Chapter 57

Director Hu's patrol plan was ruined by Zuo Kuan's shout. Because he saved most of the couples, Zuo Kuan earned the title 'Matchmaker Hero' at Nancheng No.7 Middle School from then on.

To show his gratitude, Zhu Xu treated him to breakfast for a week.

Of course, he paid the price for it. Director Hu tallied up all his recent violations, gave him a minor demerit, and ordered him to write a three-thousand-word self-criticism to read at next week's flag-raising ceremony.

So on Monday, Zuo Kuan's deliberately drawn-out voice echoed across the school—

'...So I admit my mistake: I shouldn't have skipped class, shouldn't have smoked on campus, and definitely shouldn't have yelled when Director Hu was catching people.' After reading over two thousand words in a grand manner, Zuo Kuan blinked and changed his tone. 'But I also think Director Hu shouldn't have pinched my ear. Honestly, twisting it like that really hurt, and it made me lose face. I was planning to get my ears pierced last weekend, but in the end I didn't go—'

The speakers let out a short, sharp noise, and then Zuo Kuan's microphone was cut off. Director Hu touched his head and stormed up onto the Presidium Platform.

Director Hu had been teaching for years, his voice deep and resonant. Even without a microphone, the students below could hear him clearly. 'A big guy like you, getting your ears pierced? Do you want a major demerit or what?!'

Zuo Kuan: 'Come on! Guys with piercings are way cooler!'

The students under the Presidium Platform, who had been dozing off, were stunned for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.

Wang Luan'an was doubled over with laughter. 'Damn, how is he this shameless? Is he really going to get his ears pierced, or is he just saying that to piss off Fat Tiger?'

Yu Fan lowered his head and yawned, radiating intense drowsiness. 'No idea.'

'Hey, you should've seen it, it was hilarious. Zuo Kuan saw you hadn't come back, so he wanted to go find you for a smoke. But just as we slipped out of the School Playground, we saw Fat Tiger sneaking toward the Experimental Building with a bunch of people. Zuo Kuan knew something was up, so he yelled before Fat Tiger could go upstairs, and it scared Fat Tiger so bad he jumped, hahaha!'

Talking about that day, Wang Luan'an remembered something else and asked, 'But where did you actually go to smoke that night? Zuo Kuan and I waited in the Classroom for ages and you never came back. Zhu Xu said you were with the study god?'

Yu Fan's fingers curled in his pocket, and his eyes sharpened for a moment. After a couple of seconds, he spoke. '...Just found some random corner. Ran into him after I finished smoking.'

'Oh, that's a shame. Missed the exciting part.' Wang Luan'an was too focused on watching Zuo Kuan getting scolded on stage to notice his buddy's obvious discomfort. He turned his head back after speaking.

Students from all three grades were gathered on the School Playground, standing naturally crowded, with only about half a step between each person.

Yu Fan caught the faint minty scent behind him and thought slowly, It's okay, I guess.

Not that big a loss.

His shoulder was suddenly tapped. Yu Fan lifted his eyelids and, as he turned, instinctively glanced at the person behind him first. After meeting Chen Jingshen's eyes, he paused, then turned his head to look at Zhuang Fangqin, who had slapped him.

'Stand up straight. What kind of posture is that? Take your hands out of your pockets.' Zhuang Fangqin frowned and said quietly. 'Can't you learn from Chen Jingshen?'

Zhuang Fangqin had already braced herself for a retort, but to her surprise, Yu Fan was silent for a moment, then turned his face away and straightened up lazily.

As she was still stunned, the Class Eight Counselor leaned closer. 'Alright, Teacher Zhuang. Yu Fan has been doing so well lately. Let him stand a bit crooked. He's still way better than that guy in my class who ended up on the Presidium Platform.'

Zhuang Fangqin smiled. 'I heard Zuo Kuan gave Director Hu a scare last week?'

The two chatted quietly. The other teacher shrugged. 'Who knows? I wasn't there either. By the way, I heard the director caught two couples dating that night. Any from your class?'

Zhuang Fangqin said, 'No.'

'None in my class either. They probably got away. Tsk, if you ask me, the director made too big a deal out of it that night. Catching early relationships doesn't need to be this complicated. Kids this age, their hearts are restless and can't be suppressed. I can tell at a glance.' The other teacher said slowly.

'Those who help with homework, who wander around the School's paths together after class for no reason, who help carry books and chairs, who pass notes in class... It's too obvious.'

The flag-raising ended and the formation dispersed. It wasn't until they were back in the Classroom and everyone's attention was on the blackboard and the physics teacher that Yu Fan propped his chin and counted in his head.

Shit, that was close. Almost every single one...

His arm was suddenly poked by a pen. Yu Fan rolled his eyes over. His deskmate's fingers, holding a pen, were pressing down on something and silently pushed it to the edge of Yu Fan's desk.

The hand let go, revealing a small note underneath.

Yu Fan was blank-faced and stunned for a moment.

He stared at the neatly folded note for a while, then looked up at his deskmate's cool face. After repeating this three times, he finally took the note into his hand.

'...' Alright, every single one.

Yu Fan kept a straight face and unfolded the note.

'Want to go see a movie this weekend?'

Chen Jingshen was looking down, copying down wrong answers. The note flew briefly through the air, landed on his thumb, then dropped beside his pen tip.

He unfolded it. A perfectly clean note had been completely wrecked by his boyfriend—

'We're sitting right next to each other, why pass a note? Don't you have a mouth?' Written and then roughly crossed out, though not thoroughly enough to be illegible.

'Don't pass me notes.' Same as above.

'What movie?' Same as above.

At the very end, beneath countless messy scratches, there was only one hastily scrawled word: 'Oh.'

—

These past few days, the temperature in Nancheng City had been pushing forty degrees. Yu Fan didn't like using the fan when he slept, so he always woke up with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

So on Saturday afternoon, Yu Fan woke up, took a shower first, then stood at his desk drying his hair while scrolling through messages on his Mobile Phone.

The WeChat group chat was as lively as ever. He opened it and saw Wang Luan'an comparing answers with someone.

The final exams were scheduled for the seventh of next month. They had just finished the last monthly exam of the semester yesterday.

'[Wang Luan'an: What? The seventh multiple-choice question is C? I don't believe it! @s Study god, you gotta back me up!!]'

'[Zhang Xianjing: You think the study god would even acknowledge you?]'

'[Zhang Xianjing: Give it up. I just asked Tingbao, and she picked C too.]'

'[Wang Luan'an: @- What did Yu Fan pick?]'

'[Zhu Xu: ...Never thought I'd see the day someone asks Yu Fan what answer he picked on a test. [Bunny shocked jpg]]'

'[Zuo Kuan: Zhu Xu, stop posting those emojis you got from your girlfriend. They don't suit you.]'

'[Zuo Kuan: You Class Seven guys, enough already. What's with all this studying? You're ruining the vibe of the group. Come out and play billiards. @everyone]'

'[s: C.]'

Seeing Chen Jingshen's profile picture appear in the group, Yu Fan slowed his hair-drying motion. The next second, a private message popped up on his WeChat.

'[s: This showing? [image]]'

Yu Fan tapped to open it, glanced at the movie's start time, didn't even bother to look at the title, and replied with an 'Oh.'

After agreeing on a meeting time with Chen Jingshen, Yu Fan tossed aside his towel and went to sit on the Balcony to let his hair dry.

Yu Fan sat in the hot afternoon breeze, wondering if this counted as a date.

He leaned against the security bars, tapping on his phone screen for a while, but couldn't resist opening a search engine and typing: 'What to pay attention to when watching a movie with your boyfriend?'

'...Am I crazy? What's there to pay attention to when watching a movie? It's just sitting side by side looking at a screen. What's the difference from class?'

Yu Fan coldly cursed himself a couple of times, but still clicked in to read.

When he saw 'The surveillance in the Cinema is very clear, never get all lovey-dovey with your boyfriend in the theater,' Yu Fan instinctively reached for the Cigarette Pack beside him, then paused, grabbed a piece of gum, and threw it in his mouth.

Finals were coming up, and these days each subject teacher had been handing out an excessive number of papers. He had to stay up until one in the morning to finish them. Plus the monthly exam, so he hadn't had much alone time with Chen Jingshen this week.

Not in the Cinema either.

Yu Fan thought idly, continuing to scroll. After reading a long stretch of nonsense, the article's concluding line was: 'Finally, make sure your lipstick doesn't get on your teeth, and it's best to wear nice clothes~'

Yu Fan frowned in confusion, then belatedly realized that he had searched for 'boyfriend,' and the answerer had assumed he was a girl.

Shit... all for nothing.

After his hair dried, Yu Fan went inside, picked out an outfit from his pitifully empty closet, and left the house with some gum.

The midday bus was nearly empty. Yu Fan sat alone in the back row by the window, legs spread, playing on his phone.

He opened Chen Jingshen's chat and looked again at the ticket purchase screenshot he hadn't examined closely earlier.

The movie started at three in the afternoon. It was one-forty now. Good enough. He'd go play some Snake Game and beat Chen Jingshen's high score first.

The movie was called Summer, Full Moon and You, premiering today. The poster showed a celebrity Yu Fan recognized but couldn't name—probably pretty famous.

The seats were in the couples' theater, seats 520A and 520B—

'...'

'[-: ?]'

'[s: ?]'

Who the hell said you could buy couples—

Yu Fan typed out those words, then silently deleted them.

Oh, right. He and Chen Jingshen were dating.

Yu Fan typed with a deadpan face: '[What do you want to eat? Popcorn or potato wedges.]'

Chen Jingshen bought the tickets, so of course Yu Fan would get the snacks.

'[s: Coconut chicken soup.]'

'[-: Want me to set up a whole feast in there for you?]'

'[s: We'll go eat after the movie.]'

'[-: ...Oh.]'

When he got off the bus at the stop, Yu Fan was still searching for nearby shops that served coconut chicken soup.

He picked the highest-rated shop, took a screenshot, and was about to send it to Chen Jingshen on WeChat when Wang Luan'an's call suddenly came in.

WeChat had voice call, so Wang Luan'an rarely called him on a regular phone line.

Yu Fan's eyelid twitched. He stopped walking into the mall and answered—

'Yu Fan, where are you? Something huge happened, dammit!!' Wang Luan'an's voice was heavy and urgent, as panicked as when Yu Fan had been cornered by guys with knives from the neighboring school. 'Zuo Kuan is surrounded by like ten guys at the Billiards Hall!!!'

—

Before Chen Jingshen left the house, Fanfan circled him countless times.

He hooked his finger under Fanfan's collar, moved him back a bit, and sat down on the stone bench in the small Garden to negotiate with him. 'I'll have the auntie come take you out later.'

Fanfan clearly wasn't happy about it and whined pitifully at him twice.

'I don't have time to keep you company today.' Chen Jingshen patted his face and said, 'Be good.'

After calming the dog, Chen Jingshen was about to stand up when his phone suddenly rang.

'[-: Something came up, can't go. Next time.]'

Chen Jingshen's gaze lingered on the screen for a moment. He sat back down and typed: '[What happened?]'

The other side typed and deleted for nearly ten minutes.

'[-: The little girl upstairs is home alone. She's scared.]'

'[s: When is next time.]'

Another few minutes passed.

'[-: Any day except today]'

'[s: Tomorrow?]'

In the old small Public Park behind the Billiards Hall, over twenty guys were fighting in a chaotic mess.

Yu Fan grabbed a guy by the collar and threw him against the wall, pressing his elbow hard into the guy's back. Amid the guy's pained cries, he held up his phone and hastily replied with a single 'Okay.'

Zuo Kuan had invited Wang Luan'an to play billiards today. The guys at the next table, bored, challenged him to a couple of bets.

Zuo Kuan wasn't good at studying, but he was skilled at all the unproductive stuff. The other side lost many rounds in a row and got humiliated, so when they paid up, they made some snide remarks.

Zuo Kuan couldn't swallow that. He shot back with 'Bad player, big ego,' then added 'Shut up, noob,' and finally, 'If you can't take it, get lost.'

Wang Luan'an saw the situation going south and quickly called for backup.

Zhu Xu came with a group of sports students. Yu Fan ran into them just as he arrived. By the time they all got to the Public Park, those two idiots Zuo Kuan and Wang Luan'an had already taken quite a few hits.

Once they arrived, the situation immediately turned around. The other side had numbers, but they couldn't stand up to a bunch of seventeen- and eighteen-year-old sports students, and the one who wasn't a sports student was also a damn good fighter. After about ten minutes, that group turned and ran.

Zuo Kuan, his face covered in injuries, waved his hand like a triumphant emperor and announced he was treating everyone to bubble tea.

At the Bubble Tea Shop. Zuo Kuan crossed his legs and cursed loudly. 'Fuck's sake, when he couldn't take losing anymore, he said I was cheating, mouthing off all sarcastic and dirty. How the hell was I supposed to take that?'

'Bro, can you read the room? There were only two of us!' Wang Luan'an said.

Zuo Kuan said innocently, '...How was I supposed to know he had a dozen buddies sitting outside?'

Wang Luan'an's calf had been kicked and still hurt. He waved his hand. 'Forget it. I'll just count myself unlucky for seeing your billiards invite in the group chat on this fine Saturday.'

'...'

Wang Luan'an glanced sideways and saw his other buddy sitting against the wall, holding his phone with a cold face, staring off into space.

'Yu Fan, did you get hurt anywhere?' Wang Luan'an asked.

Yu Fan shook his head.

Those guys from the Billiards Hall were just relying on numbers; they probably didn't fight much normally. They barely touched him. If anything, the side of his face hurt a little.

'Got a mirror?' Yu Fan asked, glancing over.

Wang Luan'an was taken aback. 'No. Want to use the front camera on my phone? I'll hold it up for you.'

Half a minute later, Yu Fan looked at the two scrapes on his face and cursed silently.

Why did they have to hit his face of all places?!

Could he still go tomorrow? If he said he fell, would Chen Jingshen believe it?

What was Chen Jingshen doing now? Watching the movie? Or had he returned the tickets?

Seeing his expression darken, Wang Luan'an quickly comforted him. 'It's nothing. Compared to your previous injuries, this is nothing. It'll be fine in a week.'

Yu Fan found it annoying and leaned back. 'Shut up.'

Zuo Kuan bought a few packs of cigarettes and handed one to everyone. Yu Fan didn't take it. He pulled a piece of gum from his pocket and threw it into his mouth, chewing hard.

The guys praised each other's cool moves from the fight, then changed the subject and started discussing where to go next.

Just as they were chatting happily, Zhu Xu's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and immediately made a 'shh' gesture to everyone nervously.

'Hey, babe, what's up?' After the surroundings quieted down, Zhu Xu answered the phone. 'I'm not doing anything. Why didn't I reply to your messages... I had my phone on silent just now, didn't hear it. Hey hey hey, don't be mad, I really didn't hear it. Where am I? I'm at an internet cafe with Zuo Kuan and the guys...'

As soon as Zhu Xu hung up, all the guys burst out laughing.

'Zhu Xu, are you that whipped? One unread message and you have to sweet-talk her for half an hour?'

'You two are disgustingly sweet.'

'Why lie? Just tell her straight. It's not like we lost.'

'No way. If she finds out I was fighting, she'll definitely be mad at me.' Zhu Xu said sheepishly. 'Last time I missed an exam to help Yu Fan, she almost broke up with me. Good thing I took the Make-up Exam later... Hey, don't mention today's thing in front of her at school, or I'm done for.'

The others laughed but nodded to reassure him, promising not to mention it.

'And don't tell Chen Jing...' The person sitting in the corner suddenly spoke coldly, then stopped mid-sentence and changed it. 'And don't tell anyone in our class either.'

Everyone looked toward the voice and were all startled.

'What do you mean? Zhu Xu has a girlfriend in class so he can't say. Why can't you say?' Wang Luan'an asked, confused.

'It's not that I don't dare.' Yu Fan frowned irritably. 'Just don't say it, okay?'

'What, does Yu Fan have a girlfriend too?' someone else asked.

'No.' Yu Fan said. 'Shut up.'

'Tsk... well, Yu Fan,' Zuo Kuan, sitting by the shop entrance, was stunned. He shook his phone. 'I'd love to keep it a secret, but you're a bit late.'

Yu Fan: '?'

'I've been live-streaming with pictures and text in the group chat. Mainly for Zhang Xianjing and the others to see, and I asked if they wanted to come hang out later.' Zuo Kuan cleared his throat. 'But don't worry, I only said it in our small group. I didn't—'

'Study god?' Wang Luan'an glanced toward the shop entrance and called out in surprise.

Yu Fan's chewing motion froze. No way?

After a few seconds, he slowly turned his head toward the entrance.

And then he met Chen Jingshen's eyes.

Chen Jingshen stood silently outside the shop, looking at him with no expression. Then he lowered his gaze faintly, his eyes sweeping over the wounds on Yu Fan's cheek.

...The pain on Yu Fan's face seemed to intensify instantly.

Lying had never been a burden for Yu Fan. He considered himself a person with no real refinement—he said and did whatever he felt like. Zhuang Fangqin and Director Hu had heard plenty of his bullshit. Even if the other person didn't believe him or called him out directly, Yu Fan wouldn't feel anything. He was the classic case of a dead pig not fearing scalding water.

But at this moment, a strange sense of guilt surged up like a tide, dousing his mind with a chill.

Yu Fan's lips moved, but he didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent for a long time.

Wang Luan'an: 'Study god, what are you doing here? Did Yu Fan ask you to come hang out?'

Chen Jingshen calmly withdrew his gaze.

'No. Just passing by.' He said. 'I'm leaving.'

Watching Chen Jingshen walk away for a bit, Wang Luan'an said blankly, 'How can you just "pass by" here? That's too much of a coincidence...'

A gust of wind swept past his face. Before he could react, Yu Fan had already stood up and dashed out after him, disappearing in an instant.