CH 35

exiledrebelsscanlations13-16 minutes 16.03.2023

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Mimosa

How mushy he was at first, and how upset he was now? Although most of the time it was Xiao Ke’s initiative, Zhou Zui also cooperated very well. Whenever Xiao Ke showed affection, he did not say a word to express his support. In the early days, Lu Xiaobei felt jealous of these two people, but now he wanted to make people jealous, and there unfortunately was no one else.

In fact, Xiao Ke did not come diligently before, and he came if he were free on the weekends but did not come on weekdays. However, since he did not come everyday, it made the shop feel a little depressing, cold and quiet.

On the day Xiao Ke sent flowers, Xiao Lin was in, but then had something to do so she left first and had no idea what happened that day. The next day, Lu Xiaobei told her. The two young ones got together every day to study the matter. Lu Xiaobei was thinking while cursing, and Xiao Lin was talking while worrying.

They really liked Xiao Ke since Brother Xiao had such a high IQ and was so nice, but it was such a shame.

Xiao Ke posted a status update one night as his status has not been updated for a long time. That day, it was easy to have a dynamic, and Lu Xiaobei had rushed to give a point of approval. After liking it, he found that something was wrong and secretly canceled it.

[I’ve never been a wimp in all my 30 years, but this time, I’m really a wimp. I concede.]

Lu Xiaobei wanted to comment and typed hurriedly on the phone several times “Brother Xiao, you do not recognize”, but he later deleted it and did not actually send it. Only the direct parties involved were qualified to persuade him. Being removed from the situation made things easy. If it hadn’t actually happened to him, then there was no use in trying to blindly advise someone. 

That status was visible to everyone, and since Lu Xiaobei could see it, Zhou Zui could also see it.

Zhou Zui recently looked often at Xiao Ke’s profile, and would go through his photo album while a few of the photos were secretly saved into Zhou Zui’s phone. When the latest status became this one, Zhou Zui looked at it for a long time. His note for Xiao Ke was still “Professor Xiao”, and the last chat between them was that night when Xiao Ke said, [Your leader unanimously agrees with you, don’t you think it’s a coincidence?]

Zhou Zui turned off the screen before he put the phone aside and pushed aside the idea of giving Xiao Ke a call. His eyes were dry and uncomfortable after looking at the phone for a long time, so Zhou Zui stood up with a frown and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

The next day, Zhou Zui went to the shop very early, and the stores on the entire street were not open yet. Zhou Zui opened the door and went in by himself.

Lu Xiaobei came when Zhou Zui was dismantling the tattoo machine and cleaning the table. Lu Xiaobei raised an eyebrow and asked him, “You worked in the morning?”

Zhou Zui didn’t say anything and let out just a faint “hmm.”

“So early?” Lu Xiaobei was still quite puzzled. “Don’t your clients come in the afternoon?”

Zhou Zui did not pay attention to him again and put things back before he went to the studio to draw. Lu Xiaobei frowned. The barometric pressure was so low, but this broken-hearted person was even colder. Apparently, he had really been affected by Xiao Ke’s status update last night. The words he used were a euphemism for their relationship to end.

I quit playing, I withdrew.

Lu Xiaobei sighed with nothing to say except…I wish you all the best.

Fang Qimiao also saw the status, and a phone call came the next day to ask Xiao Ke, “What’s the situation, Master Xiao?”

Xiao Ke was getting ready to go to class and had to walk a bridge from their college to the school building. As Xiao Ke was walking on the bridge, he said, “When will you stop gossiping about me?”

“I’m concerned. Reasonably concerned,” Fang Qimiao stressed to him. “You think I want to hear gossip about everyone? Young Master Fang is also very busy, okay?”

“Okay,” Xiao Ke laughed. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

Xiao Ke repeated, “I really don’t want to talk about it this time. Don’t ask.”

“…Okay,” He had said that, so Fang Qimiao certainly would not ask again, and he instead said after a pause, “Come out for a drink some day. It’s been so long since we met that I’m starting to  think that you and I are going to be separated.”

“No, it’s really not that.” Xiao Ke sighed and said, “What kind of bullshit are you talking about? I’m not dating you.”

“Then let’s talk about it when you want to.” Fang Qimiao also laughed. “Is it a date this week?”

Xiao Ke had already walked under the school building and told him, “It’s a date.”

Some students who came to class recognized him and took the initiative to greet him. Xiao Ke smiled back at the girls and put his silenced phone into his pocket. He really should go out for a drink. Recently, he had been to only two places which were school and home without any extra activities so he felt that if he didn’t go out for some air, then he would rot.

He and Fang Qimiao arranged to meet Friday night. Xiao Ke got off work and Fang Qimiao’s car was already waiting at the door.

Xiao Ke got in the car and said helplessly, “Can you not wait for me at the gate next time? I’m a teacher. I’m under pressure to get into your luxury car, and our school leaders will think I’m too flashy when they see me.”

“Bullshit.” Fang Qimiao started the engine and drove off. “Your Teacher Zhou’s car is also quite flashy, and were you not afraid if people saw it?”

Xiao Ke gave a slight smile and said, “Teacher Zhou never came to school to wait for me.”

“That’s right, you go to him.” Fang Qimiao elbowed Xiao Ke and glanced at him before he said with a smile, “Our Master Xiao is chasing after others. Is he still not enjoying the treatment of having someone come to pick you up from school?”

His mouth was really bad, so Xiao Ke scolded him with a smile.

It was true that he had not enjoyed it yet, but he did not wait to enjoy it while making a show of it. Xiao ke smiled and shook his head at the fate of people.

They went to the same place for a drink. When a fellow from Su Chi saw Fang Qimiao and called him “brother,” Xiao Ke asked him, “You come here often?”

“Ah, I am a single young man of age. If I still do not seize this last golden period of time to indulge myself. You think I want to say goodbye to singleness because my brain is missing a screw like you?”

Xiao Ke did not bother to say much to him. He saw Old Su so he went over to say “hello.”

In fact, even if they drank together, Xiao Ke would not say anything to Fang Qimiao as this matter was something he would not tell anyone.

Zhou Zui was so frank and spoke of his dark past with such a serious attitude that he did not want to mention it and was not willing to talk about it. Otherwise he would not have delayed until the last minute to speak. Thus, all those past memories would rot permanently in Xiao Ke’s stomach without a word from his mouth.

Xiao Ke respected the sincerity of each and every word, as well as all the secrets.

Xiao Ke had to digest Zhou Zui’s words by himself for several days, and he had to fully recover his mood into a calm state before he could consider the matter. He was particularly fond of Zhou Zui, and there was no denying that. Thus, Zhou Zui’s past was like a knife in Xiao Ke’s nerves that made him paralyzed and unable to think.

Xiao Ke hadn’t indulged himself with drinking in this manner for a long time, and he wanted the numbing sensation of alcohol to fill his brain. In fact, all that should have been thought about was almost done, and it was very unpleasant and therefore blocked. With a cup of alcohol inside, he saw familiar scenes and heard familiar music. The last time he drank so freely was on his birthday, and it was also the day that he fell in love with Zhou Zui.

Zhou Zui had indifferently stressed to him, “I will only drink. I don’t want a date.”

Fang Qimiao also did not stop him and told him, “Do not worry and drink. I can take us home later, so we won’t get lost.”

Xiao Ke drank another glass of alcohol before he frowned and said, “It’s better to believe in you than in fate.”

Fang Qimiao laughed and scolded him before he said, “But you don’t believe in fate.”

“Right,” Xiao Ke nodded. “So I don’t believe in you, I’d rather believe in myself.”

“Fuck.” Fang Qimiao had not dared to ask too many questions, but he also wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to send his drunk friend home to learn about how he had lost his love again.

Before going back that night, Xiao Ke finally let go and sat in the back seat of the car with his eyes closed and hummed, “Life is too fucking fucked up.”

Xiao Ke was usually a very cultured person, and it was only when he was really annoyed that he would curse with dirty words so Fang Qimiao asked him, ” Broken heart, huh?”

Xiao Ke did not open his eyes, and whispered after a long time, “Not yet.”

“What are you so damned upset about then?” Fang Qimiao glared at him. “I was fucking worried for nothing.”

Xiao Ke then did not say anything else. His mouth remained closed the entire ride home, and his eyes also remained closed as if he were asleep.

Drinking was indeed a good way to release stress. Alcohol could make people sink and suffer, and the pain of a hangover could take away all the troubles of the mind.

Xiao Ke woke up the next morning with a headache that made his head feel as if it were about to explode, but he suddenly felt refreshed after washing up.

The Xiao Ke in the mirror was actually in very bad shape, and he still looked unrefreshed although he had washed up, with a very depressed look after the hangover.

Fang Qimiao asked him, “What are your plans for today?”

Xiao Ke thought about it and said, “I’ll go back to my parents’ place. You can go your own way.”

Fang Qimiao laughed, “Throw me away when you’re done. You’re a scumbag.”

Xiao Ke also laughed and scratched his head in the mirror. Although he did not look too energetic, Professor Xiao was still very handsome, and his face was still the same.

Professor Xiao’s face value had always been high, and when Cao Yuan heard that Zhou Zui and Xiao Ke had a situation, he rushed to come over and join the fun. As soon as he went to the store, he asked Zhou Zui directly, “I heard that you and Xiao Ke broke up, right?”

Zhou Zui looked at him without saying a word and turned his eyes away. He was very annoyed.

“He is now very irritable,” Lu Xiaobei gave a friendly tip. “Immediately saying such a sentence is a little too harsh.”

“Yo, really, ah?” Cao Yuan stared. “You really broke up?”

The only sound in the room was the tattoo artists working as no one answered him.

“Quickly give me an accurate statement! Have you broken up or not? If you’ve broken up, I’ll take the chance.” Cao Yuan sat on the arm of the sofa and took a piece of candy from the coffee table to stuff into his mouth before he said, “Seriously, Xiao Ke is really my favorite type. I’m not kidding with you. If you two don’t make it, I really have to give it a shot, right?”

Zhou Zui didn’t look at him and just said, “Don’t fucking dream.”

“Fuck.” Cao Yuan cursed. “You can’t even afford to eat yourself, but you won’t let others eat.”

Zhou Zui did not say anything at first so Cao Yuan said a few words behind him, and Zhou Zui suddenly turned around to impatiently pick up his phone from the coffee table and type something to the group, [Whoever has time to drag Cao Yuan away from me, the reward will be 10,000.]

The people in the group all emerged, and they all came out to see the fun.

Zhou Zui typed another sentence and sent it out, [If it’s within ten minutes, I’ll add 10,000.]

Cheng Ning said, [I will be there within eight minutes.]

Lin Xuan followed at the bottom, [Six minutes for me.]

Lin Xuan also tagged all the members, especially Fang Xi three times, and told everyone to go to Zhou Zui to see the fun. Since Zhou Zui had not sent a word to the group for a hundred years, him taking the initiative to say these two sentences meant that Old Cao, the bastard, went to stimulate him again so he put a bounty of 20,000 just to throw him out.

This matter would probably be something their group would joke about for a year. The best jokes were the ones that made fun of those who were stupid.

“You’re sick,” Old Cao took a book and smashed it on Zhou Zui. “Then you just give me 20,000 and I’ll leave myself? I’m so fucking poor that 20,000 is enough for me to do a lot of crafts. Fuck.”

Zhou Zui ignored him and blocked him.

“I only spoke a few words. What made you explode?” Cao Yuan rarely saw such a big reaction from Zhou Zui. It was impossible to just pull back and so he continued, “I didn’t even mention Xiao Ke directly and you exploded. In the last few months, has your indifference been cured? Looks like Xiao Ke’s role is quite big, huh?”

Lu Xiaobei silently looked back at the two of them. He often felt that his big brother’s annoyance value was going to peak. These days, Lu Xiaobei’s words were less, and he did dare not mess with his brother.

“I’m not kidding with you, Old Zui.” Old Cao took the book again and patted Zhou Zui, “Anyway, you are all out of luck, I will take Xiao Ke for my….”

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhou Zui suddenly turned his head back so Old Cao then swallowed his words. Zhou Zui frowned at him and said, “Shut up! Just shut up. Can you stop thinking about him?”