡°Fuck, don¡¯t look so scary.¡± Yu Ran shrank his shoulders, then dropped his pen and laughed. ¡°Then I¡¯ll stop writing now, and go to sleep.¡± ¡°En.¡± It became quiet, and Chu Mian was able to concentrate on his studies again. Yu Ran did not immediately close his eyes after going to bed, but lay on the pillow and silently gazed at Chu Mian¡¯s back as he read a book. Seeing that he was still so tall and upright, without slacking a bit, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but feel in his heart that Chu Mian was ¡°very handsome¡±. Yu Ran always thought that Chu Mian was handsome. He was not attracted by the other party¡¯s face. He simply felt that when Chu Mian had a serious look, his aura was more powerful than any other boy he had ever seen. Even though he was lethargic most of the time, once he woke up, Yu Ran felt that he could go all out to accomplish anything. Chu Mian¡¯s eyes were always focused on the end result of winning and losing, which was very different from him, who was more focused on the process and stressed the importance of ¡°participation¡±. Chu Mian didn¡¯t even allow his game account to have a losing record. He was so arrogant that Yu Ran felt that he was dashing and terrifying. However, ever since they had met each other, Yu Ran¡¯s impression of Chu Mian could be described with just one concise word, ¡°handsome¡±. Chu Mian was very handsome in everything he did¡­ As the male protagonist, of course he had to destroy this handsome look! An evil thought was about to start wriggling in Yu Ran¡¯s mind. He squinted at Chu Mian¡¯s back, feeling that he was about to awaken the dark power of the villain. ¡ª Heh. ¡ª I¡¯ll get you conned after I go back. The next morning, when the military training ended, many students gathered around the instructors, crying and taking photos, before reluctantly bidding farewell to the base, and boarded the bus back to school. Chu Mian still chose the front row seat. As expected, Yu Ran sat next to him again, and the first words he said were: ¡°Chu Mian, why do you have less sunscreen?¡± The outcome was that Chu Mian applied even more sunscreen on his face, and without any suspense ¡ª his skin became patchy. The short weekend passed quickly, and Yu Ran finally finished his holiday homework. On the first day of school on Monday, students met each other again in their black uniforms, and many of them couldn¡¯t help but miss the time when they lived together during military training. However, their cheerful time didn¡¯t last for long. Soon, the class president informed everyone of a terrible news¡ª ¡°The results of the monthly exam will be announced today.¡± Without waiting for the whole class to express ¡°what the fuck¡±, Xiang Xuehua continued to drop another bomb: ¡°First period, Language.¡± The atmosphere in the classroom immediately turned grim. Cui He, who wasn¡¯t in the know, hurriedly asked Chu Mian: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the Language class? Is the teacher very strict?¡± Fang Zhao happened to be next to Chu Mian and replied for him: ¡°Have you ever listened to the vegetable market aunt bargaining?¡± Cui He nodded. Fang Zhao then said, ¡°Our Language teacher, one person is an entire wet market.¡± This scale was a bit big. Cui He was silent. But she soon discovered that Yu Ran was the only person in the class who did not dread the Language class at this time and even had an expectant smile on his face. She, who had never attended class before, mistakenly thought that Yu Ran¡¯s grades were very good. So, her impression of him suddenly evolved from a ¡°dumb handsome guy¡± to a ¡°dumb genius handsome guy¡±, which was comparable to Chu Mian. ¡°Let me tell you, I¡¯ve written a good composition in the exam.¡± Yu Ran twisted the upper half of his body to talk to Chu Mian in the back seat. ¡°Do you want me to give you spoilers? You will know what ¡®outstanding literary talent¡¯ means.¡± When Fang Zhao passed by them, he heard a set phrase popping out from Yu Ran¡¯s mouth, and stopped in shock. Chu Mian raised his head and asked Yu Ran: ¡°Are you confident enough that the teacher will read your composition in class?¡± ¡°I just ran into her in the hallway, and she told me that herself.¡± Yu Ran laughed cheerfully. ¡°She said that even if she didn¡¯t read the one that got more than 35 points, she had to read mine.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian helplessly looked at Yu Ran¡¯s radiant expression, ¡°What she said should be a hint that you failed.¡± ¡°Bah!¡± Yu Ran pushed Chu Mian¡¯s forearm aside with his palm. ¡°She¡¯s implying that I got a perfect score in my composition!¡± Chu Mian sneered and nodded perfunctorily, pretending to believe what he said. Before the class bell had even rung, Teacher Wang entered the classroom energetically with a pile of heavy papers and urged everyone to hurry back to their seats: ¡°Hurry up, hurry up! What did you do during military training, huh? Why are you still moving so slowly? This is the only Language class today and we still need to take out some time for Silent Writing. Hurry up and don¡¯t delay my time¡ª¡± Cui He was urged to rush in a flurry by volume and speed of the teacher¡¯s speech, and she finally understood why everyone was afraid of her. She had an overbearing manner of speaking. But when she turned around, she found that Yu Ran was still as breezy as ever, which really couldn¡¯t be underestimated. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the composition first, so as to save yourself the trouble of having to leave class without finishing it later. In this exam, one person scored a perfect score in the composition, four people scored more than thirty-five points, and one failed.¡± Teacher Wang stood on the podium, looked around and found Yu Ran¡¯s position. She opened her eyes wide, shook her head slightly, and said, ¡°Yu Ran, you¡¯re really talented. Why didn¡¯t I know this before?¡± Yu Ran laughed out loud on the spot. He had been criticized by Teacher Wang in every Language class for a month. Now that the day had finally come when she was impressed with him, he naturally couldn¡¯t conceal his exuberant state. ¡°Ai, can¡¯t help it.¡± Yu Ran laughed and slapped his palm down on his desk. He still didn¡¯t forget to turn his head to show off to Chu Mian: ¡°Being talented is like being pregnant, and I¡¯m blessed with many children and grandchildren.¡± Teacher Wang didn¡¯t expect him to take her sarcasm as a praise, and she became even more annoyed. She rolled up her sleeves and said, ¡°Come on, Yu Ran, come here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you an abortion.¡± CH 22 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°I haven¡¯t talked about how to write a persuasive composition yet, so when we, the teachers, set the Language questions for the monthly exam, we did not have strict requirements on the subject matter of the composition. It was even simpler than the questions in many junior high school exams. We just wanted you to get more points.¡± When Teacher Wang was halfway through her speech, she couldn¡¯t help taking a deep breath wearily. Then she looked at Yu Ran and emphasized: ¡°It was a no-proposition composition. The topic we gave you was for you to write about an unforgettable event or an unforgettable person, and reflect on what you¡¯ve realized through those things or people. Basically, what we¡¯ll write in this grade are all narrative compositions. Do you still remember the six key elements of a narrative composition? Yu Ran, stand up and say.¡± Yu Ran, who had long memorized the answer to this question, stood up and answered fluently: ¡°Time, place, person, cause, process, and result of an event.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Teacher Wang nodded in satisfaction for the time being, but did not let him sit down, and then asked: ¡°Then do you know, what¡¯s the major premise of writing a narrative composition?¡± Yu Ran was dumbfounded, and none of the students around him seemed to have any intention of telling him, so he tentatively guessed, ¡°It has to be exciting?¡± Teacher Wang was speechless. She licked her dry lips, patted the test paper in her hand and told Yu Ran loudly: ¡°No, it has to be ¡®real¡¯!¡± She waved her hand to let Yu Ran sit down. After a few seconds, she couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Yu Ran, we don¡¯t have to write narrative compositions in the college entrance examination, otherwise I¡¯d have to buy ten copies of ¡®All Compositions¡¯ for you to see how we normal people make up stories. There¡¯s not enough time today, so I¡¯ll save you some face. You don¡¯t need to read your composition in class, take your paper away.¡± When he heard that he couldn¡¯t show his composition to everyone, the expectant smile on Yu Ran¡¯s face faded, and he sullenly took back the paper and lay on his desk. He didn¡¯t listen to the whole class. However, Teacher Wang¡¯s remarks made the students very curious about Yu Ran¡¯s composition for the monthly exam. After class, they swarmed to Yu Ran to see his narrative composition. Soon everyone was laughing and passing it around. Yu Ran was still lying on the desk without saying anything, playing with a ball pen¡¯s spring without expression. He didn¡¯t care that he only scored 23 on the exam. What made him unhappy was that the teacher had promised him before that he would read his composition in front of the whole class, but now she went back on her promise. Chu Mian looked at Yu Ran¡¯s back and clearly felt that he was depressed now. The laughter of the surrounding students annoyed Chu Mian. He frowned, raised his head and said to them, ¡°Give me the paper.¡± The cold voice cut through the lively atmosphere with a slash, and the smiles of the few students closest to Chu Mian, who clearly saw the menacing look in his eyes, froze immediately. Chu Mian didn¡¯t know about the gloominess on his face, and his expression only calmed down after he took Yu Ran¡¯s composition from someone¡¯s hand. ¡°Yu Ran,¡± Chu Mian called him from behind, ¡°Turn around, I want to see your composition now.¡± Coafg tfjglcu Jte Zljc¡¯r nblmf, Te Ejc jeabwjalmjiis gfmbnfgfv rbwf bo tlr rqlglar. Lf lwwfvljafis aegcfv jgbecv jcv ijs bc Jte Zljc¡¯r vfrx jcv mtemxifv aklmf. Vfflcu atja Te Ejc¡¯r fzqgfrrlbc kjr cba jr vfqgfrrfv jr tf tjv lwjulcfv, Jte Zljc ifa ub bo tlr kbggs jcv ibkfgfv tlr tfjv ab ecobiv atf fzjw qjqfg. He took a closer look, and the title of Yu Ran¡¯s composition was ¡°My Uncle Yu Le¡± ¡°¡­ this is the title of a textbook¡¯s passage that we¡¯ve learned before, right?¡± Chu Mian said as he recalled, ¡°Yu Ran, you can copy compositions from textbooks, but it¡¯s impossible to score when you use stories from textbooks.¡± ¡°What passage?¡± Yu Ran was a little confused. ¡°My uncle is really called Yu Le.¡± Chu Mian helplessly said ¡°okay¡±, then read from the beginning. [My Uncle Yu Le] [Growth is a set of long stairs. If I fall down on the first step, I still have to climb up. Growth is a rainbow after a rain. Even if I have never seen it before, I have to hope that it will appear one day. Growth is a glass of tempting wine. I got drunk with a sip, and I became addicted to it from then on¡­ Growth, let me grow from a little boy to a big man. All this was taught to me by my Uncle Yu Le¡­] Although this parallel structure didn¡¯t have any logical connection and the vocabulary was not beautiful enough, it still looked like the opening style of a composition template at first glance. Chu Mian felt that Yu Ran had at least thought about it seriously and should not face so much ridicule. He comforted Yu Ran: ¡°The format at the beginning is very standard, but it would be better if you polish it up.¡± When Yu Ran heard the praise, he nodded hurriedly. [Like most people my age, I am fifteen years old this year.] Seeing the beginning of the second paragraph, Chu Mian was silent. [Just last month, I saw my uncle again. That day, the sun was shining in the sky and I was in a good mood, so my brother Yu Jeen (pseudonym) and I went out to play on a cruise ship on the Lanjiang River. My mother was worried about letting only the two of us go outside alone. She had to work and couldn¡¯t accompany us, so she called our Uncle Yu Le. Uncle Yu Le¡¯s original name was actually Yu Lele, so my brother and I both call him Uncle Lele.] [But I don¡¯t like Uncle Lele. He doesn¡¯t look for work, but only picks up plastic bottles discarded by others on the roadside and sells them for money. His income is low, so he depends on my dad for food and drink every day, which is why I look down on him.] [When I arrived on the cruise ship, I sat at the bow of the ship, and played Cat''s Cradle with my younger brother. Anyone who created a dead-end figure would be pulled by the hair. I pulled my brother¡¯s hair a lot, and almost pulled all his hair off! Haha! When I was feeling happy, Uncle Lele suddenly came over and wanted to play with us too.] [In your dreams!! I looked at his patched pants and rough hands with contempt in my heart. Uncle Lele was left out by me. With a sad look on his face, he silently left to pick up the bottles on the ship. I watched him indifferently, and disdainfully thought to myself: ¡°Humph, how much money can you earn by selling bottles? You are a big man, so why aren¡¯t you eager to make progress?¡± The faster the ship went, the more exciting it was, so I went out on deck with my brother to catch the breeze.] [The Lanjiang River was as blue as the sea and wider than the sky, so I couldn¡¯t help but want to fall into its embrace. Unknowingly, I stepped on the bow of the ship and opened my arms to enjoy the free wind, the warm sunshine, and the joy of sailing¡­] [But just then, the sky suddenly turned cloudy and windy! I wasn¡¯t able to react, and I only heard the shrill screams of the people on the ship. I turned my head and was shocked to find: There was a huge reef above the Lanjiang River!] [Oh no, the ship was about to get hit! I ran, but it was raining heavily and the wind was like a demon which clutched me and pulled me off the bow! I felt dizzy, and by instinct, I gripped the railing of the ship with both hands. What could I do? The strength in my body was flowing out non-stop and I would soon fall into the river! I was only fifteen years old! I didn¡¯t want to die! My strong desire to gain victory made me shout out: ¡°Help! Help!¡±] [Unfortunately, the sound of the thunderstorm completely drowned my shouts, and no one noticed that there was a teenager about to fall into the water on the bow of the ship¡­ Where was my brother? Where was he? Why didn¡¯t he come to my rescue?] [My vision was slowly starting to blur and my arms were gradually running out of strength. But just when I was about to give up and prepare to die, something unexpected happened ¡ª Uncle Lele rushed over and handed me a mineral water bottle!] [¡°Child! Hold on to it!¡± Uncle Lele shouted anxiously. Half of his body was hanging off the bow of the ship while he was trying to save me. I was shocked, I couldn¡¯t calm down for a long time. Not only did Uncle Lele not care about my previous indifference and contempt for him, but now he was also risking his life to save me! I choked up, my tears fell like rain, heavier than the real rain in the sky¡­] [I couldn¡¯t care less about how dirty that mineral water bottle was, I grabbed it in a hurry and that¡¯s how I got my life back. When I was panting and trying to get my heartbeat to settle down, I was surprised to find: my brother was eating ice cream on the ship! It turned out that when danger occured, the people I thought were close were actually more selfish than I could have imagined, and the people I thought were no good would be willing to give everything to save me. I had mixed feelings for a moment and turned around ready to say thank you to Uncle Lele when¡­] [He vomited a mouthful of blood.] When Chu Mian saw this, he couldn¡¯t help but cough. [¡°Uncle Lele, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I helped him up anxiously.] [¡°Child, in fact, I have been hiding it from you¡­¡± Uncle Lele¡¯s voice was hoarse, and scarlet blood gurgled out of his mouth. ¡°I have a terminal illness. Your father has been spending money to help me treat it. Unfortunately, I am running out of time¡­ I was able to save you before I die, I have no regrets¡­¡± As he said this, Uncle Lele slowly closed his eyes, but there was a contented smile at the corner of his mouth.] [Uncle Lele!¡± I cried and shouted at him, but the only response I got was the sound of rain, as if heaven was also crying in grief.] [I will never forget my uncle Yu Le, who taught me what it means to know people. He taught me that one could know a person¡¯s face and not know their heart, he taught me to not judge people by their appearance, and he taught me what growth is.] The composition had seriously exceeded the word limit and there were no grids left in the end. Thus, Yu Ran could only make the end concise, reduce the font size and write on the reverse side of the paper. But he felt that this had not prevented the ups and downs of the story itself from being fascinating. After having finished reading the composition, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t calm down for a long time. Cui He, who was sitting next to him, read it and just smiled and said, ¡°These 23 points are too high,¡± only to have Chu Mian silently glare at her. She was forced to shut her mouth bitterly. She changed her previous remarks and praised Yu Ran, going against her conscience to say: ¡°Aiya, it¡¯s a wonderful piece of writing. If you weren¡¯t sitting in front of me right now, I would almost think you were already dead!¡± Yu Ran wanted to be humble with her, but seeing that Chu Mian had stopped talking, Yu Ran¡¯s attention shifted to him and he asked with scorching eyes: ¡°How is it? I didn¡¯t lie to you, did I? You see, you¡¯re so moved that you can¡¯t even speak.¡± Chu Mian avoided his gaze and hesitantly commented, ¡°Well, the writing was an¡­eye-opener for me.¡± Yu Ran gave a big smile and honestly told Chu Mian: ¡°Actually, this composition was made up by me.¡± Chu Mian was speechless, and Cui He was stunned: ¡°Oh my God, we really wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell if you hadn¡¯t said it.¡± Seeing that the two of them appreciated his literary talents, Yu Ran¡¯s mood suddenly brightened. He no longer cared about Teacher Wang breaking her promise, and returned to his usual lively and overactive self. He called Fang Zhao to go to a shop to buy snacks and invited them both to eat. As soon as he left, Cui He couldn¡¯t help but let out a ¡°fuck¡± to Chu Mian. Chu Mian did not look up at her, but only asked in a low voice: ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I found that after you went to senior high school, you became a bit¡­ a bit¡­¡± Cui He repeatedly considered the wording, and there were several words about to pop out of her mouth like ¡°gentle¡± and ¡°considerate¡±, but after thinking about it, she found that these were qualities that had originally been present deep in Chu Mian¡¯s character, and there was no need for them to be emphasized like this. So she smiled and said happily, ¡°Became a bit more like yourself.¡± Chu Mian was confused by her remark: ¡°Did you also learn to talk nonsense after reading Yu Ran¡¯s composition?¡± Cui He asked in return, ¡°Since you also thought his composition sucked, why didn¡¯t you allow me to laugh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to laugh about,¡± Chu Mian said calmly. Whether it was his true feelings and tears when he was writing the composition or his pride about his own level of writing, Yu Ran always had a serious attitude as he waited for the teacher¡¯s praises and his classmates¡¯ compliments. So if he were to laugh at him just because of the content, Chu Mian would not be able to bear it. Especially when Yu Ran ¡®s mood was down ¡ª the more other people laughed, the more disgusted Chu Mian was. But if Yu Ran¡¯s composition was only shown to him, Chu Mian would tease him to his heart¡¯s content, as if there was a position of ¡°I¡¯m qualified to laugh at him¡± in his subconscious mind. So he didn¡¯t want others to look down upon Yu Ran, because that made him feel like they were also looking down on him. Chu Mian looked up, silently remembering those who had been the most active in snatching Yu Ran¡¯s composition just now. ¡ª I¡¯ll write their names in my notebook when I go back. CH 23 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans The monthly exam scores of each subject were issued one by one. Since the previous National Day holiday and military training took up half a month, there was no parent-teacher meeting arranged for this exam. The students only needed to take the transcript home and give it to their parents to sign. Yu Ran, who had ranked fifth-to-last in the class, was unsurprisingly scolded furiously by Li Guirong. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with mom today? Did she quarrel with her boyfriend?¡± After Yu Ran served as his mother¡¯s punching bag, he went back to his room to do his homework with Yu Jin. ¡°I¡¯ve just been asked to invite my parents¡­¡± Yu Jin replied timidly. ¡°Why? Did you also not do well in your monthly exams?¡± ¡°No.¡± Yu Jin shook his head. ¡°My teacher found out about my relationship.¡± The pen in Yu Ran¡¯s hand abruptly stopped, and he turned his head to look at his brother in surprise: ¡°There¡¯s actually a fucking girl who¡¯s interested in you?¡± Yu Jin opened his eyes wide and tried his best to argue for himself: ¡°I¡¯ve inherited the best features of my parents, and one can¡¯t find anyone more handsome than me in my whole grade! The girls go crazy when they see me, and I¡¯m chased by them every day!¡± ¡°You get chased to be beaten, right?¡± Yu Ran felt incredulous, raised his hands to pinch Yu Jin soft cheeks, and shook them, ¡°It¡¯s only right to pay what is owed.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t touch my face!¡± Yu Jin slapped him. ¡°You single dog!¡± Yu Ran smiled and let go of his hand. He had no interest in the love affairs of his younger brother. He was just a kid who had just entered the first grade of junior high school. What could he understand about what a ¡°relationship¡± was? Boring. But Yu Jin had boasted that he was handsome, and Yu Ran would not refute this. Mocking his younger brother¡¯s appearance would be tantamount to cursing himself. The facial features of the two of them were somewhat similar, but the elder brother looked brighter and sharper, thereby making him look more outgoing. Yu Ran ran out of patience after writing the beginning of his homework, so he dropped his pen and lay down on his bed to draw. Yu Jin watched quietly for a while, and couldn¡¯t hold back from asking, ¡°Ge, is it really useful to draw sketches every day? How about asking mom to enroll you in a class?¡± Yu Ran said calmly: ¡°Ask her what, she will get divorced one day, and she will be under even more pressure at that time.¡± ¡°But what you study by yourself and what others learn in a formal class will definitely be different. Your master also doesn¡¯t contact you anymore. Has he forgotten you?¡± Yu Ran glanced at him. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense, he¡¯s busy outside. I¡¯ll look for him when he returns to Ronggang.¡± The master who had taught him to draw was an interior designer, and he was always flying around the country. Yu Ran could only see him once every few months, and it was also not easy to contact him. The sphere on the drawing paper gradually showed shadows under the pencil outline. Yu Ran had mastered very few skills in drawing, and had only slowly progressed to a level similar to that of ordinary art students by relying on instinct and experience. ¡°If you continue to draw, you¡¯ll definitely get better and better.¡± Master always encouraged him like this, and Yu Ran had no doubts about it. The next day, it rained heavily. Afraid that his newly bought shoes would get dirty, Yu Ran wrapped his shoes in several plastic bags before going out, so he had to keep his weight steady when he walked to avoid slipping. The bus was overcrowded, and he often couldn¡¯t squeeze in, so he waited for the next one. When he arrived at school, he had completely missed the morning self-study of English, and Bai Yuzhu took him to the office to ask him why he was late. ¡°I saw an old grandfather who had fallen down on the road, and I went to help¡ª¡± ¡°Tbe jigfjvs erfv atlr gfjrbc yfobgf atf tbilvjs.¡± Te Ejc qbcvfgfv: ¡°Ktfc¡­atfc P pera uba j tfjvjmtf atlr wbgclcu jcv mbeivc¡¯a kjix, yea P ralii lcrlrafv bc mbwlcu ab rmtbbi.¡± Djl Tehte kjr ybat jcugs jcv jwerfv ys atf kjs tf abiv ilfr klat jii rfglbercfrr, yea rtf jirb tjv ab kjgc tlw rafgcis cba ab yf ijaf cfza alwf. Te Ejc tjv jc fzqgfrrlbc bc tlr ojmf atja ibbxfv ilxf tf qijccfv ab mtjcuf tlr qgfnlber wlrajxfr, jcv tf qgbwlrfv tfg jujlc jcv jujlc atja la kbeiv cba tjqqfc jujlc. ¡°You take this form back to the Publicity Committee member.¡± Yu Ran took it and asked her, ¡°Who is the Publicity Committee member?¡± ¡°It has already been so long since school started, and you still don¡¯t recognize the students in your class?¡± Bai Yuzhu couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°It¡¯s Ye Xi, the girl with short hair.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Ran left the office with the piece of paper. While walking down the corridor, he looked down, and found that this was an application form for a cultural performance. There were several registration categories on it, such as singing, dance and poetry recitations. Yu Ran was not interested in these. He went back to class, looked for the seat of the Publicity Committee member, and handed it over to her. Ye Xi had been immersed in the excitement of browsing the trailer of a new anime. When her vision was suddenly blocked by a blank piece of paper. This made her shoulders shrink in fright and she raised her head in a hurry. ¡°Anime Weekly?¡± Yu Ran tilted his head to recognize the newspaper on her desk, and then smiled at her. ¡°Can you lend it to me after reading it?¡± Fortunately, it was not a teacher, Ye Xi reluctantly calmed down, but she just couldn¡¯t relax when facing Yu Ran. Her impression of Yu Ran had always been that of a rebellious and aggressive boy, who would beat those people who didn¡¯t listen to him. ¡°Here you go.¡± Ye Xi immediately respectfully handed him the newspaper. ¡°Thank you, Dajie!¡± Ye Xi breathed a sigh of relief. After reviewing the form Yu Ran had handed to her, she got up, and starting from the first row, she asked the students in the class one by one if they would like to participate in the art festival. Invariably, everyone she asked refused to participate. In the end, she didn¡¯t hold out much hope and handed the registration form to others as a formality. After Fang Zhao asked ¡°For singing, can we choose the songs ourselves?¡±, Ye Xi regained her spirits: ¡°Yes, you can bring your own soundtrack, there are no extra requirements. That¡­ Are you interested in stage drama?¡± Fang Zhao moved his gaze to the bottom of the page and saw the names of several fairy tales. He shook his head and only signed up for singing. Ye Xi felt that things would be a bit troublesome. Fairy tale stage dramas were the most important project in this festival. Each grade had to select a work to perform at the Ronggang Children¡¯s Welfare Home. As the Publicity Committee member of the experimental class, if she couldn¡¯t mobilize her classmates to actively participate, the homeroom teacher would definitely be disappointed in her. After hesitating, she decided to stand on the podium and face the class: ¡°Fellow classmates, can I have your attention for a moment? The school art festival¡¯s stage drama¡­¡± As soon as she opened her mouth, she was so nervous that her breath was unsteady. Some students gave her a curious look, but soon ignored her and focused on their own business. Ye Xi endured the awkwardness and continued to read the selection rules of the stage drama. At the end of the briefing, no one was paying attention to her anymore. Yu Ran noticed that the atmosphere in the class was not lively enough, and now he naturally wanted to help the girl who had lent him the Anime Weekly. ¡°Reporting to the Publicity Committee! Fang Zhao wants to sign up!¡± Yu Ran shouted with his hand raised high. ¡°Fuck, I don¡¯t want to!¡± Fang Zhao quickly denied it. ¡°It¡¯s Yu Ran who wants to! You fill in his name!¡± As long as someone was willing to respond to her, Ye Xi seemed to have caught a lifeline. She stepped down the podium, walked towards them and handed out the registration form. Yu Ran pretended to think, then nodded. ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t bad.¡± Fang Zhao turned his head and saw that Yu Ran had already filled in Chu Mian¡¯s name in the performance column of ¡°Sleeping Beauty¡±. ¡°Fuck, Yu Ran, you¡¯re really not afraid of death.¡± Fang Zhao lowered his voice, and did not forget to confirm that Chu Mian was sleeping. ¡°You¡¯re provoking him again. Did you forget the last time when he stuffed your head into the bookcase and you couldn¡¯t pull it out?¡± Yu Ran felt that he was making a fuss: ¡°This is nothing. I still want to get Chu Mian conned.¡± Fang Zhao was shocked by his audacious idea. He hadn¡¯t expected that Yu Ran was not satisfied after having touched Chu Mian¡¯s dick. He still wanted to reach for a yard after getting an inch. ¡°How do we con him? You become the object of his conning.¡± Fang Zhao pointed out a clear road to him. Chu Mian didn¡¯t know anything about the stage drama, but he found that Yu Ran was very happy after school today. ¡°Want to visit the kiln again today?¡± Yu Ran carried an umbrella and kept in step with Chu Mian. Chu Mian still hadn¡¯t given up the idea of buying the two-headed snake from Xu Si. He would go to the ¡°Copper Sparrow Club¡± from time to time to look for someone. Yu Ran was worried that he would get into a fight with someone like he had the first time they had met, so he always accompanied Chu Mian. On the way there, Yu Ran saw a few familiar faces who were also wearing Chengjun¡¯s school uniforms. They always walked with a slouch for fear that others would not be able to tell that they were arrogant and domineering. But Cai Hanchuan and the others didn¡¯t notice him, so Yu Ran deliberately slowed down, as he didn¡¯t want to have any contact with these people anymore. To his surprise, Huang Feng was also in that group, smoking and laughing, and seemed to be on good terms with them. ¡°It¡¯s someone you know,¡± Chu Mian noticed. ¡°En, I don¡¯t know when they came into contact.¡± Yu Ran was a little puzzled, but thinking about it carefully, Ronggang was only so big, and it was normal for the gangsters in the several schools in Jiangdong District to be familiar or hostile towards each other. But intuitively¡­Yu Ran felt that it was not a good thing. He remembered the phrase Huang Feng had said to him during the military training ¡°As you sow, so shall you reap¡±. Probably in Huang Feng¡¯s eyes, Yu Ran¡¯s victory against him during the third year of junior high school was too disgraceful. And since then, the people in No. 44 Middle School had believed that Huang Feng bullied the weak and feared the strong, and this ¡°strong¡± naturally included Yu Ran who had a stubborn temper and was not afraid of being beaten to death. Chu Mian asked as they walked on, ¡°Do you think the two of them will talk about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Yu Ran looked at the backs of Huang Feng and Cai Hanchuan in the distance. ¡°Are you saying that the two of them will get together to beat me up? Whatever, I¡¯m not afraid.¡± ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re resistant to beating, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll endure their beating, and not call the police?¡± Yu Ran was confident. ¡°In a society under the rule of law, fighting is not allowed.¡± Chu Mian chuckled lightly, and slowed down with him. But even after passing a few street corners, the people in front were still going in the same direction as them. After a while, Yu Ran saw them enter the Copper Sparrow Club. ¡°Damn, why can they enter at will from the front entrance, aren¡¯t they also underage? Why are they going in?¡± ¡°You call it a ¡®kiln¡¯, why do you think they went in?¡± Yu Ran froze for a moment, then said with a disgusted look on his face, ¡°Ai, they¡¯re jumping the gun¡­¡± Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but turn his face to look at Yu Ran. He couldn¡¯t tell whether the other party was indiscriminately using idioms or deliberately talking perverted nonsense. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± Chu Mian turned around. ¡°Then, we won¡¯t go in to find your someone?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you want to run into Cai Hanchuan and the others.¡± Chu Mian raised his arm and gently hooked the back of Yu Ran¡¯s neck before dragging him towards the station. It was normal for boys with good relationships to hook their shoulders and backs, but the reason why Chu Mian put his arms around Yu Ran¡¯s shoulders was only to prevent the other party from getting handsy with him. Suddenly running from behind and jumping on his back could be regarded as Yu Ran being well-behaved. Sometimes when Chu Mian passed by a telephone pole, Yu Ran would quickly lean over and hug his thigh, trying to use his own strength to perform a ¡°conning move¡± on him. Of course, in terms of strength, Yu Ran was not his opponent at all and Chu Mian could kick him away expressionlessly at any time. The skin on Yu Ran¡¯s neck was very thin, and blue blood vessels were looming. When the skin on the inside of Chu Mian¡¯s arm was pressed against the blood vessels, he could feel the pulsation of Yu Ran¡¯s carotid artery. ¡ª Suddenly, he had an urge to strangle his neck. It was not because he hated Yu Ran or had violent tendencies, but he still couldn¡¯t help but have a desire for destruction at the moment. Just like how many people liked to squeeze bubble wrap to relieve their stress, when Chu Mian felt the temperature of Yu Ran¡¯s skin and the blood vessels beating, he instinctively wanted to tighten his arms to strangle the other party. Even an expression of Yu Ran suffocating strangely appeared in his mind. Chu Mian was startled, and immediately let go of his arm calmly. However, the next day, he really strangled Yu Ran¡¯s neck, which could barely be regarded as ¡°getting his wish¡±¡ª ¡°You see, apart from you, there¡¯s really no one in our class who is more suitable for that role. Why can¡¯t you¡­ you make a contribution for the collective honor of the class?¡± While Chu Mian clutched Yu Ran¡¯s neck, Yu Ran still held his arm as he defended himself loudly. Chu Mian sneered: ¡°I¡¯ll play ¡®Sleeping Beauty¡¯?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Yu Ran smiled unknowingly, and raised his hand to pat Chu Mian¡¯s handsome face. ¡°How suitable.¡± Although Yu Ran was not exactly sure of the contents of ¡®Sleeping Beauty¡¯, just hearing the name made him think that it perfectly described Chu Mian. Chu Mian raised her eyebrows and asked, ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cheer you on.¡± Ye Xi, who had been watching the two noisy people from the side, finally couldn¡¯t help blushing. Because Chu Mian was tightly hooking Yu Ran¡¯s neck, their faces were very close when they spoke. Whenever the distance between them was shortened by one centimeter, Ye Xi¡¯s heartbeat would speed up for a while. She sighed in her heart, ¡°The BL manga has become a reality¡±. She was holding the corner of her desk to stabilize her body, otherwise it was very likely that the pink bubbles popping up around the two teenagers would cause her to faint. No, you can¡¯t pay attention to others falling in love like this¡­ Ye Xi sat down with trembling fingertips and quietly glanced at them from the corner of her eye. ¡ª Ah! They¡¯re almost hugging! ¡°Yu Ran, don¡¯t even think about being only a bystander.¡± Chu Mian pulled Yu Ran and walked up to Ye Xi. ¡°Please arrange a role for him too.¡± ¡°No! I won¡¯t¡­¡± Before Yu Ran could finish speaking, Chu Mian covered his mouth tightly. Ye Xi¡¯s brain was buzzing and she secretly clenched her fist. ¡ª Ah! He¡¯s almost being forcibly kissed! She hurriedly turned her face away, embarrassed to look directly at them. When her heartbeat stabilized a bit, she picked up a pen and signed up Yu Ran for a role according to Chu Mian¡¯s instructions. ¡°Then, the protagonist is also settled,¡± she lowered her head and told them, ¡°Sleeping Beauty and the Prince¡­¡± ¡°Who? Me, the prince?¡± Yu Ran became proud when he heard that he had such a noble identity. ¡°What am I responsible for?¡± Ye Xi cautiously stretched out a finger to point at Chu Mian, and told Yu Ran: ¡°Kiss him to wake him up.¡± The smile on Yu Ran¡¯s face instantly froze. CH 24 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°No.¡± Chu Mian sharply refused before Yu Ran could speak. Seeing his cold eyes, Ye Xi didn¡¯t dare to refute him, and Yu Ran also spoke at this moment: ¡°Yes, why would the prince do such a thing! Kissing someone while the other party is sleeping is inhuman, too nasty.¡± After saying that, he also added something unexpected: ¡°In short, ¡®man of low degree¡®.¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s nasty now?¡± Chu Mian held himself back from flaring up, and just pushed Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder hard. ¡°How would I know that ¡®Sleeping Beauty¡¯ had such a plot! Fuck, as expected, none of the princes are anything good. The prince in ¡°Mermaid¡± was also a big idiot,¡± Yu Ran said indignantly, and turned his face to look at Ye Xi, ¡°I don¡¯t care, I want to be a heroic and righteous prince!¡± Chu Mian asked him, ¡°Then, what did you think the story of Sleeping Beauty was before?¡± Yu Ran thought about the wording, and slowly told his idea: ¡°A long, long time ago, there was a princess who liked to sleep every day. Her own mother died early, and the king married a vicious queen. This queen disliked the princess and was jealous of her beauty, so she wanted to kill her while the moon was dark and the wind was high¡­ The kind prince saw all this from the crystal ball¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up. Why must you insist on interpreting the title without understanding?¡± Chu Mian pinched Yu Ran¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time for the Physical Education class.¡± Yu Ran went back to his seat to get the skipping rope and suddenly remembered something important. He immediately raised his sleeves, stretched out his arms to Chu Mian and said, ¡°Twist me.¡± Here we go again. Chu Mian wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about him. He raised his hand and lightly slapped Yu Ran¡¯s arm with the skipping rope. A light pink trace quickly appeared on the other party¡¯s fair skin. Yu Ran was stunned, and stretched out his other arm to Chu Mian. ¡°One more time.¡± ¡°Do you feel uncomfortable if you don¡¯t get beaten?¡± Chu Mian frowned, grabbed Yu Ran¡¯s wrist, and pulled him out of the back door. ¡°Hurry up, we¡¯re going to be late.¡± The Physical Education class on Wednesday morning was at the sunniest time, and the energetic students were more refreshed. Two classes were held separately for boys and girls. The girls had to be evaluated on the ¡°three-step layup¡± in the mid-term exam, and they had been practicing basketball throwing recently. They were usually in groups of two, throwing balls at each other and thereby adjusting their standing positions and gestures. What Ye Xi was most afraid of was this kind of practice. When the teacher ordered everyone to move freely, she was immediately nervous and her palms started to sweat. It had been a month and a half since school started, and the girls had already formed their own little groups, while she had been left out by everyone. To ease the awkwardness of being alone now, she hurriedly knelt down to tie her shoelaces to look like she had something to do now. ¡°Teacher, no one is in my group!¡± A female voice with a cheerful tone rang out from the front. ¡°You can arrange a teammate for me.¡± ¡°Why is there no one to team up with you?¡± ¡°They all hate me,¡± Cui He answered frankly. Ye Xi, who was squatting on the ground, looked at the girl in amazement. She was a more unwelcome existence than her, but Ye Xi didn¡¯t expect Cui He to admit the fact of ¡°being hated¡± so simply. The teacher helped her by asking loudly ¡°Who else is alone?¡±, so Ye Xi raised her hand after being put in an awkward predicament. In this way, the two girls became a practice group and tossed a basketball in silence. After a while, the teacher left the field and went back to the sports group to rest. Cui He, who was bored to death, threw the basketball away and moved her shoulders before saying, ¡°Class is really fucking boring.¡± Ye Xi did not dare to echo the other party¡¯s words, but she did not expect that Cui He would take the initiative to say: ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go play with the boys.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Ye Xi was startled. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Won¡¯t you also have nothing to do if you stay alone?¡± Cui He urged her. Ye Xi really didn¡¯t want to listen to others talking and laughing alone. But she had been in contact with the girls in her class for a long time since she was young, and she also understood one truth ¡ª if a girl was not popular in a same-sex group, she would only appear out of place; but if there was a girl who was not only unpopular with other girls, but also liked to play with boys¡­ That girl would definitely be ridiculed as ¡°cheap¡± behind her back. ¡°If you aren¡¯t going, I¡¯ll go.¡± Cui He ignored her. Ye Xi looked around. After hesitating for a few seconds, she still bit the bullet to keep up with Cui He. It was free time for the boys. Cui He found Yu Ran¡¯s place and sat cross-legged opposite him. Ye Xi cautiously squatted with her legs together, very worried that she would flash herself in front of the boys. When she turned around, she nearly fell to the ground¡ª Chu Mian was sleeping soundly, resting on Yu Ran¡¯s lap. He was lying sideways, so from the angle Ye Xi was looking from, it looked like Chu Mian¡¯s face was almost buried between Yu Ran¡¯s legs. Ye Xi felt a little dizzy, so she quickly turned her face and didn¡¯t dare to look directly at them. ¡°Help me lift his leg,¡± Yu Ran said while taking off his school uniform jacket, and with Cui He¡¯s help, he put his clothes under Chu Mian¡¯s waist. Coafg jii, la tjv gjlcfv ijra cluta, jcv lc atf wbgclcu, atf ugbecv bc atf obbayjii olfiv kjr ralii nfgs mbiv. Vb, bcf kbeiv vfolclafis offi nfgs mbiv riffqlcu tfgf. Tf Wl kjr j ilaaif regqglrfv. Vtf tjv atbeuta atja Te Ejc kjr j rlcuif-mfiifv bgujclrw atja kjr qgbcf ab mjgfifrrcfrr. Ca ifjra atja kjr atf lwjuf rtf tjv bo atf ybsr lc mijrr. Pa aegcfv bea atja tf kbeiv cjaegjiis rtbk remt j mjglcu jcv mbcrlvfgjaf rlvf ab Jte Zljc. She couldn¡¯t help but think of all the rumors about him during the previous military training. As for why on earth they had gone to the woods in the middle of the night, nobody knew the exact truth until now, and no one had the face or nerve to inquire about it either. However, judging from the two people¡¯s previous reactions to ¡°kissing¡±, they shouldn¡¯t be in a relationship. ¡°I heard that you signed Chu Mian up for a stage drama and asked him to play Sleeping Beauty.¡± Cui He laughed gloatingly. ¡°Does Chu Mian know?¡± ¡°He just found out, and fuck, he forced me to sign up for it too.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t get mad at you?¡± ¡°He did¡­¡± Yu Ran cocked his head and laughed, then muttered: ¡°but is it useful for him to be angry with the great me?¡± Cui He also laughed. She thought that Yu Ran was a typical example of ¡°Some fools never learn¡±. One second, he would make someone angry and apologize in a serious manner, and the next second, he would smile and laugh and then annoy them again. This way, he had tested the bottom line of Chu Mian¡¯s patience in various ways. So seeing that Yu Ran was still safe and sound, Cui He couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Chu Mian really indulges you.¡± Then, she turned her face to look at Ye Xi and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on with you? Aren¡¯t you a Class Committee member? Why isn¡¯t anyone playing with you?¡± Such a blunt question made Ye Xi feel dumbfounded, and then Yu Ran aggravated her embarrassment by loudly remarking at this moment: ¡°Really, why? You¡¯re so nice!¡± She was praised as a ¡°nice person¡± by him just because she had lent him a copy of ¡°Anime Weekly¡±. Ye Xi couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly, and replied helplessly: ¡°I¡¯m easily misperceived¡­ which is annoying. ¡± When the school started, many people actively spoke and exchanged hobbies in the class group. Ye Xi saw that someone had been talking about ¡°Sword Art Online¡± that was popular at that time, and immediately joined the topic with interest: ¡°Hey? Are you also a 2D world fan?¡± At that time, she didn¡¯t realize that there was a subtle change in the atmosphere in the group, and she continued typing to attract others¡¯ attention: ¡°Hey, hey, are there any fujoshis in the class?¡± As soon as these words were sent out, the QQ group became completely cold. Although she was unable to make friends at the start of the school, Ye Xi was not discouraged, and waited for the military training where everyone would live together, to improve her relationship with others. The outcome was that, before she had even arrived at the base, she was discovered by the whole class that she loved to watch hentai. But many people didn¡¯t know what ¡°hentai¡± was, so they decided that she was watching adult videos and the girls all mocked her privately as ¡°so dirty¡±. Over time, Ye Xi gradually got used to the sense of shame and acknowledged that she was easily despised by people. No matter when and where she was, she seemed to be able to make the atmosphere awkward and stiff. The adolescent girls gathered together like a plate of strawberries, but she was the one hidden at the bottom that had lost its color and taste. ¡°Since no one wants to be with you, you can eat with us from now on,¡± Yu Ran yawned and said to her, ¡°It¡¯s so boring to be by yourself.¡± Ye Xi was stunned for a few seconds before she realized that Yu Ran was inviting her. The boy¡¯s tone was very casual, which made her unable to believe that she could be qualified to ¡°join the gang¡±. ¡°Yu Ran.¡± Fang Zhao shouted his name from not far away. Yu Ran turned his head to see a red can being thrown towards him. He subconsciously raised his hands to catch it. It was a can of iced Wangzai milk. Fang Zhao had snuck away to a nearby shop while the teacher was not paying attention and brought Yu Ran a bottle of his favorite drink in passing. Recently, the weather had turned cold, and Yu Ran had to let the cold drinks warm up in the sun for a while before drinking. He held it in his hand and felt cold, so he put it on Chu Mian¡¯s face. Cui He took a cold breath: ¡°You¡¯re fucking courting death again.¡± Yu Ran laughed and rolled the ice-cold can on Chu Mian¡¯s face. It didn¡¯t take long for Chu Mian¡¯s cheeks to get all wet, and only then did he feel that the situation wasn¡¯t good. He quickly reached out and wiped it clean. He didn¡¯t forget to comment: ¡°Ai, Chu Mian¡¯s skin is so smooth, he shouldn¡¯t be playing ¡®Sleeping Beauty¡¯, but ¡®The Princess and the Pea¡¯.¡± Cui He: ¡°Do you dare to say that while he¡¯s awake?¡± The short Physical Education class was about to come to an end. The two Physical Education teachers blew their whistles and called the boys and girls to gather, and Cui He and Ye Xi hurriedly ran back. Yu Ran sat in the same place and gently shook Chu Mian¡¯s shoulders, trying to wake him up. Chu Mian rolled his Adam¡¯s apple twice. His eyes did not open, and his face unconsciously rubbed into a warm place during his half-dreaming and half-waking state. Yu Ran tightened his legs unconsciously and stretched out his hand to cover the most sensitive part of males, which was getting restless after being rubbed by the tip of Chu Mian¡¯s nose. ¡°Hey, wake up, class is over,¡± Yu Ran leaned down and shouted, ¡°Idiot? Idiot, did you hear that?¡± Chu Mian did hear it this time, and suddenly opened his eyes only to find that he was looking at Yu Ran from a strange angle. He realized that something was wrong and got up immediately. Then there was a panic in his chest, and his heartbeat automatically sped up. Chu Mian helped Yu Ran to stand up. When he took the first step, he suddenly lost control of his feet as if a force was pulling him, causing him to fall forward. Fortunately, Yu Ran quickly dropped his school uniform and opened his arms to hold him tight. When Chu Mian looked down, he saw that his shoelaces had been tied together at some point. He felt annoyed and shouted ¡°Yu Ran¡± in a gloomy tone. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not me this time, Cui He did it,¡± Yu Ran hurriedly explained, and smiled to show his innocence, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, I¡¯ll untie it for you.¡± When the two of them spoke, their faces were very close, and Yu Ran¡¯s lips were almost touching the other party¡¯s chin. Chu Mian could clearly smell Wangzai milk on him. After the girls got out of Physical Education class, they walked to the football field to do inter-class exercises. Cui He glanced ahead carelessly and immediately frowned in disgust: ¡°What are they doing?¡± Ye Xi followed her gaze and her first reaction was to cover her eyes. At this time, Yu Ran was doing a standard military squat, with his back straight, and his face was just close to Chu Mian¡¯s crotch when he raised his head to talk to him. What was even more unexpected was that halfway through their conversation, Chu Mian suddenly rubbed Yu Ran¡¯s hair impatiently, as if he was pressing the other person towards the part between his legs. The girls hurriedly muttered ¡°See no evil¡±, and looked away. Everyday, as soon as the big break arrived, Yu Ran would be in high spirits and would roam the playground unscrupulously. ¡°Cha ge, look at the bronze horse statue in our school. Its two rows of teeth are so strong. Aren¡¯t they suitable for conning you?¡± Yu Ran put an arm around Zhou Weixi¡¯s shoulder, and the next second he shouted to the others: ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s get Cha ge conned!¡± At his command, the other boys also rushed over with great enthusiasm, picked up Zhou Weixian¡¯s limbs and carried him towards the bronze statue that was shining under the sun. The excitement of the crowd was concentrated in the playground, and the quiet classroom had become a place to rest. Chu Mian had the privilege of not participating in inter-class exercises, while Cui He asked the homeroom teacher for leave on the pretext of discomfort every day to avoid exercise. The two chatted casually in the classroom and slowly talked about the topic of their future exams. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it in the third year of senior high school. I¡¯m really not interested in college. After I graduate, I want to make cakes,¡± Cui He said casually, holding a bottle of transparent nail polish in her hand and applying it seriously, ¡°If you want to be in the top ten in Ronggang, it¡¯s pretty easy, and I don¡¯t think Peking Union needs that high of a score.¡± ¡°There are changes every year, who knows what will happen in the next five years.¡± Chu Mian sorted out his class notes and after his hands became sore from writing, he put down his pen and turned his head to look out the window. Cui He was still talking to him over there, but Chu Mian forgot to continue listening. His gaze passed through the crowd and arrived at his class¡¯s location. Yu Ran did the inter-class exercises very sloppily, with his arms hanging weakly in his sleeves. He only relied on the movement of turning his body to make his arms swing, and from time to time he took the opportunity to kick other boys. Recently, the school had increased its intensity in inspecting inter-class exercises, and Physical Education teachers were about to catch slackers like Yu Ran to set a strong example. ¡°Dancing Youth¡± had just reached the third quarter when the music stopped abruptly, and the teacher supervising the exercise held up the microphone and called the names: ¡°The fifth boy from the bottom of second year Class 3, the boy in second year Class 6 with the blue jump rope around his waist, and Yu Ran from first year, come out.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face changed: ¡°Fuck.¡± The Physical Education teacher continued, ¡°You three come to lead the exercises on the stage, so that everyone can see your style.¡± The crowd burst into laughter, but Yu Ran brightened up. Chu Mian, who was far away from the classroom, held his chin in his hand and watched the familiar figure jogging all the way to the stage. The teacher told all the students: ¡°Whoever is lazy one more time while doing the exercises in the future, come forward and do it just like the three of them. If you don¡¯t mind losing face, you can let everyone see it.¡± The music of the inter-class exercise sounded again. Yu Ran stood on the stage, and looking at the lazy students below, he instantly developed a sense of mission as a leader. Soon, a scene that no one had expected appeared ¡ª this time when Yu Ran did the exercises, not only did he not have the same sloppy attitude as the two senior high school boys next to him, but he also performed every move full of power. However, things would develop in the opposite direction when they became extreme. Because his strength was far beyond the normal standard, his whole person looked very exaggerated. Especially when it came to the chest expansion exercise, his arms were like two sharp swords, savagely slashing in the air at the seniors on both sides, scaring them to back away again and again. It was even more terrifying when he jumped. Yu Ran actively showed his amazing jumping ability to all the students in the school, as if lighting a fire at his feet could make him directly take off and charge into the solar system. Everyone was stunned by his momentum of wanting to reach the sky. When the music of ¡°Dancing Youth¡± came to an end, all the students in the first year¡¯s experimental class unanimously applauded their own Sports Committee member. ¡°Ai, I didn¡¯t do the Silent Writing in the fucking Language class yesterday. Do you think Teacher Wang¡ª¡± Cui He was in the middle of speaking when she heard Chu Mian coughing violently, and when she looked up, she saw the teenager slipping weakly from the chair. Cui He rushed over to support him, and asked with concern, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ it¡¯s just a cataplectic attack,¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice trembled a little and his brows were furrowed. ¡°Ah? Why did you suddenly have a cataplectic attack?¡± Cui He tensed up. She knew more or less about Chu Mian¡¯s illness. Generally, his limbs would soften when he was emotional. Until just now, she obviously saw that he was in a quite stable state¡­ Cui He followed his gaze suspiciously and looked out the window, only to find that Yu Ran was doing inter-class exercises like crazy on the stage. ¡°¡­¡± Cui He understood ¡ª Chu Mian was simply laughing till he fell just now! ¡°Yu Ran, this idiot hahahahaha¡­¡± Cui He didn¡¯t hold back her laughter, and then she was sternly asked by Chu Mian to not make a sound. ¡°Don¡¯t infect me.¡± Chu Mian frowned and bit his lower lip hard. ¡°I don¡¯t want to laugh with you¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay, okay.¡± Cui He covered her face. ¡°You¡¯re too fucking miserable.¡± As soon as he wanted to laugh, Chu Mian would feel weak and had to rest for a few minutes to ease his emotions. After that, he forcibly resisted the thought of reminiscing about Yu Ran¡¯s movements in the inter-class exercises, and raised his pen to concentrate on his studies. When the big break was over and the students slowly returned to the classroom, Chu Mian put on earplugs and refused to listen to Yu Ran¡¯s words. For a short period of time, he did not even want to see this person named Yu Ran. At lunch, taking advantage of Chu Mian going to the separate window to pick up the meal alone, Cui He quickly sat down and laughed at Yu Ran. Under her leadership, Fang Zhao and Ye Xi also couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°No, do you know what is the funniest thing?¡± Cui He smiled until tears seeped out from the corners of her eye. ¡°Damn, I heard Chu Mian coughing, and when I raised my head, he fell straight down.¡± Yu Ran was originally laughing with them too but when Cui He said this, the corners of his mouth slowly tightened. ¡°Then it¡¯s hard for Chu Mian, right?¡± He said. After thinking about it for a while, Yu Ran felt that Chu Mian endured a lot of hardship every day. If there was anything funny, his first reaction was not to laugh, but to endure it first. If he wanted to release his emotions like others, he had to go through the troubles of becoming weak and falling down. He didn¡¯t know how much Chu Mian usually endured the things that were worthy to be laughed to his heart¡¯s content. Yu Ran then understood why Chu Mian always carried the band-aids with him. Cui He also gradually put away her smile. ¡°Mn, but he¡¯s almost all used to it.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t think it was a good thing to learn to get used to pain at a young age. He turned his face and quietly stared at Chu Mian¡¯s profile with a dumbfounded expression on his face. In the next few days, Ye Xi stayed up late tinkering with the script and finally got out the first draft of ¡°Sleeping Beauty¡±. This was her first time writing and she lacked experience, so she looked for the two leading actors in her spare time to discuss it. The location was in Chu Mian¡¯s lounge, but it was Yu Ran who was lying on the bed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the group performance. It¡¯s just that the script has to be handed in early, so you guys see what else needs to be revised.¡± Ye Xi handed Chu Mian a few sheets of A4 size paper, and wanted to give the other copy to Yu Ran, but the other party refused: ¡°I¡¯m too lazy to read it, you can give them all to Chu Mian.¡± Chu Mian looked at the role setting. ¡°Why is the princess still a female?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Ye Xi was embarrassed, ¡°I thought you would cross-dress¡­¡± ¡°I never said I¡¯d do that, did I?¡± Chu Mian said, ¡°I thought you would directly change the princess to male.¡± Ye Xi looked embarrassed and smiled guiltily. ¡°Oh, males and females are the same!¡± Yu Ran lay on the bed and raised his arms. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a female¡¯s role, it¡¯s just asking you to wear a skirt.¡± As soon as the word ¡°skirt¡± was uttered, Chu Mian directly gripped the page and asked Yu Ran, ¡°Would you like to wear it?¡± ¡°No, but I would love to see you wear it.¡± Yu Ran smiled, showing his white teeth, and Chu Mian immediately smashed several pages of paper on his face. Ye Xi lowered her head and continued: ¡°Also, I changed the setting of the prince kissing the princess to ¡®the prince awakens the princess with petals¡¯. Do you think it¡¯s okay?¡± The teenagers nodded unanimously. As long as they didn¡¯t have to kiss, the princess could wake up however she wanted. ¡°Then you don¡¯t need to worry about the other things. I¡¯ll find a way for the props. We¡¯ll rehearse when you remember the lines.¡± Ye Xi glanced at the time and got up. ¡°I¡¯ll go to hand over the script to the teacher.¡± Once she left, the lounge fell into silence. Yu Ran lay on the bed and whispered ¡°Chu Mian.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Little princess.¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± ¡°Chu Mian, Chu Mian.¡± ¡°Hmm¡± Yu Ran looked at the ceiling and asked, ¡°Have you had your first kiss?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian looked like he wanted to speak but stopped. His face was a little hot. ¡°What does it have to do with you?¡± Yu Ran turned his head to look at him. ¡°My brother is only thirteen years old and he¡¯s already had his first kiss. What about you?¡± Chu Mian turned his face away, avoiding Yu Ran¡¯s gaze. He hadn¡¯t had his first kiss yet, but Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to tell Yu Ran. In this age, when even junior high school students were beginning to fall in love, if you still hadn¡¯t had your first kiss before you became an adult, it seemed as if you were behind the trend. Chu Mian didn¡¯t think it was shameful, but in front of Yu Ran, such topics became inexplicably difficult to talk about. Seeing that Chu Mian ignored him, Yu Ran took the initiative to answer: ¡°I haven¡¯t had my first kiss yet.¡± Chu Mian glanced at him impatiently, and said, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in knowing.¡± Yu Ran chuckled twice, and couldn¡¯t help teasing Chu Mian by calling him ¡°little princess¡±, and then he was dragged to the ground by his collar. The bell rang at the end of the lunch break, and Yu Ran stretched himself out and walked towards the door, urging Chu Mian in passing: ¡°Let¡¯s go back to class, my little princess.¡± As soon as the voice fell, both of them paused. Yu Ran only felt that it was a bit strange for him to blurt out the word ¡°my¡±, but after thinking about it, he didn¡¯t find what exactly was wrong, so he opened the door and went out indifferently. But Chu Mian¡¯s brain suddenly went blank. Just now, his heart had obviously jerked a little. He thought that he was going to have a cataplectic attack, so he hurriedly held on to the corner of the table. But after waiting for a while, nothing happened to his body, and he was still standing safely. ¡­It was just that his cheeks were getting hotter and hotter, making him feel a little light-headed. CH 25 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°Oh my God, I¡¯ve never seen such a beautiful girl!¡± The sun was warm at noon and the breeze was humid. Yu Ran stood on the roof of the experimental class building, reciting lines with passion. After several days of repeated practice, he had finally finished the manuscript smoothly. ¡°¡­It¡¯s a pity that she can only sleep in this gloomy and scary forest.¡± Yu Ran walked up to Chu Mian, grabbed his neck and shook it vigorously. ¡°Oh! Let me Res! Cue! Her! Okay ¡ª Wake Up!¡± The original lines should be full of a tone of pitying the princess, but under Yu Ran¡¯s performance, it had turned into a prince seeking revenge. Chu Mian grabbed Yu Ran¡¯s wrist and moved it away from his neck. ¡°With you being the prince, the princess should be more willing to die.¡± ¡°Just be as proficient as you are now on the day of the primary audition,¡± Ye Xi said, ¡°There are still a lot of classes competing for Sleeping Beauty. If you want to impress the judges and teachers, it doesn¡¯t matter if you exaggerate a little. After all, the stage drama is ultimately for children to watch.¡± ¡°Since the director said so, then it¡¯s okay.¡± Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to Chu Mian. ¡°Ai, you guys, it would be good if this stage drama was a beauty pageant, Chu Mian would fucking win without a fight¡­ Fuck, I was wrong, I was wrong, Ge!¡± Recently during the lunch break, a few people liked to gather on the rooftop to spend their time. Ye Xi would supervise the two leading actors reciting their lines, and Fang Zhao and Cui He would watch them play around. Yu Ran leaned on Chu Mian¡¯s arm, folded the paper in his hand into a paper airplane, then aimed at the sky and threw it, his mouth not forgetting the dubbing ¡°Xiu¡ª¡±. The paper plane¡¯s route in the air was quite straight, and the tip was accurately inserted on the rooftop guardrail net. Yu Ran visually measured the height, and felt that even if he jumped up, he wouldn¡¯t be able to reach it, so he said to Fang Zhao: ¡°Diuge, detach your dick and help me pull the plane.¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°You fucking¡­¡± Chu Mian tilted his head and said carelessly: ¡°It¡¯s not enough to reach.¡± Yu Ran deliberately showed a surprised reaction: ¡°Huh? So short?¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°Fuck you guys!¡± The vulgar jokes between boys often made Cui He laugh out loud with no qualms, and she would even pick up the conversation and join in the banter, while Ye Xi would just hook up the corners of her mouth in a reserved manner, too embarrassed to disturb them. Since the day Yu Ran had brought her to eat together with them, Ye Xi¡¯s daily lunch break had suddenly become richer, which she still found incredible whenever she thought about it. Whether it was Yu Ran, who was enthusiastic and cheerful, or Cui He, who did whatever she wanted, their strong and dazzling aura was diametrically opposed to her own, not to mention Chu Mian, who she felt had the most sense of distance. As for Fang Zhao¡­ Well, although he was an ordinary person, he was also quite interesting. Ye Xi felt it was a privilege to be able to stay with them, even if it was just for the time being. The bell rang at the end of the lunch break, and they took their time in returning to the classroom. There was a thick stack of ¡°Anime Weekly¡± on Yu Ran¡¯s desk, which Ye Xi had brought from her home and lent to him. After class, the two often discussed which new series they had been chasing recently. Ye Xi¡¯s after-school life basically revolved around anime, and only on such topics could she release her most cheerful side with vigor. When they were chatting happily, a girl¡¯s voice came from the door of the classroom: ¡°Ye Xi, come here for a minute, I¡¯ve something to discuss with you.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Ye Xi wished to continue chatting but she could only leave Yu Ran¡¯s side and walk towards the corridor. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± The person who called her out was a Class Committee member named Bian Tingting. The two of them had been in the same dormitory during military training, but Ye Xi had rarely communicated with her during that time, because she could feel that¡­Bian Tingting didn¡¯t like her. Bian Tingting got straight to the point: ¡°How is your stage drama going? Has the script been handed in?¡± ¡°Yes, the actors have all finished memorizing their lines now.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. It¡¯s like this¡­ Teacher Bai wants to change the director and thinks that I¡¯m a little more experienced than you because I had also rehearsed a similar stage drama when I was in junior high school. So how about we do this, you continue to be the scriptwriter, since the script was written by you, and I¡¯ll help you rehearse. Is that okay?¡± After she finished speaking, the girl stretched out her hand and grabbed Ye Xi¡¯s arm, which made her shrink back timidly. Just staring at Bian Tingting¡¯s phoenix eyes, Ye Xi was stunned. Hearing the other party¡¯s tone, it did not seem to be a discussion at all. It was clear that she had already made an irrefutable decision and was just letting her know in passing. ¡°Ct, atlr¡­ yea atf jmabgr jgf jii erfv ab wf yflcu j vlgfmabg.¡± Tf Wl ijmxfv mbcolvfcmf jcv aglfv ab xffq atf vlgfmabg¡¯r qbrlalbc obg tfgrfio. ¡°Ktf qglwjgs jevlalbc lr bc Vecvjs, rb cbk la¡¯r abb ijaf, sbe rff.¡± ¡°Pa¡¯r cba ijaf ja jii. Gbc¡¯a kbggs, P¡¯w vfolclafis yfaafg ja atlr jrqfma atjc sbe.¡± Dljc Klcualcu rwlifv. ¡°Prc¡¯a la jii obg atf tbcbg bo beg mijrr? Kfjmtfg Djl jrxfv wf ab ajxf mjgf bo la, ktja vb sbe atlcx?¡± Since the homeroom teacher had agreed, Ye Xi couldn¡¯t find any reason to object at the moment. It was just that she was unwilling to change from the chief person in charge of the stage drama to a person behind the scenes, and to have the fruits of her labor be shared with others. ¡°Okay then¡­ I¡¯ll go back and talk to the actors,¡± Ye Xi said in a soft voice. In fact, sharing the credit with others was not the main reason why she felt frustrated. Her task as a screenwriter had already been completed, which meant that she had no reason to spend her lunch break with Yu Ran and the others¡­ She wondered if they would still bring her to lunch with them tomorrow. Although being alone at school was originally something normal for her, Ye Xi inevitably felt reluctant to leave after having contact with them and gaining happiness for a while. After returning, she did not notify the two actors for the time being, but sat in a seat by herself to digest the frustration. On the way out of school, Yu Ran tirelessly used the lines of ¡°Sleeping Beauty¡± to talk to Chu Mian, calling him ¡°Little Princess¡± for a while and calling him ¡°Royal Highness¡± for the next while. He was so annoying that Chu Mian took out two band-aids and crisscrossed them to seal Yu Ran¡¯s mouth. Yu Ran also obediently didn¡¯t take it off. With his closed mouth, he said a few ¡®mmm¡¯ to Chu Mian, the tone sounded like ¡°goodbye¡±. Chu Mian watched him cross the road, and then watched him follow the crowd to the station. Obviously this was a scene he was accustomed to, but because recently it was getting darker earlier, the reflection of Yu Ran¡¯s figure in his eyes actually felt novel. After hurrying home and eating dinner, Chu Mian immediately began to study extra courses, striving to study the difficult knowledge of the midterm exam thoroughly in the next few days. In the last monthly exam, he had easily gotten the first place in the grade, and his overall score in eight subjects had been a full 70 points higher than the second place. On the day the ranking was announced, the whole class couldn¡¯t help but marvel. But this was not enough for Chu Mian in the slightest. When he was halfway through translating traditional Chinese, his phone screen lit up. Chu Mian discovered that it was a QQ message from Cui He. [Whale Song.]: I opened our school¡¯s confession wall, you¡¯re really a man who fucking stands tall on the honor roll. She sent several screenshots from the ¡°Chengjun Middle School Confession Wall¡±, and without exception, they were all anonymous confessions to Chu Mian. He had long been used to this kind of stuff, so he didn¡¯t bother to pay attention to Cui He and continued to review. [Whale Song.]: This confession to Yu Ran is so funny. I can¡¯t tell whether it¡¯s a girl confessing or someone in our class messing with him. Chu Mian stopped writing, picked up his phone, and clicked on the screenshot. ¡°I want to tell my classmate Yu Ran in the first year of senior high school that I¡¯ve noticed you since the start of school, and I think you¡¯re handsome and bright! The way you jumped in the inter-class exercises has also been deeply imprinted in my heart, and from then on I couldn¡¯t help falling in love with you! I¡¯m embarrassed to confess in person, so I¡¯ll just say it here: Yu Ran, I love you!¡± ¡°I want to confess to Yu Ran, who is in the experimental class of the first year of senior high school. Actually, I had a secret crush on Chu Mian, but now I¡¯m attracted to you. Chu Mian is really fucking cold, and this old lady decided to change her goal in a fit of anger and found that you¡¯re very good. You look mischievous when you laugh, and you¡¯re handsome and cute. Would you like to be my boyfriend? If you don¡¯t want to, you can also be my younger brother, this sister will really cherish you.¡± After Chu Mian glanced at it a few times, he couldn¡¯t help but look at it again. After a while, he replied to Cui He: ¡°Do you think Yu Ran has these merits?¡± [Whale Song.] : Yes. Don¡¯t ignore Yu Ran¡¯s appearance just because he¡¯s an idiot by nature. Chu Mian didn¡¯t reply again. He just placed his phone upside down and continued to write the problem. But after a few minutes, he picked up his phone again and tried to search for ¡°Chengjun Middle School Confession Wall¡±. This type of account had become very popular recently. In addition to the feature of confession, there were also ¡°Quarrel Wall¡± and ¡°Con People Wall¡±. Chu Mian had heard of them and his opinion on all of them was the same ¡ª boring. It being boring was one thing, but when the names of acquaintances appeared, most people would of course see it out of curiosity. Chu Mian thought that it was for satisfying that little curiosity, so he added the Confession Wall to his friends list, feeling completely justified and at ease. He started to browse the QQ feed of this account, and when he saw his name, he quickly ignored it; only when he saw the words ¡°Yu Ran¡± appear did he stop and take a closer look. Unexpectedly, there were actually quite a lot of people who had confessed to Yu Ran. Some people had even praised Yu Ran to the highest degree by showering him with compliments and using extravagant and colorful descriptions, so much so that Chu Mian suspected that Yu Ran had opened an alt account to submit the confessions himself. Chu Mian was very puzzled, so he sent a message to Cui He: ¡°Don¡¯t they like Yu Ran only for the way he looks?¡± Cui He: ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t it okay to like someone for the way they look?¡± ¡°What¡¯s okay about it?¡± Chu Mian typed, and after thinking about it, he added two more words: How superficial. After remaining silent for half a minute, Cui He sent a long string of ellipses. Then, she asked Chu Mian: ¡°Are you trying to say that Yu Ran isn¡¯t worthy of being one of the most handsome boys in the school like you, or do you think that the compliments made by those girls to praise Yu Ran aren¡¯t good enough?¡± Chu Mian thought for a moment, and then ignored her. He silently deleted the confession wall account, and once again returned to the sea of knowledge. At bedtime, as he was lying on the bed and playing with his mobile phone, he saw that Yu Ran had made a new post. [The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog]: We watch Teacher Cat and you watch Teacher Cang, so our views are different. You can dislike everything about the 2D world, but if you spread hatred about my 2D world, I¡¯m sorry, please kneel down and apologize, okay?¡± When Chu Mian saw the second half of the sentence, he thought Yu Ran was going to fight with someone, and then he found that Ye Xi had forwarded this post, accompanied by a sentence: ¡°Sharing this angrily! If you don¡¯t like the 2D world, you can leave quietly, but please don¡¯t make a fool of yourself by acting like an elitist.¡± Chu Mian looked at the words of these two people and suddenly laughed. In the past, Yu Ran had liked to forward some anime and manga dialogues, and Chu Mian had found it childish and ridiculous. He hadn¡¯t expected that there would be more people who would accompany Yu Ran to go crazy together. Now it seemed that just like how two negatives become a positive, the two of them could bring out a kind of wonderful earnestness in each other. Chu Mian casually clicked into Ye Xi¡¯s QQ feed, wanting to see what was different about their ¡°2D¡± world. What greeted his eyes were nine black and white manga screenshots. It seemed that two people were kissing, and Chu Mian immediately scrolled it away. Then, there were many incomprehensible proper nouns, such as ¡°black belly¡±, ¡°tsundere¡± and ¡°ABO¡±. The more Chu Mian read, the more confused he became, and finally gave up the idea of understanding their 2D world. However, he still noticed two posts that he could understand. One of them was posted at noon today: ¡°It would be great if I could enter the anime world. The world I¡¯m in is really disgusting.¡± The other was from a few days ago: ¡°Sure enough, I was born to be a nuisance. Even if I die, no one will notice it. ¡± Depressed and world-weary, it fit Ye Xi¡¯s usual reticent image. Chu Mian didn¡¯t have the enthusiasm to comfort and talk sense into others. He just liked the post that she had made today, and then exited the page indifferently. At noon the next day, it was time to rehearse the stage drama again. In most of his scenes, Chu Mian was lying on props and sleeping. So the real burden was concentrated on Yu Ran. As always, he was playing around with memorizing lines and laughing from time to time, and was criticized by Cui He for not being professional enough. When the atmosphere was pleasant, Ye Xi suddenly said: ¡°I¡¯ve something to tell you.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes focused on her. ¡°The director has been changed to Bian Tingting, and she¡¯ll be directing the rehearsals in the afternoon self-study class.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s smile faded, and his face was full of surprise: ¡°Huh? Why?¡± ¡°She¡¯s more experienced than me and knows the people in the Student Union, so when the primary audition comes, it should go without a hitch¡­¡± Yu Ran frowned, ¡°She asked you to step down?¡± Ye Xi replied in a low voice, ¡°Teacher Bai also allowed it.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the use of Teacher Bai¡¯s permission, did I allow it?¡± Yu Ran dropped the script in his hand to the ground and approached her. ¡°You¡¯ve worked so hard to arrange everything for so many days, so why should she come and get involved now? It¡¯s clear that she thinks you¡¯re easy to bully.¡± Ye Xi lowered her head and said nothing. ¡°Tch.¡± Yu Ran snorted at her, then walked towards the skybridge. ¡°I¡¯ll go to find Bian Tingting. If the director changes, I won¡¯t act.¡± ¡°Yu Ran, you shouldn¡¯t be rough with girls.¡± Fang Zhao was afraid that he would become the topic of malicious gossip, so he hurried to follow. Cui He didn¡¯t understand the situation and asked, ¡°Who is Bian Tingting?¡± Chu Mian: ¡°Communist Youth League.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ the one with very slender eyes, right? Last time, she hadn¡¯t apologized for taking my seat.¡± Cui He suddenly realized something, and turned to Chu Mian. ¡°That girl must be interested in you. She always tries to come to your side after class.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t noticed.¡± Cui He got up. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll go over and ask her.¡± Only Chu Mian and Ye Xi, two quiet people, were left sitting on the rooftop, and the atmosphere became cold all of a sudden. As he picked up a few pages of script that had fallen to the ground, Chu Mian asked her carelessly: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you refuse? Ye Xi mumbled: ¡°Compared to me, she¡¯s more¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s her reason, what¡¯s yours?¡± Even after waiting for a while, the girl didn¡¯t answer. Chu Mian continued to ask, ¡°Do you know why Yu Ran is in a hurry to help you?¡± Ye Xi pursed her lips, and gave an uncertain answer: ¡°He hates the Youth League just like Cui He?¡± After saying that, she raised her head and looked at Chu Mian, only to find a mocking smile on the corner of his mouth. She was so scared that she didn¡¯t dare to say another word. ¡°Ye Xi.¡± This was the first time Chu Mian called her by name. ¡°I probably know why you¡¯re easily disliked.¡± The girl was caught guard and her heart sank. Layers of cold sweat formed on her palms A cold autumn wind blew over his ears, and when the air returned to peace, Chu Mian slowly said: ¡°Your weakness isn¡¯t that you¡¯re weak, but that you¡¯re immersed in your own world and don¡¯t know how to perceive other people¡¯s feelings.¡± When he pointed out her weakness so bluntly, the taut string in Ye Xi¡¯s brain suddenly broke. Obviously, the boy¡¯s tone was very gentle, but it sounded harsher than the meanest rebuke, as if a small stone with weak attack power had accurately crushed the most vulnerable place in her heart. Chu Mian noticed that her eyes were a little red. After a pause, he still chose to continue: ¡°The real world isn¡¯t exactly what you want it to be, so you watch anime as a way to distract yourself. But do you think that by escaping like this, you can completely get rid of interpersonal relationships? When others bully you, you may not dare to resist it, but when others help you, why don¡¯t you understand the reason?¡± He took out a packet of tissues from his pocket and threw it into her lap. ¡°Do you think Yu Ran is idle?¡± Chu Mian lightly told her the conclusion, ¡°He just treats you as a friend.¡± The young girl was stunned, and the tears that she had been holding back for a long time started to fall. Chu Mian stopped looking at her, turned his gaze to the direction of the small shop near the school, and said in a deep voice, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m similar to you. For example, now, I wouldn¡¯t bother to care about your emotions. But since Yu Ran and the others attach great importance to you¡­then I can barely include you in my circle of friends.¡± Ye Xi immediately took out a tissue and covered her eyes. To hold back her sobs, she needed to tighten her throat and couldn¡¯t make a sound. After taking several consecutive deep breaths to stabilize her emotions, she spoke to Chu Mian apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t ignore Yu Ran, it¡¯s just that I¡­¡± Chu Mian added the latter half of the sentence for her: ¡°It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t expect that after only getting along with Yu Ran for a few days that I¡¯d be easily regarded as a friend by him, right?¡± Ye Xi nodded vigorously. She had always assumed that Yu Ran was a person from another world, and she had also classified Chu Mian and others in this way. Ye Xi felt that being able to eat and chat with everyone for a while was a coincidence brought about by the stage drama. Since she didn¡¯t stand out in the class, she already felt lucky that she was not hated by such glamorous people as them, so she didn¡¯t dare to think that she could ¡°become friends¡± with them. But she hadn¡¯t expected that in the process of having a series of conversations, she had unknowingly been recognized by Yu Ran as a friend. Seeing her flattered look, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help laughing. It was rare that even the corners of his eyes were wrinkled up. He smiled helplessly and told Ye Xi: ¡°Yu Ran is a natural socializer, don¡¯t take offense.¡± CH 26 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°Yu Ran, wait a minute.¡± Cui He stopped him and trotted a few steps to keep up. ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t interfere in girls¡¯ affairs. I¡¯ll go and discuss it with the Youth League Committee member.¡± Yu Ran nodded and stopped outside the classroom with Fang Zhao. The two boys began to think about how to comfort Ye Xi later. As they were talking, they found that Chu Mian had brought Ye Xi around from the corridor. The girl¡¯s head was lowered, her eyes were red, and her voice was heavily nasal when she greeted them. Yu Ran hurriedly pulled Chu Mian aside and asked him in a low voice, ¡°You, did you beat her?¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t understand how Yu Ran had arrived at that conclusion, so he hammered his forehead lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t just leave because you want to in the future.¡± Yu Ran still wanted to ask about Ye Xi, but Chu Mian covered his mouth, dragged him aside, and told him ¡°don¡¯t worry¡±. When they returned to the class after the bell rang, the situation had already changed. Yu Ran sent a QQ message to Cui He: ¡°Why did you beat the Youth League Committee member to tears?¡± [Whale Song.]: Why, in your world, as long as someone cries, they must have been beaten? [Whale Song.]: I didn¡¯t do much. I just calmly educated her and told her not to steep so low from now on. Yu Ran was not used to hearing girls using mean words and advised Cui He: ¡°Don¡¯t go so far, just tell her not to vie for the director¡¯s position.¡± However, Cui He replied: ¡°This matter isn¡¯t serious. I was looking for her for something else. Have you noticed? Bian Tingting and the girls who hang out with her always go to the back of the classroom after the class is over, pretending to read the blackboard newspapers or looking out the window. What¡¯s so fucking interesting there to see? Do they think that they could be liked by Chu Mian if they stayed in the back for a few more minutes?¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t understand the logical relationship in her words, let alone why she suddenly mentioned Chu Mian, and only asked, ¡°Then did she agree to return the position of director to Ye Xi?¡± ¡°If she had dared to say that she wouldn¡¯t return it, I¡¯d have pulled all her hair out.¡± Cui He sneered while typing. ¡°I knew that she wasn¡¯t fast-talking Ye Xi for the stage drama.¡± Yu Ran was curious: ¡°Ah? Then what was she doing it for?¡± [Whale Song.]: Did you fucking read the messages I just sent? Forget it, even if I explain it to you, you won¡¯t understand. Don¡¯t get involved in adults¡¯ business. [The Wolf Hid the Dog Radical]: Oh Now that the director¡¯s position had been returned to the original owner, Yu Ran was also relieved. But he was still curious about why Ye Xi had been crying, so he turned around and lay on Chu Mian¡¯s desk. He grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s pen when he was in the midst of writing, obstructing his study. Chu Mian sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you, she¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Then, why was she crying?¡± Chu Mian felt that even if he told the truth about why Ye Xi was crying, Yu Ran would definitely not be able to understand that sentiment. So he lowered his head and looked at Yu Ran¡¯s bright eyes, and hesitatingly said one word: ¡°Period.¡± Yu Ran was taken aback for a moment, then retracted quickly, ¡°Oh¡­ being a girl is so tiring.¡± After a few seconds, Yu Ran turned around again and asked in a low voice, ¡°Why don¡¯t boys have periods?¡± Chu Mian raised his eyes to glance at him, raised his eyebrows and asked back, ¡°Do you want to discharge blood for a few days every month?¡± ¡°Fuck, aren¡¯t you curious?¡± Yu Ran felt that this topic was rather secret, so he deliberately stretched out his palm to put over his mouth. ¡°I saw blood in my family¡¯s toilet when I was a kid, it really scared me to death! I thought my mom had killed my dad, because my dad hadn¡¯t come home for a few days at that time. Fortunately, I found out later¡ª¡± Chu Mian thought he was going to say ¡°that my mom was on her period¡± next, but Yu Ran laughed out loud and said, ¡°that my dad wasn¡¯t killed, it just happened that he had been having an affair in those few days hahahahaha!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Jte Zljc ibbxfv ja tlw klat j mbwqilmjafv fzqgfrrlbc, kbcvfglcu lo tf rtbeiv ijeut jibcu klat tlw. Cr atf qjmf bo atf mbegrf jmmfifgjafv, atf alwf ifoa yfmjwf rtbgafg. Pc atf yilcx bo jc fsf, la kjr ijaf Ymabyfg jcv atf qglwjgs jevlalbc obg atf ojlgs ajif rajuf vgjwj xlmxfv boo. ¡°Now, count the number of props, spindles, cradles, swords¡­¡± Ye Xi took the form to confirm everything one by one, and suddenly she was startled. ¡°It¡¯s bad, I only remembered to bring the flower that awakens the Sleeping Beauty, but forgot to prepare more to lay on the bed. Now it¡¯ll look empty when Chu Mian is lying on it.¡± Cui He took out her cell phone to check the time. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s not 7:30 yet. Yu Ran can¡¯t come so early, so let¡¯s ask him to go to the flower shop in front of the school to buy it.¡± Ye Xi nodded. ¡°Mm, now the props are all ready, then¡­¡± The two girls turned to look at Chu Mian in unison. ¡°Put it on.¡± Fang Zhao patted Chu Mian on the shoulder sympathetically, and handed over the bright pink dress. Chu Mian¡¯s eyes darkened. If it was a princess dress, Chu Mian would reluctantly give up a little bit of dignity to wear it. But Chu Mian thought that it was a cruel and inhumane abuse of aesthetics for him to wear a rose-red dress decorated with fluffy white patterns of flowers and butterflies and covered with a layer of mesh. ¡°This is already the most suitable one I can borrow,¡± Ye Xi said sincerely, ¡°The cosplay club didn¡¯t have anything that matched the style of fairy tales.¡± Chu Mian grabbed the white prince suit Ye Xi had prepared for Yu Ran, and asked, ¡°Then why is his costume so normal?¡± ¡°Oh, didn¡¯t the princess in the original work sleep for a hundred years before she was kissed awake by the prince?¡± Cui He walked over and pushed him into the dressing room. ¡°The styles popular in her time will be old-fashioned in a hundred years. We¡¯ve to pay attention to details.¡± Chu Mian reluctantly went in to change his clothes, and only after he put the dress on did he realize that he had been annoyed too early. He directly kicked open the door of the dressing room. When the three people outside saw him for the first time, they all let out an uncharacteristically exclaimed in unison: ¡°Wow¡ª¡± Chu Mian¡¯s expression was so cold that it looked like it had just been taken out of the ice cellar. Let alone the fact that the combination of elements on this dress violated human reason, it even had an off-the-shoulder style, which exposed the teenager¡¯s chiseled collarbone and his eye-catching shoulder line. Cui He handed Chu Mian two cotton balls. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°For you to pad your chest.¡± ¡°¡­Get lost.¡± Chu Mian shot daggers at her, lifted his skirt and opened his legs before sitting straight on the prop bed. Cui He shook her head and said to him sharply: ¡°Hey, girls can¡¯t separate their legs so widely like this!¡± Chu Mian grabbed the two cotton balls from her hand and smashed them directly on her head. Cui He laughed till she trembled. At this moment, Yu Ran finally arrived at school with a bag of flowers in a rush. As soon as he entered the backstage of the auditorium, he introduced himself loudly: ¡°The main character is here!¡± The next second, he met the eyes of the bare-shouldered Chu Mian and the air froze instantly. Yu Ran was so surprised that he stood frozen in place, and after blanking out briefly, he blew a loud whistle at Chu Mian. In order to prevent them from staging the scene of ¡°the princess turned into a spiteful queen and beat the little prince¡±, Ye Xi quickly stood up and changed the subject: ¡°Did you bring the flowers for making the bed?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Yu Ran placed the huge black plastic bag he had brought on the ground, untied the rubber band, and took out the pure white and flawless chrysanthemums, which were all freshly cut. They seemed fresh and clean and exuded a light fragrance. ¡°Yu Ran, I¡¯m going to criticize you,¡± Fang Zhao said, ¡°It¡¯s all white flowers, their symbolic meaning isn''t good.¡± ¡°Who said it¡¯s all white,¡± Yu Ran retorted, and smoothly took out two golden yellow chrysanthemums from the bag. ¡°How wonderful and big are these flowers! The boss even gave me two of them.¡± With arms crossed in front of his chest, Chu Mian sneered at Yu Ran, ¡°Do you want me to have a public funeral?¡± Cui He comforted him: ¡°Forget it, forget it. With Yu Ran¡¯s IQ, it¡¯s already good that he didn¡¯t bring a wreath for you to wear.¡± Together, the few people spread the flowers that Yu Ran had brought on the prop bed and let Chu Mian lie down to try after finishing the arrangement. As soon as he closed his eyes, the whole scene became solemn and somber, which looked exactly like a scene of everyone working together to bury the princess. ¡°It¡¯ll be our group¡¯s turn soon.¡± Ye Xi couldn¡¯t help but feel a little nervous. ¡°Yu Ran, do you remember all your lines?¡± ¡°Yeap.¡± The person who played young Sleeping Beauty was an extra, so Chu Mian only needed to lie on the bed from the moment he appeared on the stage, waiting for Yu Ran to put a rose on his lips. Only then would he wake up to read a few lines. He did not wear a wig. After all, it was only the first round. Being willing to wear a dress was already his biggest concession. After the extra actor¡¯s part at the beginning of the play was over, Chu Mian went to the stage and slept with his eyes closed. He quietly listened to Yu Ran reciting his lines in an exaggerated tone next to him, and it didn¡¯t take long before the key moment of awakening Sleeping Beauty with roses arrived. ¡°Let me save her¡­¡± Yu Ran began to sound gentle and soft, and he paced to Chu Mian¡¯s side with a rose in his hand. According to the script, Yu Ran now only needed to take off a petal and gently place it on Chu Mian¡¯s lips. But as he leaned over, he suddenly realized that Chu Mian was probably really asleep now. If he didn¡¯t wake up after putting on the petals, wouldn¡¯t it be embarrassing? So, in order to confirm that Chu Mian was still awake, Yu Ran deliberately recited the lines he had already recited once again: ¡°Oh my God, I¡¯ve never seen such a beautiful girl¡­¡± Yu Ran thought that with their tacit understanding, Chu Mian would frown after hearing the repeated lines. That way he could continue to perform with a peace of mind. However, to the surprise of everyone present, as soon as Yu Ran¡¯s voice fell, a bright red blood slowly flowed from his nose, snaked down his chin, and finally dripped on the white chrysanthemum petals. ¡°Holy shit.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s expletive instantly spread to the stage through the microphone. Chu Mian immediately opened his eyes, got up without thinking, grabbed Yu Ran¡¯s arm, and pulled him backstage to wash his face. Yu Ran was very confused. While splashing the bridge of his nose with cold water, he glanced at Chu Mian in the mirror, and tentatively asked, ¡°Did I screw it up?¡± ¡°You stop the bleeding first.¡± Chu Mian asked him to raise his head and plugged his nose with a tissue. ¡°Go back and drink plenty of water.¡± When the blood had temporarily clotted, Yu Ran tilted his neck and was taken out of the bathroom by Chu Mian. As soon as he went out, he heard Cui He laugh as she told him, ¡°You¡¯re really something. From yesterday to until now, there have been a total of eight people acting as princes, and you¡¯re the most useless one.¡± When Yu Ran looked up, he could only see Chu Mian¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s not because of him.¡± ¡°But doesn¡¯t the line you read mean that you got a nosebleed out of excitement after seeing Chu Mian?¡± Yu Ran stopped talking and stared blankly at Chu Mian¡¯s jaw. ¡°Go back and change clothes,¡± Chu Mian said. Outside the locker room, there were actors from other classes lined up. Chu Mian didn¡¯t have the patience to wait, so he took him to his lounge. Yu Ran sat leaning against the wall, raising his head to adjust the position of the tissue. Chu Mian turned his back to him and untied the belt around his waist. Before taking off his dress, Chu Mian quietly turned his head to confirm that Yu Ran was still raising his face and couldn¡¯t see his body from his angle. He pulled off the zipper with his mind at ease and the loose dress immediately fell to the ground. Yu Ran felt that the blood had almost stopped now, so he lowered his head and moved his neck. As a result, Chu Mian¡¯s smooth back appeared in his field of vision and he subconsciously pressed his head against the wall. But Yu Ran quickly calmed down. He had seen so many many boys¡¯ naked bodies during military training, and Chu Mian¡¯s back was also¡­ ¡ª No. ¡ª Chu Mian¡¯s back looked much better than the backs of that group of boys. After Yu Ran realized this difference, he suddenly felt that his nose started to bleed again. ¡°No wonder you refused to shower with everyone during military training.¡± When Yu Ran¡¯s voice sounded from behind, Chu Mian turned his head vigilantly and found that the other party¡¯s head had returned to its normal angle at some time. ¡°Your back¡­¡± Yu Ran smiled. ¡°Do you charge for a glance?¡± Without saying a word, Chu Mian grabbed his school uniform and put it on, ordering Yu Ran not to stare at him while he was changing clothes. ¡°Okay, okay, okay I won¡¯t look.¡± Yu Ran closed his eyes obediently. Chu Mian¡¯s ears were hot, and while putting on his clothes, he looked back to check whether Yu Ran had quietly opened his eyes. He almost put on the shirt inside out. He quickly sorted his clothes and threw the key of the lounge on the table. ¡°I¡¯m going back to the classroom first. Remember to lock the door when you¡¯re done changing your clothes.¡± He had just taken two steps when he felt the bulge on the pockets on both sides of his pants. His hands reached in and grabbed out a lot of rose petals. ¡°You stuffed them in?¡± Chu Mian turned back and faced Yu Ran. Yu Ran didn¡¯t answer but just smiled at him as if he had succeeded in his prank. Chu Mian expressionlessly raised his hand and sprinkled all the rose petals on top of Yu Ran¡¯s head. Yu Ran did not like the smell of roses, but when he gazed at Chu Mian, the smell of the petals slowly turned into a smell he felt comfortable with. The air between the two was scented with flowers. Yu Ran suddenly sat upright, smiled with shining eyes, grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s wrist, and called out to him: ¡°Holy shit, Chu Mian¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It felt as if I was taking a shower just now!¡± Chu Mian frowned, not understanding what Yu Ran was blabbing about again. ¡°Seriously, fuck.¡± Yu Ran got excited but unfortunately, he was too poor at organizing words and phrases and didn¡¯t know how to accurately describe to Chu Mian the magical feeling of a warm current passing through his body just now. ¡°That is, there seems to be a mysterious power in my body which is just about to awaken! It happened when you threw the flower petals at me just now.¡± He shook Chu Mian¡¯s arm and said earnestly: ¡°Throw it at me once more.¡± Chu Mian reached into his pocket with his other hand, took out a bunch of wrinkled rose petals, and gently placed them on Yu Ran¡¯s brown hair. It was a pity that Yu Ran didn¡¯t feel anything strange this time. He let go of Chu Mian¡¯s wrist in disappointment, and said, ¡°Hey¡­your magic power is too weak.¡± Chu Mian regretted cooperating with Yu Ran, so he immediately threw out an evaluation: ¡°Muggle.¡± He took out all the petals left in his pocket and threw them on the other party without leaving a single piece. When Chu Mian left and walked a long away, Yu Ran touched the top of his rose-scented head and muttered. ¡°I can take a hot shower out of thin air.¡± CH 27 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans They had painstakingly rehearsed the stage drama for almost half a month but missed the audition time because the lead actor had an accidental nosebleed. Because of this Yu Ran felt very ashamed to face Ye Xi. However, Chu Mian was obviously very happy. Anyway, as long as he didn¡¯t have to wear that dress with deformed aesthetics anymore, class honor was of little significance to him. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t have time to take pictures.¡± Yu Ran sighed. ¡°When you put on that dress, even Lady Gaga can¡¯t compare to you.¡± In the morning during the break, the large classroom was empty and quiet, and only the two of them were drawing blackboard newspapers in the room. This was the work that Yu Ran had taken the initiative to take over from Ye Xi in order to make it up to her. Chu Mian had been dragged along by him forcefully to write calligraphy. After Chu Mian had finished writing, he put down the chalk and blew the white dust off his fingertips. He cocked his head to see Yu Ran still drawing a border on the leftmost side of the blackboard. He was not drawing something normal like flowers ¡ª he seemed to be drawing a sea wave, and the direction of its flow was faintly visible. Yu Ran stepped on the chair, his school uniform sleeves were rolled up, and he stared at the lines intently. Chu Mian didn¡¯t make a sound so as not to disturb the other party, and waited for him to finish a part of his drawing before asking, ¡°When did you start drawing?¡± ¡°Maybe in the first year of my junior high school, or maybe in the second year, I forgot. In fact, what I had learned at that time was to draw graffiti. Have you seen the painted wall at Lanwan Square?¡± Yu Ran lowered his head, picked a new piece of chalk and broke off one end of it. ¡°There¡¯s a robot that I drew there.¡± Lanwan Square could also be regarded as a famous attraction in Ronggang. Chu Mian sometimes passed by there and he had indeed seen the graffiti wall, but he had never paid much attention to it. After all, the pet trade fair had been held nearby a few years ago, and Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to recall losing Marija. But now he found out that the thing he didn¡¯t care about was connected to a person he knew, so it was a small surprise for him. Chu Mian said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll go and see it next time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s still there, I had drawn it a few years ago.¡± Yu Ran continued to draw on the board. ¡°What do you think of the row of walls in the parking lot of our school?¡± Chu Mian tried to stop the other party from putting his reckless idea into action: ¡°Don¡¯t draw in our school, you¡¯ll be punished.¡± ¡°Then, where should I draw?¡± Chu Mian thought for a few seconds, and said, ¡°Another school.¡± Yu Ran laughed: ¡°You are a bad egg.¡± After hanging out with Yu Ran for a long time, Chu Mian¡¯s thinking also unconsciously deviated from the proper path. Although Cui He¡¯s words were ¡°You just revealed your true form¡±, Chu Mian still insisted that there was a crucial difference between himself and Yu Ran ¡ª he used his brain before speaking, while Yu Ran had no brain at all. After the music of the radio exercise outside ended, the students returned to the class one after another. Every time Yu Ran washed his hands in the bathroom, he had to wipe his hands on Chu Mian¡¯s body, taking advantage of the time he was unprepared. While joking and playing, they got drenched all over, and the black school uniform looked very conspicuous when it was stained with water, so when they entered the classroom together, they attracted a lot of attention. It just so happened that recently, boys often bought a kind of candy toy gun from the shop. There were several empty shells in Yu Ran¡¯s bookcase. He impatiently filled the toy gun with mineral water, then stood up and held up a small water gun, and threatened Chu Mian with a majestic voice: ¡°I¡¯m going to spray you with water!¡± At this time, no matter what the whole class was doing, they all stopped and stared at Yu Ran in amazement. Chu Mian wanted to lower his head and pretend to be concentrating on his homework to draw a line with the other party but Yu Ran immediately said in a high-pitched voice, ¡°Haha! Watch daddy shoot you all over your face!¡± After speaking, his index finger frantically pulled the trigger, and the inner parts of the plastic water gun issued a series of ¡°creaking¡± noises. The atmosphere in the classroom fell into dead silence. Fang Zhao hurriedly whispered from behind: ¡°Yu Ran, Yu Ran, don¡¯t play anymore, the teacher¡¯s here.¡± When Yu Ran turned his head, he saw Bai Yuzhu standing at the door asking him with a stiff face: ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear the class bell ringing?¡± He immediately hid the small water gun in his pocket and returned to his seat unhappily. Bai Yuzhu informed the whole class: ¡°It¡¯s time to change seats at noon. Each column will shift to the direction of the window. From now on, every Monday morning, remember to change seats after you come. Also, there¡¯ll be earthquake drills before the inter-class exercise in the afternoon. All of you, be quick. Don¡¯t delay. Do you hear me?¡± Yu Ran replied loudly: ¡°Yes!¡± The homeroom teacher immediately rolled her eyes at him, and tapped her finger twice in the air, signaling him to behave. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve to sit by the door this afternoon, it¡¯s not the exclusive seat for the protagonists,¡± Yu Ran was reluctant to let go of his current seat, but after he pondered for a bit, he found that there were other benefits too, ¡°Hey, Chu Mian, can you open the back door for me in the future?¡± Jte Zljc kjr klqlcu atf vgbqr bo kjafg ogbw tlr ojmf, jcv ktfc tf tfjgv Te Ejc rjslcu rbwfatlcu atja tjv j vbeyif wfjclcu, tf lwwfvljafis atgfk bnfg atf yjii bo alrref qjqfg lc tlr tjcv. ¡°Qtja jgf sbe jcugs jybea?¡± Jte Zljc lucbgfv tlw jcv rajgafv ab riffq bc tlr vfrx. Yu Ran lightly shook Chu Mian¡¯s arm to harass him. After receiving no response, he took a mechanical pencil and wrote the word ¡°sb¡± on the wall next to Chu Mian, and then drew a downward facing arrow, pointing to Chu Mian. After entertaining himself, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but sigh, feeling a little disappointed. No matter how much he tried to focus, his body never showed the feeling of being full of warm currents like last time. It seemed that it was just a coincidence at that time, and the day when he would officially awaken his superpowers was still unknown. Only the word ¡°dammit¡± remained in Yu Ran¡¯s heart. In another month, it would almost be winter. If his body could be as warm as a hot bath in the cold wind, how relaxing and happy he would feel. In the afternoon, an alarm echoed from the radio during the big break. Everyone remembered that there was going to be an earthquake drill, so they immediately put down their pens and lined up to go down the stairs following the teacher¡¯s instructions. Ronggang was located in the North China Plain. The local children had never experienced an earthquake since they were young, so they didn¡¯t feel a sense of crisis. They didn¡¯t even bother to hurry up in this drill. As they walked out of the school building towards the playground, their Physical Education Teacher Dou, who was supervising them on the way, urged: ¡°Do you have any sense of urgency? Still talking and laughing here. Imagine that there¡¯s an earthquake now, and you guys won¡¯t be able to escape it at all! ¡± But at this moment, everyone heard a loud roar from the back of the group: ¡°Run! Earthquake! If you don¡¯t run, you¡¯ll die!¡± Everyone turned their heads in astonishment, only to see Yu Ran running forward with all his strength as if no one else was present, and the hair on his forehead was standing up against the wind, revealing his anxious eyebrows. He rushed directly from the back row to the front of the group, racing against the clock to reach the empty green space. Cui He almost swallowed the bubble gum in fright: ¡°Fuck, this idiot¡¯s so fucking serious.¡± Fang Zhao nodded in agreement: ¡°And it¡¯s even more stupid to be serious.¡± Teacher Dou was very pleased: ¡°Everyone should learn from Yu Ran, you should¡¯ve this kind of sense of crisis.¡± Amidst the laughter of the class, Chu Mian felt a trace of shame for Yu Ran. But Yu Ran himself was waiting for them triumphantly on the playground, without any sense of shame. However, because of his very positive attitude just now, the director specially praised the Class 1 of first year on stage after the drill, and everyone was very happy. ¡°Hey, it can¡¯t be helped, the Sports Committee has to have this sense of responsibility.¡± After Yu Ran returned to the classroom, he praised himself while ruffling his hair. But he couldn¡¯t be happy for too long, for he felt a trace of coolness between his legs, and looked down to see that his crotch was wet. ¡°Fuck me!¡± Only then did Yu Ran remember that he hadn¡¯t taken out the small water gun he had stuffed in his pocket that morning. As a result, when he had been running intensely just now, some parts of the water gun had come off, causing the water to leak out. He quickly took out a few pieces of paper and pressed them in the damp place. He wanted to go out to get some air to make the school uniform dry faster, but the Language Teacher had already entered the door holding the textbook in her hand: ¡°Hurry up and go back to your seats and take out a paper for Dictation. I forgot the Dictation yesterday, why didn¡¯t you guys remind me? The first one, ni¨¨sh¨¬¡­¡± In Chengjun Middle School, if you hadn¡¯t experienced Language Teacher Wang¡¯s speed of speech, you didn¡¯t know what true bitterness was. When everyone wailed and begged her to recite the obscure words slowly, the machine gun-like mouth of Teacher Wang had already proceeded to Classical Chinese. Yu Ran took a lot of time to find the paper for Dictation and couldn¡¯t keep up with the rhythm, so he directly gave up writing the previous words, and focused on wiping his pants with his head down. ¡°Are you finished? Stop writing even if you haven¡¯t finished. The students from the last row get up and collect them.¡± Chu Mian was the first to get up. He knew that Teacher Wang often did Dictation suddenly, so he always kept a few blank sheets of paper in his bookcase so as to be able to keep up with her speed of speech every time. When he walked to Yu Ran, Chu Mian put his own paper on the table for the other party to copy, but when he lowered his head, he saw that Yu Ran¡¯s hands were hanging down, he was holding a tissue and wiping the wetness between his legs vigorously. Chu Mian was taken aback by this sensitive scene. He turned his face away, and hurried forward to collect other student¡¯s Dictation papers. ¡°Take out ¡°Sunshine Classroom¡±!¡± Teacher Wang stepped off the podium. ¡°Who didn¡¯t write their homework? Xue Zifan, did you write it? I know you didn¡¯t write it, go out. What about you, Yu Ran?¡± Yu Ran looked for his homework hastily. ¡°Huh? I forgot.¡± ¡°Okay, you go out as well, come back in when you¡¯re done writing.¡± Yu Ran simply obediently went to stay in the corridor, and high-fived with Xue Zifan who had been driven out with her just now. The two usually did not complete their Language class¡¯ homework. Originally, Teacher Wang used to be very angry with them, but recently she calmly asked them to leave the classroom every day. ¡°Great God, how much are you still short?¡± Yu Ran bent over and lay on the window sill. ¡°I only have two units left to write, do you want to copy it?¡± Xue Zifan replied calmly: ¡°I¡¯ve written them all.¡± ¡°Huh? Then why did you come out?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to attend the class.¡± Xue Zifan yawned. Yu Ran gave him a thumbs up. ¡°The Great God is always the Great God.¡± If someone asked him who he admired the most in the class, Yu Ran would definitely say Xue Zifan. This person especially liked to talk back to Teacher Wang during Language class. He didn¡¯t argue, but instead used a very slow speed of speech to answer sloppily. Every day, he would provoke the short-tempered Teacher Wang, making her extremely angry. Other students would be scared out of their wits just by watching, but he would still remain calm and breezy. He talked normally with his classmates in private. Only in front of Teacher Wang did he imitate the speaking speed of ¡°Guo Degang imitating Li Jing¡°. ¡°Great God, teach me.¡± Yu Ran got tired after copying half of his homework, and chatted with Xue Zifan, ¡°I don¡¯t need to predict the future, just let me see human tails like you.¡± Xue Zifan said: ¡°This can¡¯t be taught, you¡¯ve to open your Heaven¡¯s Eye.¡± ¡°How do I open it?¡± ¡°Poke yourself blind first.¡± Xue Zifan stared at him with wide eyes very hard. ¡°Then replace it with a new one like I did.¡± ¡°Fuck, you¡¯re messing with me.¡± Yu Ran pushed him and immediately gave up the idea of opening Heaven¡¯s Eye. Bored in the corridor, Yu Ran quietly walked to the back door of the classroom and observed Chu Mian¡¯s profile as he earnestly listened to the lecture. After a while, when the whole class was reading the text in unison, Yu Ran knocked on the glass of the back door to attract Chu Mian¡¯s attention. Chu Mian knew that it was impossible for Yu Ran to finish his homework properly outside, so he turned to look over. Yu Ran deliberately made a face and pressed his nose to the transparent glass, his nose was almost flattened. Chu Mian chuckled lightly. Seeing that Teacher Wang didn¡¯t look this way, he reached out to the back door lock and opened a gap for Yu Ran. ¡°I want to buy a gouache after school,¡± Yu Ran whispered, ¡°to draw the blackboard newspaper.¡± Chu Mian nodded and agreed to accompany him. The two discussed whether to take the subway or the bus. Chu Mian heard that Yu Ran¡¯s voice was a little hoarse. Maybe it was caused by shouting too loudly during the earthquake exercise in the afternoon. He turned sideways, took out a box of throat lozenges from his bag, and handed it out the door. ¡°What flavor is the candy, is it delicious?¡± Yu Ran could not read the foreign language on it. ¡°Mint flavor,¡± Chu Mian whispered to him, ¡°It protects your throat during the voice changing period.¡± Yu Ran immediately revealed a smiling expression, went back with the candy, and continued to lie on the windowsill to finish his homework. Xue Zifan stared at his lower back for a while, and said casually: ¡°Yu Ran, your tail¡¯s up.¡± Yu Ran subconsciously covered his tailbone. The after-school bell rang, and Yu Ran finally finished his Language homework and escaped Teacher Wang¡¯s clutches successfully. He returned the throat lozenges to Chu Mian, but the other party said, ¡°You can keep it.¡± Yu Ran stuffed them into his pocket unceremoniously. The two took the subway to go to Ronggang Academy of Fine Arts. There were various types of gouache in the shops there, and they should be able to buy something suitable for drawing a blackboard newspaper. It was the peak time and the subway was overcrowded, and the two of them were shaking slightly while holding the hanging ring. When Yu Ran got tired from standing, he released the hanging ring and leaned on Chu Mian. ¡°I want to sit,¡± Yu Ran stared at the row of passengers in front of him, and whispered to Chu Mian, ¡°Who do you think will get up at the next station? I guess it¡¯s that long-haired woman.¡± Chu Mian followed his gaze and looked over. ¡°She just put on her earphones. This means that there¡¯s no need to listen to the announcement of the next station for quite a while, so she won¡¯t get off so quickly.¡± Yu Ran scanned the others again: ¡°What about the one carrying the suitcase?¡± Chu Mian said, ¡°He¡¯s sitting too lazily. If he had to get off at the next station, he must be sitting upright and holding the suitcase now.¡± Yu Ran felt that Chu Mian¡¯s analysis was well-founded and very convincing. ¡°I think it¡¯s the one in the red jacket. She has been staring at the name of the station.¡± Chu Mian made a judgment, and arched his elbows at Yu Ran. ¡°Looking at her position, she¡¯ll probably leave from the left exit. You can sit down as quickly as possible by standing on her right.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Ran quickly walked through the crowd and squeezed in front of the aunt Chu Mian had pointed out. He was poised, waiting for the subway to stop so that he could take a seat. Finally, the bell rang and Yu Ran watched the lady in red move her lower body. ¡°It¡¯s now,¡± Chu Mian reminded him, and did not forget to push him. Yu Ran gave a hurried ¡°mmn¡± and sat down without thinking. ¡ª He sat directly on the lap of that aunt. ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Ran turned his head in surprise, and was met with a pair of equally surprised eyes. The aunt asked him sincerely: ¡°Young man, can¡¯t you see that there¡¯s a person sitting here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t expect the prediction to fail, and quickly apologized before standing up. When he turned his head again, he found that Chu Mian was squeezing into the crowd little by little, trying to stay away from him. ¡°Fuck.¡± Yu Ran immediately followed and grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s schoolbag. ¡°You fucking cheated me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to read minds.¡± Chu Mian tried to keep his expression calm. ¡°Who told you to be so lazy? It¡¯s only a few stations away but you want to sit. Muggle.¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t make a loud noise on the subway, so he wrapped himself around Chu Mian¡¯s arm and pinched him hard. When the two left the subway station, it was already dark. ¡°So what does ¡°Muggle¡± mean? Why do you always call me that?¡± Yu Ran pulled Chu Mian¡¯s arm and didn¡¯t let go. ¡°Is it a curse?¡± Chu Mian said indifferently: ¡°Don¡¯t you know how to search on Baidu yourself?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Yu Ran had actually forgotten this method. He quickly took out his mobile phone to search for the term, and found that it referred to an ordinary person who lacked any sort of magical ability in ¡°Harry Potter¡± Yu Ran let go of Chu Mian¡¯s arms, stood there in surprise and forgot to walk. He looked at him incredulously and said, ¡°You call me ¡®Muggle¡¯, doesn¡¯t that mean that¡ª¡± ¡°¡ª you can do magic?¡± The reasoning was clear and impeccable. Chu Mian could only sigh with a sneer. ¡°I knew it.¡± With a gentle smile on the corners of his lips, Yu Ran approached Chu Mian and looked up at him. ¡°Sure enough, you were the one who had awakened me that day.¡± Chu Mian denied: ¡°It¡¯s not me, your ¡®awakening¡¯ has nothing to do with me. Don¡¯t lump us together.¡± ¡°It¡¯s you, I can feel it,¡± Yu Ran said confidently, ¡°When I look at you, I feel warmer than when I look at others.¡± CH 28 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Yu Ran¡¯s train of thought was always inconsistent with ordinary people. Every time he tried to act smart and said something strange, Chu Mian had to consume a lot of patience to understand what he wanted to express. For example, the word ¡°warmer¡± he had said. Chu Mian subconsciously recalled that the clothes he had recently worn were not very thick, so he wouldn¡¯t be too warm than others, right? Then this should not be what Yu Ran was actually trying to say. So, Chu Mian carefully observed Yu Ran¡¯s expression again and found that the other party had his face raised. His eyes were completely focused on him, without any trace of deviation. This unreserved direct gaze was too easy to make others feel oppressed, and Chu Mian dodged his gaze in less than three seconds. ¡°It has nothing to do with me.¡± Chu Mian turned around, trying to avoid being stared closely at by Yu Ran again. ¡°If you feel cold, you should wear more clothes.¡± Yu Ran mused: ¡°Recently, I feel like¡­there is a connection between the two of us.¡± Chu Mian was silent. Yu Ran went on to say, ¡°Why don¡¯t we both drop blood to recognize if we are relatives?¡± Chu Mian pushed Yu Ran¡¯s head with his palm, disrupting his impractical thoughts. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and go shopping, I¡¯ve to go home for dinner.¡± Yu Ran followed him with a smile. ¡°Chu Mian, to tell you the truth, in fact, you¡¯re my long-lost son. As a father, whenever I see you, my heart feels very warm¡­¡± Chu Mian stretched out his legs directly, which made Yu Ran almost trip to the ground. Yu Ran staggered and it was as if this gave him inspiration again. He grabbed Chu Mian and said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a story.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Once upon a time, there was a girl who was cursed. She could only say one word a year. In order to confess to the boy she liked, she hadn¡¯t spoken for three years¡­¡± Halfway through speaking, Yu Ran suddenly started to laugh out loud and his shoulders kept shaking. ¡°And, and then, she finally waited until the day of her confession. She excitedly ran out of her house, only to trip over the door frame¡­ She yelled, ¡°Oh, fuck me¡¯. Hahahahahaha¡­¡± Chu Mian was originally indifferent, but when he turned his head to see Yu Ran laughing so hard he couldn¡¯t breathe, the corners of his lips couldn¡¯t help but raise. He commented: ¡°Boring.¡± The two entered a shop near the Academy of Fine Arts and chose a set of acrylic paints on the recommendation of the shop owner. Yu Ran did not rush to check out, but went to other shelves to look at the color pencils and sketchbooks. There were many painting tools in exquisite packaging in the shop. Chu Mian swept a glance and felt that they were very suitable as gifts. He parted his lips slightly and almost called out Yu Ran to ask when his birthday was, but then he thought that Yu Ran hadn¡¯t asked him this question before, so if he took the initiative to inquire now, wouldn¡¯t it appear very much like he was showing Yu Ran too much attention? After thinking for a while, Chu Mian decided not to ask. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Yu Ran chose what to buy and walked to the cashier. Chu Mian asked, ¡°Are you only buying these?¡± ¡°En, I still have pens and stuff at home, but I¡¯ve run out of sketchbooks.¡± Chu Mian glanced at the sketchbook, it was quite thick. It was clear that Yu Ran usually practiced a lot. He asked curiously, ¡°What do you draw? Geometric blocks?¡± ¡°No, just ordinary colored pencil drawing, whatever I want to draw.¡± Yu Ran took the bag and opened the store door. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to prepare a portfolio or something for art exam interviews? I¡¯m doing it earlier, so it¡¯ll look like I¡¯ve done a lot.¡± Chu Mian wanted to see what Yu Ran¡¯s drawings looked like, but he was reluctant to show his interest in Yu Ran, so he said, ¡°My aunt is now an artist. Would you like her to see it for you?¡± ¡°Lbk klii P rtbk?¡± ¡°Dglcu sbeg rxfamtybbx klat sbe abwbggbk, jcv P mjc tfiq sbe ulnf la ab tfg.¡± ¡°Xgfja!¡± Te Ejc kjr rb tjqqs atja tf ugjyyfv Jte Zljc¡¯r jgw jcv ijeutfv ¡°tftf¡± j ofk alwfr. ¡°Ofa¡¯r ub, P¡¯ii agfja sbe ab j qlcfjqqif qlf.¡± Ktflg tberfr kfgf bc vloofgfca gbeafr, rb atfs rjlv ubbvysf ktfc atfs jgglnfv ja atf rajalbc. The pineapple pie in Chu Mian¡¯s hands was still warm. But he didn¡¯t like eating in public, so he held it in his hands in the subway all the way home. ¡°Why did you think of eating this kind of food today?¡± Chu Heng felt it was strange when she saw it. ¡°You¡¯re back so late. Did you have a craving to eat outside?¡± Chu Mian shook his head and sat down for dinner in silence. After a while, he still told Chu Heng: ¡°I just went shopping with my classmate.¡± Chu Heng was surprised but also very relieved. She marveled over how her nephew was finally getting along with his peers. However, she didn¡¯t ask any more questions, just secretly remembered the small changes in Chu Mian every day, such as eating more snacks, playing games more often on weekends, and especially taking pictures of Fiona. Although his focus of life was still his studies, he was also more and more willing to allocate his time to entertainment. He didn¡¯t look so gloomy anymore. After Chu Mian finished his meal, he went to his room to read a novel. The news of the Nobel Prize in Literature was all over the news a while ago, and he guessed that the Language Reading of the midterm exam might test Mo Yan¡¯s essay, so he took the time to read it now to facilitate the analysis of the central idea at that time. After reading a short story, it was already half past nine. He habitually picked up his phone, but found no unread messages. For several days in a row, Chu Mian would receive Yu Ran¡¯s text messages at night. There would be no serious content, only pure nonsense. They would chat until 10:30 in the night. Chu Mian had just gotten used to it, but today¡¯s inbox was empty, so he inevitably felt like something was missing. He didn¡¯t dwell much on it. He clicked into the QQ and saw that Yu Ran was online. Yu Ran had also posted a few screenshots of the anime ¡°Gintama¡± and had discussed it with Ye Xi. Scrolling down furthermore, he saw the other party showing off his score on ¡°Temple Run¡±, and brazenly claiming to be the toughest man in the class. Yu Ran had reposted at least seven or eight posts in one night, had shared two songs, and was obviously not doing his homework. You¡¯re very idle, aren¡¯t you? Chu Mian didn¡¯t care about not receiving any messages at first, but then he discovered the Moments that Yu Ran had shared in the middle of the night last night¡ª [The Wolf is Hiding Next to the Dog]: Hahahahaha! I finally used up this month¡¯s text message package!!! Finally. Used. Up. Chu Mian frowned, feeling a little off-balance at heart. He was so busy studying every day, but he was still willing to squeeze some time to reply to those shallow text messages. As a result, Yu Ran was only trying to find someone to accompany him to deal with the number of text messages. ¡ª No wonder every text message was full of nonsense. After quickly scanning the inbox of the last few days, Chu Mian decisively chose to delete them. He put his phone upside down and continued to concentrate on reading the novel. A few minutes later, his phone vibrated. Yu Ran¡¯s text message came belatedly: ¡°What will you eat tomorrow morning? Are you going to the cafeteria?¡± Chu Mian hurriedly returned a ¡°no¡±. Yu Ran: ¡°Please come! I need to finish my homework.¡± Right now, Chu Mian was feeling hostile towards Yu Ran, and the way Yu Ran spoke, as if it was his natural right to copy his homework, made Chu Mian even more annoyed, so he asked back directly: ¡°Why can¡¯t you finish it all today?¡± Yu Ran: ¡°I just want to copy yours.¡± ¡°No, I won¡¯t give it to you,¡± Chu Mian replied immediately, and decided not to lend him homework anymore, ¡°You find someone else to borrow it from.¡± Yu Ran: ¡°Okay. Then remember to come for breakfast tomorrow.¡± ¡°I said I won¡¯t go.¡± After sending this sentence, Chu Mian turned the phone to silent mode. When looking down at the book, he could see that the screen was on from time to time from his peripheral vision, but he didn¡¯t care about it. When he finished reading the book and it was time to wash and sleep, he realized that there were 19 missed calls. Soon, Yu Ran called for the twentieth time. ¡°Oh, you finally fucking picked it up, I thought you were asleep again.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°I think I still have more than a hundred minutes of voice pack not used up this month, I don¡¯t want to waste it.¡± He didn¡¯t expect the other party to mention this to him so openly. Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but feel even more conflicted: ¡°Why don¡¯t you call someone else?¡± ¡°Why would I call someone else?¡± Yu Ran laughed on the phone. ¡°I only want to talk to you at night.¡± Chu Mian instantly felt like someone was clutching his chest, and his fingertips that were holding the phone suddenly began to heat up. His lips moved, but no sound came from them. He stood up from the chair and walked quickly to the bed to lie down. ¡°Chu Mian, I¡¯ve been particularly worried about the end of the world recently.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s voice sounded worried. ¡°When I look at the calendar getting closer and closer to December, I get so fucking scared. I feel like I can live one day at a time.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s expression eased a lot. ¡°Weren¡¯t you still thinking about preparing a portfolio for the art exam today?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t remember the end of the world at that time.¡± Yu Ran sighed. ¡°Fuck, I¡¯m only fifteen years old, I don¡¯t want to die.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s breathing became heavier, and he asked him slowly, ¡°Then when are you turning sixteen?¡± Yu Ran thought for a few seconds: ¡°Next year.¡± ¡°Nonsense.¡± Chu Mian chuckled lightly. ¡°I mean¡­the specific date.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Yu Ran suddenly saw the light. ¡°August 6th! The numbers are very auspicious, right?¡± It turns out that this year¡¯s birthday had passed. Chu Mian temporarily gave up the idea of giving him painting tools. Yu Ran began to seriously discuss the topic of the end of the world again. For Chu Mian, it just went in one ear and out the other. He finally comforted him: ¡°You¡¯ll definitely survive.¡± ¡°Okay, I believe you,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°If we all live up to 2013 smoothly, it will prove that we can go to Beijing together smoothly after graduation.¡± Chu Mian paused for a few seconds, and then let out a heavy ¡°yeah¡±. In fact, he hadn¡¯t expected Yu Ran to pay much attention to the so-called promise. Not to mention whether they would remember their current wishes three years later, Chu Mian had even forgotten a lot of what had happened during the military training not long ago. The enthusiasm and emotion under the night sky at that time might gradually disappear with the peaceful life day after day. Chu Mian had no doubt about this at first, but now he was more willing to believe that¡­ Yu Ran should help him remember. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m sleepy, I¡¯ll go to sleep,¡± Yu Ran said that he was thirsty at the end, then he yawned and took the initiative to say goodbye. The next morning, Chu Mian went outside with the class president to supervise the work of this week¡¯s students-on-duty. Recently, it was the ¡°Code of Conduct Week¡±, and health inspections had also been stepped up. Each class had to take turns to clean the fallen leaves in the school. Chu Mian was at the gate of the school, and in front of him were some second-year seniors, with an absolutely sloppy sweeping attitude. He knew one of them. It was Cai Hanchuan who had wanted to force Cui He to get intimate with him a while ago. His hair was cut short and he was a little bit more energetic. Of course, Cai Hanchuan had noticed Chu Mian a long time ago. The two just had a brief glance at each other. But he immediately turned around as if nothing had happened, and then secretly cursed. Cai Hanchuan had been crushed by a seemingly gentle-looking schoolboy and even humiliated in front of his ex-girlfriend. He was inevitably unconvinced, but what made him even more angry was that Chu Mian had hit his head against the wall several times, and to this day, his head still hurt faintly. He went to the hospital to get an X-ray which revealed that his head was fine. The doctor concluded that the reason he felt that his head was still aching was probably due to some psychological reasons. ¡°Fuck him.¡± Cai Hanchuan would never admit that he was afraid of this person. He swept the floor with his back turned to Chu Mian and piled the yellow leaves into a hill. At this time, he wanted to look back to see if Chu Mian had gone, but he noticed another nasty face coming in at the school gate. Before Yu Ran¡¯s legs entered the school, he shouted Chu Mian¡¯s name loudly. Cai Hanchuan rolled his eyes disdainfully and snorted coldly. Cai Hanchuan knew about the relationship between these two people from his newly recognized younger brother. During the military training, a boy named Huang Feng from another school came to inquire who the ¡°Flag-bearer¡± of Chengjun was. Cai Hanchuan went out to see and found out that the other party was there to make friends with him. Both of them had mixed in society in junior high school, and they had similar personalities and hit it off immediately. And then one day after school started, Huang Feng said that he would take him to an interesting place to play, and Cai Hanchuan found out that it was a clubhouse. The rule of ¡°No minors allowed¡± was null and void in front of Huang Feng. Allegedly, he was backed by someone so he dared to enter and leave at will. Cai Hanchuan thought that Huang Feng was a nice guy, so they simply started to call each other brothers. The two of them usually smoked, drank and bragged casually, and naturally talked about their respective schools while chatting. Cai Hanchuan found that Huang Feng knew Yu Ran and also thought this person was an idiot. But when Huang Feng suggested that they should settle scores with Yu Ran, Cai Hanchuan waved his hand and refused: ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s boring, I¡¯m too lazy to pay attention to him.¡± Huang Feng didn¡¯t say anything anymore, and then Cai Hanchuan casually said: ¡°There¡¯s a person in the first year of our senior high school who¡¯s more difficult to deal with than Yu Ran.¡± Of course, he didn¡¯t elaborate on how powerful Chu Mian was. He only said, ¡°Fuck, he looks like a girl, but he¡¯s quite powerful.¡± Although Cai Hanchuan¡¯s description was concise, it was very precise. Huang Feng recalled it for a moment and said: ¡°I seem to have seen him before. Is he the one who is inseparable from Yu Ran?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Huang Feng took a sip of his drink and said lightly, ¡°Isn¡¯t that Yu Ran¡¯s lover?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cai Hanchuan immediately sat up from the sofa, and his eyebrows were tightly knitted together. ¡°Fuck, a man? As a lo-lover? Screw him. Is it true, it¡¯s grossing me out.¡± Huang Feng thought he was making a fuss: ¡°You don¡¯t know? Even I know that during military training, Yu Ran and his boyfriend hooked up in the woods in the middle of the night and were caught by the instructor at dawn.¡± Cai Hanchuan immediately shuddered with nausea. ¡°Brother, why don¡¯t you look at it from this angle?¡± Huang Feng put down his glass and leaned forward. ¡°Anyway, if you want to settle scores with Yu Ran¡¯s lover, I¡¯ll go with you, let¡¯s fix that man. Yu Ran will definitely lose his temper. Since he¡¯s not afraid of being beaten physically, I think we¡¯ll have to abuse him mentally.¡± Cai Hanchuan felt that Huang Feng had a point. The two discussed the date and chose this Wednesday¡¯s Chengjun club activities period. At that time, the school director would be off work. That day was today. ¡°Fuck¡¯em.¡± Cai Hanchuan hadn¡¯t expected to see these two people early this morning. ¡°Disgusting dead faggots.¡± The dead leaves that had just been piled up a moment ago had already scattered, so he quickly started to sweep the ground again. But the sound of sweeping couldn¡¯t cover the voices of the two people behind the school door. Feeling grossed out, Cai Hanchuan simply rubbed the ground with a broom, exerting all his strength. ¡°In order to buy you purple sweet potato buns, I even gave up the time to copy homework. Shouldn¡¯t you kowtow to me and say thank you?¡± Yu Ran raised his face and said to Chu Mian, ¡°Do you eat wontons? I didn¡¯t add coriander, the one you said was delicious last time.¡± ¡°The morning self-study class is Physics, stop messing around,¡± Chu Mian told him, ¡°Hurry back and write your homework after you finish eating.¡± ¡°No. Physics will be checked as soon as the class starts. Let¡¯s switch our seats in the morning self-study class. That way, you can block me while I eat.¡± When the two of them were talking, corners of Cai Hanchuan¡¯s mouth were almost reaching his chin, and his stomach was still sour. He was so disgusted that his features were twisted. He quietly glanced back to see if the pair of dead faggots had left, only to be met with the scene of Yu Ran smiling and stretching out his hand to stick the bag of purple sweet potato buns on Chu Mian¡¯s face. Fuck them. Cai Hanchuan didn¡¯t hold back, and started dry heaving loudly on the spot. CH 29 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Painting blackboard newspapers with watercolor paint looked much brighter and more vibrant than using chalk. The waves of the sea were so vivid that the teachers who entered the class couldn¡¯t help but praise them when they saw it. Only then did the classmates realize that Yu Ran, who was usually slovenly, had an artistic talent, and they couldn¡¯t help but be impressed with him. ¡°Why does this paper have so many shitty questions? If only the midterm exam was a drawing exam.¡± Yu Ran was listlessly lying on the desk, wiping the paint from his fingertips using a wet wipe. He had several Chemistry papers pressed under his face. The highest score was not more than forty. Because of this, he was called by the teacher to go to the office from now on during the lunch break to take make-up lessons until he passed the midterm exam. He thought for a while and turned around to face Chu Mian, placing his chin on the other person¡¯s desk. ¡°Chu Mian, tell me some questions, I¡¯ll memorize them at home.¡± Chu Mian was doing his homework, and replied smoothly: ¡°The questions of the midterm exam are made by the district. Unlike the previous monthly exam, the original homework questions won¡¯t appear.¡± Then he put down his pen and looked up at Yu Ran. ¡°Give me your notes, I¡¯ll highlight the key points.¡± Yu Ran missed the days before National Day very much. At that time, there hadn¡¯t been much homework and the class tests were easy. Now that the midterm exam was approaching, teachers of all subjects had asked students to go to the office to listen to the lectures every day. The materials were becoming more and more difficult. He often didn¡¯t even have time to drink water. He just bounced around in several offices after class. In class, he was also the subject of spot checks by the teachers. After a day of class, he understood what ¡°mental exhaustion¡± meant. Fortunately, there were club activities classes every Wednesday night, which was one of the few things Yu Ran looked forward to at school. He was now a titular member of the basketball team. Since he couldn¡¯t participate in the girls¡¯ training, he could go to other clubs as he pleased every week. Today, he had followed Zhou Weixi to play badminton. ¡°Yu Ran, what are you staring at? It¡¯s your turn to serve.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Yu Ran responded to Zhou Weixi half-heartedly. His eyes were still fixed on the wall at the back door of the school. ¡ª Someone was coming in from over the wall. It was dark, and Yu Ran couldn¡¯t see the appearance of the person in the distance, but he knew that the person was definitely not from their school, otherwise that person would have entered the school directly through the back door. Yu Ran put aside his curiosity for the time being, swung his racket, hit the shuttlecock, and passed it repeatedly with Zhou Weixi. The shuttlecock fell out of the court. Taking advantage of the time when Zhou Weixi went to pick it up, Yu Ran looked back at the wall and found that a student was receiving the person who had climbed the wall. This student¡¯s back was very familiar, he had seen it this morning. It was Cai Hanchuan. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but frown. Although Cai Hanchuan hadn¡¯t bothered him for a long time, he knew that this person had been in contact with Huang Feng recently, so he couldn¡¯t take it lightly. Zhou Weixi, who was on the opposite side of the net, was ready to serve: ¡°Yu Ran, if you receive the shuttlecock this time, I¡¯ll call you dad!¡± Yu Ran was distracted just now. After listening to Zhou Weixi¡¯s words, he hesitated for half a second before raising the racket, but before he could receive it, the shuttlecock quickly passed over his head and landed several meters behind him. Yu Ran turned around to pick it up, glanced up, and found that Cai Hanchuan and the others were walking towards this side. He was not sure whether the other side had noticed him or not. After he finished picking up the shuttlecock, he immediately turned around and continued playing with Zhou Weixi. Since he was a bit distracted now, Yu Ran failed to successfully receive the shuttlecock several times in a row, which made him feel even more unhappy. As he once again watched the shuttlecock pass by him, he turned his head to find that a group of people had already approached him. When Huang Feng¡¯s face appeared in his sight, Yu Ran was startled. The unknown premonition in his heart just now had finally settled down at this moment. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Yu Ran asked calmly. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, Yu Ran.¡± Huang Feng stepped forward and put his hand on Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder in a familiar manner. ¡°We don¡¯t plan to touch you today. Just do as you¡¯re told and come with us. We¡¯ll discuss something.¡± As he spoke, he rubbed Yu Ran¡¯s shoulders with five fingers and pinched them painfully. Yu Ran didn¡¯t frown. Although he was resistant to be close with them in his heart, he didn¡¯t want to start a conflict so quickly in front of Zhou Weixi, so as not to worry his friends. He turned around and winked at Zhou Weixi as if there was no problem, then picked up his school bag on the ground and followed Huang Feng and the others. He had thought that they would take him out of the school to talk, but the place they took him turned out to be an abandoned equipment room in the school. The room was not ventilated, and there was a pungent, damp and musty smell. It seemed that they wanted to clean him up in this kind of inconspicuous place. Yu Ran was not surprised, but very confused. Not only this time, but ever since junior high school, Yu Ran had been puzzled by the basic situation of bullying among boys. In the No. 44 Middle School, where the problematic teenagers were concentrated, the reason for the hatred among students was very simple. Any trivial matter in life could gradually evolve into a conflict, easily dividing people into camps. The words like ¡°apology¡± and ¡°reconciliation¡± did not exist in the dictionary of boys like Huang Feng. They had taken in the most negative perspective of the world from adults since they were young, and believed that ¡°violence can solve all problems¡±. The stronger they were, the less tolerant they were. Pc atf qjra, atfgf kfgf rbwf ybsr ktb pera mbeivc¡¯a abifgjaf Te Ejc jcv obecv tlw ecgfjrbcjyif. Te Ejc jikjsr gfoerfv ab byfs bgvfgr, mbcobgw ab atf ugbeq, ulnf lc, jcv jvwla vfofja. Snfc lo nlbifcmf kjr erfv, tf ralii gfajlcfv tlr nlubg. Ktlr fjrlis jaagjmafv tjagfv ogbw atbrf ybsr. Fortunately, he had tried to get admitted to a normal middle school, and now he had found that most of the boys were very peaceful and tolerant. Huang Feng¡¯s kind was only a minority. ¡°One-on-one or all of you together?¡± Yu Ran dropped his school bag and asked. ¡°I already told you, we won¡¯t touch you today.¡± Cai Hanchuan sat on the mat and looked through Yu Ran¡¯s school bag since he had nothing to do. ¡°Call Chu Mian to come over, then you can leave.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s heart sank and he didn¡¯t know why: ¡°How do you know him?¡± Cai Hanchuan raised his hand, lifted his hair, and let Yu Ran see the bandage. ¡°That bastard almost gave me a concussion. It¡¯s already good that I didn¡¯t find him for compensation. Now, I want an eye for an eye. It¡¯s not too much, right?¡± Yu Ran frowned: ¡°Don¡¯t fucking talk nonsense. Chu Mian and I are together every day, so why don¡¯t I know about this?¡± ¡°During military training.¡± Cai Hanchuan put down his hands, his eyes were gloomy. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, ask your classmate Cui He.¡± Yu Ran was confused. He couldn¡¯t understand this sudden situation. Anyway, it was impossible for him to call Chu Mian here according to their request, no matter how unreasonable the two people in front of him were. Yu Ran¡¯s school bag was already in Huang Feng¡¯s hand. He directly held it upside down, letting all the contents spill out. Then, he smiled and kicked them to make everything more messy. ¡°You still draw, Yu Ran?¡± Huang Feng picked up the sketchbook from the homework pile, opened it and looked at it. ¡°I remember you used to draw every day when you were in junior high school. They¡¯re not bad, you¡¯ve also drawn quite a lot.¡± Yu Ran wanted to say something but stopped. He kept staring at the other party¡¯s hand movements. ¡°Call that Chu what¡­to come here.¡± Huang Feng shook the sketchbook at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, our Brother Han just wants to return the punch he received last time. After all, he lost his face in front of a girl. A person wouldn¡¯t let it go after suffering from such grievance, right? For your sake, we won¡¯t hit too hard¡ª¡± Before he could finish his words, Yu Ran interrupted him with a calm expression on his face: ¡°If you want to vent your anger, do it on me.¡± After letting out a ¡°ooo¡±, Huang Feng said, ¡°You guys are really close, but we¡¯re looking for him today. It¡¯s useless to replace him with you.¡± Yu Ran secretly clenched his fists, and staring at the two of them, he said, ¡°I won¡¯t fight back.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste time.¡± Huang Feng took out a lighter from his pocket and pressed the switch. He was holding the sketchbook in his other hand. ¡°If you still want this shitty sketchbook to be unharmed, be fucking well-behaved and do as we say.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s expression froze. It was dark outside, Chengjun¡¯s playground was brightly lit, and the club activity class was already halfway through. Chu Mian had been sleepy before class, so he temporarily slept in the classroom for a while. After waking up, he felt refreshed and felt too lazy to go to the rooftop to feel the breeze, so he took out Yu Ran¡¯s notebook and continued to help him highlight the main points. Yu Ran¡¯s notes were incomplete on every page. Even now, there were many sentences that were partly written because he had been too lazy to finish the latter half. Chu Mian had to bend the corners of such pages for him as a reminder to fill them in later. In the quiet classroom, there was only the sound of his pen tip rubbing against the paper. Chu Mian raised his head and looked at the empty space in front of him, thinking about how to remind Yu Ran to lend him the sketchbook. Yu Ran had obviously agreed last night to bring it today, but he hadn¡¯t taken it out to show him the whole day. Chu Mian thought that Yu Ran had forgotten to bring it. While he was speculating, Chu Mian heard someone running in the corridor. The sound of footsteps got closer and finally stopped at the door of the classroom. He looked up and saw Zhou Weixi who was panting, and the other party said, ¡°You¡¯re in the classroom¡±. Zhou Weixi ran back to his seat, took out his forgotten mobile phone from the bookcase, and called the homeroom teacher. Chu Mian didn¡¯t care and continued to focus on his own affairs. He didn¡¯t expect to hear Zhou Weixi immediately mention Yu Ran¡¯s name, and it directly attracted his attention. After Zhou Weixi hung up the call, he turned his head and found that Chu Mian had already stood up. Chu Mian asked: ¡°Where¡¯s Yu Ran?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I directly came here to tell the teacher after he left.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t ask more, and immediately left the classroom. He knew the school structure fairly well, and remembered some of the blind spots of the cameras. After looking for them one by one, only the inconspicuous old equipment room was left. The door was usually locked here, but now there were two boys wandering around, as if they were on the lookout. Chu Mian walked over and was unexpectedly not stopped by the two of them. After that, he opened the door without thinking, and a damp smell wafted to his face. The people inside subconsciously turned their heads and looked over. When their eyes met, both sides were taken aback. Seeing Yu Ran standing there safe and sound, Chu Mian was relieved for the time being. But Yu Ran hadn¡¯t expected Chu Mian to show up. He didn¡¯t know how to react for a while, so he only whispered to him: ¡°Hurry up and leave.¡± Cai Hanchuan and Huang Feng were even more surprised than Yu Ran. They were just wondering how to make Yu Ran call Chu Mian, but Chu Mian directly came to the right place. Cai Hanchuan asked Yu Ran in surprise: ¡°Fuck, how did you call him, telepathy?¡± Chu Mian looked at Cai Hanchuan. His voice didn¡¯t have any inflections: ¡°Is there something wrong, senior?¡± Cai Hanchuan made a gesture to his fellow attendants, and several of them immediately pressed Yu Ran¡¯s arms and shoulders to keep him from moving. ¡°You started a conflict that time and left me with a concussion.¡± Cai Hanchuan pointed to his head. ¡°If you fucking obediently give in today, we¡¯ll put everything behind us and let bygones be bygones.¡± Chu Mian glanced at them coldly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think that this has anything to do with Yu Ran.¡± Without waiting for Cai Hanchuan to respond, Yu Ran directly cursed at them. He wanted to continue to say something, but his mouth was directly covered by several people around him, and he was pushed to a corner and pressed against a shelf. Huang Feng was still fiddling with his lighter. He tore off a page of the sketchbook and set it on fire, and that page quickly turned to ashes. Chu Mian didn¡¯t notice him at first. After smelling the burning smell, he was shocked to discover that all the objects scattered on the ground were all Yu Ran¡¯s, including the sketchbook in Huang Feng¡¯s hands. It turned out that Yu Ran had brought the sketchbook today¡­ It was just that he himself was unable to make it in time to take a look at it. Chu Mian was startled, and blurted out: ¡°Don¡¯t touch his things.¡± Huang Feng raised his eyebrows, then his head, and finally raised the sketchbook in his hand, ¡°This?¡± Chu Mian knew that it was something that carried Yu Ran¡¯s dream. ¡ª He had made a promise with me to realize the dream together. His chest was a little stuffy. He tried his best to endure the anger that was rising at the moment, and said gloomily: ¡°Don¡¯t touch it.¡± ¡°Okay, you just need to be well-behaved and let our Brother Han blow off his steam, and I won¡¯t burn the rest.¡± Huang Feng lifted his thumb from the lighter, and his eyes moved to Yu Ran in the corner. ¡°Yu Ran, just watch it well.¡± Chu Mian stood in place and didn¡¯t speak. Cai Hanchuan regarded this as him acquiescing to the negotiation condition. He smiled and moved his wrist before getting up and walking towards Chu Mian. Yu Ran was held in the corner by a few seniors and he tried to break them away with all his strength. His brain had long lost the ability to think anything else, and the only thought he had was ¡°I can¡¯t let anyone hurt Chu Mian¡±. Just hearing the tone of Huang Feng threatening Chu Mian, his anger spread rapidly through his internal organs. He opened his eyes wide when he saw Cai Hanchuan¡¯s fist swinging straight towards Chu Mian¡¯s profile¡ª There was a muffled ¡°bam¡±, and everyone in the equipment room couldn¡¯t help but freeze. Cai Hanchuan instinctively opened his mouth wide to breathe. His nose was suddenly painful, and his vision blurred. He tasted a strong bloody taste in his mouth. Blood seemed to be gushing out from his nose and falling to the floor one after another. Yu Ran instantly forgot to struggle and stared at Chu Mian intently, watching him kick Cai Hanchuan¡¯s knee, causing the opponent to half-kneel on the ground. ¡°Fuck, you¡¯re fucking looking for death.¡± Huang Feng glared at him and stood up. The sketchbook in his hand had been forgotten by him and slipped from his hand. Chu Mian did not speak. He also did not have time to respond. The other party took this as an opportunity to punch him in the belly. The pain was tolerable for the time being and Chu Mian did not flinch. He raised his elbow neatly and hit Huang Feng¡¯s throat below his Adam¡¯s apple, making him retch and his eyes water. Chu Mian held his breath to avoid inhaling too much bacteria in this room. He stepped forward and grabbed Huang Feng¡¯s collar, relied on inertia to make the opponent take a few steps back, then raised his leg to attack the location of the hip bone. It was not that Huang Feng didn¡¯t try to fight back, but it was just that not only was Chu Mian able to withstand the pain, he was also able to attack critical points of the human body in the next second without reserve. Especially when places such as the throat and stomach were in pain, it would affect a person¡¯s ability to put strength into their arm. Huang Feng had only let down his guard slightly and Chu Min grasped the opportunity to press his head onto the ground. He opened his eyes and saw the gloomy expression of the young man. In order to keep his emotions from fluctuating too much, Chu Mian now had no choice but to let his mind go blank to avoid a cataplectic attack. He pinched Huang Feng¡¯s neck with his five slender fingers, and then slowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t touch Yu Ran¡¯s belongings. Also, don¡¯t threaten me.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s voice was so low that it was almost hoarse, and even Yu Ran almost couldn¡¯t tell that it was him. The few people who had restrained Yu Ran had already unknowingly eased their strength. Some people hadn¡¯t even reacted to the fact that two people, Cai Hanchuan and Huang Feng, had actually lost so easily to a seemingly well-mannered boy in front of them. Chu Mian stood up and walked to the side, bent over and hurriedly stuffed Yu Ran¡¯s things back into his school bag, then turned to look at him. The two looked at each other silently. It was completely dark, the students had long gone home one after another, and there was no one on the playground. Several parents gathered in the bright office, and even the director who was off work rushed back to the school to investigate the situation with the parties involved. When Chu Heng found Chu Mian, he was sitting in the stairwell with another boy next to him. She walked over worriedly, put a hand on Chu Mian, and took a close look at his exposed skin. ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, are you hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your director¡¯s office, Mi¨¥mi¨¥?¡± Chu Heng covered her forehead anxiously. ¡°Is the student you hit okay? Has he been taken to the hospital?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Chu Mian nodded. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too serious¡­ Don¡¯t worry.¡± Chu Heng didn¡¯t even have time to gasp for breath, she immediately went to the director¡¯s office. Chu Mian sat down again next to Yu Ran, and the two continued to look through the sketchbook. Chu Mian squeezed the thickness of the sketchbook. It had about two hundred pages, and was full of drawings. There were drawings of many anime characters as well as pure scenery. Although not every drawing was refined, the lines and colors were complete. The last page of the sketchbook was a scene of a school under the blue sky and white clouds, surrounded by lush green trees. The drawing was rich in colors but not flamboyant, and it looked very refreshing. Chu Mian asked, ¡°Is this a drawing of your junior high school?¡± ¡°The location of the school building is, but the others aren¡¯t,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°There weren¡¯t so many trees in my junior high school, the walls weren¡¯t clean, a lot of glass on the building was broken, and the sky was always cloudy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think cloudy days have anything to do with your school. It¡¯s not like it was cursed.¡± Yu Ran straightened up immediately, and with a serious expression, he said, ¡°Really, now that I recall junior high school, the image is all cloudy and rainy, very strange!¡± After he finished speaking, he lowered his shoulders, looked at the school he drew, and told Chu Mian: ¡°My ideal school is like this. There are no exams, no homework, and I can be happy every day.¡± Chu Mian glanced at him. ¡°You have homework and exams now. Are you unhappy every day?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy, because I can play with everyone,¡± Yu Ran replied sincerely, ¡°It¡¯s also because I go to the cafeteria every morning. It doesn¡¯t matter whether I finish my homework or not. I¡¯m in a good mood when I see my friends in the morning.¡± Chu Mian continued to flip the pages and saw the missing page, with only a row of narrow jagged edges remaining. ¡°What was drawn on this page before, do you remember?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ No impression,¡± Yu Ran shrugged and said relaxedly, ¡°Anyway, I drew this whole sketchbook casually. One missing page is just one missing page, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The more Chu Mian thought about it, the more he regretted it. It would have been good if he had reminded Yu Ran to give him the sketchbook as soon as he had arrived this morning. That way, that one page wouldn¡¯t have been burned and trampled on by others. After his mind became clear at this point, the accumulated anger in his chest finally took shape. His fingers turned soft, and with his last ounce of strength, he fell on Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder. Yu Ran hugged him and asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Nothing really.¡± Chu Mian breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°It¡¯s just a cataplectic attack, I¡¯m a little tired.¡± Yu Ran realized that Chu Mian¡¯s hair was a bit messy, so he reached out to help him smooth it out. ¡°Will your aunt scold you when you return home?¡± ¡°No, she has always been gentle to me since I was young.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s mouth was very close to Yu Ran¡¯s ears, so he softened his voice. ¡°Painting is very important to her as well. If she knew that others had torn your work casually, she¡¯ll only blame me for not hitting them hard enough.¡± Yu Ran nodded and asked, ¡°Does she usually like animals?¡± ¡°The snakes I keep have to be 20 meters away from her, and she seems to be quite scared of other animals too.¡± Yu Ran felt puzzled: ¡°Then why does she always say ¡®Mi¨¥mi¨¥¡® like a sheep to you?¡± Chu Mian was dumbfounded, and a quick blush of shame overran his face. In order to prevent Yu Ran from realizing that Mi¨¥mi¨¥ was his nickname, Chu Mian quickly found a reason: ¡°She¡­loves to act young.¡± CH 30 The investigation of this nasty brawl that had started yesterday evening after school was not over yet. Except for the two people lying in the hospital, the other parties involved still had to be questioned by the director and teachers in the morning. After the adults had figured out what had happened, the boys in the second year of senior high school were all given major demerits, and the two students from the experimental class of first year were given a lighter punishment. They would be supervised by the homeroom teacher to write a review and it would be over. 3H41RI This morning, Yu Ran spent all his time in the office. He thought he could finally relax after lunch. But he was informed by the representative of the Language class that he was required to do Silent Writing to make up for the test contents of the two Language classes that morning. Surprisingly, Chu Mian was also on the name list for Silent Writing, and Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but sigh: ¡°Teacher Wang is really merciless, she doesn¡¯t give special treatment to good students.¡± Please support our translators at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com The two went upstairs and made a turn, and they were simultaneously shocked by the sight in front of them ¡ª the straight and wide corridor was crowded with students who were doing Silent Writing on both sides. Students on one side were pasted to the wall and on the other side were sitting by the window. Dozens of students were lined up neatly from the entrance of the stairs to the end of the corridor, all of them working hard and doing Silent Writing in classical Chinese. It looked very spectacular. Pushing open the door of the Language office, the inside was even more overcrowded. 0unSDs Yu Ran finally asked an acquaintance to help squeeze out two positions. When he turned his head and took a look, it turned out that Chu Mian had been asked to write ¡°Jing Ke Stabbing the King of Qin¡±, and his was ¡°Zhu Zhiwu Makes Qin Retreat¡±, so he couldn¡¯t copy Chu Mian. Chu Mian finished his Silent Writing assignment very quickly, and when he saw that Yu Ran had only written the beginning on the paper, he leaned over to teach him. ¡°You slow down, slow down, too fast¡­¡± After writing only two sentences, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but sigh softly. u3ZXyr Chu Mian lowered his speed of speech and continued to recite the text to him. But not only were Yu Ran¡¯s hands slow, he also couldn¡¯t keep up with his hearing as well. From time to time, he had to ask, ¡°Huh? What did you say just now?¡± ¡°What was after ¡®help provide the food they lack¡¯? I didn¡¯t catch it¡±. Chu Mian had no choice but to get closer, his chin almost on Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder as he talked to him. Yu Ran could now hear the content of the text clearly, and the speed of his Silent Writing naturally accelerated. He could smell the scent of shampoo in Chu Mian¡¯s hair. He also noticed that Chu Mian¡¯s voice would become more husky after he lowered it. Especially when Chu Mian reminded him of a typo, his tone would be slightly raised as if he was in a hurry, but the next second, he would resume his patient tone. A methodical boy like Chu Mian easily created a firm sense of security in his heart, and Yu Ran unknowingly forgot about the restless state he had been in when he had entered the door just now. sRtWNx ¡°Because of the power of people¡­¡± When Chu Mian recited the text, he often scanned Yu Ran¡¯s ears and sideburns, worried that his lips would rub against them if he got too close. Moreover, Yu Ran had a habit of turning his head directly when he couldn¡¯t hear others, so Chu Mian had to lean back to avoid him. Seeing that Yu Ran was finally about to finish his Silent Writing, Chu Mian secretly rejoiced. But when he leaned close to Yu Ran¡¯s ear to whisper the last paragraph, someone also whispered in his ear: ¡°Chu Mian, have you finished your Silent Writing?¡± Chu Mian was caught off guard and shrank his shoulders. The side of his face bumped into Yu Ran¡¯s ear, it was a little cold. HoC9zQ ¡°Yes¡­¡± Chu Mian turned his head and replied in a low voice. He hadn¡¯t noticed that Teacher Wang had already paced to his side without anyone noticing. The eyes behind her cold lenses were also shining with a cold light. She said solemnly: ¡°Since you¡¯ve finished your Silent Writing, leave quickly. Why are you acting all lovey-dovey with him here? Leave, leave, leave!¡± After saying that, she also grabbed the Silent Writing in Chu Mian¡¯s hand. ¡°Okay.¡± Chu Mian nodded hurriedly, his face still not free from the shock just now, and he even forgot to look back at Yu Ran before he left. cum2Zq Te Ejc ibbxfv ja tlr yjmx jcv mbeivc¡¯a tfiq yea ifjc jujlcra atf kjii jcv ijeut. Lf tjv atbeuta atja j abq raevfca ilxf Jte Zljc kbeiv yf jyif ab gfwjlc lcvloofgfca ktfatfg atfs kfgf ojnbgfv bg tewliljafv, fnfc ktfc ojmfv klat j abeut afjmtfg. Lf tjvc¡¯a fzqfmafv atja Jte Zljc kbeiv lwwfvljafis ybk tlr tfjv byfvlfcais jcv jma fzagfwfis vbmlif ktfc tf kjr uijgfv ja j ilaaif ys atf afjmtfg. Lf kjr mbwqifafis vfnblv bo atf tbralilas tf tjv rtbkc ktfc tf tjv yffc yfjalcu qfbqif ijra cluta. Sure enough, Chu Mian was a good boy who was afraid of his elders. Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden. Yu Ran could hardly restrain a smile. Even if he had already forgotten the text of the last paragraph, he was in a very hearty mood now. Chu Mian did not go home directly in the evening after school. He planned to go to the hospital to see Cai Hanchuan and the others for their injuries. Yu Ran knew that his aunt had paid for the medical expenses, and for a while, he felt that their family was too magnanimous: ¡°You are too caring, even burying after killing, so responsible.¡± oIVzXR ¡°It¡¯s not that I care about them. I just want to inquire about something,¡± Chu Mian said lightly. He took off his school bag, took out a few notebooks and handed them to Yu Ran. ¡°Go back and complete your notes. I¡¯ve folded the edge of the pages of the ones that are going to be tested in the midterm exam for you.¡± Yu Ran took them and hugged them in his arms, but Chu Mian insisted that he immediately put it in his school bag, fearing that he would not even notice that he had dropped a notebook halfway. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid?¡± Yu Ran complained, but still obeyed and put the notebooks away. When he was done, he did not forget to stand at ease and salute Chu Mian. Chu Mian turned away, hiding the smile at the corner of his mouth. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ZcoqSd Yu Ran held his heavy school bag and watched Chu Mian go away safely before taking the bus home. After eating, he copied the notes wholeheartedly. Yu Jin, who was in the middle of playing with his mobile phone, inadvertently looked up and saw that his brother was actually doing homework. He was so surprised that he walked to his side and sighed with emotion: ¡°You¡¯ve changed, have you been cursed?!¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t look up: ¡°Go away, Laozi¡¯s exam¡¯s coming. Do you know how difficult the questions in senior high school are?¡± Yu Jin looked down at the notebook on Yu Ran¡¯s desk and grasped the important point: ¡°You¡¯re actually copying a girl¡¯s notes! You¡¯re in puppy love!¡± XPTqke Yu Ran pushed him with his palm. ¡°Can¡¯t my xi¨­ngdi have good handwriting? Get out of the way, don¡¯t bother me.¡± Yu Jin snorted coldly. Still half in doubt, he went far away from his brother and sat down on the bed to observe him quietly. Soon, Yu Jin discovered a weird thing ¡ª when his brother was copying notes, he would often put down his pen, hold up the borrowed notebook in both hands and look at it closely for a few minutes and only continued to copy when he had appreciated it enough. It was simply the case of ¡°cannot tear oneself away¡±¡­ A newly learned idiom appeared in Yu Jin¡¯s mind. TMbplF Late at night, when Yu Ran was vigorously copying notes, he heard his brother calling his girlfriend behind him. The voice of the thirteen-year-old boy hadn¡¯t changed much. When he deliberately called the girl in the same class ¡°baby¡± and ¡°cutie¡± in a tender tone, Yu Ran was so disgusted that he had goosebumps all over his body. He directly threw a pillow and forcibly terminated Yu Jin¡¯s conversation. ¡°What? You¡¯re jealous because you¡¯re single?¡± Yu Jin was indignant. ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll be even more disgusting when you¡¯re dating someone.¡± Yu Ran recalled his brother¡¯s tone just now, and responded, ¡°Fuck off, I won¡¯t date.¡± xJXeoG ¡°You¡¯re already fifteen years old, ge! How can you not be in a relationship at such an age? Do you want to be an adult before you start dating someone?¡± Yu Jin spoke with a kind of gravity that was beyond his age at this time. ¡°Let¡¯s bet, if you fall in love before graduation, you¡¯ll call me ge.¡± Yu Ran disdained this kind of boring and stupid bet: ¡°Okay, let¡¯s bet.¡± Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden. Seeing that the time was getting late, Yu Ran remembered that he had not used up his call time, so he picked up his phone and called Chu Mian to chat. Yu Jin was lying in bed, listening in bewilderment. He noticed that his brother smiled and said to the other side of the phone, ¡°If I become a teacher, will you listen to me?¡± Yu Jin instantly sat up straight and then perked his ears to listen. yF0u7S When Yu Ran hung up the phone, Yu Jin¡¯s voice came from behind him: ¡°You¡¯d just said that you weren¡¯t in a relationship.¡± Yu Ran looked back at him suspiciously. ¡°Why? I was talking to a friend, a guy.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Yu Jin hesitated. ¡°Is there a difference between your tone of talking just now and my tone of coaxing a girl?¡± Yu Ran was dumbfounded, and immediately grabbed another pillow and threw it at Yu Jin. ¡°What the heck do you know, don¡¯t compare me to you.¡± lXdGtP In fact, if it weren¡¯t for his younger brother¡¯s reminder, Yu Ran wouldn¡¯t have noticed that his attitude when facing Chu Mian was involuntarily different from when facing others. But when he thought about it, it was inevitable. After all, Chu Mian easily fell asleep, fell suddenly, and also couldn¡¯t laugh loudly. When seeing someone with such harsh physical conditions, who wouldn¡¯t develop a ¡°protective desire¡±? Yu Ran felt that it was only natural for him to treat Chu Mian a little better. Yu Ran even felt that everyone, and not just him, should be more gentle with Chu Mian, so that Chu Mian could be in a happy mood every day, and perhaps get rid of the ¡°sleepiness¡± as soon as possible. Yes, Chu Mian deserved to be treated better¡­ Yu Ran was convinced of this. H 5Isb Recently, the autumn sky was clear and the air was bracing. The day of the midterm exams was getting closer. Every Friday was the time when the students slacked the most. Even in the Language evening self-study, many students dared to let their minds wander. Undoubtedly, Yu Ran was one of them. Yu Ran leaned his back against the wall and said to Chu Mian with his body tilted: ¡°Teacher Wang has changed her hair style. Why does she have so much hair even after tying it up? My god, look at her, if you say she has a clothes iron hidden in her hair, I¡¯ll believe you.¡± Chu Mian was the kind of student who listened intently until the very last second of the class. No matter how Yu Ran tried to get him to be inattentive together, he remained unmoved. VmzQTB Yu Ran was bored, and he turned his attention to the nearby Cui He, with whom he got along pretty well. They folded paper planes and threw them at each other. They also set a rule: No matter how far the paper plane was thrown, as long as it was not discovered by Teacher Wang, the person responsible for picking up the plane had to go and pick it up. ¡°Whoever chickens out is a loser!¡± Yu Ran first threw the plane on the window sill while Teacher Wang was writing on the blackboard. Cui He pretended to draw the curtains, and then made the plane fly to the front door of the classroom. Yu Ran plucked up the courage to make an excuse to go to the toilet, and when he returned, he deliberately gave Cui He a sinister smile. ¡°You¡¯re done for.¡± Yu Ran held up the plane confidently and aimed at the position of the lecture desk. 910EqZ ¡°Do you want to fucking die? You¡¯ll be discovered!¡± Cui He smiled and raised her middle finger, feeling that Yu Ran¡¯s actions were too stimulating. Yu Ran lightly breathed ¡°ha¡± at the tip of the paper airplane. He held his breath and quietly waited for the opportunity when Teacher Wang would turn around and write on the board again. Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden. Now was the time! Without thinking about it, he applied force on his arm and threw out the paper airplane¡ª jk7LPY The white cone drew a smooth and graceful arc in the air before resting in Teacher Wang¡¯s bun accurately. ¡°Hey, fuck¡­¡± Yu Ran quickly covered his mouth, unable to believe that his move had backfired. Cui He¡¯s smile stiffened on her lips and her mouth dropped open in amazement. ¡°A piece of good news and bad news,¡± Yu Ran leaned out of his seat, and talked to Cui He in a low voice, ¡°The good news is that Teacher Wang hasn¡¯t found out yet; the bad news is that¡­ you fucking have to take the plane off hahahahahaha!¡± HUVuCy Cui He immediately raised two middle fingers at him to express her anger at the moment. ¡°You two¡­ What are you doing?¡± Chu Mian had just raised his head to take notes, when he suddenly found that Teacher Wang had a white paper inserted in her pitch-black bun. He looked intently and realized that it was the paper airplane that Yu Ran and Cui He had just been playing with. Other students in the class had also noticed one after another that Teacher Wang¡¯s head inexplicably had an extra thing to it. They wanted to laugh but didn¡¯t dare to laugh. Everyone could only lower their heads and try to hold back their laughter, trying to maintain the order of the class. bw0vpT One didn¡¯t have to guess or know to confirm that it must be Yu Ran¡¯s masterpiece. Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but laugh before sighing softly: ¡°You¡¯re doomed, Yu Ran.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry.¡± Yu Ran waved his hand. ¡°The plane was folded from your Silent Writing paper.¡± Chu Mian glanced at the corner of his desk, and sure enough, there was a page missing. His expression turned cold, and he grabbed Yu Ran¡¯s collar. P92u3s Teacher Wang heard something on Yu Ran¡¯s side, and turned around after writing on the blackboard to find that he really was not listening to the class, and Chu Mian in the back seat had also followed him and was currently fighting with him. However, she was no longer surprised by the frequent contact between the two of them. She hadn¡¯t eaten her dinner yet so she wasn¡¯t in the mood to criticize them. She just told them: ¡°Why don¡¯t you both go out?¡± Chu Mian still wanted to attend class, but he didn¡¯t dare to refute Teacher Wang. He was simply held by Yu Ran by the wrist, and he slipped away through the back door to the corridor to stand outside. ¡°I¡¯ve a better sense of belonging when standing in the corridor than sitting in the classroom.¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t count how many times he had been kicked out of Language class. He turned to look at Chu Mian. ¡°Hey, have you ever been punished by a teacher to stand in the corridor before?¡± RD6rS7 Chu Mian shook his head. Not only had he never been punished with standing in the corridor since he was a child, even the number of times he had been given writing lines as a punishment was only a handful. Chrysanthemum Garden. ¡°Wow, then today is too memorable.¡± Yu Ran patted Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder excitedly. ¡°You gave your first time to me?¡± Chu Mian expressionlessly pushed his hand away. ¡°Nothing to be proud of.¡± fAcXzv Yu Ran happily bent his fingers and counted: ¡°Look, it is your first time being punished for to stand in the corridor, and you also wrote a review today for the first time. I was also the one to pull out your bird, and you also wore a dress for the first time¡­ Isn¡¯t it all because of me?¡± At the end of the count, Yu Ran proudly raised his head and chest, and clenched his fists. He felt that he could one day make Chu Mian ¡°get conned for the first time¡±, ¡°swear in public for the first time¡±, and ¡°skip class for the first time¡±. Thinking about this, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but snort twice, and told Chu Mian in an imperative tone: ¡°You wait, I¡¯ll take away more of your first times!¡± vkc0MC His voice echoed in the empty corridor, and all the students in the first year heard it clearly. CH 31 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°Were you forcibly kissed by Yu Ran?¡± This was already the fourth time Chu Mian was asked this question by his classmates on QQ during the weekend review period. His left hand held up his phone to reply perfunctorily, while his right hand wrote these gossipers¡¯ names on his notebook. ¡°Fortunately, Teacher Wang usually walks around in class. I took advantage of the time she walked past me, and quietly stood up to pull out the paper plane!¡± Cui He described her experience of ¡°pulling a tooth from a tiger¡¯s mouth¡± in detail to a small group of five, and was applauded by Yu Ran and the others. [Diuge Yizhen Ling]: I think Teacher Wang should have discovered it at that time, but she was in a hurry to give the lecture, so didn¡¯t bother to pay attention to you. [Whale Song.]: It¡¯s none of my business! It was Yu Ran who had thrown the paper plane. Anyway, he had already been standing in the corridor for punishment, it was useless for the teacher to scold him either. [Diuge Yizhen Ling]: He was not at all well-behaved outside. Didn¡¯t he still forcefully kiss Chu Mian? [misaki]: Huh huh huh huh? Chu Mian looked at the chat history helplessly and sent an ellipsis. He waited for Yu Ran to take the initiative to explain, but the other party seemed to have disappeared, as he didn¡¯t participate in the discussion for a long time. Chu Mian had no choice but to chat with him privately, and after a few minutes, Yu Ran replied, ¡°I¡¯m thinking of an essay.¡± ¡°With the style of your writing, you don¡¯t need to think ahead, do you?¡± Yu Ran said with quite modesty, ¡°Aiya, as a human, we can¡¯t just rely on our talents and not work hard!¡± Chu Mian was speechless. Sometimes he admired Yu Ran¡¯s unshakable confidence. Others had to rack their brains to write the correct answers in exams, but Yu Ran let his imagination run wild during exams, allowing his own ideas to override the scope of all the answers. Especially in the liberal arts. Chu Mian had taken the time to teach him about geography a few days ago, and when they had sorted out three pages of notes in detail¡­ a brand new earth had slowly been born in Yu Ran¡¯s mind. After three consecutive days of midterm exams, Chengjun Middle School ushered in the annual school art festival. Yu Ran knew that Fang Zhao was going to sing on stage. As a good brother, of course he had to show his support. He first went to a ten yuan store and distributed a bunch of hand clappers to his classmates, and then went to a toy store to buy a few water guns that could spray bubbles. He even put on a whistle, waiting for Fang Zhao to come on stage to liven up the auditorium. Two or three students had already performed, and Yu Ran suddenly found that he had overlooked an important support item: ¡°Oh no, Chu Mian! Look, they have people going to the stage and presenting flowers when they are only halfway through their singing, just like in a fucking celebrity¡¯s concert.¡± Chu Mian was sleepy in the afternoon, and lazily echoed: ¡°Can¡¯t you also blow bubbles then?¡± ¡°How can this compare to giving flowers? If there are fans on stage halfway through the song, won¡¯t they look more popular?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s expression was grave, and after thinking about it deeply, he decided to give flowers to Fang Zhao himself. ¡°This won¡¯t do. I¡¯ll go out and do it for him now.¡± Chu Mian had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep. He was completely unaware that Yu Ran had already slipped away. A few moments later, he was directly awakened by Yu Ran¡¯s shouts in his ears: ¡°Wow, this performer is so cool. He has yet to start singing and I already feel that his voice is going to be heavenly!¡± Chu Mian rubbed his eyes and sat up straight. He found that Fang Zhao had just stepped on the stage, so he picked up a bubble water gun and sprayed it on the stage with Yu Ran. Pc bgvfg ab wjxf atf jawbrqtfgf bo Mjcu Itjb¡¯r qfgobgwjcmf gfjmt atf qfjx bo fzmlafwfca, Te Ejc kjnfv atf qijralm tjcv mijqqfg klat ybat tjcvr. Lf vlvc¡¯a fnfc cbalmf atja akb bo lar qjgar tjv ojiifc boo. Dfobgf atf qgfievf tjv fnfc yffc qijsfv, tf tjv jigfjvs jaagjmafv atf jaafcalbc bo fnfgsbcf cfjgys. Zjcs qfbqif gfmbuclhfv Te Ejc jr atf raevfca ktb tjv vjcmfv lc atf lcafg-mijrr fzfgmlrf ijra alwf jcv kfgf jwerfv ys tlw jujlc. The song Fang Zhao sang was Jolin Tsai¡®s ¡°Rewind¡±. His usual voice was very clean and bright and now, when he was singing from his diaphragm, it sounded full of spirit. He became the focus of everyone¡¯s attention within seconds of opening his mouth. After the chorus ended and entered the accompaniment, Yu Ran left his seat and prepared to go to the stage to present flowers. Chu Mian didn¡¯t know how he had found the chance to buy a bouquet of flowers just now. He turned his head curiously, only to find Yu Ran picking up a pot of spider plant from the ground before rushing to the stage. Fang Zhao was caught off guard when he saw him running head-on from the auditorium. After Yu Ran came on the stage, he stuffed the potted plant borrowed from the security room into Fang Zhao¡¯s arms. He then turned into an emotional fan who had seen his idol, clutching his chest and exclaiming loudly: ¡°Ah! You sing so well! I grew up listening to your songs since I was a child, and my whole family likes you very much!¡± After speaking, he didn¡¯t forget to cover his face and pretend to cry. The audience burst into laughter. Fang Zhao held a pot of spider plant and almost forgot the words in the second half of the song. After he sang the whole song, Yu Ran was so tired that he leaned on Chu Mian and panted breathlessly, his arms drooping weakly. However, his exaggerated performance just now had effectively enlivened the atmosphere. At the end of the accompaniment, all the teachers and students in the auditorium applauded enthusiastically, not only because of Fang Zhao¡¯s outstanding talent, but also to support the ¡°fan¡± Yu Ran. After the cultural performance, the students went back to their respective classes. Fang Zhao received a lot of praise along the way. Even the Music teacher said that he was suitable for singing. Yu Ran wrapped his arms around Fang Zhao¡¯s shoulders and persuaded him, ¡°You should just go to the Central Conservatory of Music. When we graduate, we will all go to Beijing. How amazing is that?¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s easy to pass the exams in this kind of school? Music has to be practiced since childhood, and mine is just a pure hobby.¡± Fang Zhao smiled. ¡°And even if I wanted to, my parents would definitely disagree. I still have to take the college entrance examination seriously.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t know much about music, but he would 100% believe in Fang Zhao: ¡°It¡¯s okay. If the worst comes to the worst, you can participate in ¡°The Voice of China¡± in the future, and then hold 32 concerts a year like Yang Kun. I¡¯ll go to your every concert.¡± Even if he was fantasizing about the future like this jokingly, Fang Zhao¡¯s mood suddenly brightened up, and he said with a smile, ¡°At that time, you can bring your wife and children to attend.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t listen to their conversation carefully at first, but when Fang Zhao mentioned the words ¡°wife and children¡±, he couldn¡¯t help but come back to his senses and begin to pay attention to the content of their chat. However, their next topic did not revolve around ¡°wife and children¡± anymore. It seemed that they had just mentioned it casually right now. Chu Mian looked at Yu Ran¡¯s profile and all of a sudden, he strongly felt out of sorts. Just like during the military training, he really couldn¡¯t associate the word ¡°love¡± with Yu Ran, and now he couldn¡¯t imagine Yu Ran having any connection with major life events such as ¡±getting married and having children.¡± He felt that it just didn¡¯t fit with Yu Ran¡¯s disposition. In Chu Mian¡¯s opinion, even as an adult, Yu Ran should be an ignorant one, the kind of idiot who didn¡¯t know how to please girls before the age of twenty-five, and a dumbass who went on blind dates every day after the age of twenty-five. How was it possible to get married and have children smoothly? Chu Mian even had this kind of illusion ¡ª Yu Ran would never grow up in this life. Not only would his mind stop growing, but it seemed that even his appearance would be fifteen years old for a lifetime¡­ This was his impression of ¡°normal¡± Yu Ran. After another week of intensive classes, it was time to announce the results of the midterm exams. Due to the district-wide ranking in this exam, the results were published a day late. The evening of the day when the students learned of their scores was the parent-teacher meeting. During the big break, Teacher Wang passed by their class and handed out the exam papers by the way. She stood at the door and after she saw Yu Ran, she asked loudly: ¡°Yu Ran, didn¡¯t I give you a few essay templates before the exam? Why didn¡¯t you memorize and use them?¡± Yu Ran replied timidly, ¡°I did use them. Didn¡¯t you tell me to change it myself and retouch it¡­¡± ¡°Did you only ¡®retouch it¡¯? You directly gave it plastic surgery!¡± Teacher Wang adjusted her glasses. ¡°And what did you answer in the reading questions? Okay, I won¡¯t criticize you today, I¡¯ll directly talk to your parents in the evening.¡± She said it heavily and left in a hurry. After the Language exam papers were handed out, Chu Mian found several classmates walking towards Yu Ran at the same time, seemingly wanting to make fun of his essay again. Chu Mian had to get up and be the first to get the paper in his hands. The essay requirement this time was to choose a genre other than poetry, and the title was half-named: That one time when I really ____. Many classmates wrote ¡°That one time when I really shed tears¡±, ¡°I really regretted¡±, ¡°I really felt happy¡±, gave full play to their subjective initiative, and made up one touching or warm story after another. Chu Mian mentally prepared himself before slowly opening Yu Ran¡¯s essay paper¡ª ¡°That One Time When I Really Went Crazy¡± Chu Mian took a deep breath and slowly closed Yu Ran¡¯s essay paper. ¡°Why won¡¯t you share with us when there are good things?¡± Cui He walked over and pressed Chu Mian¡¯s arm, and grabbed the essay paper. ¡°Come on, let me have the pleasure of reading Yu Ran¡¯s latest masterpiece. Huh, twenty-six points, doesn¡¯t this round up a perfect score? Amazing, Yu Ran!¡± She immediately gave a thumbs up, and then read out the content in cadence: ¡°¡®Gol D. Roger, a famous British scientist, once said that family love is a double-edged sword, it will give you bliss out of the blue, but also force you into abyss without you having a clue¡­''¡± As soon as the words fell, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help applauding. ¡°It¡¯s so good, it all rhymes.¡± Cui He quietly rolled her eyes and continued to read aloud: ¡°¡®When I was young, I encountered a very strange incident, and it puzzles me even today. One day after school, I pestered my mother to go to the vegetable market to buy me three chicks. They were as yellow as ducks, naughty and cute, which made my heart pound. When I got home, my brother and I made a small nest out of cardboard for the chicks, and let them sing and dance in it.''¡± ¡°¡®But soon, my mother became dissatisfied with the chicks, because they still chattered and talked in the middle of the night, which was noisier than the old ladies who loved to play cards downstairs. My mother went to the bathroom every night to scold the chicks, threatening that if they talked again, she would kill them and stew them into a soup! The frightened chicks no longer dared to chat at night.''¡± ¡°¡®At that time, my family was struggling to make ends meet. We often ate the next meal as if it was our last, and we only had meat once a week. So when I heard my mother threatening the chicks like that, I suspected that she would actually kill them, for my mother is usually a cruel and ruthless woman.''¡± Cui He paused, glanced at Yu Ran sympathetically, and asked with concern. ¡°Was it really that difficult for your family back then?¡± Yu Ran shook his head and said: ¡°There is only one sentence in this essay that is true. Guess which sentence it is?¡± Chu Mian mused, ¡°The chicks were as yellow as ducks.¡± ¡°Wrong!¡± Yu Ran denied. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®my mother is usually a cruel and ruthless woman¡¯!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Cui He continued reading. ¡°¡®Sure enough, when I woke up one morning, the three chicks had really died mysteriously! I squatted beside their dead bodies and cried, but my mother was indifferent. She picked them up, and directly took them to the kitchen to make soup.''¡± ¡°¡®I won¡¯t drink it! I shouted angrily. The house was overflowing with the smell of meat. I was hungry, but thinking of the chicks that were brutally murdered by my mother, I had no appetite at all. I rushed out the door, and ran through the streets crying. Suddenly, the rain poured down, as if even God was shedding tears for the chicks. I yelled, fell to my knees, and gradually lost consciousness¡­''¡± ¡°¡®When I woke up again, I was already delirious. I had forgotten my memories at that time, and later heard my mother say that I could only learn to crow like a chicken at that time, and I kept pecking people with my mouth. It was horrible as hell! As if I was crazy.''¡± ¡°¡®But there was one thing I remembered very clearly. That is, I had a dream that night, which had been given to me by the chicks. The strange thing was that they were obviously chirping, but I could understand what they were talking about. After waking up, I followed their instructions and went to lift my brother¡¯s pillow, and sure enough ¡ª there were light yellow chicken feathers all over the bottom!''¡± ¡°¡®What¡¯s going on? Why do you have chicken feathers here? I questioned my brother, but he was stumped for an answer. At that moment, I noticed that the corners of his mouth were yellowish, so I forcefully opened his mouth and was surprised to find that it was filled with blood!''¡± ¡°¡®I smelled it and found that it actually smelled like chicken blood! ¡®You¡­ you actually!¡¯ I looked at my brother in shock and couldn¡¯t believe that the chicks had actually been bitten to death by him. Because he hadn¡¯t eaten meat for a long time, my mother¡¯s threat of stewing the chickens if they were disobedient may have inspired him to kill the chicks. I was very disappointed with my brother, and I fainted from anger.''¡± ¡°¡®When I woke up again, it was three days later. I heard from my mother that for the past three days, I couldn¡¯t speak any human words. As if I were a chicken, I kept on pecking my brother and pulling his hair. Only when he cried and knelt down to apologize did I let him go. After listening to my mother¡¯s words, I couldn¡¯t calm down for a long time. Then I remembered the thing about the chicks giving me dreams before. It seemed that they were attached to me this time to take revenge!''¡± In the middle of reading, Cui He suddenly sighed wearily: ¡°Fuck, it¡¯s too miserable to be your younger brother. In just a few months, his hair was pulled out by you twice.¡± At the end of the essay, Yu Ran did not forget to summarize and sublimate: ¡°Many people say that animals are psychic, and it suddenly dawned on me that it¡¯s no wonder that men¡¯s vital organ is called cock. It seems that our ancestors used to be like me, they also used to resonate with the chickens!¡± After Chu Mian listened to it completely, he asked sincerely: ¡°Yu Ran, your score on math and science in the senior high school entrance examination should be very high, right?¡± ¡°Fuck, how do you know? I got a hundred and one in my math exam!¡± The corner of Chu Mian¡¯s mouth held a perfunctory smile. ¡°Well, it¡¯s to be expected.¡± ¡°Hey, you found out so quickly.¡± Yu Ran straightened his back and said profoundly: ¡°Sure enough, seeing whether a person is smart or not is like seeing if they have hair on their head. Such exposed things cannot be hidden¡­¡± After the last class was over, the parent-teacher meeting was about to begin, and more and more bicycles were parked outside the school building. Yu Ran and Chu Mian stood at the entrance to meet their respective guardians. Chu Heng had been catching up with her draft at home, and she arrived at school a few minutes late. She hastily asked Chu Mian about the meeting location. Yu Ran stood next to him and felt that he should take the initiative to say hello so he would appear polite. But he saw that Chu Mian¡¯s aunt was quite young, and it was inappropriate to call her ¡°Auntie¡±, so he had to shout ¡°Hello, big sister¡±. He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth again: ¡°Woof woof.¡± Chu Mian was stunned when he heard him suddenly learn to bark like a dog. Then he realized that his aunt had accidentally called him ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥¡± again just now. ¡­In the end, did Yu Ran take this as a code language? Chu Heng didn¡¯t have time to talk to them, so she only softly smiled at Yu Ran before hurrying to the classroom. ¡°Bye bye, big sister!¡± Yu Ran waved goodbye. ¡°Meow meow!¡± Chu Mian laughed loudly, and gently pushed Yu Ran¡¯s head. The moment the palm of his hand touched the young man¡¯s soft hair, the illusion that he had had not long ago gradually became clear at this moment. In a trance, Chu Mian realized that he didn¡¯t mistakenly think that Yu Ran ¡°won¡¯t grow up¡±, but faintly hoped that he would simply ¡°not grow up¡±. Having a foolish brain was no big deal. Whether it was writing ridiculous essays that made people laugh, or communicating with others without any common sense, at least his world was simple, at least his happiness was pure, at least¡­ At least he could make me laugh along with him from the bottom of my heart. Chu Mian curled up his five fingers gently, and when he clenched them a little bit, he felt a stream of heat in his palm. ¡ª It was better if he always remained a Muggle. CH 32 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans After the beginning of winter, the temperature in the north continued to drop again. The air in Ronggang was foggy and dry for several days. Chu Mian had ranked seventh in the district in terms of total points this time, easily breaking Chengjun¡¯s highest score record in the past six years. It was a pity that he was suffering from narcolepsy and had no time to participate in municipal-level competitions. The greatest chance to win glory for the school was the future college entrance examination. The school leaders also had high hopes for him. Since the results this time were a little higher than expected, Chu Mian decided to reward himself with a half-day break. He put on his coat and went out for a walk. And in passing, he made an appointment with Xu Si of ¡°Bronze Bird Club¡± to meet him. He had found the contact number of the other party from Huang Feng when he had gone to the hospital a while ago. The man had been waiting at the door of the club for a while. Chu Mian arrived quickly and found that the other party was carrying a snake box in his hand. Xu Si didn¡¯t beat around the bush and handed over the box directly. ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you, don¡¯t worry about other things anymore.¡± Not long ago, Xu Si had received a few photos from an unfamiliar number. They were selfies of a boy he knew who often came to have fun in the club. He was startled, thinking that someone wanted to use the information about them entertaining minors to threaten them and ask for money, but it turned out that the other party only wanted to inquire about the purchase channels of reptilian pets. Xu Si pondered for a long time before he remembered that he had indeed met a tough teenager a few months ago. Chu Mian didn¡¯t receive the box, but went straight to the point: ¡°Did you buy it from the black market?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. The snake was used by someone to pay off their debts.¡± Xu Si took out a cigarette and handed it over. Chu Mian shook his head and refused, and then asked, ¡°Is it a kind of usury?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡± Xu Si nodded. ¡°That person always goes out of town to hide and I have to look for him for several days every month. Last time he thought this snake was good and just gave it to me directly.¡± ¡°Where did he get it?¡± ¡°It should be from his own channel in Ronggang. I haven¡¯t inquired about it¡­ If you like to play like this, should I give you his contact number?¡± Xu Si took the initiative to send Chu Mian a contact name and phone number. He exhaled a mouthful of smoke, and gave the snake box to the boy again. ¡°D¨¬di, you can take it for yourself. Let¡¯s discuss something. Don¡¯t spread those photos out, and delete them as soon as you get home.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t answer. He lifted the lid of the snake box and took a look, and found that the red and white two-headed milk snake that was lying inside looked very wilted, and the snake¡¯s head on the left didn¡¯t move. The snake looked like it was dying. Judging from the length of the snake¡¯s body, it was only seven or eight months old, and it was not the one that he had lost at all. He had mixed feelings of joy and sorrow. ¡°Forget it, keep it for yourself.¡± Chu Mian shook his head. He had made plans to buy this rare mutant snake from Xu Si at a high price before, just to make it a substitute for Marija, so that he might have less regrets in his heart. But the lifespan of double-headed snakes was not long and Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to experience the pain of parting again. After thinking about it, he gave up the idea of ??raising it. More importantly, he felt that with the current emotional state of his life, he no longer needed to pin his emotions on animals. Even if the regrets of the past could not be completely released, they could at least be slowly covered up by other forms of happiness. Chu Mian lowered his head and saved the number and name sent by Xu Si before turning and leaving without saying anything more. Xu Si kept telling him to delete the photos, but he ignored him. After returning home, Chu Mian found that his aunt was busy cooking newly learned dishes in the kitchen hurriedly, saying that she was preparing dinner for his birthday. After she reminded him, Chu Mian realized that it was already mid-November, and there were still two days before his birthday on the 19th. He was usually so focused on his studies that he had almost forgotten about his birthday. He was in a good mood now, so he went into the bedroom and picked up Fiona, lay on the bed and kissed her. Soon, Chu Mian remembered an important thing: he hadn¡¯t filled in his birthday in his QQ profile, so the system would not remind his friends to send him a birthday card. Chu Mian thought casually that the only person in the class who knew his birthday was Cui He, but she spent all her days eating, drinking, and having fun, so maybe she had already forgotten about his birthday this year. If she remembered, she should have told Yu Ran and the others, but so far, Chu Mian had not been asked by anyone about the birthday gift. In fact, it doesn¡¯t matter. Anyway, I don¡¯t lack anything¡­ Chu Mian gently stroked Fiona¡¯s smooth scales, slightly distracted. He was just a little curious about how Yu Ran would pick birthday gifts for others. Chu Mian let out a long sigh of relief, put the snake on the pillow, picked up his mobile phone and logged into QQ, and at the first glimpse of the system message, his heart sank¡ª The admin [tn content="The Wolf Character Hides the Dog Radical"] This is the correct translation. Wolf character = ÀÇ, Dog Radical = áë. So, the wolf character hides the dog radical.[/tn] has removed you from the group. Chu Mian was baffled. He frowned as he searched for the group number to confirm if it was disbanded, only to find that the other four people were still in the group. Then he noticed that the group name had been changed to ¡°Chu Mian¡¯s Birthday Surprise Plan¡±. ¡°¡­¡± Jte Zljc kjr jiwbra mfgajlc atja atlr xlcv bo yftjnlbg bo yijajcais vlrmerrlcu tlw joafg xlmxlcu tlw ¡ª atf mbcmfgcfv qjgas ¡ª bea bo atf ugbeq kjr vfolclafis Te Ejc¡¯r lvfj. Lf fralwjafv atja rfnfgji batfg qfbqif kfgf sfiilcu jyerf ja tlw lc atf ugbeq ja atlr alwf obg tlr rwjgajrr wbnf. But Chu Mian didn¡¯t have time to sigh at Yu Ran¡¯s stupidity. When he first saw the group¡¯s new name, he was caught off guard and tightly wrapped up in joy, and he felt a sense of satisfaction and gratification. Soon his arms went weak and his phone slipped from the palm of his hand onto the bed. Fiona slowly crawled up to his neck. The snake¡¯s head pressing down on his profile, making him feel slightly cool. The atmosphere of the chat group at this moment was not warm. [Whale Song.]: You are really a stupid moron! Don¡¯t you fucking know how to pull the four of us into a new discussion group? Do you take Chu Mian for a fool like you to not doubt anything? [Diuge Yizhen Ling]: Don¡¯t scold him, Yu Ran must have really felt that his operation was seamless just now. Why are you arguing with a stupid person? [misaki]: Forget it (£þ¨Œ£þ) Let¡¯s think about what gift to give. [Whale Song.]: Just don¡¯t scare him, he hates having accidents. Yu Ran told them: ¡°I bought the gift today! He¡¯ll like it! But I won¡¯t tell you guys what it is!¡± [Whale Song.]: We¡¯re not interested in knowing, okay? Forget it, I¡¯m too lazy to pick a gift. I¡¯ll buy him a cake directly. Can any of you help me ask what flavor Chu Mian likes to eat? If I ask, I¡¯ll be exposed for sure. ¡°I¡¯ll ask!¡± Yu Ran actively took over the task. ¡°I¡¯ll call him now.¡± Cui He was very worried and instructed him: ¡°You should ask him in a roundabout way, don¡¯t directly say ¡®Chu Mian, what kind of birthday cake do you like to eat¡¯ or something like that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll pretend to ask him about his homework first, and then I¡¯ll politely talk about cakes.¡± Yu Ran was confident and he called Chu Mian directly. Chu Mian had regained some strength in his fingers at this time. With difficulty, he pressed the answer button, and chose hands-free. He guessed that Yu Ran¡¯s next words would definitely be related to his birthday, so he focused his attention and wanted to guess their plans from the details in the other party¡¯s words. As soon as Yu Ran came up, he said that he couldn¡¯t write his homework and wanted to ask a few math questions: ¡°I can¡¯t understand the notes, it¡¯s that seduction formula¡­¡± Chu Mian corrected: ¡°It¡¯s the induction formula.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, the seduction formula.¡± Yu Ran flipped the paper on the other side of the phone and pretended to read the question. ¡°Explain the second question to me.¡± His absent-minded tone was too obvious, but Chu Mian had to cooperate with the explanation of trigonometric functions seriously. Yu Ran only kept saying ¡°yeah¡±, pretending that he understood, and finally suddenly realized that he had to raise his voice: ¡°Oh¡­ it turns out that I¡¯ll need to seduce this way!¡± Even when acting, Chu Mian didn¡¯t forget to remind him: ¡°Don¡¯t forget to memorize the diagram of the induction formula, it will definitely come in the final exam.¡± ¡°Ok ok.¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t wait to get to the point now. As he spoke, he tapped the side of the phone with his knuckles. ¡°Chu Mian, don¡¯t you think the graph of this trigonometric function looks like a cake?¡± Hearing this, Chu Mian choked a little: ¡°¡­a little bit.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s written in black water pen and looks like chocolate. Chocolate flavor is my favorite.¡± Yu Ran was still knocking on the phone, and his knuckles were already red. ¡°What flavor do you think is the most delicious?¡± ¡°Fruit.¡± Yu Ran wrote it down silently, and immediately sent a message to Cui He: ¡°He wants the longevity peach kind.¡± Chu Mian continued to hear noises from the other side, and he couldn¡¯t help but ask Yu Ran, ¡°Is there something wrong with your phone? It sounds like an action of hitting something.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Ran stopped abruptly. His expression was tense. He feared that Chu Mian would find out that he had actually been beating around the bush just now. ¡°Well then, I¡¯m going to do my homework!¡± Yu Ran made a quick decision and hurriedly ended the call to avoid arousing Chu Mian¡¯s suspicion. The room was quiet again, and after a few seconds, Chu Mian burst out laughing, regretting that he hadn¡¯t recorded the conversation just now. It was a rare sunny day on Monday, and Yu Ran arrived at school early. Holding a brand new notebook in his hand, he asked everyone to take a few minutes to write a birthday wish for Chu Mian, starting from the first classmate by the door. The classmates also actively cooperated. Some people felt that there were too few students in the class after writing, so they took Yu Ran to a few classes next door and asked many unfamiliar students to write. However, this matter was very time-consuming. Yu Ran could only temporarily hand over the notebook to other students, let everyone pass it on privately, and come to pick it up after school. Back in the classroom, Yu Ran was afraid that he would slip up in front of Chu Mian, so he avoided talking to him as much as possible in the morning. When it was lunch time, they would deliver the surprise. Yu Ran was in charge of taking Chu Mian to the canteen, while the others took this opportunity to stuff gifts into Chu Mian¡¯s backpack and bookcase. Cui He took the cake from the school gate and hid it under Chu Mian¡¯s chair. ¡°Do we light the candles or not?¡± Ye Xi asked. ¡°We don¡¯t even have a lighter.¡± Fang Zhao shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s not light it, it¡¯s not safe in the classroom. We can just insert the candles later as a ritual.¡± Several people began to discuss again: What if Chu Mian came back to read a book and didn¡¯t find the gift box? Cui He dispelled their doubts: ¡°Impossible, he would be suspicious even if the angle of the things on his table changed a little, not to mention that Yu Ran was sneaky today. I guess Chu Mian saw it a long time ago and pretended to not know.¡± They waited anxiously for Chu Mian to come back, and finally, Yu Ran¡¯s voice came from the corridor. ¡°Go, go, turn right, keep going¡­¡± Everyone looked up and was shocked to find that Yu Ran was walking backwards into the classroom, while Chu Mian had put on a blindfold and was slowly walking forward with his arms held by Yu Ran. ¡°Okay, take two more steps, stop, sit down.¡± Yu Ran softly gave instructions, waited for Chu Mian to sit firmly, and then personally helped him take off his blindfold. ¡°Guess what has changed here?¡± Cui He couldn¡¯t bear it any longer, and slapped Yu Ran¡¯s head with a stiff face. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Yu Ran hurriedly gave her a wink, implying her to not remind Chu Mian. Chu Mian¡¯s ears were now flushed on both sides with embarrassment. He was not good at acting, and he really didn¡¯t know how to express joy naturally, so he just stared at the desktop and resolutely did not look down at the bookcase and under his chair, lest his reaction was too cold and spoiled everyone¡¯s mood. Fang Zhao clearly felt Chu Mian¡¯s dilemma through the air. He couldn¡¯t bear to torture today¡¯s protagonist anymore, so he took the initiative to squat down and take out the cake and put it on Chu Mian¡¯s table. He smiled heartily and said, ¡°Happy birthday!¡± Chu Mian breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Hey, what are you¡­¡± Yu Ran was so frustrated that he grabbed Fang Zhao by the collar. ¡°You ruined a good birthday surprise!¡± Cui He rolled her eyes and separated the two. ¡°You put on a blindfold for Chu Mian, and you still have the face to talk about others?¡± Yu Ran said confidently, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with putting a blindfold on him? Chu Mian didn¡¯t know there was a surprise.¡± ¡°Stupid, do you think he doesn¡¯t know that today is his birthday?¡± Yu Ran was stunned for a moment after finally seeing the light: ¡°Fuck¡­ I felt that he wasn¡¯t particularly happy today, so I thought that he¡¯d forgotten.¡± Cui He was speechless. While they were bickering, Ye Xi had already helped Chu Mian take apart the cake box and inserted sixteen slender colorful candles. Chu Mian didn¡¯t like to make wishes in front of others because he felt that it was naive to close his eyes and put his hands together, but considering how everyone had spent a lot of thoughts into this, he temporarily let go of his psychological burden and closed his eyes and made three wishes piously. ¡ª I wish that my narcolepsy will get better soon. ¡ª I wish that my grades keep improving. ¡ª I wish that my first two wishes¡­ Chu Mian was thinking silently in his heart, but his thoughts started to gradually dissipate. Seeing that his head suddenly dropped, Yu Ran held his shoulder reflexively. He shouted the other party¡¯s name twice but didn¡¯t get any response. As expected, he really fell asleep again. ¡°It¡¯s okay, let¡¯s cut the cake for him first,¡± Fang Zhao suggested. Cui He said, ¡°I don¡¯t want cream,¡± and Ye Xi immediately said, ¡°I don¡¯t want cream either¡±. Then the two talked about the reasons why they hated cream. ¡°It¡¯s too greasy, I feel like vomiting even when I think about the taste¡­¡± Cui He frowned and curled her lips. Feeling her throat itch, she dry heaved immediately. This sound was contagious to some people, just like how seeing others yawning can cause them to want to yawn. Ye Xi also quickly covered her neck and gritted her teeth: ¡°Vomit¡ª¡± Neither of them could tolerate this sound, but they thought it was funny to infect each other, so the retching continued uncontrollably one after another. Chu Mian gradually woke up after a few minutes, and when he opened his eyes, he saw two young girls vomiting passionately in front of him. He was shocked and subconsciously dodged backwards, but his head hit Yu Ran¡¯s arms. Yu Ran felt him shrinking his shoulders just now, so he imitated an adult¡¯s tone, and while touching Chu Mian¡¯s hair, he coaxed: ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay my little child, no need to be scared¡­¡± Chu Mian felt that the air was getting hot. The cake was cut into a lot of pieces. Fang Zhao helped Chu Mian distribute it to the whole class, and also gave some to the teachers in the office. Yu Ran had been thinking about smearing cream on Chu Mian¡¯s face, but his thoughts were quickly seen through by Chu Mian, and he guarded against it all afternoon, resolutely not letting Yu Ran succeed. After school was over in the evening, Yu Ran asked Chu Mian to stand still and wait, and then he ran upstairs to pick up the notebook that he had lent out in the morning. ¡°What?¡± Chu Mian took it and wanted to open it. ¡°Look at it when you get home.¡± Yu Ran held his hand and pushed the notebook to Chu Mian¡¯s chest. Chu Mian listened to what he said, closed the notebook and held it tightly in his hand. The two walked out of the school together. It was cold outside, and fog came out of their mouths as soon as they spoke. ¡°Cui He just told us the day before yesterday that your birthday is today. She didn¡¯t say such an important thing sooner, fuck! I almost didn¡¯t have time to go out and buy you a present.¡± Yu Ran began to tell Chu Mian about his preparation process for the past two days. ¡°Also, why didn¡¯t you say before which day was your birthday?¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t answer, nor was he listening carefully to what Yu Ran asked, but he noticed that Yu Ran had said ¡°such an important thing¡± at the beginning. An important day that only concerned himself was also valued by another person. This kind of unprecedented feeling of peace of mind and relief spread subtly throughout Chu Mian¡¯s chest. While Yu Ran wasn¡¯t paying attention, Chu Mian quietly opened the notebook and browsed with the help of the warm yellow street lights¡ª What greeted his eyes was a large number of birthday wishes with different handwritings, different colors, and different signatures. The first few pages were filled with his classmates¡¯ wishes. There were many classmates with whom he had never spoken since the start of school, but now they had personally written ¡°Happy 16th Birthday¡± and ¡°I wish you all the best in your new year¡±. From the fifth page onwards, the people who left the message were all unfamiliar names, but the blessings were equally sincere, as if everyone was happy that he was another year older. Chu Mian clearly felt that his heart was beating faster. ¡°Hey! Why the hell did you open it in advance!¡± Yu Ran reprimanded loudly, before reaching out and closing it for him forcefully. ¡°I told you to look at it after going home.¡± A smile appeared on Chu Mian¡¯s face. He nodded slowly and said, ¡°Okay.¡± Afraid that Yu Ran would not be at ease, he added: ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything clearly just now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Yu Ran believed his words. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be too happy and have a cataplectic attack on the road¡­ Hey, but it¡¯s okay, even if you suddenly fall now¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be by your side to hold you.¡± The words that Yu Ran had said casually had forcefully aroused Chu Mian¡¯s sensitive nerves, and no matter what Yu Ran said afterwards, Chu Mian didn¡¯t listen to it. His heartbeat was beating faster and faster in the cold wind, and without him realizing, Chu Mian had already walked to the place where he separated from Yu Ran every day. Only after the other party said ¡°Bye¡± several times in a row, did Chu Mian slowly raise his head: ¡°Oh, bye, see you again later.¡± Before turning around, Yu Ran asked again, ¡°Is it our group¡¯s turn to clean up tomorrow? What time should we arrive at school?¡± ¡°Five six¡­ Six Fifty, around fifty, may be seven twenty¡­¡± As soon as Chu Mian opened his mouth, his mouth stuttered uncontrollably, and his mind went blank. Yu Ran didn¡¯t mind this. He waved his hand with a smile like always, and crossed the road to go to his bus stop. Chu Mian took a deep breath and walked slowly on the way home, as if he was stepping on a soft cream. His jacket didn¡¯t have a collar, and all of his neck was exposed, but he didn¡¯t feel very chilled, to the extent that he overlooked the fact that it was already winter. He looked up and saw the light shining from the Ferris wheel above the Lan River. The last trace of warmth before the bitter winter was firmly fixed on the day he turned sixteen. CH 33 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, the birthday gift from your parents has already been delivered this afternoon, I¡¯ve put it in your room.¡± Chu Mian responded and went to this bedroom and saw two beautifully wrapped boxes on the table, probably watches or headphones. His parents¡¯ gifts were always expensive but ordinary, so Chu Mian put them aside for the time being and took out the few things given by his friends from his school bag. He had left Yu Ran¡¯s gift for the last. When he opened the wrapping paper that was neatly folded, he saw a white quill pen lying inside. It didn¡¯t come as a complete surprise, but it was a bit unexpected. Probably because he usually called Yu Ran ¡°Muggle¡± a lot, the other party thought he was a ¡°Harry Potter¡± fan. Chu Mian took out the pen and dipped it in ink and tested writing with it. It was not smooth enough to be used in daily life, but it was not bad to be used as a decoration. He put away the pen in his drawer to keep the white feathers from getting dusty. Chu Mian flipped through the book full of birthday wishes, carefully seeing each page. There were even wishes from the students in the third year of senior high school. The number of participants was far larger than he had imagined. Even if they didn¡¯t know Chu Mian, they didn¡¯t skimp on kindness when they wrote him birthday wishes. Chu Mian opened the middle page of the notebook and finally found Yu Ran¡¯s handwritten words¡ª ¡°To Chu Mian: Wait for me, one day, I will let the whole world wish you a happy birthday.¡± ¡°By: Anyway you know who I am so I won¡¯t write my name.¡± A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he read the two rows of crooked handwriting several times. ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, I bought you a cake, will you come out to eat?¡± Chu Mian raised his head and shouted, ¡°I ate one at school.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Now Chu Heng understood that her nephew was celebrating with his classmates, so she was naturally happy for him, and she ate the fresh cake with peace of mind. As the schoolwork became more and more intense, the days passed by faster and faster. The cold air permeated everywhere in Ronggang, and 2012 was unknowingly coming to an end. ¡°Is the world really coming to an end? CCTV news reported that around 2 o¡¯clock this afternoon, an asteroid named ¡®God of War¡¯ will come around 6.9 million kilometers away from Earth¡¯s atmosphere, and it is flying at a speed of 35,000 kilometers per hour. It will take 197.14 hours to reach Earth, which is 8.214 days¡­ that¡¯s the early morning on December 21!¡± On a sunny afternoon, users from all over the country could read this post as soon as they opened their QQ. The students were the most active in reposting. Some people dismissed this kind of gimmick, saying that ¡°Even if the end of the world is coming, what¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡± and ¡°If we die, then we die¡±. However, other people started to panic, and confessed their true feelings one after another to their relatives and friends, revealing their hearts, so that they would have no regrets after death. Yu Ran was obviously the third type of person. He was afraid of the asteroid hitting the earth in a few days, but he also firmly believed that he could save his life through unremitting efforts, so he actively prepared for refuge before the official arrival of December 21. ¡°Te Ejc, vlv sbe fwqas j rwjii rtbq?¡± Mjcu Itjb kjr raeccfv ktfc tf rjk atja Te Ejc¡¯r ajyif kjr qlifv tlut klat obbv, lcmievlcu ygfjv, ylrmelar, tjw rjerjuf, vbgjsjxl, jcv kjofg cear. Ktf offilcu bo fjalcu ecali bcf kjr oeii kjr nfgs ragbcu. Ktfgf kfgf jirb atgff yjggfir bo 1 ilafg wlcfgji kjafg rabgfv ja tlr offa. Yu Ran divided them up by days, and labeled them as dry food for his survival after the end of the world. He didn¡¯t forget to take out two Snickers and stuff them into Chu Mian¡¯s school uniform pocket. Then, he told the other person solemnly, ¡°Take them and use them for the day when there¡¯s flood, and I¡¯ll swim to find you.¡± Chu Mian was working on a question. He tore open the chocolate wrapper and took a bite. ¡°Hey! It¡¯s your lifeline!¡± Yu Ran shook Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder anxiously. ¡°Why did you eat it now?!¡± Chu Mian was stirred up by him to be rebellious. He immediately took another bite and stuffed his cheeks. Fang Zhao persuaded Yu Ran: ¡°You rude monkey, stop being impolite. Have you finished writing the Physics optimization? There will be a random check in the evening-self-study.¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost the end of the world, what kind of homework do you still need to do?¡± Yu Ran stretched out an index finger and swung it left and right. ¡°I want to live freely these few days.¡± However, the teachers would not let them live freely so easily. The amount of homework at the end of the year had increased again, making the students miserable. Many students gave up on themselves and hoped that the end of the world would really come, so that they could escape the exam. Everyone regarded the prophecy of the Mayan civilization as an exotic story. After school on Thursday night, everyone talked about it with relish, teasing each other with ¡°This is the last time we will meet¡±, ¡°We must come to school alive tomorrow¡±, then quickly forgot about it. Only Yu Ran was still very energetic at two o¡¯clock in the middle of the night. If there was any rustle of leaves in the wind outside the window, he would vigilantly get up and lift the curtain to observe for a few minutes. Fortunately, there were no flames or meteors falling on the horizon, and the night was still peaceful. Yu Jin was already sleeping beside him, grinding his teeth and kicking his legs. Yu Ran covered him with the quilt several times before he lay down and closed his eyes. After the wind died down in the second half of the night, Yu Ran relaxed his vigilance and fell asleep slowly. Early the next morning, Yu Ran was awakened by Yu Jin. ¡°Brother! It snowed last night!¡± Yu Jin excitedly knelt on Yu Ran¡¯s lap and looked out the window. ¡°The snow is so thick.¡± Yu Ran raised his leg and kicked Yu Jin away, before turning over to continue sleeping. He vaguely remembered that today was the end of the world, suddenly opened his sleepy eyes, and bounced off the bed. ¡°I¡¯m still alive now.¡± ¡°Brother, look at the snow!¡± Yu Ran turned to look, and his eyes were hurt by the white snow that covered his field of vision. He quickly narrowed his eyes and looked for clothes beside the bed. He was glad that the world was temporarily safe. However, he was disappointed that he had to go to school today, and he was worried that the weather would change drastically at any time. His emotions were fluctuating and only became better when he reached school. The classroom was as noisy as ever, and everyone was doing homework while chatting. ¡°The end of the world¡± was a hot topic today. Recently, many people had changed their QQ avatar into the ¡°tilted neck¡± cartoon. It was said that when everyone tilted their necks together, the earth would tilt, thereby avoiding the impact of asteroids. ¡°Make the earth tilt?¡± Yu Ran, who survived successfully until noon, was inspired by this idea. ¡°Then if we all jumped up together, wouldn¡¯t we be able to make the earth move farther away from the asteroid?¡± Fang Zhao squatted on the ground and threw a small snowball at him. ¡°What do you want to do now?¡± ¡°Come, let¡¯s save the world.¡± Yu Ran exerted strength on his legs and jumped up. ¡°Jump ah! Quickly jump! Jump¡ª¡± Chu Mian was squatted beside Fang Zhao. He built a palm-sized snowman, gently placed it on the ground, and made a wall to protect it. Just as he was secretly very satisfied with this work, Yu Ran, who was jumping high behind him, suddenly let out an ¡°ouch¡±. Chu Mian followed the sound and saw Yu Ran fall to the ground due to an unstable center of gravity. He slid forward a short distance and kicked his legs straight towards the little snowman¡¯s wall. In an instant, the snowman¡¯s head broke and the snowman turned into two dumplings. Chu Mian was more concerned about Yu Ran¡¯s safety than the destruction of his improvised creation, and hurriedly stepped forward to help him. After struggling to stand up, Yu Ran patted the snow off his clothes. He soon found that his hand was a little sore. He turned it over and saw that his palm was bruised and bleeding. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the infirmary.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll just wash it.¡± ¡°Apply some medicine, so that it doesn¡¯t get infected.¡± Chu Mian pushed Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder and took him upstairs. Yu Ran hadn¡¯t cared about this small wound at first, but after the school doctor sprayed him with something, his palms became extremely sore and painful in an instant. The doctor said that it would get better quickly, but Yu Ran felt that his flesh and blood seemed to be dissolving little by little. After the school doctor put a band-aid on him, Yu Ran made a request: ¡°Please put another bandage on me.¡± ¡°No need, it¡¯s not that serious.¡± ¡°Please.¡± Yu Ran stretched out his hand. ¡°I want it to look serious.¡± Chu Mian glanced at him from the side. After Yu Ran¡¯s hand was wrapped with the bandages, he returned to the classroom. He became active again, and showed his injured hand to the students around him: ¡°This way, I don¡¯t have to participate in the Dictation, I¡¯m really witty! Oh, by the way, Great God¡ª¡± He called out to Xue Zifan, stepped forward and said with admiration, ¡°Your last prediction was accurate. You had said that I¡¯d have a bloody disaster today, and it really happened!¡± ¡°Oh please, Yu Ran. It was not a bloody disaster, you were asking for it by bouncing around in the snow,¡± Fang Zhao retorted. When he looked down, he was surprised to seeYu Ran¡¯s hands wrapped tightly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just fall? Why are you wrapped in so many layers?¡± ¡°Oh, this¡­¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face became serious, and he looked at the palm of his hand melancholily. ¡°I was worried that the magic power would be lost along with the blood, so I hastily suppressed it first.¡± Then he frowned and said ¡°ah¡± again, clenched his right wrist with his left hand and shook, smacked his tongue, and said, ¡°Tsk, has that devil come to summon me again?¡± As soon as the voice fell, the Language teacher¡¯s stentorian voice came from the classroom door: ¡°Yu Ran! Did you come to me to redo Dictation today? Huh? Hurry over!¡± Yu Ran was caught off guard and his heart trembled, and the confidence he had just built dissipated without a trace. He raised his hand bitterly: ¡°Teacher Wang, my hand is injured and I can¡¯t write¡­¡± ¡°Then come over and recite it for me!¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± No matter how divine the so-called end of the world prophecy was made into by the Internet, when the day really came, people would find that it was no different from the ordinary days of the past, as they still had to work laboriously from dawn to dusk, either at work or school. Their worries and busyness were not reduced by half, but the atmosphere today was obviously more lively. In the afternoon, someone loudly announced in the class: ¡°Good news! Since it¡¯s snowing too much today, there will be no classes in the afternoon!¡± The class exploded in an instant, but because of the fear of being happy for nothing, everyone questioned the authenticity of this matter one after another. ¡°Really, I had filled in my parent¡¯s phone number with my own number. The homeroom teacher sent a text message to notify our parents just now. She will definitely come to the class to talk about it later.¡± The whole class was overjoyed and cheered as they packed their bags. Amid the noise in the classroom, Chu Mian asked Yu Ran, ¡°Does your hand still hurt?¡±, but the other party didn¡¯t hear it at all. He just stuffed the post-apocalyptic reserves into his school bag. Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help raising his voice. Even after asking twice, the other party still didn¡¯t respond. He simply leaned over and called out Yu Ran¡¯s name. ¡°Ah?¡± Yu Ran was startled by him. ¡°I¡¯m asking you something.¡± Yu Ran was finally listening to him this time, but Chu Mian was inexplicably impatient. ¡°Does your hand still hurt?¡± ¡°It hurts, but I¡¯ve been enduring it,¡± Yu Ran answered honestly, and stretched out his hand in front of Chu Mian. ¡°Why don¡¯t you blow it for me?¡± Chu Mian subconsciously avoided his gaze, lowered his head and absent-mindedly rummaged through his neatly arranged books. Whether it was from a friend¡¯s point of view or from a boy¡¯s point of view, Chu Mian felt that Yu Ran¡¯s casual request just now was¡­ unusual. He could often feel the subtle differences between the way Yu Ran treated him and the way he treated the other boys. For example, Yu Ran would never say something like ¡°Carry me¡±, ¡°Listen to me¡±, etc. to Fang Zhao. However, in front of him, Yu Ran blurred the ¡°boundaries¡± between boys from time to time. This difference in treatment was strange, but Chu Mian was not disgusted by it, and often felt troubled about how to respond naturally. ¡°It really hurts.¡± Yu Ran got closer, and his voice gradually softened. ¡°Just blow it, and I¡¯ll get better soon.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s thoughts were completely in disarray. He had been in a state of hesitation a few moments ago but now he turned calm. However, the temperature of his profile was rising. He didn¡¯t raise his head to look directly into Yu Ran¡¯s eyes. His mouth slowly moved closer to the other party¡¯s palm and he took a deep breath. When he was about to exhale, he suddenly found two words written on the bandage on Yu Ran¡¯s palm¡ª Chu Mian¡¯s trumpet. Chu Mian¡¯s breath got stuck in his throat for a moment, and he coughed violently. ¡°Hahahahahahaha!¡± Yu Ran instantly broke down and burst out laughing, sat down, and slapped the table. ¡°Chu Mian blew his own trumpet! Chu Mian blew his own trumpet!¡± Chu Mian¡¯s face turned scarlet from the bout of coughing. Out of anger, he grabbed the books on his desk and threw all of them at Yu Ran. CH 34 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans After having known Yu Ran for a long time, Chu Mian finally understood why people pursued ¡°transcendence¡± in life. ¡°Don¡¯t argue with a fool.¡± Fang Zhao patted Chu Mian on the shoulder to comfort him. Chu Mian sat down and drank water to moisten his throat. Then, he ignored whatever Yu Ran said, for fear that the other party would trick him again. After successfully teasing him, Yu Ran was satisfied, and said with sincerity, ¡°Chu Mian, I will kneel down and apologize to you.¡± He stretched out his right index finger and middle finger, and simulated walking on two legs on Chu Mian¡¯s desk, and then bent them down with a ¡°dong¡±. Chu Mian sighed tiredly and helplessly, picked up his school bag and went away. The snow was not too heavy now, it was just a little dense. Silver powder and jade shavings were scattered over the city, and the roads had been crowded since the afternoon. There was no sign of the destruction of the world at all. Compared with the end of the world in rumors, a more important event today was actually the winter solstice. The cold night was brightly lit, and the light was accompanied by snowflakes. Li Guirong cooked three large plates of cabbage and pork dumplings. When she brought them out of the kitchen, her two sons were knocking on the table with chopsticks, which was annoying as hell. While pouring vinegar, Yu Ran asked, ¡°Is Dad coming back today?¡± Hearing this, Li Guirong disliked him even more for being noisy and kicked him. ¡°No matter what he does, you seem to be quite filial, huh? Have you seen him care about you? Only asking nonsense.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t speak, just smiled. Yu Jin didn¡¯t seem to have any appetite today. He didn¡¯t gobble like usual. After eating a bowl, he went back to the room on the pretext of doing his homework. Yu Ran saw that he was a little unusual, and went in after a while and asked him, ¡°Yo, what¡¯s the matter, brother? Don¡¯t you have to eat three tons every day?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother me.¡± Yu Jin slumped listlessly on the bed. Yu Ran leaned over beside him with a smile on his face and put his arms around his shoulders. ¡°Who messed with you? Tell this brother of yours, and I¡¯ll send him a ¡®Doing justice on God¡¯s behalf¡¯ silk banner.¡± ¡°You¡¯re so annoying, get lost¡­¡± Yu Jin distractedly muffled a few grunts, and pushed Yu Ran away. But the little boy was sad in his heart, and now he wanted to express it quickly, so he still told Yu Ran, ¡°I am wounded by love.¡± He used this young and tender face to say such serious and sad words, Yu Ran just wanted to laugh, but as a brother, he still had to endure it. He turned on KuGou music, played a song ¡°It¡¯s Not a Sin for a Man to Cry¡± for Yu Jin, and then patiently listened to Yu Jin pouring out his grievances. The process of the matter was very simple. Today, there was an ¡®End of the World Confession¡¯ frenzy in QQ, and the atmosphere was sweet and warm. Yu Jin also wanted to participate. He had been expressing his true feelings since last night. He had written hundreds of love words to his current girlfriend in a memo, which he had planned to post at noon today. But what happened was¡­ his girlfriend broke up with him early in the morning on the grounds that ¡°I don¡¯t want to lie to myself when death is imminent¡± before she turned to confess to a senior. Yu Jin had been depressed for a day because of this. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t empathize with the other party¡¯s sadness in this regard, so he could only comfort him in a formal manner: ¡°Hey, bro, don¡¯t be afraid. There is a saying¡­ ¡®There are plenty more fish in the sea¡¯. If this one doesn¡¯t work, then find another one.¡± ¡°I was originally planning to find the next one,¡± Yu Jin said. ¡°I just can¡¯t accept that she broke up with me first. Why should I be the one who got dumped?¡± ¡°Huh? Bro, you¡¯re being a little too fussy about this¡­¡± ¡°Hmph, you don¡¯t understand, go away, don¡¯t play the song anymore!¡± Yu Jin pushed him away again. He turned off the music on his phone, lay on the bed, covered himself with the quilt, and slept to heal his wounded feelings. Yu Ran was in no hurry to wash and sleep. He leaned on the bedside to play with his mobile phone, waiting for the time to turn from ¡°23:59¡± to zero. December 21 passed smoothly, and the end of the world hypothesis collapsed of itself. The class president was the first to send a message in the QQ group: ¡°We survived!¡± Other classmates followed suit: ¡°It¡¯s good to be alive.¡± ¡°Huh? Are we in heaven now?¡± ¡°Worse than the end of the world is that final exams are coming soon.¡± ¡°How many people regret confessing yesterday?¡± Te Ejc kjr mbwqifafis gfilfnfv, jcv aegcfv jgbecv ab qeii vbkc atf delia obg Te Alc, rb atja tf mbeiv ygfjatf rwbbatis ktlif riffqlcu. Ktfc, Te Ejc rfca j wfrrjuf ab Jte Zljc, ugffalcu tlw: ¡°Cgf sbe ralii jilnf?¡± Ktf batfg qjgas tjv lcrbwclj cbk, jcv delmxis gfqilfv klat j ¡°Tfjt¡±. ¡°Hee hee! I¡¯m alive too!¡± Yu Ran actually wanted to hear Chu Mian¡¯s voice, but Yu Jin was sleeping next to him, and he didn¡¯t want to disturb him, so he continued to communicate by text message. ¡°Chu Mian, we¡¯ve also experienced life and death together.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t have any feelings about ¡°living together and dying together¡± under the premise of such rumors, but when Yu Ran said it, he really felt that the friendship between them had deepened, which was gratifying. Holding his phone, he typed back, ¡°Please continue to take care of me in the future.¡± The light of the screen reflected on his face, and the corner of Yu Ran¡¯s mouth rose uncontrollably. Compared to ¡°surviving a disaster¡±, it seemed that Chu Mian¡¯s words made him more happy. ¡°Okay!!!¡± He hurriedly responded. At night, the snow stopped. Chu Mian repeatedly turned on his phone several times, and after confirming that Yu Ran would not send any new messages, he put down the phone and turned over to sleep. At the end of December, cold winds raged in the north, and the temperature in Ronggang hit a new low. Chengjun Middle School¡¯s inter-class exercise simply stopped for a week to prevent the students from having accidents as the ground was too slippery due to ice. Christmas Eve and Christmas were the busiest weekdays, and vendors wrapped ordinary apples in exquisite wrapping paper and sold them near elementary and middle schools, hoping to attract many simple teenagers to buy them and make a lot of profits. Starting from these two days, letterheads were distributed one after another to all classes throughout the school. The first year of senior high did not know what was going on at first, but everyone soon discovered that there was a huge red mailbox at the entrance of the school building, with white characters printed on it: Principal¡¯s Tree Hole. As the name suggested, if students had anything they wanted to talk about secretly, they could write it down and post it in the remaining few days at the end of the year. The second and third year students understood that this was Chengjun¡¯s annual tradition. The principal did this to let the children slowly learn to let go of this year¡¯s regrets during the writing process, and then try to look forward to next year. After Yu Ran saw the mailbox, he stood there dumbfounded. ¡°¡®The Principal¡¯s Tree Hole¡¯? Fuck, these people in our school are too wild!¡± Yu Ran pointed at the narrow post in astonishment and said casually, ¡°Use this hole to con the principal? This, this is a rectangle, can it be stuffed in?!¡± There happened to be a few classmates who were about to drop letters. After hearing Yu Ran¡¯s words, they stopped and looked at him in a complicated manner. Fang Zhao put the paper in and turned to Yu Ran to explain the meaning and origin of the word ¡°tree hole¡±. After being enlightened, Yu Ran ran back to class immediately, wrote down his letter, and then took it out for delivery. Fang Zhao was curious: ¡°Even you have a secret to tell? What did you write?¡± Yu Ran pretended to be mysterious: ¡°Heaven¡¯s secrets must not be divulged.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t write essays in it!¡± Fang Zhao was worried. ¡°If the principal really sees it, he will definitely give us more Language classes next year.¡± The mailbox was filled with more and more letters, and the joys and worries of adolescence mingled so heavily that everyone seemed to be able to hear the hustle and bustle inside when they passed by it. It was not until the last day of this year that the secret mailbox was removed, only to come back next year. ¡°Mi¨¥mi¨¥, where are you going? It¡¯s getting late.¡± After dinner, Chu Heng saw Chu Mian put on his jacket, about to go out. Chu Mian said calmly, ¡°New Year¡¯s Eve.¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually the 31st today¡­¡± Chu Heng had been working on the draft recently, regardless of day or night. ¡°Then be careful on the road, don¡¯t fall asleep. How many friends are going with you?¡± ¡°Four.¡± Chu Mian took the keys, went downstairs, and took a taxi to the place agreed with Yu Ran and the others. Since they couldn¡¯t book a restaurant, they had to go home to eat before going out to gather after school. Chu Mian had never celebrated New Year¡¯s Eve before, and he seldom even went out at night. It was only two days ago that Yu Ran proposed it, and he agreed without hesitation. Jiubao Street was expectedly crowded. Chu Mian arrived at the appointed place early, and smoothly joined Fang Zhao and Ye Xi. ¡°No one answered Cui He¡¯s phone. Maybe she didn¡¯t hear it on the road.¡± Ye Xi gave up the calling from the time being and asked the other two boys, ¡°Has Yu Ran contacted you?¡± Fang Zhao looked down at Yu Ran¡¯s latest text message: ¡°He said he¡¯ll be here soon¡­ Damn, he said that half an hour ago!¡± Ye Xi began to worry: ¡°What should we do? The best position is under the Century Clock. If we go late, we won¡¯t be able to squeeze into the front row.¡± Chu Mian glanced at the time, and said to the two of them, ¡°You guys go first, I¡¯ll wait for him.¡± Fang Zhao: ¡°Is that okay? I¡¯m afraid you will fall asleep after waiting for a while.¡± ¡°I took medicine before I left home.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Fang Zhao was relieved and went to the location of the New Year¡¯s Eve fireworks with Ye Xi to occupy a few positions. The crowd next to Chu Mian was noisy, and he couldn¡¯t hear the sound on the phone, so he contacted Yu Ran by text message. Ten minutes later, Yu Ran¡¯s taxi stopped by the side of the road. He quickly ran towards Chu Mian. In the end, he didn¡¯t stop in time and almost knocked him down. The two subconsciously supported each other to keep their center of gravity steady. After Chu Mian stood up, he said, ¡°There are too many people here, let¡¯s go through the parking lot.¡± Yu Ran was panting, the tip of his nose was pink, and he nodded in agreement. The underground parking lot on Jiubao Street spun four large shopping malls. If you went out and crossed the road, you could reach the vicinity of Century Clock. The two entered Parkson and waited for the elevator, and pressed the ¡°B2¡± button. At this moment, Chu Mian received a text message from Fang Zhao, telling him that there were too many people at the New Year¡¯s Eve location, so not only could they not be able to occupy a place for them, but they might not even be able to meet in person later. ¡°Then so be it.¡± Chu Mian replied casually. He didn¡¯t feel any regret, but still took this opportunity to blame Yu Ran: ¡°It¡¯s your fault for being too late.¡± ¡°There was a traffic jam, so there was no way.¡± The elevator began to sink slowly, Yu Ran closed his eyes and stretched out. He had just raised his arms halfway when he suddenly felt the floor under his feet become heavy. Before Chu Mian could react, the lights above all went out. Yu Ran opened his eyes and found his vision was pitch black. ¡°Fuck! I¡¯m blind! Chu, Chu¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re not blind.¡± Chu Mian leaned half a step towards him. ¡°The elevator just stopped abruptly. It should be that the mall had a power outage.¡± A horror movie clip immediately appeared in Yu Ran¡¯s mind. ¡°The elevator won¡¯t fall, right?¡± Chu Mian hesitated. He just wanted to say ¡°no¡±, after all, the elevator had a lot of steel ropes and it came with a buffer. But hearing Yu Ran¡¯s flustered tone, he didn¡¯t want the other party to feel at ease so quickly. He calmly took out his phone in the dark and said, ¡°Maybe, but we probably wouldn¡¯t fall to death.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu Ran froze. Chu Mian turned on the flashlight and pointed the beam of light at Yu Ran¡¯s face, only to find that he looked terrified. ¡°Then when, when will someone come to save us? Could it be that no one found anyone in the elevator at all?¡± Yu Ran hurriedly took his mobile phone to call the police, but found that there was no signal in the elevator. ¡°What does ¡¯emergency call¡¯ mean? Directly call the police?¡± Chu Mian shone the flashlight forward to hide the smile on his lips. ¡°It¡¯s alright, just wait for a while.¡± Yu Ran thought for a while, then quickly held Chu Mian¡¯s arm and told him eagerly: ¡°Chu Mian, don¡¯t worry, if we are stuck here and can¡¯t get out, I will find a way to keep you alive!¡± Chu Mian was startled. He originally just wanted to take the opportunity to take advantage of Yu Ran and even the score; he had not expected that Yu Ran not only regarded the current situation as a crisis, but also took the initiative to comfort him. Chu Mian felt relieved and asked softly, ¡°What can you do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pee for you to drink!¡± Yu Ran said sincerely and firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll give all of it for you to drink!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Mian¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed and he drew back his arm. ¡°No need.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be polite to me. It¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t bring a cup. You can drink it only by having your mouth¡­¡± Chu Mian quickly took two steps to the side, away from Yu Ran. At this moment, the elevator button lit up again with a low orange light, and after half a second, the overhead light bulb was back to its original state. Yu Ran, who was in a false alarm, heaved a sigh of relief, and immediately pressed the button to go to the parking lot. The two walked forward quickly, climbed the stairs to go out from another shopping mall, and saw that the opposite side of the road was already crowded with people. Yu Ran wanted to get as close as possible to Fang Zhao and the others, so he pushed forward decisively. Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to be alone, so he could only follow. Halfway through the walk, they were tired, and even if they could see where Fang Zhao was, there was no way to get there smoothly. It was extremely crowded, and Yu Ran fell back half a step. He immediately turned around and grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s hand and pulled the other party to his side. Both of their palms were cold, but when they touched each other, they gradually felt the heat flow. Chu Mian leaned closer to Yu Ran¡¯s ear and asked, ¡°Did someone bump into you?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing!¡± Yu Ran smiled indifferently. ¡°It¡¯s just a painless stream of people.¡± Chu Mian smacked his lips and unconsciously squeezed Yu Ran¡¯s hand. ¡°You¡¯d better check your money and cell phone.¡± Yu Ran touched his pocket. ¡°It¡¯s all there.¡± The two didn¡¯t let go, just held each other¡¯s hands for a while. After Chu Mian realized that Yu Ran¡¯s fingers had become much warmer, he realized that there was no need for them to hold hands anymore. But now it felt very natural to hold hands, and it seemed that there was no need to release them. Chu Mian lowered his head in a daze, and the surrounding crowd loudly burst out with the countdown, which made him lean towards Yu Ran, but this did not help because Yu Ran¡¯s voice was louder than anyone else. From ¡°60¡± onwards up to ¡°15¡±, people¡¯s voices slowly overlapped in unison. Even if Chu Mian didn¡¯t make a sound, he was infected by the lively atmosphere around him, which made him feel happy. ¡°Five!¡± ¡ª He felt Yu Ran suddenly tighten his hand. ¡°Four!¡± ¡ª He heard Yu Ran¡¯s voice become even louder. ¡°Three!¡± ¡ª He saw the corners of Yu Ran¡¯s mouth curl up with a deeper curve than the others. ¡°Two!¡± ¡ª The left side of his chest was heating up. ¡°One!¡± ¡ª He saw the fireworks reflected on Yu Ran¡¯s dark pupils. Chu Mian¡¯s thoughts gradually recovered, and then he sighed ¡°unbelievably¡± slowly. He actually held hands with Yu Ran when 2012 came to an end. CH 35 Thanks for the Ko-fi! I don¡¯t know which novel you have given it for, so I¡¯ll mention in both novels. Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans The New Year¡¯s bell rang and the crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers and blessings. The dazzling fireworks burned out, leaving only gray smoke in the sky. Within a few minutes, the people gathered under the Century Clock dispersed in all directions. Chu Mian reduced the strength in his hands, and he waited for Yu Ran to take the initiative to let go of his hand by himself. ¡°I saw them,¡± Yu Ran said. His hand tightened further as he pulled Chu Mian to Fang Zhao¡¯s side. Then, he released his hand naturally as he reached into his pocket to take his phone. Several people looked at each other, and then asked each other in unison: ¡°Where¡¯s Cui He?¡± ¡°Huh? I thought she was with you.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t get in touch with her.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not answering her phone right now.¡± They started to get anxious. Chu Mian put away his phone, as his call was also unanswered, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s always on guard. Usually, she will always let us know when she goes out of the house. Maybe there¡¯s an emergency at home. We¡¯ll ask her tomorrow morning.¡± They managed to stop worrying after much difficulty and looked for free taxis on the road. Fang Zhao and Ye Xi lived in the same direction and took precedence in leaving on the first taxi. Chu Mian¡¯s house was not far away and he could walk back directly, so he stayed to send Yu Ran off. Chu Mian observed the surrounding traffic conditions clearly and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the other side of the road, there are few taxis on this side.¡± Yu Ran followed him and asked casually, ¡°Chu Mian, have you ever celebrated the New Year outside before?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Neither have I,¡± Yu Ran said, ¡°In the past, my mother didn¡¯t let me go out at night, but now that I¡¯m in senior high school, she¡¯s not as strict.¡± Chu Mian turned to look at him. ¡°So you¡¯re obedient at home?¡± ¡°Of course. ¡®Of all virtues, filial piety is most important¡¯, don¡¯t you know?¡± Yu Ran walked up the steps by the bridge, and there was a frozen Lan River under his feet. His eyes became empty, and his tone suddenly became deep: ¡°Back then, my mother had a fever. She said she wanted to drink fish soup, but there was no fish soup in the market. What could I do? I had to take off my clothes and lie down on the Lan River to melt the ice¡­¡± Before he could finish speaking, Chu Mian chuckled softly beside him. Yu Ran turned to face Chu Mian, drew a semicircle in the air with his hands, and smiled brightly: ¡°I fished out such a big carp for her!¡± Chu Mian¡¯s smile deepened the corners of his lips, and he couldn¡¯t help but push Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder, not wanting to hear his flimflams anymore. Yu Ran jumped down the steps, and white fog escaped from his mouth: ¡°Chu Mian, let¡¯s meet next year¡­ No, night of New Year¡¯s Eve of 2013. Come early, I promise I won¡¯t be late.¡± The two looked at each other, and Chu Mian almost blurted out an ¡°Okay¡±, but after thinking about it rationally, by the end of this year, they would already be in second year of senior high school, and their studies would be even more intense. No one could predict whether they would be able to go out. But¡­ ¡°Okay.¡± After a few seconds of consideration, Chu Mian still simply agreed to Yu Ran. After all, there were still 365 days until the promise was fulfilled. By then, both of them would definitely have forgotten what they said today, so it was better to just agree now ¡ª at least they would be happy about it at the moment. The two waited together for a while, and finally a taxi pulled over and stopped. Chu Mian watched Yu Ran get into the taxi, and only when he was far away did he remember to take out his headphones and go home alone while listening to music. The next morning, after Chu Mian woke up naturally, he squinted his eyes, and grabbed his phone to call Cui He. This time, the other party picked it up very quickly, and she also took the initiative to explain the reason for her disappearance the night before. ¡°My dad confiscated my phone and even cut off the internet. He just wouldn¡¯t let me go out at night. That stupid cunt annoyed me to death,¡± Cui He cursed her father in a low voice over the phone. Soon afterwards, her tone became much relaxed, ¡°It¡¯s okay! We didn¡¯t fight, he just locked me in the house.¡± Chu Mian got up and poured water to drink, and heard Cui He ask him, ¡°Hey, can you get some autographs of Aceon for me?¡± ¡°Who?¡± Cui He patiently introduced: ¡°Aceon, just the new boy band from your dad¡¯s company. They were so cool at the New Year¡¯s Eve concert last night!¡± Listening to her screaming over the phone, Chu Mian, who had just woken up, was confused and indifferent, and he replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll ask him later during the New Year.¡± The two chatted casually for a bit more before hanging up the phone. Chu Mian found out that his aunt was not at home, but had left breakfast for him on the table. He ate it quickly and went back to his room to do his New Year¡¯s holiday homework. He absolutely couldn¡¯t slack off in this final exam, because he had to meet with his parents during the winter vacation and report his exam results of this semester. After finishing the homework of one subject, Chu Mian took a break, during which he opened the contacts on his phone, found the number that Xu Si had sent him last time, and dialed it once again. Soon, the other party answered. Chu Mian politely asked, ¡°Hello, is this Mr. Wen Junying?¡± He had called the other party several times before, all of which had ended with a busy tone. He was finally able to get a response during the holiday today. The man on the other side of the phone was very cold: ¡°Who is it?¡± Chu Mian introduced himself as a reptile enthusiast. He told the other party that he was given the contact information by someone, and now he had the intention to buy, so he specially came to find a reliable seller for consultation. ¡°Add on QQ to talk.¡± The man read a string of numbers to him. Chu Mian turned on his computer to log in to his account. After his friend request was accepted, he directly clicked into the other party¡¯s QQ Zone photo album. Sure enough, he saw a wide variety of reptile pet photos, mainly snakes and lizards. He clicked back and wanted to enter the next album, but after the webpage was refreshed once, the page displayed ¡°This space is only open to designated friends.¡± The other party deliberately blocked him just now, and he could see that the other party was a little wary. Chu Mian had no choice but to take a photo of his student ID card, apply a mosaic, and send it over. After a few minutes, the man asked him, ¡°What¡¯s your budget?¡± Chu Mian replied: ¡°Price doesn¡¯t matter, what matters is whether I feel any connection or not. If I like something, I¡¯ll buy it.¡± Coafg rfcvlcu atlr rfcafcmf, tf jvvfv jcbatfg qtbab bo Mlbcj. Pa rffwfv atja Mlbcj kjr bo j gjgf ygffv jcv fzmfiifca jqqfjgjcmf. Ktf wjc kjr gfilfnfv jcv kjr olcjiis kliilcu ab mbwweclmjaf klat atlr sbecu glmt rfmbcv ufcfgjalbc. Lf jirb bqfcfv atf Ibcf ygbkrlcu jeatbglas jcv rjlv, ¡°Obbx ja atf qtbabr ogbw atf ijra akb wbcatr, vb sbe ilxf jcsatlcu?¡± Chu Mian clicked into the photo album and found that there were a lot of photos, covering a wide range of species, which made it obvious that they were not raised by a single person. But he remembered that Xu Si had said that this person still owed money, and if there was a unit specializing in breeding reptile pets, he would not often flee to other places. After comparing a few photos, Chu Mian judged that most of the images were stolen from the internet. Chu Mian was now sure that the person behind the chat box was a fraudster. After all, it was illegal to breed ball pythons in China, and many people who wanted to breed them were unwilling to go to the Forestry Bureau for approval. This gave some black market traders an advantage. ¡°May I ask if there are those two-headed ones like what Xu Si is raising?¡± Chu Mian tried to analyze the tone of the text, and tried to make himself appear polite and simple. ¡°I want that kind, it¡¯s so cool.¡± The man quickly replied: ¡°The kind won¡¯t survive for long and will die within a few months.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll get bored after playing with it for a while. How much do you sell them for?¡± The man said, ¡°Out of stock. The probability of mutating into two heads is too small. I¡¯ve only seen it twice. ¡± Chu Mian asked, ¡°What about the other one?¡± The other party now treated him as a boy who wanted to experience something new, and said indifferently, ¡°I don¡¯t remember, you can look through the album to find it.¡± Chu Mian had just browsed through the ball pythons from two years ago in the album, but did not see the two-headed Honduran milk snake. So he found the picture of Marija on the computer, sent it to the man, and asked, ¡°Is it this one?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Chu Mian asked again, ¡°Is this one dead too?¡± ¡°Long dead.¡± The man¡¯s affirmation made Chu Mian¡¯s breathing sink. ¡°It¡¯s not in your photo album.¡± The temperature of Chu Mian¡¯s fingertips dropped sharply. ¡°It was stolen from me at a trade fair two years ago.¡± The chat box fell silent. Within five seconds, Chu Mian saw that the person¡¯s chat profile picture had turned gray and messages couldn¡¯t be sent out. The other party should have directly blocked Chu Mian. Chu Mian called the other party, and as expected, there was a busy tone. Despite the room being silent, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t hear even his own breathing. He emptied his mind, held his mobile phone, got up slowly, and walked to the side of the bed to lie down. Chu Mian actually hadn¡¯t had the energy to hate and loathe those poachers for a long time. The more he grew up, the more he could accept the fact that there were many bad people in this world, and he would no longer have any intense reactions. But even as he grew up older, one thing he couldn¡¯t do was to openly accept partings. Even though he had guessed many times in the past that Marija had reached the end of her life, Chu Mian had still vaguely expected a miracle to fall on her, hoping that she would be treated gently by a patient owner where he couldn¡¯t see her and die without pain. ¡ª Sure enough, such small probability events as ¡°miracles¡± would not be related to him. Chu Mian buried his head in the pillow and closed his eyes, wanting to fall asleep quickly. He suddenly discovered that when people were depressed, relying on sleep was a pretty good way to escape reality, and he could lose consciousness within a few seconds¡­ It was actually quite convenient. He laughed self-deprecatingly. This time, he slept for a full twenty hours. When he woke up in the early morning, Chu Mian found a few packs of snacks to eat, then turned on the computer and played games to relieve boredom. He decided to indulge himself appropriately during the New Year¡¯s Day Holiday. He watched movies and entertainment programs, and concentrated on his studies only after he felt better. The sky turned from dark to bright, and the sun also peeked over the horizon. When Yu Ran got up and turned on the computer, he was surprised to find that Chu Mian was playing ¡°League of Legends¡±, and when he asked, he learned that the other party had been playing for four or five hours already. ¡°Fuck, you are so addicted to the Internet.¡± Yu Ran sighed. ¡°Do you usually have another face when you are alone at home? Are you holding a cigarette in your mouth right now?¡± Chu Mian laughed and his chest didn¡¯t feel as tight as before. He said, ¡°You got up too late.¡± [The Wolf Character Hides the Dog Radical]: Why, were you waiting for me? Chu Mian didn¡¯t know how to respond for a while. He hadn¡¯t specially waited for Yu Ran to come online before playing, but after each game had ended, he just wanted to click on the friend list to confirm whether the other person had finally come online or not. So when Yu Ran took the initiative to send a message to him just now, it was indeed a small surprise for him. Yu Ran asked: ¡°Did you set me as a special concern?¡± ¡°No.¡± [The Wolf Character Hides the Dog Radical]: ¡°Then set me as one now.¡± [The Wolf Character Hides the Dog Radical]: ¡°Set.¡± ¡°Why?¡± The other party replied: ¡°Because I set you as one! You have to do the same!¡± Before Chu Mian could find out where the ¡°special concern¡± function was, Yu Ran made a new request: ¡°And your status is set as invisible, remember to appear online to me.¡± Chu Mian did as he said and sent the screenshot, which made Yu Ran very satisfied. Now, he wanted to play games with him. The two of them connected to the QQ voice, and Yu Ran was noisy as soon as he opened his mouth, shouting: ¡°Come on! Chu Mian! Let¡¯s become stronger together! Accept the baptism! Accept the training!¡± Chu Mian hurriedly turned down the volume of his headphones. He opened his mouth, wanting to talk to Yu Ran, so the corners of his mouth that were initially arched upwards turned down naturally. It was at this time that Chu Mian realized that he had been¡­ smiling all the time when he had been interacting with Yu Ran. Without much hesitation, he asked, ¡°Yu Ran, when will you go offline?¡± ¡°When it¡¯s time to eat, it¡¯s still early, why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to play until I sleep at night.¡± Yu Ran sounded very happy: ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not doing my homework anyway, I¡¯ll keep you company.¡± So after Yu Ran said this, Chu Mian felt hungry, his long-awaited appetite had finally arrived. He had to put down the mouse first and go out to buy breakfast. Yu Ran remained seated in front of the computer the whole time, waiting for him to come back. Although the sun was not warm enough in winter, it was bright and precious. Chu Mian loosened the zipper of his jacket to make it easier for him to take deep breaths and let clean air circulate in his lungs. The street hadn¡¯t changed, and as he walked, he remembered: It is already a new year. Then¡­ I should also be a brand new Mi¨¥mi¨¥. He breathed heavily, and took out his hands from his pockets. Thinking that Yu Ran was still waiting for him to go back to play the game, he quickened his pace as he walked towards the sun. The homework during the three-day holiday on New Year¡¯s Day was not less than that during the National Day. However, since the final exam was approaching, the teachers had no time to check the homework, and they only corrected the answers in class and explained it quickly once. Yu Ran forgot to bring several notebooks, so he turned to read with Chu Mian, only to find that the other party hadn¡¯t actually written any of them. ¡°Damn it, I at least finished writing the Language, you didn¡¯t write even one?¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t believe it, and at the same time, a sense of superiority also emerged inside him, and he hurriedly imitated the teacher¡¯s tone and reprimanded: ¡°What have you been doing for the past three days of vacation? Are you going to rebel? You only know how to play! Not only did you degenerate yourself, you¡¯ve also dragged Yu Ran along with you. You¡¯ve led Yu Ran astray!¡± Chu Mian sneered. The teacher was lecturing on the podium and Yu Ran was quietly pretending to be a teacher below. He found that Chu Mian had written a simple question wrong, so he turned around and he brought his own homework over and placed it properly ¡°Look, you two are in the same classroom, so how come Yu Ran can write it and you can¡¯t?¡± Chu Mian raised his eyebrows. ¡°So you brought your paper.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Ran stuffed his copy back into the bookcase as if nothing had happened. ¡°But I just want to read it with you.¡± He leaned on the back of the chair and raised his eyes to look at Chu Mian. As a result, the two of them looked at each other in silence for several seconds. They noticed at the same time how weird the atmosphere felt and hastily averted their eyes. Chu Mian looked down at the question absent-mindedly, and occasionally glanced at Yu Ran, noticing that this angle seemed familiar. Then he recalled¡­ that on the night of New Year¡¯s Eve, he had looked at Yu Ran the same way. ¡°Chu Mian.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± When Yu Ran suddenly called his name, Chu Mian¡¯s heart beat faster. Yu Ran tilted his head and said, ¡°It seems that the teacher is not talking about this page.¡± ¡°¡­Oh.¡± Chu Mian hurriedly flipped over the page. After the last two days of classes, everyone finally ushered in the final exam. According to past experience, in order to let the students have a good year, the teachers would not set the question to be too difficult, and many students believed that. As a result, when the exam papers were in their hands, they realized that they had overestimated the kindness of the teachers. After a few subjects, everyone in the class was crying and howling. Yu Ran didn¡¯t care about his grades. For him, the winter vacation was the most important thing. He pulled Fang Zhao aside and whispered, ¡°Should we do something meaningful during the Chinese New Year? For example, con Chu Mian or something¡­¡± ¡°You really refuse to give up on your evil plans.¡± Fang Zhao grabbed Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder and pushed him to Chu Mian¡¯s side. ¡°Chu Mian! Yu Ran is plotting against you again! Let¡¯s go to KTV and con him on the TV!¡± In order to prevent Yu Ran from doing anything to him, Chu Mian lightly wrapped his arms around his neck and led him outside the classroom. Today was the class¡¯ first formal gathering. More than a dozen people were willing to attend. The class president Xiang Xuehua booked a KTV luxury private room and went to a nearby KFC to buy a lot of family buckets. Soon, another boy went to a supermarket and brought back a box of beer, and the atmosphere suddenly became high. Yu Ran was racing against time to eat french fries, for fear that they would soften in a while. But Cui He couldn¡¯t gather enough people to play a game, so he was called to participate. He saw a silver hemisphere placed in the middle of the drinks table, which had a depression on it that looked like a fingerprint. When he asked, he learned that this thing was a simple version of the ¡°lie detector¡±, which was not expensive to buy online. Yu Ran immediately sat down with enthusiasm, and rolled up his sleeves. ¡°It¡¯s so fun, why didn¡¯t you call Chu Mian over?¡± Cui He rolled her eyes. ¡°Why call him? He¡¯s so duplicitous, it¡¯s boring.¡± Yu Ran was still familiar with the other students who were playing the game. Everyone took turns putting their hands on the instrument and the last person to put their hands on asked questions. The drinks table soon became lively. At the beginning, the questions were relatively common like ¡°How many times have you been in love?¡± ¡°Do you have someone you like now?¡± Yu Ran answered ¡°no¡± honestly every time, and smoothly escaped getting electrocuted by the instrument. If the participant was not electrocuted, then the questioner would be punished with a drink. Among them, Yu Ran was the only participant who escaped all punishment. ¡°Damn, aren¡¯t you nervous about lying? You have the nerve to say that with that face of yours you have never been in a relationship?¡± Cui He drank another glass of wine. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s not play the lie detector, let¡¯s play ¡®Different hand and mouth¡¯, you guys know how to play right? You can only say numbers from one to five, hands and mouths can¡¯t be the same, I¡¯ll go first.¡± Although Yu Ran understood the rules of the game, his brain¡¯s reaction speed couldn¡¯t keep up with their rhythm. After a few rounds, he had failed the most times, and the third can of beer had been pushed in front of him. He pulled open the pull ring, and as soon as he put the cold jar on his lips, his attention quickly shifted elsewhere. While Cui He and the others were playing the game, the other classmates had been taking turns singing next to them, and they unknowingly cut to Chu Mian¡¯s song. In fact, Chu Mian hadn¡¯t taken the initiative by himself. He had only gone to order songs because of the pleas of several female classmates. When the microphone was handed over to him, even those who were addicted to playing on the phone couldn¡¯t help but look. Yu Ran raised his head after he spoke. Everyone already knew that Chu Mian was fluent in English, but they didn¡¯t expect that his voice would be two degrees higher than usual when he sang, becoming more refreshing and pleasing to the ear. In addition, the style of the song he chose was very relaxed and lively, which made others enjoy it very much, and the mood was unconsciously happy. Yu Ran stared straight ahead, forgetting the taste of beer in his mouth and kept holding it in his mouth after drinking. He saw Chu Mian standing in the light, with the sleeves of his gray sweater rolled up halfway, showing his slender and clean arms. The light was yellowish and shone at an oblique angle, highlighting Chu Mian¡¯s tall figure and perfect bones. When he lowered his eyes to look at the teleprompter, the shadow of his eyelashes covered the bottom of his eyes. After the song ended, the classmates on the sofa applauded and praised him. Yu Ran drank too much beer, there seemed to be fire burning under his skin, and he felt dizzy and hot. He put down the can and kept fanning near his cheek with his palm, but the heat did not dissipate at all, but continued to rise. Cui He looked at him a little strangely, and asked with a smile, ¡°Are you drunk?¡± He took a while to reply: ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re weak, Yu Ran.¡± Cui He laughed. Yu Ran¡¯s thinking was slow, and he didn¡¯t realize what Cui He meant by what she had just said. Not only that, he also called the beer ¡°can¡±, the dice ¡°eraser¡±, and even called Cui He¡¯s name as ¡°Chu Mian¡± several times. ¡°Why, do you miss him so much?¡± Cui He shook Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder. ¡°How about I call him over?¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t respond. He lowered his head and rubbed the tip of his fingers. Cui He turned her head and wanted to call Chu Mian, but found that he was chatting with the classmates, so she didn¡¯t interrupt him. After all, Chu Mian was usually too slow to open up to others, and now that he had the opportunity to get acquainted with other classmates, Cui He thought that it was a good thing. Everyone played until nine o¡¯clock in the evening. For safety reasons, everyone unanimously decided not to renew the booth and come out for a get-together after the winter vacation. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Yu Ran.¡± Cui He reached out and grabbed Yu Ran¡¯s ear, and found that it was terrifyingly hot. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t lie on your stomach, go and wash your face with cold water.¡± She couldn¡¯t pull Yu Ran, so she called Fang Zhao over, and the two of them pulled him together, but Yu Ran started to fight with them. Chu Mian slowly and methodically put on his jacket and approached them, only to find Yu Ran with a sluggish expression on his face. Without saying a word, he put up Yu Ran¡¯s arms, trying to pull the person straight up. This time, Yu Ran didn¡¯t exert any effort, and stood upright obediently¡ª Then he hooked his arms directly around Chu Mian¡¯s neck, raised his legs and jumped on the other party, shouting, ¡°Sneak attack!¡± After a completely frontal ¡°sneak attack¡±, Chu Mian was caught off guard, and could only subconsciously hold Yu Ran¡¯s legs. Cui He grasped her coat and turned around to see Yu Ran hanging in Chu Mian¡¯s arms, and was instantly stunned. As a boy, Fang Zhao was not sensitive to this kind of scene, and was still beside him to persuade Yu Ran to hurry down and not make Chu Mian angry. In fact, Chu Mian was not angry. His whole face was hotter than Yu Ran¡¯s. In order to prevent Yu Ran from falling off his body, Chu Mian leaned against the wall and lifted a leg, held Yu Ran¡¯s buttocks and lifted him up, and supported him with both hands. Yu Ran buried his face on Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder, and muttered something in a low voice, but Chu Mian couldn¡¯t hear it clearly. Chu Mian knew that he should put him down now, pinch his face, or take him to wash his face with cold water. But the moment Yu Ran¡¯s breath touched his neck, Chu Mian reflexively tightened his strength. Unexpectedly, he even said to Fang Zhao, ¡°Help him put on his clothes.¡± Fang Zhao responded and found Yu Ran¡¯s jacket to cover him, and put on the down jacket¡¯s hat to prevent the cloth from falling off. Cui He watched Chu Mian walk out of the private room with Yu Ran in his arms, and couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Fuck.¡± The other students in the class were standing at the door of the elevator, talking about the party just now. They turned to see Yu Ran hanging on Chu Mian and being carried by him. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Fuck.¡± Chu Mian turned his face away in embarrassment and explained, ¡°He drank too much.¡± Everyone nodded hesitantly, not knowing whether to help Yu Ran down, or to turn their attention away from disturbing the two of them sticking together. The elevator door slowly opened, and the classmates invariably made way for Chu Mian before they entered. In the small space, everyone was silent. Everyone felt that the atmosphere was unusual, but no one was willing to speak to ease up the atmosphere. Just when the atmosphere had turned stiff, Yu Ran, who had been burying his face on Chu Mian¡¯s shoulders, suddenly raised his head and shouted towards the sky, ¡°Ow¡ª¡± The students around him shivered with fright. ¡°Don¡¯t yell.¡± Chu Mian turned his face and bumped Yu Ran¡¯s head. Ye Xi couldn¡¯t help but stretch out a finger to poke Yu Ran¡¯s temple, before asking in a low voice curiously, ¡°Yu Ran, are you going to turn into a wolf?¡± Yu Ran pressed his face on Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder again, and then nodded at her and said, ¡°Ao ao¡±. The classmates laughed softly, but Chu Mian¡¯s mind went blank. When the elevator went down to the first floor, Chu Mian hugged Yu Ran and went out, and then urged him to get off his body. Yu Ran turned a deaf ear, but instead his legs clamped Chu Mian¡¯s waist and squeezed Chu Mian¡¯s waist even harder. ¡°If you don¡¯t go down¡­ I¡¯m going to have a cataplectic attack.¡± Chu Mian felt his heart rate soaring. ¡°Yu Ran, are you listening?¡± ¡°Listening.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s chin rested on Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder. After a moment of silence, he finally tilted his neck back and looked at Chu Mian. He said seriously, ¡°Chu Mian, you look really handsome today.¡± The faces of the two were close to each other, and Chu Mian¡¯s breathing was about to stop. ¡°Did you secretly get a facelift?¡± CH 36 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Junyans Chu Mian¡¯s arms were a little numb. He turned his face towards the wide road and whispered, ¡°Come down, I¡¯m going to let go.¡± Yu Ran nodded in agreement. He straightened his legs and naturally slipped off Chu Mian¡¯s body, almost squatting on the ground. He immediately stood up straight again and slowly put on his jacket, but he couldn¡¯t put his hands inside the sleeves, so Chu Mian had to help him. The two were still very close, and Chu Mian wanted to take a step back, but he found that his scarf had been caught by Yu Ran. Yu Ran clumsily undid Chu Mian¡¯s scarf, then picked up half of it and wrapped it around his neck. This time he was not cold anymore, and he did not forget to cast a satisfied look at Chu Mian. Their necks were held together by this scarf, and no one could move two steps away from each other. Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to face him, so he could only keep looking away, trying his best to keep a nonchalant expression. Yu Ran put his arm around Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll take you home.¡± ¡°No need.¡± Chu Mian quietly grabbed the back of Yu Ran¡¯s collar, allowing more distance between the two. After hesitating, he said, ¡°I¡¯d better take you home. It¡¯s not safe for you to walk alone when you are like this now.¡± He lightly held Yu Ran¡¯s arm and walked to the side of the road to hail a taxi. Sitting in the taxi, Yu Ran was still able to accurately say his home address, albeit with some tediously long prefixes: ¡°Solar System, Earth, Asia, China, Ronggang City, Jiangdong District, Queming Road, Yuejin Community, Building 12, House No. 301.¡± After listening to this, the driver immediately said, ¡± ¡°Wow, where did you come from, young man?¡± Yu Ran leaned against Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder, and said after thinking, ¡°I came from my mother¡¯s belly¡­¡± After he finished speaking, he raised his face and asked Chu Mian, ¡°Do you want to drink milk?¡± Chu Mian looked at him suspiciously as Yu Ran unzipped his jacket and reached in to dig something out. Feeling something was wrong, Chu Mian pressed Yu Ran¡¯s wrist and warned him in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t take off your clothes.¡± Yu Ran ignored him and stretched out his arm that held a bottle of AD calcium milk, and said, ¡°I bought it for you at noon, but I forgot to give it to you after the exam.¡± He shoved it into Chu Mian¡¯s palm hard. ¡°Here, take extra calcium so that you can grow taller quickly.¡± After a while, Yu Ran touched his pocket again, found a packet of Skittles and put it on Chu Mian¡¯s lap. ¡°I ate both the green and orange ones. Now they are all the colors you like to eat.¡± A little surprised, Chu Mian put away the candies. Along the way, Yu Ran rummaged through all his pockets. As long as he found candy, he would give it to Chu Mian. While giving it, he would say, ¡°Eating candy can make you stupid. Let me give you a magic trick to make you stupid.¡± Chu Mian always looked at him quietly, without refuting anything. After arriving at the community where Yu Ran¡¯s family lived, Chu Mian paid the bill and dragged Yu Ran out of the taxi. They walked inside the community and stopped under the building Yu Ran lived in before Chu Mian asked, ¡°You can go up by yourself, right?¡± Yu Ran nodded. ¡°Then where are you going?¡± ¡°P¡¯w ublcu yjmx ab ws tberf.¡± Te Ejc ibbxfv eq ja atf gfrlvfcalji yelivlcu, jcv revvfcis bqfcfv tlr wbeat jcv rtbeafv, ¡°Te Alc!¡± Ktf ygluta klcvbk bc atf atlgv oibbg kjr delmxis bqfcfv, jcv j ybs lc qjpjwjr ibbxfv vbkc. ¡°Tbe¡¯gf yjmx!¡± Te Ejc gjlrfv tlr jgwr tlut jybnf tlr tfjv. ¡°Ueii wf eq delmxis!¡± Yu Jin didn¡¯t understand the meaning of his brother¡¯s action, but he still put on his shoes and went downstairs obediently. Seeing a boy next to Yu Ran, Yu Jin took the initiative to say hello and asked, ¡°Are you my brother¡¯s classmate?¡± Chu Mian nodded, nudged Yu Ran¡¯s back, and told Yu Jin, ¡°Your brother went out with us to play and he drank some wine. Take him back to wash his face.¡± Just as Yu Jin was about to agree, his eyes froze on the scarf the two of them were wearing together. Chu Mian noticed the change in the other party¡¯s expression, which made him remember that he had forgotten the part of his scarf that Yu Ran had borrowed. But when he turned his head and saw that half of Yu Ran¡¯s face was buried in the black wool for warmth, Chu Mian simply said to Yu Jin, ¡°Let¡¯s help him up.¡± ¡°No need.¡± Yu Ran opened his mouth and strode forward directly. Chu Mian¡¯s neck was tugged by the scarf, so he followed him. Li Guirong was not at home tonight, so only Yu Jin was waiting for his brother to come back. The three entered the bedroom, and Yu Ran approached the bed without thinking and sat down. Chu Mian briefly glanced around. The room was not big, and it had to accommodate two boys to sleep together. The items were piled up in a mess, and the walls were covered with posters of anime characters, making the room look a little crowded. He stretched out his hand towards Yu Ran¡¯s neck, trying to take off the other half of his scarf, but Yu Ran, who was staring at his movements, suddenly clutched the scarf tightly and lay back. Chu Mian didn¡¯t want to be strangled, so he knelt down on the bed. Yu Jin was leaning against the quilt beside him. When he turned around, he saw that his brother was about to be overwhelmed by the other boy who had come. He hurriedly covered his eyes and his lips trembled: ¡°Hey, hey, hey, hey it¡¯s not suitable for children!¡± Chu Mian¡¯s cheeks were flushed. He wasn¡¯t looking into Yu Ran¡¯s eyes, but he knew that Yu Ran was looking directly at him, which made the movements of his hands more awkward. When he finally took off the scarf from Yu Ran, his hand was held by the other party again. Yu Ran¡¯s voice was slow and patient: ¡°Chu Mian, you have to be careful on the road and protect yourself.¡± Chu Mian gave a perfunctory ¡°Okay¡±. He just wanted to leave quickly. But Yu Ran didn¡¯t let him go, grabbed the black scarf again, and said, ¡°Chu Mian, it¡¯s almost New Year¡¯s Eve. The chickens are going to be slaughtered on the second day of the New Year, so don¡¯t be killed by mistake!¡± Chu Mian tried to look at Yu Ran, but within two seconds he hurriedly shifted his gaze. He quickly took off the scarf around his neck and put it on Yu Ran¡¯s chest. Only then did he regain his freedom. ¡°I¡¯m going back, you should rest early.¡± Whispering a polite farewell, Chu Mian hurried away from Yu Ran on the bed. Before leaving, he glanced at Yu Jin, and found the boy huddled by the bed, watching them both through the gaps between his fingers. ¡°Goodbye brother!¡± Yu Jin waved his hand. ¡°Come to play when you have time!¡± Although this was the first time he saw Yu Jin, Chu Mian felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Then he remembered that he had already known this boy through Yu Ran¡¯s essay before. Unlike Yu Ran¡¯s fabricated image, his younger brother was not only polite, but also had a lot of hair. Chu Mian gently smiled at him. ¡°Goodbye.¡± As soon as Chu Mian left, Yu Jin crawled to his brother¡¯s side, and shook him worriedly. ¡°Brother, are you okay? Have you been drugged?¡± Yu Ran was irritated by him, and threw away his hand and said, ¡°Get out of the way and stay there.¡± His tone was not as gentle as when he had been talking to his classmate just now. Yu Jin snorted coldly, and took the opportunity to kick his brother a few times. Yu Ran held Chu Mian¡¯s scarf in his arms, and quickly covered his face with it unconsciously, smelling the light fragrance. It smelled the same as Chu Mian¡¯s neck, but it was not as warm. Yu Ran unconsciously sat up and carefully folded the scarf so that it wouldn¡¯t wrinkle. After a while, he asked Yu Jin, ¡°Where¡¯s Chu Mian?¡± ¡°He left a long time ago.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s brain slowly processed the information in this statement, and his mood was low for a few minutes. Soon after that, his attention was drawn to something else. He stared at the bulge between his legs, and muttered to himself suspiciously: ¡°What the fuck is in there?¡± After saying that, he grabbed it out of curiosity. Before Yu Jin could stop him, he heard Yu Ran¡¯s heart-wrenching howl. ¡°Brother¡ª!¡± Yu Jin empathized and held Yu Ran with gritted teeth. Then he saw a layer of cold sweat oozing out of Yu Ran¡¯s forehead. ¡°Fuck.¡± Yu Ran instantly became sober, and hurriedly lowered his head to confirm. ¡°It scared me to death, it¡¯s still there, it¡¯s still there¡­¡± ¡°I was scared to death too! You almost became my sister!¡± Yu Ran felt that his throat was as dry as if it had been burned by fire, so he went out and poured himself a large glass of water to drink. When he returned to his room again, he casually said ¡°I haven¡¯t finished my homework yet¡±, but was told by Yu Jin that it was already winter vacation. Yu Ran happily laid down to rest. He was happy for only a few seconds before he suddenly remembered that there would be a terrifying parent-teacher meeting next. Conservatively estimating, he could only be in the bottom three in the class this time. In order to have a good and stable year for himself, Yu Ran actively shared the housework for Li Guirong in the following days, and even pretended to read a book under her nose, hoping that his mother would not scold him too harshly after she came back from the parent-teacher meeting. Surprisingly, the report card was better than he had expected. He had improved a few points in Language and Mathematics. The Geography result had even helped him to pull up the average passing score. It was all thanks to Chu Mian¡¯s notes before the exam¡­ Yu Ran knew very well the reasons for his improved grades. He couldn¡¯t wait to call Chu Mian and share the good news. He called twice and no one answered, but Chu Mian sent a text message: ¡°Wait a minute.¡± ¡°Okay~¡± After Chu Mian on the other end of the phone received the reply, he immediately hid his phone under the cushion behind his back before sitting upright and continued to listen to his mother across the sofa. ¡°Although your score has risen, your ranking has regressed from seventh to twelfth in the district. Chu Mian, have your health problems become more serious recently?¡± Ye Zhihan raised her head and stared at the boy with her deep blue eyes. Chu Mian said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I just made a mistake in writing the answer myself. I won¡¯t make another mistake next time.¡± Ye Zhihan nodded with a smile and put the report card aside. ¡°If you are not satisfied with any aspect of the school, just mention it to the teacher. Your own health is the most important thing, you don¡¯t have to be too shy, understand?¡± ¡°The school is very good.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t look at her. ¡°The teachers and classmates are also very good to me.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m relieved.¡± Ye Zhihan smiled. The mother and son had no more topics to talk about and the living room plunged into silence for a moment. Ye Zhihan handed the bag to her assistant and said commandingly, ¡°Chu Mian, pack your luggage tonight and set off on time at ten o¡¯clock tomorrow.¡± Only then did Chu Mian look her in the face. ¡°Auntie has already vacated the guest room for you.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Ye Zhihan continued to smile. ¡°But the hotel service is better.¡± Chu Mian watched her leave with her assistant. From the beginning to the end, his mother was as graceful as ever, and she did not slack off even in front of her son. She was so self-important that it was hard to approach. He was used to it and had no special reaction. He turned around and picked up his phone to call Yu Ran back. Yu Ran excitedly told him that his grades had improved in the final exams, that he had gotten all the key points of his notes right, and that he had been spared from a beating and scolding from his mother. Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help but feel happy for him. ¡°By the way, your scarf is still with me. Someday we¡¯ll go out to play and I¡¯ll give it to you then.¡± ¡°Just keep it first. I¡¯m going to my grandma¡¯s house tomorrow, and I won¡¯t be back until after the Chinese New Year.¡± ¡°Is it very far?¡± ¡°Yeah, in Shanghai,¡± Chu Mian said. His mother was Chinese-Swedish, and his father was from the north, so he had to go back and forth every winter vacation. Yu Ran held his phone with his one hand, and held the scarf under the palm of his other hand. He stroked the wool pattern on it and spoke again, ¡°Chu Mian, I forgot to mention something, you were really handsome when you sang in the KTV that day.¡± The sudden praise made Chu Mian smile a little. ¡°You seem to have said that already that day.¡± Although the other party had also asked whether he had gotten a facelift. Yu Ran recalled the scene at that time, and his chest gradually seemed to be filled with warm water. ¡°Really, I was so stunned at that time! You were simply glowing.¡± The corners of Chu Mian¡¯s lips were originally curved upwards but then he misheard what Yu Ran said as ¡°You were simply goblin¡±. His expression immediately turned cold and he said, ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else I¡¯ll hang up, I still have to pack my luggage.¡± ¡°Okay. Wait a minute, what was the name of the song?¡± ¡°U Make Me Wanna,¡± Chu Mian told him, ¡°by English boy band Blue.¡± Yu Ran repeated Chu Mian¡¯s pronunciation, and then tried to translate it into Chinese: ¡°You made me bend?¡± Chu Mian sneered at first, but soon the corners of his mouth became a little stiff. He understood that Yu Ran was just talking nonsense, but after pondering the meaning, his heart suddenly dropped a bit, and his ears slowly warmed. He became aware of some kind of bad omen. He even forgot to say ¡°bye¡± and took the lead in hanging up the call with Yu Ran. CH 37 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Elanor Ever since the winter vacation had started, Chu Mian had occasional bouts of restlessness. His enthusiasm for studying and doing questions was not as strong as it had been when he was in school. He reasoned that he wasn¡¯t acclimatized yet because he hadn¡¯t been to the south for a long time. But after staying for a while, he discovered that he disliked the fact that time was passing too slowly. After all, his parents were by his side during the Chinese New Year, and he had to communicate with unfamiliar relatives, making him even more reserved. He could usually only hide in his room by himself, and he got bored after a while. Chu Mian turned on his laptop and began browsing the internet, occasionally checking the time in the lower right corner. Recently, he had become accustomed to Yu Ran¡¯s online schedule during the holidays. He first listened to a few songs at around 10:30 in the morning, then went to play QQ Speed. During his days in Shanghai, the only thing that made him truly happy was chatting or playing games with Yu Ran every day. But it was almost 1:00 pm in the afternoon, and the online reminder of ¡®special concern friend¡¯ still hadn¡¯t popped up. Today was New Year¡¯s Eve, so Yu Ran should be at home. Chu Mian¡¯s head lay on the pillow, facing sideways. He stroked Fiona¡¯s neck with his palm, and asked his snake in a low voice, ¡°What do you think he¡¯s doing?¡± As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Mian realized how abrupt those words were in the huge room, so he quickly changed his words to Fiona: ¡°Forget it, don¡¯t say anything.¡± The feeling of desolation in the air caused by the unresponsiveness added to the awkwardness of the moment. Chu Mian also felt awkward. He knew that his positive emotions shouldn¡¯t rely on spending time with Yu Ran only. But at the moment, he just wasn¡¯t interested in anything else, and his mind was fully preoccupied due to the lack of online reminder from the other party. If he had known this earlier, he wouldn¡¯t have listened to Yu Ran¡¯s words that day and set him as ¡°special concern¡±, but now he really felt special concern for the other party. Chu Mian gently removed Fiona from his neck and put her aside to comfort her so that he could breathe more smoothly. The feeling of rubbing the white snake¡¯s scales with his fingertips would make him calmer, so he clearly felt that the time was longer. He frowned, unwilling to admit to himself that he was now purposely waiting for Yu Ran, even to the extent of becoming impatient. After taking a deep breath, Chu Mian simply picked up his phone and removed Yu Ran from the ¡°special concern¡± function, as if this would solve the problem. This made him feel a little more relaxed, and before he regretted it, he quickly closed his eyes and fell asleep. After falling asleep, he didn¡¯t hear all the text messages and calls¡¯ notifications on his mobile phone. Yu Ran had tried several times before he gave up trying to contact Chu Mian. ¡°Forget it, you can hook one for him too,¡± Cui He said with a milk tea straw in her mouth, ¡°but only if you can hook one.¡± Yu Ran put his phone away, patted the claw machine, and said confidently: ¡°What do you mean ¡®only if you can hook one¡¯? Have you not heard of my well-known title in all corners of the world? ¡®The King of Hooking¡¯! In the whole Ronggang, there is nothing I can¡¯t hook! I can hook even if the claw was a little looser!¡± Cui He mused, ¡°It sounds like you are describing how good you are at prostitution.¡± Yc Rfk Tfjg¡¯r Snf, Jel Lf gfwfwyfgfv atja rtf ralii tjv j iba bo vlrmbeca mbeqbcr obg atf jgmjvf, rb rtf kjcafv ab lcnlaf j ofk oglfcvr ab mbwf bea jcv qijs, yea bcis Te Ejc kjr ogff. Ktf jgmjvf kjr qjmxfv klat qfbqif, wbrais peclbg jcv rfclbg tlut rmtbbi raevfcar, jcv j ofk gbkr bo mijk wjmtlcfr kfgf frqfmljiis qbqeijg. Vfnfgji wjmtlcfr ofjaegfv Jtlcfrf hbvljm-atfwfv vbiir. Ktlr sfjg tjqqfcfv ab yf atf Tfjg bo atf Vcjxf, jcv Te Ejc atbeuta Jte Zljc kbeiv ilxf j rcjxf vbii. Cui He had initially thought that Yu Ran was only exaggerating about his doll-clamping skills, but after throwing a few coins down, she was astounded by Yu Ran¡¯s skillful operation: ¡°You even know how to fucking swing the hook?¡± Yu Ran had been practising hard for two months to master this skill, but now he just gave a dismissive laugh: ¡°This is just the long-lost ¡®Meteor White Wolf Claw¡¯, it¡¯s only a basic operation, nothing worth mentioning.¡± A green snake doll was quickly knocked off the shelf by the iron hook and Cui He couldn¡¯t wait to take it out. She looked at Yu Ran with admiration. ¡°Awesome, grab that cheese cat again.¡± As long as the target was not too large, Yu Ran could basically succeed in one go. They spent more than 20 coins, and were rewarded with a great haul and praises from the people around them who noticed Yu Ran¡¯s skillful operations at the claw machine. ¡°How will you return home? I¡¯m going to take the subway,¡± Yu Ran asked her. Cui He, who was holding a bunch of dolls, raised her chin. ¡°I rented the express hotel across the street.¡± ¡°Ah? You¡¯re not going home?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go back the day after tomorrow.¡± Cui He took the initiative to explain to him before he asked any more questions. ¡°The day my dad remarried, I told him that I would spend the Spring Festival outside. It has been like this for the past two years.¡± Sensing her low spirits, Yu Ran consciously stopped asking more questions, and then said calmly: ¡°What a coincidence. My parents themselves don¡¯t know when they will leave each other, and they are both looking for a new one.¡± Cui He was stunned for a moment, then couldn¡¯t hold back her surprise and said, ¡°I thought you came from a happy family¡­¡± Judging from his usual state, she felt that Yu Ran had grown up in a loving family from a young age. ¡°Huh? I think my family is pretty happy now.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t care about the broken relationship between his parents. ¡°If they don¡¯t meet, they don¡¯t have to quarrel, so both will be relaxed. Anyway, my dad is still my dad and my mom is still my mom.¡± He said it as if it was no big deal. He smiled at Cui He, and suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t you come over to my place for dinner right now? I¡¯ve bought a lot of fireworks. We can go out after dark and set them off together!¡± Cui He hesitated, not wanting to cause him any trouble. But Yu Ran had already pushed her towards the subway station without waiting for a confirmation, and even bought the tickets. When Yu Jin opened the door, he noticed a girl standing next to his brother. His eyes immediately widened in shock, he covered his mouth in astonishment, and deliberately took several steps back before sitting on the ground. ¡°That¡¯s my younger brother.¡± Yu Ran introduced Yu Jin to Cui He before entering the door. Then he kicked the boy, and said, ¡°Go to the kitchen and ask Mom to cook more dumplings.¡± Li Guirong was not surprised at Cui He¡¯s arrival. After all, she had the experience of getting invited to school because of Yu Jin¡¯s puppy love. Hence she had given up on the idea that her eldest son, who was already in senior high school, was still single. However, Yu Ran quickly explained to her that Cui He was just an ordinary friend, and briefly mentioned her family situation. Li Guirong was then relieved and warmly entertained the girl after that. The dinner was sumptuous, and Cui He, who was not reserved in front of the elders, actively engaged Li Guirong in chitchat. After dinner, it was already dark, and Cui He, Yu Jin, and Yu Ran went outside to set off fireworks. Yu Ran asked casually, ¡°Did you celebrate the Chinese New Year at a hotel last year?¡± Cui He shook her head. ¡°Chu Mian had invited me to his grandparents¡¯ house last year. He said that his family was full of people during the New Year, and they didn¡¯t lack a room and a bowl of rice for me. At that time, I thought to myself that since Chu Mian¡¯s house is very big, I wouldn¡¯t cause them any trouble, so I agreed.¡± She paused before continuing, ¡°Fuck, when I reached his courtyard, I realized that not only would I not cause his family any trouble, but I don¡¯t think anyone in his family even found that there was one extra person in their house.¡± Yu Jin couldn¡¯t help but marvel, and hurriedly asked Yu Ran, ¡°Is that the brother who sent you back last time?¡± Cui He shook the sparkler in her hand, and added, ¡°Chu Mian also wanted to take me to get a red envelope, but I didn¡¯t have the courage to ask for it. God knows how much money his family would give. Later I found out that in Chu Mian¡¯s family, New Year¡¯s money is not money¡­¡± She sighed: ¡°It¡¯s actually gold bars.¡± Cui He could understand these things, but it was something else that really shook her values: ¡°His family held a private Spring Festival Gala in their backyard hall at night, and there was everything one could think of such as folk art, acrobatics, and stand-up comedy. When I turned my head, I actually noticed several popular celebrities sitting next to me, fuck!¡± After Yu Jin heard this, he immediately felt deep veneration for his brother. Unexpectedly, his brother was actually friends with a tycoon! Yu Ran didn¡¯t have any special reaction to what Cui He had said. He only remembered Chu Mian unintentionally complaining about not liking family gatherings two days ago while the two of them were playing games and talking on the microphone. Perhaps Chu Mian was now at home, forcing a smile to please his elders. After the bundle of sparklers was finished, Cui He took out her mobile phone and planned to leave: ¡°It¡¯s too late, I have to go back. I will stop by the supermarket to buy something to eat in passing.¡± Yu Ran said ¡°I¡¯ll send you¡±, and Yu Jin also followed suit, ¡°I¡¯ll also send you!¡± ¡°What are you joining for?¡± Yu Jin said righteously, ¡°I want to be the beautiful sister¡¯s escort.¡± Cui He couldn¡¯t help laughing and returned to the hotel accompanied by the two brothers. Halfway there, they passed by the news-stand, and she stopped to pick up a few magazines to pass the time tomorrow. Yu Ran asked curiously, ¡°What is it, is it interesting?¡± ¡°Not bad, since I think my life resonates with the story quite a bit.¡± Cui He shook the ¡°Fireworks¡± in her hand at him, and couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m the same as the protagonist in it.¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t know about those novels, but Yu Jin was very interested in them. After sending Cui He off, he bought several books on the way back, carrying back a thick pile home. After watching the Spring Festival Gala for a while, they felt bored, so they went into their room. They opened the novels, held them in their hands, and struggled to read the full name: ¡°¡®The fragrant room blooming in the years¡­ the lavender waiting for love¡¯ ¡®You are looking at the scenery of loneliness¡¯ ¡®The night in my palm can¡¯t describe your stars¡¯¡­¡± Yu Ran¡¯s tongue almost knotted after reading the titles, but he remembered Cui He saying that she was very similar to the protagonists in these novels, so in order to learn more about his friend, he and Yu Jin read the novels with gusto. At the beginning, they were talking and laughing about the story, but after reaching the middle part, they were already sucked into the story. They felt sorry for the protagonist who had suffered misfortune, and they also sympathized with Cui He, who had similarities with the protagonist, and wept for her. The stories were about two girls who were great friends who fell in love with the same boy and that lead to falling out with each other, or about a girl whose crush died in a car accident right in front of her, or about a girl whose face was disfigured because the other party threw sulfuric acid on her face out of jealousy¡­ These painful episodes pierced the softest place in the two brothers¡¯ hearts like being pierced by the tip of a knife. They were lying in bed, unable to turn the pages, and their tears soaked the pillowcase. Emotionally driven, the two brothers wept together disconsolately. Yu Jin clenched his fists and scolded loudly: ¡°Who is willing to let such a good girl have an abortion, I won¡¯t spare him!¡± Yu Ran¡¯s arms gave out and he collapsed on the bed, clutching the book ¡°The Smiling Angel on Earth¡± tightly in his arms. In this story, everyone had their own guardian angel, who helped mankind resolve all kinds of diseases. If a person suffered from an incurable disease, it meant that their guardian angel had abandoned them. The female lead was such a person forgotten by God. She was without the protection of an angel, born with bad luck. Yu Ran had yet to see the male protagonist make an appearance, and he was already sobbing. He remembered Chu Mian saying that narcolepsy could not be cured, and his heart suddenly tightened, and he felt a burst of bitterness. He immediately grabbed his phone and called Chu Mian. Chu Mian had been waiting for his call for the whole day. After seeing the caller ID, he answered without thinking twice, only to hear a severe nasally sound when the other party said his name. ¡°Got a cold?¡± Chu Mian asked. Yu Ran shook his head at the air before saying while choking with sobs, ¡°Each of us has our own guardian angel¡­ who stands by us every day.¡± Chu Mian was silent on the other end of the phone. ¡°But your angel¡¯s wings are broken!¡± Halfway through speaking, Yu Ran felt his chest ache in sadness. ¡°Chu Mian, from now on, I will guard and protect you in place of the angel¡­¡± Chu Mian shrunk into the quilt, his body felt much warmer, and he laughed in spite of himself. ¡°Did you call me to specifically say this?¡± ¡°No.¡± Yu Ran raised his hand to wipe away his tears. ¡°You didn¡¯t answer the phone this afternoon and I miss you now.¡± The straightforward words caused Chu Mian¡¯s heart to tremble in emotions. He held up his phone wanting to say something but hesitated. The surrounding air seemed to have cooled, and only his body was still warm. He repeatedly opened his mouth several times, but he couldn¡¯t just casually repeat Yu Ran¡¯s words; he always found them difficult to say. Suddenly, Chu Mian clearly heard Yu Ran¡¯s brother¡¯s howl over the phone: ¡°You¡¯ve lost your heart losing me, I¡¯ve lost my life losing you!¡± Yu Jin cried loudly, and the last sound turned into a pig¡¯s snort. Only then did Chu Mian come back to his senses and then he responded to Yu Ran, ¡°Today, I kinda missed¡­¡± When the word ¡°you too¡± came to his lips, Chu Mian felt uncomfortable, and he immediately changed his words: ¡°Ronggang, so I want to return there as soon as possible.¡± After saying that, Chu Mian breathed a sigh of relief, and realized that he was inexplicably nervous just now. CH 38 PiaPia [Translator]18-23 minutes Translation checker: Rin Editor: Elanor From the perspective of self-esteem, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t comprehend why recently he felt a bit ¡®nervous¡¯ when facing Yu Ran, and why he felt that he needed to pay attention to the subject and proper conduct when speaking to the other party. This was never the case in school before. 3JR7f6 Moreover, the winter vacation was about to end soon, and Yu Ran had invited him to meet after he returned to Ronggang, making his uneasiness actually increase a little. Although there were other people present at the get-together before the winter vacation besides the two of them, when he thought of others, Chu Mian could not detect much sense of distance. Maybe it was because the winter vacation was long, and they had to rely on phone and internet connections to stay in touch, people would inevitably lose their sense of familiarity with each other. After all, he and Yu Ran had only known each other for half a year¡­ Chu Mian quickly came up with a reasonable explanation. Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com The meeting place was set at McDonald¡¯s on Baicao Road. They weren¡¯t there to have fun today, but for Yu Ran to complete his winter vacation homework before school started ¡ª to be more precise, to copy Chu Mian¡¯s answers. Chu Mian changed to the subway halfway through, and received a text message from Yu Ran that said that he was about to arrive at the same station, and asked Chu Mian to wait for him. TyGiQn Chu Mian agreed and walked to the elevator. With people coming and going on the platform, it was difficult to quickly find familiar faces. He didn¡¯t want to be seen by Yu Ran looking around, so he simply lowered his head and played with his mobile phone, his slender fingers continuously swiping the screen; he looked very busy. In this noisy environment, Chu Mian vaguely heard the familiar footsteps approaching him, and his fingertips suddenly stopped. Chu Mian had been long able to distinguish Yu Ran¡¯s gait among the others. The movement of his soles rubbing against the ground made him appear lazy, but his pace was not slow, giving him a strong sense of presence when he walked in the classroom. Chu Mian pretended to not notice anything as he continued to look down at his phone. rUE6CX Suddenly a lump of black object blocked his vision. When he took a closer look, he found that it was the scarf that he had left at Yu Ran¡¯s place before, and now it was hanging on his neck. Without thinking twice, Chu Mian raised his hand to grab it. After turning around, he saw the handsome face of the young man, exactly the same as he remembered. ¡ª Grinning brightly at him. To prevent Yu Ran from noticing his current mood, Chu Mian quickly pulled his scarf up to completely hide the smile that had naturally formed at the corners of his lips. dzLech But Yu Ran grabbed his cuffs and jumped on the spot twice. ¡°Why are you jumping?¡± Chu Mian asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes were firmly fixed on him. ¡°I¡¯m just happy!¡± Having not seen Chu Mian for a long time, Yu Ran wanted to jump directly on the other party, but he was afraid of knocking Chu Mian down, so he had no choice but to bounce on the spot to express his excitement. zd26oh Chu Mian tried hard to flatten the corners of his mouth, but when he looked at Yu Ran, his smile only deepened more. So, he could only wrap the scarf two more times to cover the lower half of his face, making his voice sound muffled: ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs and wait for the subway.¡± Yu Ran nodded. He was still holding the cuff of Chu Mian¡¯s jacket, as if he was afraid that they would be separated by the crowd. So Chu Mian had no choice but to adjust his pace to match Yu Ran¡¯s gait. As soon as he got into the subway, Yu Ran quickly found a seat for the two of them and said, ¡°The Internet at home is broken. I had originally wanted to go to the Internet cafe last night to check the answers and finish my homework, but after giving it some thought, I decided against it. What if I was too sleepy and fell asleep and my school bag got stolen? It¡¯s too unsafe¡­¡± Chu Mian asked unhurriedly, ¡°Why would someone steal from your school bag? Your unfinished winter vacation homework?¡± yfIuKq ¡°Of course I¡¯ve something more important with me.¡± Yu Ran opened the zipper of his school bag, took out a dark green doll, and passed it into Chu Mian. ¡°I went to the claw machine and especially caught this doll for you.¡± Chu Mian took it over and examined it. The snake doll¡¯s head was enormous and had drooping eyes that made it look more like a crocodile. He turned around and carefully placed it in his bag after murmuring ¡°ugly doll¡± in a low voice. Chrysanthemum Garden. ¡°Hey, Chu Mian, do you think I¡¯m sick?¡± Yu Ran asked sincerely. With a surprised expression on his face, Chu Mian asked, ¡°Oh! You really have such self-awareness?¡± g7iWEd Yu Ran sat upright and said, ¡°When I was in school, I was looking forward to the vacation, but the vacation was so long, and now I want to go to school every day. I kind of miss Teacher Wang now that I haven¡¯t heard her scold me in a while.¡± Halfway through his words, he started to take off his jacket. He forcefully rolled up the sleeves of the sweater on both sides, exposing his skin before stretching his hands towards Chu Mian. Yu Ran¡¯s thoughts were clear at a glance, and Chu Mian couldn¡¯t help laughing. He grabbed the other party¡¯s arm and twisted it twice. Yu Ran sighed happily: ¡°I told you that I was feeling unwell recently, and something was missing. It turns out that my body was craving your touch.¡± As soon as he heard this, Chu Mian immediately threw Yu Ran¡¯s arm away. US5i2M Yu Ran shook his shoulders and begged: ¡°My left arm hasn¡¯t been twisted yet, hurry up and satisfy me.¡± Ktf reggbecvlcu qjrrfcufgr lcfnlajyis ujnf atfw ragjcuf ibbxr. Jte Zljc delmxis aegcfv tlr ojmf jkjs, jcv kgjqqfv la alutais klat tlr rmjgo. Vegf fcbeut, fnfc lo j cfk sfjg tjv yfuec, Te Ejc kjr ralii atja rjwf Zeuuif. Ktf akb jgglnfv ja ZmGbcjiv¡¯r bc alwf, yea atf batfgr tjv jgglnfv j ibcu alwf jub. Ktf ajyif kjr mbnfgfv klat qgjmalmf qjqfgr jcv fnfgsbcf kjr rmgjwyilcu ab mbqs fjmt batfg¡¯r tbwfkbgx. Vfflcu Jte Zljc mbwlcu, atfs jmafv jr lo atfs tjv yffc gfnlnfv. Ktfs vfrqfgjafis cffvfv tlr klcafg njmjalbc tbwfkbgx. WR62F Chu Mian took out the autographed photos of the boy band that he had promised Cui He previously. She put down her pen, excitedly held the photos in her hand, and introduced the Aceon members to Ye Xi who was sitting next to her. Yu Ran went over to look and join in the fun. There were several boys in smoky makeup and black leather jackets. They had unruly and aggressive hairstyles, and extremely arrogant facial expressions. Yu Ran felt that they were handsome from the bottom of his heart, and quickly praised: ¡°The world is big, and it isn¡¯t short of wonders!¡± ¡°Go away.¡± Cui He waved her hand to keep him away from herself. It had been a long time since he had met his friends, so Yu Ran exchanged a few pleasantries first, before quickly moving to Ye Xi¡¯s side. Noticing a tube of something that looked like condensed milk in the girl¡¯s pencil case, with Japanese words all over it, he asked her, ¡°What is this? Is it edible?¡± X3KNs1 ¡°This is a BB cream,¡± Ye Xi said a little embarrassedly. She came here today to ask Cui He to teach her how to apply makeup. ¡°What?¡± As soon as he heard that term, Yu Ran instantly equated it with Fuyanjie products such as sanitary napkins and so on. He frowned and let go of his hands, eagerly took the test paper to cover the thing, and scolded Ye Xi: ¡°Hey, you girls should pack up the things you use, how can you leave them everywhere?! Hurry up, I¡¯ll help you block while you hide them properly.¡± He turned his face away as he spoke, extremely unwilling to take another look. Although she didn¡¯t know why, Ye Xi still put away the things in a puzzled manner. 4Q9YFL Yu Ran couldn¡¯t fit in with the girls, so he sat down next to Fang Zhao and said, ¡°Di¨±g¨¥, I think you have lost weight after the new year.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Fang Zhao touched his cheeks in surprise. ¡°But I didn¡¯t eat less during the New Year.¡± Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com ¡°I didn¡¯t say your head, I¡¯m talking about below.¡± Fang Zhao¡¯s expression changed and he pressed his legs together, ¡°Fuck off, you¡¯re the one who lost weight down there.¡± YiDuxt ¡°Fuck, I¡¯m talking about your legs! What were you thinking to be so sensitive¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m sensitive, it¡¯s that you always say weird things whenever you open your mouth!¡± The atmosphere quickly became lively, as if they were back in school again. Yu Ran, as the bottom of the food chain, was always attacked by the others. As several people copied their homework for a long time, the table became more and more messy. Since the test papers were mixed together, they were scrambling to find their own copy. Chu Mian was half lying on the soft chair to sleep, he woke up to listen to them, and closed his eyes again soon after. When he got up after he had sufficient sleep, he looked outside the french window and saw that it was already evening. ygMCZd Cui He packed up her school bag and asked Yu Ran, ¡°Even I¡¯ve already finished copying, how come you still have so much left? You don¡¯t have to write the detailed process, you only need to write four lines.¡± ¡°But Chu Mian has written in great detail, I want to have the same answer as him.¡± Yu Ran bowed his head and copied Chu Mian¡¯s solution process onto his own test paper, word by word. Cui He sighed, not wanting to pay attention to him anymore. She waved goodbye to Chu Mian who had already woken up: ¡°I¡¯m leaving, I¡¯ll treat you to dinner next time.¡± The other three had already left after completing their winter vacation homework; only Yu Ran was still hurrying with the work to get it done in time. Chu Mian ordered two set meals to eat with him, as he waited for him to finish copying the answers. TWB 4b There was naturally the option of taking the homework home, but both of them tacitly did not mention it, wanting to prolong their time together. Chu Mian stared at the messy test papers on the table and asked, ¡°Are you going to study Literature or Science? It¡¯s time to choose this semester.¡± Yu Ran hadn¡¯t considered this matter, and hesitated for a long time before saying, ¡°I hate memorizing things, but I also hate using my brain, so you should choose one for me.¡± Since this matter was related to the future college entrance examination, Chu Mian couldn¡¯t make a hasty decision for the other party. DHj2L Yu Ran asked: ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Science.¡± After Chu Mian answered, he thought that Yu Ran would say something like ¡°Then I¡¯ll also choose Science¡±, but Yu Ran just said ¡°Oh¡± before replying: ¡°I¡¯ll think about it after school starts.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Chu Mian continued to eat, but suddenly the taste of the food was no longer appealing, so he put aside the hamburger halfway through. ap4yOB During the silence between the two, Yu Ran¡¯s cell phone rang. After he glanced at it, his eyes lit up, and he quickly picked it up and shouted ¡°Master¡± over the phone. Chu Mian initially didn¡¯t pay attention to the other party¡¯s call, but Yu Ran stood up and started to clean up the pens and papers on the table. Only then did Chu Mian hear him explaining their location to the person on the phone. Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden. After hanging up the phone, Yu Ran told Chu Mian with a smile on his face, ¡°My Master said he¡¯s coming to see me.¡± ¡°The one who taught you how to draw?¡± 2rcPNH ¡°Yeah. I haven¡¯t seen him for a long time, and he also hadn¡¯t returned to Ronggang during the Chinese New Year¡­¡± Yu Ran neatly put his homework into his bag, ¡°Let¡¯s go and wait for him outside. I want to introduce you to him.¡± Chu Mian raised his eyebrows, ¡°What are you introducing me for?¡± Yu Ran wasn¡¯t unable to explain clearly the need for introduction, but he just wanted to introduce Chu Mian to his acquaintances, as if to show off. But Chu Mian didn¡¯t ask more, put on his jacket, and went out with Yu Ran. KGDAXR It was dark and the streetlights were bright. After a few minutes, the two heard the roar of a motorcycle, coming closer and closer, and finally stop on the side of the road. Chu Mian saw a tall man driving the motorcycle. After stopping the motorcycle, he took off his helmet and walked towards them. The man¡¯s eyebrows were sharp and his face was full of vigor. After seeing Yu Ran, he smiled and said, ¡°You have grown taller.¡± Instead of saying hello, he took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it over, ¡°Take it. Master was too busy during the New Year, so this is late.¡± 75hxMa Yu Ran immediately shook his head, ¡°No need.¡± ¡°Take it.¡± The man stepped forward and insisted on stuffing it to him. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t!¡± Yu Ran resisted with both hands and kept dodging back. Then Chu Mian watched the two of them push and pull all the way to the door of McDonald¡¯s. In the end, Yu Ran reluctantly accepted the red envelope and came back over. eJjNfS ¡°Master, let me introduce you,¡± Yu Ran grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s arm, ¡°This is my friend, Chu Mian. Isn¡¯t he handsome?¡± The man smiled and nodded at Chu Mian, then said to Yu Ran, ¡°Kid, I¡¯m going to Zhejiang in a while, and today I just came here to see you. You should go to school and listen well in class, and not be playful, understand?¡± ¡°I know¡­¡± ¡°Listen to your parents, don¡¯t be rebellious,¡± the man quickened his speech, ¡°and don¡¯t smoke, don¡¯t drink, and don¡¯t fall in love early or something.¡± p7GFh5 Yu Ran sighed: ¡°You say that every time.¡± ¡°Just remember them.¡± The man smiled and put on his helmet again. ¡°I still have urgent business. Have fun with your friend.¡± Please visit chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com When he heard this, Chu Mian suddenly felt that the other party¡¯s hoarse voice was a bit familiar. Yu Ran didn¡¯t expect him to leave in such a hurry today. Although he still had a lot to say, he held back and waved goodbye to his Master obediently. wGeLC6 The motorcycle turned around and drove off into the distance. Yu Ran was in a very good mood now, and he didn¡¯t feel the cold as the evening breeze blew by his ears. As he was stuffing the red envelope into his school bag, he inadvertently glanced at it, and suddenly found that there were two strings of numbers on the package. As he took a look again, he realized it was his Master¡¯s six-digit QQ number and password. At the back, there was a line written in his Master¡¯s decisive font: ¡°I have cleared the account, you can keep it if you like it.¡± fmHe6V ¡°Damn it!¡± He had heard that this number series had gone out of issue in late 1999, and hence Yu Ran had always expressed his envy regarding Master¡¯s QQ number more than once, but he had not expected that the other party would give it to him now. He was ecstatically clutching the red envelope given by his Master, and wanted to celebrate. He turned around and said to Chu Mian, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go take a cruise on the Lan River, I haven¡¯t been on one yet.¡± Just as Chu Mian was about to agree, he thought: ¡°It¡¯s only the end of February, the ice hasn¡¯t melted yet.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s spirits didn¡¯t break because of this. ¡°Let¡¯s go together next time then!¡± 4jHEdh Chu Mian smiled and nodded, ¡°Okay.¡± Yu Ran stood on the side of the road and immediately logged into QQ on his mobile phone and switched accounts. He then recited the six digits to Chu Mian, and urged him: ¡°Add me, I want you to be the first friend in my beautiful account.¡± Chu Mian searched for the number and clicked ¡°Add friend¡±. However, Yu Ran didn¡¯t receive the verification message even after holding his phone for a long time, and kept saying ¡°hurry up¡±. DeGR60 ¡°It has been added three times. Did you read the numbers wrong?¡± Yu Ran: ¡°No, I didn¡¯t, it¡¯s right.¡± Chu Mian pondered for a few seconds and stretched out his hand, ¡°Let me give it a try.¡± Yu Ran handed it to him without any qualms. Chu Mian glanced at the list of friends on this account, which was empty. Next, he opened the blacklist, and it was clean. xIQu23 Then, he used this account to search for his QQ to add as friends, and it was successful at once. His account had been blocked by the other party ¡ª the conjecture in his heart was confirmed. Chu Mian curled up his cold fingertips, handed the phone back to Yu Ran, and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Chrysanthemum Garden. Yu Ran looked at him with admiring eyes. ¡°You are so amazing, how did you do it?¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t answer and walked slowly towards the subway station. After a while, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s your Master¡¯s name?¡± RF93bI Yu Ran lowered his head and fiddled with his mobile phone, but still kept in step with Chu Mian, and answered succinctly, ¡°Wen Junying.¡± There were stairs in front of him, so Chu Mian held Yu Ran¡¯s arm, then said as if nothing had happened, ¡°The name sounds nice.¡± The first thing Yu Ran did after adding friends was to keep sending ¡°Hello¡± and ¡°Are you there¡± to Chu Mian, showing off his six-digit number. However, Chu Mian was not in high spirits. He sat on the public bench of the subway station without saying a word, just staring at the floor in a dazed manner. Yu Ran asked Chu Mian for his mobile phone, set his new account to ¡°special concern¡± for the other party, and clicked on the message he had sent just now in passing. As he was feeling content, more content was loaded on Chu Mian¡¯s phone screen. CVaqM8 Yu Ran took a glance at it, and above the ¡°Hello¡± he had just sent, there was a chat record from two months ago. He was surprised for a few seconds, then swiped the interface directly to the top and hurriedly browsed through the chat history. The subway had already entered the station. Chu Mian patted Yu Ran on the back, reminding him that it was time to get on the subway. ¡°Oh.¡± Yu Ran straightened up, returned the phone to Chu Mian, and followed him. 0XOzr3 Chu Mian was absent-minded for a long time, so he didn¡¯t notice that Yu Ren had also become silent. The two sat side by side in the carriage, listening to the friction noise of the subway moving against the tracks. Yu Ran deleted Chu Mian¡¯s number from this account, then switched back to his original QQ. He turned his head to look at Chu Mian and saw that the other party was blankly staring at the indicator light on the subway door. Yu Ran first stared at his profile quietly, then raised his hand and gently stroked Chu Mian¡¯s hair a few times. Chu Mian blinked. His neck was fixed at an angle for a while and he didn¡¯t move for a long time. ToZL65 Yu Ran¡¯s tone seemed to be soothing, slow and soft: ¡°The ice will melt once spring arrives, I will definitely take you for a boat ride.¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t understand why Yu Ran had repeated what had been already agreed, but he agreed again: ¡°Okay.¡± When Yu Ran¡¯s palm covered the top of his head, Chu Mian just felt sleepy. Without a bit of hesitation, he leaned over to lay his head on Yu Ran¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Are you going to sleep?¡± Yu Ran asked him in a low voice. GyHMFe Chu Mian shook his head laboriously. ¡°It¡¯s okay to sleep, no biggie. I¡¯ll accompany you until you wake up.¡± Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com When Chu Mian heard him say that, his tense nerves relaxed. A familiar sense of security spread throughout his body at this moment, and Chu Mian could no longer feel the tension from before. It turned out that even though they hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time, Yu Ran still welcomed him to rest on his shoulders ¡ª this had never changed. tUIW3L Chu Mian closed his eyes and felt that the subway was floating up and down as if it were on the water, carrying them towards the spring when everything revived. CH 39 Translation checker: Rin Editor: Elanor ¡°This Yu Ran, he didn¡¯t come to class on the first day of school. How much homework does he still have left?¡± Two morning classes were already over, but Yu Ran¡¯s seat was still empty. Fang Zhao had even cleaned the desk and chair with wet wipes for the other party. He also placed the newly issued books into his bookcase for him. While spinning the pen with his fingers, Chu Mian asked Fang Zhao, ¡°Did Yu Ran tell you that he was doing homework at home?¡± ¡°Yeah, he just texted,¡± Fang Zhao replied, looking at Chu Mian gloatingly. ¡°Is your winter vacation homework still with that fool?¡± Chu Mian nodded and smiled bitterly, showing a complaining expression. When he lowered his head to check his phone, all traces of emotions on his face faded, leaving only a slight frown. He had sent several text messages to Yu Ran, but the other party never replied, as if he was turning a blind eye to them. Chu Mian changed his phone from silent to vibrate mode so that he could contact Yu Ran in time later. However, the whole day had passed, but Yu Ran had still not replied to his messages. Chu Mian could only assume he was too busy catching up on his homework to pay attention to the messages. After returning home in the evening, Chu Mian called Xu Si again when he was home alone. He politely addressed the other party as ¡°Si g¨¥¡±, and inquired about Wen Junying. Similar to the information he had learned last time, Wen Junying owed loan sharks and was not able to repay it. Now the interest had already reached millions. It was difficult for him to take out 50,000 to 60,000 every month, so he often fled to other places to avoid the violent debt collection methods of Xu Si and others. When Chu Mian asked as to why he needed to borrow money, Xu Si simply yawned a blas¨¦ yawn and said, ¡°He had a lover back then who asked him to be the guarantor when borrowing money. Only, they were both men, so how could they have had a solid relationship? In the end, his boyfriend couldn¡¯t pay back the loan and disappeared into thin air, but the mess was left for Wen Junying to clean up.¡± Chu Mian thought for a moment and asked, ¡°What about Mr Wen¡¯s job?¡± ¡°He used to do interior designing. Even though he used up his savings to pay off the deposit, the money was not enough to cover all the loan and his income wasn¡¯t enough, so he changed careers.¡± His so-called career change was probably him joining the pet black market. Chu Mian could make a few educated guesses about the rest of the situation. He still had homework to do and didn¡¯t have time to inquire further. After having slowly accepted the fact that Marija had died a long time ago, the stone buried in Chu Mian¡¯s heart could finally turn into powder and dissipate with the wind. Knowing what had happened to Marija was better than always thinking that she was missing. Chu Mian wasn¡¯t sure if he felt relieved knowing that, but he definitely felt a little relieved when he remembered Yu Ran¡¯s attitude when he had mentioned Wen Junying previously. At least that proved that Yu Ran didn¡¯t know much about Wen Junying¡¯s background. He had successfully learned how to draw, and had also received a red envelope for the New Year. He probably hadn¡¯t been approached by that man with ill will in his heart. The ringing of his mobile phone broke the silence in the room. Chu Mian saw that the call was from Yu Ran and quickly pressed the answer button. He asked him, ¡°Have you finished your homework?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Chu Mian could tell from Yu Ran¡¯s voice that he was in low spirits and he also heard the sound of traffic over the phone. Yu Ran cleared his throat and said, ¡°I was listening to the song you sang last time and remembered that I haven¡¯t heard your voice today, so I hurriedly called you. I¡¯ll hang up after hearing your voice.¡± After saying that, he gave two slow, half-hearted laughs. Chu Mian waited quietly for a while, then the corners of his lips curled up, and he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to hang up now?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ right away.¡± Yu Ran actually wanted to hear a few more sentences, but he knew it was time to call it a day and hurriedly told Chu Mian: ¡°I¡¯ll go to school tomorrow, wait for me.¡± Chu Mian put his mind at rest. He did not ask more questions, and only said: ¡°The school has issued a new mascot keychain, I¡¯ve kept one for you.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Yu Ran held the phone near his ear as he hesitated for a moment before hanging up. He put his phone away and breathed a sigh of relief, and looked up at the graffiti wall in front of him. The wall was painted with brightly colored cosmos and planets, and a cartoon spaceship was drawn in the middle of the sun and the moon. These were the masterpieces of his Master. There was an inconspicuous square robot in the lower left corner, which was drawn by Yu Ran. This was graffiti from two years ago, but Yu Ran still remembered many details. For example, he had drawn the stars in the wrong position, so his Master had to redraw the flames. After that, he had accidentally sat in a bucket of paint and was scolded by his mother when he returned home and had to throw away his pants. Unfortunately, this work was never completed. When there was still half of the wall left to paint, his Master had to leave for something and did not return that day. Yu Ran recalled carefully and found that his Master often disappeared for two or three months, before quietly reappearing one day. Yu Ran had long been accustomed to the other party¡¯s elusiveness, and never asked about his itinerary, so as not to ruin the sense of mystery. At night, the Lanwan Square was lit up with colorful lights, and many residents had come to walk and dance after dinner. Regardless of the cold weather, the square was quite lively. Yu Ran heard a motorcycle coming up behind him. As soon as he turned around, the sound of the engine suddenly stopped. Wen Junying hung his helmet on the handle, took off his gloves as he got off, and took out a paper bag from the trunk. Yu Ran watched him walk towards him. When they were face to face, the teenager said in a low voice, ¡°Master¡±. Qfc Aecslcu rwlifv, qjaafv tlw bc atf rtbeivfg, jcv raeoofv atf yju lcab tlr tjcv. Te Ejc ibbxfv vbkc jcv rjk atja la kjr j ybz bo ubejmtf qjlca jcv rfnfgji ygjcv-cfk ygertfr. ¡°P¡¯w ifjnlcu abwbggbk. P vbc¡¯a tjnf alwf ab ajxf sbe bea ab vlccfg. P mbeiv bcis qlmx rbwfatlcu atja sbe mjc erf lc atf oeaegf.¡± Qfc Aecslcu rlutfv klat gfugfa, jcv iloafv atf hlqqfg bo Te Ejc¡¯r vbkc pjmxfa ab atf abq lc qjrrlcu. ¡°Qtfc vbfr sbeg rmtbbi rajga?¡± ¡°Today.¡± ¡°Today?¡± Wen Junying poked Yu Ran on the forehead with his finger. ¡°What happened? Skipping class again?¡± Yu Ran avoided answering and asked rhetorically, ¡°When will you be back next time?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, we¡¯ll talk about it then.¡± The nearby square dance music happened to stop, and Yu Ran¡¯s voice seemed abruptly loud in the sudden silence: ¡°Are you not going to come back?¡± Wen Junying froze. But he quickly calmed down and automatically avoided making eye contact. Yu Ran stared at the man¡¯s resolute and bony profile, and his contours gradually overlapped with the man in his memories¡ª When he had just started junior high school, Yu Ran had yearned to become the kind of intimidating delinquents often seen in movies, and he actively and enthusiastically made appointments to fight with students of the same grade. Once, when he was fighting outside, he knocked over a motorcycle parked on the side of the road. At that time, Wen Junying was painting graffiti on the wall. When he turned his head, he saw a group of young boys brawling near his motorcycle. He was worried that they would get hurt if they bumped into the vehicle, so he hurried over to see the situation. As soon as he came out, everyone was shocked by the tattoos on his arms and neck. They didn¡¯t even dare to breathe, afraid of being eaten alive by the delinquent big brother in front of them. Wen Junying didn¡¯t mean to blame them. He straightened up the motorcycle by himself, waved his hand, and dismissed the boys to play elsewhere. Yu Ran was attracted by the colorful walls behind him. He not only lingered nearby for a long time, he also deliberately came forward to talk and asked Wen Junying to teach him how to draw. ¡°I¡¯ll give you money!¡± Junior high school student Yu Ran was very generous. He gave Wen Junying five yuan on the spot. ¡°Five million!¡± Wen Junying glanced at the note. The boy had added several ¡°0s¡± with a pencil after the number 5 in the bill. He snickered, then pretended to look stern and told Yu Ran: ¡°It¡¯s illegal to scribble on money, you know?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face turned pale in an instant, but he pretended to be tough and said loudly: ¡°It¡¯s, it¡¯s also illegal to, to graffiti on the wall, you know?¡± Seeing the boy¡¯s blustery look, Wen Junying laughed, and the sharpness in his eyes dissipated. After that day, Yu Ran often followed Wen Junying to graffiti on the street. He had always enjoyed reading manhuas and had become interested in drawing. He learned some skills of copying existing arts and soon aspired to become an artist. Whenever Wen Junying was free, he would take Yu Ran to fast food restaurants and patiently teach him the basics of sketching. They didn¡¯t remember when Yu Ran started to call Wen Junying ¡°Master¡±. Maybe it was a joke at first, but then they got used to it. Yu Ran did not hide his admiration for the other person in his heart, and Wen Junying never hesitated to teach him anything. ¡°Yu Ran, you are young. Don¡¯t always think about fighting. This mindset is very harmful. Violence changes a person¡¯s nature. Of course, if someone bullies you or your friends, you must fight back.¡± Wen Junying would sometimes teach him other things related to life. ¡°Also, not everyone who wants to learn Art likes it as sincerely as you do. There are many people who simply do not want to study. If you come across such people in the future, don¡¯t take them seriously, understand?¡± Every time his Master talked to him, his tone sounded like that of a teacher giving advice. His sentences were always followed by ¡°you know?¡± and ¡°understand?¡±. Yu Ran would become annoyed when he heard too many of such sentences, and he would nod perfunctorily and say yes. He did, however, remember his Master¡¯s words well. He stopped fighting for trivial matters and began studying hard for the high school entrance exam. In the past six months, Yu Ran had fewer and fewer opportunities to meet his Master. He didn¡¯t know when they¡¯d be able to graffiti together as before and spend an afternoon by the wall. Yu Ran could sometimes vaguely feel: I will never get that chance again. Bursts of cool wind rolled over Lanwan Square, and the boy asked again: ¡°Will you not return to Ronggang in the future?¡± Wen Junying kept his mouth shut and just looked at Yu Ran calmly. Yu Ran pointed to the graffiti wall next to him and asked, ¡°Why did you leave before we finished painting this wall?¡± Seeing that Wen Junying seemed to have no intention to say anything, Yu Ran said slowly: ¡°I saw the chat history on your account.¡± The man¡¯s face finally showed some emotional fluctuations. His mouth opened and closed several times in astonishment. Probably because he didn¡¯t want to deceive the person in front of him, he finally murmured: ¡°I thought I deleted everything thoroughly.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s breathing froze for a few seconds. He suddenly took a big stride forward and clutched Wen Junying¡¯s collar with his hand. His throat was dry, and he said with an unbelievably hoarse voice: ¡°I saw it on my friend¡¯s phone¡­ You bullied him before.¡± Wen Junying frowned in confusion, but he didn¡¯t deny anything. ¡°Yu Ran, draw well.¡± He raised his hand to grab Yu Ran¡¯s wrist and forced it away from his collar. ¡°Pay attention to your health, drink plenty of water, don¡¯t catch a cold¡­¡± ¡°Go and apologize to him.¡± Wen Junying continued: ¡°You must also study culture classes carefully. You can¡¯t take them lightly, otherwise it¡¯ll be difficult to keep up in third year¡­¡± ¡°You fucking¡ª¡± Yu Ran grabbed the man¡¯s strong arm, and said in a trembling voice, ¡°I asked you to apologize to my friend, did you hear me? If you don¡¯t want to say anything else, don¡¯t say it, but you can¡¯t¡­ you can¡¯t bully him.¡± Once Chu Mian¡¯s face appeared in his mind, Yu Ran¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but turn red. ¡°I¡¯ve promised that I would protect him.¡± ¡°Yu Ran.¡± Wen Junying took a deep breath and looked at him calmly. ¡°I don¡¯t have any guilty conscience towards strangers. If I really needed to apologize to someone, it would be to you. I may not have time to teach you to draw again in the future.¡± Wen Junying held Yu Ran¡¯s hand, clenched his fingers into a fist, and pressed it against his cheek. ¡°Before you leave, take it out on me any way you want.¡± Yu Ran was frozen in place. A moment later, he shook off Wen Junying¡¯s hand and smashed his fist against the graffiti wall. The skin on his knuckles split open and blood started to ooze out. It didn¡¯t hurt very much, there was only a slight itch near the wound. Yu Ran lowered his head and said slowly: ¡°Don¡¯t bully others anymore¡­ Master. ¡± He put the paper bag containing brushes and watercolors on the ground, took out the red envelope from his jacket pocket and threw it in. Then he turned around. He even forgot to look at the man for the last time. He walked towards the subway station one step after another, his mind completely blank. Wen Junying looked deeply at the young man¡¯s retreating back and found that he was much taller than he remembered. The early spring of Ronggang was still cold and windy, and only by mid-morning every day could the sun be seen. When Chu Mian saw the empty seat in front of him, he impatiently tapped his long fingertips on the desk. Last night Yu Ran had clearly confirmed that he would come to class today, but it was already noon and he was still missing. If he didn¡¯t come again today, Chu Mian¡¯s own winter vacation homework would be considered not done. ¡°Hello? Hello, I¡¯m here, outside the front door,¡± Yu Ran said on the phone, ¡°Come out for a moment.¡± ¡°Security guard won¡¯t let you in?¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ask anything, just come out.¡± Chu Mian exited the classroom and went to the school¡¯s main entrance alone, and he noticed the tall figure standing outside the railing. Yu Ran was only wearing a set of black Adidas sportswear today. His trouser legs were rolled up, and he was wearing white high-top sneakers on his feet. He wasn¡¯t carrying his school bag. He was standing there casually, with his hands inside his pockets to keep warm. The whole person looked clean and spontaneous. As soon as he saw Chu Mian, he smiled, trotted two steps closer to the railing and handed over two boat trip tickets. ¡°The ice has melted. Let¡¯s go.¡± The departure time was two o¡¯clock in the afternoon. Chu Mian gave Yu Ran an odd look. ¡°We have classes in the afternoon.¡± ¡°What classes to attend? Anyways, you understand everything even without listening.¡± Yu Ran stretched out his hand from the gap between the railings and grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s school uniform sleeve. ¡°You had promised me.¡± Chu Mian thought for a moment before making a decision: ¡°Then, wait a bit.¡± He asked the homeroom teacher for a leave note, and then went back to class to pack his school bag. Fang Zhao saw that he was leaving suddenly without any explanation, so he joked: ¡°Why, are you going on a date?¡± The students next to him also heckled. Chu Mian was a little embarrassed, and said goodbye to them with a bashful smile. He didn¡¯t tell anyone that Yu Ran was outside; he kept this information to himself. When Yu Ran saw that Chu Mian was actually going out with his school bag on his back, he was annoyed and helpless for a while. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the matter with you, why did you take a leave? Can¡¯t we skip class together? How exciting would that be!¡± ¡°If you skip class again, you will be punished. Also, return my winter vacation homework tomorrow.¡± Chu Mian glanced at him and noticed that he had two band-aids on his hand. ¡°How did you get bruised?¡± Yu Ran touched them indifferently. ¡°Oh, I was working too hard on my homework.¡± He handed his hand to Chu Mian. ¡°Why don¡¯t you blow it for me?¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± Chu Mian chuckled and pushed his head. The two took a taxi to the pier, boarded the boat early, and stood on the deck to enjoy the breeze. This was also the first time Chu Mian had taken a cruise on the Lan River. After all, he lived in the Hanning Mansion in downtown Ronggang. He would have a panoramic view of the Lan River every time he went to the balcony, so he had never been interested in a boat trip on it. Unexpectedly, when he came to the river in person, the scenery he saw was still different from what he had imagined. Yu Ran raised the collar of his sportswear to cover his neck, and then asked Chu Mian: ¡°Are you feeling cold?¡± Chu Mian shook his head. When he turned his face, he saw that Yu Ran¡¯s hair was a wind blown mess, and couldn¡¯t hold back his laughter. While looking at the river, Yu Ran said, ¡°Chu Mian, I remember the first time I went to ¡°Bronze Bird¡± with you, you had told me that if you hadn¡¯t lost your snake, you wouldn¡¯t have been so sad, and you might not have gotten narcolepsy. In that case, you would have been successfully admitted to one of the city¡¯s top three schools now and gotten better grades, right?¡± Hearing Yu Ran suddenly mention something from so long ago, Chu Mian looked at him hesitantly, then replied in a deep voice, ¡°No.¡± ¡°No,¡± Chu Mian repeated and sighed. ¡°The pathogenesis of narcolepsy has nothing to do with emotional stimulation. I don¡¯t remember what I told you that time. Maybe I didn¡¯t want to admit to you that I was ill and it was purely bad luck.¡± The wind made them squint their eyes unconsciously, and Chu Mian continued: ¡°But now I think I¡¯m still lucky. Environment is the biggest factor in alleviating my condition. Chengjun¡¯s teachers and classmates are more enthusiastic and considerate than my previous classmates and teachers. They treat me very well, especially¡­¡± ¡ª Especially you. Chu Mian chose to keep this crucial point to himself. He lowered his eyes and changed his words: ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that time? I believe in the conservation of luck. I was unlucky before, so I will be luckier afterwards. I think¡­ I¡¯m very happy to be living in Chengjun now.¡± After he finished speaking, he didn¡¯t hear Yu Ran¡¯s response for a long time. He looked up just in time to see a teardrop rolling down Yu Ran¡¯s lower eyelid, dripping on his black collar, leaving behind a tear stain. When Yu Ran noticed Chu Mian staring at him, he immediately raised his hand and wiped his tears away, sighed and took the initiative to explain the reason: ¡°I miss my uncle Yu Le very much! He said he had died three times on this ship.¡± These words unexpectedly made Chu Mian laugh out loud. He gently kicked Yu Ran¡¯s heel. ¡°Why don¡¯t you think about your younger brother, you¡¯ve pulled out his hair twice.¡± Yu Ran also laughed with him, but his tears were still flowing uncontrollably. He put his arms in front of his eyes, pretending to shield his face from the sun. Yu Ran breathed heavily and suddenly felt his back being pressed. The next second, the wind in front of him was blocked. Chu Mian did not know how he was swept into Yu Ran¡¯s arms every time he fell asleep. He could only gently hug Yu Ran¡¯s shoulders instinctually and whisper, ¡°You miss him too much.¡± Without saying a word, Yu Ran drilled his head directly into Chu Mian¡¯s warm chest to completely avoid the wind. The two boys hugged in such a posture. Chu Mian couldn¡¯t convince himself that the situation right now was normal, but he still chose to not be concerned about the atmosphere. He just asked one question to Yu Ran, trying to confirm: ¡°Does your heart sometimes¡­ feel panicky?¡± Yu Ran shook his head. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple rolled up and down. ¡°It might be my problem.¡± ¡ª My own brain must have some kind of deviation to always produce a stress response when I have physical contact with Yu Ran. ¡°Not feeling well?¡± Yu Ran looked up with concern and pressed his palm on Chu Mian¡¯s heart. ¡°It, it doesn¡¯t seem to be beating anymore!¡± ¡°Nonsense! There are so many pieces of clothing in between your hand and my chest.¡± ¡°What do you feel like? Is it serious? Does it hurt?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I just feel like my heart skipped a few beats.¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± Yu Ran turned pale with fright. He straightened up and grabbed Chu Mian. ¡°Where did it skip? Is it skipping too much? Why didn¡¯t you fucking say it earlier?!¡± He urgently took out his mobile phone to dial 120, but Chu Mian held his hand down with a smile. ¡°No need to call an ambulance.¡± Chu Mian vaguely felt that he had said these words before as well. ¡°Is it really alright?¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll just adjust it myself.¡± Chu Mian patted Yu Ran on the back twice as if to comfort him, but it was more like to comfort himself. He did not know where to start with the so-called ¡°adjustment¡±, he only knew that if he did not control¡­ The rhythm of his heartbeat would totally be disrupted by the person in his arms. CH 40 As soon as Yu Ran got home, Li Guirong called and asked him why he hadn¡¯t been to class for two days in a row without asking for leave from the homeroom teacher. Yu Ran pretended to be weak and said that his stomach was uncomfortable, and that he was now lying down, unable to move. Li Guirong muttered on the other side of the phone: ¡°You brothers really are together in everything. Do you have a fever? Why don¡¯t I come back to see you two after I get off work now.¡± ¡°No need, no need! I¡¯ll make some millet porridge for myself. You go about your business.¡± Yu Ran quickly changed into his slippers and went into his room. It turned out that his brother hadn¡¯t gone to school today as well. He was huddled in the quilt, looking at the ceiling with a bitter expression on his face. Yu Ran sat next to him. ¡°Yo, what¡¯s the matter, brother? There¡¯s a demonic aura on you.¡± Yu Jin¡¯s face was tilted to one side and his eyebrows were frowning. Yu Ran had thought that he was pretending to be ill because he didn¡¯t want to go to school. Now it seemed that something was really wrong. He leaned over to cover his brother¡¯s forehead anxiously. ¡°Where do you feel uncomfortable, let¡¯s go to the hospital to have a look.¡± ¡°After I¡­ I woke up this morning¡­¡± Yu Jin turned his back. He wanted to say something but hesitated, but then he thought for a while and felt that he could only tell his brother about this matter: ¡°After waking up, I found that my underwear was a bit wet. I went to the toilet and found a lot of ¡®that¡¯.¡± After hearing Yu Jin¡¯s obscure manner of speaking, Yu Ran¡¯s thoughts ran rapidly and he quickly judged what Yu Jin meant by ¡°that¡±. It dawned on him that in fact he had also encountered this situation in junior high school. At that time, he had been too frightened to tell his parents, and he had quietly washed and changed his underwear in the middle of the night. Later, he had learned in the Biology class that it was a normal physiological phenomenon experienced during adolescence, and everyone would experience it when the time came. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother, this situation is called¡­ is called¡­¡± Yu Ran stroked his hair and tried to recall the proper noun, but he hadn¡¯t taken a Biology class for nearly two years, and he had forgotten all his knowledge a long time ago. He looked at Yu Jin¡¯s uneasy expression, and bad thoughts started to wriggle in his mind. He told the boy regretfully: ¡°You¡¯re impotent.¡± Yu Jin obviously couldn¡¯t digest the sudden information. His eyes turned stiff, and the whole person was fixed on the bed. The atmosphere fell into dead silence, and after a few minutes, Yu Jin¡¯s lips couldn¡¯t stop trembling, and tears started to spill out of his eyes. He first covered his face and whimpered, then started bawling: ¡°It¡¯s over, I¡¯m still a virgin!¡± Yu Ran smacked his lips and said calmly: ¡°This is not unusual. ¡± Yu Jin rushed to him hysterically: ¡°I¡¯m still a Grade One state-protected virgin!¡± Yu Ran suddenly laughed, slapped Yu Jin¡¯s thigh across the quilt, and told him the truth: ¡°I¡¯m teasing you, fool. You¡¯re not impotent. Really not impotent. Now, don¡¯t cry. ¡± Yu Jin immediately sat upright like a carp jumping out of water and turned over to beat his brother. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll read you a book, it¡¯s written in it.¡± Yu Ran went to the living room to rummage through the bookcase. There were a few books on traditional Chinese medicine and health care on the shelves. His father had bought them many years ago. He took one back to his room, sat down next to Yu Jin, and they flipped through the book together. They saw a phrase from ¡°Outer Commentary on the Book of Songs by Master Han¡± ¡ª Male; their teeth start to grow at eight months, they begin losing their deciduous teeth at eight years old, and at sixteen, their sexual organs mature and become a little conspicuous. Yu Ran pored over the words on the yellowed page attentively, and meticulously read to Yu Jin: ¡°They begin losing their something-something teeth at eight years old, and at sixteen, their sexual organs mature and become a little cun¡­ cunt. That word must be the full form of cunt.¡± He gave a meaningful and long ¡°Oh¡± as he circled an arm around Yu Jin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Did you see, the book says that when you reach sixteen, you¡¯ll form sperm (reach sexual maturity) and grow a little vagin¡ª¡± Yu Jin suddenly covered his ears, widened his eyes, and screamed and roared: ¡°Ahhh! I won¡¯t listen! I won¡¯t listen!¡± Yu Ran threw the book aside, lay on the bed and laughed loudly. He then pulled Yu Jin¡¯s arms away from his ears and said loudly in his ear: ¡°You will be intersex from now on, you¡¯re awesome bro!¡± Yu Jin cried hideously, and strangled Yu Ran¡¯s neck, trying to die with him. Pc atf fcv, atf akb bo atfw rfjgmtfv obg atf mbggfma jcrkfg ab atlr qtsrlbibulmji qtfcbwfcbc abufatfg ja cluta. Te Alc olgwis gfwfwyfgfv atf kbgv ¡°kfa vgfjwr¡± jcv mbiijqrfv klat gfilfo, weaafglcu rfnfgji alwfr ¡°Vmjgfv wf ab vfjat¡±. Yu Ran curiously browsed the web page for a while. Baidu said that wet dreams happened after falling asleep. After pondering for a while, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder: Wouldn¡¯t a person who sleeps excessively like Chu Mian have a greater chance of having wet dreams? ¡°I sit up startled although I¡¯m sick and about to die, as if the Milky Way were falling from the very sky.¡± Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help but recite a poem on the spot, and he made up his mind, ¡°I¡¯ll ask him some day.¡± Sjgis rqglcu lc Zjgmt kjr oeii bo nlajilas. Ca atf yfulcclcu bo atf cfk rfwfrafg, atf rmtbbi fcnlgbcwfca tjv ajxfc j cfk ibbx. Ktf kjiir tjv yffc gfqjlcafv jcv ibbxfv ygluta, jcv atf ygbchf tbgrf rajaef lc ogbca bo atf rmtbbi ujaf tjv lar yjrf gfqijmfv, ktlmt kjr wemt olgwfg atjc yfobgf. Yu Ran was sitting in the classroom, kneading Chengjun Middle School¡¯s new mascot ¡°Nian Zizi¡± in his palm. It was in the shape of fried dumplings, and had the sunniest and the most cheerful expression in the whole ¡°Zizi family¡±. Yu Ran tied it to his school bag. When he remembered it, he turned around and said hello to Chu Mian with the smile of the mascot. Chu Mian didn¡¯t pay much attention to him and lowered his head to read the book so as not to be distracted. But Yu Ran sat just right in front of him in class. He was extremely hyperactive. He would lean over and whisper to others. Chu Mian¡¯s attention would get attracted to him from time to time and he would listen to what the other person was saying to other students. No¡­ I need to control myself. Chu Mian silently reminded himself to control the frequency of attention he gave to Yu Ran. But Yu Ran was like a red notification icon on a mobile app. People usually felt the urge to reach out and click on it as soon as they saw it. Chu Mian also suffered from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. He had to update every software to the latest version. But the thing was: App data could still be uninstalled and cleared, but he couldn¡¯t let Yu Ran disappear right before his eyes. Chu Mian looked at Yu Ran¡¯s back and unconsciously poked the eraser with the tip of his pen, piercing it full of holes. Fortunately, there was still a Language class this morning. Yu Ran¡¯s fear of Miss Wang remained unabated. As soon as she entered the door, he quickly sat upright and didn¡¯t dare to be absent-minded. Chu Mian was able to concentrate and listen carefully. Soon, Yu Ran was called up to translate classical Chinese. Even when he finished reading the whole answer, Teacher Wang did not let him sit down. ¡°I¡¯m not going to talk in this class, ah, you guys will do the talking,¡± Teacher Wang said, facing the class, ¡°The one who finishes answering shall choose the next person to explain the exercise problems. I¡¯ll see who gets distracted. Yu Ran, you can name someone.¡± Yu Ran raised his head and held his chest high, as if he had the power to control the life and death of the whole class, and shouted proudly, ¡°Chu Mian!¡± Chu Mian was not surprised and read the questions in detail and explained them calmly. At last, when it was time to name a student, he retaliated by calling Yu Ran to stand up again. Yu Ran quickly read the answer. ¡°Chu Mian!¡± Chu Mian didn¡¯t let him go this time as well. ¡°Yu Ran.¡± ¡°Chu Mian!¡± ¡°Yu Ran.¡± ¡­ Everyone listened to the two of them finish reading all the questions on the paper till the last class was over. It was as if they were watching a battle. Teacher Wang was very satisfied and praised the two of them in front of the whole class: ¡°In studying, you must have this kind of spirit of catching up with each other and competing with each other! Yu Ran and Chu Mian have worked hard, let¡¯s give them a round of applause.¡± After the long and gentle bell rang, the two of them finally sat down with a sigh of relief, feeling tired at the same time. On the way to the canteen, Yu Ran raised his arm to press Chu Mian¡¯s shoulder, and said, ¡°Look, you weren¡¯t sleepy during the Language class today. Why are you still not thanking me?¡± Chu Mian nodded perfunctorily, kept his mouth shut, and controlled himself to not look at the other party. Yu Ran was very curious about the number of times Chu Mian experienced that physiological phenomena, but he couldn¡¯t ask directly in front of Cui He and Ye Xi. He just couldn¡¯t help but show more concern for Chu Mian during the meal, and gave him a lot of okra, loofah, beans and other vegetables. Unfortunately, Chu Mian hated these things, so he put them back on Yu Ran¡¯s plate. Fang Zhao watched their chopsticks rattling around, and asked Yu Ran: ¡°Why are you giving Chu Mian so many green vegetables?¡± Yu Ran said lightly: ¡°To enhance his virility.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s expression stiffened slightly, and his chopsticks did not move. The others were baffled and looked at Yu Ran: ¡°Is that something you should be concerned about?¡± ¡°Hey, we¡¯re all brothers, don¡¯t be polite with me. Come on, you all eat more too.¡± Yu Ran enthusiastically gave okra to Chu Mian who had a cold expression, and didn¡¯t forget to tell him: ¡°It nourishes your body and strengthens my heart; when brothers are of the same heart, they can overcome anything.¡± Ye Xi felt that the air in front of her was pink, and tentatively asked, ¡°Yu Ran, did you experience any major events when you didn¡¯t come to class two days ago?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s smile at the corner of his mouth dimmed. His thoughts were complex and he sighed in a low voice: ¡°Hey, when men grow up for the first time, it¡¯ll be a little painful.¡± He didn¡¯t want to fall into his memories again, so he hurriedly continued to urge Chu Mian to eat vegetables: ¡°You sleep so many times a day, you need more tonic.¡± Amidst the stunned gazes of several people around, Chu Mian slowly put down his chopsticks, raised his head and told Yu Ran solemnly, ¡°I don¡¯t need it.¡± Cui He coughed loudly and moved the plate far away. ¡°We are in the middle of eating. Don¡¯t talk about this kind of topic.¡± Yu Ran nodded hurriedly. Chu Mian looked at the rice in his bowl covered with a rich green color and suddenly lost his appetite. He couldn¡¯t tell whether Yu Ran really cared about his physical condition or was hinting at something. Based on Chu Mian¡¯s understanding of Yu Ran, it was impossible for the Muggle to master the advanced communication skills of giving ¡°hints¡±, but he didn¡¯t understand why Yu Ran was suddenly interested in strange things. ¡­ Was his ¡°system version¡± about to be updated? Chu Mian was confused. Shortly after the school had started classes, brand new spring and summer school uniforms had been issued for the first grade senior high school students. Boys¡¯ uniforms had ties, and girls¡¯ uniforms had short skirts and bow ties. This style that was in line with international standards surprised many students. But, it was not convenient to exercise while wearing a uniform. Thus, the school allowed everyone to wear this formal uniform only on some important occasions, and their usual uniform was still the black sportswear. The first ¡°important occasion¡± of this semester was the Arbor Day Mobilization Meeting. The students from first and second years of high school were required to wear their dark blue uniforms and gather in the auditorium. Yu Ran didn¡¯t know how to wear a tie, so he simply tied a knot, slipped the tie over his head, and stuffed it under his collar. Even the well-ironed uniform wrapped around him failed to give off an honest and serious temperament to him. But fortunately, he had a slender figure and a handsome face, so even if he was sloppily dressed, he was still the focus of the crowd. ¡°Arbor Day has a fucking mobilization meeting? I had never known this day was ever a holiday either.¡± Yu Ran waited in line to take his seat and whispered to Fang Zhao, ¡°But I like Arbor Day very much. It is also called Greenery Day, it sounds very healthy.¡± ¡°Why are you lifting up your pants again? Does this school uniform size don¡¯t fit either?¡± Fang Zhao stretched out his hands and touched Yu Ran¡¯s waist. ¡°Fuck, it¡¯s so thin.¡± When the homeroom teacher saw Yu Ran, she immediately walked over and personally arranged his tie for him, and reminded him: ¡°This meeting is going to be videotaped. Our class is in the first row. You should properly sit down and not move around. Do you hear me?¡± ¡°Oh, oh, oh.¡± Holding the waistband of his pants, Yu Ran followed the line to the front row, pulled open the seat, and sat down firmly. After all the classes were seated in an orderly manner, the meeting officially began. Remembering the words of the homeroom teacher, Yu Ran sat upright in front of the camera and looked straight ahead. In the first half of the meeting, he conducted himself properly, but when it was the turn of the student representatives to speak, he slacked off a bit. ¡°Now let¡¯s invite the representative of first year students.¡± The host finished the curtain call, and everyone in the audience focused on the young man who was walking on the stage. The uniform had a better effect in bringing out Chu Mian¡¯s wide shoulders and long legs than a sports jacket, and displayed the perfect proportions of his figure. He walked to the microphone stand in the center of the stage, looked at the auditorium, and calmly adjusted the height of the stand before reading the manuscript. ¡°Good morning, teachers and students.¡± Chu Mian¡¯s face was expressionless, and his eyes finally found Yu Ran¡¯s position. ¡°In the beautiful season of spring, nature has taken on a new look, and we have ushered in the annual National Arbor Day¡ª¡± After reciting the first sentence, he forgot the rest of the words, which was rare, and he quickly lowered his head to unfold the manuscript. Yu Ran slowly relaxed and completely forgot Bai Yuzhu¡¯s previous instructions. He leaned lazily against the back of the chair and concentrated on appreciating Chu Mian¡¯s appearance on the stage. So handsome and capable. He was so absorbed in watching that his center of gravity moved back unconsciously. When he was relaxing, his seat suddenly sank. Before he could open his mouth and make a sound, he fell directly with the chair. When Fang Zhao heard the movement next to him, he turned his head and impressively found that Yu Ran was sandwiched in the center of the folding seat, with his legs hanging outside. Yu Ran froze. He remembered that there were cameras filming nearby, so he didn¡¯t dare to move. He silently blended with the seat, it was a natural fit. ¡°Building an ecological homeland is both our common pursuit and our glorious mission, let us take action immediately¡ª¡± When Chu Mian was about to finish reading the manuscript, he glanced carelessly down the stage and saw Yu Ran who was folded in the middle of the folding seat. Chu Mian choked and coughed twice. His face turned red because he was holding back his laughter. He hastily finished reading his speech, saluted, and left the stage. When the mobilization meeting was over, Yu Ran got out of the seat with the help of the students around him and walked out of the auditorium clutching the waistband of his pants. Chi Mian has already returned to the class. He flung a thin brown rope to Yu Ran. ¡°Just use this.¡± Yu Ran took it and tied it tightly around his arm. Chu Mian pulled it off. ¡°Use it as a belt.¡± ¡°Oh. Oh.¡± Yu Ran looked at Chu Mian, smiled at him, and commented on the uniform: ¡°It suits you.¡± Chu Mian rolled the speech manuscript in his hand into a thin tube, and without looking at Yu Ran, he said, ¡°You too.¡± Yu Ran fastened the string tightly, and seeing that there was no one around, he quickly grabbed Chu Mian¡¯s arm and quietly pulled him closer to him. Chu Mian¡¯s heart dropped. Then, he heard Yu Ran ask in a low voice: ¡°How many times a day do you change your underwear?¡± Chu Mian subconsciously pretended that he did not hear. ¡°Ah?¡± Yu Ran felt that his question was very subtle, and those who understood it would naturally understand it. But unexpectedly, Chu Mian, an adolescent boy, asked him rhetorically: ¡°What do you mean? ¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s the word that describes what happens during sleep?¡± Several words appeared in Yu Ran¡¯s mind at once, such as ¡°semen¡±, ¡°sleep¡±, ¡°emission¡±, and ¡°ejaculation¡±, but he couldn¡¯t find a way to arrange and combine them into the correct name as soon as possible. After thinking anxiously for a moment, he had a sudden realization and asked Chu Mian in a straightforward way: ¡°Do you usually lay a lot of eggs?¡± Chu Mian murmured in surprise, ¡°I don¡¯t have that function.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Yu Ran quickly glanced at Chu Mian¡¯s school uniform pants. ¡°You can hold it in. No wonder it¡¯s so big.¡± Chu Mian just wanted to try to adjust his thinking to the same frequency as Yu Ran. As a result, he heard Yu Ran hum and smile: ¡°Alas, it¡¯s just false prosperity.¡±