CFHE Chapter 23

“Senior year group—”

 

The broadcast voice echoed throughout the entire stadium. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final results.

 

“First place, Senior Class 3, 189 points.”

 

As the “major household” of sports students, Class 3 getting this score wasn’t surprising to anyone. Except for the opening ceremony evaluation that didn’t require physical fitness, they had almost swept first place in all events.

 

The key was what came next.

 

Class 6 people, who had some expectations, all stopped what they were doing and couldn’t help but glance toward the podium.

 

“Second place, Senior—”

 

“Class 6—”

 

“Yeah!!!”

 

The stands area where Class 6 was located erupted in earth-shaking cheers. But they quickly quieted down to listen to the detailed scores.

 

“165 points…”

 

“Tsk, Class 3 is indeed Class 3, pulling ahead by so many points.” The score gap for the classes that followed wasn’t as large as between first and second place. Sun Wenrui sighed, packed his bag, and turned back to shout, “Brother Fu, my dad is coming to pick me up later. Want to go to the hospital together? It’s rare that school ends early today. After the check-up, let’s go out and have fun!”

 

“Can’t you speak a little quieter?” Fu Yuhan picked up his bag and stood up. “Not going, I have something to do.”

 

“You really have something to do?” Wen Yu turned back to look at him.

 

Unlike this morning when they were separated by three seats, now they were quite close. When Wen Yu turned back, he almost bumped into Fu Yuhan’s head.

 

Fu Yuhan found his question strange: “Didn’t I already say so over there?”

 

“I thought you were making excuses not to go eat.” Wen Yu said.

 

“If I really didn’t want to go, would I need to find a reason? Couldn’t I just say I don’t want to go?” Fu Yuhan’s expression was indifferent. He picked up his bag and went down the steps. When passing by Wen Yu, he slipped a small white bottle into his shirt pocket. “I’m leaving.”

 

Wen Yu took it out to look—it was that bottle of Yunnan Baiyao.

 

He was slightly stunned, then his eyebrows lightly raised.

 

The broadcast was nearing its end, which meant today’s sports meet was about to conclude. People from all grades were packing their bags and walking out.

 

Fu Yuhan followed the crowd out of the stadium and slowly walked to the nearest bus stop.

 

He didn’t know what had happened, but the bus he was waiting for was particularly slow today. The Third High students waiting beside him changed several times, and not only did the bus he was waiting for not come, but he ended up waiting for the slow-walking Wen Yu.

 

“You take the bus?” Fu Yuhan was quite surprised. “Where’s your Maserati?”

 

“What Maserati?” Wen Yu laughed. “I’m not going back to my dad’s place today.”

 

“You also live with your mom?”

 

This question was completely subconscious. After asking, Fu Yuhan suddenly realized he had said the wrong thing.

 

Clearly, last time in the office, Wen Yu had said in front of him to the homeroom teacher that his mom was his stepmother.

 

Everyone had some things they didn’t want to discuss in detail with outsiders. He wasn’t like Wen Yu with so much curiosity and had no intention of probing deeper.

 

Fu Yuhan quickly shut his mouth, lowering his gaze to pretend he hadn’t asked such a tactless question. Unexpectedly, Wen Yu didn’t seem angry at all and even chuckled softly.

 

The rising intonation was inexplicably clear amidst the noisy car engines.

 

“I live alone.”

 

“Renting?” Fu Yuhan thought of something.

 

“No, bought it.” Wen Yu smiled quite happily. “A coming-of-age gift I asked my dad for.”

 

“…” Fu Yuhan lowered his eyes. “You really are a young master.”

 

But this also reminded him.

 

As long as finances allowed, he could completely move out. There was no need to keep living at home.

 

Not long after Wen Yu arrived, the bus Fu Yuhan had been waiting for ages finally came. He got on and found a seat in the back, then discovered Wen Yu had walked over to sit beside him.

 

This bus went toward Third High, and there were quite a few people living near the school. A group of Third High students came rushing on after Wen Yu.

 

If he had a choice, Fu Yuhan wouldn’t want to sit with Wen Yu, but he spotted Zhou Xiangyan in the crowd.

 

His body moved faster than his brain—he grabbed Wen Yu’s hand.

 

Wen Yu lowered his eyes and cast an inquiring glance.

 

At the same time, Zhou Xiangyan, who had just gotten on the bus, seemed to notice this side and smiled at Fu Yuhan across the air. Fu Yuhan, as usual expressionless, just nodded at him.

 

Wen Yu followed his gaze and looked back.

 

“Sitting here?” Fu Yuhan asked. “There’s a seat.”

 

“Mm…” Wen Yu raised an eyebrow, chuckled softly, and sat down.

 

The bus swayed along the route. After three stops, quite a few students who had been excited all day had exhausted their energy and fallen asleep. Midway, Wen Yu glanced to the side and saw that Fu Yuhan, who was usually like a sleep god, kept his eyes open the whole time.

 

By the time they finally reached the area near Third High, it was forty minutes later. A group of students noisily got off the bus and scattered in all directions, but Fu Yuhan alone stood without moving.

 

“Not getting off?” Wen Yu looked back.

 

Fu Yuhan didn’t say much: “I’ll wait a bit. You go first.”

 

Wen Yu tilted his head, shrugged, and instead walked back.

 

Fu Yuhan: “?”

 

“Then I’ll wait a bit too.” Wen Yu said.

 

He put his hands in his pockets and stood shoulder to shoulder with Fu Yuhan at the platform, acting as if he was rightfully waiting for a bus. Fu Yuhan’s brows knitted together: “Are you poisoned?”

 

This was probably his most expressive reaction. Wen Yu stared at him and smiled for quite a while: “Why are you so fun?”

 

“…”

 

Fu Yuhan felt like he had encountered a ghost.

 

To avoid being turned into a lunatic by the clearly drugged Wen Yu, as soon as the light turned green, Fu Yuhan stepped across the road. He passed through the Third High entrance and walked onto that school route he had traveled countless times.

 

Wen Yu followed unhurriedly, always trailing about ten meters behind him, his fingers playing with that bottle of Yunnan Baiyao in his pocket.

 

Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the residential complex where he lived.

 

The guard room had no lights on, and the security guard sat inside reading newspapers as usual. This was a leisurely and quiet afternoon. Wen Yu thought for a moment, didn’t go inside, and instead turned to follow Fu Yuhan.

 

“So,” he whispered in self-contempt, “people eventually become what they hate most.”

 

–

 

This was a somewhat long road. Fu Yuhan usually walked it, only occasionally taking the bus.

 

Originally, he should have gotten off two stops later, but firstly, he didn’t want to run into Zhou Xiangyan; secondly, he planned to take the opportunity to think about some things, so he got off early at Third High.

 

He had been here before the parent-teacher conference, but Fu Xuecheng was away on business then. Although his stepmother had always been gentle and enthusiastic toward him… she was still a stepmother after all. Fu Yuhan didn’t have much to chat about with her, so he had left.

 

Today Fu Xuecheng returned from his business trip. It was said to be a morning flight, so he should be home by now.

 

Fu Yuhan was a bit hesitant about how to bring up the topic.

 

With something weighing on his mind, the road seemed particularly short. By the time he came to his senses, he was already standing at the entrance of the apartment building.

 

The architecture of this residential complex was quite special—all small buildings, each with two large duplex units upstairs and downstairs. Fu Xuecheng lived on the first floor of one of these buildings.

 

Fu Yuhan rubbed his hands to ease the anxiety in his heart and pressed the doorbell.

 

Footsteps quickly came from inside, and soon a middle-aged woman who looked like a housekeeper opened the door.

 

“You are…?”

 

“I’m looking for Fu Xuecheng.” Fu Yuhan tugged at his bag strap, his face expressionless. “I’m his son.”

 

“Oh, oh.” The housekeeper was stunned. “Wait a moment.”

 

She went inside, and there was movement from within. Fu Yuhan looked down at the carpet laid at the entrance and recognized the brand.

 

This was a brand he liked because it looked good. As a child, he had no concept of price and would only pick the most beautiful things. Later, his father never bought carpets from other brands. He didn’t expect this habit to continue to this day.

 

Fu Xuecheng was resting at home and quickly came out from inside, his face full of surprise: “Xiao Han? How do you have time to come today… is school out?”

 

“There’s a sports meet today, so school ended early.” Fu Yuhan glanced inside the house. “Zhou Xiangyan isn’t home yet?”

 

“Look at my memory, I forgot you’re at the same school now.” Fu Xuecheng laughed and patted his own head. “Really getting old.”

 

“Not really.” Fu Yuhan looked at his face. “You’re not old.”

 

“If my son says I’m not old, then I’m not old. Come, come in quickly. Are you eating dinner here today?”

 

Fu Yuhan shook his head: “My sister hasn’t been well lately, I need to go back to eat.”

 

Fu Xuecheng frowned slightly.

 

“I came because I have something I want to talk about.” Fu Yuhan licked his lips. “Dad.”

 

“Mm?”

 

“All these years I’ve never asked you for money,” he paused, “I want to learn painting.”

 

Learning to paint required attending training classes, and if possible, he also wanted to study abroad.

 

The latter his father might not agree to, since it wasn’t a small sum and there was too much uncertainty—applications were a problem, Yang Fan was also a problem, and he himself was hesitating.

 

Regarding future matters, Fu Yuhan was somewhat confused.

 

Strangely enough, he would never show weakness in front of his mother, but here with his father, he could quite naturally voice these troubling concerns.

 

Fu Xuecheng had eaten several decades more rice than Fu Yuhan after all, so he could offer some advice.

 

Father and son sat in the living room talking for a while. Midway, Zhou Xiangyan came out to get a glass of water and greeted Fu Yuhan.

 

Fu Yuhan nodded.

 

“You still talk so little.” Fu Xuecheng laughed. “I don’t know who you learned this temperament from.”

 

Fu Yuhan remained silent.

 

The decoration of this house wasn’t much different in style from the room he had lived in as a child. The oncoming familiarity made him very relaxed.

 

“Dad can give you the money for training classes, but I only have one question.” Fu Xuecheng said. “Have you discussed this with your mother?”

 

Fu Yuhan shook his head.

 

“Then I have doubts. Your child support—I haven’t missed a single payment all these years, transferring it to her on time every month. He Yan shouldn’t be unable to come up with this money.” Fu Xuecheng’s voice carried some thin anger. “Not paying for the child’s education—where did she spend the money?”

 

Fu Yuhan was stunned.

 

When his parents separated, he was still young and didn’t know about child support.

 

Theoretically, he should say “I’ll go back and ask about it.”

 

But he was somewhat resistant to discussing this with He Yan.

 

“As for studying abroad…”

 

Before Fu Xuecheng could finish speaking, the main door made a “click” sound.

 

Zhou Ruoyan had come home from work.

 

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