Chapter 2 - Becoming friends
The cafeteria was filled with the hustle and bustle of students, Shen Yi followed Fu Cheng and sat together at a table for four with a plate in his hand.
Fu Cheng held his chopsticks, staring at Shen Yi with a face filled with confusion.
Things weren’t going the way he had thought.
“I just transferred to this school not long ago and had to adapt myself to the environment so I ended up falling behind in my studies. I’ve heard that your grades are very good.” Sensing Fu Cheng’s gaze, Shen Yi raised the topic from their previous conversation.
Fu Cheng subconsciously followed Shen Yi’s choice of conversation, “They’re okay…”
Shen Yi intended to befriend him and Fu Cheng wasn’t a difficult person to get along with. After getting along with Shen Yu for a while, and realizing that he (Shen Yi) was different from what he (Fu Cheng) thought, the worse first impression of Shen Yi had also undergone a change so he felt no resistance towards him.
After having lunch, Shen Yi asked Fu Cheng a question and Fu Cheng reached for a book and started talking to him.
After he was done speaking, Shen Yi flipped the pages and casually asked, “Does Xu Fanchao and the others often look for you?”
Fu Cheng paused, and frowned slightly, “No, I’m not familiar with them.”
Last time they wanted to take him to an Internet cafe and said they wanted to be friends with him, but Fu Cheng didn’t go with them, so they scolded him with all kinds of harsh words. They said that he wasn’t giving them face and this time they blocked him in the toilet again.
He had a vague guess of what they wanted to do, but…he didn’t want his brother to know about these things.
Shen Yi spun his pen around his fingers as a thoughtful look flashed across his face, the phone in his pocket vibrated and he took it out to have a look.
[Xu Fanchao: [Address] Come over tonight.]
He ignored his text message and exited the messaging app. Just when he was about to turn it off, he paused, he raised his head, a smile adorning his face as he looked at Fu Cheng, “Let’s add each other’s contact information.”
Shen Yi’s appearance belonged to the clean and cool type. Whenever he wasn’t smiling his eyes made him seem like a difficult-to-approach person, but he looked like a golden retriever—easygoing and playful— the moment he smiled, exuding sunshine and together with his gentle temperament made it difficult for people to refuse his request.
It was especially easy for him to fool children.¹
Fu Cheng didn’t stay in the school dormitory, so he went home after school.
As the sky darkened, a row of flowers could be seen planted in the yard in front of a huge villa, carefully pruned and taken care of, a car drove into the garage of the villa, the headlights glowing in the dark.
“Brother, you’re back.” Fu Cheng stood in the living room holding a glass of water.
At the door, the man in the suit changed his shoes, and responded to him with a low voice “Um”, he loosened his tie; his stern face looking indifferent.
The eyebrows and eyes of the two looked somewhat similar, but they possessed completely different temperaments. One was docile and gentle, and the other was aggressive and scheming.
“Why didn’t you sleep today?” Fu Yuhe’s body smelled of alcohol, his voice was a little hoarse after drinking tonight, and his tone sounded more casual than usual.
“I’ll go, sleep.” Fu Cheng said, “The monthly exam is two weeks later, and the school will organize a parents’ meeting after the monthly exam.”
Fu Yuhe opened up two shirt buttons with his fingers: “When is it?”
Fu Cheng: “Brother, you don’t have to go if you are busy.”
Fu Yuhe couldn’t go to the previous parents’ meetings due to work-related reasons, so Fu Cheng was just informing Fu Yuhe about it.
Fu Yuhe said, “Yeah, remember to inform Assistant Liu about the timing, I will go when I have time.”
“Okay.” Fu Cheng was speechless.
He was very young when his parents died, and his eldest brother served as both a brother and a father. When he was subjected to Fu Yuhe’s gaze, he always unconsciously felt nervous. The aura of his eldest brother was too strong, and he was more terrifying than the teaching director back at school.
Fu Cheng clenched the cup in his hand and said, “Then I’ll go up first, brother, go to bed early.”
…
The next morning, when Fu Yuhe went downstairs, Fu Cheng was already sitting at the dining table looking at his mobile phone, Fu Yuhe had pointed out this habit of his many times but he would still eat while looking at his mobile phone when Fu Yuhe was not around.
Fu Yuhe lifted his feet and went downstairs when he heard a strange voice suddenly coming from down the stairs.
“Ah… I understand, thank you, Fu Cheng.”
There was only Fu Cheng in the living room, and the voice came from his mobile phone, with a little bit of enthusiasm and a hoarse magnetism, as if he was feeling drowsy having just woken up, his voice getting deeper as he ended his sentence, acting like a hook that tickled people’s hearts.
“Your friend?”
Fu Cheng concentrated on typing on his phone and replying to the message. He was startled by the sudden voice. He turned his head and saw that Fu Yuhe came down at some point. When Fu Yuhe passed by him, he responded with an “um”.
“The porridge and the soup are still warm. I kept them in the kitchen.”
…
Shen Yi didn’t live with his family like Fu Cheng, instead, he lived alone in an off-campus apartment, so it was very convenient for him to do things alone.
After the day they had lunch, Shen Yi often approached Fu Cheng to ask questions about his studies, and they got close whether intentionally or unintentionally. The two of them ate together and often played together in physical education class. Their relationship was much closer now. A relationship good enough that they walked together after school. During high school, the friendship between boys came quickly and was rid of any purposes behind it.
The sunset was setting, and the setting sun painted half the sky red, and their shadows were stretched very long. It was after school time, and many students entered and left the school through the school gate.
“Tomorrow is a holiday, shall we go to the library together?” Shen Yi asked Fu Cheng beside him, his schoolbag dangling on his shoulder.
“I need to buy some materials.” Fu Cheng said.
Shen Yi: “Then let’s go together.”
Fu Cheng nodded: “Okay.”
The two walked out together while talking with each other, Shen Yi’s eyes flickered slightly, he turned his head and glanced behind him, and as expected, he saw Xu Fanchao in the crowd, together with the few boys who were in the toilet that time.
They were tall enough to be easily distinguishable in a crowd, even in a school uniform.
Xu Fanchao’s eyes met his and he waved his phone. The phone in Shen Yi’s pocket vibrated twice, and he took it out.
[Xu Fanchao: What the fuck do you mean by ignoring us these days, when will you message me back?]
[Xu Fanchao: If you want to hang out with me, just say so.]
[Xu Fanchao: What do you mean by walking so close to that boy?]
Shen Yi stuffed the phone back into his pocket without a single change in his expression, “Fu Cheng, let’s…”
He was interrupted before he could finish speaking.
“Shen Yi!” Xu Fanchao walked over from behind them, he obviously saw that Shen Yi put the phone back after looking at his messages, his eyes were filled with hostility, he quickly walked in front of Shen Yi, reached out and grabbed his shirt collar, and said, “Fuck you!”
Fu Cheng, next to him was startled by his sudden appearance and took half a step back.
Xu Fanchao was very tall, but when he stood with Shen Yi, he realized that Shen Yi wasn’t any shorter than him, and right now he was surrounded by an unpleasant aura all over his body.
“What’s the matter?” The smile on Shen Yi’s face disappeared, and he looked at Xu Fanchao with his eyes narrowed, and looking even more difficult to provoke than Xu Fanchao.
Xu Fanchao felt a chill running down his spine, before he came back to his senses, gritted his teeth, and said in a heavy voice, “I sent you a message, you’d better reply properly!”
They had already walked some distance away from the school gate, but the gathering of several tall boys still caught the eyes of others.
Shen Yi: “I thought my answer was obvious enough.”
Xu Fanchao: “What?”
Shen Yi: “We are not people from the same world.”
Xu Fanchao sneered: “I really treated you as a brother, you know that I have a problem with this kid. But you turned around and hooked up with him, you sure know how to piss me off!”
Shen Yi didn’t speak, Xu Fanchao pointed at Fu Cheng: “I’ll give you a choice, today if you leave with him then we aren’t done here².”
…
Shen Yi not only left with Fu Cheng, but also returned to Fu Cheng’s place with him, but nonetheless, they encountered some difficulties along the way.
“Your family lives here? It’s quite large.” Shen Yi followed Fu Cheng into the villa, and Fu Cheng took out a pair of slippers for him.
Both of them had some injuries on their faces, Shen Yi’s face wasn’t badly hurt, Fu Cheng, on the other hand, looked more miserable. He rarely ever invited his classmates back home, and the first time he did, he realized that he felt a little excited and happy.
He went to the refrigerator to get two cans of soda and handed one of them to Shen Yi when he came back.
The decoration style of the living room was very simple, the tiles on the floor were clean and reflective, and the leather sofa was soft, when Shen Yi sat down, the space on the sofa under him sank inside.
“Apply some medicine to your face first.” Shen Yi put his schoolbag aside.
Fu Cheng responded, and turned to look through the medicine box, “It’s the first time I’ve fought with someone like this.”
With a “click”, Shen Yi opened the can of soda, raised his head, and took a sip, his Adam’s apple rolled, and he asked, “How does it feel? Like it?”
“It’s amazing!” Fu Cheng rarely smiled so brightly.
Xu Fanchao came looking for trouble with them because of anger. Since Shen Yi didn’t continue to follow him. It was natural to ignite his anger, but today Xu Fanchao’s anger was directed at Shen Yi and fucked them up.
Shen Yi knew that Xu Fanchao and Fu Cheng had a feud, but he didn’t know the specific inside story. He only knew that Xu Fanchao couldn’t understand Fu Cheng, and didn’t like him, so he called him an idiot.
The plot revolved around the main character, so there was no detailed talk about the side characters. From the perspective of the main character, it was only mentioned that Fu Cheng was once troubled by his classmates.
The two had just fought together, it was as if they had established a revolutionary friendship. Fu Cheng was in a state of excitement the entire time, and he was a lot more open than usual. He took out the medicine box and gave Shen Yi the medicine.
Shen Yi only rubbed the corner of his mouth, he took the cotton swab and casually wiped the wound twice.
While the two of them were talking, there was a sound of the door opening, and their voices abruptly came to a halt.
Shen Yi turned his head and looked towards the door.
The sound of closing the door echoed clearly in the quietness of the living room. A figure appeared at the door. Perhaps seeing an extra pair of shoes at the door, he paused at the place where the shoes were changed near the door and looked up at the figure on the other side of the sofa. He met Shen Yi’s eyes, which seemed both clear and bright.
“Brother, you’re back.” Fu Cheng forgot about the injuries on his face for a moment and only realized it when he smiled.
Fu Yuhe changed his shoes and walked into the living room, asking in a low voice: “What’s wrong with your face?”
“I accidentally… fell.” Even Shen Yi didn’t believe Fu Cheng’s explanation, not to mention Fu Yuhe.
Fu Yuhe: “Look up.”
Fu Cheng raised his head obediently, and Fu Yuhe frowned. When the atmosphere was about to freeze, Shen Yi said his hellos’: “Brother, hello, I’m Shen Yi, Fu Cheng’s classmate, sorry to bother you today.”
The voice was filled with a sense of familiarity and enthusiasm which made Fu Yuhe’s head blank out for a moment. The voice could be matched up with the voice he had heard on Fu Cheng’s cell phone, except for that morning, he had also heard it in Fu Cheng’s bedroom afterward.
That night, Fu Cheng’s bedroom door wasn’t tightly shut. When Fu Yuhe passed by his door, he heard the voice of his brother talking with someone on the phone.
The things that happened to Fu Cheng back in junior high school made it such that he hadn’t had such a close friend for a long time.
Shen Yi slightly raised his head, with a bright smile on his lips.
The man in front of him was well-dressed, donning a black suit over his body. There was something hidden in his eyes that wasn’t easy to examine.
He has deep facial features and looks very young, but the powerful aura that belongs to the superior will never make people underestimate him.
He looked very young with deep facial features and an aura that belonged to those in a superior position making people unable to underestimate him.
“Hello.” Fu Yuhe nodded slightly with the mature attitude of an adult, “Did you fight?”
The second half of his sentence was clearly meant for Fu Cheng.
Fu Cheng no longer bothered hiding it, “Yes, I did.”
Shen Yi looked at the pair of brothers in front of him, the corners of his lips curved a bit.
The contrast between their personality and the way they got along was a bit interesting. The younger brother was obedient and innocent, while the older brother was a schemer, it was as if a big bad wolf had raised a little sheep.
Fu Yuhe seemed to have taken Shen Yi’s presence into account and thus didn’t continue to question Fu Cheng any further, after all, young people all wanted face and if he were to be scolded in front of his friend by his elder brother, it will inevitably embarrass him.
“Brother, don’t blame him, today’s incident is my fault, I apologize.”
Fu Yuhe didn’t continue asking, but Shen Yi gave an explanation himself.
“No, no.” Fu Cheng hurriedly said, “Those people clearly wanted to trouble me. If it wasn’t for Shen Yi last time, they might have…”
He stopped himself from speaking more.
The living room went quiet for a while.
“Last time?” Fu Yuhe asked slowly.
“Ah…” Shen Yi continued, “Fu Cheng’s collar was burnt by some sparks.”
He seemed to have said nothing, but at the same time, he seemed to have said everything.
Fu Yuhe glanced at Shen Yi, if it wasn’t for his outspoken sentence just now, he wouldn’t have managed to get Fu Cheng to say so much.
The young man didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he just said. The collar of his clothes was loose, the shadow of his delicate collarbone could be seen, his smooth chin was raised up, and there was a touch of redness at the corner of his mouth as if he had been brutally ravaged. There was a seductive charm to him for no reason, and even the smile on the corner of his mouth became inexplicably endearing.
“Really.” Fu Yuhe said, his tone, a little unclear.
“Brother, I can handle it myself.” Fu Cheng said.
After a while, Fu Yuhe said: “Understood.”
He didn’t stay down for long and went upstairs towards the study.
Being on the second floor blocked all the noises coming from the talking and laughing of the two downstairs. Fu Yuhe sat at his desk but didn’t enter his working state even with all the documents which needed to be processed. Instead, he held a pen and tapped it on the desk.
This new friend of Fu Cheng’s sure was a bit interesting. In just about a few words, he unknowingly got Fu Cheng to tell him something he didn’t originally want to say to him.
He recalled Shen Yi’s performance just now, he wasn’t aggressive, instead, he was very gentle, he liked to laugh, and had a sunny personality.
Was it really just a coincidence?
Fu Yuhe squinted his eyes and placed his thumb on the cap of the pen.
Translator Note
1: Basically people with little experience in the outside world.
2: Saying that you’ll be my enemy.