Qing Kuang Chapter 95

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

Chapter 95
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He did kind of forget himself at that moment. There wasn’t anyone right near him, so it made him think that there weren’t people around at all. He didn’t even think to look around first.

They were barely ten metres away, forgetting kissing wrists, they could even hear them talking. 

Besides, Xu Chuan and Jiang Lei were slackers who didn’t have any vision problems.

He kissed him pretty seriously too.

AD

 

 

There was only one word to describe the scene.

Exposed. 

Huo Ran started sweating.

 

Although Xu Zhifan knew about him and Kou Chen, he didn’t pry further. Xu Zhifan knows him well, he knows that he doesn’t know how to start talking about the situation.

But right now, Xu Chuan and Jiang Lei were standing just ten metres away from them.

It had him thinking back to how he felt in that old equipment room with Xu Zhifan.

 

Nervous, and awkward.

The others weren’t Xu Zhifan. Even though it would probably be fine if they were alone, it was worse when they were together. Especially concerning this situation. It was like facing devils.

“What do we do?” Huo Ran’s heart thumped wildly, and he forgot to let go of Kou Chen’s hand. He even wanted to kiss it again.

AD

 

“What do you mean?” Kou Chen asked, perplexed. “Treat them to lunch.” 

“I fucking meant what do we say to them?” Huo Ran turned to him. There must be something wrong with Kou Chen’s head, there’s gotta be something missing in there.

“What’s there to say?” Kou Chen let go of him and headed towards Xu Chuan and Jiang Lei. He sounded nonchalant, “I like Huo Ran, we’re together. Please send us your red packets…”

Huo Ran looked at him, suddenly not feeling so nervous anymore.

That’s right. 

I like Kou Chen, and then we got together.

Just like anyone else would.

…But it’s still not the same!

“Jiang Lei and Chaoren never asked us to send them red packets!” Huo Ran hurried after him. 

“What’s going through your head?” Kou Chen said. “Why would they make us give them red packets? Are they together?”

“No…” Huo Ran wanted to laugh. “One of them likes Lu Huan, and the other…”

 

“Stop!” Kou Chen shook him. “They have crushes! Are they together? I’ll gladly give red packets when they actually get together, but they’re not right now!”

“Ah,” Huo Ran nodded. 

“They’re all useless, not even Xu Zhifan can’t get a girl,” Kou Chen clicked his tongue a few times. “Look at us, we got each other.”

“Enough with that,” Huo Ran saw that the others were all there too, and he started feeling nervous again. “I don’t think you know the concept of ‘enough is enough’.”

“Don’t need it,” Kou Chen snapped his fingers.

Xu Zhifan was standing at the very back, and he glanced at Huo Ran. 

He slowed down his pace, and only heard Jiang Lei say: “I always knew there was something going on between those two.”

Wei Chaoren and Hu Yi first looked confused, but they quickly understood and nodded in assent with Jiang Lei.

Behind Kou Chen, Huo Ran shrugged.

When they reached the others, Xu Chuan poked Kou Chen’s chest: “Explanation later.” 

“Let’s go,” Kou Chen turned, “Lunch first.”

“Huo Ran!” Jiang Lei squeezed beside Huo Ran and whispered, “Did you just… I wasn’t seeing things, right?”

“Keep walking.” Huo Ran pushed him.

“I’m gonna scream!” Jiang Lei said. 

“We’re in public, forget it,” Hu Yi said. “Find an empty alleyway…”

“We’ll beat them up together!” Wei Chaoren growled.

“Be serious. Yell at them a bit, maybe.” Hu Yi said. “Beat them up? No way. You’re gonna discover that your opponents are the ones that actually know how to fight.”

They all laughed. 

 

And then followed an enthusiastic gossiping session. They even forgot about not wanting to eat ramen or donburi, with Wei Chaoren rushing up to the first donburi place they passed by.

 

And then he pointed at the menu: “These ingredients.”

“Alright,” The waiter nodded as he tapped on the tablet. “Any drinks?” 

“Fresh juice,” Xu Chuan said. “That first.”

“Okay.” The waiter walked away.

 

As they waited for the juice to arrive, nobody said a thing. They all stared at Kou Chen and Huo Ran. 

Things like this have to be done in one go, with no interruptions. Or else it’ll lose that sense of excitement.

The waiter brought their juice, and as he was about to pour it for them, Jiang Lei smacked the table: “We can do it ourselves, thank you.”

Under everyone’s piercing gazes, the waiter quickly put the juice down and left, closing the door behind him.

“Pour us some,” Jiang Lei pointed at the juice and said to Huo Ran. “You sinner.” 

Huo Ran was feeling a little awkward, but at that, he couldn’t help but burst out into laughter so hard he almost choked.

Kou Chen poured some juice out for everyone.

 

“You two are always stuck to each other like glue, it makes my stomach turn,” Jiang Lei said. “Feels like I might have gastritis at this point…” 

“Have you gotten it checked?” Hu Yi asked.

“No, my dad said he’ll take me this weekend… Carrot, cooperate with me here!” Jiang Lei smacked the table. “What do you think this is? It’s an interrogation!”

 

“Keep going!” Wei Chaoren pointed at Kou Chen and Huo Ran. “Force it out of them!”

“You two hug and touch and kiss each other all the time,” Jiang Lei said. “I could deal with that, besides, we’re all thirsty, Kou Chen’s not the only one to hug or kiss another guy. But! But! Since the basketball tournament… No! Before that!” 

“Something’s been off since the rooftop confession,” Xu Chuan said.

“Yeah! We saw it all!” Jiang Lei said. “We gave you opportunities! But you never said anything! Now I finally caught you in the act! Huo Ran, if you say that it was just a friendly kiss I wouldn’t believe it even if you killed me!”

“Try it,” Hu Yi said as he ate.

“Carrot!” Jiang Lei cried. “Do you know what we’re doing right now?!” 

“…Nope,” Hu Yi paused.

“Wait,” Wei Chaoren couldn’t help but say. “Then why did you look so knowing just now?”

“You guys all looked like that,” Hu Yi said. “I wasn’t gonna be left out.”

“Who’s fucking…” Xu Chuan sighed, and then he turned to Xu Zhifan after a moment. “Zhifan, you already knew, right?” 

“No,” Xu Zhifan said.

“Is something going on or not?” Jiang Lei looked at Huo Ran.

Kou Chen sighed. He picked up his glass and waved it in the air: “Let’s put it this way. What do you mean ‘we saw it all’, Leilei? If you didn’t see us today, you would have no clue. Chuan-ge on the other hand, maybe.”

“…Okay! Okay,” Jiang Lei nodded. “But I always fucking thought you two were just together. If you’re gonna confirm it, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.” 

“Them?” Hu Yi exclaimed, finally understanding what everyone was talking about.

“Yes.” Kou Chen glanced at Huo Ran. He didn’t know what he was thinking about, but he looked pretty calm. He was even smiling slightly.

“Holy shit!” Jiang Lei jumped up! “Holy shit!”

Wei Chaoren also pushed his chair back from the table: “Seriously? Fuck.” 

“Seriously.” Huo Ran cleared his throat.

Everyone went quiet.

 

They all sat there and stared at them.

  

Huo Ran knew that he could’ve denied it. Even if Kou Chen admitted it, as long as he doesn’t confirm it they could fool everyone apart from Xu Chuan. Everyone had a heart bigger than the school field after all.

But for some reason, he just wanted to say it out loud.

It’s not like he wasn’t worried to apprehensive, but these were his friends, they weren’t just ordinary classmates. Although they haven’t known each other for very long, they’d been through a lot together and he really didn’t want to keep it from them any longer.

Nobody has expressed their opinions on this matter, but they were all cheering their support for Lin Wuyu when he yelled his feelings from the rooftop. 

That was one of the reasons Huo Ran dared to admit it at that moment.

“Let me say something,” Xu Zhifan was the first to speak. “No matter what we feel about it, we can’t tell anyone else. They can talk about it whenever they want, but we have to keep it all to ourselves.”

“I don’t really care about it,” Jiang Lei said. “It feels like I’m already used to it by now. I might not even feel anything if they start kissing in front of me.”

“They kiss all the time anyways,” Hu Yi said. “Congratulations, guys.” 

With that, everyone started laughing. Xu Chuan took a sip of juice: “It feels like a wedding.”

“They make it work.” Wei Chaoren dragged his chair back to the table. “The two most hopeless ones in our group ended up getting with each other, what are we supposed to do after working so hard?”

“What else?” Kou Chen got his phone out. “Red packets.”

“What red packets?” Jiang Lei asked. 

“To celebrate our relationship,” Kou Chen knocked on the table. “Hurry up.”

“For you or Huo Ran?” Wei Chaoren quickly grabbed his phone.

“One each,” Kou Chen said.

Everyone stopped in their motions, and Xu Chuan pointed at him. “Where the fuck are you from? Who receives them separately? Are you trying to rob us?” 

“What if I am?” Kou Chen smacked the table. “Red packets!”

“How much?” Hu Yi said. “Let’s all give the same amount, then you can screenshot it.”

 

“188? Sounds nice,” Xu Zhifan said.

They all sent the money. 

“Congratulate us!” Kou Chen glared. “Don’t just wish us happiness and prosperity!”

“Don’t worry,” Xu Chuan said. “This is our first time congratulating a friend, and two of them at that… We’ll pour our hearts into it for sure.”

 

Notifications started coming in on both of their phones, one after another. 

Huo Ran laughed as he picked his phone up. Indeed, there was a neat line of red packets.

What surprised him the most was the fact that they were all very heartfelt with their wishes.

Xu Chuan: Love is hard won, treasure it 

Jiang Lei: We’ll always support you, Gege is here for you 

Hu Yi: If the road ahead is bumpy, we’ll smooth it for you, congratulations

Wei Chaoren: A perfect match!

Xu Zhifan: Live every day as if it were your last, but it will also last forever

Words couldn’t express how thankful Huo Ran felt. He screenshotted everything, and then happily collected all of the money. 

After that, another message came in.

He paused, and then saw that it was a red packet from Kou Chen.

It said: Darling Ranran.

With 125inside. 

Huo Ran turned to Kou Chen, and he raised his glass to him.

 

 

The waiter knocked on the door and brought them their hotpot, and soon, they had everything they ordered.

Wei Chaoren picked up his glass and stood up: “Come on, let’s…” 

They all stood up and looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Let’s, let’s…” Wei Chaoren cleared his throat and then turned to Xu Chuan. “Why don’t Chuan-ge come up? I’m not good at this, I can’t find the words.”

Xu Chuan smiled: “Actually, it was all pretty sudden today. We weren’t prepared at all. But that’s how many things are, they can come at any time. We’ll congratulate you guys for getting together so suddenly, and then in a blink of an eye, years will have passed.”

“Yeah, for their unexpected… first love,” Xu Zhifan said. 

“First love!” Wei Chaoren called out.

“First love!” Everyone cheered, clinking their glasses together so hard they spilled some of their drinks into the hotpot.

First love.

So this is what first love looks like. 

Huo Ran was suddenly dazed. So suddenly, he fell in love with someone. His first love.

It was a little overwhelming.

 

“What did you guys talk about in Old Yuan’s office?” Jiang Lei dropped some mushrooms into the hotpot, followed by a plate of meat. 

“Mostly about my dad wanting to send me abroad and me refusing,” Kou Chen said.

“Then why did Huo Ran go?” Hu Yi asked. “It’s like having him meet your parents. Old Yuan’s playing matchmaker.”

They all burst out into laughter.

“Shut up,” Huo Ran laughed. “I was just there to act as a middle. You guys don’t know, but Kou Chen and his dad just cannot have a proper conversation.” 

“Is it resolved now? You don’t have to go abroad?” Wei Chaoren asked. “You can’t go, it’ll be horrible. You can’t understand anything and you’re not used to anything and there won’t be Murder Pot or mushroom pots. Fuck I can’t even think about it. It hurts”

“You could say it’s resolved,” Kou Chen frowned. “But I have to pay a price.”

 

“A finger?” Wei Chaoren asked.

“Can you take him outside and beat him up?” Kou Chen pointed at Wei Chaoren and asked Xu Chuan. 

“I’ll cut off his finger!” Xu Chuan slapped his chopsticks onto the table. “Where’s my knife?”

“Here,” Jiang Lei grabbed his keys, which hung a swiss army knife.

“We’re going off topic,” Hu Yi reminded them.

They all got back to the point and turned to Kou Chen. 

Kou Chen sighed: “The price is that I have to study hard, and pass all of my finals.”

“Damn,” Wei Chaoren exclaimed. “You agreed?”

“Yup,” Kou Chen said. “There’s no way I’m going abroad.”

“True,” Wei Chaoren looked at Huo Ran. “But you have to be willing to work for it. I don’t think that’s a problem, we have good student Zhifan here.” 

“Good student Zhifan,” Huo Ran leaned over the table, “It’s all up to you.”

“Leave it to me,” Xu Zhifan grabbed some mushroom. “Starting tomorrow… Why don’t I teach all of you guys while I’m at it?”

“Fuck,” Jiang Lei paused. “Are we going from Operation: Lick the Sea to a study group?”

“I think that’s good. You guys can keep me company and give me motivation,” Kou Chen said. “The main thing is that I’m competing against my dad. Old Yuan’s having him listen in on classes from home, and we’ll have the same tests…” 

“Holy—Shit!” They all exclaimed.

 

 

You had to admit that Old Yuan’s words had an effect on Kou Chen. Add that to the fact that Kou Chen’s planning to work hard for the sake of not having to go abroad. The next day, before even the third years were awake, there was a knock on the door of Huo Ran’s dorm room. 

“Wake up, time to study!” Kou Chen yelled as he knocked.

“Fuck?” Xu Zhifan startled awake, sitting up in his bed clutching a pillow.

 

“Fucking hell,” Huo Ran quickly leapt out of bed and opened the door before Kou Chen could wake anyone else up. He didn’t even put his shoes on.

It was a pretty special feeling, completely different from anything else. When Kou Chen did something like this in the past, he would think ‘who’s fucking mental case is this, I’ll fucking beat you up’. 

And now, what he felt was— ‘I’m sorry, my Kou Chen’s waking people up, I’m on my way to stop him’.

When he opened the door, Kou Chen was about to yell again, so he put a hand over his mouth: “Shut the fuck up!”

“Time to study,” Kou Chen said beneath his hand.

“Not even the roosters are awake yet!” Huo Ran hissed. “If you can’t sleep then go run laps!” 

Kou Chen didn’t say anything. He only smiled.

Huo Ran was still absorbed in his smile when Kou Chen suddenly stuck his tongue out and licked his palm.

It felt like a jolt of electricity. From his palm up his arms, travelling through his veins. The feeling of numbness exploded through his entire body before he could even react.

His legs turned into jelly and he nearly fell to his knees in front of Kou Chen. 

“Time to study, Ranran.” Kou Chen said.

“Study my ass! You’re just asking for it, aren’t you!” Huo Ran hissed out. He pulled the door closed, tugged Kou Chen closer by the collar, and then kissed him.

Chapter end