CH 13

Shen Mian arrived home in the evening.

Originally, they were supposed to leave early in the morning, but their grandmother couldn’t bear to see them go and insisted on keeping them for a while. Shen Mian had already packed their bags, but couldn’t resist sitting next to their grandmother with Shen Yu chatting. As they talked, they ended up having lunch.

Before heading back home, Shen Mian sent a text message to Pei Zhiyi. So when the car entered Nanhu Alley, Pei Zhiyi was already standing at the front door of Shen Mian’s house.

Shen Mian saw him from the car window and couldn’t help but smile. As soon as his father stopped the car, he couldn’t wait to open the door and ran over, jumping into Pei Zhiyi’s arms.

Shen Mian wasn’t heavy, but a 175 cm tall boy certainly wasn’t light, yet Pei Zhiyi caught him steadily.

“Did you wait long?” Shen Mian asked.

“Not long,” Pei Zhiyi lied, “just arrived a few minutes ago.”

Shen Mian didn’t quite believe it, but he didn’t expose the lie. He just hugged Pei Zhiyi and said, “I brought some snacks made by grandma. She asked about you and wondered why you didn’t come. Next time, let’s go see her together.”

Pei Zhiyi smiled and agreed, waiting to help Shen Mian’s parents with their luggage.

Shen Yu leisurely got out of the car with a strawberry candy apple in her mouth, watching her brother and Pei Zhiyi sticking together and teasing each other, she commented, “My brother is so extra. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he had been separated from Pei Zhiyi for three years.”

Su Ying chuckled and said, “Your brother has known Xiao Pei two years longer than he’s known you, so naturally, they are closer.”

Shen Yu realized this as well and ran off to eat the snacks.

Pei Zhiyi stayed at Shen Mian’s house that evening. After dinner, Shen Mian finished writing his last essay. His Chinese language grades were quite good, considered one of his higher scores among all the subjects, except for the fact that his handwriting resembled a dog scratching the paper, which probably prevented him from getting a few extra points.

So, Pei Zhiyi stared at his messy handwriting again.

Shen Mian wasn’t happy about it and protested with grumbling, but Pei Zhiyi stopped him by stuffing pudding into his mouth.

After gulping the pudding, Shen Mian still had to say to Pei Zhiyi, “You’re really annoying, you are silently criticizing my handwriting.”

Pei Zhiyi sat beside him, watching him muttering while writing without missing a single word. He couldn’t help but find Shen Mian adorable.

Moreover, throughout the entire evening, he didn’t hear the name “Xu Yuanfan” from Shen Mian’s mouth, which made him quite satisfied.

It wasn’t until bedtime that Shen Mian remembered to take out the lucky charm he bought. He chose his favorite color, blue, with golden gingko leaves embroidered on it. Inside the bag were folded talismans, not particularly exquisite, but still elegant.

“I bought it for you, it brings good luck in your studies,” Shen Mian tied it to Pei Zhiyi’s bag. “Last time, you ranked second in the grade, the next time you’ll be first.”

After tying it, Shen Mian thought his choice was pretty good. Pei Zhiyi’s bag was black, and that lucky charm didn’t look out of place with it.

Pei Zhiyi played with the small amulet and asked Shen Mian, “Didn’t you buy one for yourself?”

Shen Mian was self aware and said, “for me, even Bodhisattva can’t save me.”

Pei Zhiyi turned to Shen Mian with a stunned expression.

He sometimes felt a headache when dealing with Shen Mian. Sometimes he wanted to force Shen Mian to study harder, solving ten problems for each one he didn’t understand so as to help him improve.

But he couldn’t bear to do it.

Why would he make Shen Mian intentionally suffer?

Shen Mian was already doing well, even if he didn’t excel academically, it wouldn’t hinder him from living a happy life.

And besides, he would always be by Shen Mian’s side, working hard together for both of them. He would take care of Shen Mian for the rest of his life.

Pei Zhiyi touched Shen Mian’s forehead and thought that he really had no way to deal with him, so he could only urge Shen Mian to go to bed early.

If his grades weren’t good it wasn’t a problem but he should at the very least take care of his health.

But Shen Mian had taken a nap in the car that afternoon and couldn’t fall asleep no matter how he tossed and turned.

In the end, it was Pei Zhiyi who pressed him against his chest to calm him down.

The next morning, Shen Mian had a hard time getting up, and even when he sat in the classroom, his eyelids were fighting, leaning on Pei Zhiyi’s shoulder.

Others weren’t very awake either. Either they stayed up late watching dramas or playing games.

On the first day back to school after the National Day holiday, the whole class had an air of laziness.

As soon as teacher Ding entered the classroom, he frowned and had a look of distress on his face. He said, “I said we shouldn’t have given you three days off. It’s the second year of high school, wouldn’t two days off have been enough?”

Everyone looked at him with sleepy eyes, clearly still in the holiday mode.

Teacher Ding couldn’t do anything about it either. He didn’t want the whole class to stand, so he opened all the windows and tried to raise his voice as much as possible while teaching.

Shen Mian took half a class to fully wake up. He sat next to Pei Zhiyi near the window, and the morning breeze blew a few strands of his bangs away, revealing his beautiful eyes, which had a moist, brown color in the sunlight.

He diligently copied notes from the blackboard, occasionally doodling stick figures in his notebook when he got distracted. On the other hand, Pei Zhiyi hardly wrote anything, only making a few marks in crucial places.

After morning classes were done, during the long break, everyone caught up on sleep or chatted. Suddenly, teacher Ding walked in from the back door and headed straight to the corner where Shen Mian and Pei Zhiyi were sitting.

Shen Mian was eating cookies and when he saw teacher Ding, he choked on a mouthful of cookies. He didn’t know whether to swallow or spit out. He was trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

Fortunately, Teacher Ding’s target wasn’t him.

Teacher Ding only glanced at him, lightly reproached, “Didn’t you eat breakfast again? Must you wait until you’re at school to do it?”

Shen Mian was choked by the cookie for a moment and was currently drinking water to relieve it, so he could only show his innocence with his eyes.

Teacher Ding didn’t bother with him too much and smiled as he handed a form to Pei Zhiyi, saying, “Do you know why I approached you?”

Pei Zhiyi took the form and smiled saying, “Yes, thank you, teacher.”

It was the registration form for the final selection of the math competition he had participated in before. He passed the first round and now qualified to participate in the provincial-level competition.

But he couldn’t say he was particularly surprised. He already knew his approximate score beforehand. It was just that teacher Ding looked so happy so he had to give him some face.

On the other hand, Shen Mian was extremely excited. Unable to make any overt gestures in front of teacher Ding, he quietly tapped Pei Zhiyi’s knee and mouthed, “You’re amazing, bro.”

Pei Zhiyi smiled again, this time amused by Shen Mian.

Unaware of what was going on between the two of them, teacher Ding watched Pei Zhiyi with satisfaction, patting his shoulder and saying, “Work hard. Our school has five students joining the provincial competition this time. We’ll join forces with a few other schools for joint training after that.”

After finishing his words, he walked away contentedly with his hands behind his back.

As soon as teacher Ding left, Shen Mian pounced on Pei Zhiyi and asked excitedly, “Bro, you’re amazing. Did you get a really high score?”

He looked at Pei Zhiyi eagerly, even more excited than when he improved his own exam results.

Pei Zhiyi hugged him. He casually threw the registration form he had received earlier on a corner of his desk without paying much attention to it. However, Shen Mian was all he could see in his heart, and it made him feel happy.

“Yes.”

Shen Mian became even happier and patted Pei Zhiyi, saying, “I think the lucky charm I bought yesterday is really effective. You will definitely make it to the nationals.”

Pei Zhiyi rubbed his head and replied, “Thank you for your kind words.”

Soon, before the end of school, almost everyone in the class knew about Pei Zhiyi’s entry into the provincial competition.

Xu Jing and Han Chao knocked on the desk, asking Pei Zhiyi to treat them, and others took the opportunity to join in the fun, nearly flipping the desks over.

Shen Mian scoffed at them, saying, “No way, you big eaters will make him go broke.”

but they all joined in on teasing Shen Mian.

“Some people just want to have a candlelit dinner with Brother Pei and keep him all to themselves,” Xu Jing banged on the desk and rallied everyone, “everyone, can we agree that Brother Pei belongs to all of us?”

“Yes!!”

Now the girls also started shouting. Of course, Pei Zhiyi belongs to all of us. Class 2 of Grade 2 collectively owned him.

Shen Mian was displeased and clung to Pei Zhiyi, saying, “Get lost, get lost. My brother is all mine. I will not share him.”

But despite the commotion, Shen Mian didn’t really stop Pei Zhiyi from treating everyone.

That group of friends was close, and it was common for them to treat each other on birthdays and special events.

In the end, they went to a hot pot restaurant outside the school. Since it was cold outside, eating something warm and comforting felt particularly nice.

However, when a group of teenagers gathers together, especially outside school, all sense of discipline disappears. Initially, only Xu Jing ordered a beer, but then everyone else wanted to drink, so they ordered a whole crate.

Pei Zhiyi didn’t mind it; he could handle liquor just fine. However, Shen Mian couldn’t hold his alcohol at all. He held onto his glass and refused to let go.

“Just one glass,” he looked at Pei Zhiyi pitifully, his eyes big and round like a little squirrel.

Pei Zhiyi pursed his lips and didn’t want to agree.

No one else said anything, eagerly waiting to see what would happen, especially a few girls who even took out their phones to record.

In the end, Pei Zhiyi gave in and took a step back, saying, “fine, but just half a glass.”

The room immediately erupted in cheers.

“Pei Zhiyi can’t control Shen Mian”

“Shen Mian, have a couple more drinks. What’s the point of just half a glass?”

…

Everyone was provoking him.

Pei Zhiyi rubbed his temples in frustration, realizing that he had never been able to control Shen Mian in his entire life always giving in to him.

Meanwhile, Shen Mian became lively again in an instant. Pei Zhiyi had told him to drink just half a glass, but he couldn’t keep an eye on him all the time.

In the end, Shen Mian drank a whole glass.

It was a mixed beer, so the alcohol content was slightly higher. By the time they left the hot pot restaurant, Shen Mian was already a little unsteady on his feet. He obediently let Pei Zhiyi hold him and walked wherever Pei Zhiyi led him.

The others teased him, but he ignored them and focused solely on Pei Zhiyi, his cheeks were flushed, and he could only smile foolishly at Pei Zhiyi.

Pei Zhiyi held him with one hand and paid the bill at the bar with the other. He turned to Shen Mian and asked, “Can you walk?”

Shen Mian, slow to react, nodded slowly.

He was a bit drunk, but not to the point of losing consciousness.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll walk behind with him,” Pei Zhiyi said to the others.

“Pei bro, can you handle him alone? Should we help you carry him back?” Han Chao asked, flexing his well-built biceps.

Pei Zhiyi shook his head. “I can handle him just fine.”

The others didn’t insist, and they left in groups of two or three. Xu Qian and Mu Lingling even bought some honey water and handed it to Shen Mian, telling him to drink it and sober up.

Pei Zhiyi entered the school through the back gate, using facial recognition.

Shen Mian was somewhat drunk and definitely couldn’t climb over the wall. Pei Zhiyi wrapped him in his own long coat, carrying him horizontally, and calmly told the security guard that Shen Mian had a stomachache, and he had taken him to the hospital, which was why they were back late.

Shen Mian’s head was buried in the thin black coat, only exposing the back of his head, black against the night. Pei Zhiyi had told him not to speak, and he complied. However, he kept nuzzling against Pei Zhiyi’s neck, exhaling hot breath from being drunk.

Pei Zhiyi’s expression remained unchanged, but he tightened his grip on Shen Mian’s hand.

The security guard looked at them suspiciously but eventually let them in.

“Remember to bring a sick leave slip next time,” he muttered.

Pei Zhiyi nodded, carrying Shen Mian and walking away.