TSIBAMS Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Ye Xing was stunned, his body stiffening for a moment. Qi Guang’s embrace was gentle yet strong, perhaps because he had drunk some alcohol and couldn’t gauge his strength, making it hard for him to breathe.

After two seconds, he pulled his hands up to hug back, burying his head in Qi Guang’s shoulder.

Qi Guang’s unique scent, mixed with the smell of laundry detergent from his collar, and a hint of sweet alcohol that seemed unique to him, all intertwined, invading his sense of smell.

He inhaled greedily, more cautiously and forcefully than usual.

Tears welled up at that moment.

For eighteen years, he had grown up in a seemingly warm family, never experiencing setbacks or separations. So many things had happened recently. He was inexplicably thrown into this town, and now he was about to go to another unfamiliar city alone.

He never thought that one day he would be doing so well in a place like Chen Town. He never thought he would develop feelings for a handsome boy, and he never thought that at this moment he would be crying while hugging this handsome boy.

Why was he crying?

When Qi Guang felt the cool sensation on his neck, he tentatively called his name, “Ye Xing?”

There was no response.

He raised his head, and Ye Xing suddenly pulled away, turning and running downstairs.

The new week brought joy to every teacher in Class 19. When handing out test papers, they could give a ten-minute speech. Of course, 80 percent of that time was spent praising Qi Guang.

It was about how a delinquent could turn over a new leaf, how a prodigal son returned home…

In short, it was a pattern of first criticizing then praising.

Everyone gave Qi Guang envious and admiring glances, but Qi Guang was baffled. When they were criticizing him, he didn’t seem that bad, and when they were praising him, it was even less like him. He had goosebumps all over and wanted to cover the teacher’s mouth.

Except for Lu Yueyang.

She was as calm as ever. After handing out the test papers, she spent five seconds calmly praising Qi Guang and then started the class.

Zhou Tian was also unfazed.

Zhou Tian, the silly guy, rushed over as soon as the class ended, without even expressing any admiration or congratulations, sighing, “From today on, I don’t have breakfast anymore.”

“Call me Dad,” Qi Guang pulled out a bag of bread and milk from his desk.

“Dad!” Zhou Tian happily took it, unwrapping the packaging while saying, “This Ye Xing is something else, leaving without a word, leaving us two pitiful souls behind. One without breakfast, one alone in an empty room, sigh!”

Qi Guang didn’t have much of an appetite today, and looking at Zhou Tian eating in front of him already made him uncomfortable, not to mention the weird tone…

“Get lost!” He waved his hand.

Qi Guang couldn’t concentrate on class all day, but he also couldn’t fully drift away… after all, being called on by the teacher to explain his problem-solving was also annoying.

He took out his phone for what seemed like the hundredth time, looking at the phone’s default home screen.

No new messages.

The fan on the ceiling whirled, rustling everyone’s test papers. He glanced at Ye Xing’s desk, a stack of messy papers pressed down by various books, sighed, and pulled them out one by one to organize them.

When he saw the 27 points on the math test, he was stunned, unable to help but look twice. The problems at the end were almost all blank, and the calculation problems were mostly only half-done. Only the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blanks were all answered, but they were probably guesses, with a very low accuracy rate.

Was this guy sent by heaven to deal with Red Wolf?

Qi Guang smiled helplessly and pulled out a language test paper. Fortunately, this subject’s score was still acceptable; all the blanks were filled. He flipped to the last page. Hey! The composition score was actually quite high!

“Always wanting to escape, yet still here.”

Qi Guang read the topic once.

If he remembered correctly, the required style was argumentative essay!

This kid was being so emotional. Was he writing a song?

He didn’t read any further, putting the test paper back into Ye Xing’s desk drawer, covering it with a book.

Looking at the teacher’s mouth moving up and down on the podium, he couldn’t help but repeat those words in his mind – “Always wanting to escape, yet still here.”

Has he left yet?

He looked down at his phone, which had been silent for the whole day.

“Why are you suddenly going to Singapore?” Ye Xing held his phone.

“To take care of some things. You stay there obediently, don’t run around,” Fang Rong said, “Mom will be able to handle things quickly, you know?”

He had long been used to playing the obedient and sensible child in front of Fang Rong, but his acting skills weren’t that great. When he heard Fang Rong telling him not to leave Chen Town, Ye Xing, who was already in another city, was a little hesitant to respond.

Fortunately, Fang Rong didn’t notice, perhaps because time was short, and she just wanted to finish explaining everything.

“I won’t be gone too long; the plane is taking off soon,” Fang Rong said, “I won’t call you this week. Just text me your safety every day on WeChat.”

“Okay…” Ye Xing hesitated, but eventually hung up the phone.

The dormitory arranged for him at the studio was a two-person room, with a bed above and a desk below. Looking at it, one of the desks was full of drafts and paintbrushes, so someone was already living there.

He put his bag on the other empty desk, not yet in the mood to unpack.

From arriving home in the early hours of last night, he didn’t sleep well, and then he set off early in the morning, sleeping all the way here. After reporting to the studio, he went straight to the dormitory. Finally, he could clear his mind and relax.

After this period of life, which was completely different from his previous ten years, he had long accepted many cruel realities. He once saw a quote somewhere: when life rapes you, if you can’t resist, why not try to enjoy it.

It was a rough way to put it, but it made sense.

Since he couldn’t escape for now, it was better to stay and conserve his strength.

He held his phone, looking at the call history thoughtfully.

He had been to Singapore once as a child, but it was so long ago that he couldn’t remember what he did there. He only remembered that his family and Uncle Xu’s family played together, and they stayed at Uncle Xu’s parents’ house.

Uncle Xu was good friends with his dad, and they had done a lot of business together. But he didn’t understand his dad’s business, and he rarely interacted with his dad, so he didn’t know much about Uncle Xu. The only deep impression he had was that this person had given him a very large red envelope last Chinese New Year.

So, was Fang Rong looking for him?

Footsteps came from the door, and then the door was opened. Ye Xing raised his head and saw a fair face, the hair a little longer than most men’s, reaching just above the shoulders, tied in a half-ponytail.

Oh, the same style as Joe Odagiri.

Artistic with a hint of arrogance.

The other person looked visibly surprised when he saw him, stepping back to look at the door number, confirming it for two seconds before opening the door again.

“Did you come to the wrong place?” the person asked.

Now it was Ye Xing’s turn to doubt himself. He also went out to look at the door number and then looked at the number on the key, “No!”

The other person burst out laughing, then started laughing hysterically, making the bed frame shake.

After Ye Xing realized how silly he had been, he looked away and smiled.

After calming down, the person stood up straight and introduced himself, “Hello, my name is Li Ke.”

Li Ke? Why not Wen Ke (Literary Ke)?

Now it was Ye Xing who couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Ye Xing, nice to meet you.” Ye Xing covered his mouth slightly, not daring to laugh as wildly as he did.

Li Ke nodded, then took out his phone and flipped through his contacts. Ye Xing thought he was going to exchange phone numbers, and he was hesitating whether to take his phone out when Li Ke dialed a number, “Brother Xia! What’s going on?”

Ye Xing turned away slightly awkwardly and started unpacking.

But this Brother Xia’s voice was too loud. He could hear it clearly through the phone without having to try too hard. It sounded somewhat familiar, it must be the Teacher Xia who received him at the studio just now.

“Sorry, we really don’t have any extra beds. This student only confirmed his spot two days ago, so it was quite urgent. But he’ll only be here for two weeks, so we’ll talk about it later. You’ll only have to pay half the accommodation fee for these two weeks.”

This was even more awkward. Ye Xing’s hand was still in his bag, and he stopped moving.

After Li Ke hung up the phone, he pulled out a stool and sat down, looking at his back and saying, “Sorry, I’m not used to sharing a room with someone. I told them before.”

“It’s okay, everyone has their own…”

He was interrupted halfway through by Li Ke, “I like men, let me just say that upfront.”

Ye Xing was stunned, turning around.

How should he answer now to be cooler than the other person?

Coincidentally, me too.

He quickly scanned the person he hadn’t paid much attention to just now.

This second person he had met in his life who was out, um, was just as fair-skinned as the first.

Not strikingly handsome, but his dressing was very elegant. Even if he wasn’t an artist, he had certainly learned the artist’s temperament, especially his hairstyle. It was the first time Ye Xing had seen a boy with a half-ponytail in real life.

“So, if you’re homophobic or think you’ll be taken advantage of, you still have time to consider changing dorms,” Li Ke said.

Ye Xing smiled, “I don’t mind.”

“Okay, my only reasonable request is – no naked runs in the dorm.” Li Ke pulled out a box of instant noodles from his drawer. “Have you had dinner?”

“No,” Ye Xing took out his phone, “I’ll order some takeout.”

Li Ke glanced at his phone, got up to pour hot water, “Cherish the time you still have your phone.”

“What do you mean?” Ye Xing looked up at him.

“Brother Xia will probably come to collect your phones soon,” Li Ke bit open a seasoning packet with his teeth, “It’s a studio rule; new students’ phones are confiscated for half a month, then returned, unless you perform especially well, you might get it back sooner.”

“Why does it have to be like military training?” Ye Xing asked.

“Teacher Xia only accepts two types of students: the naturally gifted and the hardworking.” Li Ke said, looking at him, “Which one are you?”

“…”

“No matter which one, you have to accept this inhumane test; if you can’t stand loneliness, then pack up your things and leave.” Li Ke shrugged his shoulders.