[QK] Chapter 8~18 MINS READING TIME

“If this were an animated film, one would probably be able to see the afterimage of their running.”

——

It was only after Kou Chen left swaggering while swinging his arms, that Xu ZhiFan walked over to Huo Ran’s side whilst turning his head back: “What did he talk to you about just now?”

Huo Ran’s brows furrowed: “Asked me to take him camping, even tacking his sister and her boyfriend on, says his sister’s been dating her boyfriend for 10 years, and that they’re about to fucking break up, so they’re thinking of using this opportunity to make up a bit…”

“That tragic?” Xu ZhiFan asks, “You believe him?”

“I almost did,” Huo Ran incredibly grumpily sends a punch onto the shoulder of Jiang Lei who was beside him, “That performance, was full of fucking traces all over.”

“Be gentler!” Jiang Lei shouts.

“Drama king from the 9 schools*, and from the pretentious sect1 not too sure about this one, google says it’s taken from ‘the nine schools of thought and three religions’, which i think is a system chinese use to class different people; just take it as him being sarcastic ,” Huo Ran says, “His mouth doesn’t fucking speak a single line of truth, what’s with offended too many he had to transfer, even hitting a teacher… just wait, who knows if one of these days he’ll ascend to the moon blowing a suona2 more sarcasm, if you recall a previous chapter he also likens kou chen’s boasting to blowing a suona .”

“Then did you agree?” Xu ZhiFan laughs as he asks.

“Yeah I agreed, didn’t you ask me control a bit to not make it such a stalemate with him, I’m scared if he comes up with some other ‘contracting a terminal illness’ scenario I won’t be able to stop myself from slapping him,” Huo Ran says indignantly, “If we’re going then let’s go, what kind of fool have I not brought along before, my cousin that couldn’t even light a matchstick didn’t I still manage to bring him back alive.”

Xu ZhiFan keeps laughing as he listens.

“Are you going, why not together…” Huo Ran turns his head.

“I’m not going,” Xu ZhiFan promptly rejects, “I’m not gonna suffer that kind of sentence, during National Day I want to eat then sleep, sleep then eat at home, and play games when I’m not eating or sleeping, it’s all already been appropriately arranged.”

“Jiang Lei,” Huo Ran turns to look at Jiang Lei.

“Not going, I don’t want to dislocate another joint,” Jiang Lei was also very decisive, “And also don’t want to get scolded by you the whole way, I’m doing this mainly so that our friendship can survive a little longer.”

“Why don’t you rely on raising your intellect so that our friendship can last a little longer?” Huo Ran sighs, “Hu… where’s Hu Yi?”

“Was here just now though,” Jiang Lei turns to look around, “We came out together after eating.”

“He walked towards the back door after answering a call,” Xu ZhiFan says, “Don’t know what’s up, these two days he’s been incredibly odd, let’s ask him in the afternoon, better not be having some trouble and taking things too hard, going out to buy a vegetable knife, then chopping us up one by one at night.”

“Fuck,” Huo Ran looks at him, “Can you stop it already!”

~

Afternoon classes were extremely hard to get through.

Especially after a vacation, the initial… few months.

Huo Ran could still count as being able to listen to the class, and Xu ZhiFan still sat rather uprightly, but Huo Ran could tell from the way he put his glasses on, that this person was preparing to sleep already, Jiang Lei in front had a hand on his cheek, and had already given the teacher a few kowtows with sound.

Huo Ran sighed, even though he had to bring 3 burdens along then, he was still already starting to anxiously anticipate the arrival of National Day.

“Who does that empty seat belong to?” when class was almost over the teacher pointed at the empty seat next to Jiang Lei and asked.

Everyone turned their heads simultaneously, but Jiang Lei was completely unresponsive to the teacher’s questioning, his hand supporting his cheek.

“Hu Yi’s seat, this afternoon his tooth hurt so he applied for one class’ absence,” Huo Ran says, giving Jiang Lei’s chair a kick.

Jiang Lei startled awake, after 2 seconds calmly and steadily stood up.

The teacher looked at him, and he looked at the teacher, both a little at a loss.

“Ai…” Xu ZhiFan sighed.

“What did she ask?” Jiang Lei turns his head slightly, knocking his chair against Huo Ran’s desk once.

“You sit down,” Huo Ran was simply speechless, keeping his voice down, “Dumbass, did you fucking eat sleeping pills sleeping like that! Just asked who the empty seat next to yours belongs to!”

Jiang Lei pauses for a bit, then clears his throat: “Reporting to Teacher, it’s Classmate Hu Yi’s, his stomach hurt so he applied for leave.”

“Fuck,” Xu ZhiFan lays onto the desk.

“I’m thanking you on Hu Yi’s behalf ah,” Huo Ran says.

Jiang Lei then again calmly and steadily sits down, turning his head slightly to ask softly: “What’s the situation.”

“Slapping you after class situation,” Huo Ran says.

~

After the school bell rang, the teacher walks out of the classroom, and Huo Ran takes his phone out to send Hu Yi a message.

– What’s up with you? If Old Yuan asks remember that your toothache made your stomach hurt, so you were sleeping in the dorm

“What’s up?” Jiang Lei turns his head.

“Next time if you’re sleeping then sleep!” Huo Ran sends his arm a slap, “If you’re awake then you’re awake! Don’t act smart and blindly fucking talk, I just said his tooth hurt, and you send his problem to his stomach!”

“…Fuck, I didn’t hear you say that,” Jiang Lei was a little depressed, “Where did this kid go?”

“Don’t know, hasn’t replied to my message,” Huo Ran looks at his phone.

“Kou Chen didn’t come as well?” Xu ZhiFan asks from beside him.

“Mn?” Huo Ran raises his head, momentarily at a loss.

Kou Chen’s seat was indeed empty… and the teacher hadn’t seen? Hu Yi’s seat was next to the wall but the teacher still saw!

“He applied for leave,” Xu Chuan says.

“How did he get the leave?” Huo Ran asks.

“Sprinkled his forehead with water, went to the school infirmary to tremble for 20 minutes,” Xu Chuan says, “And he got the leave.”

“Fuck, this bastard,” Jiang Lei sighs in admiration from the bottom of his heart.

Huo Ran sighs in the same manner in his heart.

But rather than admiring drama king Kou Chen, he was still more worried about Hu Yi: “Let’s go back to the dorm to look, is Hu Yi still at the dorm?”

“Let me help you ask, Kou Chen should still be at the dorm, get him to take a look,” Xu Chuan says.

“No need,” Huo Ran rejects.

“If you pass by the snack bar then bring a bottle of coke back for me maybe,” Xu ZhiFan says.

“Where’s your humanity3 quite commonly used in a sarcastic manner, in this case huo ran is unhappy because xzf is asking this sort of favour when he’s supposed to be concerned about hu yi, so he considers xzf’s behaviour ‘inhumane’ ?” Huo Ran stands up.

“Never had it,” Xu ZhiFan pats his back.

~

Kou Chen yawns as he walks out of the dorm, he’d always hated history class, if he could not attend he wouldn’t, after sleeping a whole class period he felt radiant.

When Hu Yi walked up towards him he did a double take: “You didn’t go to class?”

“I didn’t,” Hu Yi mumbled his reply, walking past him.

“You…” Kou Chen looked back, feeling that something was not quite right somewhere, staring at his back for a few seconds, before calling out again, “Hu Yi.”

“When you go back to the classroom tell Huo Ran and the others I’m sleeping,” Hu Yi doesn’t even turn his head back, “Thanks.”

“…You’re welcome,” when Kou Chen spoke Hu Yi had already closed the dorm door.

He stood where he was in the corridor for another few seconds, then went downstairs.

Yawning as he walked towards the classroom, he saw Huo Ran who had been running the whole way over, in a rush, one look and you could tell he was the sort of remarkable person4 actual words used were ‘cow man’ that could fix someone’s dislocated shoulder in the wilderness.

“Is there anyone in our dorm?” Huo Ran threw the statement down when he rushed by him.

Kou Chen turns his head, shouting his reply as Huo Ran rushed into the dorm building: “Hu Yi’s there.”

Huo Ran stops, hesitating 2 seconds before walking over: “Has he been there the whole time?”

“Just came back,” Kou Chen says, “I feel that he… why don’t I go upstairs with you.”

“What for?” Huo Ran glares at him.

Kou Chen looks to see that there isn’t anyone on both sides, then lowers his voice: “He was hiding something in his clothes when he came back, looked like a knife.”

Huo Ran doesn’t say anything, still glaring at him.

Kou Chen makes a few gestures: “Looked like a vegetable knife, hidden behind his back.”

“Pretty amazing huh,” Huo Ran says, “Wearing the school uniform and you can still tell?”

“He was holding his jacket in his hand,” Kou Chen says, “Then again, what kind of eyesight do I have, in my previous school there were so many people carrying knives, I’d long been trained, even if he’d hidden it in his crotch I’d still be able to tell.”

“A vegetable knife,” Huo Ran looks at him, “If hidden in the crotch area, I’d also be able to tell.”

~

In the end Kou Chen still followed behind Huo Ran as he returned to the dorm.

The instant Huo Ran pushed the door open he for some reason was still believing Kou Chen’s bullshit, vigilantly giving the inside of the dorm a quick sweeping glance.

Of course there was no vegetable knife!

Vegetable your bastard brain’s knife!

But Hu Yi looked to be in a not-so-good mood, and was reclining in his chair, staring at a bag of sausages on his desk in a daze.

Sausages?

“Why are you here?” Hu Yi turns his head after hearing the door make a sound, “Not going to class?”

“I’m the one who wants to ask you, where did you go to do what?” Huo Ran asks.

“I’m fine, went out for a breather,” Hu Yi says.

“To buy sausages? Craving after hearing about it this morning?” Kou Chen asks.

“No,” Hu Yi suddenly becomes energised at the mention of the sausages, turning his body, “I know who that hungry ghost is now.”

“What?” Huo Ran was stunned.

“When I was coming back to school, at the back gate, I saw Li JiaYing,” Hu Yi says.

“Who’s Li JiaYing?” Huo Ran asks.

“It’s that girl that was peeping at me as I peed at the back of the ghost building the other day,” Kou Chen says, “Saw her and what?”

Huo Ran looks at Kou Chen who had a serene look on his face, kind of understanding how he’d managed to give others the impression that he was extraordinary, with this sort of steadiness and naturalness5 not sure if this sentence made sense but hes saying that people believe kou chen even when hes bluffing because he does so in such a steady and natural manner .

“Was swearing at a girl, she’d brought a few people with her, and even gave that girl a kick,” Hu Yi points at the sausages on the desk, “This got kicked onto the ground.”

“Was it a rather small and thin girl, that always keeps her head lowered, with a ponytail,” Kou Chen asks.

“Yeah,” Hu Yi nods, “By the time I made my way over they’d already gone inside, so I… picked this up.”

“What did you bring it back for? You’re actually thinking of returning it to her?” Huo Ran asks.

“If we don’t return it we can also eat it,” Hu Yi says.

“Go to the ghost building to roast it?” Huo Ran asks, pausing for a moment before turning to look at Kou Chen, “You’re sure that that thing about roasting sausages in the ghost building wasn’t just your bluff?”

“Who uses that to boast, even if I were to boast I should say that I’m the one roasting sausages in the ghost building,” Kou Chen says.

~

When the bell signalling the start of class rang, Huo Ran still wasn’t able to get Hu Yi to go back to the classroom with him.

“You’re planning to skip the whole afternoon of classes?” Huo Ran asks.

“My head hurts,” Hu Yi sighs, “I’ll call Old Yuan in a bit to apply for leave.”

Huo Ran hesitates a bit, then no longer insists.

Honestly speaking, Hu Yi did indeed look like he wasn’t feeling very comfortable, his complexion not so good, out of the few of them Hu Yi was the most honest, something like skipping class for no reason he’d never done before.

“After school when you guys go back to the dorm still pay some attention,” Kou Chen says quietly after coming out of the dorm, “He really did bring a knife back, a vegetable knife, broad one.”

Huo Ran gives him a look, not saying anything.

He felt that if he continued hanging around Kou Chen for a period of time, he might get moulded into not even having a temper anymore by his genuine extraordinariness and natural bullshittery.

“Ah!” Kou Chen turns and takes a look, then suddenly uses his arm to hit him in terror, his voice all shaky, “That’s… run run run run!”

Not waiting for Huo Ran to turn back, he’d already plucked his legs and ran out.

Dog?

Cow?

Teacher?

Ghost?

Ghost!

Huo Ran carried his back full of hair that had stood up and also ran out like he had a gust of wind with him, catching up to Kou Chen in a few steps, the two of them running forward like crazy.

Only after running about a hundred metres, did he come back to his senses, feeling that there was something not quite right somewhere, so he turned back to take a look.

Behind him there was only wind, and leaves that had fallen due to the wind.

If this were an animated film, one would probably be able to see the afterimage of their running.

~

“Are you fucking crazy!” Huo Ran roared, but his sprinting footsteps did not stop.

“It was the class starting bell that rang, not the preparatory one!” Kou Chen said insistently as he ran, “If I didn’t start running you’d still be strolling!”

Who was strolling?

Who wants to fucking stroll with you?

Huo Ran no longer had the mood to say another word to him, instantly increasing his speed, breaking away from Kou Chen and rushing into the classroom building right ahead.

“The fuck,” Kou Chen shouts from behind, “What kind of kicked-the-butt speed is this!”

Huo Ran was simply speechless, when he was turning up to the second floor staircase, he saw that there was an empty mineral water bottle on the ground, so he raised his leg and kicked it over, the bottle going between the staircase railings, accurately landing on the head of Kou Chen who’d just run up the first flight of stairs.

After that, it bounced off with great force.

By the time Kou Chen looked up holding his head, Huo Ran had already swiftly gotten to the classroom entrance, pushing the door open: “Reporting.”

Not waiting for the teacher to speak, he’d already run back to his seat.

~

“Name,” the teacher on the podium pushed her glasses up.

“…Huo Ran,” Huo Ran had only just clearly seen that this was the English Teacher Chen.

Teacher Chen had given their class lessons before, and usually was rather friendly, but didn’t like people being late to her class, whoever was late would have their names recorded, get recorded twice and they’d be punished into copying text.

“Huo Ran ah,” Teacher Chen looked at him, “Where did you go?”

“Had… had the runs,” Huo Ran says.

“Mn,” Teacher Chen nods, “One time already.”

“Oh,” Huo Ran nods his head, turning back to look towards the classroom entrance, noticing that Kou Chen still hadn’t come inside.

One bottle and he’d gotten knocked out?

“Okay, let’s get on with the class,” Teacher Chen turns back to write on the blackboard, “School just reopened, and it’s the afternoon, I know you’re all sleepy, perk yourselves up a bit…”

Huo Ran was a little worried, and couldn’t help but turn back to give another look, and it was right at this moment, that Kou Chen darts in from outside, followed by him running straight back to his seat on tip-toes and sitting down.

When Teacher Chen turned back, he’d already taken his books out, his whole body radiating an aura that made him seem like he’d been half-dead for half the day already.

Huo Ran was completely stunned.

Even more shocking was, Teacher Chen really did not realise that he’d been late, when she’d walked over after class ended Kou Chen even pretentiously stood up to ask her a couple of questions.

Teacher Chen finishes explaining to him in a gratified manner, then walks out of the classroom smiling.

“The fuck?” Huo Ran says.

“Learn from him a bit,” Xu ZhiFan heaves a sigh.

~

Hu Yi didn’t come to class the whole afternoon, and after the last class ended and before they went to eat, Huo Ran sends Hu Yi a message.

“How is it?” Jiang Lei asks.

“He asked to just help bring a piece of bread,” Huo Ran furrows his brows, “Just one piece of bread will it be enough to make him full?”

“Aren’t there also sausages,” Jiang Lei says.

After finding out that Hu Yi had picked up the sausages the belle had dropped since the second period, Jiang Lei had been nagging that he wanted to give it a taste, to find out how delicious this roasted sausage that could make a girl run to the ghost building in the middle of the night to eat it could be.

“I’ll treat you in a bit,” Xu ZhiFan sighs, “Please stop nagging already.”

“I just really want to ask her though,” Jiang Lei walks into the cafeteria, looking ahead and speaking quietly, “Can’t you eat in the dorm, are you not scared, going to the ghost building?”

“She wants to roast it before eating it,” Xu ZhiFan says, “How do you roast in the dorm.”

Huo Ran glances towards the front, seeing that the belle and the few girls were looking at the food options holding their trays, the lowered head girl also at their side.

“I don’t really understand though,” Huo Ran tells Xu ZhiFan, “If you fucking dare to kick me, I’d definitely beat you to death on the spot, much less eat with you?”

Xu ZhiFan gives him a look, then raises his leg to give his butt a kick.

“Your uncle,” Huo Ran says.

Just as Xu ZhiFan was about to speak as he laughs, Wei ChaoRen squeezes over hugging a bunch of drinks: “Come come come, quickly, just sit at this table, the drinks are on Kou Chen.”

“Treating again?” Xu ZhiFan says, “Why don’t I treat, always letting him treat isn’t very suitable is it.”

“No worries,” Kou Chen’s voice drifted over, “My pocket money has to be eaten quickly6 alternatively he could be saying that they have to (buy things to) eat (in this case, drink) quickly while he has pocket money , otherwise I don’t even know how I use it and it’s gone.”

“Probably swept away by the North wind you blow out,” Huo Ran says.

“I haven’t even settled the score with you for smashing my head,” Kou Chen says, “You…”

Huo Ran turns to look at him.

“On the account of you taking me to camp I’ll just…” Kou Chen hadn’t finished speaking, when he was suddenly bumped into from behind, “Fuck!”

He turns around, and behind him was that lowered head girl, with a terrified expression she was holding onto her tray uneasily, half the soup stuff in the food tray already gone.

Huo Ran only then saw that all over Kou Chen’s back was vegetable soup.

Kou Chen seeing the tray immediately felt at his back, and looking at the handful of vegetable oil he swore again: “What the fuck!”

“I’m sorry,” that girl said quietly, her voice trembling a little.

Kou Chen didn’t say anything, his line of sight going past her, staring at the face of the belle who was standing behind her with her arms folded.

~

– End of Ch8 –


Author’s Note:

Continue the day after╰_╯。

Tl’s Notes: Thanks for reading + do comment if there’s anything confusing! I’m trying not to be too naggy with tl notes because I don’t want to make readers feel like I’m underestimating all of your comprehension skills but I’m always happy to explain if anything seems vague~

[edited 19/11]

Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

Leave a Comment!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size.