Translated by Eve
Standing Up for a Righteous Cause
The restaurant wasn’t what he had been expecting. It was actually a stall opened in front of another building. There were several plastic tables and chairs arranged in front of it. The main source of light came from the single bulb suspended on the stall.
The light bulb swayed with the chilly wind. There was a heavy tone of misery painted over the scene.
For a second, Sheng Renxing thought that Xing Ye was getting back at him. He entertained the thought that the other was about to sell him to human traffickers.
“Old Que! Where are the noodles at? Get weaving!” A middle-aged man seated on one of the plastic chairs downed his beer and hollered at the stall’s boss.
The man had two other men with him at his table. They were the only seated customers. The three of them lounged against their chairs, chatting and drinking. Their voices were loud enough to shake the Heavens. On their table sat five bottles of beer and a bowl of peanuts. The ground beneath them was littered with empty bottles.
“It’ll be ready in a trice! Don’t rush me!” The boss shouted back in an even louder voice.
His fingers danced over the air above the pot. Faintly discernible steam rose into the air, enveloping the man’s arm. It made it look like the tattoo on his arm would fly away along with the steam.
The man who spoke earlier smacked the table in front of him. “Laozi’s hungry as a nanny goat!”
“Just be a bit now. Come, take another bowl of peanuts.”
The two of them heckled at each other good-naturedly for a while. Ultimately, the customer stood up and went to bring the peanuts back to his table.
Sheng Renxing only understood about half of what they were saying. It was like they were speaking some foreign language that had Chinese mixed into it.
He then shifted his gaze away. There were also two girls waiting for takeout.
Despite the frigid weather today, they had on smoky makeup and short skirts. They were both smoking as they waited.
He could clearly see that both girls were cold enough to shiver. They shook so hard they didn’t even have to flick the ashes off their cigarettes—the ashes fell to the ground on their own from the force of their shivering.
None of these people seemed like decent folks.
This noodle stall didn’t seem up-to-regulation either.
It looked simple and crude, and like it probably didn’t care too much about hygiene.
Sheng Renxing bit down on the inside of his cheek and looked away with some disdain in his eyes.
Suddenly, he wasn’t so hungry anymore.
Just as he was about to ask Xing Ye to change restaurants, the boss noticed them.
The boss raised a brow as he looked at Xing Ye. In a shocked and enthusiastic tone, he said, “Hm? Come on over and nosh on some noodles.”
He then dumped two servings of noodles into the boiling water.
Sheng Renxing: “….”
Xing Ye simply said, “Mn.”
It seemed like the two of them knew each other.
Xing Ye took Sheng Renxing to sit down at one of the tables. He then told the boss: “Two bowls of spicy shredded pork noodles.”
He then asked Sheng Renxing: “Do you eat spicy food?”
“……”
Sheng Renxing sat down. He couldn’t help but look at the surface of the table.
A layer of oil coated the surface, glistening as the light hit the table. Several flies were drawn in by the oil. They buzzed all around them.
Sheng Renxing’s face was pulled taut. With pursed lips, he said, “…Yeah. No scallions for me, though.”
That was the one thing he wouldn’t compromise on.
“All right.” The boss then asked bluntly, “Want beer?”
“One bottle.” Xing Ye pulled out a few napkins in a very natural manner and handed some over to Sheng Renxing. “The noodles here are really well-known.”
Sheng Renxing was taken aback at first. He then accepted the napkins and began to wipe down the table.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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He grabbed two disposable cups and asked Sheng Renxing, “Want some?”
Sheng Renxing nodded. In a single sip, he drank half the cup.
He could feel the icy burn of the beer as it slid down his throat, alleviating his thirst.
The boss didn’t leave after delivering the noodles. He leaned against the table and chatted with Xing Ye. “I’m surprised you had time to come visit.”
He then sized up Xing Ye’s outfit. “Did you just get out of school? Your teachers must have given you detention. What did you do to get all covered in mud? A fight?”
The boss spoke quickly and he had an accent. Sheng Renxing leaned forward to pick up a pair of chopsticks and quietly turned on his internal translation machine.
In front of him, Xing Ye gave a sound of acknowledgement. He looked down and mixed his noodles. His tone was filled with indifference. “I was surrounded after school.”
“Hm?” The boss’ tone raised at the end. A while later, he hissed. “Is it related to the business?” His eyes were widened with curiosity.
“?” Sheng Renxing couldn’t help but look at them both.
He just so happened to catch sight of Xing Ye nodding.
The other’s eyes were downcast and he acted calm, like it was nothing out-of-the-ordinary.
As he stirred his noodles, the rising steam added a hazy filter over his face.
All of a sudden, Sheng Renxing recalled what the other boy had looked like when speaking to the group in the alley earlier on in the night. At that time, he hadn’t gotten a clear glimpse at the other, but he figured that Xing Ye had probably looked as he did now.
Sheng Renxing lowered his head and copied Xing Ye. A delicious aroma wafted into his nose as he mixed his noodles. The scent of the piping hot noodles was enveloped by the smell of the chili peppers and meat.
Suddenly, his hunger returned.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, a raw deal you’ve been dealt there. You know where they’re from?” The boss sighed as he shook his head.
Xing Ye shook his head as well.
The boss sighed again: “What do you plan on doing, then?”
As he spoke, he topped up Xing Ye’s drink. While he was at it, he poured himself a drink from the bottle on their table.
When he noticed Sheng Renxing looking at him, he raised his glass at the boy with a smile before raising it to Xing Ye as well. Despite the fact it was their first meeting, he acted very familiarly around Sheng Renxing.
Xing Ye clinked his cup against the boss’. “We’ll settle it according to the rules.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he emptied half his cup.
Seems like he was also thirsty.
The boss downed his drink and pulled a chair over from a table nearby.
There weren’t any new customers. It looked like he wasn’t planning on going anywhere any time soon.
Noticing that Xing Ye didn’t seem to want to talk about this, the boss changed the subject. “Who’s this little man here?”
“Sheng Renxing.” Sheng Renxing replied politely upon realizing that the question was directed at him.
“I see.” The boss smiled back at him. He could tell that Sheng Renxing wasn’t a local so he dropped the Xuancheng slang. “A classmate? I haven’t seen you around before.”
The first part was directed to Xing Ye while the latter sentence was to Sheng Renxing.
“Come, let’s have a drink.”
Sheng Renxing didn’t hold back. He knocked his cup against the boss’ and admitted in an easy-mannered tone, “I just arrived in Xuancheng today.”
“Hm? What a coincidence!”
“Is this your first time here? Are you travelling?” The boss spoke to him enthusiastically. His loud voice suited his exaggerated expressions. “Welcome to Xuancheng.”
“Come, let’s have another drink.”
Sheng Renxing smiled and shook his head. “No, I came to study. Thank you.”
Once again, they bumped glasses.
After that fight and the hot bowl of noodles, Sheng Renxing’s nerves were no longer tense. His expression was indolent and relaxed.
“Oh~” The boss didn’t ask him why he had transferred schools in the middle of the school year. Instead, he asked, “How did you two meet considering it’s only your first day here?”
Sheng Renxing pondered over this and then spoke in a bold and confident tone. “We met while I was standing up for a righteous cause.”
Xing Ye had been eating when he heard this. Abruptly, his head whipped up and he glanced at the other boy.
Sheng Renxing met his gaze and cocked a brow. What, you dare say otherwise?
Xing Ye didn’t comment. He simply lowered his head to continue eating.
Sheng Renxing didn’t know if he was just imagining it but he thought he saw a smile on the other’s lips.
“Oh ho! He was surrounded by people tonight and you were standing up for a righteous cause…that means that you helped Xiao Xing out, right? No wonder you’re both so dirty! ….”
The boss had started to spout exaggerated nonsense. It only got more and more ridiculous: “…Xiao Xing should dedicate an embroidered flag to you. He should give it to you at your school! I’ll find some people to drum for you two as well. Bum ba dum dum. It will be so grand….”
Sheng Renxing: “?”
He pictured the scene and envisioned himself in it. All he felt was scalp-numbing embarrassment.
He then glanced at Xing Ye, who was sitting in front of him. The other’s face was scrunched up and there was a difficult-to-describe look of disdain on his face.
Sheng Renxing imagined Xing Ye in the scene he had pictured earlier. Suddenly, he couldn’t stop the peal of laughter from escaping his lips.
It was like a funny switch had been flicked on. The more he thought about it, the funnier it became. Sheng Renxing propped himself up on the table with his elbows, one hand covering half his face as he convulsed with laughter.
Originally, Xing Ye had had no intention of laughing. But as he watched Sheng Renxing laugh, he couldn’t help but chuckle as well.
With such receptive audience members, the boss decided to amp up his antics.
In the end, his charade only ended when new customers arrived.
After the boss left, their table fell silent.
Sheng Renxing had gone hungry for too long today so he couldn’t eat much. He put his chopsticks down and leaned against his chair. “What are the rules you were talking about?”
The question came out-of-nowhere but Xing Ye knew exactly what he was referring to.
Xing Ye’s gaze shifted to a droplet of condensation that was sliding down the side of the beer bottle. His left index finger tapped against his chopsticks as he fell into a hesitation-filled silence.
“Are you guys part of a gang? Do you have to chop off your fingers if you break the rules?” Since Xing Ye didn’t reply, Sheng Renxing asked another question. He raised his chin pensively. “Like gangsters? Like the ones that wield machetes in group fights?”
Did he accidentally get involved in a gang war on his first day in Xuancheng? Wasn’t that too scary?
Sheng Renxing whistled internally.
All guys in this day and age have seen gangster films.
A lot of guys held a subconscious admiration for them and a desire to imitate them.
Sheng Renxing had never been in contact with gangs before. He was currently basing his conjectures on the films he’d seen.
Xing Ye: “…?”
When Xing Ye looked up, it looked like he wanted to laugh. Ultimately, he managed to force it down. His voice sounded strained. “No, we’re not gangsters.”
After thinking about it a bit more, he couldn’t help but add: “That’s way too exaggerated.”
No one would run around the streets while waving machetes in the air.
Sheng Renxing nodded. He examined Xing Ye curiously.
After Xing Ye said that, it became a bit awkward to mention the ‘rules’ again. The childish rush he felt just now felt like it had turned around and became a bucket of cold water.
“A challenge to fight.”
Xing Ye had mulled over his limited bank of euphemisms before deciding to just explain it in simple terms.
Sheng Renxing understood at once. He thought about how he had gotten involved and asked a bit nervously, “Do I have to fight too?”
Xing Ye took in the other’s excited expression and then shook his head. “No.”
Sheng Renxing made a ‘oh’ sound. He looked like he was both glad and disappointed to hear this.
Xing Ye: “….”
Xing Ye sized the other boy up without batting an eye.
The boy in front of him had his eyes lowered as he returned a few messages on his cell phone. One of his hands was pushing his red bangs back, revealing his smooth forehead.
It seemed like he had read something funny. The red-haired boy’s lips were curled up and a quiet curse came out from his mouth.
There was a self-confident, unbridled look in his eyes.
Then again, his personality was unbridled as well.
Not only did he have the guts to get involved in a fight on his first day in a new city, he even wanted to continue afterwards.
He seemed fearless.
Sheng Renxing replied to Big Head Qiu’s messages before putting his phone away.
“Then,” Sheng Renxing glanced at the bottle that still had a bit left. He poured the small amount of beer left into his cup and raised it towards Xing Ye.
“I wish you luck.”
Xing Ye raised his own. “Thanks.” He paused and then added, “Welcome to Xuancheng.”
Right as he said that, it abruptly started to drizzle.
A drop of rain fell into Sheng Renxing’s cup, causing the liquid inside to ripple.
He looked up. Xuancheng’s dark sky covered the moon. A storm was coming.
It was almost like it was raining in welcome of him.
Xing Ye simply continued to bump cups with him.
Sheng Renxing’s eyelashes quivered slightly. He tilted his head back and drank his “welcoming wine.”
When it came time to leave, Xing Ye handed Sheng Renxing his black umbrella.
Sheng Renxing accepted the umbrella and walked back to his hotel.
The girl at the front desk was still playing on her phone with her head lowered and the elevator still had the ‘out-of-order’ sign on.
Sheng Renxing shook the rainwater off of himself at the entrance before entering.
This time, the rain came down much harder than it had in the morning. Pitter patter—the sound of the rain travelled through the walls that had bad sound-proofing and drifted into his ears.
Back in his room, Sheng Renxing took a look around his empty room and then looked at the handprint on his shirt. Finally, it hit him.
What was he going to wear tomorrow?
The author has something to say:
Don’t ask whether Xingxing gege wore any underwear tonight. The answer is: he went commando.
I asked my guy friends out of curiosity what it felt like to go commando.
They all had the same answer: It felt pretty good when they weren’t hard. They liked it.
Eve: The sweetness will come soon~ They warm up to each other relatively quickly but it will still take a while. Fun fact, before I decided to take this as a project, I referred to this as my ‘wannabe gangster novel’ hahaha. Cause Xingxing kind of tries to be bad but he’s a little too innocent.
Sheng Renxing could return to his hotel!!! I thought he’d have to ask for directions hehehe.
Xing Ye seemed a really cold person, but he can laugh too.
Thanks for the chapter!
HAHAHAHAHA That “wanna be a gangster” made my day Eve~
The Author was so brave to ask what it feels to be on commando~ raise your hand and salute to the author’s braveness
So what will Sheng Renxing will wear when he wakes up? hahhaha
Thank you for the chapter~
they are already pretty cute even though they are just getting to know each other!
Thanks for the chapter <3
Lol that was cute >u< And LMAOOO @ the A/N 💀💀😂😂
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
Lol ‘wannabe gangster novel’ is truly an amazing title. (XD)
Thank you for the chapter! ❤
…Could this be considered as a first date?
Ty for the chap!💜💜💜
I’m literally re reading this novel again … while waiting for it to update 😿
This novel is so good!!one of my fav..❤️❤️
Thanks for translating this