Qing Kuang Chapter 94

Published at 10th of May 2023 01:03:02 PM

“Let’s stop here for today,” Old Yuan said. “It’s impossible for just a single conversation to resolve all of your conflicts, but in the future, I hope you two can sit down and talk about it like today.”

“Thank you, Old Yuan,” Kou Chen said. 

“You can go back to class now,” Old Yuan gave him a pat, and then one to Huo Ran as well. “Huo Ran was of a lot of help today, good job.”

“Come over this weekend,” Kou Chen’s dad patted him on the back as well. “I haven’t had a proper conversation with you yet, you’re pretty interesting.”

AD

Huo Ran smiled.

“Let’s go.” Kou Chen picked up the half-full can of coke and downed it as he walked out. 

“Save me some,” Kou Chen’s dad said.

“…What?” Kou Chen turned around, the can already empty.

“That was on purpose, wasn’t it?” His dad bristled.

“I, I, I, here…” Huo Ran was about to hand him his own can, but then he hesitated, “I already drank from it…”

“I’ll get you one,” Old Yuan smiled. “You always drank tea before, I thought you didn’t like these little kid drinks.”

“I don’t, but sometimes I feel like drinking it when I see it.” Kou Chen’s dad was a little embarrassed. He waved to Kou Chen and Huo Ran, “Be on your way now, don’t be late for class.”

“We’re already late,” Kou Chen threw the can away and looked at him. “Coming?”

AD

“I need to talk to Mr. Yuan,” His dad said. 

“About what?” Kou Chen asked warily.

“Not about you,” His dad waved him off again, “Shoo, shoo, it’s adult business, do I have to tell you?”

“Who else are you gonna talk about?” Kou Chen was still wary.

If he had ears on the top of his head, they’d be perked up right now. 

“About how to be a good parent to a rebellious child,” Old Yuan said with a smile. “You have me here, don’t worry. Go to class.”

Kou Chen turned his head back around with every step he took, before finally following Huo Ran out of the office.

Kou Chen’s dad pointed at the door: “Mr. Yuan, look at this kid.” 

Old Yuan poured him another cup of tea with a smile: “You tricked him into thinking you fainted, it’s normal that he’s suspicious… But today was pretty productive. See, the kid is actually easy to talk to.”

“We can talk normally, just not about any issues. If there are two sides to it, he’ll oppose me.” Kou Chen’s dad sighed. “How long is this rebellious phase going to laugh?”

“When you stop grappling with him,” Old Yuan said.

“Yeah,” His dad snorted. “If I don’t, he’ll grapple with me.” 

“Try it first,” Old Yuan said. “Go along with him. You’ll see change.”

“I was also rebellious, when I was little,” Kou Chen’s dad was about to reminisce.

But Old Yuan cut him off: “That’s different. The environment you grew up in, your personality, your family, they’re all different. There’s no point in comparing them.”

“You do have a point,” Kou Chen’s dad nodded. 

“There’s a problem with a lot of parents. They want their child to do whatever they want,” Old Yuan said. “Isn’t that right?”

“I think so,” Kou Chen’s dad clicked his tongue. “Now that you say it, those parents do sound annoying.”

“I had a student in the past, he got straight A’s, was the basketball team captain, got the highest humanities exam marks in the city, just two points away from the best in the province.” Old Yuan took a sip of tea. “Such an amazing child, but his parents still weren’t satisfied. He always fell short of their standards. Do want to know what he told me?”

“What?” Kou Chen’s dad asked curiously. 

“He felt that his parents always required the very best, saying, ‘look at everything that I’ve accomplished, you have to follow in my footsteps, you’re doing this wrong, doing that wrong’,” Old Yuan said. “He told me, forget if I can even do that for a second, I don’t think their accomplishments are very impressive to begin with.”

Kou Chen’s dad paused, and then he started laughing: “An interesting kid.”

“And some parents feel that their own lives weren’t successful enough, but they still demand their children to live by their rules to achieve success. That’s even less persuasive, so it’s normal that the child will act out,” Old Yuan said. “Even if they are successful, that doesn’t mean their child has to become a carbon copy of them. The most important thing is for the child to achieve their own success.”

Kou Chen’s dad was silent for a long time. Then he clasped a fist in the other hand for Old Yuan: “Teachers do know their stuff.” 

“Think it over. It takes time to improve your relationship with your child, do it slowly.” Old Yuan smiled. “Your first concern right now should be studying.

“…Yeah.” Kou Chen’s dad leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I agreed too fast.”

“Do you know why Kou Chen only set his goal to passing?” Old Yuan said. “He’s smarter than you.”

“Smart my ass. If he runs into a problem he’ll think about it for a minute at most, if he can’t solve it, he’ll use his fists!” Kou Chen’s dad smacked the table. 

“Still better than you. He’ll use his fists if he can’t solve it,” Old Yuan said. “And you’ll jump directly to using your fists to solve the problem. And you were the one who taught him that, for over ten years even.”

Kou Chen’s dad didn’t say anything. A long while later, he looked at Old Yuan like he just snapped out of it: “Didn’t you say you were going to get me some coke?”

Huo Ran paused: “To the cafeteria then?”

“Let’s go to the field,” Kou Chen whispered. “There’s nobody there right now, we can kiss, hug, touch…”

“Back to class.” Huo Ran jumped before quickly heading off.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Kou Chen grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the field as he laughed. “I’m joking, let’s just go talk. My head’s a mess right now.” 

“Stick to the wall,” Huo Ran turned back around.

They barely took a few steps before a rolled-up ball of paper landed by their feet.

“Damn,” Kou Chen laughed. “Jiang Lei has good aim.”

Huo Ran looked up to the second floor of the building in front of them. He could see Jiang Lei’s angry face through the window, and he even stuck his arm out to give them the middle finger. 

They almost laughed too loud, so they crouched down and ran away.

The group chat soon exploded with messages:

-fuck you two!

-are they done? 

-they went to the field! I’m gonna tell on them!

-I threw something at them

-bet you didn’t hit them

-it’s a moving target, okay 

-get your asses back here!!!

Kou Chen couldn’t stop laughing as he replied.

-don’t go to the cafeteria, let’s go out for lunch

-don’t think we’ll let you off with just some donburi and ramen 

-when have I treated you guys to that? we’ll wait for you at the main gate

The field wasn’t completely empty. There were a few third years walking around the track with earbuds in, either studying or relaxing.

The school was pretty lenient towards the third years at this time. If they didn’t want to stay in class, they can go out and take a walk. 

Huo Ran and Kou Chen joined the people walking.

After one lap, Kou Chen finally felt a little more relaxed.

“I really couldn’t quite find the words back there, I don’t know if it was out of excitement or agitation,” Kou Chen said. “Not because of my dad cooking.”

“He might not even cook,” Huo Ran said. “He looked pretty confident, you better not lose.” 

“I think he really did get good grades in school,” Kou Chen sighed. “My dad, and my uncles, and all of their kids, they all took school seriously.”

“But you’re the cutest,” Huo Ran said.

“…Holy shit,” Kou Chen laughed and put an arm around him. “My Little Ranran is the sweetest.”

Huo Ran tsked. 

“Believe me, I’m serious,” Kou Chen said. “I’ve had a taste. Chocolate flavoured.”

It took Huo Ran a few seconds to react. He hissed: “Fuck off!”

Kou Chen snickered, and then he stretched: “Hey, you think my dad will listen to Old Yuan?”

“I think so,” Huo Ran thought about it. “I think your dad wants to improve his relationship with you.” 

“I do too,” Kou Chen said. “I even missed my dad sometimes when I was living with my grandparents. I was really jealous of Kou Xiao.”

“Poor thing,” Huo Ran rubbed his back.

“My dad talked to Old Yuan a lot of times, right?” Kou Chen asked.

“Yeah,” Huo Ran nodded. “At least two that I know of.” 

“That’s more like it,” Kou Chen snapped his fingers and smiled in satisfaction. “I wasn’t really sure, I don’t know if he really would be worried or not if I ran away.”

“Of course he would, that’s nonsense,” Huo Ran said. “You’re not enemies or anything.”

“But now I got roped into it too,” Kou Chen said. “This breakthrough trust exercise of Old Yuan. How do I pass all of my exams? Even if I don’t, I’d still have tried really hard…”

“If you put your mind to it, you can do it,” Huo Ran said. 

“Really?” Kou Chen said. “I’ve basically never paid attention in class since the beginning of high school.”

“It’s fine,” Huo Ran said. “I’ll help you, even though I… won’t be much help, but at least it’s better than doing it alone. And there’s also Xu Zhifan, he can help.”

“Okay,” Kou Chen furrowed his brows. “I really do want to see if there’s a fucking problem with my IQ or something.”

“No need for that,” Huo Ran sighed. “You’re perfectly fine.” 

“Really?” Kou Chen looked at him.

“Please don’t insult my tastes,” Huo Ran said. “I’ve liked you for a while, are you trying to tell me I ended up confessing to an idiot after all the stress I’ve been through?”

Kou Chen looked at him, and two seconds later, he started laughing. The more he laughed the harder it was for him to stop.

“I take it back,” Huo Ran said. “Maybe you really do have a problem.” 

“Can I ask you something?” Kou Chen leaned in to whisper in his ear. “When did it start? When did you realize you liked me?”

“How would I know?” Huo Ran frowned in thought. “Can’t remember. It just slowly starting feeling off, especially after knowing Lin Wuyu…”

“Damn, you even talked to him?” Kou Chen’s voice got louder.

“No, why the fuck would I talk to him?” Huo Ran said. “But he… I felt like he could tell.” 

“Hm?” Kou Chen paused.

“I think he thinks that we’ve always been together,” Huo Ran said.

“Is he that impressive?” Kou Chen said. “Has he been keeping an eye on us or what?”

“Seriously? The whole grade knows that we even go to the bathroom together. “Huo Ran sighed. “Just one step away from sleeping in the same bed.” 

“Do you want to?” Kou Chen immediately asked.

“What?” Huo Ran looked at him.

“Sleep together,” Kou Chen said.

“You’ve changed, Chenchen,” Huo Ran lamented. “You’ve changed.” 

“Where?” Kou Chen looked down at himself.

“You’re not the pure young boy who was scared of twisties anymore,” Huo Ran continued.

“Twisties I’m still scared off, maybe not the pure part. After all, I’m…” Kou Chen said as he glanced towards the bleachers. He startled, “Fuck, speak of the devil!”

“Huh?” Huo Ran quickly looked over as well. 

When he climbed the fence yesterday to go to Kou Chen, Lin Wuyu was sitting right there on the bleachers reading. Today, he was in the same spot.

“Does he not go to class? He’s here every day,” Huo Ran said.

“Every day?” Kou Chen raised an eyebrow. “How do you know? Do you come here every day to watch him?!” 

“Fuck?” Huo Ran looked at him in shock. “Yell louder won’t you? He can almost hear.”

“Morning!” Kou Chen turned and called out to Lin Wuyu.

Lin Wuyu looked up and smiled when he saw the two of them: “It’s not morning anymore, isn’t it?”

“Studying?” Kou Chen headed towards the bleachers. 

“Kou Chen?” Huo Ran didn’t know what he was doing, and he quickly reached out to grab him.

But Kou Chen walked fast. He only ended up grabbing the back of Kou Chen’s sweatpants, tugging them away from his waist. Huo Ran quickly let go.

The waistband snapped back loudly.

Kou Chen didn’t turn around, he only reached back and rubbed the spot, then he sat down beside Lin Wuyu. 

He’s crazy!

Huo Ran could only follow him.

He should’ve known! When there wasn’t even anything going on between them, Kou Chen got fucking jealous of a girl asking him for a selfie! He could literally smell the sourness from a mile away!

…Oh. 

Was then when it began?

Oh.

Huo Ran suddenly felt a little dazed, and strangely happy. He sat down with Kou Chen. 

“Not studying,” Lin Wuyu said. “There’s not that much to study.”

Arrogant, aren’t you?

Huo Ran glanced at him.

“What are you reading then?” Kou Chen pointed at the book in Lin Wuyu’s hands curiously. 

“This…” Lin Wuyu cleared his throat, hesitated, and then closed the book to show them the cover.

“Palm reading?” Huo Ran was surprised.

“Dude, exams are in a month,” Kou Chen was just as surprised. “And you’re sitting here learning about palm reading?”

“I’m not,” Lin Wuyu smiled. “It’s a… friend’s book, I just wanted to see why it was so interesting.” 

“Is it?” Huo Ran couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s alright,” Lin Wuyu said. “If I do bad on my exams I can set up a booth.”

“Hey? How about…” Huo Ran pushed his sleeves up.

“Do me first.” Kou Chen smacked his hand aside and stuck his own hand out to Lin Wuyu. 

“You two,” Lin Wuyu took the pen that was clipped onto the book and smoothed Kou Chen’s palm out with it. “Go take your walk, don’t bother me.”

“But you’re not studying.” Kou Chen stood up.

“Go on,” Lin Wuyu said. “Go, I’m studying palm reading.”

When they cut through the track, the bell had already rung.

“Let’s go to the gates,” Huo RAn said.

“Mhm,” Kou Chen glanced back at the field again. “Did you see that Lin Wuyu had a pen? Was he taking notes?”

“Dunno,” Huo Ran said. “You could say I’m a slacker, I can’t understand their world.” 

“Slacker Ran,” Kou Chen hugged him from behind and said. The two of them swayed as they walked. “And you still said you’ll help me study.”

“At least I pass my tests, Slacker Chen,” Huo Ran said.

“Oh yeah,” Kou Chen took his arms away. “Come over this weekend.”

“Huh?” Huo Ran paused. He suddenly felt a rush of excitement, like he fucking snorted some street drug or whatever. 

He wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“My dad even invited you himself,” Kou Chen went on. “You have to go, he’s pretty fond of you so that’s why, but the main reason…”

“I’m going, I’ll go,” Huo Ran said. “Why do you need so many excuses?”

“I’m scared you won’t go,” Kou Chen smiled. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Huo Ran rubbed his hand.

“Dunno.” Kou Chen thought for a moment, and then he whispered, “Probably because I still can’t believe that you really like me.”

“I really, really like you.” Huo Ran leaned down and kissed his wrist.

Classes were just over, and there were barely any people around, so Huo Ran wasn’t worrying about how it would look to others. 

But when he looked up, he froze. “Fuck.”

Right ahead of them was the forked path from the school building and the field to the main gates.

Xu Chuan and Jiang Lei were standing there.

They were looking at the two of them, jaws dropped. 

“Fuck, we’re done for,” Kou Chen looked up and froze too. “One meal isn’t gonna be enough to keep their mouths shut, huh?”

Chapter end