OVTTGTBE Chapter 57

Setting Off to Catch (Spring) People (Excursion)

Setting Off to Catch (Spring) People (Excursion)

“We’re almost at the dorm entrance, you don’t have to support me, I can walk on my own,” Bai Yao said.

“Are you sure?”

Liu Yucheng tentatively let go of him. Bai Yao adjusted his center of gravity from side to side, eventually tilting his body slightly to the left.

“It’s alright, I can stand. I wonder if Li Jinyang and Yan Hao are awake yet.”

After all, it wasn’t their first time doing it. Although he had anticipated some after-effects, Bai Yao didn’t expect that this reunion with Little Liu would leave him unable to even stand steadily.

Half of it was due to the pain, and the other half was due to exhaustion coupled with a sore back. Probably because he accidentally twisted his waist too much while “riding the horse” yesterday.

When they came out of the hotel, they encountered Qianqian and Manman, who were already prepared and waiting at the entrance.

The two of them stared at Bai Yao as if he were an alien for a long while. Finally, under Bai Yao’s suggestive winks, they forcibly swallowed back their sarcastic remarks, and simply said, “President Bai told us to come pick you up this morning. Please tell us your instructions.”

They drove Bai Yao to the school gate. Bai Yao sent them a shopping list, asking them to buy everything before evening and then contact him.

As soon as he entered the dorm, Bai Yao saw School Bully rushing towards the door, meowing in a high-pitched voice. Li Jinyang and Yan Hao were fighting over a pomelo.

“Oh? You two are back?”

Li Jinyang said, still holding onto the pomelo, “My girlfriend gave me this pomelo, what are you trying to steal?!”

“You’re out of singlehood, can’t I have a bite of your pomelo?” Yan Hao refused to give in.

Liu Yucheng bent down to pick up School Bully, helping it smooth its fur. “Yeah, we’re back.”

“I saw you holding hands with Xia Zhixi at KTV on Friday night,” Bai Yao said with a mischievous grin. “Li Jinyang, not bad, huh?”

Li Jinyang chuckled, asking, “What about you two? Are you back together?”

Neither of them denied it directly like before. Seeing Liu Yucheng pursing his lips and slightly lowering his head, and seeing Bai Yao’s reddened ears and unsteady gait, Li Jinyang basically had his answer.

“Nope, what do you mean?”

Yan Hao stretched his neck, somewhat in disbelief. “Am I the only single person left in this dorm??”

Bai Yao couldn’t close his mouth from laughing. “Yes, keep up the good work. If it really doesn’t work out, should we post an ad for you on the confession wall?”

“Or hang a banner outside our dorm building,” Liu Yucheng chimed in, “listing all his good points.”

“What good points can someone who steals my pomelo have?” Li Jinyang asked.

“Has the scent of a mature man’s cigarettes?”

“Can stay up all night? Used to pull all-nighters often.”

Yan Hao: “…”

Hmph, men.

Li Jinyang and that girl surnamed Xia getting together was a natural progression, but Bai Yao and Liu Yucheng, who had made such a big scene before, actually reconciled. It seemed that nothing was impossible in this world.

“Hey, Little Liu, luckily you went to pick up Yao-ge that day.”

Li Jinyang said earnestly, “If you hadn’t gone, he might have run off with someone else that night.”

Bai Yao: “?”

Liu Yucheng: “?”

Liu Yucheng: “Who would he have run off with?”

“Zhang Ran from the chemistry department. I heard that guy is quite the player. He was sitting next to Yao-ge that Friday. After you guys left, some girls even asked him why he was so enthusiastic towards his junior, and if he wanted to try dating guys.”

After Li Jinyang finished speaking, Liu Yucheng immediately turned to stare at Bai Yao, asking, “I remember there was such a person next to you that day. What, do you like that type?”

Bai Yao frowned, trying hard to recall the situation that day, but in reality, he didn’t even remember what Zhang Ran looked like. He said, “How could I possibly like someone so quickly?”

“Oh, so when you started dating me at the beginning of last semester, you didn’t actually like me in your heart?” Liu Yucheng said sarcastically.

“No, the situation is different… Hey, hey, hey, how did we get onto this topic? Even if you hadn’t come, nothing would have happened between me and that guy, I didn’t even think about it that way.”

Liu Yucheng raised an eyebrow, asking him, “Then tell me, what do you like about me?”

“Isn’t that the question I asked you before, which you still haven’t answered… Ugh, let’s get back on topic first, we can talk about this later.”

Bai Yao was really not used to being so affectionate in front of his roommates, so with a face the color of a persimmon, he forcibly changed the subject: “There’s something very important I want to tell you. Do you guys remember Liu Yucheng’s cousin?”

……

In the afternoon, Tao Lin and Zhang Yifang, who had returned to school, got into the black business car with Bai Yao and the others.

Qianqian: “…”

Hesitating for a long time, she still said, “Young Master, I’ve already changed to a bigger car as you instructed, but, if I may be so bold, your current physical condition is not suitable for a spring outing.”

Bai Yao’s face flushed red, and he hurriedly said, “Who said we were going on a spring outing?”

Qianqian exchanged glances with Manman, and the two of them helplessly spread their hands.

If you weren’t going on a spring outing, why did you bring so many people in the car? And have us go to the supermarket to buy a bunch of water and snacks, as well as disposable underwear and towels…

“We’re going to catch someone.”

Liu Yucheng opened the navigation on his phone and handed it to Qianqian. “This address, drive.”

Qianqian only glanced at the street name before saying, “Whoa, going to such a far place? We might not even get there before noon tomorrow, but tomorrow is Monday.”

“We know. We’ve already applied for leave,” Bai Yao said.

Although that’s what he said, because he and Liu Yucheng had applied for leave a bit too often this semester, after much persuasion, plus Bai Junyi’s tacit agreement as a parent, the counselor and the director barely agreed and approved their leave.

This was also their last time applying for leave this semester.

Once the car was on the highway, Qianqian’s guess was confirmed—although their goal was serious, these few stinky boys in the car stubbornly created a spring outing atmosphere.

Tao Lin: “I don’t like dried plums, why don’t I give them to the two sisters? Man-jie, here, you and Qianqian-jie, you two eat.”

Zhang Yifang: “So, after a weekend, you two have already made up? Does that mean we can go online and play in a team together?”

Yan Hao: “Give me some potato chips.”

Li Jinyang: “There’s definitely enough water, but are there enough snacks in the trunk for our whole trip?”

“Eat as much as you can, try to clear out the space behind the seats before we reach our destination.”

Bai Yao grabbed a handful of Loneliness God, eating it voraciously. “When we catch the guy, tie him up and throw him behind the seats.”

The only one who wasn’t in the mood to eat was Liu Yucheng, who was sitting there without saying a word and barely moving.

His parents had been gone for so many years, and he had investigated so many times without results. Could he really find out the truth smoothly this time? He couldn’t help but worry.

“What are you worrying about?”

Seeing this, Bai Yao put down the snacks in his hand and leaned over to comfort him. “The information is reliable, the few of us catching Liu Angran is still more than enough, don’t worry too much.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

Liu Yucheng sighed. “What if we catch him and he doesn’t know anything? What do we do then?”

“I remember he said that he’s the same age as you, only a few months apart.”

Bai Yao said quietly, “Since you can remember things from that time, so can he. Any clue, no matter how small, is valuable. Besides, since you can sense that there’s a high probability that your uncle and aunt did it, I don’t think they could have been completely airtight in front of their own child.”

Although there was no basis for his words, they were indeed correct.

Liu Yucheng gently hmm-ed, reaching out to put his arm around Bai Yao’s shoulder, saying softly, “Come a little closer.”

Bai Yao naturally leaned into him.

Seeing the two of them with their clingy gazes, the other straight men in the car collectively: “Eww—”

Even Qianqian, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, and Manman, who was in the passenger seat, both showed expressions of being unable to watch.

“Are you two being nauseating?”

“Enough already!”

“Ahem, there are single dogs in the car, be careful.”

“Damn, so Yao-ge is so clingy when he’s in love, I’ve really seen it all.”

……

At 11 PM and again around 4 AM the next morning, Qianqian stopped at highway gas stations for about half an hour each time. They all got out of the car to stretch their bodies, and washed their faces in the nearby restrooms. The journey continued.

“That black car with the Beijing A license plate was already there the last time we entered the gas station.”

Back in the car, Zhang Yifang said, “Are they following us?”

“Don’t worry. Those are our people, just in case.”

Qianqian switched places with Manman. Manman started the car and asked them, “We’ll be entering the city in another two hours. Do you want to have breakfast after entering the city?”

Bai Yao looked around, asking for their opinions.

“Eat!”

Li Jinyang said firmly, “After eating, let’s get ready to burn! I’m so excited, I feel like we’re doing something big!”

“It really is a big deal.”

Zhang Yifang raised his hand, saying, “We’re all brothers here. Our brother’s parents’ case is of course the biggest deal.”

Liu Yucheng subconsciously wanted to dodge, but in the end, he let him pat his shoulder a few times.

“He, he’s actually a little uncomfortable with physical contact.”

Bai Yao said for him, continuing, “Liu Yucheng, from now on, you can express any thoughts you have directly, everyone really won’t get angry at you over such small things.”

“Yeah.” Zhang Yifang smiled, retracting his hand. “If you don’t express it, we won’t know, right? You still need to communicate with us more in the future.”

Liu Yucheng felt a bit apologetic for a moment, but felt even more warmth, saying seriously, “This time, really… Thank you all, thank you very much.”

“Look, the sunrise is coming.”

Tao Lin pointed to the sliver of light in the east, “How about we all take a group photo in a while? After all, it seems like we haven’t gotten up to watch the sunrise at this time since we graduated from high school.”

The group found a vacant lot near the highway and took a group photo.

“Let’s go, get in the car and set off.”

Bai Yao rubbed his hands together, saying with a smile, “We’ll be entering the city soon. There are probably a dozen or twenty people in the warehouse where Liu Angran is, and according to the information, some of them have criminal records, it’s very dangerous. We definitely can’t do this by force. So, it’s time to discuss tactics.”