Chapter 133
Although it wasn’t illegal not to reply to your boyfriend’s messages, in order to give him sufficient sense of security so that he could study with peace of mind, Lin Qingyu worked hard to develop the habit of carrying his mobile phone around with him. He would even occasionally take the initiative to send messages to Jiang Xing, sharing what he’d seen and heard in his daily life.
So, during recess, Jiang Xing changed his normal routine and instead of lying on his desk to catch up on sleep, he happily chatted with Lin Qingyu on WeChat.
Today, Lin Qingyu said that he wanted to go to the pharmacy. As soon as he entered the pharmacy, Lin Qingyu was like a fish in a river. Just from the messages he sent, Jiang Xing could imagine how excited he was.
Lin Qingyu took many photos for him, most of which were medicines. A few weren’t medicines but drew Lin Qingyu’s interest anyway.
Lin Qingyu: [Jiang Xing, look at this.]
Jiang Xing clicked on the photo Lin Qingyu sent and sat up straight.
Jiang Xing: […Baobei, listen to me and put that down first.]
Lin Qingyu: [I want to buy it and study it at home.]
Jiang Xing: [Buy, buy, buy—or would you like me to buy it for you after school?]
Lin Qingyu: [No need, I can buy it now.]
Jiang Xing was worried that Lin Qingyu wouldn’t have enough money, so he made three money transfers worth 5200 yuan each. There was no message from Lin Qingyu. He must have gone to pay the bill. Jiang Xing clicked on the photo and looked at it again. He couldn’t help thinking.
Jiang Xing: [By the way, the Dayu probably doesn’t have these things.]
Lin Qingyu: [There aren’t any among the common people. But some small western countries have given something similar as tributes to the Dayu.]
Jiang Xing: [So, did I use it when I slept with you before?]
Lin Qingyu: [No need.]
Jiang Xing: [Fuck, I’m such a scumbag.]
Lin Qingyu: [?]
Jiang Xing: [Only scumbags don’t glove up.]
Lin Qingyu: [It has nothing to do with you, I like it when you come in straight.]
Jiang Xing, wearing his high school uniform, sitting by the window in his classroom, staring at the phone screen, felt his body was getting hotter and hotter. He could no longer remain clam. — Why did he have to talk about this with Lin Qingyu during the break?
Jiang Xing went to the water dispenser, filled a glass of cold water and drank it in one gulp. When he came back, he saw that Lin Qingyu had withdrawn his last message.
Lin Qingyu: [I forgot for a moment that you’re still not yet an adult here. In the future, don’t ask me about our past in bed. I might get accused of seducing a high schooler.]
Just as Jiang Xing was about to reply, a pair of his hands slammed down on his desk, pressing down the English test paper that had just been handed out. A boy with glasses and a crew cut glared at him—this was the second in their class, Chen Zihao.
Chen Zihao said through gritted teeth, “Why?!”
Jiang Xing put away his phone and asked, “What?”
“I made ten more sets of exercises than you did during the National Day holiday,” Chen Zihao was furious, “So why is my score still lower than yours?!”
Jiang Xing glanced at Chen Zihao’s English test paper. His score was only two points lower. “I guess I’m just lucky.”
Chen Zihao roared, “How can you be so lucky every single damn time!”
“That’s because Heaven rewards the diligent…”
Chen Zihao was furious. “Cut your bullshit, you’ve never ever tried hard!”
Jiang Xing said with a smile, “You can’t say that. You don’t see me when I’m working hard. It’s only in school that I’m lazy. As a matter of fact, I study until very late at home. Staying up until three or four o’clock in the morning is a common occurrence. “
Chen Zihao was stunned and then instantly suspicious. “Is that true?”
Jiang Xing appeared very sincere. “It’s true. The reason why I don’t study hard in school is to put on an image.” Jiang Xing patted the boy on the shoulder, “You’re too anxious, buddy. Take it easy, with your current grades, you’re a shoe in for any university you want.”
Chen Zihao didn’t expect he would be comforted by his rival. After calming down and thinking about it, he thought himself mad to suddenly break his defenses and came looking for Jiang Xing. That their school’s great heartthrob was willing to let him go was already generous enough; unexpectedly, he was even willing to talk to him about this.
Handsome, smart, polite, not at all aloof despite being liked by so many people and never one to show off — no one could ever hate such a boy.
Chen Zihao took a deep breath and apologized to Jiang Xing. “I’m sorry, this is my problem.”
Jiang Xing watched as Chen Zihao returned to his seat and continued to bury his head in the sea of exercise sheets. He felt an invisible pressure. It’s true that Heaven rewards the diligent. Chen Zihao worked harder than he did. It was only a matter of time before he surpasses him.
Though tired of studying, he also hated the feeling of losing. He had no intention of giving up first place.
Jiang Xing sighed and reluctantly started to work on his exercise sheets. Lin Qingyu had a very good grasp of time and would only chat with Jiang Xing during break time anyway.
On Friday afternoon, Jiang Xing took half a day off and took Lin Qingyu to get his ID card settled. According to their actual ages, the two should have already passed the legal age of marriage a long time ago. But on Jiang Xing’s ID card, he was still 17 years old and Jiang Xing insisted that Lin Qingyu was only a year older than him. And thus, Lin Qingyu became a boy who had barely just turned eighteen. He had very suddenly become several years younger, turning from a great beauty to a little beauty.
But a genuine Beauty was extremely malleable. Lin Qingyu’s modern sense of fashion was influenced by Jiang Xing. He often wore T-shirts, jeans and sneakers. And with his hair cut short, he appeared very much like a high school or college student. But where is his precipitation of age? With a shirt and suit on, the aura of an adult beauty simply couldn’t be suppressed. When he had his ID picture taken, he simply posed bare-faced, hair pushed back and a stoic expression on his face. The picture came out perfect, without any need for any sort of retouching. He could send it directly to any entertainment agency and make his debut on the spot.
Jiang Xing was envious. “Qingyu, you’re already eighteen. You’re free, unfettered. You’re no longer subjected to the anti-addiction measures when playing games.”
Lin Qingyu nodded. “That’s true. I can even take the driver’s license test.” It wasn’t that he didn’t like riding the scooter but the days were getting colder and soon, it would really be too cold to ride the scooter.
“That’s wonderful! You can drive me to school in the future.” Jiang Xing joked, “Come the holidays, we can go for a drive down by the beach. You drive for three or four hours and I sleep on the co-pilot seat and play with my phone.”
Lin Qingyu was in a delicate mood. “Before, I had to see you off to morning court, now, I have to send you off to school?”
Jiang Xing gave a teasing smile. “There has been no news from the Dayu for a long time and we don’t know if we can ever go back. Qingyu, do you want to go to high school with me and then take the college entrance exams? Aren’t you interested in joining the country best medical school?”
Lin Qingyu was taken aback: “…Attend high school?”
“That’s right. With your photographic memory, if you transfer to our school, you’ll definitely take away my number one spot.”
Lin Qingyu sneered slightly. “That’s to be expected.”
Jiang Xing smiled and said, “Baobei, you have absolutely no sense of humility.”
Lin Qingyu thought of something and asked worriedly, “If we become classmates, can I still be your Baobei?”
“Of course. Why ever not?”
Lin Qingyu said calmly, “Who knows? You have so many rules here. You can’t approach things here with the Dayu way of thinking. For example, in the Dayu, cousins can get married, but not here.”
Unlike Jiang Xing who was weary of studying, Lin Qingyu has always been interested in learning, more so if it was about medicine and poison. Because of Jiang Xing’s hometown’s laws, he wasn’t allowed to study poison but he could still study medicine. The medicines here were very different from the Dayu’s. If he could learn a thing or two, it would truly be a blessing.
Lin Qingyu thought for a while and said, “I want to go have a look around your school.”
Although they lived in a community near the school, Lin Qingyu hadn’t been to Jiang Xing’s school yet. The balcony of their apartment faced the school’s sports grounds and Lin Qingyu would often see the students doing morning exercises for PE classes.
Whether it was in morning exercises with hundreds of thousands of people, or joint PE classes with several classes’ worth of students, he could always easily spot Jiang Xing. It wasn’t that he had good eyesight. Jiang Xing was so much taller than the others, that it was hard not to see him.
“Okay.” Jiang Xing agreed, “And while we’re at it, I’ll show you another side to this city.”
The high school that Jiang Xing attended has a long history. It is located in the center of the old city. Within ten minutes’ walk is an urban village. An urban villages, as the name suggests, refers to villages within cities. The houses here are all old, most of them don’t have elevators but there are quite a few residents.
Lin Qingyu and Jiang Xing walked down a dark and narrow path lined with bustling shops. “Don’t underestimate the people who live in urban villages.” Jiang Xing said, “All of them are rich people in the making.”
Lin Qingyu asked, “Why do you say that?”
Jiang Xing then educated him on the concept of modern demolition. At five or six o’clock in the evening, students begun to get off school. Corporate drones were also let off work. The urban village gradually became livelier. All sorts of roadside stalls began to be set up.
Lin Qingyu was immediately attracted by various roadside stalls. It has been a while since he arrived to modern times. Jiang Xing has taken him to eat hot pot, dimsum, western food and even instant noodles. He has never taken him eat from the absolutely clean and hygienic roadside stalls.
Passing by a dorayaki shop, Lin Qingyu said, “I want to try that.”
Jiang Xing was very much aware of his role. “I’ll buy it for Baobei.”
Jiang Xing bought two, one for Lin Qingyu and one for him. After Lin Qingyu took two bites, he found the stuffing inside too sweet so he pushed the rest to Jiang Xing. He pointed to a long skewer of something and asked, “What is that?”
“Sausage. Do you want it?”
Lin Qingyu nodded. “Yes.”
The grilled sausage was too greasy. Lin Qingyu ate a third of it and gave the rest to Jiang Xing. Jiang Xing has always believed in never wasting food and after eating one and a half dorayaki and two thirds of a sausage, he noticed a pattern and only bought one portion when Lin Qingyu proposed trying a pudding cake. Lin Qingyu took one bite, decided that it was not to his liking and handed it over to Jiang Xing. “This does not taste good. Here.”
Jiang Xing, who had lost part of his memory and was in a relationship for the first time, was stunned. “You’re giving me even the things that taste bad? Do you really like me?”
Lin Qingyu couldn’t help laughing. “Maybe you’ll find it tasty.”
The two of them devoured nearly every kind of snack sold down the street. A subway was being built at the intersection and two excavators were hard at work. The makeshift fence did little to hide their majestic figures.
Lin Qingyu stopped and asked, “What is that?”
“They’re excavators.”
Lin Qingyu stared at it for a good long time and couldn’t help sighing, “If the Dayu had this, it wouldn’t take decades to build a palace.”
Jiang Xing smiled and said, “Then, would the Lord Prime Minister like invite the driver of the excavator back to the Dayu to work in the Ministry of Industry?”
Lin Qingyu glanced at Jiang Xing and knew that this person was making fun of him again. Going along with Jiang Xing’s act, he said, “In your opinion, which of these two excavator drivers would be better?”
Jiang Xing, tone and movements exaggerated, made an assessment, “In my opinion, the master driver on the left one is more skilled in his operation. With a glance, you can tell he’s from Shandong.”
Lin Qingyu wondered, “How do you know?”
Jiang Xing smiled dishonestly. “I’m just guessing. You shouldn’t believe me.”
No man can refuse the allure of an excavator and Lin Qingyu was no exception. He stood there enthralled, reluctant to leave. Jiang Xing asked him, “Aren’t you thirsty? Would you like some milk tea?”
Before Lin Qingyu could answer, he saw a girl wearing the same school uniform as Jiang Xing walking towards them. “Senior Jiang Xing——”
Jiang Xing turned around and saw a girl who looked a little familiar. She must be a freshman or sophomore in their school. “Hello?”
The girl stood still in front of Jiang Xing and when she saw Lin Qingyu, a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes. She pulled off her mask, revealing a rosy face and shyly said, “Senior, this is for you.”
Before Jiang Xing could react, a cup of milk tea was forcibly stuffed into his hand. It was the first time for Lin Qingyu to see pink milk tea. It even had a cute pattern on the cup, full of girlish charm.
The girl, seemingly afraid that Jiang Xing would refuse, turned around and ran away after delivering the milk tea.
“Senior?” Lin Qingyu said with great interest, “Is that like a ‘shixiong’?”
Jiang Xing said stiffly, “…En.” He looked like he was holding a hot potato. He wanted to throw it away but felt that it would be too rude. “Qingyu, you wait for me here.”
Jiang Xing chased after her. He returned the milk tea to the junior and politely declined her request to add him on WeChat.
After returning, Lin Qingyu looked at him, smiled lightly and said, “Why didn’t Senior accept the milk tea?”
“I don’t know her.” Jiang Xing quickly changed the subject, “Qingyu, would you like to watch a movie tonight?”
Lin Qingyu said, “But I want to play a game with Senior.”
“Then shall we go home now?”
Lin Qingyu said again, “Alright, Senior must be getting tired of lugging around his schoolbag.”
“…I was wrong,” Jiang Xing put on a pained look, “Qingyu, I was wrong.”
“What did you do wrong?” Lin Qingyu said calmly, “You can’t control the kind words of others, and you can’t control the hands of those who give gifts. You’re not at all at fault.”
Hope ignited in Jiang Xing’s eyes. “Then you’re not angry anymore?”
“Of course I wouldn’t be angry with Senior.”
Jiang Xing: “…”
Lin Qingyu saw Jiang Xing’s ‘nothing left to live for’ expression and couldn’t help smiling, “I’m really not angry. You’re the one I like. If I’m the only one in the world who likes you, then my vision must be terrible. You’re excellent and deserve to be liked by many people. It’s a pity…” Lin Qingyu said almost pityingly, “It’s a pity that as long as I’m here, you will never take a second look at them.”
Is this the confidence and pride of a great beauty? Jiang Xing was relieved but not completely relieved. He felt like other people’s milk tea have now created an indelible shadow over him. When he went to sleep that night, when he lifted up the quilt, he found it filled with cups of the milk tea that almost caused his death.
Jiang Xing went to buy two cups of milk tea that were just his and Lin Qingyu’s. “Qingyu, should we have a toast?”
Lin Qingyu cooperatively touched his cup against Jiang Xing’s. Jiang Xing took a picture of the scene with his mobile phone and posted the picture of their two hands and two cups of milk tea on his Moments.
Soon, his phone started vibrating like crazy. Jiang Xing took a casual glance, picked out his cousin’s message and replied.
Pei Zhiqi: [What does that post on your Moments mean??]
Jiang Xing: [Take a guess.]
Pei Zhiqi: [Are you seeing someone?]
Jiang Xing: [Yes.]
To be exact, he not only was seeing him but he had also married him and married him many times over.
Pei Zhiqi: [! ! ! ]
Pei Zhiqi: [Who’s your girlfriend? Is it one of your classmates?!]
Jiang Xing didn’t feel like talking much with others, so he automatically ignored a lot of the messages. Until Pei Zhiqi sent this message: [Wait, did you remember to block teachers and our older relatives from your Moments?]
Jiang Xing: [. ]
Pei Zhiqi: [Hoo boy]
Jiang Xing: [Don’t get excited! It’s not a big problem.]
