Chapter 66
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Forget the seven of them, not even the guy with tomato and egg on his head could react before it happened.
He only jerked up when Huo Ran took the bottle out of the back of his shirt.
“Fuck! Kou Chen? What are you doing?” He turned and yelled.
Kou Chen only stared at him.
The guy touched the top of his head, and then his back before screaming: “You really think everyone here is scared of you?!”
“You are, that’s for sure.” Kou Chen said. “Why don’t you find someone who isn’t?”
“I’m not as sick as you!” The guy glared. “Was I talking about you? Why are you so fucking angry?”
“I don’t care who you’re talking about.” Kou Chen moved closer, until their noses were almost touching. He lowered his voice and enunciated each word slowly, “Listen up. You say that again, and you will get it coming for you.”
Huo Ran grabbed Kou Chen’s arm.
Kou Chen took a step back, but still glared at him in anger.
The guy didn’t say anything else. He probably knew that he stood no chance against Kou Chen and didn’t want to get himself in any more trouble. But he didn’t want to just admit defeat like that, so he went and kicked the bowl on the ground.
Kou Chen didn’t have much of a reaction to that, but the rest of them quickly stood up.
The atmosphere was a bit tense.
Huo Ran knew why Kou Chen was so angry. He would be just as angry even if it were the principal that said it, much less another student he couldn’t care less about. He did hit a teacher before after all, and twice too.
Huo Ran nudged him a little off to the side, and stood in between the two of them.
“Seven against one, huh?” That person looked at Huo Ran.
“Go clean yourself up.” Huo Ran looked back at him. “You only said it because the person himself isn’t here, right? You wouldn’t dare say it to his face.”
“He dumped it all over me! Am I supposed to just let it go?!” The guy pointed at himself.
“How about this?” Huo Ran picked up Xu Chuan’s soup. “He’ll stand right here, and you can dump this on him.”
“I didn’t finish…” Xu Chuan started.
“I didn’t either.” Xu Zhifan said.
The guy looked at the bowl of soup in Huo Ran’s hand.
One of the other guys from his table stood up and grabbed his arm: “Forget it, let’s go. Ignore them.”
He stood there stiffly for a few seconds, and then smacked his spoon on his table before leaving.
Xu Chuan quickly took his soup back from Huo Ran and put it back beside his tray.
“Let’s eat.” Huo Ran nudged Kou Chen with his elbow.
Kou Chen didn’t move, he only turned to look at him.
“Let’s eat.” Huo Ran repeated. “We can’t start a fight in the cafeteria every time, right? Eat first.”
“Mhm, it’s fine now.” Kou Chen nodded and then he headed to the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Xu Chuan stood up.
“I need to clean up.” Kou Chen said. “There’s soup all over the floor.
And so they all stood up and followed Kou Chen in search of a mop or rag or something. They cleaned up the spilled soup and drink on the floor, and then wiped the table and chairs.
They were responsible for cleaning the cafeteria for a while before, so they quickly sorted everything out. Their food was still warm when they returned to it.
Kou Chen then went and got Xu Zhifan a new bowl of soup.
“Kou Chen.” Xu Zhifan drank his soup and looked at him. “People are gonna start saying you’re gay because of that. You have to control yourself, don’t pick a fight with everyone.”
“I don’t care about that.” Kou Chen said. “They can say whatever they want.”
“I doubt anyone’s gonna say anything in front of him. Xu Chuan touched the bowl of soup. “Good thing this soup isn’t boiling hot.”
“I used his soup because Xu Zhifan was complaining that it wasn’t warm enough.” Kou Chen said. “If I wanted to burn him I would’ve taken Carrot’s thermos, he just refilled it.”
Hu Yi startled and immediately moved his thermos from the table to the bench beside him.
Kou Chen laughed: “Are you dumb?”
Coafg fjalcu, atfs ifoa atf mjofafglj jcv qijccfv ab ub yjmx ab atflg vbgwr. Ljiokjs atfgf, atfs rjk Yiv Tejc.
Qtfc tf rjk atfw, tf gjlrfv tlr tjcv jcv cbvvfv ja Bbe Jtfc.
“Gjwc,” Aljcu Ofl ktlrqfgfv, “Yiv Tejc xcbkr jigfjvs? Rfkr agjnfir ojra.”
“Ktf mjofafglj kjr qlmxfv,” Qfl Jtjbgfc rjlv. “Ccsbcf mbeiv’nf ifa la rilq… Yiv Tejc lrc’a ubccj vb jcsatlcu ab Bbe Jtfc, lr tf?”
“Have some more trust in Old Yuan, will you?” Xu Zhifan said.
“Do we have practice later? I’ll go directly to the gym later.” Kou Chen headed over to Old Yuan and turned back to talk to Huo Ran, “You don’t need to wait for me.”
“Okay.” Huo Ran nodded.
“There’s other teachers in the office.” Old Yuan patted Kou Chen on the shoulder. “Let’s walk around the field?”
“Okay.” Kou Chen agreed.
Old Yuan walked slowly towards the field, and Kou Chen followed by his side.
“Who does your temper take after?” Old Yuan said.
“My dad, probably.” Kou Chen said. “He’s way worse than me.”
Old Yuan smiled: “Is he?”
“Don’t think he’s cultured just because he said a couple words to you.” Kou Chen said. “His interests have nothing to do with him hitting people.”
Old Yuan smiled wider, and he patted him on the back a moment later: “What happened just now?”
“Nothing really, that asshole called Lin Wuyu gross.” Kou Chen said. “I didn’t like it… But I didn’t hit him! I just dumped a bowl of soup and a drink on him.”
“There’s not much difference.” Old Yuan said with a smile.
“What are you laughing for?” Kou Chen looked at him. “Punish me however, but I’m not gonna apologize. Not even if you expel me.”
“Nothing’s going to happen.” Old Yuan said. “I just wanted to know what happened.”
“What happened? It’s really just that.” Kou Chen said. “He was discriminating, so I dumped soup on him. That’s it.”
“You were the first to clap for Lin Wuyu today too, right?” Old Yuan said.
“Mhm.” Kou Chen nodded. “It was pretty brave, so obviously I had to support him. And I had to be the first one. What if that asshole called him gross or something first? That’s horrible.”
Old Yuan nodded and didn’t say anything.
A moment later, he looked at him again. It seemed like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to begin.
Kou Chen paused, and suddenly realized what Old Yuan might want to say. He looked at Old Yuan: “Do you want to ask me? Ask me if I’m also like that?”
“Yes,” Old Yuan thought about it, “But that’s not important.”
“I’m not.” Kou Chen said. “But if I were, I wouldn’t mind telling you. Besides, it’s my business only. Nobody else’s.”
“That’s right.” Old Yuan nodded.
Kou Chen thought about it for a moment before frowning and asking: “Old Yuan, today… what Lin Wuyu said, how’s the school… gonna deal with it?”
“Deal with?” Old Yuan paused. “Deal with what?”
“Just…” Kou Chen scratched his head, “He said he’s attracted to men, didn’t he?”
“Oh,” Old Yuan nodded. He was silent for a second before he said, “Nobody could have guessed that he was going to say what he did, and the teachers were shocked as well, but the school isn’t going to do anything about it, nor will anything change. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Really?” Kou Chen was surprised. “Just, he says it, the teachers and staff are shocked, and that’s it? It’s like nothing ever happened? Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.” Old Yuan smiled.
“Holy shit.” First Kou chen was shocked, and then he felt moved.
Some unknown emotion choked him up, and he almost felt like he couldn’t say anything else.
The memory of a figure kneeling in front of the teacher will stay with him forever, and to this day, he still felt the shock and anger that accompanied it.
Hearing Old Yuan’s easy reply, he suddenly felt his eyes tear up a little bit.
“Did you have a classmate that was the same?” Old Yuan asked.
A long moment later, Kou Chen nodded.
“The school… dealt with it?” Old Yuan asked again.
“Both the school and his family, probably.” Kou Chen said.
Old Yuan gave him a pat: “Many things, many opinions need time to change. But it will always be for the better. See? Sometimes things aren’t so bad. Lin Wuyu can say it out loud bravely, and no bad consequences will come of it, right?”
“Right.” Kou Chen nodded.
“I can understand what you felt.” Old Yuan said. “I won’t blame you for it, but I still wish for you to find a better way to deal with it in the future.”
“I can try.” Kou Chen said.
“I’m a little unconvinced?” Old Yuan smiled.
“Really,” Kou Chen tsked. “I’m serious.”
“Start slow.” Old Yuan said. “The basketball tournament is next month, the Sports Day one that was canceled. The school will find a time to hold it, and you can’t be like this on the court.”
“Don’t worry, there’ll be someone else to do it for me.” Kou Chen said.
“Huo Ran?” Old Yuan laughed. “That kid. He is great at basketball, but his temper…”
“Don’t worry,” Kou Chen said. “I’ll keep an eye on him for you, I’ll cover his mouth if he says anything.”
“I’m still more worried about you.” Old Yuan said.
“What about me? I only get angry at certain things.” Kou Chen said. “I’m very reliable.”
Huo Ran didn’t stay in the dorm for too long. After everyone came over to chat and play cards, he changed to go to the gymnasium and do a few laps before practice.
At the field, he saw Old Yuan and Kou Chen walking along the track.
Huo Ran jogged past them.
“Hey, Ranran.” Kou Chen called him.
As he was about to turn around and reply, Old Yuan also followed up with a: “Hey Ranran.”
“…Hey.” Huo Ran waved at the two of them. He felt that Kou Chen had infected Old Yuan in the time it took to walk two laps.
As he passed them the second time, Old Yuan greeted him before Kou Chen could: “Hey, Ranran.”
“Mr. Yuan.” Huo Ran said, exasperated. “Don’t learn from him.”
Old Yuan laughed and waved him off: “Continue.”
Huo Ran kept running.
Half a lap later, he saw Old Yuan leave and go back towards the office building. Kou Chen waved from where he was standing.
Although it was a little silly, Kou Chen’s actually made him feel very warm for some reason, so he waved back at Kou Chen.
Kou Chen started running his way. He ran fast, and Huo Ran jogged over to wait for him. When he was about fifty metres away, he heard Kou Chen yell: “I’ll pass you within a hundred metres—”
Huo Ran started, and two seconds later, he started sprinting. “In your dreams! You won’t win even with a twenty metre head start!”
“Bet!” Kou Chen yelled.
Old Yuan probably didn’t tell him off, so he was in a pretty good mood, and that resulted in him being too confident in his abilities…
Catching up to him within a hundred metres when he was still so far away? Yeah right.
Huo Ran had no plans to go easy on him, so he sprinted.
Fifty metres later, Kou Chen was still maintaining the same distance away from him. Huo Ran was about to turn around and make fun of him when Kou Chen suddenly left the track and cut through the field to the other end.
“Have some shame!” Huo Ran cursed.
“No thanks!” Kou Chen wiped his face as he ran, and then made a throwing motion behind him. “You can have it!”
“Fuck off!” Huo Ran laughed.
Kou Chen shot across the field and stopped when he was back on the track. He lifted his chin at him: “What did I say?”
Huo Ran laughed.
When he ran towards Kou Chen, the lights by the track turned on. The warm yellow light lit up half of Kou Chen’s face. Huo Ran always thought Kou Chen was handsome, but now with half of his face hidden in the shadows as he smiled, he was especially handsome.
When he was just a few metres away, Kou Chen raised his hand: “Hurry, give me five!”
Huo Ran smacked his palm as he ran past.
Kou Chen turned and followed him.
Half a lap later, Huo Ran asked him: “What, are we running in a single-file line?”
“I’m watching you run.” Kou Chen quickened his pace to fall in beside him. “I found that you look nice when you run. It’s like you’re about to take off in flight.”
“Kissing ass right after you cheated?” Huo Ran said.
Kou Chen slapped his ass: “You’re so handsome, captain.”
Huo Ran didn’t say anything, the sudden slap almost made him trip.
A moment later, he cleared his throat: “What did Old Yuan say?”
“Nothing,” Kou Chen’s tone was relaxed, “He just wanted to talk to me.”
“About you dumping soup on someone’s head?” Huo Ran said.
“Yup, but he didn’t scold me. He just told me to find a better way to deal with it, and so they can’t use it against me.”
Huo Ran glanced at him: “That’s your own understanding of his words, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, but it’s what Old Yuan meant.” Kou Chen ran and looked at him. “Ranran.”
“Hm?” Huo Ran asked.
“If I was going to hit him, would you stop me?” Kou Chen asked.
“Chuan-ge and Grandma Xu would’ve stopped you first.” Huo Ran said.
“Just say yes or no!” Kou Chen raised his voice.
“No.” Huo Ran answered.
“Why not?” Kou Chen asked happily.
“I knew you wouldn’t like it, that it would make you mad. Why would I stop you? I didn’t like it either.” Huo Ran said. “But you didn’t look like you were actually gonna hit him.”
“He’s not even worthy of it.” Kou Chen said. “Besides, he did have the balls to hit me either.”
“What else did he say?” Huo Ran asked.
“We just chatted a bit, he said my temper’s bad and stuff… Oh right,” Kou Chen chucked, “Old Yuan thought I also liked guys at first, and he was a bit embarrassed to ask.”
Huo Ran felt his heart skip two beats, and he almost choked.
“Also,” Kou Chen thought about it, “The basketball tournament is next week.”
“Huh?” Huo Ran looked at him.
“Basketball tournament, the one we didn’t get last semester!” Kou Chen yelled in his ear.
“Damn!” Huo Ran covered his ear with one hand, “Showing off how loud you can get, are you?!”
“Yup!” Kou Chen kept yelling by his ear, “Just thinking about playing with you makes me happy!”
“Me too.” Huo Ran said.
“Let’s practice together later,” Kou Chen ran forwards a few steps, and then he turned around, “Pass the ball to me!”
Huo Ran felt that he could already follow Kou Chen’s way of thinking without any problems. Without a moment’s hesitation, he made a passing motion with his hands: “Here!”
Kou Chen jumped up and caught the ball, then turned to shoot it: “Holy shit! Three points!”
“Nice!” Huo Ran praised.
“Who else? Tell me! Who else is there!” Kou Chen yelled at him.
“What?” Huo Ran paused.
“Who else are you as in tune with as me?” Kou Chen said.
“…Nobody.” Huo Ran said. “Only you.”
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Forget the seven of them, not even the guy with tomato and egg on his head could react before it happened.
He only jerked up when Huo Ran took the bottle out of the back of his shirt.
“Fuck! Kou Chen? What are you doing?” He turned and yelled.
Kou Chen only stared at him.
The guy touched the top of his head, and then his back before screaming: “You really think everyone here is scared of you?!”
“You are, that’s for sure.” Kou Chen said. “Why don’t you find someone who isn’t?”
“I’m not as sick as you!” The guy glared. “Was I talking about you? Why are you so fucking angry?”
“I don’t care who you’re talking about.” Kou Chen moved closer, until their noses were almost touching. He lowered his voice and enunciated each word slowly, “Listen up. You say that again, and you will get it coming for you.”
Huo Ran grabbed Kou Chen’s arm.
Kou Chen took a step back, but still glared at him in anger.
The guy didn’t say anything else. He probably knew that he stood no chance against Kou Chen and didn’t want to get himself in any more trouble. But he didn’t want to just admit defeat like that, so he went and kicked the bowl on the ground.
Kou Chen didn’t have much of a reaction to that, but the rest of them quickly stood up.
The atmosphere was a bit tense.
Huo Ran knew why Kou Chen was so angry. He would be just as angry even if it were the principal that said it, much less another student he couldn’t care less about. He did hit a teacher before after all, and twice too.
Huo Ran nudged him a little off to the side, and stood in between the two of them.
“Seven against one, huh?” That person looked at Huo Ran.
“Go clean yourself up.” Huo Ran looked back at him. “You only said it because the person himself isn’t here, right? You wouldn’t dare say it to his face.”
“He dumped it all over me! Am I supposed to just let it go?!” The guy pointed at himself.
“How about this?” Huo Ran picked up Xu Chuan’s soup. “He’ll stand right here, and you can dump this on him.”
“I didn’t finish…” Xu Chuan started.
“I didn’t either.” Xu Zhifan said.
The guy looked at the bowl of soup in Huo Ran’s hand.
One of the other guys from his table stood up and grabbed his arm: “Forget it, let’s go. Ignore them.”
He stood there stiffly for a few seconds, and then smacked his spoon on his table before leaving.
Xu Chuan quickly took his soup back from Huo Ran and put it back beside his tray.
“Let’s eat.” Huo Ran nudged Kou Chen with his elbow.
Kou Chen didn’t move, he only turned to look at him.
“Let’s eat.” Huo Ran repeated. “We can’t start a fight in the cafeteria every time, right? Eat first.”
“Mhm, it’s fine now.” Kou Chen nodded and then he headed to the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Xu Chuan stood up.
“I need to clean up.” Kou Chen said. “There’s soup all over the floor.
And so they all stood up and followed Kou Chen in search of a mop or rag or something. They cleaned up the spilled soup and drink on the floor, and then wiped the table and chairs.
They were responsible for cleaning the cafeteria for a while before, so they quickly sorted everything out. Their food was still warm when they returned to it.
Kou Chen then went and got Xu Zhifan a new bowl of soup.
“Kou Chen.” Xu Zhifan drank his soup and looked at him. “People are gonna start saying you’re gay because of that. You have to control yourself, don’t pick a fight with everyone.”
“I don’t care about that.” Kou Chen said. “They can say whatever they want.”
“I doubt anyone’s gonna say anything in front of him. Xu Chuan touched the bowl of soup. “Good thing this soup isn’t boiling hot.”
“I used his soup because Xu Zhifan was complaining that it wasn’t warm enough.” Kou Chen said. “If I wanted to burn him I would’ve taken Carrot’s thermos, he just refilled it.”
Hu Yi startled and immediately moved his thermos from the table to the bench beside him.
Kou Chen laughed: “Are you dumb?”
Coafg fjalcu, atfs ifoa atf mjofafglj jcv qijccfv ab ub yjmx ab atflg vbgwr. Ljiokjs atfgf, atfs rjk Yiv Tejc.
Qtfc tf rjk atfw, tf gjlrfv tlr tjcv jcv cbvvfv ja Bbe Jtfc.
“Gjwc,” Aljcu Ofl ktlrqfgfv, “Yiv Tejc xcbkr jigfjvs? Rfkr agjnfir ojra.”
“Ktf mjofafglj kjr qlmxfv,” Qfl Jtjbgfc rjlv. “Ccsbcf mbeiv’nf ifa la rilq… Yiv Tejc lrc’a ubccj vb jcsatlcu ab Bbe Jtfc, lr tf?”
“Have some more trust in Old Yuan, will you?” Xu Zhifan said.
“Do we have practice later? I’ll go directly to the gym later.” Kou Chen headed over to Old Yuan and turned back to talk to Huo Ran, “You don’t need to wait for me.”
“Okay.” Huo Ran nodded.
“There’s other teachers in the office.” Old Yuan patted Kou Chen on the shoulder. “Let’s walk around the field?”
“Okay.” Kou Chen agreed.
Old Yuan walked slowly towards the field, and Kou Chen followed by his side.
“Who does your temper take after?” Old Yuan said.
“My dad, probably.” Kou Chen said. “He’s way worse than me.”
Old Yuan smiled: “Is he?”
“Don’t think he’s cultured just because he said a couple words to you.” Kou Chen said. “His interests have nothing to do with him hitting people.”
Old Yuan smiled wider, and he patted him on the back a moment later: “What happened just now?”
“Nothing really, that asshole called Lin Wuyu gross.” Kou Chen said. “I didn’t like it… But I didn’t hit him! I just dumped a bowl of soup and a drink on him.”
“There’s not much difference.” Old Yuan said with a smile.
“What are you laughing for?” Kou Chen looked at him. “Punish me however, but I’m not gonna apologize. Not even if you expel me.”
“Nothing’s going to happen.” Old Yuan said. “I just wanted to know what happened.”
“What happened? It’s really just that.” Kou Chen said. “He was discriminating, so I dumped soup on him. That’s it.”
“You were the first to clap for Lin Wuyu today too, right?” Old Yuan said.
“Mhm.” Kou Chen nodded. “It was pretty brave, so obviously I had to support him. And I had to be the first one. What if that asshole called him gross or something first? That’s horrible.”
Old Yuan nodded and didn’t say anything.
A moment later, he looked at him again. It seemed like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to begin.
Kou Chen paused, and suddenly realized what Old Yuan might want to say. He looked at Old Yuan: “Do you want to ask me? Ask me if I’m also like that?”
“Yes,” Old Yuan thought about it, “But that’s not important.”
“I’m not.” Kou Chen said. “But if I were, I wouldn’t mind telling you. Besides, it’s my business only. Nobody else’s.”
“That’s right.” Old Yuan nodded.
Kou Chen thought about it for a moment before frowning and asking: “Old Yuan, today… what Lin Wuyu said, how’s the school… gonna deal with it?”
“Deal with?” Old Yuan paused. “Deal with what?”
“Just…” Kou Chen scratched his head, “He said he’s attracted to men, didn’t he?”
“Oh,” Old Yuan nodded. He was silent for a second before he said, “Nobody could have guessed that he was going to say what he did, and the teachers were shocked as well, but the school isn’t going to do anything about it, nor will anything change. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Really?” Kou Chen was surprised. “Just, he says it, the teachers and staff are shocked, and that’s it? It’s like nothing ever happened? Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.” Old Yuan smiled.
“Holy shit.” First Kou chen was shocked, and then he felt moved.
Some unknown emotion choked him up, and he almost felt like he couldn’t say anything else.
The memory of a figure kneeling in front of the teacher will stay with him forever, and to this day, he still felt the shock and anger that accompanied it.
Hearing Old Yuan’s easy reply, he suddenly felt his eyes tear up a little bit.
“Did you have a classmate that was the same?” Old Yuan asked.
A long moment later, Kou Chen nodded.
“The school… dealt with it?” Old Yuan asked again.
“Both the school and his family, probably.” Kou Chen said.
Old Yuan gave him a pat: “Many things, many opinions need time to change. But it will always be for the better. See? Sometimes things aren’t so bad. Lin Wuyu can say it out loud bravely, and no bad consequences will come of it, right?”
“Right.” Kou Chen nodded.
“I can understand what you felt.” Old Yuan said. “I won’t blame you for it, but I still wish for you to find a better way to deal with it in the future.”
“I can try.” Kou Chen said.
“I’m a little unconvinced?” Old Yuan smiled.
“Really,” Kou Chen tsked. “I’m serious.”
“Start slow.” Old Yuan said. “The basketball tournament is next month, the Sports Day one that was canceled. The school will find a time to hold it, and you can’t be like this on the court.”
“Don’t worry, there’ll be someone else to do it for me.” Kou Chen said.
“Huo Ran?” Old Yuan laughed. “That kid. He is great at basketball, but his temper…”
“Don’t worry,” Kou Chen said. “I’ll keep an eye on him for you, I’ll cover his mouth if he says anything.”
“I’m still more worried about you.” Old Yuan said.
“What about me? I only get angry at certain things.” Kou Chen said. “I’m very reliable.”
Huo Ran didn’t stay in the dorm for too long. After everyone came over to chat and play cards, he changed to go to the gymnasium and do a few laps before practice.
At the field, he saw Old Yuan and Kou Chen walking along the track.
Huo Ran jogged past them.
“Hey, Ranran.” Kou Chen called him.
As he was about to turn around and reply, Old Yuan also followed up with a: “Hey Ranran.”
“…Hey.” Huo Ran waved at the two of them. He felt that Kou Chen had infected Old Yuan in the time it took to walk two laps.
As he passed them the second time, Old Yuan greeted him before Kou Chen could: “Hey, Ranran.”
“Mr. Yuan.” Huo Ran said, exasperated. “Don’t learn from him.”
Old Yuan laughed and waved him off: “Continue.”
Huo Ran kept running.
Half a lap later, he saw Old Yuan leave and go back towards the office building. Kou Chen waved from where he was standing.
Although it was a little silly, Kou Chen’s actually made him feel very warm for some reason, so he waved back at Kou Chen.
Kou Chen started running his way. He ran fast, and Huo Ran jogged over to wait for him. When he was about fifty metres away, he heard Kou Chen yell: “I’ll pass you within a hundred metres—”
Huo Ran started, and two seconds later, he started sprinting. “In your dreams! You won’t win even with a twenty metre head start!”
“Bet!” Kou Chen yelled.
Old Yuan probably didn’t tell him off, so he was in a pretty good mood, and that resulted in him being too confident in his abilities…
Catching up to him within a hundred metres when he was still so far away? Yeah right.
Huo Ran had no plans to go easy on him, so he sprinted.
Fifty metres later, Kou Chen was still maintaining the same distance away from him. Huo Ran was about to turn around and make fun of him when Kou Chen suddenly left the track and cut through the field to the other end.
“Have some shame!” Huo Ran cursed.
“No thanks!” Kou Chen wiped his face as he ran, and then made a throwing motion behind him. “You can have it!”
“Fuck off!” Huo Ran laughed.
Kou Chen shot across the field and stopped when he was back on the track. He lifted his chin at him: “What did I say?”
Huo Ran laughed.
When he ran towards Kou Chen, the lights by the track turned on. The warm yellow light lit up half of Kou Chen’s face. Huo Ran always thought Kou Chen was handsome, but now with half of his face hidden in the shadows as he smiled, he was especially handsome.
When he was just a few metres away, Kou Chen raised his hand: “Hurry, give me five!”
Huo Ran smacked his palm as he ran past.
Kou Chen turned and followed him.
Half a lap later, Huo Ran asked him: “What, are we running in a single-file line?”
“I’m watching you run.” Kou Chen quickened his pace to fall in beside him. “I found that you look nice when you run. It’s like you’re about to take off in flight.”
“Kissing ass right after you cheated?” Huo Ran said.
Kou Chen slapped his ass: “You’re so handsome, captain.”
Huo Ran didn’t say anything, the sudden slap almost made him trip.
A moment later, he cleared his throat: “What did Old Yuan say?”
“Nothing,” Kou Chen’s tone was relaxed, “He just wanted to talk to me.”
“About you dumping soup on someone’s head?” Huo Ran said.
“Yup, but he didn’t scold me. He just told me to find a better way to deal with it, and so they can’t use it against me.”
Huo Ran glanced at him: “That’s your own understanding of his words, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, but it’s what Old Yuan meant.” Kou Chen ran and looked at him. “Ranran.”
“Hm?” Huo Ran asked.
“If I was going to hit him, would you stop me?” Kou Chen asked.
“Chuan-ge and Grandma Xu would’ve stopped you first.” Huo Ran said.
“Just say yes or no!” Kou Chen raised his voice.
“No.” Huo Ran answered.
“Why not?” Kou Chen asked happily.
“I knew you wouldn’t like it, that it would make you mad. Why would I stop you? I didn’t like it either.” Huo Ran said. “But you didn’t look like you were actually gonna hit him.”
“He’s not even worthy of it.” Kou Chen said. “Besides, he did have the balls to hit me either.”
“What else did he say?” Huo Ran asked.
“We just chatted a bit, he said my temper’s bad and stuff… Oh right,” Kou Chen chucked, “Old Yuan thought I also liked guys at first, and he was a bit embarrassed to ask.”
Huo Ran felt his heart skip two beats, and he almost choked.
“Also,” Kou Chen thought about it, “The basketball tournament is next week.”
“Huh?” Huo Ran looked at him.
“Basketball tournament, the one we didn’t get last semester!” Kou Chen yelled in his ear.
“Damn!” Huo Ran covered his ear with one hand, “Showing off how loud you can get, are you?!”
“Yup!” Kou Chen kept yelling by his ear, “Just thinking about playing with you makes me happy!”
“Me too.” Huo Ran said.
“Let’s practice together later,” Kou Chen ran forwards a few steps, and then he turned around, “Pass the ball to me!”
Huo Ran felt that he could already follow Kou Chen’s way of thinking without any problems. Without a moment’s hesitation, he made a passing motion with his hands: “Here!”
Kou Chen jumped up and caught the ball, then turned to shoot it: “Holy shit! Three points!”
“Nice!” Huo Ran praised.
“Who else? Tell me! Who else is there!” Kou Chen yelled at him.
“What?” Huo Ran paused.
“Who else are you as in tune with as me?” Kou Chen said.
“…Nobody.” Huo Ran said. “Only you.”
Forget the seven of them, not even the guy with tomato and egg on his head could react before it happened.He only jerked up when Huo Ran took the bottle out of the back of his shirt.Fuck! Kou Chen? What are you doing? He turned and yelled.Kou Chen only stared at him.The guy touched the top of his head, and then his back before screaming: You really think everyone here is scared of you?!You are, that's for sure. Kou Chen said. Why don't you find someone who isn't?I'm not as sick as you! The guy glared. Was I talking about you? Why are you so fucking angry?I don't care who you're talking about. Kou Chen moved closer, until their noses were almost touching. He lowered his voice and enunciated each word slowly, Listen up. You say that again, and you will get it coming for you.Huo Ran grabbed Kou Chen's arm.Kou Chen took a step back, but still glared at him in anger.The guy didn't say anything else. He probably knew that he stood no chance against Kou Chen and didn't want to get himself in any more trouble. But he didn't want to just admit defeat like that, so he went and kicked the bowl on the ground.Kou Chen didn't have much of a reaction to that, but the rest of them quickly stood up.The atmosphere was a bit tense.Huo Ran knew why Kou Chen was so angry. He would be just as angry even if it were the principal that said it, much less another student he couldn't care less about. He did hit a teacher before after all, and twice too.Huo Ran nudged him a little off to the side, and stood in between the two of them.Seven against one, huh? That person looked at Huo Ran.Go clean yourself up. Huo Ran looked back at him. You only said it because the person himself isn't here, right? You wouldn't dare say it to his face.He dumped it all over me! Am I supposed to just let it go?! The guy pointed at himself.How about this? Huo Ran picked up Xu Chuan's soup. He'll stand right here, and you can dump this on him.I didn't finish Xu Chuan started.I didn't either. Xu Zhifan said.The guy looked at the bowl of soup in Huo Ran's hand.One of the other guys from his table stood up and grabbed his arm: Forget it, let's go. Ignore them.He stood there stiffly for a few seconds, and then smacked his spoon on his table before leaving.Xu Chuan quickly took his soup back from Huo Ran and put it back beside his tray.Let's eat. Huo Ran nudged Kou Chen with his elbow.Kou Chen didn't move, he only turned to look at him.Let's eat. Huo Ran repeated. We can't start a fight in the cafeteria every time, right? Eat first.Mhm, it's fine now. Kou Chen nodded and then he headed to the kitchen.Where are you going? Xu Chuan stood up.I need to clean up. Kou Chen said. There's soup all over the floor.And so they all stood up and followed Kou Chen in search of a mop or rag or something. They cleaned up the spilled soup and drink on the floor, and then wiped the table and chairs.They were responsible for cleaning the cafeteria for a while before, so they quickly sorted everything out. Their food was still warm when they returned to it.Kou Chen then went and got Xu Zhifan a new bowl of soup.Kou Chen. Xu Zhifan drank his soup and looked at him. People are gonna start saying you're gay because of that. You have to control yourself, don't pick a fight with everyone.I don't care about that. Kou Chen said. They can say whatever they want.I doubt anyone's gonna say anything in front of him. Xu Chuan touched the bowl of soup. Good thing this soup isn't boiling hot.I used his soup because Xu Zhifan was complaining that it wasn't warm enough. Kou Chen said. If I wanted to burn him I would've taken Carrot's thermos, he just refilled it.Hu Yi startled and immediately moved his thermos from the table to the bench beside him.Kou Chen laughed: Are you dumb?Coafg fjalcu, atfs ifoa atf mjofafglj jcv qijccfv ab ub yjmx ab atflg vbgwr. Ljiokjs atfgf, atfs rjk Yiv Tejc.Qtfc tf rjk atfw, tf gjlrfv tlr tjcv jcv cbvvfv ja Bbe Jtfc.Gjwc, Aljcu Ofl ktlrqfgfv, Yiv Tejc xcbkr jigfjvs? Rfkr agjnfir ojra.Ktf mjofafglj kjr qlmxfv, Qfl Jtjbgfc rjlv. Ccsbcf mbeiv'nf ifa la rilq Yiv Tejc lrc'a ubccj vb jcsatlcu ab Bbe Jtfc, lr tf?Have some more trust in Old Yuan, will you? Xu Zhifan said.Do we have practice later? I'll go directly to the gym later. Kou Chen headed over to Old Yuan and turned back to talk to Huo Ran, You don't need to wait for me.Okay. Huo Ran nodded.There's other teachers in the office. Old Yuan patted Kou Chen on the shoulder. Let's walk around the field?Okay. Kou Chen agreed.Old Yuan walked slowly towards the field, and Kou Chen followed by his side.Who does your temper take after? Old Yuan said.My dad, probably. Kou Chen said. He's way worse than me.Old Yuan smiled: Is he?Don't think he's cultured just because he said a couple words to you. Kou Chen said. His interests have nothing to do with him hitting people.Old Yuan smiled wider, and he patted him on the back a moment later: What happened just now?Nothing really, that asshole called Lin Wuyu gross. Kou Chen said. I didn't like it But I didn't hit him! I just dumped a bowl of soup and a drink on him.There's not much difference. Old Yuan said with a smile.What are you laughing for? Kou Chen looked at him. Punish me however, but I'm not gonna apologize. Not even if you expel me.Nothing's going to happen. Old Yuan said. I just wanted to know what happened.What happened? It's really just that. Kou Chen said. He was discriminating, so I dumped soup on him. That's it.You were the first to clap for Lin Wuyu today too, right? Old Yuan said.Mhm. Kou Chen nodded. It was pretty brave, so obviously I had to support him. And I had to be the first one. What if that asshole called him gross or something first? That's horrible.Old Yuan nodded and didn't say anything.A moment later, he looked at him again. It seemed like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to begin.Kou Chen paused, and suddenly realized what Old Yuan might want to say. He looked at Old Yuan: Do you want to ask me? Ask me if I'm also like that?Yes, Old Yuan thought about it, But that's not important.I'm not. Kou Chen said. But if I were, I wouldn't mind telling you. Besides, it's my business only. Nobody else's.That's right. Old Yuan nodded.Kou Chen thought about it for a moment before frowning and asking: Old Yuan, today what Lin Wuyu said, how's the school gonna deal with it?Deal with? Old Yuan paused. Deal with what?Just Kou Chen scratched his head, He said he's attracted to men, didn't he?Oh, Old Yuan nodded. He was silent for a second before he said, Nobody could have guessed that he was going to say what he did, and the teachers were shocked as well, but the school isn't going to do anything about it, nor will anything change. You don't have to worry about it.Really? Kou Chen was surprised. Just, he says it, the teachers and staff are shocked, and that's it? It's like nothing ever happened? Is that what you mean?Yes. Old Yuan smiled.Holy shit. First Kou chen was shocked, and then he felt moved.Some unknown emotion choked him up, and he almost felt like he couldn't say anything else.The memory of a figure kneeling in front of the teacher will stay with him forever, and to this day, he still felt the shock and anger that accompanied it.Hearing Old Yuan's easy reply, he suddenly felt his eyes tear up a little bit.Did you have a classmate that was the same? Old Yuan asked.A long moment later, Kou Chen nodded.The school dealt with it? Old Yuan asked again.Both the school and his family, probably. Kou Chen said.Old Yuan gave him a pat: Many things, many opinions need time to change. But it will always be for the better. See? Sometimes things aren't so bad. Lin Wuyu can say it out loud bravely, and no bad consequences will come of it, right?Right. Kou Chen nodded.I can understand what you felt. Old Yuan said. I won't blame you for it, but I still wish for you to find a better way to deal with it in the future.I can try. Kou Chen said.I'm a little unconvinced? Old Yuan smiled.Really, Kou Chen tsked. I'm serious.Start slow. Old Yuan said. The basketball tournament is next month, the Sports Day one that was canceled. The school will find a time to hold it, and you can't be like this on the court.Don't worry, there'll be someone else to do it for me. Kou Chen said.Huo Ran? Old Yuan laughed. That kid. He is great at basketball, but his temperDon't worry, Kou Chen said. I'll keep an eye on him for you, I'll cover his mouth if he says anything.I'm still more worried about you. Old Yuan said.What about me? I only get angry at certain things. Kou Chen said. I'm very reliable.Huo Ran didn't stay in the dorm for too long. After everyone came over to chat and play cards, he changed to go to the gymnasium and do a few laps before practice.At the field, he saw Old Yuan and Kou Chen walking along the track.Huo Ran jogged past them.Hey, Ranran. Kou Chen called him.As he was about to turn around and reply, Old Yuan also followed up with a: Hey Ranran.Hey. Huo Ran waved at the two of them. He felt that Kou Chen had infected Old Yuan in the time it took to walk two laps.As he passed them the second time, Old Yuan greeted him before Kou Chen could: Hey, Ranran.Mr. Yuan. Huo Ran said, exasperated. Don't learn from him.Old Yuan laughed and waved him off: Continue.Huo Ran kept running.Half a lap later, he saw Old Yuan leave and go back towards the office building. Kou Chen waved from where he was standing.Although it was a little silly, Kou Chen's actually made him feel very warm for some reason, so he waved back at Kou Chen.Kou Chen started running his way. He ran fast, and Huo Ran jogged over to wait for him. When he was about fifty metres away, he heard Kou Chen yell: I'll pass you within a hundred metresHuo Ran started, and two seconds later, he started sprinting. In your dreams! You won't win even with a twenty metre head start!Bet! Kou Chen yelled.Old Yuan probably didn't tell him off, so he was in a pretty good mood, and that resulted in him being too confident in his abilitiesCatching up to him within a hundred metres when he was still so far away? Yeah right.Huo Ran had no plans to go easy on him, so he sprinted.Fifty metres later, Kou Chen was still maintaining the same distance away from him. Huo Ran was about to turn around and make fun of him when Kou Chen suddenly left the track and cut through the field to the other end.Have some shame! Huo Ran cursed.No thanks! Kou Chen wiped his face as he ran, and then made a throwing motion behind him. You can have it!Fuck off! Huo Ran laughed.Kou Chen shot across the field and stopped when he was back on the track. He lifted his chin at him: What did I say?Huo Ran laughed.When he ran towards Kou Chen, the lights by the track turned on. The warm yellow light lit up half of Kou Chen's face. Huo Ran always thought Kou Chen was handsome, but now with half of his face hidden in the shadows as he smiled, he was especially handsome.When he was just a few metres away, Kou Chen raised his hand: Hurry,give me five!Huo Ran smacked his palm as he ran past.Kou Chen turned and followed him.Half a lap later, Huo Ran asked him: What, are we running in a single-file line?I'm watching you run. Kou Chen quickened his pace to fall in beside him. I found that you look nice when you run. It's like you're about to take off in flight.Kissing ass right after you cheated? Huo Ran said.Kou Chen slapped his ass: You're so handsome, captain.Huo Ran didn't say anything, the sudden slap almost made him trip.A moment later, he cleared his throat: What did Old Yuan say?Nothing, Kou Chen's tone was relaxed, He just wanted to talk to me.About you dumping soup on someone's head? Huo Ran said.Yup, but he didn't scold me. He just told me to find a better way to deal with it, and so they can't use it against me.Huo Ran glanced at him: That's your own understanding of his words, isn't it?That's right, but it's what Old Yuan meant. Kou Chen ran and looked at him. Ranran.Hm? Huo Ran asked.If I was going to hit him, would you stop me? Kou Chen asked.Chuan-ge and Grandma Xu would've stopped you first. Huo Ran said.Just say yes or no! Kou Chen raised his voice.No. Huo Ran answered.Why not? Kou Chen asked happily.I knew you wouldn't like it, that it would make you mad. Why would I stop you? I didn't like it either. Huo Ran said. But you didn't look like you were actually gonna hit him.He's not even worthy of it. Kou Chen said. Besides, he did have the balls to hit me either.What else did he say? Huo Ran asked.We just chatted a bit, he said my temper's bad and stuff Oh right, Kou Chen chucked, Old Yuan thought I also liked guys at first, and he was a bit embarrassed to ask.Huo Ran felt his heart skip two beats, and he almost choked.Also, Kou Chen thought about it, The basketball tournament is next week.Huh? Huo Ran looked at him.Basketball tournament, the one we didn't get last semester! Kou Chen yelled in his ear.Damn! Huo Ran covered his ear with one hand, Showing off how loud you can get, are you?!Yup! Kou Chen kept yelling by his ear, Just thinking about playing with you makes me happy!Me too. Huo Ran said.Let's practice together later, Kou Chen ran forwards a few steps, and then he turned around, Pass the ball to me!Huo Ran felt that he could already follow Kou Chen's way of thinking without any problems. Without a moment's hesitation, he made a passing motion with his hands: Here!Kou Chen jumped up and caught the ball, then turned to shoot it: Holy shit! Three points!Nice! Huo Ran praised.Who else? Tell me! Who else is there! Kou Chen yelled at him.What? Huo Ran paused.Who else are you as in tune with as me? Kou Chen said.Nobody. Huo Ran said. Only you.
