Ch 25

The spicy crayfish shop is near San Zhong high school. San Zhong’s school beauty Tang Xiaorong said, “It’s a special one here. I know the boss and I just made a phone call to reserve a seat.”

Lou Cheng didn’t know she was here too, and he was not very happy. He kicked Piggy several times in secret, and sent him a message: “Next time you do this kind of thing, I will cut you to death!”

Piggy was very aggrieved: “It was Tang Xiaorong who said that this restaurant is delicious and said she would treat us…”

Lou Cheng no longer paid attention to him, his face was as cold as ice.

Li Dong ordered two dozen beers. There will be no class tomorrow. It’s New Year’s Eve. He must, of course, have a good drink. In addition to Li Dong, only Lou Cheng is an adult, has a driver’s license, and does not consume alcohol. When the time comes, a few of them will take a taxi, and Lou Cheng will naturally send the school flowers back.

Tang Xiaorong thought exactly like this. She saw Lou Cheng hadn’t eaten any shrimp, so she took the initiative to peel a shrimp for him: “Lou Cheng, why don’t you eat one? I peeled it for you.”

Lou Cheng said thank you and stood up. “I don’t like this. I’m going to buy milk tea. Do you want it?”

The school beauty doesn’t want it because she was afraid of gaining weight, and a few big men don’t want it cause they’ve been drinking.

When Lou Cheng came back after buying the milk tea, he saw Ding Xuerun drinking beer and put the milk tea next to him: “I bought it for you, don’t drink beer.” 

The school beauty subconsciously raised her head and glanced at this classmate that Lou Cheng had not introduced.

This boy is whiter, gentler, and good-looking than all the men she has ever seen. 

Ding Xuerun thanked him, plugged in a straw, took a sip, and trying to reach out the beer again.

“I just told you not to drink.” Lou Cheng frowned and picked up a crayfish for him. “Peel it for me, I want to eat it.”

Ding Xuerun looked up at him and said, “I don’t know how to do it either.” He rarely eats this kind of food.

Lou Cheng sighed and opened a package of disposable gloves: “Then I will peel them for you to eat.” After he said this, he bowed his head and began to peel them. He was obviously very unskilled in peeling shrimps. He didn’t do this often, but he peeled them very carefully. When the shrimp meat was peeled out, he placed it in Ding Xuerun’s bowl, and said with a neat word: “Eat.”

Others were surprised at it.

Tang Xiaorong was surprised to lower her voice and asked Piggy: “Who is that classmate? Does Lou Cheng have a brother?”

“No, it’s his deskmate.”

“How come he is more affectionate to his deskmate than me…”

They ate for an hour and a half and drank most of the time.

Ding Xuerun did not drink, nor did he eat less. At the checkout, Tang Xiaorong wanted to scan the QR code to pay, and Lou Cheng’s cash was handed to the waiter one step ahead of her.

“Lou Cheng, why are you rushing to give the money? It’s okay, it’s my treat today, you…”

Lou Cheng said, “You don’t need to treat us, I’m the one who brings them with me.”

“Li Dong and they are all my friends too, we all know each other. What’s wrong with me treating them a meal?”

“That is, why do you keep treating Xiaorong like an outsider,” Piggy said.

Lou Cheng glanced at him coldly, pointed at Ding Xuerun, raised his eyebrows, and said to Tang Xiaorong: “He is my man.”

“These,” Lou Cheng pointed to the shrimp shell in front of him, “It’s all his. He ate them all by himself, don’t grab it from me.”

Tang Xiaorong was taken aback. She then looked at Ding Xuerun, and stared inquisitively for a few seconds, while Ding Xuerun smiled at her.

Several people took a taxi and left. Before leaving, Li Dong said, “It’s not safe to let a girl ride in the car alone. Brother Cheng, you can drive her home.”

Lou Cheng did not refuse and said yes.

There are far too many online car-hailing incidents. It is indeed unsafe for girls to go home by car at night.

Ding Xuerun was very conscious. He opened the back seat door and gave the passenger seat to the school beauty. When she saw his move, the school beauty breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that it was just a brother who had a good relationship.

After she got in the car, she said to Lou Cheng: “Let’s take this classmate home first. I’m not in hurry.”

“It’s all right, I will take you home first,” Lou Cheng start the car, “He lives with me.”

School beauty:”…You?”

Lou Cheng said ambiguous “umm”, without explaining.

Ding Xuerun also didn’t say anything. Lou Cheng felt that he should have been drinking too much and was a little confused.

Tang Xiaorong’s heart was churning like a raging river. How long did it take for Lou Cheng to bend? She looked at Ding Xuerun in the rearview mirror and saw his half-closed eyes, leaning on the back of the chair and breathing quietly, his skin whiter than herself.

After a while, Ding Xuerun lay down in the back seat while Lou Cheng drove in the front, and when he saw him, he gave him his coat: “Cover yourself while sleeping, Runrun, don’t get sick.”

The tone was very considerate.

Ding Xuerun looked particularly sleepy and took it and covered himself.

Tang Xiaorong reluctantly smiled as the car approached the gate to her house. Lou Cheng said goodbye to her as she got out of the car. Tang Xiaorong moved her lips but didn’t say anything.

On the contrary, Lou Cheng made a “hush” gesture to her before rolling up the car window, saying, “Don’t tell anyone.”

Tang Xiaorong’s heart was cold.

Lou Cheng drove away, and he called out: “Hey, Xiao Ding?” 

Ding Xuerun was probably sleeping because no one was paying attention to him.

“I told you that you are not allowed to drink. See, what happens when you drunk too much?” When Lou Cheng was alone, he couldn’t stop talking and began to do all kinds of blind comparisons.

“In order to reject women, I actually started to pretend to be gay.” And he pretended to be so genuine that even he believed a little bit.

Lou Cheng was a little smug, thinking that his acting skills had improved compared to when he was lame.

Ding Xuerun lay half-asleep in the back. He could hear his voice, but he couldn’t hear clearly.

When they got home, it was already early in the morning.

Lou Cheng parked the car in the garage and opened the back seat door: “Xiao Ding, we are home, come one wake up.”

Ding Xuerun said “umm” in a daze, but didn’t move.

Lou Cheng bent over and touched his cheek. Ding Xuerun’s eyelashes trembled, and Lou Cheng’s black coat was in his arms.

Lou Cheng gave a “tsk” and pinched his cheek: “You really sleep like a little Pig.”

Ding Xuerun didn’t reply to him. In fact, he was mostly sober, but he didn’t want to move.

Lou Cheng saw that he was really motionless, and said helplessly, “Are you going to sleep in the car?”

After a few seconds, he pushed Ding Xuerun again and said, “At least move a little, otherwise how would carry you out of the car?”

“… Then I’ll carry you and warn you that if you puke on me, I’ll kill you.” He grabbed Ding Xuerun’s arm and dragged him out of the back seat, and then picked him up.

He is very strong, but Ding Xuerun is very light. Lou Cheng uses the princess’s carrying method, but it doesn’t take much effort to hold him. Ding Xuerun’s head naturally leaned on his shoulder as he held him in his arms. Lou Cheng had had a feeling of being relied on and he felt comfortable with that.

He carried Ding Xuerun onto the sofa in the living room and put him down. Only then did Ding Xuerun slowly open his eyes. Seeing him awake, Lou Cheng whispered: “Are you uncomfortable?”

Ding Xuerun shook his head and said, “I’m fine,” in the living room, where the lights were turned off.

His voice was as soft as a Black cat quietly passing by the night.

Lou Cheng poured him a glass of warm water: “Sober up.”

Ding Xuerun stared at him with star-like eyes in the dark: “Thank you, you can go to rest first, I’ll be fine by myself.”

His politeness was a bit too much for Lou Cheng.

After the New Year’s holiday was over, it was the third monthly exam. Ding Xuerun lived up to expectations this time. He came out first in the whole grade and with a total of 10 gap scores more than the second place.

Sun Haoliang, the former first place in Liu Zhong high school, has always been a legend because no one has ever surpassed him in exam results.

Ding Xuerun’s name appeared on the school’s gold list. Academics are the primary focus of Liu Zhong High School. Such an unexpected first place is quite eye-catching.

Lou Cheng found that many people have come to their class 4 recently to inquire about Ding Xuerun.

“Which is the learning god who can score more than 140 in Chinese?”

Lou Cheng felt that he was becoming more popular and that his circle of friends was increasing.

But that is exactly the type of student Ding Xuerun should be. During that time he went to the competition, he once again broke out of the siege, and entered the next round.

Teacher Dou sent a volunteer list for the division of liberal arts and sciences as the final exam approached: “Class 4 is a science class. If you want to study science, you will undoubtedly remain in the original class. It’s fine if you want to study liberal arts; you’ll just have to take a new class-by-class examination.”

“Don’t worry, go home and discuss it with your parents, sign the volunteer form, and ask them to call me if they are not in the local area.”

“After choosing between the liberal arts and sciences, we will take the exam next week. Then we will have winter vacation.”

Lou Cheng doesn’t care about the sorting, he can’t do anything anyway. Whether he chooses liberal arts or science is the same.

He saw Ding Xuerun filling out the form, and glanced at it: “Xiao Ding, are you choosing science?”

Ding Xuerun: “Umm, what about you?”

“I don’t care…then science.” He fills out happily. To his own wishes.

Lou Cheng put the volunteer list in his schoolbag, planning to take it to his mother this week, and asked casually: “Do you want to go home during the Spring Festival? How long will it take to fly to Guilin?”

“I don’t know, I’ll take the train to go back.”

 “By train? How long will it take?” Lou Cheng has never been in the train and he doesn’t know the experience.

“More than thirty hours.”

“…Oh my god, people must have gone insane from sitting for so long. Why don’t you buy a plane ticket?”

Ding Xuerun spit out two words: “Spring Festival.” 

The ticket price went up because of it.

When Lou Cheng was in class, he used his phone to search. The train had to take 36 hours, while the plane only took four hours.

The train ticket is more than 300 yen, while the plane ticket is more than 1,000 yen.

The price gap between the two is nothing in Lou Cheng’s eyes. After class, he ran to Teacher Dou’s office and found Ding Xuerun’s ID number.

He secretly wrote it down and found that Ding Xuerun’s birthday would be coming in a month.

It’s eighteen.

Lou Cheng returned to the classroom and began to ask him: “Xiao Ding, the school is on the 26th after the exam. What date do you plan to leave?”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Lou Cheng blinked, “Before you go, I’ll take you to a delicious meal.”

“Let’s go on the 27th,” Ding Xuerun said with a smile. He didn’t want to go back, but Ding Zhaowen was alone at home this year, and Ding Xuerun couldn’t let him.

After a while, Lou Cheng leaned over and showed him the phone: “Well, I bought the ticket for you.”

Ding Xuerun was taken aback as if he didn’t expect Lou Cheng to do this. His lips moved: “Lou Cheng, how can you…can the ticket be refunded?”

“The economy class ticket I bought for you is the cheapest, and it cannot be refunded.” Lou Cheng was afraid he would want to repay it. Those why he held back from wanting to buy him a first-class ticket.

“But…”

“It’s nothing,” Lou Cheng raised his eyebrows, “I used mileage to redeem it. It only costs 300 yuan. If you don’t believe it, you can see it. It’s cheaper than a train ticket.” Lou Cheng is an airline company platinum member.

Ding Xuerun was relieved when he saw the price, “I’ll transfer the ticket money to you, thank you.”

Lou Cheng is not short of this money, but Ding Xuerun insisted on giving it to him, and he did not say no but opened the ticket screenshot information sent to him: “The departure is at 10:00 in the morning on the 27th. I’ll pick you up to eat at 7:00 and drive you to the airport at 8:00, just right.”

“No, it’s too much trouble for you, Lou Cheng. I’ll just take a taxi.” He is not someone who likes to trouble others.

Lou Cheng raised his hand and pinched his white face gently: “Our relationship, what do you think about it?”

He squeezed his cheek, and a red print appeared. When Lou Cheng let go, he noticed the red print and stroked it guiltily twice, saying, “Run run, your face is so soft.”

Ding Xuerun helplessly took his hand off: “Don’t touch, Lou Cheng. Thank you for sending me.”

“What’s wrong with me touching a couple of times?” Lou Cheng lay on the table with a smile in his eyes, and whispered, “If you are not happy, you can touch me.”

Ding Xuerun looked at him sideways for a few seconds, making Lou Cheng feel a little uncomfortable, and then Ding Xuerun stretched out his hand and gently rubbed his earlobe.

Just like this, Lou Cheng froze all over, and his entire body trembled as if he had been electrified. A strange feeling of numbness spread from the depths of his body, making him throb.

—— Lou Cheng knew for the first time that the earlobe was his “sensitive point”.

He waited a long time before pinching his own earlobe, but he didn’t feel the same way when Ding Xuerun touched him.

Lou Cheng couldn’t help being a little disappointed. To be honest, he liked that kind of feeling, a bit like a climax.

On the second day after the exam, Lou Cheng picked up Ding Xuerun at the school gate.

Ding Xuerun has very little luggage, only a school bag, and a handbag, which is a specialty here.

“Why do you just have this? Nothing else?”

“This is all.”

“Your school bags aren’t full of homework, is it?” Seeing that he was so simple, Lou Cheng couldn’t help saying, “If I had known you had so little stuff, I would have prepared more for you.”

“What are you going to prepare?” Ding Xuerun got into the car, and the heating on the car made him unconsciously unzip his clothes.

“Bring some gifts to your parents, and help me tell them a Happy New Year.”

Ding Xuerun only saw the back seat, there were some gift boxes of tea leaves, bird’s nest snow clams, and so on. There are not many things, but they all look very expensive.

“I can’t take these.” He insisted very firmly.

“Why not? I have a lot of them in my family. They are all given by others, and our family doesn’t eat them – they will be expired at home. ” It’s not for no reason that Lou Cheng can have so many younger brothers. His mother is very good at being a decent human and often gives gifts to his classmates. Yue Yun also knows who Lou Cheng’s friends are.

Ding Xuerun shook his head: “It doesn’t matter if it expires, I can’t take it.”

“Then you can take less. Take the tea and bird’s nest, Your father enjoys tea, while your mother enjoys bird’s nest. Of course, you can drink it for health and beauty purposes as well.”

The two argued over this topic.

You are not permitted to park on the airport road. When Ding Xuerun got out of the car, Lou Cheng threw the tea and bird’s nest through the window and onto the ground, saying, “Bye, Runrun, Dad’s going back and remember to bring me your Guilin specialties.”

He drove away quickly.

Ding Xuerun had to pick up the two gift boxes on the ground and put them in his hands.

He went into the airport to get his boarding pass, and after sitting down, he texted Lou Cheng: “Don’t do this next time, how can you give away such a valuable thing so casually?”

Lou Cheng was driving, and he sent a voice message. Ding Xuerun likes his voice, so he wears headphones and listens: “Don’t you know, I have a mine at home.”

Ding Xuerun knew about this and thought it was a joke from his friends.

After all, the term “there is a mine at home” is very popular nowadays, who would have thought that Lou Cheng really has a mine?

Another voice followed: “Don’t say thank you, if you really want to thank me, just call me with something else other than Dad.”

Ding Xuerun smiled when he heard him: “Is it all right to call you with something else?”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to call me Dad.” Lou Cheng said lazily, “Then you can call me your brother or your husband, and choose one of the two.”

Their basketball team often plays this way, but Lou Cheng hasn’t played others this way before.

“Don’t refuse me, be pampered, understand?”

The author has something to say: 

Lou Cheng: I pretend to be gay so much, I almost believed it myself!