Ch 38

Only the sound of swaying bamboo leaves in the wind remained and Lou Cheng’s momentum disappeared without a trace: “You, how do you know…”

“You don’t know what you did?”

Lou Cheng’s blushed and shouted: “What did I do!”

“Don’t shout, people would think we were fighting.” Ding Xuerun held Lou Cheng’s cheeks with both hands after speaking and touched his ears on tiptoes with his lips. He looked at him and said, “You were like this.”

Lou Cheng froze, staring at Ding Xuerun in the dark, unable to say anything.

“Let’s go, don’t be dazed.” He pulled Lou Cheng’s wrist.

Lou Cheng followed him with a blank face: “Where to go?”

“Your house.”

“…oh.” Lou Cheng couldn’t help touching his ears, it was so hot.

He was a little unpredictable when it came to Ding Xuerun, but he didn’t dare to ask. When he entered the door, he didn’t even dare to turn on the light, fearing that his flushed face could not be hidden.

He dashed upstairs, and Ding Xuerun turned on the living room light, saying, “Come down to eat supper later, and also take down the books.”

Lou Cheng asked on the second floor, “What book?”

“Textbooks, do you have a textbook for senior high school’s first year at home? Take it down if you have it. Lou Cheng, which subject do you want to learn?”

“…You want to teach me?”

“Well,” Ding Xuerun looked up at him standing on the second floor, “You don’t want to listen?”

“…I want to hear.” Lou Cheng felt uncomfortable and touched his ears, wondering why Ding Xuerun did this. Did he really discover what he did in the morning?

Ding Xuerun bit the bamboo rice on the plate and poured two cups of warm water.

Lou Cheng changed into his pajamas and carried a few textbooks. He couldn’t seem to find the previous textbooks. He probably lost it.

Ding Xuerun also took out the materials from his school bag and patted the sofa seat beside him: “Sit here.”

Lou Cheng sat awkwardly beside him, unintentionally looking at his ears, then at his ruddy mouth. He thought Ding Xuerun had just kissed his ear on tiptoe, and then he thought of Ding Xuerun was drunk and kissed his lips.

Ding Xuerun gave him the chopsticks: “Are you hungry?”

“I’m hungry, I was waiting for you to have supper…” Then I saw you leave with the other student and went out to buy bamboo rice for other.

“Just eat this. Let’s eat this first. If you’re hungry again after studying, I’ll cook supper for you.”

Lou Cheng nodded and said yes.

Ding Xuerun asked him: “Where are your notes from the time I left?”

“They are all here, take a look.” Lou Cheng handed in his homework honestly, as if facing the teacher in school.

Ding Xuerun turned over and asked: “Can you do the question for the first year of senior high school?”

Lou Cheng was very honest: “Maybe not…”

“I brought junior high school materials.” Ding Xuerun printed out some junior high school questions and sorted them out. He has a set of mathematical formulas for all subjects.

Lou Cheng was a little embarrassed. He was about to graduate from high school. He had only recently begun to do junior high school questions, and he might not know how to do them. This is far too humiliating, he took up the information and began to read it.

Ding Xuerun said: “Science is about memorizing formulas. If you find formulas difficult, then try to learn liberal arts. There are more people who learn liberal arts.”

“Then I will learn science.” Lou Cheng scratched his head.

“Then I will teach you mathematics.” Ding Xuerun’s method is to give Lou Cheng a typical question, then give him the corresponding formula, explain what it is, what principle it is based on, and how to apply it. The procedure requires a great deal of patience. If Lou Cheng still doesn’t understand after three repetitions, he will repeat it four and five times.

Lou Cheng was confused. He didn’t dare to ask why, much less say he didn’t want to listen or study. He sat there for two hours, memorized several junior high school formulas, and knew how to apply them.

It’s half-past eleven already.

When Ding Xuerun mentioned that his throat had become a little hoarse, Lou Cheng immediately poured warm water for him and took out a few candies, saying, “Moisturize your throat.”

Ding Xuerun peeled off the candy wrappers and noticed something familiar about the sugar: “Is this the one? The one you said smell like me?”

Lou Cheng was embarrassed, “Uh-huh,” he said.

“I don’t even know what I smell like.” As he said that, Ding Xuerun put the candy in his mouth and tidied up the coffee table. “We will stop here today. I won’t tell you too much because I’m afraid you won’t be able to digest it.”

Lou Cheng touched his nose and nodded.

Ding Xuerun stood up to wash up when he suddenly remembered something and asked Lou Cheng, “Is there something you didn’t give me?”

“No,” he said dazedly, “Aren’t all the notes here?”

Ding Xuerun spit out two words. “Love letter.”

Lou Cheng: “…”

“Isn’t that for me? You hide it and don’t want to give it to me. Are you afraid that I will fall in love?”

Lou Cheng was speechless.

Ding Xuerun was standing while Lou Cheng was sitting. He looked down into Lou Cheng’s eyes: “Do you like her? Is that why you were so impulsive just now?”

“…No way! I don’t know her! How can I like her???” Lou Cheng said irritably.

“Then who do you like?” Ding Xuerun looked at him calmly.

“I…” Lou Cheng stared at him with a confused look on his face.

Ding Xuerun and he looked at each other for a few seconds, and then changed the question: “You don’t like her, why do you hide the love letters she gave me?”

“Well, that’s…” Lou Cheng quibbled, “Her handwriting is too ugly! I can’t understand it!”

“Where is the love letter?”

“I don’t know!”

Ding Xuerun suddenly smiled, the round milk candy pressing against his cheek and his cheek holding out a round shape: “You don’t want to give it to me?”

Lou Cheng was sitting, murmured nervously: “I don’t want to…”

“Do you know why?” Ding Xuerun bent over and approached his face, his eyes as clear as water., “Fool.”

Lou Cheng had lost his ability to deceive. He wanted to deny that he was not a fool or stupid, but when he smelled the strawberry-filled toffee smell while Ding Xuerun was speaking, he seemed to lose his judgment and himself, and his dark eyes stared at him blankly.

Ding Xuerun sighed and straightened up again: “I’ll be giving a speech tomorrow. I have to get up at five o’clock and be at school by six-thirty. I’ll wake you up and prepare a meal for you.”

Lou Cheng shook his head, “I’ll get takeout. Well, don’t do it yourself, and sleep more because cooking is exhausting.” He wondered if he should invite an aunt to cook at home again.

“Aren’t you competing in two days? Takeaways are notorious for causing diarrhea.”

Lou Cheng couldn’t refuse and said yes.

He couldn’t sleep at night, so he took out the love letter that was in the book and opened it. The girl’s love letter always made it fragrant and smelled of strawberry. Lou Cheng is unhappy: “She actually knows that Runrun smells like a strawberry…”

He was even more upset when he saw the beautiful writing, especially since the love letter is so well written. Even Lou Cheng, an uneducated individual, thought it was well written.

Fortunately, he confiscated it. Otherwise, Ding Xuerun will see it.

After reading the love letter, Lou Cheng threw it away.

Ding Xuerun is not only good in mathematics, but also in literature. His tone of voice was not as usual. His voice was so gentle and appealing that the entire-year students standing beneath all stood on tiptoe and looked up to see what the real student looked like.

“In the newspaper, the ID picture looks pretty handsome…” Lou Cheng heard someone say so.

During the long lunch break, a group of students went outside to see what Ding Xuerun looked like. They arrived in groups. There were men and women gathered around the back door, all looking in.

Lou Cheng couldn’t bear it, and muttered: “What exactly are you looking at? Are you going to come in later and ask for the QQ number? A horde of perverts!”

“It is entirely up to me, not you. What is it that makes you so angry?”

“It just can’t. Look at you!”

Ding Xuerun smiled: “Don’t worry, I won’t be nice to other people.”

Lou Cheng could understand his implication. His face flushed and he was embarrassed, so he buried himself in the book and pretended to be stupid.

Perhaps some people simply believe that Ding Xuerun is well-educated and handsome and that he really comes in to care about his contact information. These things happened to Lou Cheng when he was in elementary school. He was very handsome and well-dressed as a child. His self-confidence was overwhelming, and he walked with his chin upright. The student saw him a lot and thought he was really handsome, and many people confessed to him.

He was used to it, but when Ding Xuerun encountered this kind of thing, Lou Cheng was the first to help him refuse: “No! Do you think he is someone who has a mobile phone? Can he win the IMO championship if he plays QQ space? Go away, you’re wasting my deskmate’s time.”

Ding Xuerun indulged him and said nothing.

Lou Cheng’s competition lasted for two days, Friday and Saturday. Ding Xuerun did not attend on Friday, so he heard Lou Cheng that he had won the first round. There was supposed to be a class on Saturday, but he specifically requested a leave to cheer up Lou Cheng.

Because his situation was different from other students, it was especially easy for Old Dou to give him leave.

This year’s CRRC racing competition in their city was more luxurious than in previous years. Ding Xuerun noticed the large signboard and a sculpture with the writing “20XX Xisheng Mining Cup” National Road Motorcycle Championship.

The race attracted nearly a hundred riders this year. There are more than 20 teams. More than half of the teams were eliminated after the first round of the race yesterday, leaving only 30 or 40 drivers.

Ding Xuerun sat in a good spot after accepting the ticket from Lou Cheng. He intended to contact Lou Cheng and ask about his whereabouts as well as the name of their team. As a result, he stood in the grandstand, staring down at the track. As soon as he looked, he noticed the coquettish big red caravan.

Several modified motorcycles were painted red and emblazoned with the words “blinding double happiness” on the body.

Ding Xuerun was taken aback when he heard the “Xilinmen Team” on the speaker. He took out his phone and texted a message of encouragement to Lou Cheng. He sat down and paid close attention to the game.

The race participants were all wearing helmets and fluid suits. Ding Xuerun recognized Lou Cheng at first sight. Lou Cheng was tall and had long legs, even when he didn’t show his face, he was noticeable.

At four o’clock in the afternoon, the second round of qualifying began. The race was very fast because it was a motorcycle race. Ding Xuerun stood up to observe. He fixed his gaze on Lou Cheng, who was leading the way, his knees scraping against the bend. Even though he is aware that he is wearing protective gear on his knee, he is still concerned that he will collide with it and be injured.

Despite the fact that it was his first time competing in a CRRC race, Lou Cheng began practicing at a very high starting point. There was also a private racing track, which gave him the appearance of a dark horse, and other participants were unable to catch up to him.

Lou Cheng took first place at the end of the second round. He took first place the day before, and he took first place again today. He deserved to win the title. A team award was given to the Xilinmen team.

When Ding Xuerun was leaving the stadium, he overheard some CRRC fans say: “Isn’t that the Xilinmen have taken away the group and individual awards? I’ve never heard of this team. The name is a joke, and it’s far too funny….”

“Have you seen what kind of motorcycles the Xilinmen team has? They rely on the collective to modify Harleys, Kawasaki Ninjas, and 250cc Harleys. Oh, my God, I don’t even know where to find this lightweight Harley…” 

The 250cc displacement is too small. Lou Cheng doesn’t usually ride this kind of motorcycle. It was awesome on the road, has a large displacement, and is more stylish than the average sports motorcycle. He would not buy this type of motorcycle if it were not for competition.

Lou Cheng was ecstatic after winning the championship. He was dressed in a racing suit and posing with the trophy. He smiled so much that his eyes disappeared. Some members of the media asked him to kiss the trophy. Lou Cheng disliked the trophy, which had been touched by far too many people, and refused to kiss it.

He planned to have dinner with his teammates after the game. But because not only Ding Xuerun but also his younger brothers, had come to see him for the game, he had to communicate with his teammates and tell them to eat together.

He is the captain, and they do what he says.

Lou Cheng introduced Ding Xuerun to his teammates and said that he is his deskmate: “World champion, isn’t it awesome?”

“World champion?” He has five teammates, three of whom are older than him, one who is the same age as him but is already in college, and another who is in his third year of junior high school.

“Yes, he competes in the world champion of mathematics. Tsinghua University and Peking University are all competing for him, and they are all struggling!”

This type of high achiever is not the same as a typical high achiever, and it always makes people feel admired while also creating a sense of distance. And Ding Xuerun initially gives people a cold feeling that is difficult to get along with.

They can’t get away from the drinking problem at dinners. Lou Cheng is not a drinker, as everyone knows. Everyone knows he has a habit of keeping things clean. Everyone who eats with him always uses public chopsticks politely.

Ding Xuerun wants to drink, but he doesn’t drink as much as he can. When he wants to drink, he usually has a purpose.

Lou Cheng took a mouthful of food and leaned in to ask him, “Do you still have to make up classes tonight?”

“Do you want to go to class?”

“Is it all right to make up for Chinese?”

The subject of Chinese is not appropriate for students who do not know how to read a lot of difficult characters such as Lou Cheng. It’s too late to make up Chinese now, but Lou Cheng desperately wants to learn it, he also wants to write such a beautiful love letter.

Ding Xuerun said yes, and calmly said, “Would you like a drink?”

“I’ll just drink tea.”

Ding Xuerun stood up, went to the freezer, and took a can of Coke. He opened the can and dipped a straw into the carbonated beverage, which was full of tiny bubbles.

Lou Cheng thought he was going to drink, but Ding Xuerun sat down and pushed the can in front of him.

He seemed to understand Ding Xuerun’s meaning, he swallowed his saliva, his palms were sweaty, and his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

On the track today, he almost let people overtake him from the corner, but he wasn’t as nervous.

Ding Xuerun looked at him and whispered: “Lou Cheng, do you want to drink?”

Lou Cheng replied quietly and sipped his drink through a straw in his mouth. He became more eager as the carbonated drink slid down his throat. Looking at Ding Xuerun’s eyes are hot and burning, he wanted to… kiss him.