Chapter 18
Proofreader: Akimi
Sponsors: Elaine and Clockwork Ducky
When Zhen Yuanbai was still young, he had seen people begging for food and money, but never begging for a beating. In this day, Zhen Yuanbai’s views on the world had changed completely, not knowing what to do.
The young boy had begged genuinely and was pressed on the ground by Ming Mai and Qiu Ling; he almost kowtowed for Zhen Yuanbai at one point.
Shi Bufan’s face was gloomy and he obviously knew what the boy was thinking about. Zhen Yuanbai was skinny and delicate, so even if he really punched the boy, it wouldn’t hurt as much as himself doing the same action. When he heard the other party saying intimate phrases like ‘brother Zhen’ and ‘brother Congming,’ he almost couldn’t hold in the urge to knock the boy out.
But to him, beating the boy up wasn’t a priority. He just wanted Zhen Yuanbai to know that he could bully whoever bullied him back, no matter whether he was from Shengsan or a bastard from Shengshiba.
When the boy was about to cry, Zhen Yuanbai finally ran over and slapped the boy’s shoulder and then ran back to Shi Bufan again, saying in a low voice, “I beat him.”
The boy teared up and looked anxiously at Shi Bufan, quietly waiting for his answer.
“Fine.” Shi Bufan finally said and the boy was about to sigh in relief, when he suddenly heard Zhen Yuanbai saying, “Wait, wait a second.”
The boy’s heart was in his throat, miserably forcing out two drops of tears.
Zhen Yuanbai suddenly felt shameful for taking advantage of Shi Bufan and bullying the boy. He softly said to Shi Bufan, “Do you want to tell him to stop causing you trouble in the future?…”
Shi Bufan understood and he turned around to say, “Don’t invite me to fights in the future. I need to focus on my grades and if I end up with a low score for the college entrance exam, I will invite you guys to the ICU for a decade’s worth of time. Do you understand?”
Qiu Jing’s jaw was about to drop when he heard Shi Bufan say in an arrogant tone that he was going to focus on his grades. The boy was also confused; but knowing that he had no choice against these people, he nodded without hesitation. “Brother Shi, I know. I know. Once I go back, I’ll warn them to stay away from you!”
Qiu Jing loosed his grip on the boy and the latter sprinted off like a cheetah. Shi Bufan turned around to look at Zhen Yuanbai, “Are you satisfied?”
Zhen Yuanbai nodded and Shi Bufan hooked his arm about Zhen Yuanbai’s shoulders as they walked. He didn’t forget to thank the hard at work friends, “What are you guys playing tonight?”
Ming Mai immediately said, “We’re going to play billiards. Brother Shi, how about you?”
“Fine, I’ll treat you guys.” Shi Bufan said, “But I won’t be going since I need to do practice exams with Yuanyuan.”
Qiu Jing was stunned and remained unmoved until Shi Bufan disappeared in the corner. He then asked Ye Lian, “Is there something wrong with Brother Shi’s brain?”
Ye Lian nodded and agreed, “There’s a huge problem.”
Ming Mai was also a bit absent-minded. “He doesn’t mean it when he says he is going to study right? Does he not want his face anymore if this news spreads to Shengsan?”
They viewed courage and spars as honor while studying and grades as a disgrace. If someone dared to compliment how studious they were in class, they would definitely flip the table over and make them bleed. Studious my butt. Who are you humiliating? Shi Bufan had been worshipping this system of values for the past two years, but who knew that his views had changed completely after losing his memory.
Qiu Jing said a bit unhappily, “Plus, he has been paying more attention to &#k2018;real fool’ than us. What’s the matter with him today? Treating us like workers for him.”
Ming Mai pondered over this and said, “It’s probably a sense of reliance with the first person he had seen after waking up in the hospital. After all, wasn’t ‘real fool’ the first one to visit him?”
“Then he should’ve seen his doctor in charge first.”
Ye Lian placed his phone away and casually started walking, “Let me remind you guys something. Stop calling Zhen Yuanbai by his nickname. Of course, the premise is that you guys don’t want Brother Shi to hold you guys down and have Zhen Yuanbai beat you up.”
This was the first time Zhen Yuanbai was so delighted in his life. He didn’t think it would be that satisfying to insult someone. When he was excited, his eyes were slightly sparkly and he would keep his head down, secretly happy. He even held onto the strap of his backpack tightly, softly kicking the falling leaves and controlling himself strictly.
Shi Bufan curled the corner of his lips up and tugged the person into his arms by the strap, holding his waist and said, “If someone bullies you next time, you should know what to do right?”
Zhen Yuanbai nodded and couldn’t resist the urge to ask, “What if I can’t beat them up?”
“Then don’t beat them. When you encounter someone like that, come and tell me. I’ll hold them down, so you can beat them up. That’ll work, right?”
Zhen Yuanbai nodded and his snow-white face faintly turned red. He had red moist lips and Shi Bufan licked his lips at the sight of Zhen Yuanbai’s. The latter struggled free from Shi Bufan’s grasp and walked a few steps in front, turning around to say, “I’ll treat you out for milk tea.”
“How come you want to treat me out for milk tea every day?”
“Then, then what do you want to eat? Tell me and I’ll definitely invite you out.”
Shi Bufan’s eyes sparkled and asked, “Really?”
“Really.” Zhen Yuanbai recalled how Shi Bufan’s money was still on him, so he continued, “Didn’t you want to eat a feast? I’ll invite you.”
Shi Bufan chuckled lowly and Zhen Yuanbai continued to walk backward while he stared at him. He heard Shi Bufan say, “I do want to eat a feast, but I’m scared you might not treat me.”
Zhen Yuanbai remembered that Shi Bufan had shoved a few hundred bills to him, so he said generously, “As long as it isn’t over $1,000.”
Zhen Yuanbai thought about paying with Shi Bufan’s money and then a bit of his own as a way of repaying the favor for Shi Bufan. Zhen Yuanbai quickly calculated the amount of money he had left and this made him trip over a tree branch; thankfully, Shi Bufan caught him in time, but because of inertia, Zhen Yuanbai was slammed against Shi Bufan’s chest in order to catch the fall.
The tip of his nose touched the zipper of Shi Bufan’s school uniform, taking in the scent of soap on him. Shi Bufan held Zhen Yuanbai’s waist, making the latter stunned for a second. Before Zhen Yuanbai could push him away in time, Shi Bufan suddenly took two steps forward, forcing Zhen Yuanbai to hurriedly move back. His backpack knocked against a tree behind him and he was also pressed against it, sandwiched.
Not far from here, Ye Lian suddenly tugged the two people who weren’t paying attention and the three boys immediately ducked behind a tree. Ming Mai and Qiu Jing widened their eyes.
They heard sounds of the birds chirping and leaves falling within the forest.
Zhen Yuanbai’s eyes were clear as glass. When he slightly widened his eyes, it gave people a feeling as if they wanted to cherish him like a little animal.
Shi Bufan slowly moved closer and Zhen Yuanbai wished so badly for his backpack to disappear so that he could lean his back against the wall, separating himself from Shi Bufan even further.
He heard Shi Bufan say, “You said you were going to invite me for a feast…you better not go back on your words.”
Shi Bufan’s lips moved closer, making Zhen Yuanbai tighten his fingers and the redness on his face gradually vanished. His heart was about to jump out of his throat.
The boy’s gaze landed on the tightly pursed lips. The second before he was about to press his lips against his, Zhen Yuanbai instinctively turned his head to the said and swallowed his saliva, the sound clear to their ears. Zhen Yuanbai was about to cry, saying, “I, I, still need to do my practice exam.”
F*ck.
Shi Bufan clutched his heart. The more Zhen Yuanbai acted like this, the more Shi Bufan wanted to harshly bully him.
Zhen Yuanbai clearly liked him as he even dared to say that they had confirmed their relationship. However, every time he tried to take a step closer to him, Zhen Yuanbai still dodged his advances. Shi Bufan felt a pang in his heart and he said in a hoarse voice, “You said you would treat me to a feast, but you won’t even let me taste the appetizer. Hm?”
Zhen Yuanbai’s tears flowed down his face.
Qiu Jing and Ming Mai covered their mouths with difficulty.
On the other hand, Shi Bufan finally sighed and moved away from Zhen Yuanbai, saying, “We can drink milk tea too. Let’s go.”
Zhen Yuanbai buried his head down and walked. He had a lot to say, but he didn’t know how to start it. How could Shi Bufan be like this?… If his parents found out, they definitely would protest against them being together even more. Zhen Yuanbai really didn’t want to be with him either. He was incredibly terrified of this, thinking about how to break off his relationship with Shi Bufan…while trying his best to not anger or hurt his dignity.
The moment they left, Qiu Jing couldn’t help but scream, “Damn! Damn!! Damn!!!”
Ming Mai followed, “Oh my mother! Oh my mother! Oh my great grandmother!”
While they went to buy milk tea, the owner inside the store suddenly peered over and looked at Zhen Yuanbai’s red and swollen eyes. When she delivered the milk tea to him, she softly asked, “Did he bully you?”
Zhen Yuanbai hastily shook his head, saying, “No, thank you for your concern.”
The owner of the milk tea store glanced at Shi Bufan untrustingly. She wondered if Shi Bufan had forced Zhen Yuanbai to buy milk tea for him, but she took a glimpse of Shi Bufan’s shoes and swallowed her words.
Zhen Yuanbai delivered the milk tea to Shi Bufan and then said goodbye to the owner. Shi Bufan held the cup of milk tea, knitting his eyebrows tightly. The two had loads on their minds and hadn’t said a single word for an hour until a voice rang in their ears. “Fanfan?”
The two looked up to see Shi Bufan’s mother coming out of a car. She faintly smiled and said, “I’ve been waiting for a while. Your father’s coming back today, so we’re going to eat dinner with your grandparents tonight.”
Shi Bufan furrowed his brows even more tightly.
They stared at each other and mother Shi felt awkward. At this time, a man walked out from the other side of the car and Shi Bufan felt as if he was staring at Shi Bufan when he turned 40. The man was probably Shi Bufan’s father, but he was different from the father who came to his house and thanked him. This man was handsome and held an imposing manner, saying in a rude tone, “Is there actually something wrong with your brain?”
The veins on Shi Bufan’s forehead were about to burst and he almost crushed the cup of milk tea. Zhen Yuanbai turned around to see Shi Bufan harshly throwing the cup of milk tea in his parent’s car. When the milk tea splashed on mother Shi’s noble cheongsam, her smile instantly stiffened.
Zhen Yuanbai was like the little chick in the group of eagles. Shi Bufan lifted his backpack and said, “I’m going back to school to do a practice exam with you.”
Shi Bufan lifted him away the entire time while Zhen Yuanbai remained confused. Yet, he didn’t dare to ask about Shi Bufan’s family matters, so he spent the whole time drinking his milk tea.
Shi Bufan’s face was extremely dark as if he just came out from hell. From his tightly knitted eyebrows, you could tell he was fairly irritated and annoyed.
When they were about to arrive at the school building, Zhen Pingjin called Zhen Yuanbai. He was clearly off work for a while now, but he wasn’t angry when he called. “Did you go to class?”
Zhen Yuanbai hurriedly agreed and Zhen Pingjin continued, “It’s getting late. Are you at an evening study session?”
“No, I’m going back right now.” Zhen Yuanbai hung up and agreed with Shi Bufan’s prediction. He was about to thank him when he made eye contact with Shi Bufan, making his mind go blank.
Shi Bufan stared expressionlessly and asked, “Your father wasn’t angry?”
Zhen Yuanbai shook his head.
“You’re going home now?”
“Mhm…”
“Fine, let’s go. I’ll walk you home.” Shi Bufan turned around and walked in front while Zhen Yuanbai had to walk quickly to catch up to his strides. He surprisingly sensed a feeling of sadness from Shi Bufan’s face. “Are you going to find Qiu Jing and the others?”
“I’m going to drink.”
Zhen Yuanbai shut his mouth.
Shi Bufan started to slow down, to the point Zhen Yuanbai had to purposefully slow down so that he wouldn’t surpass Shi Bufan. When they were almost at the school door, Shi Bufan suddenly stopped and looked at Zhen Yuanbai, saying, “If you stay a night in the school with me, I won’t go out to drink.”