TSIBAMS Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Ever since the class change, Qi Guang had basically not skipped any classes.

If it weren’t for seeing that familiar private car at the school gate in the morning.

That black car, which he had smashed beyond recognition the year before and was now brand new again, stood out among the crowd of gray bicycles and electric scooters, making it hard not to notice.

Damn it!

That person still found his way here.

As expected of his style, he came straight to the school instead of going home. He knew that at school, under the eyes of classmates and teachers, Qi Guang wouldn’t do anything too outrageous. Even if he did explode, it would be within his control.

Qi Guang picked up a stone from the ground and threw it, but when it bounced back, the car window was still unscathed.

But he didn’t intend to smash the car crazily like last time, even though he had once declared that he would smash the car every time he saw it.

But compared to the angry and helpless self almost two years ago, now there was more… numbness?

It wasn’t until he numbly reached home that he realized he had skipped class.

He knew that the person would find his way home soon. Today was bound to be a bloody storm. However, finding him after almost two years meant that he didn’t understand him well enough.

What a dear father.

He was never worthy of that title.

Qi Guang didn’t want to sit at home and wait for death, nor did he have a solution in mind. After feeling restless at home for almost an hour, he took his fishing gear and went out.

He thought he was pretty calm today. Unlike in the countless scenarios he had imagined, he didn’t erupt in anger and fight to the death upon seeing that person again. Maybe it was because he only saw the car and not the person yet, so his anger hadn’t been ignited?

Or had he turned into a coward and gone fishing just because he saw a car?

Damn it!

It must be the calm before the storm.

It was just that the storm came faster than he expected, and even the target was off.

When he and Ye Xing were wrestling on the ground, he even found it a little ridiculous.

Yes, it wasn’t him wildly beating Ye Xing, nor was it him pinning Ye Xing to the ground and pounding him. Instead, the two of them were wrestling like elementary school students again.

Qi Guang made the decision to change his fighting style a few seconds after he started hitting when he saw blood starting to spurt from the corner of Ye Xing’s mouth. After all, he was Qi Guang, who would never lose control. Yes, he could lose his temper, but he couldn’t lose control. In that aspect, Ye Xing’s level was several streets behind.

But this time, Ye Xing had indeed hit his weak spot, accurately inserting the knife delivered by the car in the morning into that spot. When Qi Guang attacked, he was a bit distracted, wondering if he was angry because of what Ye Xing said or if he was just warming up for the inevitable showdown with his father.

The fight ended with Qi Guang throwing Ye Xing into the river.

However, the ending wasn’t very cool. Ye Xing couldn’t swim, and after struggling for a few moments without getting up, Qi Guang went into the water and dragged him out.

“Damn it!” Ye Xing said in exasperation, glaring at Qi Guang, panting on the bank.

Qi Guang glared back, panting.

Both of them were soaked. River water mixed with sweat dripped down their bodies, and their hair was tangled with weeds and dried branches. They looked very strange.

After about two minutes, when they had finally recovered enough to speak without stuttering, Qi Guang closed his eyes and yelled, “Get out of here!”

Ye Xing took off his shirt and wrung it out forcefully. “Qi Guang! I misjudged you!”

Qi Guang didn’t have the desire to argue with him. He thought about the even more troublesome things waiting for him and felt physically uncomfortable, wanting to vomit.

He was even more afraid that if they continued to argue, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kicking Ye Xing into the river again.

On this beautiful quiet weekday, the warm sunlight and gentle breeze were all out of sync with his terrible life.

What a disaster.

He picked up his things and left this place of trouble.

But he couldn’t go home, nor could he go to Shuai Xiaoyun. In short, he didn’t want to go to any place that person could find him.

After wandering the streets in his wet clothes, pants, and shoes for a few laps, he headed towards the commercial area. Brother Xu’s house was near 1984 Bar, and he arrived there before long.

To his surprise, Brother Xu wasn’t alone at home.

The person who opened the door for him was Bai Shu, who was wearing an apron and holding a spatula. “Qi Guang?”

When he saw the soaked Qi Guang, a barely noticeable hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised by Qi Guang himself, or by Qi Guang’s strange way of appearing.

And also, Qi Guang was holding a bucket, which contained a… fish?

Qi Guang was also quite surprised to see Bai Shu. He knew Brother Xu trusted Bai Shu a lot, but he didn’t expect it to be to the point where he could bring him home… to cook?

Brother Xu, who was playing games on the sofa, seemed very calm.

“Brother Bai, Brother Xu…” Seeing this scene, he instantly felt like he had come at the wrong time and almost turned to leave.

But before he could move, Brother Xu had already dragged him into the bathroom. “Use whatever you need, I’ll get you a towel and clothes later.”

“What’s going on?” Bai Shu’s voice came from outside the door.

“Just had a fight, probably, make a couple more dishes.” Brother Xu instructed Bai Shu.

Brother Xu was still Brother Xu, always calm and collected.

Qi Guang looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like a fish that had just been pulled out of the water, and was also dirty and smelly.

He couldn’t wait to take off his clothes and turn on the shower. When the water poured over his body, a certain switch inside him seemed to be turned on, and he finally came back to life.

The essence of humanity is indeed a fish.

After showering and changing into clean clothes, he saw Brother Xu playing games calmly, only he had moved from the sofa to the bedroom. Hearing Qi Guang walk in, he didn’t even raise his head, “Had a fight?”

“Yeah.” Qi Guang was drying his hair with a towel.

“With who?” He still didn’t raise his head.

“A classmate.” Qi Guang answered.

Brother Xu half-paralyzed on the bed, his lower body with shoes stepping on the floor, looked at him with his phone in his hand, his eyes filled with disdain, “Not bad, you’ve even stooped to fighting with classmates. Let me guess, did he report you for sleeping in class or cheating on exams?”

Qi Guang kicked him, “Shut up!”

“Tell me about it.” Brother Xu smiled.

“I don’t know, he probably took the wrong medicine,” Qi Guang said expressionlessly, then added, “Or maybe I took the wrong medicine.”

“Did you take the wrong medicine?” Brother Xu asked this question in a way that showed he was invested in the game and not the conversation.

“I didn’t.” Qi Guang answered seriously.

“But you have something on your mind.” Brother Xu said.

Qi Guang looked at him, unable to tell whether he was making small talk or if he really sensed that something was off today. He replied faintly, “Yeah.”

“Look at how distracted you are.” Brother Xu was still holding his phone.

You’re the one who’s distracted!

Qi Guang felt extremely helpless.

“My dad came. I saw his car at the school gate this morning.”

Brother Xu lost his grip. The phone hit his face with a “thud.” He rubbed his face and asked, “So… you got upset and beat up a classmate?”

Qi Guang suddenly felt that this scene was very familiar, except the person had changed from Zhou Tian to Brother Xu.

“Keep playing your games.”

Qi Guang felt a little embarrassed that his arrival had added to Bai Shu’s workload, but when he saw Bai Shu in the kitchen, so skilled, like a hostess… ah, no, a host, he even suspected that Bai Shu owed Brother Xu too much money to pay him back so that he would get treated this badly.

Whether he was cutting vegetables or looking for seasonings, everything looked so natural and well-organized.

Bai Shu noticed that Qi Guang had been at the door for a while and asked, “Hungry?”

“A little bit.” Qi Guang rubbed his stomach.

“Had a fight?” Bai Shu ladled out the fish soup.

More fish.

“Yeah.” The milky white fish soup had a very rich aroma that instantly captivated Qi Guang’s sense of smell. He didn’t need to touch his stomach to know he was hungry. But he immediately came back to his senses, “This fish?”

“Yeah, the one you brought.” Bai Shu sprinkled on some chopped green onions.

So, when Brother Xu said “a couple more dishes,” he meant this dish!

It wasn’t that he added more dishes because there was an extra person.

It was just that they happened to have extra ingredients.

Brother Xu is still Brother Xu.

The embarrassment he had felt about increasing Bai Shu’s workload was instantly extinguished.

“Who did you fight with?” Bai Shu placed the fish soup on the dining table and then yelled towards the bedroom, “Brother Xu, dinner!”

Qi Guang wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard the question, but he also felt like it was inappropriate to stand there. So he pretended to busy himself in the kitchen, looking for bowls and chopsticks.

Bai Shu pointed to a cabinet above them, indicating that clean bowls and chopsticks were inside. He asked again, “Who did you fight with?”

Indeed, avoidance was useless.

“With a classmate.” Qi Guang walked out with the bowls and chopsticks, feeling a familiar disdainful gaze behind him. Before the other person could ask any more questions, he quickly interrupted, “He didn’t report me for sleeping in class or cheating on exams. You can just consider it a stress-relieving activity for a high schooler who lacks exercise.”

“How did you swell your face and get teeth marks on your shoulder while releasing stress? Don’t think I didn’t see it.” Brother Xu didn’t know when he had sat at the table and was quietly stabbing Qi Guang’s already dwindling pride.

Damn it! Did Ye Xing turn into a dog?!

Qi Guang touched his shoulder.

“Seriously, Qi Guang, don’t say you learned to fight from me in the future,” Brother Xu added another blow.

Fortunately, no one continued to seriously discuss this topic while they ate.

Some worries can be temporarily forgotten, especially with good food in front of you.

Bai Shu’s cooking skills were definitely not something that could be accumulated in one or two meals. Qi Guang ate while silently admiring him.

After eating, Brother Xu naturally cleaned up the dishes and went to the kitchen. Qi Guang wanted to take over the dishwashing, but Brother Xu stopped him, saying that he had contributed a fish.

One cooks, one washes the dishes, complementing each other perfectly.

Bah!

Qi Guang tapped his own head, what was he thinking?

Brother Xu put all the kitchen trash into a bag, tied it, and placed it by the door. Bai Shu had changed into his shoes and came to take out the trash.

“Leaving now?” Brother Xu asked.

“Yeah, I’ll go take a look at the KTV.” Bai Shu said.

“There aren’t many people in the afternoon. You don’t need to keep such a close eye.” Brother Xu put the washed plates into the cabinet, arranging them.

“If I don’t, you’ll just play games. Everyone’s level is higher than mine.” Bai Shu said, shaking his head. He opened the door, “I’m leaving, goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” Qi Guang said.

“Leaving so soon.” Brother Xu wiped his hands with a clean paper towel after cleaning up the kitchen.

Qi Guang closed the door.

Everyone knew that Bai Shu was leaving to give them some space.