CH 26

Translation checker: Rin

Editor: Junyans

“Yu Ran, wait a minute.” Cui He stopped him and trotted a few steps to keep up. “It’s better if you don’t interfere in girls’ affairs. I’ll go and discuss it with the Youth League Committee member.” 

Yu Ran nodded and stopped outside the classroom with Fang Zhao. The two boys began to think about how to comfort Ye Xi later. As they were talking, they found that Chu Mian had brought Ye Xi around from the corridor. The girl’s head was lowered, her eyes were red, and her voice was heavily nasal when she greeted them.

Yu Ran hurriedly pulled Chu Mian aside and asked him in a low voice, “You, did you beat her?”

Chu Mian didn’t understand how Yu Ran had arrived at that conclusion, so he hammered his forehead lightly, “Don’t just leave because you want to in the future.”

Yu Ran still wanted to ask about Ye Xi, but Chu Mian covered his mouth, dragged him aside, and told him “don’t worry”. 

When they returned to the class after the bell rang, the situation had already changed.

Yu Ran sent a QQ message to Cui He: “Why did you beat the Youth League Committee member to tears?”

[Whale Song.]: Why, in your world, as long as someone cries, they must have been beaten?

[Whale Song.]: I didn’t do much. I just calmly educated her and told her not to steep so low from now on.

Yu Ran was not used to hearing girls using mean words and advised Cui He: “Don’t go so far, just tell her not to vie for the director’s position.”

However, Cui He replied: “This matter isn’t serious. I was looking for her for something else. Have you noticed? Bian Tingting and the girls who hang out with her always go to the back of the classroom after the class is over, pretending to read the blackboard newspapers or looking out the window. What’s so fucking interesting there to see? Do they think that they could be liked by Chu Mian if they stayed in the back for a few more minutes?”

Yu Ran didn’t understand the logical relationship in her words, let alone why she suddenly mentioned Chu Mian, and only asked, “Then did she agree to return the position of director to Ye Xi?”

“If she had dared to say that she wouldn’t return it, I’d have pulled all her hair out.” Cui He sneered while typing. “I knew that she wasn’t fast-talking Ye Xi for the stage drama.” 

Yu Ran was curious: “Ah? Then what was she doing it for?”

[Whale Song.]: Did you fucking read the messages I just sent? Forget it, even if I explain it to you, you won’t understand. Don’t get involved in adults’ business.

[The Wolf Hid the Dog Radical]: Oh

Now that the director’s position had been returned to the original owner, Yu Ran was also relieved. But he was still curious about why Ye Xi had been crying, so he turned around and lay on Chu Mian’s desk. He grabbed Chu Mian’s pen when he was in the midst of writing, obstructing his study. 

Chu Mian sighed. “I’ve already told you, she’s fine.”

“Then, why was she crying?”

Chu Mian felt that even if he told the truth about why Ye Xi was crying, Yu Ran would definitely not be able to understand that sentiment.

So he lowered his head and looked at Yu Ran’s bright eyes, and hesitatingly said one word: “Period.” 

Yu Ran was taken aback for a moment, then retracted quickly, “Oh… being a girl is so tiring.”

After a few seconds, Yu Ran turned around again and asked in a low voice, “Why don’t boys have periods?”

Chu Mian raised his eyes to glance at him, raised his eyebrows and asked back, “Do you want to discharge blood for a few days every month?”

“Fuck, aren’t you curious?” Yu Ran felt that this topic was rather secret, so he deliberately stretched out his palm to put over his mouth. “I saw blood in my family’s toilet when I was a kid, it really scared me to death! I thought my mom had killed my dad, because my dad hadn’t come home for a few days at that time. Fortunately, I found out later—” 

Chu Mian thought he was going to say “that my mom was on her period” next, but Yu Ran laughed out loud and said, “that my dad wasn’t killed, it just happened that he had been having an affair in those few days hahahahaha!”

“…” Jte Zljc ibbxfv ja tlw klat j mbwqilmjafv fzqgfrrlbc, kbcvfglcu lo tf rtbeiv ijeut jibcu klat tlw.

Cr atf qjmf bo atf mbegrf jmmfifgjafv, atf alwf ifoa yfmjwf rtbgafg. Pc atf yilcx bo jc fsf, la kjr ijaf Ymabyfg jcv atf qglwjgs jevlalbc obg atf ojlgs ajif rajuf vgjwj xlmxfv boo.

“Now, count the number of props, spindles, cradles, swords…” Ye Xi took the form to confirm everything one by one, and suddenly she was startled. “It’s bad, I only remembered to bring the flower that awakens the Sleeping Beauty, but forgot to prepare more to lay on the bed. Now it’ll look empty when Chu Mian is lying on it.” 

Cui He took out her cell phone to check the time. “It’s okay, it’s not 7:30 yet. Yu Ran can’t come so early, so let’s ask him to go to the flower shop in front of the school to buy it.”

Ye Xi nodded. “Mm, now the props are all ready, then…”

The two girls turned to look at Chu Mian in unison.

“Put it on.” Fang Zhao patted Chu Mian on the shoulder sympathetically, and handed over the bright pink dress. 

Chu Mian’s eyes darkened.

If it was a princess dress, Chu Mian would reluctantly give up a little bit of dignity to wear it. But Chu Mian thought that it was a cruel and inhumane abuse of aesthetics for him to wear a rose-red dress decorated with fluffy white patterns of flowers and butterflies and covered with a layer of mesh.

“This is already the most suitable one I can borrow,” Ye Xi said sincerely, “The cosplay club didn’t have anything that matched the style of fairy tales.”

Chu Mian grabbed the white prince suit Ye Xi had prepared for Yu Ran, and asked, “Then why is his costume so normal?” 

“Oh, didn’t the princess in the original work sleep for a hundred years before she was kissed awake by the prince?” Cui He walked over and pushed him into the dressing room. “The styles popular in her time will be old-fashioned in a hundred years. We’ve to pay attention to details.”

Chu Mian reluctantly went in to change his clothes, and only after he put the dress on did he realize that he had been annoyed too early.

He directly kicked open the door of the dressing room. When the three people outside saw him for the first time, they all let out an uncharacteristically exclaimed in unison: “Wow—”

Chu Mian’s expression was so cold that it looked like it had just been taken out of the ice cellar. 

Let alone the fact that the combination of elements on this dress violated human reason, it even had an off-the-shoulder style, which exposed the teenager’s chiseled collarbone and his eye-catching shoulder line.

Cui He handed Chu Mian two cotton balls.

“What for?”

“For you to pad your chest.” 

“…Get lost.” Chu Mian shot daggers at her, lifted his skirt and opened his legs before sitting straight on the prop bed.

Cui He shook her head and said to him sharply: “Hey, girls can’t separate their legs so widely like this!”

Chu Mian grabbed the two cotton balls from her hand and smashed them directly on her head.

Cui He laughed till she trembled. At this moment, Yu Ran finally arrived at school with a bag of flowers in a rush. As soon as he entered the backstage of the auditorium, he introduced himself loudly: “The main character is here!” 

The next second, he met the eyes of the bare-shouldered Chu Mian and the air froze instantly.

Yu Ran was so surprised that he stood frozen in place, and after blanking out briefly, he blew a loud whistle at Chu Mian.

In order to prevent them from staging the scene of “the princess turned into a spiteful queen and beat the little prince”, Ye Xi quickly stood up and changed the subject: “Did you bring the flowers for making the bed?”

“Of course!” Yu Ran placed the huge black plastic bag he had brought on the ground, untied the rubber band, and took out the pure white and flawless chrysanthemums, which were all freshly cut. They seemed fresh and clean and exuded a light fragrance. 

“Yu Ran, I’m going to criticize you,” Fang Zhao said, “It’s all white flowers, their symbolic meaning isn't good.”

“Who said it’s all white,” Yu Ran retorted, and smoothly took out two golden yellow chrysanthemums from the bag. “How wonderful and big are these flowers! The boss even gave me two of them.”

With arms crossed in front of his chest, Chu Mian sneered at Yu Ran, “Do you want me to have a public funeral?”

Cui He comforted him: “Forget it, forget it. With Yu Ran’s IQ, it’s already good that he didn’t bring a wreath for you to wear.” 

Together, the few people spread the flowers that Yu Ran had brought on the prop bed and let Chu Mian lie down to try after finishing the arrangement. As soon as he closed his eyes, the whole scene became solemn and somber, which looked exactly like a scene of everyone working together to bury the princess.

“It’ll be our group’s turn soon.” Ye Xi couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. “Yu Ran, do you remember all your lines?”

“Yeap.”

The person who played young Sleeping Beauty was an extra, so Chu Mian only needed to lie on the bed from the moment he appeared on the stage, waiting for Yu Ran to put a rose on his lips. Only then would he wake up to read a few lines. He did not wear a wig. After all, it was only the first round. Being willing to wear a dress was already his biggest concession. 

After the extra actor’s part at the beginning of the play was over, Chu Mian went to the stage and slept with his eyes closed. He quietly listened to Yu Ran reciting his lines in an exaggerated tone next to him, and it didn’t take long before the key moment of awakening Sleeping Beauty with roses arrived.

“Let me save her…” Yu Ran began to sound gentle and soft, and he paced to Chu Mian’s side with a rose in his hand.

According to the script, Yu Ran now only needed to take off a petal and gently place it on Chu Mian’s lips. But as he leaned over, he suddenly realized that Chu Mian was probably really asleep now. If he didn’t wake up after putting on the petals, wouldn’t it be embarrassing?

So, in order to confirm that Chu Mian was still awake, Yu Ran deliberately recited the lines he had already recited once again: “Oh my God, I’ve never seen such a beautiful girl…” 

Yu Ran thought that with their tacit understanding, Chu Mian would frown after hearing the repeated lines. That way he could continue to perform with a peace of mind.

However, to the surprise of everyone present, as soon as Yu Ran’s voice fell, a bright red blood slowly flowed from his nose, snaked down his chin, and finally dripped on the white chrysanthemum petals.

“Holy shit.” Yu Ran’s expletive instantly spread to the stage through the microphone.

Chu Mian immediately opened his eyes, got up without thinking, grabbed Yu Ran’s arm, and pulled him backstage to wash his face. 

Yu Ran was very confused. While splashing the bridge of his nose with cold water, he glanced at Chu Mian in the mirror, and tentatively asked, “Did I screw it up?”

“You stop the bleeding first.” Chu Mian asked him to raise his head and plugged his nose with a tissue. “Go back and drink plenty of water.”

When the blood had temporarily clotted, Yu Ran tilted his neck and was taken out of the bathroom by Chu Mian. As soon as he went out, he heard Cui He laugh as she told him, “You’re really something. From yesterday to until now, there have been a total of eight people acting as princes, and you’re the most useless one.”

When Yu Ran looked up, he could only see Chu Mian’s face. “It’s not because of him.” 

“But doesn’t the line you read mean that you got a nosebleed out of excitement after seeing Chu Mian?”

Yu Ran stopped talking and stared blankly at Chu Mian’s jaw.

“Go back and change clothes,” Chu Mian said.

Outside the locker room, there were actors from other classes lined up. Chu Mian didn’t have the patience to wait, so he took him to his lounge. 

Yu Ran sat leaning against the wall, raising his head to adjust the position of the tissue.

Chu Mian turned his back to him and untied the belt around his waist. Before taking off his dress, Chu Mian quietly turned his head to confirm that Yu Ran was still raising his face and couldn’t see his body from his angle.

He pulled off the zipper with his mind at ease and the loose dress immediately fell to the ground.

Yu Ran felt that the blood had almost stopped now, so he lowered his head and moved his neck. As a result, Chu Mian’s smooth back appeared in his field of vision and he subconsciously pressed his head against the wall. 

But Yu Ran quickly calmed down. He had seen so many many boys’ naked bodies during military training, and Chu Mian’s back was also…

— No.

— Chu Mian’s back looked much better than the backs of that group of boys.

After Yu Ran realized this difference, he suddenly felt that his nose started to bleed again. 

“No wonder you refused to shower with everyone during military training.”

When Yu Ran’s voice sounded from behind, Chu Mian turned his head vigilantly and found that the other party’s head had returned to its normal angle at some time.

“Your back…” Yu Ran smiled. “Do you charge for a glance?”

Without saying a word, Chu Mian grabbed his school uniform and put it on, ordering Yu Ran not to stare at him while he was changing clothes. 

“Okay, okay, okay I won’t look.” Yu Ran closed his eyes obediently.

Chu Mian’s ears were hot, and while putting on his clothes, he looked back to check whether Yu Ran had quietly opened his eyes. He almost put on the shirt inside out. He quickly sorted his clothes and threw the key of the lounge on the table. “I’m going back to the classroom first. Remember to lock the door when you’re done changing your clothes.”

He had just taken two steps when he felt the bulge on the pockets on both sides of his pants. His hands reached in and grabbed out a lot of rose petals.

“You stuffed them in?” Chu Mian turned back and faced Yu Ran. 

Yu Ran didn’t answer but just smiled at him as if he had succeeded in his prank.

Chu Mian expressionlessly raised his hand and sprinkled all the rose petals on top of Yu Ran’s head.

Yu Ran did not like the smell of roses, but when he gazed at Chu Mian, the smell of the petals slowly turned into a smell he felt comfortable with.

The air between the two was scented with flowers. Yu Ran suddenly sat upright, smiled with shining eyes, grabbed Chu Mian’s wrist, and called out to him: “Holy shit, Chu Mian…” 

“What?”

“It felt as if I was taking a shower just now!”

Chu Mian frowned, not understanding what Yu Ran was blabbing about again.

“Seriously, fuck.” Yu Ran got excited but unfortunately, he was too poor at organizing words and phrases and didn’t know how to accurately describe to Chu Mian the magical feeling of a warm current passing through his body just now. “That is, there seems to be a mysterious power in my body which is just about to awaken! It happened when you threw the flower petals at me just now.” 

He shook Chu Mian’s arm and said earnestly: “Throw it at me once more.”

Chu Mian reached into his pocket with his other hand, took out a bunch of wrinkled rose petals, and gently placed them on Yu Ran’s brown hair.

It was a pity that Yu Ran didn’t feel anything strange this time. He let go of Chu Mian’s wrist in disappointment, and said, “Hey…your magic power is too weak.”

Chu Mian regretted cooperating with Yu Ran, so he immediately threw out an evaluation: “Muggle.” 

He took out all the petals left in his pocket and threw them on the other party without leaving a single piece.

When Chu Mian left and walked a long away, Yu Ran touched the top of his rose-scented head and muttered.

“I can take a hot shower out of thin air.”