Qing Kuang Chapter 113

Published at 10th of May 2023 01:21:41 PM

Before when Lin Wuyu and barbeque appeared together, there would always be enough food to feed a whole room of hungry people. But now Huo Ran knew that those people never existed.

Lin Wuyu can eat. And he eats pretty fast. 

Not even twenty minutes after they ordered half a table of food, Lin Wuyu put his chopsticks down and said: “I’m done.”

Huo Ran looked at him in shock. Beside him, Kou Chen swallowed his mouthful of meat and looked up: “That’s it…? That’s quite a lot actually.”

There weren’t many vegetables left either.

“Do you work out? How do you not get fat? You’re always eating barbeque and meat, even in the middle of the night,” Kou Chen asked curiously. “Do you have some sort of secret to maintain your figure?” 

“I…” Lin Wuyu paused. “Have some health problems.”

“Ah,” Huo Ran froze, suddenly feeling a bit bad for him.

“Really?” Kou Chen looked at him.

“Nope,” Lin Wuyu wiped his mouth. “You’re so gullible.”

Before they could react, Lin Wuyu had already stood up. “I’ll be off now, you two have fun.”

“Oh,” Huo Ran nodded.

“We might not see each other again, I wish you both happiness.” Lin Wuyu smiled, and then he left the cafeteria.

When the sour lemon group arrived at the cafeteria, Huo Ran and Kou Chen still hadn’t finished all the food. Although there wasn’t much left either.

“What’s going on here?” Xu Chuan pointed at the plates and glared at the two of them. “Eating alone?”

“Not alone, they’re together.” Wei Chaoren reminded him.

“The two of them count as one, they are alone.” Jiang Lei grumbled. “There’s only six people left in Operation: Lick the Sea, and you don’t even cherish it. Hiding here to eat, only leaving us the scraps.” 

Kou Chen poured his half-bowl of food into the plate and squished it back and forth with a spoon.

“The scraps are gone too,” Hu Yi said.

“How Love Destroyed a Person, by Jiang Lei.” Jiang Lei sighed.

“Give him the card,” Kou Chen said to Huo Ran. 

Huo Ran got out Kou Chen’s school card. “Hurry up, the food’s gonna be gone by the time you shut up.”

When everyone got their food and brought it back to the table, Huo Ran and Kou Chen were already finished, but for their friends, they decided to stay and watch them eat.

“What’s going on?” Wu Xiaochen walked by with a tray. “You two can’t afford to eat?”

“Is it a dare?” Li Yiyi asked. 

“How terrible,” Tang Wei bent down to look at Kou Chen. “You must be starving to death…”

“It’s just us,” Jiang Lei said. “We’re striving for a brighter future.”

“Striving,” Wei Chaoren nodded. 

On the other hand, Li Yiyi’s words made Kou Chen remember something.

While he was studying hard lately, all he cared about was beating his dad. He hadn’t thought about Huo Ran.

After they ate, they headed back to the classroom for the THXD for the country’s future something something not go abroad something something university something study group whatever. Kou Chen talked to Huo Ran: “I forget to ask.” 

“What?” Huo Ran asked.

“If I pass all of my finals, you…” Huo Ran glared at Kou Chen before he could finish.

“What about me?” Huo Ran said. “What are you trying to say?”

“…Aren’t you overthinking this a bit?” Kou Chen clicked his tongue. 

“You know the answer to that,” Huo Ran also clicked his tongue.

“I meant,” Kou Chen put an arm around him. “If I pass everything, take me biking? It doesn’t have to be far, that might be too much, but I just want to go somewhere with you.”

Huo Ran paused, and then he patted his back. “I’ll take you out even if you fail everything.”

“Don’t say that!” Kou Chen glared at him and hissed. “Did you fucking cum your brains out last night?! Talking about failing right before exams… Take it back!” 

“I take it back, I take it back!” Huo Ran quickly said. “You’ll pass everything for sure! I’ll take you out to play, wherever you want! As many times as you want!”

“Not to play, you’re taking me biking,” Kou Chen immediately relaxed. He shook his bracelet. “I just want to experience your hobbies.”

In the half-month before finals, Kou Chen refused to have the word “fail” appear anywhere in his life. He glares at anyone who says it. 

The day before finals, he couldn’t quite take it anymore, and he decided to visit Old Yuan in his office.

Huo Ran wanted to go with him, but he refused.

“You don’t need a representative?” Huo Ran asked with a smile.

“Not with Old Yuan, that’s only with my dad.” Kou Chen said. “Besides, I don’t want you to laugh at me.” 

“Aren’t you just going to ask Old Yuan how your dad’s doing?” Huo Ran said. “What is there to laugh about?”

“My dad must have been asking about me in secret too,” Kou Chen said. “In the past, I wouldn’t have cared, who cares if he asks? But it’s different now, I can’t let him know everything.”

“I do.” Huo Ran put his head down on the desk and looked at his ass.

Kou Chen had already stood up, but he immediately sat back down and poked him in the nose. “If I knew you were this sort of person…” 

“What about it?” Huo Ran looked at him.

“I could’ve only got to know you earlier,” Kou Chen sighed.

There were other people in Old Yuan’s office, so Kou Chen waited outside in the hallway for a while. He walked in when everyone else left. 

“Come for a pre-exam pep talk?” Old Yuan smiled.

“No,” Kou Chen sat down beside him. “I just feel uneasy, I want you to praise me a little.”

“Really?” Old Yuan smiled harder.

“I’ve never studied so hard in my life. If I don’t do well this time,” Kou Chen said, “It might just be the end of me.” 

“That easily?” Old Yuan poured him a cup of tea. “I always thought you were very resilient.”

“Don’t say that, hurry and praise me,” Kou Chen said.

“Lately, all of the teachers have come to see me,” Old Yuan said. “They all praised me…”

“Hold on,” Kou Chen looked at him. “Dear Mr. Yuan, as a language teacher, aren’t your comprehension skills a bit lacking?” 

“They all praised me for how I was able to get an uncaring student to start working so hard. In the beginning, your questions all made them want to sigh, but now, they can tell that you’ve improved a lot.” Old Yuan smiled. “See that? The artful expression of a language teacher.”

“…You’re amazing,” Kou Chen gave him a thumbs up happily.

“You don’t need to be under so much pressure,” Old Yuan said. “You’ll pass for sure. If you’re only one or two points off, I’ll give them to you.”

Kou Chen paused: “Why?” 

“But not too much,” Old Yuan said. “If it’s more than two points then I won’t be able to do anything.”

“Why?” Kou Chen asked in shock.

“You’re my student, I can’t let you lose to your dad,” Old Yuan said seriously.

“No, I mean,” Kou Chen stood up and smacked the table. “I don’t need that from you! I found some old second year exams to do, and not only did I pass them all, it was by a couple of extra points too!” 

“Is that so?” Old Yuan took a sip of tea.

“Why would I lie to you?” Kou Chen raised his voice. “I did two of them! Then I had Xu Zhifan and Wu Xiaochen mark them for me, and they didn’t go easy on me!”

“Woah,” Old Yuan said.

“Why are you pretending to be cute?” Kou Chen literally had no words. 

“Then why are you so nervous?” Old Yuan said calmly. “You clearly know your own strength, and you know that as long as everything goes well, you’ll pass for sure?”

“Then if something goes wrong?” Kou Chen leaned over the desk to Old Yuan. “What if I mess up?”

“Then you can go to the hospital!” Old Yuan smacked the table too.

Kou Chen froze for a second, and then he almost laughed in Old Yuan’s face. 

“Relax,” Old Yuan said. “Not much can go wrong during finals.”

“Do you have coke?” Kou Chen drank his tea, trying to wash out his mouth.

“There’s some in the dean’s office next door,” Old Yuan said.

“You’re not getting them anymore?” Kou Chen asked. 

“We’ve been getting jasmine tea lately,” Old Yuan answered.

“…Can’t get used to it.” Kou Chen turned to leave. “Bye, Old Yuan.”

“Be on your way now,” Old Yuan waved.

Kou Chen immediately turned into the next door over, asked the dean for a can of coke, and went back to class contentedly. 

They weren’t studying right before exams. Xu Zhifan gave their group a little break.

But apart from Huo Ran, Jiang Lei and Hu Yi were still reading. After working so hard lately, they didn’t want to waste this last bit of time.

“Zhifan,” Huo Ran laid on his bed. “Say, do you think we can make a comeback this time?” 

“You’d absolutely do better than your old selves,” Xu Zhifan said. “But in our school, you can’t really beat anyone else with just half a semester’s work. Everyone works hard.”

“Beat yourself first, huh?” Hu Yi said. “Or your friends.”

“Right,” Jiang Lei nodded. “I think I can beat Chaoren.”

“I’ll beat Chuan-ge,” Hu Yi said. 

“I’ll let them know you guys are about to wage a war,” Xu Zhifan grabbed his phone with a smile.

“Do it!” Jiang Lei smacked his thigh.

“Are Huo Ran and Kou Chen gonna compete with each other?” Hu Yi glanced at Huo Ran.

“Nah,” Huo Ran swung his legs back and forth. “We’re the new modern couple that will improve ourselves together.” 

“Drag this guy out,” Xu Zhifan pointed at Huo Ran.

“Right away!” Jiang Lei and Hu Yi immediately replied before jumping on Huo Ran’s bed.

Chapter end