Outside the CT room, Xiao Lajiao and Zhai Yao sat side by side on a bench, waiting for the results.
Xiao Lajiao was wearing slippers, and the ankle of her left foot was still a bit swollen. However, she was in good spirits, continuously gesturing and conversing with Zhai Yao: —Teacher Wei wants me and a few classmates to represent the school in the children’s dance competition held by the city!
Zhai Yao gave her an affirming thumbs up in response.
She continued: —From now on, you don’t have to pick me up during noon. I want to practice with everyone at school. Teacher Wei will take us out for lunch!
Zhai Yao’s brows wrinkled, feeling a bit concerned: —Your foot is still injured.
Xiao Lajiao waved her hands: —It’s okay! Teacher Wei has to choose between me and Miaomiao to be the lead dancer. Miaomiao’s mom is a dance teacher, so I’m under a lot of pressure now.
After finishing her gestures, she sighed like a little adult.
Half an hour later, the examination results were out.
Xiao Lajiao’s bones were fine, with only a simple sprain diagnosed. The doctor prescribed some blood-activating and stasis-dissolving medicine for her and offered a few words of advice to Zhai Yao before letting them leave.
In the hospital garden, Xiao Lajiao, being carried on Zhai Yao’s back, suddenly brightened her eyes and patted Zhai Yao’s shoulder, signalling him to put her down.
Zhai Yao didn’t know what Xiao Lajiao was up to, but still decided to set her down on the ground. Immediately, Xiao Lajiao hobbled on her injured foot, diligently running towards a banyan tree.
At the same time, a loud voice resounded from beneath the tree, “Grandson!”
It was Shen Ziyao, enjoying a cool-off in the shade after his meal.
Standing nearby was his unacknowledged and jinxed grandson, Shen Heng.
Xiao Lajiao dashed towards Shen Heng, raising her head to size him up.
Zhai Yao felt puzzled, wondering when did Xiao Lajiao know him?
Shen Ziyao called out to Zhai Yao once more, and Zhai Yao, lips pursed, approached with the intention of pulling Xiao Lajiao back.
Xiao Lajiao twisted her body, avoiding Zhai Yao, and continued nibbling on her hand while looking at Shen Heng.
Shen Heng cast his gaze downward, and with delicate, careful movements, Xiao Lajiao pinched the hem of his clothes, conveying messages through sign language.
Having grasped Xiao Lajiao’s message, Zhai Yao furrowed his brows and squatted down to communicate with her.
What Xiao Lajiao said was: —Gege, can you teach me how to dance?
Zhai Yao: —You’ve got it wrong; he doesn’t know how to dance.
Xiao Lajiao tilted her head, pointing at Zhai Yao: —But you said he can.
After a moment of thought, Zhai Yao realized it was indeed true!
That day in the underground passage, when he saw Shen Heng fighting with students from the vocational high school, Xiao Lajiao asked him, “What are they doing?” Not wanting Xiao Lajiao to understand these troublesome matters, he randomly told her, “Dancing.”
As Zhai Yao pondered how to explain the situation to Xiao Lajiao, an unexpected icy remark floated down from above, “What did she say?”
Without giving it much thought, Zhai Yao replied, “She said that your presence here is an eyesore.”
Shen Heng pursed his lips. “You told her I know how to dance?”
Zhai Yao: “……” So, you can actually understand sign language? Why ask if you already know?!
“Hey, hey, why are you guys playing silent riddle here?” Shen Ziyao pointed at himself. “Can’t you see there’s still a living person here!”
Zhai Yao straightened up and greeted Shen Ziyao. Shen Ziyao formed a frown with his lips. “You little rascal, why did it take you so long to come and see me again?!”
“Let’s head back to the ward, Shen Ziyao. The doctor will need to examine you in a while.” Shen Heng didn’t want Shen Ziyao to cause trouble with his foggy mind, so he took his arm and supported him as they left. Suddenly, Shen Heng stopped in his tracks, looking ahead.
Just beyond a low wall separating the hospital from the road, a few people stood by the road, peering into the hospital through the intricately carved hollow patterns in the wall.
When Shen Heng’s gaze met theirs, the leader, a chubby guy, took the cigarette out of his mouth, arrogantly stuck out his tongue, revealing a metal tongue ring.
Shen Heng’s eyes darkened slightly.
“Let’s go, Grandpa.” Shen Ziyao’s arm was suddenly taken over by Zhai Yao from Shen Heng’s hand. He also lifted Xiao Lajiao onto his back and headed towards the inpatient building without looking back.
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.
Only after they had smoothly entered the inpatient building did Shen Heng retract his gaze. Subsequently, he proceeded alone towards the hospital’s side entrance.
In that area, numerous funeral and interment supply shops were open, and unless there was a particular need, few people traversed the vicinity.
The chubby guy outside exchanged a glance with the individuals behind him and trailed behind Shen Heng with only the wall separating them.
…
In the quiet confines of the hospital room, Shen Ziyao took out an aeroplane chess set and invited Zhai Yao to play with him. Zhai Yao said he didn’t know how, so Xiao Lajiao volunteered to join the battle game.
She had played with her teachers at school, garnering praise for her remarkable skills.
Zhai Yao watched through the window as Shen Heng’s statuesque silhouette disappeared into the lush Boston ivy. His phone vibrated, and he opened the chat window to find a message from Xie Ziming.
【Xie-zi: Is this the person? Photo.jpg】
Zhai Yao enlarged the picture by tapping on it, unveiling a blurry face. A person adorned with a gold chain, sporting a tongue piercing, and bearing a striking resemblance to a hippopotamus.
【Out-of-reach: Mm.】
Meanwhile, Xie Ziming sent a series of “…” in response.
【Xie-zi: WTH, how did you end up in a clash with Chen Biao!】
【Xie-zi: Where are you? I’ll call people over right now!】
【Xie-zi: Don’t act impulsively, brother! There are so many people; you can’t handle them alone!】
Zhai Yao cast another glance out the window, lowered his eyes, and keyed a message on the screen.
【Out-of-reach: What about adding one more Shen Heng?】
【Xie-zi: ?】
…
Half an hour later, Xie Ziming, leading a group of brothers, hurried towards the hospital’s side entrance. As they reached the entrance of the funeral and interment supply shop, they crossed paths with another faction.
Both sides cast skeptical glances at each other, and in an instant, the atmosphere became as tense as drawn swords and strung crossbows.
Xie Ziming pulled out a wooden stick he had picked up earlier, swung it menacingly, and pointed at the opposition, shouting, “Where’s my brother?!”
The leader on the other side, dressed in a denim jacket, sneered, and retorted, “I should be the fricking one asking you; where’s Shen Heng!”
Xie Ziming, hands on hips, was about to unleash a verbal onslaught. “Shen my f*cking…” when suddenly his expression froze. “Who did you just mention? Shen Heng?”
“Bro, stop bullsh*tting with them! Let’s charge!” urged a white-haired guy on the other side, ready to ram ahead.
Xie Ziming sighed and quickly stretched out his hand in front of him. “Hold on, we’re on the same side!”
…
Beneath the comforting shade of a sprawling tree, Xie Ziming lit a cigarette for Denim Jacket.
“So, my bro, Yao, is here to help your bro, Heng?” Xie Ziming rubbed his chin.
Denim Jacket took a puff and nodded. “Seems like it. Heng-zi witnessed a blockhead from the vocational school harassing a girl from the medical school, couldn’t stand it, and took care of him. Now, that jerk keeps sending people to hassle him every few days.”
Xie Ziming narrowed his eyes. “The version I caught wind of was that Shen Heng stripped the vocational high school guy naked and left him exposed all night.”
“It’s the same story,” Denim Jacket said, “That idiot happens to be Chen Biao’s younger cousin. Couldn’t hold his ground in a fight, got disgruntled, and ran off to tattle to his brother. Hah, pathetic!”
“Chen Biao used to be from the vocational high school, right?” Xie Ziming asked, “Have you ever had a physical confrontation with him?”
“No.” Denim Jacket shook his head. “He’s rumoured to be quite a fighter, so when I received the report from my vocational high school brothers, I immediately brought people over. Didn’t expect your 8th High School’s Zhai Yao to be there too.”
“Now he’s in 9th High School,” Xie Ziming said. “Sits with your bro, Shen Heng.”
“Damn?” Denim Jacket laughed. “This is getting interesting!”
“Right?! Let’s go visit his class together another day?”
“Okay, deal.”
On the side, the white-haired guy, fearing that their conversation would never end, timidly interjected, “Two brothers, let’s not chit-chat any longer. Shall we start focusing on finding people first?”
Xie Ziming and Denim Jacket slapped their foreheads in realization, rising from their spots. They felt regretful for having only established a connection now, and had become so engrossed in their enjoyable conversation that they nearly overlooked the primary task at hand!
Just then, several people emerged from behind the construction hoarding fence nearby. Their expressions were vivid, each displaying a spectacular depiction that illustrated what it meant to be scared out of one’s wits.
Xie Ziming and Denim Jacket exchanged a silent understanding and each grabbed one of them.
“Where’s Shen Heng?”
“Where’s Zhai Yao?”
Their voices harmonized in unison.
The two hooligans who were caught appeared visibly terrified. Seeing this group of people approaching, they quickly began wailing in anguish and shifting blame, “It was all Chen Biao’s idea; we were just here to show support, never laid a hand!”
Denim Jacket slapped Hooligan A’s head. “I’m asking you where’s he?!”
Hooligan A pointed towards the hoarding fence. “He’s… back there!”
Hooligan B, being held by Xie Ziming, had a mournful face and accused, “Bro, you guys should go persuade them. This is too much! Wuu wuu wuu…”
Hooligan A chimed in, “Wuu wuu wuu… Utterly heartless…. Devoid of any conscience, how inhumane!”
Xie Ziming and Denim Jacket exchanged glances, then simultaneously turned their attention towards the ruins behind the hoarding fence.
Within, a silence hung thick, and an eerie atmosphere enveloped the space.
Denim Jacket kicked Hooligan A’s butt. “Get lost!”
Hooligan A and Hooligan B immediately fled the scene and vanished into thin air.
Xie Ziming and Denim Jacket, along with their respective comrades, entered the ruins, searching for the presence of Zhai Yao and Shen Heng.
“There!” Xie Ziming suddenly shouted, eyes widening. “What the… what’s going on here?!”
Following his gaze, they saw Chen Biao with a somewhat embarrassed and ashamed expression in the rubbish heap, with his entire body stripped down to just a pair of underpants.
Painted on his fat and round belly was a large…
Old man Ding?!
Crouching on a worn-out sofa, Zhai Yao lazily supported his chin with his hand, pointing and gesturing. “Old man Ding should have three lines on his forehead, not four. Did you hecking not have a childhood?”
Shen Heng, holding a paintbrush, stared expressionlessly at Chen Biao’s belly, attempting to recall, “An old man Ding owed me two eggs. I said I’d give him four days to return, but he said three days…”
“Tsk, it’s ‘I said I’d give him three days to return, but he said four days.’” Zhai Yao impatiently corrected. “Old man Ding isn’t that stupid to bargain for a shorter deadline.”
Shen Heng fell silent, pondered for a moment, then raised his eyes to Chen Biao again. “How many days do you think?”
Now stripped of the arrogance he had earlier, Chen Bing was on the verge of tears but unable to cry and conceded, “It seems… that brother over there is right!”
Shen Heng let out a ‘Mm’ and nodded. “Turn around then, I’ll re-paint it.”
Not far away, Xie Ziming and Denim Jacket, the unintentional spectators of the entire affair, exclaimed in unison with synchronized surprise.
“How beastly of them!”
…
*
Spotting Xie Ziming and Denim Jacket, Zhai Yao leapt off the sofa and strolled towards Xie Ziming.
Xie Ziming noticed a cut on Zhai Yao’s chin and a bruise on his elbow. Knowing how Zhai Yao didn’t suffer a big loss, he felt a wave of relief.
Zhai Yao cast a nonchalant glance at Denim Jacket, prompting Xie Ziming to hurriedly introduce, “Oh, he’s with us!”
Denim Jacket acknowledged Zhai Yao with a nod before turning towards Shen Heng.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Mm.” Shen Heng tossed the paintbrush onto the ground. He furrowed his brows slightly upon noticing some paint on his fingers, looking as if a clean freak.
Denim Jacket redirected his gaze to Chen Biao. Planning to deliver few ruthless words, but the flame in his heart was completely extinguished by the prominent figure of Old man Ding on Chen Biao’s belly.
Denim Jacket knew that Shen Heng had a nasty streak, but he hadn’t expected the latter to become even worse in just a few days since he last saw him. He held back a laugh and gestured towards Chen Biao, “What’s next, Biao-ge? How about you just call it a day?”
Chen Biao’s lackeys had all fled, and even if he was seething with anger, he knew he had to yield at this moment. He nodded quickly. “Forget it; after all, one can’t forge a connection without experiencing a shared conflict.”
Denim Jacket patted Chen Biao’s big fat shoulder with all his strength. “That’s what you said. Are you a man of your word?”
Chen Biao gritted his teeth. “I-I am.” His tongue piercing was recently yanked off by Zhai Yao, leaving his tongue feeling numb as he spoke.
“Alright!” Denim Jacket grinned. “Since we’re all here, let’s take a photo together for a memory!”
“Hey, I think that’s a great idea!” Xie Ziming immediately caught on, adding, “Whose phone are we using? Remember to send me the pictures later.”
“Use mine, use mine!” The white-haired guy beside Denim Jacket handed over his phone.
Everyone understood Denim Jacket’s implication—if Chen Biao ever dared to provoke Shen Heng again, the glorious image of his “Old Man Ding” would swiftly circulate, leaving him utterly disgraced.
“Come on, Biao-ge, you stand in the middle!” Denim Jacket held a cigarette between his lips and arranged everyone in a line.
White-haired guy: “Look at the camera, Biao-ge; be happier—3, 2, 1!”
Click.
The shutter button was pressed.
“Dismiss, dismiss!” Xie Ziming stretched lazily and asked Zhai Yao, “Any plans next?”
“I’ll take Xiao Lajiao back to school first, then head to class.”
Xie Ziming nodded. “Okay, then I’ll grab something to eat first. See ya at the skating rink tonight.”
“That’s perfect; we haven’t eaten yet, let’s go together?” Denim Jacket, fully acquainted with Xie Ziming, slung his arm around him, saying, “Official introduction: I’m Luo Le, you can call me Le-zi.”
“Hey, nice name!” Xie Ziming gave a thumbs up. “I’ll be finding Le-zi to hang out in the future more often.”
After parting ways with Xie Ziming and Le-zi, Zhai Yao bent down to pick up his backpack, dusting off the dirt on it, and then turned to stride back towards the hospital.
The person behind him silently followed at a slight distance. Despite the absence of words, his towering height of over 1.8 meters still conveyed a strong presence.
Passing by the pharmacy entrance, Shen Heng pushed the door open and entered. Zhai Yao didn’t wait for him, but Shen Heng still managed to quickly caught up afterwards. He took out a band-aid from the plastic bag and handed it to Zhai Yao.
Zhai Yao glanced sideways at it but didn’t take it, feeling like Shen Heng would stick it on the back of his phone in the next second.
However, Shen Heng didn’t pull back this time. “Your chin is cut.”
Zhai Yao instinctively rubbed it with his hand. “Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Put it on.” Shen Heng insisted. “An old man and a child are inside the room.”
Zhai Yao thought how sticking it on might make the area even more conspicuous, but considering Shen Heng’s advice, the wound on his chin must’ve looked quite frightening.
He took it, tore it open, and stuck it roughly in the approximate position. Seeing that Shen Heng was still staring at him, he raised his eyebrows in annoyance. “Do I look cool?”
Shen Heng withdrew his gaze. “It’s fine; more pleasing to the eye than when I first saw you.”
“……?”
More pleasing to the eye?
Zhai Yao sneered, “You think Laozi won’t beat you up?”
“Zhai Yao.” Shen Heng pursed his lips, pausing for a moment, “Consider this as me owing you again…”
“Are you Xiang Piao Piao milk tea? The favours you owe could circle the Earth twice.”
This time around, Shen Heng didn’t seem bothered. He calmly said, “If needed, I can find someone to teach her how to dance.”
…
They’re so cool and they know how to humiliante their ennemies, I like it! 😆😆 their friends are fun too 😊 But too many names all of sudden, plz dear author spare us 🙏😅 the beginning of their friendship? 😽❤️
Ah, a power couple. My favorite 🥰
Tyrant 1 x tyrant 2 you gotta love this pairing 😍