Qing Kuang Chapter 106

Published at 10th of May 2023 01:16:57 PM

After the father-son hug, they all sat down and had a great birthday feast.

Kou Chen’s dad was chattier than usual. Huo Ran felt like he was always drinking, and not eating much. He spent most of his time talking. 

Praising Kou Chen, mostly.

Parents were actually quite easy to please. Just a little reciprocation from their children can put immeasurable joy on their faces, unable to be hidden.

But Kou Chen’s joy was written all over his face. Even Old Yang could see it.

“Kou Chen’s in a good mood today,” He said. 

“It’s alright,” Kou Chen didn’t try to hide it as he nodded.

“We’ll do something big for your birthday this year,” Kou Chen’s dad. “For your sister’s eighteenth… I think all of her birthdays were big?”

“Yeah,” Kou Chen nodded. “There was her sweet sixteen, her seventeenth as the last birthday before she turns eighteen, her eighteenth to celebrate her becoming an adult, her nineteenth because she’s almost in her twenties, her twentieth because she’s twenty now, her twenty-first because twenty-one is a lucky number, her twenty-second because it’s a palindrome birthday…”

Kou Xiao literally fell onto Old Yang as she laughed: “Ah, my brother really holds a grudge, he remembers every single one.”

“I remember all of your reasonings since your sixteenth birthday,” Kou Chen tsked.

“You can have them too,” Kou Xiao said. “We ask you every year, but you just say whatever. So boring.”

“You’re coming of age this year,” Kou Chen’s dad patted his shoulder. “We’ll make it big. Invite Huo Ran, and your other friends, we’ll go wherever you want, and eat whatever you want.”

“Camping?” Kou Chen immediately turned to Huo Ran. 

“Me? Taking you guys? I have to lead six rookies by myself?” Huo Ran didn’t save Kou Chen any face. “No.”

Kou Xiao burst out into laughter again “Was it better with the three of us?”

“Nope,” Huo Ran said. “You and Yang-ge are rookies too.”

“Oh my,” Kou Chen’s mom laughed. “Little Ranran is so cute, no hesitation at all.” 

“Think of something else,” Huo Ran said.

“Then we can find a park, bring our books,” Kou Chen said. “We’ll get together and study the whole day…”

“I’m going home.” Huo Ran stood up.

Kou Chen pushed him back down in the chair: “Fine, I’ll think of something else.” 

Kou Chen didn’t tell Huo Ran to go home after dinner either. He dragged him back to his room to do homework.

They sat side by side at his desk, and Huo Ran was a little stunned.

“Are you having fun?” Huo Ran looked at him. “You just want me to sit here and watch you study, right?” 

“Hm?” Kou Chen turned around and paused. “Oh, you didn’t bring your homework?”

“…I’ve pretty much finished it already!” Huo Ran said.

“Then you can revise.” Kou Chen threw him a book.

The book was brand new. You could stick it on a shelf in the bookstore and it would sell. 

“I want to do as much as I can while the momentum lasts,” Kou Chen said. “I really don’t know how long I can do it for, I’m scared it won’t even last half a month.”

“Kou Chen.” Huo Ran patted his head and the bandage on his head. “I’ll help you.”

“Forget it.” Kou Chen didn’t even turn around. “You just want to fuck me.”

“…Fuck off!” Huo Ran cried. 

“Am I wrong?” Kou Chen said. “I wanted to study earlier, but what did you do? You went straight for my pants.”

Huo Ran stared at him.

He didn’t know if he should feel embarrassed or apologetic or ashamed of his eagerness.

“You wanted to go further, right?” Kou Chen was still looking down at his paper, but Huo Ran could see his mouth quirk up in a small smile. “If Shuaishuai weren’t there…” 

“If I really wanted to do something, who cares about Shuaishuai, he’s just a dog,” Huo Ran said. “He can bite me and it still won’t help his owner!”

“Okay, okay, okay,’ Huo Ran quickly grabbed his hand. “It’s fine, I heard it.”

“Study.” Kou Chen brought his hand to his mouth and bit his finger. 

As a minor slacker under the major slacker Kou Chen’s influence, it was Huo Ran’s first time studying when there was still a month before finals.

But it was a pretty special feeling. It felt like the two of them were fighting towards something great.

Of course, Kou Chen being thrown out of the country was a very big deal to the two of them. 

He stared at the side of Kou Chen’s face.

So handsome.

How painful would it be for such a handsome young man to be sent abroad? He wouldn’t be able to see him, touch, him, kiss him, stroke him.

He stared at Kou Chen a bit more, and then he leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. 

“That’s not free,” Kou Chen quickly pecked him on the nose. “Have you thought about my birthday present yet? I don’t want anything you can buy on the streets, I want you to make me something. And I want a birthday card. A love letter.”

“…You didn’t write me one,” Huo Ran said.

“You didn’t ask,” Kou Chen said. “I’m asking.”

“Okay.” Huo Ran nodded. “I want a reply to the love letter.” 

Kou Chen laughed: “No problem.”

Kou Chen’s birthday was still half a month away. Although Kou Chen didn’t know what he wanted to do for it, Huo Ran had been thinking about the present for a while now.

With his own present of the leather anklet and Kou Chen’s requests, he’d have to spend some time on the matter. But Huo Ran just couldn’t come up with anything that would be interesting and meaningful, especially since Kou Chen got his dad a thermos with his photo printed on it. All he could think about was printing his photo on something. 

The absolutely tacky idea lingered in his mind. It was painful.

In the end, he looked at the strip of leather around his ankle and finally started coming back from it.

Maybe he could make a pair of bracelets.

Even though he told Kou Chen not long ago that he doesn’t wear bracelets. 

But now, as long at it was matching with Kou Chen, even a dog collar sounded like a good idea. And he was still wearing the THXD bracelet.

Back at home in his own bedroom, Huo Ran began thinking about what sort of bracelet he should make. 

He swept his gaze around all of the bits and pieces in his room.

What could he use to make a bracelet? It has to look good, be unique, cool, and it can’t be hard to make.

His gaze landed on a few old bike chains hanging off of a shelf.

Apart from wires, that was the thing that most resembled a bracelet. It was unique, cool, and it didn’t look bad. 

Huo Ran leapt up to grab the chains. He picked out two pieces. One was from a track bike, and the other from a 10-speed bike.

He laid them out on his wrist. The track bike one is an olive chain, and it looked a bit bulky. The 10-speed one was thinner, so it looked sharp.

The 10-speed bike chain, then.

Huo Ran sat down at his computer and searched up bike chain bracelets. He found that a lot of people have already made them, and you could literally buy them easily online. 

Tsk.

But it’s different when it’s handmade. It’s good that there were already finished products. That meant he could buy the parts. He needed a clasp.

He saved a bunch of photos as inspiration, and then Huo Ran bought twenty clasps in two different styles.

Of course, he wasn’t going to make twenty bracelets. It was just in case he messed up… Making twenty bracelets, he could fail eighteen times. 

It should be fine, you have to be stupid to mess up that much.

After placing the order, Huo Ran felt happy, like he already finished making the bracelets.

He grabbed a piece of paper and casually scribbled a few words. Happy birthday, Kou Chen, twisties…

Fuck you. 

And then he erased those two words.

Too uncivilized.

Fuck you~

That’s better. 

Huo Ran couldn’t stop laughing at it. He took out the card Kou Chen gave him.

Crudely written words, childish strokes, and the simplest blessing.

Huo Ran stared at it for a long time.

Back at school, Kou Chen received countless stares.

Past the infirmary, Tao Rui called out to him: “What happened to your head?”

“I got hit,” Kou Chen said. 

“How many stitches?” Tao Rui frowned.

“Three, I’m fine.” Kou Chen shook his head.

“You don’t have to go to the hospital to change your bandages,” Tao Rui touched his bandages. “I’ll do it for you in the afternoons.”

“Will it… hurt?” Kou Chen was a little worried. 

“No,” Tao Rui laughed. “You can have Huo Ran come with you.”

Hearing Tao Rui say that, Kou Chen suddenly felt a little guilty. He quickly nodded his agreement and ran off to the dorms.

The rest of them were all back, and hearing him arrive, they all gathered in his room. 

“Kou Chen,” Wei Chaoren produced a big bag. “My mom told me to bring this. There’s soup, not chicken soup, I think it’s some medicinal thing. It’ll be good for your injury. There’s four servings, all frozen… but they’re melted now. My mom said to leave them frozen in the cafeteria, and warm it up when you want to eat.”

“Fuck, that’s too much! I only got three stitches, I can’t even feel it now… Did your mom think you’re the one that beat me up?” Kou Chen peeked in the bag. Apart from the four containers of soup, there was also a bunch of other food.

“No way, my mom knows I can’t beat you,” Wei Chaoren said.

“Your injury,” Xu Chuan frowned at the bandages on his head, looking distressed. “Your injury…” 

They all waited for him to finish his sentence.

“Huo Ran must have felt terrible,” Xu Chuan said.

“Holy shit,” Huo Ran spoke up from off to the side, then he nervously glanced around the room.

“Guo Zijian isn’t here yet,” Xu Chuan said. “He usually comes back after dinner.” 

“I suddenly don’t feel back for Kou Chen at all,” Jiang Lei said.

“That jealous?” Xu Zhifan laughed.

“Very jealous,” Jiang Lei said. “I feel like a sour jug of vinegar now.”

“Let’s get ramen tonight,” Hu Yi suddenly said. 

“Are you still asleep?” Jiang Lei asked. “Do you know what we’re talking about right now?”

“Yeah, you’re a jug of vinegar,” Hu Yi said. “Help us out when we get noodles, thanks.”

“Fuck off!” Jiang Lei glared at him.

As always, their first dinner back at school has to include barbeque.

There weren’t many people on a Sunday night, so they didn’t need to fight for seats or food. It was an overall happier experience.

“Can Kou Chen eat spice like that?” Xu Chuan asked.

“He can’t eat barbeque in general,” Xu Zhifan said. “It’ll interfere with the healing process, might get inflamed, all that.” 

“…Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’m already fucking sitting here.” Kou Chen glared at them. “You’re telling me I can’t eat barbeque? Why the fuck am I here then?”

“To keep Huo Ran company,” Jiang Lei said.

“The jug of vinegar is right,” Hu Yi nodded.

“I want barbeque,” Kou Chen said. 

“You can drink congee or something,” Kou Chen thought about it. “Or ice cream…”

“I want barbeque, I want to eat meat!” Kou Chen said.

Nobody paid much attention to his words because the lunch ladies had just arrived with their barbeque. They all picked up a skewer and dug in.

Kou Chen was still worried about inflammation, so he didn’t eat anything yet. He leaned into Huo Ran and whispered: “Give me a piece.” 

Huo Ran looked at him.

“A little piece.” Kou Chen pointed at the smallest piece of lamb. “That one, just a taste.”

Huo Ran put the skewer by the mouth, and Kou Chen went straight to tear the piece off carefully with his teeth. He chewed happily, and then flicked Huo Ran’s cheek: “Good boy.”

“Watch it,” Xu Chuan reminded them. “We’re in the cafeteria, there’s people behind us.” 

Huo Ran startled and looked behind them along with Kou Chen.

There wasn’t anyone sitting at the two tables behind them, but there was a huge tray of barbeque on the third table, nearly blocking the person sitting there.

Seeing the two of them turn around, the person moved over and smiled at them. It was Lin Wuyu.

They smiled back at Lin Wuyu, and then turned around. Kou Chen whispered: “Fuck, do you think he knows?” 

“Probably.” Huo Ran took a bite of his food. “I feel like he knew ages ago.”

Neither of them spoke. Huo Ran didn’t know what Kou Chen was thinking. He felt an indescribable feeling himself, like a breath of relief, but not completely. It was a little strange. Lin Wuyu was the first person outside The Seven of them who knew their secret, and good thing it was Lin Wuyu.

“What’s wrong?” Kou Chen leaned over. 

“Nothing,” Huo Ran said.

“Give me a bite of chicken,” Kou Chen said. “Half a chicken wing.”

“You want me to rip it apart for you?” Huo Ran frowned. “If you want it then just eat it.”

“Just half,” Kou Chen said. “You eat it first and I’ll finish it.” 

“Lin Wuyu is right behind us!” Huo Ran hissed. The others were fine, they were all eating and talking, too busy to pay attention to them. Maybe they were already used to it anyways. But Lin Wuyu was right there, three tables away from them. It felt awkward no matter how he thought about it.

“So what if he’s behind us?” Kou Chen said nonchalantly. “That’s good.”

Huo Ran looked at him, and then he finally said: “You’re fucking doing it on purpose, right?”

Kou Chen raised an eyebrow. 

“Jealous aren’t you?” Huo Ran said.

Kou Chen raised that eyebrow again.

Chapter end