ATIBESLM 24

Gao Linhao’s focus had completely veered off track. “Slaughtering pigs? Slaughtering who?”

He thought for a moment and nodded as if playing along. He then said, “But if killing a pig refers to Yuan…”

“Hey, Jingjing! Take a look for me—is my hairstyle today particularly handsome?!” Seeing that this dumbass Gao Linhao was about to spill the beans¹It is a common idiom used when someone accidentally reveals a secret or exposes the truth., Chen Fengbao suddenly spoke up, shouting loudly at Li Jing while shooting a glare at Gao Linhao.

Li Jing looked at Chen Fengbao. “Outward appearances are usually nothing but flowers in a mirror or the moon in the waterThis is a poetic idiom (chengyu) often used in Buddhist contexts. It describes things that are beautiful but illusory, intangible, or fleeting—just reflections that cannot be grasped.…”

Chen Fengbao: “…”

Ye Lingwei looked down at the wound on Fei Lan’s arm. Yesterday, he had thought the fleeting scent of blood he smelled on Fei Lan was just a hallucination. However, if it was because Fei Lan was injured, then it all added up.

He hadn’t heard what Gao Linhao and the others were saying just now, but Ye Lingwei knew they were hiding something.

Although they had done some work to keep it secret, it was obviously useless.

He didn’t even need to think deeply about it to know it had to do with Yuan Song.

Ye Lingwei could roughly guess what had happened. On Saturday during the break, Yuan Song wanted to ambush him. Ye Lingwei didn’t know if Fei Lan had run into him by accident or deliberately sought him out. The probability of the latter was too small. Even though Ye Lingwei had recently confessed to Fei Lan that he no longer held a grudge about the Jiang Hui matter, Ye Lingwei didn’t think the other would go so far as to take a knife²In this context, it’s a metaphorical (and slightly literal, given the wound) way of saying “to take a hit,” “to suffer injury on someone’s behalf,” or “to fight someone’s battle.” for him.

However, since it concerned Fei Lan, Ye Lingwei wasn’t the type of person to be heartless.

“Thank you,” Ye Lingwei softly said.

He was truly grateful. In this book, the original host’s situation and physical condition was terrible. An accident could happen at any time, just like the original host’s original ending—sleeping in class, and then just gone.

Fei Lan didn’t speak. He withdrew his hand and let his sleeve down. Gao Linhao, with sharp eyes and quick hands, packed up all the medicine on the table for Fei Lan. Since Ye Lingwei had already discovered it, he didn’t need to hide it anymore.

Gao Linhao comforted Ye Lingwei, “Hey, you don’t need to take it to heart. We just bumped into him by accident, and drew our swords to help³An idiom derived from wuxia (martial arts) culture. It means to intervene when seeing injustice (“Road is uneven, draw sword to help”). while we were at it.”

Chen Fengbao reached out and poked the band-aid on his face. He hissed in pain and asked Ye Lingwei curiously, “But why did you provoke Yuan Song for someone else? With that kind of person, it’s best if the well water doesn’t mix with the river water.”

Li Jing nodded in rare agreement. “Indeed.”

As the saying goes, one doesn’t fear the thief stealing, but fears the thief plotting.

Yuan Song had consistently hit a wall with Ye Lingwei. Given his personality, doing something like this was normal. Anyone else would worry about the fact that Ye Lingwei has a heart condition, but Yuan Song absolutely wouldn’t; he even treated it as one of his own advantages to exploit.

Chen Fengbao was an art student, right in the class next to Yuan Song’s. He slowly said, “I hear a lot of teachers praising Yuan Song. Quite a few people in our class think he’s super handsome, sort of a bad boy vibe, and really has character. If I didn’t know he had a private hobby of bullying people, I would think this guy was pretty decent too.”

Li Jing turned his head to look at Chen Fengbao. “Judging people by their appearance will often blind your eyes to discovering the truth.”

Chen Fengbao’s face fell instantly. “I beg you, go write a book!”

Ye Lingwei remained silent the whole time. For the first time, he felt the slightest bit of doubt about his own actions. If it were just Gao Linhao, or just because of Chen Yiming, who feared retaliation, none of that could have changed Ye Lingwei’s stance.

Although it might have been a coincidence, an accident, Fei Lan had indeed gotten hurt because of him.

“When successful, aid the whole world”⁴This is a very famous quote from the Confucian philosopher Mencius. The full phrase is “穷则独善其身，达则兼济天下” (Qióng zé dúshàn qíshēn, dá zé jiānjì tiānxià). It means: “When you are poor/obscure, you should cultivate your own virtue/integrity; when you are successful/powerful, you should aid the whole world.”—is that wrong?

The boy lifted his gaze. Looking at Fei Lan, there was a hint of confusion in his eyes. When his eyelashes trembled slightly, he looked so fragile that one would want to cradle him in their hands.

As he looked at Fei Lan, Fei Lan could roughly guess what he was confused about.

Fei Lan’s gaze shifted from his eyelashes to his face. There was a very small, light-colored mole at the tail of Ye Lingwei’s eye. One wouldn’t notice it at all without looking closely, but once noticed, their soul would immediately be captivated by him.

Fei Lan’s gaze lingered on that mole for a few seconds. Then, using his uninjured hand, he ruffled Ye Lingwei’s hair. “You did very well.”

Ye Lingwei froze for a moment, and then he smiled. It wasn’t his usual smile of toying with others, or one of arrogance. It was the kind of pure happiness one feels when praised by an elder—a smile full of childish innocence.

Chen Fengbao and Li Jing went downstairs together to return to the classroom. Chen Fengbao sighed and said with a hint of resignation, “Is it so bad to just look out for yourself? It’s not that I’m saying what he did was wrong nor that he lacks the ability, but rather that he is too…”

Chen Fengbao couldn’t find the right word to describe Ye Lingwei at that moment, but Li Jing naturally filled in the blank from beside him.

“Fragile.”

Right, exactly fragile.

Fine jade is hard, but it is also easily shattered.

“If it were me, I would have helped Chen Yiming too, because I’m not afraid of Yuan Song, and there’s nothing he can do to me. However, Ye Lingwei—he’s just too easily hurt. He needs protection himself so how could he…”

Li Jing turned his head to look at Chen Fengbao. For once, he didn’t use his usual ‘famous sayings’ or ‘chicken soup for the soul⁵In Chinese internet slang, this refers to sentimental, feel-good, but often hollow or clichéd life advice.’ to speak to Chen Fengbao. Instead, he lectured Chen Fengbao with dead seriousness, “If a thing is right, it can be done. If everyone weighed the pros and cons back and forth like you do, then what would be the point? Even a beggar has the right to give charity.”

“While we allow others to be selfish, we must also allow others to be kind.”

Kindness. Ye Lingwei was simply kind. It was different from the willful personality he displayed in front of them. Through this incident, they could see that in his bones, Ye Lingwei was a kind person.

“I know,” Chen Fengbao said helplessly. After speaking, he suddenly looked at Li Jing. “Hey, those two lines were actually pretty good. You really could write a book.”

Li Jing: “…”

The Arts and Science classes shared the same floor, split down the middle, with each occupying one side and a restroom on each side.

Because there were so many students, Ye Lingwei didn’t often bump into people from his old class.

It wasn’t just that he didn’t meet them often; it was that he simply didn’t meet them at all.

The first person Ye Lingwei ran into was Wei Yang. He and a few friends were just heading to the restroom when they bumped right into Ye Lingwei. Ye Lingwei was holding a paper towel, carefully wiping his fingers one by one. Even though he had his head down, Wei Yang could still recognize him.

Even though it was the same white shirt everyone else wore, Ye Lingwei managed to wear it differently from the others.

The white color just accentuated his paleness. The skin at his neck was almost transparent—up close, one could see the faint blue veins. Imagining the blood flowing slowly beneath those vessels, it was easy to stir up a sense of pity and heart-fluttering attraction.

Usually, what makes the heart flutter are those extremely, extremely tiny and inconspicuous details.

Wei Yang interpreted this feeling as a result of his past conflict with Ye Lingwei. That was why he felt so flustered and confused when seeing him—because he had almost met his downfall at the other’s hands.

Ye Lingwei had already forgotten this person. If Wei Yang hadn’t called out to him, he wouldn’t have noticed Wei Yang at all.

“Ye Lingwei.” Wei Yang blocked Ye Lingwei’s path. The action was subconscious; Wei Yang hadn’t even thought about why he was stopping him. Realizing how rash this move was, he hurriedly pulled his hand back.

Ye Lingwei looked at him in confusion.

Lin Chudong had once felt this way too. When Ye Lingwei looked at someone, his eyes were filled with only them.

Back then, Ye Lingwei’s wispy bangs covered his brows and eyes, obscuring a full sixty or seventy percent of his face’s radiance. He had cut his hair later on—this was Wei Yang’s first time seeing the short-haired Ye Lingwei up close.

It was as if he had become a completely different person.

“You… you are in Class 1.” Wei Yang already regretted blocking Ye Lingwei because he simply didn’t know what to say. His friends nearby had already gone into the restroom. He asked, somewhat at a loss, “In Class 1, does anyone in Class 1 bully you?”

Ye Lingwei just paused slightly, then revealed an even more puzzled look. “The ones bullying me—isn’t it you guys in Class 7?”

You guys in Class 7?

You guys in Class 7?

Wei Yang froze. You guys in Class 7?

Ye Lingwei had been in Class 7 for two years. He had only gone to Class 1 two weeks ago, less than a month. Yet in such a short span of time, Class 7 had already become ‘you guys in Class 7’?

Ye Lingwei smiled, his gaze cold. “Don’t look at me like that. The ones who did unforgivable things were you, not me.”

Wei Yang was looking at him with such disbelief and hurt, that he really found it quite funny.

Ye Lingwei found it funny. He wasn’t one to suppress his feelings, so he just laughed out loud—mocking, and hearty.

Ye Lingwei, did you see that? This is just the beginning. Later, all of them will be just like this, filled with bitter regret.

—

The afternoon break was twenty minutes long. Fei Lan was basking in the sun in the hallway. Gao Linhao had dragged a chair over for him, and Fei Lan just sat there with his eyes narrowed, face tilted up lazily while leaning against the balcony.

Ye Lingwei saw him but didn’t intend to say hello. However, just then, Fei Lan opened his eyes and looked over at him with a cool gaze.

“…”

Gao Linhao saw Ye Lingwei too and waved his hand excitedly. For some reason, seeing Gao Linhao make that motion reminded Ye Lingwei of Cuihua waving a red handkerchief⁶This is a stereotypical name for a village girl in Chinese pop culture (often associated with Northeastern rural comedy). The image of “Cuihua waving a red handkerchief” is a classic trope of a rustic, overly enthusiastic, and slightly tacky welcome. at the village entrance.

Ye Lingwei walked over and saw a coffee-colored thermos by Fei Lan’s hand. He glanced at it and asked Fei Lan curiously, “In this weather, you’re using a thermos?”

Preserving his health?

Fei Lan didn’t answer him. Ye Lingwei felt that this guy really spoke very little. When he didn’t want to talk, no matter who you were, he really couldn’t be bothered to say a single word.

Gao Linhao picked up the thermos and tried to hand it to Ye Lingwei. “Have you ever seen hot water that doesn’t steam?”

“No, I haven’t…” Ye Lingwei said, reaching out to take the thermos from Gao Linhao’s hand. Since Gao Linhao was acting so mysterious, there definitely wasn’t hot water inside, but something else.

Ye Lingwei had heard that some of them liked to pour milk tea into a thermos. A thermos keeps things hot, but it also keeps things cold.

Did Fei Lan actually drink milk tea? Ye Lingwei felt that he really didn’t look the type.

However, before his fingers even touched the thermos, his hand was slapped down by Fei Lan. Fei Lan intercepted the thermos halfway into his own hand. Gao Linhao sheepishly withdrew his hand and looked at Ye Lingwei with a sense of grievance.

Fei Lan looked up at Ye Lingwei. “Touching other people’s stuff without asking, who taught you that?”

“…”

Usually, when Fei Lan spoke in this tone, Gao Linhao would instantly cower, as fast as humanly possible. He stole a glance at Ye Lingwei, only to discover that the latter wasn’t scared at all.

Ye Lingwei’s finger froze in mid-air. His fingertips trembled slightly, and his eyelashes drooped down. Gao Linhao almost couldn’t hold back, but he only dared to scream internally:

Brother Lan, what are you doing?! Why are you being so harsh?!

“Let me see.” If he wasn’t allowed to look, then Ye Lingwei absolutely had to look.

Fei Lan slowly closed his eyes again, as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He fell just short of telling him to get lost.

Ye Lingwei reached out directly to snatch it. The boy had eaten hami melon flavored candy, so his body carried the scent of hami melon too. As he leaned in, the faint fragrance was noticeable. Fei Lan moved the thermos away in advance, placing it on the other side of his body.

“…”

Just a little bit more. Ye Lingwei, unaware of the distance between himself and Fei Lan, kept lunging in that direction. Between him and the thermos, there was exactly one Fei Lan blocking the way.

“You seem to really want to know.” Fei Lan chuckled lightly. He reached out and gently held Ye Lingwei down by the shoulder. Because of their posture, Ye Lingwei’s neck was completely exposed before Fei Lan’s eyes.

The collar gaped open, revealing a glimpse of his collarbone. Fei Lan only took a quick glance and didn’t look any deeper.

If he had looked deeper, he could have seen right inside.

The hand holding Ye Lingwei down was the uninjured one. Fei Lan applied a little pressure, pulling Ye Lingwei even closer to himself until there was only a finger’s breadth of distance between them.

When Fei Lan spoke, Ye Lingwei could already smell the aroma of wine. The scent of alcohol was faint, while the fruity fragrance was heavier, yet it was still enough to make one feel a little tipsy.

“If you want to know, call me ‘Gege’—I’ll show you,” Fei Lan said with a light chuckle.

• 1
  It is a common idiom used when someone accidentally reveals a secret or exposes the truth.
• 2
  In this context, it’s a metaphorical (and slightly literal, given the wound) way of saying “to take a hit,” “to suffer injury on someone’s behalf,” or “to fight someone’s battle.”
• 3
  An idiom derived from wuxia (martial arts) culture. It means to intervene when seeing injustice (“Road is uneven, draw sword to help”).
• 4
  This is a very famous quote from the Confucian philosopher Mencius. The full phrase is “穷则独善其身，达则兼济天下” (Qióng zé dúshàn qíshēn, dá zé jiānjì tiānxià). It means: “When you are poor/obscure, you should cultivate your own virtue/integrity; when you are successful/powerful, you should aid the whole world.”
• 5
  In Chinese internet slang, this refers to sentimental, feel-good, but often hollow or clichéd life advice.
• 6
  This is a stereotypical name for a village girl in Chinese pop culture (often associated with Northeastern rural comedy). The image of “Cuihua waving a red handkerchief” is a classic trope of a rustic, overly enthusiastic, and slightly tacky welcome.