CH 2

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 realising 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 on 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 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 was 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 the half the sky red, and their shadows was stretched very long. It was after school time, 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 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?]

Footnotes

1: Basically people with little experience in the outside world.

2: Saying that you’ll be my enemy.