HSS CH26

Chapter 26: I Want to Cut Ties

After being sternly warned by Huo Yuchuan that day, Lin Miao left with his workbook, grumbling to himself. He didn’t come to urge Huo Yuchuan to hand in his homework again. Instead, whenever he passed by, he would pause for a moment, as if he wanted to say something but was afraid that Huo Yuchuan might hit him.

On Wednesday afternoon, it rained. The rain hadn’t stopped when school was over, but it had lessened to a gentle drizzle that enveloped the surroundings. Huo Yuchuan didn’t mind; he had been caught in heavier rain before, and this was almost negligible. He rode his bike into the misty rain, with the fine droplets hitting his face and bringing a slight chill.

As he turned onto the tree-lined path on his bike, he saw the annoying class monitor holding a very large umbrella, deep blue, walking on the side of the road, like a moving giant mushroom. The “mushroom” suddenly turned its head and looked at him while walking. Huo Yuchuan ignored him and sped past.

Then, he heard Lin Miao call out urgently. Huo Yuchuan stopped his bike, turned around, and saw Lin Miao sitting on the ground, the deep blue umbrella lying beside him. Not watching the road, it was no wonder he fell.

“Ouch…” Lin Miao hissed, rolled up his trouser leg, and revealed a slight abrasion on his knee that was seeping blood. He sniffed, looked up, and met Huo Yuchuan’s gaze from a short distance away.

After a brief silence, Lin Miao said, “It hurts a bit.”

“Didn’t ask,” Huo Yuchuan was extremely ruthless, pedaled his bike, and was about to leave.

“Huo Yuchuan…” the person behind him called out anxiously.

Seeing Huo Yuchuan ride away, Lin Miao had no choice but to pick up the umbrella himself and blew on the wound on his knee. Before he could stand up, he heard the familiar bike bell ring. Huo Yuchuan’s indifferent voice said, “Get on.”

Lin Miao’s eyes lit up. He climbed onto the back seat of Huo Yuchuan’s bike, holding the umbrella, and said happily, “Thank you.”

Huo Yuchuan, expressionless, pedaled the bike forward. The large umbrella above his head moved over, blocking the fine rain that was falling on his face.

He took him to a nearby pharmacy, went in and bought alcohol, cotton swabs, and band-aids, and then threw them at Lin Miao when he came out.

Lin Miao looked at the items in his arms and then at Huo Yuchuan, asking blankly, “Do I do it myself?”

Huo Yuchuan: “What, don’t have hands?”

Lin Miao pouted and said, “Alright.”

He sat on the steps nearby, unscrewed the alcohol bottle cap, dipped a cotton swab in it, and then, with his eyes closed, tried to dab it on his knee. Before he even touched it, he hissed and ended up wiping the alcohol around the wound instead.

Huo Yuchuan: “……”

Unable to bear it, Huo Yuchuan took the items from his hands, disinfected the wound for him, and applied two band-aids.

Lin Miao, not daring to look at the wound, just watched Huo Yuchuan. After counting a few rounds of his eyelashes, he saw Huo Yuchuan stand up and say, “Done.”

Lin Miao said “thank you” again and dutifully climbed onto the back seat of the bike. Huo Yuchuan looked at him silently.

Lin Miao didn’t understand and sincerely stated his address, “My home is near the small park. Just drop me off there.”

Huo Yuchuan glared at him for a few seconds, then got on the bike with a sour expression.

The next morning, as soon as Huo Yuchuan arrived at the classroom, Lin Miao walked over and handed him a fragrant bread.

“Thank you for yesterday,” Lin Miao said, “This is for you to eat.”

Huo Yuchuan didn’t take it, pulled out a chair, and sat down, “No need.”

Lin Miao: “This bread is really delicious.”

Huo Yuchuan: “I don’t eat.”

Lin Miao, seeing that he still didn’t want it, extended his other hand, “Then have this milk.”

Huo Yuchuan directly said, “I don’t eat breakfast.”

“Ah?” Lin Miao asked blankly, “Why?” Won’t you be hungry?

Huo Yuchuan didn’t answer and lay his head back on the desk to sleep.

The person next to him paused for a moment, put something on his desk, and then walked away.

Huo Yuchuan slightly turned his head, opened his eyes, and saw the box of milk quietly standing on his desk.

He had forgotten when he stopped eating breakfast. Every morning when he left home, his mother was still asleep or hadn’t come back yet. The money for food was given when remembered, and forgotten when not.

So, from one day on, Huo Yuchuan stopped eating breakfast, having only two meals a day, and still grew so tall.

Only yesterday, after buying alcohol and band-aids, he wouldn’t eat dinner tonight either.

He threw the box of milk on his desk into the desk drawer without drinking it.

However, starting from that day, Lin Miao would bring him a box of milk every morning. If he didn’t want it, he would just leave it on the desk and run away.

The milk boxes in the desk drawer accumulated more and more, piled up haphazardly.

Another morning, as Huo Yuchuan walked to the back door of the classroom, he saw Lin Miao standing in front of his desk with a box of milk, staring at something on the desk, looking a bit unhappy.

There seemed to be writing on the desktop.

Probably someone had written something like “illegitimate child” or “shameless” on his desk again, nothing unusual.

He was used to it.

He was about to go in when he saw Lin Miao put the milk on the side of the desk, angrily wiped the desk with his hand, got a handful of chalk dust, and then went to the podium to get a cloth to wipe it. After wiping it, he went to wash his hands.

Huo Yuchuan walked over, put down his school bag, and silently looked at the box of milk.

After a while, he picked up the milk, took out the straw, and drank the milk that Lin Miao had given him for the first time.

Summer was always humid and rainy. When school was over, Huo Yuchuan looked at the gloomy sky and the dripping rain, about to rush into the rain curtain again, when someone suddenly pulled the corner of his clothes.

Lin Miao, holding the umbrella, stood behind him and said, “My umbrella is very big.”

Two minutes later, Huo Yuchuan was riding his bike with Lin Miao sitting behind him, holding the umbrella over their heads.

Huo Yuchuan dropped him off first. Lin Miao handed him the umbrella and said, “Wait a moment. It’s dangerous for you to ride with an umbrella. I’ll get a raincoat for you.”

He ran upstairs with a “clang clang” sound, and soon came back down, handing the raincoat to Huo Yuchuan.

Huo Yuchuan glanced at it. The raincoat was made of semi-transparent material, printed with one yellow duck after another.

Huo Yuchuan’s expression was indescribable, “No way.”

“Why not?” Lin Miao didn’t understand, “The rain is getting heavier. If you don’t wear it, you’ll get soaked.”

Huo Yuchuan: “It’s too childish.”

Lin Miao: “I think it’s cute.”

Huo Yuchuan: “I’d rather die than wear it.”

Lin Miao: “Please wear it……”

The two of them tussled downstairs for a long time. In the end, the rain stopped, and Huo Yuchuan pedaled his bike and left.

Lin Miao seemed to be not afraid of Huo Yuchuan at all. He even occasionally pestered Huo Yuchuan to give him a ride home on his bike because he was too lazy to walk.

Probably feeling a bit embarrassed about taking a free ride, he started to urge Huo Yuchuan to do his homework again.

He held the workbook from before and coaxed, “Do some homework, Huo Yuchuan……”

Huo Yuchuan buried half his face in his arm, “Mind your own business.”

Lin Miao muttered, “I don’t want you to get scolded by the teacher.”

Huo Yuchuan glanced at him for a while after lifting his eyelid, finally took the workbook from his hand, and opened the first page.

Lin Miao’s eyes lit up, and he was about to teach him when he saw Huo Yuchuan think for a moment, then write down the answer, all of which were correct.

Lin Miao was greatly shocked, “You know how to do them?”

Huo Yuchuan: “Not bad.”

Lin Miao couldn’t believe it, “You sleep all day, don’t you?!”

Huo Yuchuan: “It’s not difficult.”

Lin Miao: “……” I can’t compete with you guys who have such sharp brains.

“I don’t know this one,” Huo Yuchuan stopped writing and said.

Lin Miao finally regained a bit of self-esteem, dragged over a stool next to him, and sat down like a little teacher to explain the problem to him.

They were by the window, with good light. When Huo Yuchuan looked up, he could even see the fine down on Lin Miao’s face, soft and gentle in the halo of light.

“Like this, you get the answer……” Lin Miao, seeing that Huo Yuchuan had no reaction, asked, “Do you understand?”

Huo Yuchuan withdrew his gaze and “mm”ed.

The classroom after school was almost empty, with only Lin Miao’s voice echoing as he explained the problem.

At that moment, Huo Yuchuan suddenly felt that going to school was also quite good.

Although there were still many people who didn’t like him, and although summer was still hot and humid……

The phone “ding ding” rang several times. Huo Yuchuan groggily opened his eyes and realized he had fallen asleep on his desk at work.

He picked up his phone and saw several messages from Jiang Leming.

“Brother Chuan, did you have a fight with our Miao?”

“After he came back, he kept saying you’re a big liar.”

“Now he’s tired of scolding and is just staring at his phone angrily.”

Below was a photo taken secretly from behind Lin Miao.

Their dormitory was a bunk bed with a desk below. In the photo, Lin Miao was sitting on the chair below the bed, staring at his phone.

Huo Yuchuan enlarged the photo and saw that Lin Miao’s phone also had a photo on it—it was taken by Lin Miao on Sunday, before leaving City C.

The phone rang again, and a message from Lin Miao popped up, indignantly saying, “I want to cut ties with you!”

Huo Yuchuan’s finger rubbed over that photo and smiled faintly.

He replied, “What’s the posture for cutting ties? I don’t understand.”

Lin Miao in the dormitory: “……”