ATIBESLM 59

Ye Lingwei let out a light hum from his nose, breaking free from Fei Lan’s embrace. Sporting hair that had been rubbed into a mess, he tilted his face up and asked, “Then does this mean we’re together now?”

Fei Lan lowered his eyes. “Ye Lingwei, are you mistaken about something?”

“Mm?”

“Didn’t you tell me to pursue you?” The icy chill in Fei Lan’s eyes dissipated slightly. “What are you doing now?”

Ye Lingwei gave a sound of acknowledgement and nuzzled his face against the clothes on Fei Lan’s chest. “That doesn’t matter, I just think it’s better to be together sooner.”

Ye Lingwei didn’t dare say the rest of the words. He had the intuition that if he kept bringing up dying and death again, Fei Lan might just send him on his way early.

“In such a hurry?” Fei Lan raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhat teasing.

“In a hurry.” Ye Lingwei nodded honestly. “I am in a hurry.”

“You—” Fei Lan was just about to ask what he was in a hurry for, when the boy in his arms, without any hesitation or pause, tilted his face up and bit the corner of his lips. He probably didn’t have much experience, failing to find the right spot when he bumped forward. Their teeth clashed, and both of them couldn’t help but gasp in a breath of cold air.

“That’s not how you kiss, let me teach you.” Fei Lan’s hand supported the back of Ye Lingwei’s head from behind. He leaned down to kiss him directly. Truth to be told, he didn’t have any experience in this matter either—it was all purely on instinct.

Ye Lingwei was stunned, completely unresponsive after being kissed for a long while. Fei Lan pressed against his forehead and let out a light chuckle. “Open your mouth.”

“Ah…”

At such a moment, Ye Lingwei appeared incredibly compliant.

The moment he opened his mouth, Fei Lan leaned in and explored his mouth. The tip of his tongue gently hooked Ye Lingwei’s, lightly sweeping all the way from his teeth to his tongue, causing Ye Lingwei’s entire body to shudder uncontrollably.

Fortunately, Fei Lan had a sense of restraint. Ye Lingwei didn’t know how to catch his breath and couldn’t hold his breath for long. Fei Lan lowered his eyes to look at Ye Lingwei, who had his lips slightly parted and was slowly panting. The depths of his eyes was pitch-black and heavy.

Ye Lingwei recovered his senses, licking his lips as if reminiscing the aftertaste, his voice a bit hoarse. “That feels so good.”

Fei Lan pressed down on Ye Lingwei’s shoulders, applying slight pressure. “Speak properly, otherwise, you will bear the consequences.”

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside the ward, the atmosphere was exceptionally stiff and serious.

Ye Xuan looked at Ye Lingwei, who was pinned in Fei Lan’s embrace inside the ward, unable to move. He struck the ground fiercely with his crutch. “Coercion, this is absolutely coercion!”

Ye Cen glanced at Ye Xuan, his tone indifferent. “Who do you think can coerce him?”

Ye Xuan choked on his words, letting out a dissatisfied cold snort. Of course he knew his big brother meant that no one could force Ye Lingwei to do anything. He just couldn’t accept Ye Lingwei being with Fei Qiang’s son.

How would the two families face each other in the future?

On the contrary, Ye Cen, who usually considered everything thoroughly, didn’t mind too much this time. Holding a copy of the medical records and a thick stack of test results in his hands, he said, “As long as he is happy.”

Whether he liked Fei Lan or whoever else, as long as he was happy.

Ye Xuan did not accept this reasoning.

The atmosphere between the two quickly fell into an unspeakable silence.

The door to the ward opened, and Fei Lan came out first. He smiled and greeted them one by one.

While Ye Cen agreed, he also secretly harbored some worries. Fei Lan had been shrewd and deep-minded since he was young, and now it was even more impossible to directly probe his emotions. He wouldn’t interfere with Ye Lingwei being with him, but he was somewhat worried that Ye Lingwei would be taken advantage of.

“I still have matters at home, I’ll leave first.”

Watching Fei Lan’s retreating back, Ye Xuan withdrew his gaze, dragging his crutches and running incredibly fast. He said to Ye Lingwei, who was leaning against the headboard of the bed, “Are you and Fei Lan together?”

Ye Lingwei nodded, raising his eyes innocently. “What’s wrong?”

With the other party being so candid, Ye Xuan temporarily didn’t know what to say. Speechless for a moment, he glanced away. “I don’t agree. There isn’t a single good person in their family. Fei Qiang had such a good relationship with our dad, yet as soon as our dad died, he got together with Jiang Hui. If the upper beam isn’t straight, the lower beam will be crooked¹A very famous Chinese proverb. In traditional architecture, if the main roof beam is misaligned, the entire house’s structure will warp. It means that bad examples set by parents or leaders will inevitably lead to bad behavior in their children or subordinates.—his son isn’t any good either.”

“Are you done speaking?” Ye Lingwei was smiling radiantly, but there was not the slightest trace of a smile in the depths of his eyes.

“What?” Ye Xuan asked blankly.

“If you’re done speaking, you can get lost.” Ye Lingwei said with an indifferent expression, “Whether Fei Lan is good or not, I don’t need you guys to tell me.”

Ye Xuan anxiously said, “I didn’t—”

Ye Lingwei looked at him, and suddenly sat up. He pulled a pair of scissors from the fruit plate on the bedside table next to him, and pointed it directly at the position of his heart. “Are you going to get lost or not?”

“I’m getting lost! I’ll get lost right now!” Ye Xuan’s eyes instantly turned red. He supported his leg and limped out, his retreating back staggering and lonely.

Ye Cen watched the ward door slowly close. He walked over and gently pressed Ye Lingwei’s hand down. “You scared him?”

“Mm.” Ye Lingwei pulled his hand back from Ye Cen’s grasp and tossed the scissors aside. His eyes curved, vividly displaying absolute innocence and naivety. “Doesn’t Da-ge find it very thrilling?”

Ye Cen looked at him. After a long while, he said in a low voice, “If it’s because of past events, Ye Xuan and I both feel incredibly apologetic toward you. We were also unaware of those matters. I don’t mean to absolve myself of blame, I want to say, if you want any compensation, anything is fine.”

Ye Lingwei raised his eyes. “Anything is fine?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Then.” Ye Lingwei lowered his eyes. “I want you to make our family an independent branch, and separate from the Ye family genealogy.”

Ye Zumin placed paramount importance on these kinds of face-saving issues. The outside world all praised the Ye family for its harmony, attributing it to his excellent teaching, and to having such an elder presiding over them. Besides, separation meant a complete division of the family—from then on having absolutely nothing to do with them, and they wouldn’t be able to continue muddling along sharing business interests. Ye Zumin would absolutely not agree no matter what, not to mention, this was being proposed by Ye Cen, whom he had personally taught and doted on the most.

As Ye Lingwei expected, Ye Cen hesitated.

After hesitating, Ye Cen reached out wanting to pat Ye Lingwei’s head, but was directly dodged. He didn’t feel awkward either. After naturally withdrawing his hand, he said, “Except for this matter, I can agree to anything else.”

“But Da-ge.” Ye Lingwei paused, looking puzzled. “Why would I ask you to do something that can be easily done?”

Ye Cen didn’t continue this topic. He straightened up and said in a business-like manner, “The surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, we will all be there.”

After saying that, he turned to leave. Ye Lingwei called out to stop him the moment he stepped out.

“Ye Cen, if you do it, I will forgive you.”

It’s because he knew what it meant to have Ye Cen propose separating from the genealogy to Ye Zumin.

Ye Cen’s footsteps paused for a moment, saying lightly, “I also said, except for this matter, I can agree to anything else.”

Ye Xuan, seeing that Ye Cen’s complexion looked bad after coming out, stepped forward to ask what was wrong.

After listening to what Ye Cen said, he was a bit puzzled, “Why not agree? Is this very difficult?”

He had never managed the household, had never been valued by Ye Zumin, nor had he been hated. He was different from Ye Cen—he felt it didn’t matter. It was just separating from the genealogy, not legally severing blood ties.

Ye Cen looked at him and didn’t speak, but Ye Xuan shuddered at the coldness in Ye Cen’s eyes.

He only dared to silently curse in his heart, If you’re so fierce, why did you run out looking so wretched? If you have the guts, go be fierce to Ye San.

These matters were currently strictly confidential. Besides Ye Lingwei himself, Fei Lan, and Fang Kemeng knowing, no one else knew.

What they knew was that No. 1 High School’s precious darling Xun You, after finishing the first half of the exam, had fallen ill in the cafeteria at noon, and couldn’t be resuscitated after being sent to the hospital. Unrelated to their own life and death, other than causing a burst of sighs and laments, it wouldn’t produce anything else.

Gao Linhao had sighed an unknown number of times all morning. “Sigh, heaven is jealous of heroic geniuses!”

Ye Lingwei absentmindedly echoed agreement. The reason he deliberately avoided thinking about Xun You was because he felt bad inside.

Chu Ran turned around. “Stop worrying about others. The notice for the sports meet is out, the sports committee representative wants you to run the 5,000 meters.”

This was terrible news.

Gao Linhao’s face collapsed into a squash. “Can’t we change the person? Every sports meet they make me run the 5,000! I’m not running. Last time I ran with Lan-ge, and as a result, after the run they were giving Lan-ge towels and water left and right, while I lay on the track and almost burned out of existence. I’m not going, whoever wants to go can go!”

“Go tell the sports committee representative yourself then, he won’t agree anyway.” Chu Ran gloated. “He will even give you kisses and hugs.”

Unlike the sports committee representatives of other classes, Class 1’s sports representative was a boy as petite and cute as a little girl. Because the long-distance run at the sports meet was historically unpopular, along with some other events, someone still ultimately had to participate.

Thus, their sports representative would utilize his innocent cuteness to kiss all the tall guys in the class one by one. If you didn’t sign up, he would chase you around to kiss you. Who could stand that? Gao Linhao couldn’t stand it either. He was afraid he would punch someone.

Gao Linhao slammed the table and stood up. “To hell with him, if I run the 5,000 again this time, I’m a dog!”

After saying that, his eyes slipped around the classroom, finally landing on the top of Ye Lingwei’s head. “Where’s Lan-ge?”

Ye Lingwei raised his eyes, his gaze chillingly calm. “Pretending?”

“…” Gao Linhao exaggeratedly grabbed his hair. “Oh my god, Student Ye, you’re too smart!”

“So where did Fei Lan go?” Ye Lingwei wasn’t coaxed by him. Fei Lan had disappeared right after class ended, and hadn’t even brought his phone. “Did he go to smoke?”

“Nonsense!” Gao Linhao shouted. “Is our Lan-ge the kind of person who smokes?”

“Your Lan-ge is a person who can blow several smoke rings.”

Gao Linhao: “…”

Although he had a strong intuition that Ye Lingwei and Brother Lan were already a couple, and he had already been influenced by this intuition—subconsciously, he helped Brother Lan hold off Ye Lingwei’s interrogation from the rear.

Gao Linhao mumbled aiyaya, running off as he spoke. Ye Lingwei didn’t even need to guess to know he was going to tattle.

When Fei Lan arrived this morning, he had a very faint smell of tobacco on him. The cigarettes he smoked always had all sorts of weird flavors—mint and red wine. When he had just transferred to Class 1, he had seen Fei Lan smoking.

Although it wasn’t lit and he was just holding it in his hand, that practiced posture clearly showed he wasn’t a novice.

However, the smell of tobacco hadn’t appeared on his body for a long time. Ye Lingwei guessed it might be because of himself.

“Lan-ge!” A loud shout came from below by the sports field—it was Gao Linhao’s voice.

Ye Lingwei: “…”

Gao Linhao could go to a testing facility to have his IQ checked. He had reason to suspect that Gao Linhao’s IQ was bizarrely low.

It came from below the teaching building. Ye Lingwei draped his school uniform jacket over his shoulders, crossed more than half the classroom, and sat on the windowsill of the very last window.

Entering his line of sight was the sports field.

It was currently the noon break, and there were quite a few people playing basketball and badminton on the field. The autumn midday sun was still sharp; many boys were running around shirtless. It had to be said, it was quite eye-catching.

Ye Lingwei’s gaze fell below the windowsill. Below was a flower bed, and weeping willows were planted in the flower bed. Long, lush, soft willow branches hung down. The foliage was dense and not yet yellow, blocking a cluster of boys completely from view.

Chen Fengbao got an e-cigarette from who knows where, puffing clouds and mist as if he were about to ascend to heaven. “Haozi, why did you run?”

Gao Linhao looked at Fei Lan. “Ye Lingwei asked me where you went.”

Fei Lan held a cigarette between his fingers and cast a sidelong glance at Gao Linhao. “Did you tell him?”

“How could I?” Gao Linhao cried out, his eyes full of hurt. Immediately following, under Fei Lan’s calm and unruffled gaze, he slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Although I didn’t say it, he guessed it.”

Hearing this, Chen Fengbao gave Gao Linhao a shove. “Pfft, and here I thought it was some big deal. Why does Ye Lingwei care about this?”

Idiot, Gao Linhao said in his heart, but on the surface, he looked like he wanted to speak but stopped. As long as Fei Lan hadn’t said anything, he would forever be Brother Lan’s most reliable wingman.

Gao Linhao wanted to tell Chen Fengbao to shut up, when he saw a paper airplane swaying and drifting down crookedly. His gaze followed it upwards, and he saw Ye Lingwei looking at him with a faint gaze. All at once, Gao Linhao’s hairs stood on end.

Looking again at that paper airplane, it slowly and leisurely bumped right against the side of Fei Lan’s face and fell to the ground.

Li Jing frowned, looking up with extreme disapproval. “Littering, apolo…” The second half of his sentence was swallowed back down after he saw Ye Lingwei.

Ye Lingwei was leaning against the window frame. He wasn’t wearing his school uniform properly, and it was just loosely draped over his shoulders. The light blue checkered shirt underneath wasn’t worn properly either. Ye Lingwei had always done things his own way, this they all knew clearly.

It was just that they hadn’t expected that the ones to receive a critical hit today would be them.

His sleeves were rolled up, and the exposed section of his arm was white and slender. His knee was bent on the windowsill, his hand propping up his chin. As long as he wanted to, the space between his brows and eyes was now entirely filled with an innocent, alluring charm.

“Gege, am I good-looking?”

Ye Lingwei said this while looking at Fei Lan—his voice was both soft and flirtatious. His voice was quite loud. The people in the classroom looked over, and those close by below also faintly heard it.

Gao Linhao saw someone pull out their phone to take a picture, and then looked at Fei Lan’s expressionless face, secretly thinking in his heart, It’s over, it’s over.

The sunlight shone directly down. Fei Lan narrowed his eyes, looking at the flamboyant and untamed boy up above. He clamped the cigarette butt in his mouth, his emotions unrevealed. After a long moment, he smiled, and mouthed a message to Ye Lingwei.

Courting death.

• 1
  A very famous Chinese proverb. In traditional architecture, if the main roof beam is misaligned, the entire house’s structure will warp. It means that bad examples set by parents or leaders will inevitably lead to bad behavior in their children or subordinates.