Qing Kuang Chapter 97

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

“Failing thing,” His dad stood at the top of the stairs and sneered, crossing his arms. “I never thought that you’d be forced to study one day either.”

“Don’t worry.” Kou Chen stepped over Shuaishuai and went over to the stairs. “My 18 year old brain is perfectly suited for learning high school material. You on the other hand… Have you finished today’s videos” 

“Yes,” His dad continued sneering. “I even finished the homework for one class already!”

“What a coincidence!” Kou Chen said. “Me too!”

“Shouldn’t your 18 year old brain be faster than mine?” His dad said.

“Aren’t I a legendary slacker? It’s normal that I’m slow,” Kou Chen said. “But you used to be an old straight-A student…” 

“Watch your words.” His dad pointed at him.

“Not old!” Kou Xiao yelled from the couch. “How is dad old? He got married and had children early, he’s still young. Don’t say that, Kou Chen!”

“This Mr. Yuan is amazing,” His mom said. “All your dad does when he’s at home is study. He isn’t even going to the gym.”

“I did,” His dad said. “You were still sleeping..”

“Go do your homework,” His mom waved him away, and then she smiled at Kou Chen. “Come here, son.”

His dad turned and went back to his study.

Kou Chen watched the door close, grabbed Shuaishuai and went over to sit down by his mom. “Was he really studying all day?”

“Yup,” His mom petted his head with one hand, and Shuaishuai’s head with the other. “Your Mr. Yuan sends him the videos twice a day, and he shuts himself in the room all day to watch them and do homework.” 

“Seriously?” Kou Chen almost didn’t believe it.

“Let me tell you,” His mom whispered. “Back when I first met your dad, I knew he was a lot more dedicated than anyone else when he puts his mind to it. If he says he’ll do something, then he’ll do his absolute best.”

“Really?” Kou Chen whispered.

“Really,” His mom said. “That’s what I like about him.” 

“I’m not like that, you shouldn’t like me anymore then,” Kou Chen said.

“Try, what if you are?” His mom smiled. “If not, then we can throw you away.”

“I’m going to my room, I’ll come out when he does.” Kou Chen stood up and nudged Shuaishuai with his foot. “Come on.”

Shuaishuai followed him up the stairs. 

As he passed his dad’s study, he hesitated for a moment before leaning against the door, wanting to see if his dad was still watching the videos.

Right as he touched the door, he knew he was gonna be embarrassed.

His dad always locked the door, but today he didn’t!

And it wasn’t even closed properly! 

Kou Chen missed the door, and then he ended up stumbling into the room.

His dad looked up from where he was reading at his desk.

“You didn’t close the door?” Kou Chen asked.

“What?” His dad snorted. “Want to copy my homework?” 

“…If I’m gonna copy it I can ask Xu Zhifan.” Kou Chen said.

“Out,” His dad picked up a pen and made a few marks on the paper. “Don’t bother me.”

Kou Chen tsked and turned to leave. When he was about to close the door, he poked his head back in: “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me. I understood all of my classes this week.”

His dad looked at him in silence. 

And then he started chuckling.

“What are you laughing at?!” Kou Chen grumbled. “I really did!”

“My son’s not dumb,” His dad laughed. “After a year of not paying attention, you can still pick a random week and understand everything. Amazing.”

Kou Chen stared at him for a long moment before saying: “Are you praising or insulting me?” 

“I’m praising you!” His dad smacked the table. “Can’t you tell?”

“I mean,” Kou Chen mumbled as he closed the door. “I’m not used to it.”

Huo Ran sat cross-legged on the couch, eating an apple. They were all waiting for lunch, so the group chat was lively. Only Kou Chen was missing.

“Going out tomorrow?” His dad asked when he walked by.

“Mhm,” Huo Ran nodded. “Going to Kou Chen’s place.”

“Taking him somewhere?” His dad asked. 

“Yeah, he doesn’t want to… go abroad.” Huo Ran took a bite of his apple. “If he doesn’t study hard, his dad’s gonna send him abroad.”

And then he won’t be able to see me anymore. 

Heheheh.

After finishing his apple, Huo Ran went to wash his hands. He was planning to text Kou Chen to see what he was doing, when he appeared in the group chat.

-mr. zhifan, you there? 

He’s looking for Xu Zhifan.

Huo Ran felt a surge of annoyance.

-yup, what

-what did you write for the english reading comp, send me a picture 

Huo Ran clicked his tongue, not knowing if he should feel moved or bitter.

Bitter.

Seeing as if Kou Chen asked him, he wouldn’t know the answer. And… he hasn’t done his homework yet.

Xu Zhifan sent a photo of his work in the group chat. 

-thank you very much mr. xu

-don’t copy it

-I won’t, I just didn’t understand it

Now, Huo Ran wanted to laugh. 

His phone dinged. Kou Chen sent him a private message.

Huo Ran suddenly perked up as he tapped on the message.

-darling ran

-darling chen 

-did you do homework yet

Huo Ran paused. What kind of conversation starter is that?

-no, why?

-hurry up 

-don’t you have anything else to fucking say?!!!

-mwah

-fuck off!

-I’m gonna go do homework, I’ll call you after lunch 

-get lost now! good luck!

Then Kou Chen went silent, probably doing homework.

Huo Ran really couldn’t get used to it. The whole week, Kou Chen was hard at work. He even stopped sleeping in class to stare at the teacher earnestly. 

Yesterday, the math teacher couldn’t take it anymore and asked, “Kou Chen, do you need something?”.

Huo Ran almost burst out laughing.

Even thinking about it now made him want to laugh.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he put his phone down and stood up. His grades weren’t much better than Kou Chen’s, if he kept up this momentum until finals, he really might surpass him… Fuck, he didn’t even want to think about it. 

Who knows how high and mighty someone like Kou Chen is gonna get!

Huo Ran grabbed his backpack and rushed into his room.

Homework, homework, homework, and then some extra reading…

“Lunch time,” His mom called from the door. “Why are you doing homework now? Eat first. Don’t you always wait until the evening to do it?” 

Huo Ran could only put his bag down and go back to the living room.

Not long after lunch, as Huo Ran was spacing out as he tried to force himself to do homework, Kou Chen called him. “Little Ranran.”

“Did you finish your homework?” Huo Ran asked. 

Kou Chen couldn’t stop laughing: “So vindictive.”

“Hey, Kou Chen.” Huo Ran put his head on his desk and said softly, “How is it with your dad?”

“He’s doing homework.” Kou Chen said.

“No way!” Huo Ran was a little shocked. “Still?” 

“Obviously. Old Yuan wanted him to see how hard we students have it,” Kou Chen. “And most of it is homework! Besides, what if he ends up failing because he didn’t do homework?”

Kou Chen sounded happy, so Huo Ran even wanted to laugh along with him.

“He didn’t yell at you?” He asked.

“Nope, he’s too busy for that,” Kou Chen said quietly. “When are you coming tomorrow?” 

“Right after I wake up,” Huo Ran said. “And then we can take Shuaishuai out for a bit?”

“When do you wake up…” Kou Chen said. “You always sleep until noon.”

“Call me when you get up,” Huo Ran laughed. “Is that good?”

“Okay.” Kou Chen was satisfied with that. 

He never expected this.

At six in the morning, his phone rang. 

Huo Ran opened his eyes, regretting the fact that he forget to tell Kou Chen he’ll kill him if he calls before eight.

“Ah…” He turned around, and then picked up the phone. “Kou Chen!”

“Morning, Ranran.” Kou Chen’s cheerful voice sounded from the speaker.

At that moment, Huo Ran’s annoyance slowly disappeared. He suddenly realized that he really missed Kou Chen, and that realization came the second he heard his voice. 

“Morning, Chenchen.” He said.

“Are you up yet?” Kou Chen asked.

“…I am now.” Huo Ran yawned. “Don’t eat breakfast yet, wait for me.”

“Okay,” Kou Chen answered. 

He sounded extra cute, and that gave Huo Ran the motivation to get out of bed.

Kou Chen stared at the elevator, and when he saw Huo Ran step out, he suddenly felt that he was even breathing a lot easier.

It only took Huo Ran fifteen minutes to get out of bed and come downstairs. He could tell that he was rushing, there was a hair sticking out of the top of his head. 

That’s why it’s very important to have a showy big sister at home. When he goes out, as long as Kou Xiao was home, she had to look Kou Chen over a couple of times and tidy him up if she wasn’t satisfied.

Huo Ran didn’t see him.

Even though he took the motorcycle that Huo Ran saw last time, and he was wearing the same helmet.

But Huo Ran probably didn’t expect him to be downstairs. When he left the building, he headed directly towards the main gates, and he walked pretty fast. 

Kou Chen turned on the bike, revved it, and rode slowly after Huo Ran.

And then he honked.

Sure enough, Huo Ran was a young man with fast reflexes and agility. He jumped without even looking back and took a big step over to the right. Very springy.

He just had too bad of a temper. 

Huo Ran immediately turned around to yell: “Good thing you honked the horn right after you fucking run someone over!”

Kou Chen stopped, and didn’t say anything.

Huo Ran stared at him for a while, and then he rushed over to flip up the visor on his helmet. He whistled.

“Shit,” Huo Ran exclaimed, and then he started laughing. “Fuck you!” 

“You’re blind, I was right there, and you didn’t see me.” Kou Chen took the helmet off.

“I knew there was someone there, I just didn’t look.” Huo Ran looked really happy. “You didn’t say you came!”

“My dad woke up at five to study English,” Kou Chen said. “He stood right outside my door and woke me up before going back to sleep… What’s wrong with him?”

Huo Ran laughed: “You’re his real son alright.” 

“Get on.” Kou Chen jerked his head and gave him the helmet that was hanging on the back. “I’ll take you to eat breakfast.”

Huo Ran got on and leaned onto his back with his arms around his waist. He rubbed his stomach: “Ah, look at these abs.”

Kou Chen inhaled sharply to flatten his stomach: “Hands off.”

“Why?” Huo Ran took his hands away. 

“My pants are pretty tight today,” Kou Chen said.

“Huh?” Huo Ran didn’t get it.

“How am I supposed to drive if you’re touching me?” Kou Chen said.

“Seriously?” Huo Ran hissed in his ear. 

“Just hold on, no touching.” Kou Chen started the bike. “I find that you’re always very eager in the mornings. No restraint at all.”

“Fuck off!” Huo Ran laughed. “I’m just really happy to see you.”

“Me too,” Kou Chen said. “I was gonna read a bit and wait for you after my dad woke me up, but I couldn’t help it. I really missed you.”

Huo Ran didn’t say anything, but he tightened his arms around his waist. 

If he had the luxury to, Kou Chen was very particular about his food. Now that he had the time and the transportation, he could drive out nearly 45 minutes to treat Huo Ran to tofu pudding.

“The texture of their tofu pudding is amazing,” Kou Chen parked his bike by the road. “And all of their other stuff is delicious too. I like the fried pancakes, the ones with sesame seeds on top, and then the something cake…”

Huo Ran glanced at the restaurant. The front wasn’t very big, and it was packed with people both inside and outside. 

“How did you find this place?” He asked.

“Old Yang takes me here,” Kou Chen said. “We spend the night in the arcade, and then we come here.”

“…He has guts,” Huo Ran said. “To let you do that.”

“He even has the guts to fight back at my dad,” Kou Chen said. “He has guts.” 

“That time your sister got into a car accident?” Huo Ran asked.

“Yeah. It wasn’t like Old Yang caused it, and he was hurt as well.” Kou Chen hung the helmet on the rearview mirror. “The first thing he did was try to beat him up.”

“I guess he was worried after his precious daughter got hurt.” Huo Ran also hung his helmet there a little cautiously. “You’re not worried someone will steal it?”

Kou Chen suddenly raised his voice arrogantly: “I dare them to!” 

“…Let’s go eat.” Huo Ran pushed him into the restaurant.

By the door, there was a couple who just finished eating and were getting up. There were a couple of people about to fight for the eat, but Huo Ran quickly got there and hooked the chair towards him.

“What’s the rush?!” A man complained. 

“Why are you so mad then?” Huo ran sat down and looked at Kou Chen. “You go order, I’ll wait for you.”

“Okay.” Kou Chen glanced at the man before going in.

Outside of class, Kou Chen usually dressed like a not-so-good person. Add that to the fierce expression that was passed down through his family, most people avoided him.

It was very useful when they were trying to get seats. 

When he came back out with a tray of food, the person who was about to take the seat beside him immediately left.

“Try this first, tofu pudding,” Kou Chen said. “I got sweet and salty ones, I’ll take the one you don’t like. They’re both good.”

“Mhm.” Huo Ran picked up the bowl and tried it. “I like them both too, actually.”

“That’s why we’re perfect for each other.” Kou Chen said with a smile. 

The two people sitting beside them both looked up at them before going back to their food.

Huo Ran started to panic a little, only relaxed when they looked away. He snuck a glance at Kou Chen.

He saw that Kou Chen didn’t look like he noticed what just happened, he was busy with the food in front of him, looking completely at ease.

He relaxed a lot. He was at ease. Very at ease. 

“Go shopping with me after?” Kou Chen said. “My dad’s birthday is next week, help me pick out a present for him.”

“Okay.” Huo Ran nodded.

“This is the first time I’m getting him a present,” Kou Chen frowned. “I have no idea what to do.”

“Get him a set of workbooks.” Huo Ran suggested casually. 

Kou Chen stared at him, and then he burst out into laughter: “No way!”

Chapter end