EAY Chapter 1

Because of a Piece of Orange Peel

1

— Shi Ran is the most clueless idiot in the world, and I actually fell in love with him, I must be sick.

When Qi Ye was cleaning his room, he saw this sentence written in his old notebook. He tore the page off expressionlessly.

He crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the trash can by the desk.

Back then, when he had just discovered his feelings, Qi Ye could still objectively evaluate himself as being sick.

Now, he couldn’t be objective anymore. He was so sick that he didn’t even know he was sick.

Falling in love with Shi Ran was because of a ridiculous thing.

Because of a piece of orange peel.

Qi Ye didn’t know if it was just his bad luck, or if every class was the same, but in every class Qi Ye had from elementary school to high school, there were always a few hooligan students who didn’t like to study.

You couldn’t really call it school bullying, because they weren’t really that bad, just lazy, and they always asked Qi Ye to do their homework.

Their way of asking was to just throw it over and say, “Please.”

Qi Ye was very unlucky, and he was always targeted by these hooligans.

It must be because he was too ordinary. Qi Ye’s grades had always been in the middle to upper range in the class, the kind of student who wouldn’t be noticed by the teacher, nor did the teacher need to worry about them. Plus, he was quiet and introverted, and he always kept to himself. The hooligans must have observed the class for a while before locking onto Qi Ye, feeling that he had the kind of aura that wouldn’t refuse even if you dumped trouble on him.

Qi Ye had actually tried to refuse, but it was troublesome, and they kept pestering him, so he might as well just do it.

Probably because he did the homework too well, not the kind of good where every answer was correct, but the kind of good where it looked like they had done it themselves, and even the handwriting was imitated perfectly.

The hooligans tasted the sweetness and new people started to join in.

There was too much homework, and Qi Ye couldn’t finish it even if he didn’t sleep, so he had to refuse.

When he was blocked by the hooligans on the sports field, Qi Ye realized that his previous judgment was wrong. Anything that made you uncomfortable or troubled was school bullying, just to varying degrees.

The serious stuff was about to come right away, and it was about to escalate into physical conflict.

The hooligans said they would give Qi Ye one last chance and asked if he agreed.

Qi Ye directly said, “Screw your last chance.”

Then he heard a burst of hearty laughter.

Of course, it wasn’t the hooligans laughing out of embarrassment and anger. The laughter came from above, from the railing of the basketball stand.

Qi Ye had been blocked by the hooligans into a corner by the wall near the steps of the stand. Because of the steps, they couldn’t be seen from a distance, but they could be seen clearly from above.

“Shi Ran, what are you laughing at?” one of the hooligans asked.

Shi Ran? Oh, Qi Ye knew, he was also his classmate.

But contrary to Qi Ye’s boring and uneventful student life, Shi Ran was the most popular person in the class, not because he was good at studying, but because he was handsome. Although he wasn’t very tall, he was very good at playing basketball, like a nimble little leopard.

Shi Ran also fought occasionally, although not often, but every time he had a lot of success, because he always picked on the troublemakers in the school, so he quickly secured his position as the school bully.

These hooligans were, of course, no match for him. The hooligans just hoped that Shi Ran wouldn’t meddle in their business.

Then something was thrown down and hit the heads of the hooligans, and one piece landed at Qi Ye’s feet. He looked closely and saw that it was an orange peel.

Many orange peels were thrown down one after another. Of course, this thing didn’t hurt people, but it hurt their self-esteem.

Sure enough, several hooligans couldn’t help but shout up, “Shi Ran, don’t go too far, come down here and fight us one-on-one if you have the guts!”

“Okay.” Shi Ran agreed and slowly walked down the stairs.

When Qi Ye saw him, his cheeks were bulging and he was still eating an orange. “What’s up?”

The hooligans were scared again, and sure enough, they said, “This has nothing to do with you, don’t interfere.”

Shi Ran: “I will interfere.”

The leading hooligan leaned closer to plead, but Shi Ran didn’t give him the chance. He grabbed the back of his neck with one hand and pressed down, and the hooligan immediately went weak in the legs and knelt on the ground. The eyes of the other people went straight.

Qi Ye was no exception. No one was holding him down, but he still obediently stuck to the wall.

Shi Ran clicked his tongue and said, “You guys are too lazy, you don’t even want to write your homework properly, and you even ask someone to do it for you, aren’t you ashamed?”

The others were angry but dared not speak. Qi Ye inexplicably wanted to laugh.

Shi Ran was too lazy to talk nonsense with them, and raised his chin and said, “From now on, this person can only write for me. You guys have to find a way to solve it yourselves, and you’re not allowed to ask others for help, understand?”

Qi Ye: “……”

Faced with absolute strength, the hooligans had no choice but to obey. They didn’t dare to question it at all, and repeatedly said that they understood. Then Shi Ran waved his hand, and they ran away in a puff of smoke. The poor guy who was pressed on the ground ran last.

Shi Ran smiled and looked at Qi Ye, “Do you like that wall so much?”

Qi Ye reacted and quickly came down from the wall, patted the white ash on his school uniform. He looked at Shi Ran and asked cautiously, “Um, do you want me to write your homework for you?”

Shi Ran waved his hand, “I like to write randomly myself, I don’t need anyone’s help. I was just lying to them.”

Qi Ye breathed a sigh of relief and was filled with gratitude for the person in front of him.

If only it were like this, if Shi Ran left now, Qi Ye would only regard him as a very good classmate, and would only remember that he had helped him in the future.

There wouldn’t be so much later……

Well, this was just Qi Ye’s hypothesis when he was troubled. Most of the time, the vast majority of the time, Qi Ye was grateful for everything that had happened.

Because of a piece of orange peel, Shi Ran’s steps, which should have been chic and free, slipped.

That hateful orange peel caused Shi Ran to slip as soon as he stepped on it! His feet slid forward greatly, and his whole body leaned back. Seeing that he was about to fall backwards, Qi Ye used the fastest reaction he had ever had since birth and slid forward on his knees to catch him.

“Oh, luckily I had you.” Shi Ran patted his arm.

Logically speaking, most people who slip, whether or not someone catches them, should stand up in time, right? Shi Ran was an exception. He simply squinted his eyes and leaned on Qi Ye’s arm and lay down.

“I just happened to be sleepy and was looking for a place to sleep.” Shi Ran said unceremoniously, “Let me lie down for a while, okay?”

Qi Ye: “……Okay.”

He even adjusted his posture and changed to sitting cross-legged so that Shi Ran’s head could rest on his lap, which would give Shi Ran better support.

It was already past the time for school to end, and the campus was gradually becoming quiet. Before long, the school gate would be closed, but before that, the gatekeeper should discover them first. If they weren’t discovered, how would they get out? The school walls looked pretty high, would they break their legs if they climbed over them? There were also Shi Ran’s orange peels scattered on the ground, he had to remember to throw them away when he left.

Qi Ye was thinking about these things mindlessly, but he never dared to move.

“Hey.” Shi Ran suddenly opened one eye and looked at him, “I saved you just now, right?”

Qi Ye: “Yes, you did.”

Shi Ran: “Then why didn’t you say thank you to me?”

Qi Ye: “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

Shi Ran closed his eyes, his mouth curved into a smile: “You’re so ungrateful.”

It was probably at this time that Qi Ye saw his appearance clearly and saw the gentle and kind side of him under his fierce and domineering exterior.

He also suddenly caught a glimpse of his own heart.

He was starting to get sick.