Ch 39

I Kissed GentlyLou Cheng was absent-minded throughout the dinner. Piggy saw him biting the straw dazedly, and reminded him: “Brother Cheng, drink less Coke, it will kill your sperm.”

“I like it! Why do you care?” Lou Cheng kicked dissatisfiedly. I have enough money to be concerned about killing sperm.

He really doesn’t like to drink carbonated beverages. It is not because of killing sperm, but because it is not good for the body. Lou Cheng began to bite the straw all the way through after two or three sips, biting the straw flat. He secretly glanced at Ding Xuerun from time to time, not knowing what he was thinking.

Ding Xuerun noticed his snooping but said nothing. He lowered his head and ate quietly. He stopped after two sips and stopped touching the glass.

Lou Cheng’s motorcycle was parked outside, and the team members rode their motorcycles home. The rest of the group was drunk and had to hail a taxi to get home.

Li Dong, who lived near the school. He directly asked Ding Xuerun: “Are you returning to school? If that’s the case, we can share a taxi.”

“Well, I’ll go back to school.”

Li Dong stood on the side of the road and gestured to stop a taxi.

“He won’t go with you,” Lou Cheng said domineeringly, pushing the motorcycle out, “but he will go with me.”

Li Dong was surprised and confused as he looked at his motorcycle: “Lou Cheng, don’t you plan to go back by a motorcycle today?”

“Yeah, I’ll take him home.” Lou Cheng confidently said in the unbelievable eyes of others as he smoothly placed the helmet and trophy he won in today’s game into Ding Xuerun’s arms. “However you look at it, I only have one spot on my motorcycle. Stop looking, I’m not going to take you.”

Until Ding Xuerun got on the motorcycle, his teammates and younger brother exchanged shocked looks.

Because everyone knows that Lou Cheng’s motorcycle is never used to take passengers, and there is no exception.

“In order to hold top student’s thighs, Brother Cheng can be so generous now?”

Ding Xuerun pretended not to know this rule and naturally said goodbye to others. He sat in the back seat of the motorcycle, holding the trophy in one hand and Lou Cheng’s waist in the other. Lou Cheng was afraid that Ding Xuerun would be thrown off if he rode too fast, so he kept the motorcycle’s speed under control.

When they arrived home, Lou Cheng took a Chinese essay and a book titled “Full Score Composition for College Entrance Examination” and said, “Runrun, teach me how to write a composition.”

“Sure, sit here.” Ding Xuerun took two cushions from beneath the coffee table. On the coffee table, there is a table lamp, and a large pile of snow-white materials is reflected in the orange light.

Lou Cheng sat cross-legged next to him with a book in his arms. In fact, he wasn’t in the mood to study and simply wanted to be near him.

Ding Xuerun found a few more classic essay topics, hand-written on A4 paper, and asked Lou Cheng, “How would you write this topic?”

The first composition question is a material composition, in which the father made a phone call on the highway and did not listen to the child’s reminder, and the child eventually called the police. The father was criticized and educated by the police.

This is a standard composition question. “You can broaden your perspective and write a letter to the police, daughter, or father,” Ding Xuerun suggested.

“Isn’t this some sort of joke? What kind of question is this?” Lou Cheng poked fun at the composition’s question.

This composition question has indeed caused controversy.  “It doesn’t matter whether this question is a joke or not. If you want to write this essay, what is the easiest point of view to write, do you know?” said Ding Xuerun.

“I know for sure. Praise the child for doing something right, then criticize the father for doing something wrong, and say that’s why the police are educating him, right?”

Ding Xuerun nodded, at least most of the full-score essays are based on this point of view, and there are other novel concepts, but this novel-writing method is not appropriate for students like Lou Cheng. “The point of view is correct, at least the score will not be too low,” he said.

He examined several more composition questions, and Lou Cheng felt that Ding Xuerun spoke very well because he listened to him very carefully, which he did not do when he was in class.

Ding Xuerun can quote scriptures easily when he read the composition. Lou Cheng couldn’t understand a lot of poems and sentences, but he thought they sounded beautiful.

Ding Xuerun helplessly: “It’s okay without scriptures for now. When you have time, memorize a few famous lines and include them in your essay for extra points.”

Lou Cheng blushed and said: “It’s not that there’s nothing at all, I can recite poems too.”

“Will you recite it to me?”

“There is a moonlight in front of the bed…” Lou Cheng was embarrassed and couldn’t recite it.

Ding Xuerun touched his head: “It’s fine, but a little rare poetry is more valuable. That is how Chinese teachers are.”

Lou Cheng quickly said: “Then there’s one sentence I’m familiar with.”

“Hmm?” Ding Xuerun looked at him with anticipation.

“The spring snow powder is so moisturizing, and the dawn rinses jade cream is refreshing.” Lou Cheng’s speech was clear, but he didn’t dare to look at Ding Xuerun.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished reciting, Ding Xuerun fell silent and asked, “Lou Cheng, how can you recite this?”

This is not a well-known sentence, but Ding Zhaowen, a Chinese teacher, has seen a wide range of ancient poems. Ding Xuerun was born on the Spring Equinox. His mother dreamed of snow the night before he was born. She gave him this name as soon as he was born.

“You said this poem once.”

“You remember it?” Even Ding Xuerun didn’t remember it.

Lou Cheng hummed with guilt.

In fact, he didn’t remember. He only remembered Ding Xuerun saying a poem at the time, and he had no idea what poem it was. It was not a common poem, but it was a sentence that contained both snow and moisture. Lou Cheng searched the Internet for verses containing these two words and discovered this after almost losing his eyesight.

Ding Xuerun smiled unexpectedly and wrote on the paper: “Jade in the mountain and the grass is moistened, the abyss gives birth to pearls and the cliff has not withered”

Lou Cheng couldn’t understand it because he only saw the word “rùn” in it. “A sentence in Xunzi’s [Encourage Learning], your name, Cheng, is the meaning of this word,” Ding Xuerun said as he opened the Chinese Book. He circled the jade word separately and explained what the sentence meant.

Lou Cheng read it several times and wrote it down. In one line of the poem, there are both his and Ding Xuerun’s names and Ding Xuerun seems to be able to recite them fluently. Lou Cheng realizes that having cultural knowledge is really different.

Ding Xuerun changed the subject after discussing that topic. Ding Xuerun’s composition topic finally came to an end after more than an hour of speaking: “How are you going to write the composition title of a pear flower?”

This is the most important topic for testing the writing ability of students who can’t recite a few sentences and have no knowledge of a poem.

One pear flower, one pear flower…” Lou Cheng nibbled his pen. “Is the pear flower delicious? Shall I bring the pear flower home and make some pancake?”

“Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m not hungry.” He was embarrassed, “Can’t you use this flower to make pancakes?”

“It can be used to cook with and make wine. Let me explain this question to you. This question seems difficult, but the content is broad. Many compositions can be written from the perspective of family affection and friendship, or teachers. It will not be difficult if you have an exam with this type of question. I will supervise you in writing the beginning, turning point, and end of several points of view before you take the exam. If you write something, I’ll correct it so you can recite it without missing a word.”

“Lou Cheng, what do you intend to write?” He asked again.

Lou Cheng sat on the ground with his knees folded, and glanced at him: “my deskmate made me  a big pear flower pancake… “

Ding Xuerun was helpless and said, “This is not delicious. Do you want to eat pancakes? Do you have flour at home? I’ll make a dough.”

“No, don’t do it,” Lou Cheng stopped him quickly, “I just want to ask. Runrun, do you want to make sweet-scented osmanthus for me?”

“The osmanthus blooming season has not arrived yet.” There is osmanthus in Lou Cheng’s community. Ding Xuerun saw it last year, but it was not Siji Osmanthus.

Lou Cheng said “Oh”, and said, “How long is the flowering period?”

“September till October.”

Lou Cheng asked cautiously: “Aren’t you going to college at that time?” 

“No, I’ll go next year.” He chose the Law School of the National People’s University. The admission notice is already on the way. The whole school knows about it. Many teachers use it to motivate students in the class.

He sat cross-legged, his legs numb. He wanted to change his posture by supporting his arms. “What will you do if I leave?” he asked.

Lou Cheng had a very strong, heart-pounding sensation. It happened that Ding Xuerun changed his posture. Halfway through, he stretched his leg to his side and frowned: “My legs are numb.”

He wasn’t wearing socks, and his feet came into contact with Lou Cheng, who was wearing shorts in May. Lou Cheng’s legs went numb as if he couldn’t move, and his Adam’s apple rolled twice: “Runrun…”

“Hmm?”

“I…” Lou Cheng’s voice was hoarse, and his gaze was fixated on Ding Xuerun’s face as if obsessed. With one arm on the sofa and slowly approaching him.

Ding Xuerun blinked but did not hide or speak.

Luo Cheng’s heart beat like a drum. He moved his face forward, a vague glance on his lips, and finally a light touch on his cheek. Lou Cheng was flustered, afraid that Ding Xuerun would push him away and would not like it.

They were huddled in the small space between the coffee table and the sofa, their legs numb and unable to stand.

Half of Lou Cheng’s body was numb. His lips pressed against Ding Xuerun’s cheeks, slowly pressing his head against the edge of the sofa, and holding his shoulder with one hand. After so many seconds, Lou Cheng’s tongue was tangled: “Runrun, you…do you hate it?”

Ding Xuerun raised his head, his vision obscured by the rickety crystal lamp in the living room. He looked into Lou Cheng’s bewildered dark eyes, raised his hand, placed it on Lou Cheng’s wrist on his shoulder, and whispered, “I don’t hate it.”

Lou Cheng’s eyes lit up in an instant, but he hesitated for only half a second. He lowered his head and kissed Ding Xuerun twice on the cheek. After a few seconds of staring at Ding Xueun, Lou Cheng removed his glasses with one hand, placed his palm on the floor, lowered his head, and kissed Ding Xuerun’s lips.

Lou Cheng didn’t move, probably because he didn’t know the rules, and his lips pressed against Ding Xuerun’s lips. His heart was overflowing with tenderness, and it was so hot that it was about to spread out.

T/N: “…the dawn rinses jade cream is refreshing.” This is what I got after searching the meaning, that the sentence refers to the agar cream used to rinse the mouth in the morning makes the teeth cold or feel refreshing. I guess its taste like the mint mouthwash or toothpaste and this is the original sentence“……春飞雪粉如毫润，晓漱琼膏冰齿寒.”

If you are still confused Cheng in Lou Cheng’s name meant Jade.

“Encourage Learning” is an essay written by Xunzi, a thinker and writer during the Warring States Period, and the first article of  “Xunzi“. This article comprehensively and profoundly discusses issues related to learning from the importance of learning, learning attitude, content, and methods of learning, etc.