Seizing Dreams

Ch22 – School Anniversary

Translated by: DMlations/Zryuu

Edited by: FistFullOfDollars and Amelea

—

It was pitch-dark on stage. The spotlight suddenly shone down on his head, like accumulated snow that cascaded onto him with a loud rumble, and a glaring light suddenly flashed.

It was full of people below! Close to a thousand!

The dark mass of people was completely silent, but suddenly, loud screams clamoured.

Yu Hao looked all around him, “???”

Yu Hao wanted to start with saying ‘dedicated to a friend of mine’, but he was distracted by the sudden screaming and became a bit flustered.

“I exist in the sunlight, the winds, between the heavens and the earth, and also in dreams; I’ve always been around, and have never been apart from you. Good night.”

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly heard General’s voice in his mind.

Yu Hao lowered his gaze slightly, and saw Chen Yekai sitting beside Lin Xun at the first row.

Chen Yekai wore a cold expression on his face and looked a bit impatient.

Yu Hao was aware that he must look really foolish right now. His shirt was loose and baggy, he wore a black T-shirt inside, and though his hair was waxed once, it was now tousled and a bit messy.

“I was so fortunate, to have met you……”

Yu Hao’s voice trembled slightly. He tried his best to calm himself down.

“But I’ve already lost all right to cry for you.”

“Hopefully, beyond a horizon that I can’t see……”

After he sang unaccompanied, the mild and sweet accompaniment began to play. Only then did the audience snap out of its trance, and a roaring applause immediately drowned out Yu Hao’s voice. Chen Yekai’s expression had changed instantly.

No one had thought that Yu Hao’s singing voice would be so pleasant to the ears.

Those were the expressions that Yu Hao was used to seeing on his friends’ or classmates’ faces whenever he sang in a KTV, though he rarely got the chance to. He knew that the moment he started singing, everyone would look very surprised.

Yu Hao’s grandmother was a Dan actress before the foundation of PRC by Mao Zedong in 1949, and she looked very beautiful when she was younger. She taught him how to sing a few songs when he was little, and after he grew up, she would listen to him sing once in awhile and advise him on his vocal techniques. Compared to how he usually sounds, Yu Hao’s voice sounds very different when he sings. His usual voice had a youthful quality to it, but his singing voice is rich and deep, and it resonates from his chest. Once he switches into his singing mode, all of his nervousness will vanish. Just like when he sings in the KTV, his gaze will turn hazy as he immerses himself in the music.

“I heard the pitter patter of rain drops on the meadow……”

“And also the ringing of the school bell not too far away……”

Chen Yekai stared blankly at Yu Hao. By the time he reached the chorus, Yu Hao had forgotten that he was on stage and became completely engrossed in singing.

“Looks like you’re the happiness that I wanted to hold onto the most, looks like we were actually so close to love. That person who fought against the world for me……”

The original version of this song overflowed with feelings from a maiden’s heart, but Yu Hao’s rendition imbued it with the mood of a confession from a Casanova. The background of the stage had transitioned into snowflakes that filled the sky, and accompanied by the flashing lights, the ambience engulfed the entire auditorium.

“That person who fought against the world for me, that person who stood in the rain with me, every scene was filled with your pure feelings that was untainted by even a speck of dust……”

Yu Hao wore a white shirt, black suit pants, and his sleeves were slightly rolled up. One of his hands was stuffed into his pants pocket while the other held the microphone. His eyelashes reflected the flashing lights that shone on the stage — his gaze was both hazy and filled with sorrow. When the chorus ended, the world turned silent before his voice rang out again unaccompanied.

“I was so fortunate, to have met you. But I’ve already lost all right to cry for you.”

He looked up, and once again saw Zhou Sheng.

Yu Hao’s eyes met Zhou Sheng’s across the auditorium. Yu Hao suddenly smiled out of embarrassment. That shy and nervous smile immediately triggered another round of sensational screams.

Zhou Sheng applauded with all his might. He fished out a glow stick from god knows where and, like he was attending a concert, he waved it around with the girl beside him. Yu Hao became even more embarrassed. He could only turn his head away slightly as he walked across the stage.

“Looks like you’re the happiness that I wanted to hold onto the most, looks like we were actually, so close to love.”

“That person who fought against the world for me……”

“Every scene was filled with……I was so fortunate, to have met you……”

Chen Yekai’s expression seemed to be frozen. His eyebrows slightly furrowed as he looked at Yu Hao.

Yu Hao’s gaze swept over the auditorium once more and he thought to himself: this lousy microphone’s timbre is so horrible, can’t they replace it with a better one?

The music finally came to an end. Yu Hao took a deep breath and said, “Welcome to our college, Professor Lin.”

A third round of thunderous applause erupted. Yu Hao suddenly remembered that he hadn’t said the most important words for the evening, so he added, “This song is dedicated to a friend of mine.”

The host went on stage. Yu Hao hurriedly bowed, then turned around and went backstage. As soon as he entered backstage, everyone there clapped loudly for him.

“I didn’t expect that!” League Secretary exclaimed, “I didn’t know you could sing so well!”

“When you were singing on stage, it was as if you were shining!” A girl said.

“Re…….really?” Yu Hao thought to himself that she shouldn’t exaggerate so much ba.

League Secretary asked again, “Yu Hao! Why didn’t you enter the Music Department?!”

“I’m not talented enough.” Yu Hao answered, “Really, my voice isn’t that good……”

In comparison to a professional singer, Yu Hao’s vocal foundations truly weren’t good enough.

Yu Hao’s face flushed red instantly and he only wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. After he changed out of Chen Yekai’s clothes and folded them neatly, everyone was still encouraging him to participate in a Singing Talent Show. Yu Hao was going crazy with embarrassment, so he quickly cut in, “I…..I have to go now, bye everyone! Thank you!” As he spoke, he quickly bowed to the people in the backstage and fled out of the auditorium.

When he was chilled by the wind, his nervousness returned, but the performance was already over. He had prepared for an entire day, yet he had only sung for three minutes. Yu Hao wanted to quickly find a place to sit down, or find someone to talk to.

“Qtfgf jgf sbe ublcu boo ab jujlc?” Itbe Vtfcu’r nblmf gjcu bea lc atf recrfa yftlcv Te Ljb.

Te Ljb delmxis rabbv eq. Itbe Vtfcu’r ulgioglfcv rwlifv, “Tbe rjcu rb kfii! Cgf sbe vjalcu rbwfbcf?”

“Gbc’a wfrr jgbecv!” Itbe Vtfcu rjlv ab tlr ulgioglfcv, atfc qijmfv bcf jgw jgbecv Te Ljb jcv bnfgyfjglcuis mbcolcfv tlw lc tlr afgglabgs, “Ofa’r ub ufa vlccfg!”

Yu Hao really wanted to go, but now that he met this couple, they might want to get a room later so he shouldn’t third wheel. He looked at Zhou Sheng’s girlfriend and said, “I won’t disturb you guys.”

She burst out laughing, yet Zhou Sheng was extremely embarrassed.

“I’ll head back first.” The girl pursed her lips and said, “My chauffeur is still waiting for me outside.”

Zhou Sheng said, “You won’t reconsider it?”

“I’ll think about it.” The girl answered.

Yu Hao said, “It wasn’t easy for you to come here. Zhou Sheng missed you to death, though he would never admit it. Accompany him for a little longer ba?”

“Ah?” That girl was stunned. She looked at Zhou Sheng, then looked at Yu Hao.

“Do you want to die?!” Zhou Sheng immediately tried to clear up the misunderstanding, “Yu Hao! Don’t get me into trouble!!

Yu Hao, “???”

“The two of you aren’t……” Yu Hao looked at them.

Zhou Sheng looked like he was about to fall apart. He turned one round on the spot and said, “Even if I jumped into the yellow springs, I wouldn’t be able to wash myself clean now! Yu Hao! Explain yourself!”

“Wait!” Yu Hao realised that they might not have confirmed their relationship yet, and Zhou Sheng might have only said ‘sis-in-law’ as a joke so he hurriedly said, “I don’t know anything! I thought the two of you were already together!”

The girl hurriedly waved her hand, and she looked really embarrassed as well. She walked to the college entrance and got into a black Lincoln, “I’ll contact you again some other time.”

Yu Hao smiled as he waved at her. After the car drove away, Zhou Sheng said, “I didn’t know you were someone who would bear grudges? I only scolded you a bit yesterday, yet now you’re taking revenge?!”

Yu Hao said, “No, I…….I really didn’t know. You haven’t confessed yet?”

“That’s Fu Liqun’s girlfriend!” Zhou Sheng became a little frantic.

Yu Hao, “Then why did you ask me to call her sis-in-law!”

Zhou Sheng, “Fu Liqun’s nickname is Gege! So why wouldn’t his wife be called sis-in-law! Last time I meant that she’s our sis-in-law!!”

Yu Hao, “……”

Zhou Sheng held his forehead with one hand. Yu Hao remembered that Fu Liqun was the tallest person in the Sports Department, and there were quite a few girls in his class who called him “Gege”. So after everyone called him that for awhile, it had become his nickname.

Half an hour later, Yu Hao returned to his dormitory to change back into his plain clothing. He wanted to return the shirt to Chen Yekai in a few days, but Chen Yekai told him that he didn’t need to wash it. Yu Hao didn’t dare to wash his clothes either as he was afraid of ruining them.

Zhou Sheng smoked in a shabu-shabu shop, looking gloomy and depressed. Yu Hao said, “You didn’t tell me! Before you got me to call her sis-in-law! How the hell was I supposed to know whose sis-in-law you meant??”

Zhou Sheng said sincerely and earnestly, “How could I get that kind of goddess-like girlfriend? Are you blind?”

“Then what kind of girlfriend do you want?” Yu Hao asked, baffled. “You don’t like the Older Sister type? You’re such a good catch, why say that you can’t get that kind of girlfriend? I don’t mean Shan Jie, I meant……”

Yu Hao really did think that even though Zhou Sheng was usually quite slovenly in both dress and manner, he was like a diamond in the rough that glowed with a light that was hidden underneath the surface. He was worthy of an outstanding girlfriend.

But Zhou Sheng was both sincere and blunt as he answered, “Ah, that’s true, I’m quite okay ba? Actually, I never wanted to date or start a family anyway, so it doesn’t matter to me since I don’t want to get married.”

“Why?” Yu Hao asked.

“I don’t want to be like my parents who quarrel all day. It’ll exhaust me to death.” Zhou Sheng said, “So damn troublesome. I can’t take care of a wife, and I can’t look after kids either.”

“That’s cause you haven’t found someone you like, someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.” Yu Hao said, “But I only saw her from afar once. I really didn’t recognise her as Liqun’s……..wife.”

“She’s not anymore.” Zhou Sheng said, “Shan Jie broke up with him.”

“Why?” Yu Hao felt astonished. He only knew that when Cen Shan came over before Christmas, she had fallen out with Fu Liqun. But she had come over today to try and part with Fu Liqun on good terms. Every time Cen Shan fought with Fu Liqun, Zhou Sheng would be the middleman who had to pass their messages on to each other, which irritated Zhou Sheng to no end.

“Don’t ask so many questions about this later.” Zhou Sheng said, “Why do you have so many ‘why’s? Can’t we talk about something else? If you ask so much it’ll seem like I’m gossiping about Fu Liqun because I have nothing better to do, but if I don’t talk about it, you’ll ask more questions again.”

“You’re not angry anymore?” Yu Hao thought, I shouldn’t ask about Fu Liqun’s gossip anymore, let’s change the topic ba. He still has no idea why Zhou Sheng suddenly flared up yesterday.

Zhou Sheng, “Do you know that you were wrong?”

Yu Hao sincerely said, “I know now.”

Zhou Sheng, “What were you wrong about?”

Yu Hao couldn’t say anything in reply.

“The shirt should be lent to you by Kaikai ba?” When Zhou Sheng thought about it, he got angry again, “Why didn’t you look for me to borrow my clothes? I always asked you to wear my clothes cause you don’t have any but you never wore them, are you afraid of owing me? Then why aren’t you afraid of owing Kaikai?”

Yu Hao could obviously sense Zhou Sheng’s jealousy now. Truly, his possessiveness over his friends is too strong. He wanted to explain himself, but he knew that with Zhou Sheng’s temper, he should just admit that he was in the wrong right away.

“I was wrong.” Yu Hao said, “I was afraid of causing trouble for you. I’m returning his clothes to him tonight.”

Zhou Sheng was baffled, “I really don’t understand why you think you’d cause trouble for me. Won’t you be the one washing the clothes anyway?”

Yu Hao thought of the words that the dark him had said to him in his dreamscape. After he thought about it for awhile, he suddenly admitted it very openly.

Yu Hao, “Maybe because unconsciously, I think that it’s not easy to make friends, so I don’t want to use…….other people’s things. Especially things like clothes which are more personal. Just like when I was young, I feel like I should try my best not to freeload off of others ba. ”

Zhou Sheng never thought that Yu Hao would explain himself so clearly and straightforwardly. In the end, he could only answer with one word, “Oh.”

“I will try my best to change.” Yu Hao smiled, “Kaikai got me to perform with the reasoning that I was ‘helping him’, and even then, I didn’t dare to borrow clothes that were too expensive.”

“But you did help him a lot.” Zhou Sheng said, “You gave him a lot of face today. It’s not a big deal, so long as we’ve made it clear, it’s fine. After our exams ended yesterday, I was going to take you somewhere to buy some clothes for your performance. Did you ask me what I was doing yesterday? When I found out that you were going over to his place and had to go work after that, I wanted to go to the mall you worked at to buy clothes for you to wear today. But after I waited and waited, you still hadn’t returned to your dorm, so I packed a meal for you and went to the auditorium to look for you. Do you know what time I waited for you until? They said that you had to return for the rehearsal, so I waited for you until the lights went out! Was it that irritating for you to pick up my call?”

A scene surfaced in Yu Hao’s mind of Zhou Sheng waiting in the auditorium until the dress rehearsal was over, just because he didn’t want him to starve. His heart stirred. Just as he was about to say something, Fu Liqun came.

Zhou Sheng looked out of sorts. He raised his eyebrow at Yu Hao and said nothing more.

“You’ve sent her away?” Fu Liqun asked.

“She left.” Zhou Sheng said.

“You sang quite well.” Fu Liqun said to Yu Hao, “Your photos are spreading all over my class’ group chat.”

Yu Hao quickly took his phone and looked at it. He was a little happy about it, but he had to act modest as he saw a wave of his own photos. He was a little surprised too, that’s me?

“Are you looking for a girlfriend?” Fu Liqun asked.

“I’m too broke to date.” Yu Hao said, “And people won’t like me either, I’ll think about it next time.”

“You have your face!” Fu Liqun, “Your good looks! What are you afraid of? You can sponge off a woman! Find a rich girlfriend! Let her pay!”

Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng, “……”

When they connected it to Cen Shan, both of them understood that Fu Liqun’s ironic remarks were borne from his resentment. Fu Liqun might have been provoked by someone who claimed things like he was living off a woman. He was currently enveloped in an aura of negativity.

In comparison to Yu Hao’s first impression of him as an idol-like male god, Fu Liqun now seemed much more haggard than before. This Wang Leehom of the Sports Department has many female fans in his class, and most of them idolise him because he was the captain of the basketball team. But after getting to know him, you would slowly realise that Fu Liqun can be kind of dumb and cute. His speech and thoughts can be as unrestrained as a heavenly steed that soars through the skies — just like a MP4 that got infected with a virus so it ends up randomly playing music throughout the day. If you wanted to listen to a radio station, he would start playing some English Listening Comprehension audio; if you wanted to listen to music, he would start telling ghost stories. His grades were okay but it wasn’t at the level of a curve wrecker; only his basketball skills were outstanding. His family was slightly well off, but they weren’t wealthy to the point that he would be considered a rich second gen. Perhaps, because he had a girlfriend, he would always be very polite in the company of girls or act dumb just in case he accidentally teased someone.

But as a friend, Yu Hao liked him a lot, because Fu Liqun is a really kind person.

“Let’s drink! Our final exams are over, and I didn’t fail a single one of them. We can celebrate by spending all the money that was supposed to be used for make-up exams and retaking any failed courses!” Zhou Sheng shouted, “Boss! Get us some wine!”

“I’d like to thank Yu Laoshi for tutoring me, cheers——” Fu Liqun looked for Yu Hao to knock glasses with. It began snowing outside as the three of them ate shabu-shabu in the shop. It was only then did Yu Hao find out that their results had already been released. They had practised the Higher Mathematics questions before, so he was certain he would pass. He rushed to check his results and discovered that he had passed all the subjects that had released results. He even scored a 90 for his English, so he was instantly on cloud nine.

“I wanna discuss something with you.” After they drank for awhile, Zhou Sheng spoke to Yu Hao.

Yu Hao thought of what Zhou Sheng said yesterday, so he immediately sat upright and asked, “What is it?”

“Move over to our dorm ba.” Zhou Sheng said, “One of our roommates rented a room outside. He wants to look for someone to get an eight-person room to save some money. Do you want to change dorms? You just need to fork out a small sum every semester.”

Yu Hao felt like he just got smacked in the face by happiness. Returning to his own dormitory felt like he was returning to prison, so he had come to dislike going back. He never talked to his roommates anyway, and the atmosphere there made him very uncomfortable. But he was worried that he would have conflicts with Zhou Sheng after he moved over to their dormitory.

Zhou Sheng looked at Yu Hao with an expectant gaze. Yu Hao’s heart suddenly jolted.

“You can just owe him the money first.” Zhou Sheng said, “And return it to him after New Year’s. Or we could pay for you first? You can treat it as the tutoring fees for our make-up lessons. You get 80 per hour as a tutor outside, so after you tutored us for so many days……”

“No no.” Yu Hao immediately interrupted, “Of course I’d be willing! I’ll fork out the money myself! But I’m afraid…….afraid of……”

Fu Liqun and Zhou Sheng looked doubtfully at Yu Hao.

Fu Liqun said, “Yu Hao, you’re like a little daughter-in-law.”

Zhou Sheng immediately spat out a mouthful of beer, then burst out into raucous laughter.

Yu Hao said, “I’m afraid of quarrelling with Zhou Sheng!”

Now it was Zhou Sheng’s turn to be embarrassed. He said, “If we quarrel then so be it, or are you afraid that I’ll beat you up?”

Yu Hao stammered, “I……I’m often disliked by other people, like yesterday. If I annoy you again, I’m worried that we wouldn’t even be able to remain friends anymore……”

“How could that be?!” Fu Liqun and Zhou Sheng couldn’t understand this kind of thinking at all. The corners of Fu Liqun’s mouth twitched as he said, “Do you really think that way? How could that be possible! You’re so neat and tidy, Zhou Sheng can’t match up to you at all!”

Yu Hao quickly tried to explain himself. Zhou Sheng said, “Ai, Fu Liqun what do you mean by that? Fine fine fine, Yu Hao, I do get pissed off once in awhile, but it goes as quickly as it comes. I won’t scold you anymore next time, okay?”

“He treats everyone like that.” Fu Liqun said, “We often bicker too.”

“Okay, okay.” Yu Hao felt quite touched at this moment. He said, “I’ll go let them know. From now on, I’ll be in charge of washing both of your clothes ba.”

The two of them almost spat their beer out again. Fu Liqun said to Zhou Sheng, “Don’t get him to wash your clothes for you! You bully! Yu Hao has finally made his first public performance today, you better keep a lookout for the girls in our class who’ll come and hunt you down!”

Zhou Sheng said, “I love him so dearly, so what if he washes some clothes for me? Why don’t you ask him? So what if he has launched his career? Even if he becomes a superstar, he’ll still have to wash my clothes for me.”

Yu Hao thought in his heart, you two straight men are even gayer than those who are bent. He hurriedly urged them to stop fighting and to just focus on drinking their beer.

After three rounds of drinks, Fu Liqun sighed again and rubbed his face forcefully. Yu Hao wanted to comfort him, but he was afraid that he would find out that Zhou Sheng had betrayed him by talking about his break up. However, before their three plates of shabu meat were finished, Fu Liqun had already drank 7 or 8 bottles of beer and still thought it wasn’t enough so he asked for more white wine. In the end, he was the one who started talking about his relationship first.

“Let him talk about it.” Zhou Sheng said, “He’s been holding it in for too long.”

Fu Liqun knew Cen Shan since high school. The two of them were in a relationship for three years. His parents knew about it, and they liked Cen Shan very much. But Cen Shan was always reluctant to mention it to her own family, which made Fu Liqun somewhat unhappy.

Cen Shan’s family was engaged in various real estate projects. Her father had always wanted her to study hard and graduate smoothly, then marry a local civil servant, or a guy whose parents worked for the government. Then they would be able to build a bright future with a marriage between an official and a businessman, and everyone could act in collusion to make even greater profits.

Fu Liqun’s father used to be a professor in a university. He later went to a pharmaceutical company in Shanghai to act as their consultant, so his family can be considered well off. They had a few houses, a car that costs about 300 000, were intellectuals, and had a relatively good standard of living. His father was the sole breadwinner of the family, earning about 50 000 a month, while his mother looked after the family full-time. They were a happy family. Following his parents’ footsteps to create this kind of beautiful family had always been their son’s greatest wish.

Though Fu Liqun’s grades couldn’t be considered bad, you could only say that it was good at most, so naturally he wouldn’t be accepted by Cen Shan’s parents.

Ever since they started college, Cen Shan often argued with Fu Liqun about their future. Cen Shan hoped that Fu Liqun would become a bit more ambitious, but Fu Liqun didn’t really have any plans for the future. Then one day, one of Cen Shan’s relatives inadvertently spotted the two of them holding hands while they were out shopping, so their relationship was exposed and they were asked to break up.

Cen Shan is a rich second gen. Her family had chanced upon the golden age for real estate, so their assets were worth at least 5 to 6 billion. Fu Liqun’s family only had two houses, and his father still had to work even though he was so old. Naturally, he couldn’t try to connect with people of a higher social class.

“If you’re marrying off your daughter, you marry her off to someone richer.” Fu Liqun said, “If you’re getting a wife, you get one who’s poorer, that’s what they say ba? There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao didn’t say anything. Zhou Sheng never had much of an interest in marriage or dating in the first place. He had grown up in a violent family, with parents who were constantly at odds with each other, so a psychological shadow was already cast over his heart. On the other hand, Yu Hao’s world view was constrained by his poverty. His mind was still preoccupied with thoughts of ‘how much interest can a fixed deposit of 5 to 6 billion earn in a year”. He couldn’t comprehend the family planning of the rich and powerful.

In fact, even Fu Liqun’s 50 000 yuan per month salary was an astronomical number in Yu Hao’s eyes.

“Why is it so tough to be human?” Fu Liqun said, “Yu Hao ah……”

After they finished drinking, the three of them sat next to a flower bed by the roadside. Yu Hao watched Fu Liqun and Zhou Sheng chat as they smoked.

“Haven’t we just started college?” Yu Hao said, “Your future still has many possibilities, don’t give up.”

Fu Liqun placed an arm around Yu Hao’s shoulders. He leaned in with a hazy and drunk gaze and stared at him, “I’ve always found life too difficult to live through, but after I came to know you, and knew what kind of life you were living, in comparison, my troubles really aren’t much……”

Yu Hao, “……”

Zhou Sheng reached over and patted Yu Hao’s back, “He’s drunk, don’t take it personally.”

“I’m not drunk!” Fu Liqun began to strip in the snow and said, “I’ll definitely make a name for myself someday! And make her father regret it!”

Yu Hao, “We need to get him back as soon as possible, or else he’ll catch a cold.”

Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng stood on the left and right sides of Fu Liqun respectively, then hauled him back. Yu Hao had always thought that if two people were in love, then they shouldn’t talk about breaking up so easily. Perhaps, for heterosexuals, it was very simple for them to fall in love. But for a homosexual, it was really too difficult to find someone to love, and who loves them in return.

Yu Hao wanted to encourage Fu Liqun to communicate properly with the other party, but Zhou Sheng made a “shh” gesture and signalled for him to stop talking. Both of them placed Fu Liqun on his dormitory bed. Fu Liqun flipped over and faced the wall with a blanket covering his head. Yu Hao patted him.

“Move over tonight?” Zhou Sheng said.

Yu Hao quickly waved his hand. He hadn’t changed dormitories yet, so there would be trouble if there was a dormitory inspection.

“Exams are already over, so why would there still be an inspection?” Zhou Sheng said.

“I need to sort some things out.” Yu Hao said, “And complete the procedures over the next few days. Anyway, it’s the winter holidays and both of you need to go home. I’ll come over to clean up this dormitory first.”

“You’re not going back……oh……” Zhou Sheng remembered that Yu Hao didn’t have a home to return to anymore.

But Yu Hao was extremely unperturbed. He smiled, “I’ll be working during the winter vacation; I’ve already found a job. Then I’ll be going on a holiday, so don’t worry about me.”

“Wait a minute.” Zhou Sheng called out to Yu Hao who was about to leave, “Do you know how to weave a bracelet?” As he spoke, he passed him something. It was the golden, hollowed-out ring.

“Weave one for me with red rope ba.” Zhou Sheng said.

Yu Hao thought, you actually knew that I could weave bracelets? Then he said, “Let me measure your wrist.”

“You really know how to?!” Zhou Sheng was surprised.

Yu Hao had overseen a crafts stall before, so even though his weaved bracelets didn’t look too good, he did know how to weave one. He measured the circumference of Zhou Sheng’s wrist while he was slightly drunk, “I’ll return it to you before the holidays.”

Zhou Sheng whistled, “You’d better not lose it.”

After night fell, Yu Hao said goodbye to Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun, and they made plans for Zhou Sheng to come over a few days later to help him move out of his dormitory. Then, he returned to his own dormitory building. It was already past 9pm, and he was hesitating over whether or not to return Chen Yekai’s clothes when he received a call.

“Yu Hao……” Chen Yekai said, “What are you doing~?”

His tone seemed a little off. Yu Hao thought, it can’t be that he’s drunk, right?

“Chen Laoshi?” Yu Hao said, “Did you drink?”

“Return my clothes——straight away!” Chen Yekai said, then hung up.

Yu Hao, “……”

Yu Hao called him back, wanting to ask where he was, but his phone was turned off.

Final examinations were over, so his roommates had all gone out to play. Yu Hao locked his dormitory door. Today, the dormitory buildings were all eerily quiet as only a few people remained. Yu Hao walked over to Chen Yekai’s dormitory. The door was locked, and the lights were out.

“Chen Laoshi!” Yu Hao shouted. He hasn’t returned? It can’t be ba? Where did he call from? The dinner party organized by the college should already be over. Could it be that he was on his way back?

Yu Hao went downstairs again and walked along the path towards the teacher’s canteen. He found someone sitting in a bicycle shed beside a road full of snow — it was Chen Yekai.

Chen Yekai was drunk — he reeked of alcohol. Yu Hao quickly said, “Chen Laoshi!”

Chen Yekai looked up at him. Under the dim light of the bicycle shed, Yu Hao had seen that sort of gaze just half an hour ago —— it looked exactly like Fu Liqun’s as it was both hazy and filled with sorrow.

“I’ll send you back.” Yu Hao said. He didn’t know what kind of fortuitous luck he had tonight for him to have picked up two drunken male gods.

“I……can walk by myself.”

Chen Yekai held a bottle of mineral water and staggered about for a few steps in the snow. Snowflakes were falling down steadily, and his sorry figure in the snow suddenly made Yu Hao feel a little sad.

You definitely can’t let other students see you like this. Please don’t slip and tumble onto the street, and please do not start stripping in this world of ice and snow. Or else the idol image that you hold would be completely obliterated.

Yu Hao hurried forward and placed Chen Yekai’s arm over his shoulders, then helped him walk back to his dormitory building.

—

T/N: I remember being so ridiculously excited about his performance cause he sang the song from the one movie I really liked, “我的少女时代 Our Times”. The song is called “A Little Happiness”. And uggggghhh translating the song into English……….the feels………..

Also, the two long chaps are finally over ;____; next chap will be shorter~

Ame: ZS… getting angry at Haohao for wearing another guy’s shirt. Cute~~

Dollars: ZS needs you to know he’s dead serious about boyfriend-shirt