Fu Yuhan, being injured, couldn’t walk fast even if he wanted to.
When passing the podium, he put away his phone and walked toward the stadium’s side gate. It was a light gray iron gate with a teacher from the Student Affairs Office sitting beside it, surnamed Li.
As soon as Teacher Li saw him, he smiled: “You again? Skipping out during the sports meet too?”
Fu Yuhan handed him the exit pass from the infirmary: “Pulled a muscle, going for a check-up.”
“A parent needs to come pick you up.” Teacher Li frowned.
“Where would I get a parent from?” Fu Yuhan’s lone wolf status was well-known among the teachers.
Teacher Li sighed: “Be careful on the road, come back early after the check-up.”
He unlocked the gate for Fu Yuhan.
Outside the stadium gate was directly connected to the city’s busy main road, with a small path on the left leading to the market behind.
It was a calligraphy and painting market that also sold the four treasures of the study. The architecture was built in an antique style, and even the residential buildings along the street were made to look old. Walking along, you could see traditional architectural eaves everywhere. Perhaps due to the atmosphere, even the plane trees on this road seemed more charming than elsewhere.
Wen Yu’s location sharing remained on and hadn’t moved. Fu Yuhan walked near the calligraphy and painting market and turned into a more secluded alley.
This was the back of the market. There was no one else walking in the alley, but it was piled with lots of miscellaneous items. As soon as Fu Yuhan entered the alley entrance, he heard voices.
“Is it because of him?”
“I’ve said it several times, no no no.”
“Then is it because of Fu Yuhan?”
Fu Yuhan’s steps paused.
He never expected to hear his own name. He stopped for a moment, then continued forward.
The group was standing behind a pile of miscellaneous items.
“Delusion is a disease that needs treatment. Who I chase is my business and has nothing to do with the other party, okay? I just don’t like you. Whether there are other people or not, I don’t like you!”
After Xu Qianyi finished speaking, the other side fell silent. For a moment, the air was so quiet that even sparrow chirping became particularly clear. Fu Yuhan suddenly heard a “click” sound.
Walking a few more steps forward, Fu Yuhan saw Qian Kaile and the freshly lit cigarette in his mouth. His squinting eyes and crooked mouth made him look exactly like a hoodlum.
Xu Qianyi frowned and walked under the corridor, staying far from Qian Kaile. Wen Yu had one hand in his pocket, leaning against a wooden pillar, just like that day when he eavesdropped on Fu Yuhan being lectured on the third floor of the laboratory building.
He had originally been looking down at his phone, but upon hearing footsteps, he looked up and naturally smiled: “You’re here.”
Xu Qianyi’s brow relaxed, somewhat surprised: “You called him over?”
“Mm.”
“What for?”
“To watch the show.” Wen Yu waved at Fu Yuhan. “Come, golden VIP seat.”
“…” Fu Yuhan walked over. “Your golden VIP seat doesn’t even have a chair?”
The two’s attitude was familiar and natural, looking completely unlike the incompatible relationship rumored outside. Qian Kaile, who was thoroughly ignored, felt a nameless fire rising—
If the story about them fighting over Xu Qianyi was gunpowder, then that day at noon when they joined forces to threaten him was the fuse, and this moment of being ignored was the action of lighting the fire.
It couldn’t explode more thoroughly.
“You two, watching a show?” Qian Kaile sneered. “Good that you’re both here, saves me from looking for you one by one.”
Xu Qianyi immediately widened her eyes: “Are you never going to stop?”
“This isn’t inside the school.” Qian Kaile smiled carelessly. “There’s no surveillance either. So what if I beat both of them up today? Qianyi, I might as well tell you the truth—since you refuse to agree to me no matter what, I might as well vent my anger first.”
“…???”
Xu Qianyi was stunned: “Are you crazy?”
Fu Yuhan was too lazy to even look at Qian Kaile, constantly watching Wen Yu’s foot—Wen Yu seemed to really like this posture of leaning against the wall, right foot supporting his weight, left foot lightly touching the ground. Fu Yuhan used to think he was just showing off, but thinking carefully, maybe he was trying to let his left foot rest more?
If it was really that serious, why did he insist on replacing him in the relay?
“You can think I’m crazy.” Qian Kaile took a hard drag of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground and stamped it out. “I offended the entire Class 6 for you, bringing Class 2 along, and you won’t even look at me. You switch from this one to that one—do they even care about you? I think you women just don’t know what’s good for you!”
Xu Qianyi was both shocked and angry: “Fuck your dad!”
“Stop cursing, it’s not elegant for girls to swear.” Wen Yu turned his head, lazily looking at Qian Kaile with a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth. “If he wants to fight, let him. We have three people now.”
Fu Yuhan paused: “You think I came here to be your muscle?”
“Scared?” Wen Yu squinted and smiled at him.
Whenever Wen Yu used this expression and tone to ask if he was scared, Fu Yuhan never backed down.
Besides, Qian Kaile only brought two little followers who hung around him every day.
They were one tall and one short, both skinny guys standing under the opposite wall. No matter how you looked at them, they didn’t have much fighting power.
“Scared my ass,” Fu Yuhan snorted coldly, indifferently saying, “How many people is this?”
Wen Yu took his hand out of his pants pocket and condescendingly applauded him.
Being ignored by them for the second time, Qian Kaile was about to spiral into the sky.
His face turned red with anger as he took out his phone and started making a call: “Think I don’t have people?—Hello, bro, yeah, the place we agreed on, you can come over now.”
He hung up and pointed at them: “I’m definitely going to vent this anger today. Don’t think about running!”
Xu Qianyi immediately started arguing with him. Fu Yuhan looked at Wen Yu, Wen Yu looked at Fu Yuhan.
“Who else confessed today?”
Fu Yuhan was stunned for a moment before realizing he was asking about that “confession season” comment.
“Old Sun,” he paused, then for some unknown psychological reason added, “He’s afraid you’ll steal Chen Mengxian’s soul.”
“You didn’t tell him about my preferences… did you.” With others nearby, Wen Yu only mouthed the words “niche interests.”
With people arguing nearby while they whispered to each other, the scene was somewhat comical. Fu Yuhan’s eyes rolled slightly: “If Chen Mengxian chased you, what would I lose?”
Wen Yu was stunned.
“Then why would I need to help you out… ahem.”
Wen Yu raised an eyebrow: “True.”
Messy footsteps came from the direction they had come from, sounding like several people. Xu Qianyi, who had moved forward due to arguing with Qian Kaile, instinctively turned her head and cried out in shock: “You’re calling thugs for a fight? We’re still students!”
“Thugs” sounded nice, but the people who came were all broad-shouldered and thick-waisted with bulging muscles, wearing tight tank tops and flower arm tattoos, holding long sticks of unknown material—five complete hooligans.
Only then did Wen Yu turn his head.
He looked at Xu Qianyi’s expression, then also walked forward two steps, going past the pile of miscellaneous items to look toward the alley entrance, seeing those five big brothers.
Wen Yu’s eyes narrowed, his aura instantly turning cold.
This change was very obvious because he was usually always smiling. Except for Fu Yuhan who had argued with him privately, others didn’t even know how malicious Wen Yu could be, let alone see him look so serious.
Qian Kaile inexplicably felt panicked. His mouth twitched as he forced a loud laugh: “Scared now? Don’t worry, just let me beat you up honestly and this matter will be over. I won’t beat you to disability—”
“Trash.” Wen Yu suddenly said.
Though he said this, he glanced at Fu Yuhan first before turning to Qian Kaile, his voice extremely cold: “What are you looking at? I’m talking about you. Using force to threaten someone you’re pursuing, needing help to fight, can’t even score the grade average on exams, and ugly too—what are you if not trash?”
Qian Kaile’s face turned red: “Stop being arrogant, bro!”
The five big men suddenly accelerated their approach, looking like they were about to run right up to them.
Wen Yu suddenly lifted his left leg, using his right foot as an axis, and delivered a beautiful roundhouse kick that slammed hard into the pile of miscellaneous items. Several cardboard boxes collapsed with a crash, dust flying everywhere. Wen Yu grabbed Xu Qianyi’s hand and reached for Fu Yuhan: “Run!”
But Fu Yuhan reacted even faster, grabbing his hand first and sprinting toward the other end of the alley. Qian Kaile was stunned for three seconds before coming to his senses, pointing at their backs and shouting to his two followers: “Chase them!”
Pulling one person with each hand wasn’t conducive to escaping. After running for a while, Xu Qianyi shook off Wen Yu’s hand. Fu Yuhan led the way at the front. He seemed very familiar with the interconnected alleys in this area, turning corners without hesitation. Before long, he ducked into a shop.
He didn’t look back, pulling Wen Yu deeper into the store.
This shop was unusually large, occupying at least four times the space of an ordinary shop, and the conditions were better than other stores. Behind a curtain in the corner was actually a restroom.
To the left of the restroom was an upward staircase, while the other side led to the alley they had just run out of.
Fu Yuhan directly led them upstairs.
The upstairs wasn’t a shop but individual rooms. Fu Yuhan walked to the middle of the corridor and stood by the window looking down.
Wen Yu and Xu Qianyi also walked over.
This was very close to downstairs, and the window was open. If they spoke, they might be heard. None of the three made a sound, watching as their pursuers entered the shop and were soon noisily driven out by the boss.
“What’s this about? Students not in school coming here to cause trouble? You’ve read your books into a dog’s belly, don’t you know disturbing others’ business will bring divine retribution?!”
The middle-aged woman’s fighting power was explosive—she wasn’t afraid even of five strong men.
Moreover, this area had long formed a specialty market. The shop owners doing business here were all local powers. The female boss initially didn’t react much to seeing students, but immediately prepared to call the police upon seeing those five big brothers.
Downstairs was a chaotic mess. Fu Yuhan leaned back: “Rest for a bit. We’ll go out the back door later—they can’t see the front from there.”
Xu Qianyi was still catching her breath and just nodded.
Wen Yu turned back to look at Fu Yuhan: “Is this your home?”
“…What nonsense.”
Fu Yuhan originally didn’t want to answer, but at this moment he met Wen Yu’s gaze—he still wasn’t smiling, but wasn’t as cold as before either, looking like a normal person.
As if possessed, he added: “I often come here to buy things… the boss lady is quite nice.”
Only then did Wen Yu remember that in his brief glimpse earlier, half of this shop sold the four treasures of the study, while the other half seemed to sell art supplies.
His heart stirred.
“Let’s go.” Fu Yuhan lowered his head. “Can you still walk?”
“I’m fine.” Wen Yu was a bit distracted. “Why don’t you ask yourself, injured person.”
“I’m even more fine, glass person.”
They argued while walking back, only to discover after walking a distance that Xu Qianyi hadn’t moved.
Both turned back: “Come on.”
Xu Qianyi puffed out her cheeks, looked up at the sky outside the window, her expression somewhat complex: “Hey, I’m sorry.”
“What?” Fu Yuhan asked.
“I’m saying sorry to you two.” Xu Qianyi said. “I like looking at handsome guys, and when I said I was chasing people, I was never serious—just for fun. I originally thought it didn’t affect anyone… but it seems to have caused you both quite a bit of trouble.”
“I don’t know about him,” Fu Yuhan glanced sideways, “but I never minded.”
Given Fu Yuhan’s personality, if he minded Xu Qianyi saying such things, he would have taken measures long ago instead of staying silent until senior year.
“I know you’re a good person. I’ve always remembered when you helped me.” Xu Qianyi sighed. “Wen Yu…”
“Me? I mind even less.” Wen Yu seemed to have just come back to his senses. “If Fu Yuhan doesn’t mind, how could I possibly mind?”
“…”
“You’re being childish arguing about this.” Fu Yuhan frowned.
“And someone hoping Chen Mengxian would chase me is mature?”
“…” Fu Yuhan turned his face and said word by word, “I told Old Sun that you have someone you like and couldn’t possibly like Chen Mengxian. That’s respectful enough.”
Wen Yu was stunned, then burst out laughing.
His laugh was clean and bright. Fu Yuhan watched and his expression inexplicably relaxed.
Outside the window, the clouds dispersed and the sky cleared again.
##
