CH 8

Tomorrow would be Saturday. Xie Guoxu called to get Xie Zhongxing to come home.

Xie Zhongxing could guess what he would be faced with once he got home.

Wang Yuxue asked him, “Do you want me to go back with you?”

Xie Zhongxing shook his head, “Thank you, Teacher, but I can solve this myself.”

The young man was only eighteen. With his posture straight and tall, he was like bamboo after a light rain; fresh and clean. Those who see him would feel pleasant inside.

Wang Yuxue felt a lot of sympathy towards Xie Zhongxing. At thirty-seven years of age, she was still unmarried with no children and had grown used to living alone, but she had once wanted a child but never had the chance to. Over time, such thoughts had faded but when she saw such a handsome and upright young man, she couldn’t help but feel love and affection towards him.

Wang Yuxue felt her glasses turn foggy. She took off her glasses and cleaned it with a tissue before putting it back on, “Then I’ll send you home.”

Afraid of Xie Zhongxing declining her offer, Wang Yuxue added, “I have an aunt near your place. I’ll go and visit her and send you home along the way.”

Xie Zhongxing looked at Wang Yuxue and said quietly, “Thank you.”

Xie Zhongxing’s home was in an old town. With support from the government, the town in recent years had gradually developed into a tourist attraction such that even despite being quite remote, there would be many tourists coming to visit, most of which are foreign tourists. If you just casually set up a stall and sell a few small trinkets, you could receive a few foreigners’ currency.

Xie Zhongxing was handsome and because he was slender and tall as well, him just standing there was extremely picturesque. With humans all sharing a similar perception of beauty, someone with an appearance like Xie Zhongxing’s attracted a lot of attention.

As long as he stood or sat there for a while and allowed those foreigners to draw him, he could receive ten- or twenty-dollar notes, and if he went a little further away from home and sold a few interesting items, the tourists would also be happy to buy them.

By doing this during his school vacations, he managed to save a lot of money.

He never held any complaints towards this place where he grew up in because of how harshly his parents treated him. On the contrary, he liked this old town.

Because of the traffic, it took almost an hour to drive from the city to the old town. By the time they arrived, the sky was already darkening.

When Wang Yuxue dropped Xie Zhongxing off outside and saw the closed door, she was a little worried, “Will you be okay alone?”

Xie Zhongxing nodded, “Yes.”

Wang Yuxue decided not to say anything anymore. She turned the car around and drove off.

Xie Zhongxing watched her leave. When her car was no longer in sight, he finally turned to knock on the door.

That door soon opened. It was Xie Zi’an who opened the door. Unlike his usual noisy self, he just stared quietly at Xie Zhongxing.

Xie Zi’an said, “Mum asked you to fetch water. The water in the tank is all used up.”

Hearing this, Xie Zhongxing didn’t say anything and just placed his bag in his small balcony room and then left with the pole and buckets.

As soon as the other person left, Xie Zi’an entered his small balcony makeshift room.

This balcony was very small, probably not even four square metres in size, and all that was there was a bed made up of wooden boards and long benches lined together as well as a thin blue and white sheet. Because of the wet weather, without even needing to touch it himself, Xie Zi’an knew that the sheets were probably damp.

Xie Zi’an pursed his lips and his eyes fell onto the schoolbag in the room. He reached out and began to look through it.

There were textbooks and some unmarked papers in the bag. They should be his homework for the weekend.

But apart from those, Xie Zi’an didn’t find any papers which had been marked by the teachers. It was a little too unreasonably clean.

Xie Zi’an’s heart was beating wildly.

He couldn’t help but bite his nails. If Xie Zhongxing was really that amazing, why didn’t he say anything?!

Why did he hide his grades?

If mum and dad knew that Xie Zhongxing’s grades were this good, would they still hate him?

At that time, will Xie Zhongxing replace his position as their favourite child?

No, he won’t allow it!

Xie Zi’an took a deep breath and said to himself: I cannot let mum and dad know how good Xie Zhongxing’s results are!

He quickly repacked Xie Zhongxing’s bag and turned to leave but was immediately startled when he saw Xie Zhongxing standing at the door.

Xie Zhongxing looked at him quietly, “What are you doing here?”

Xie Zi’an patted his chest and complained, “Why do you care what I’m doing? Did you stand there deliberately to scare me?! How nasty of you!”

Xie Zhongxing, “This is my room.”

Xie Zi’an laughed coldly, “Only you would consider this crappy balcony a room. I don’t give a damn!!”

After saying that, he pushed Xie Zhongxing away and stalked off.

Xie Zhongxing returned to his room and checked his box that contained some change. The small amount of money in there was still there.

He stood in place for a while before moving to open his schoolbag. Clearly, his bag had been touched.

What was he planning? Xie Zhongxing thought to himself.

*

At the end of the weekend, Xie Zhongxing returned to school.

Wang Yuxue went straight to the classroom to find him and asked with concern, “Did your parents make it difficult for you?”

Xie Zhongxing shook his head. Without Xie Zi’an around fanning the flames, Xie Guoxu and them didn’t even bother talking to him, so the past weekend was rather peaceful for once.

Wang Yuxue breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good. That’s all I wanted to ask, you can go to morning reading.”

Xie Zhongxing returned to the classroom and sat down. Not long after he returned, he heard Wang Yuxue talking to someone outside the classroom.

Xie Zhongxing’s gaze travelled over to the door. From his perspective, he could see that it was a tall boy talking to Wang Yuxue, but he couldn’t see his face.

Xie Zhongxing didn’t pay it much attention. He lowered his head back down and continued to concentrate on silently reading his textbook.

After a while, someone in the class gasped. It was then followed by sounds of people whispering.

A disciplinary committee member patted the table to get them to quiet down, “Don’t speak. Focus on reading.”

The whispering died down.

Xie Zhongxing closed his eyes and silently memorised several English phrases. He didn’t pay attention to any of this.

As soon as the bell signalling the end of class rang, the classroom was like a sizzling frying pan, instantly becoming rowdy.

“Fuck, a transfer student. They’re really transferring to our class!”

“Even while sitting at the back, he stands out amongst all these chickens!”

“Zhao Xixi, what do you mean by that? Who’s a chicken?! He’s probably not actually that tall. Fu Donglin who used to be in our class was also 185. He’s at most one or two centimetres taller than Fu Donglin!”

“Then now that Fu Donglin is not here, isn’t the transfer student the tallest one?”

…….

Xie Zhongxing also looked up amidst this commotion. Looking past his many classmates, he finally saw the new figure sitting in the last row.

A transfer student at a time like this?

That question briefly appeared in Xie Zhongxing’s mind when, suddenly, the other party turned his head and their gazes met.

Xie Zhongxing blinked his eyes a few times. He saw the other party immediately stand up, bypass his other classmates and walk over in his direction.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Stopping before Xie Zhongxing, that was the first thing he said.

Xie Zhongxing stared at him and didn’t speak.

Qin Zhongyue saw that his eyes seemed like he was looking at a stranger and asked in anger, “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about me?”

Xie Zhongxing looked at him some more. He blinked his eyes a few more times and asked lowly, “You are?”

“!!!” Qin Zhongyue, “You really forgot me?”

What a cruel and ruthless boy!

Qin Zhongyue reached out and lifted Zhou Quan’s collar, “Classmate, get up for a second. I have to say to this classmate.”

Zhou Quan, “……Classmate, if you have something to say, please just say it nicely. Let go of my shirt.”

He quickly stood up and gave up his seat for Qin Zhongyue.

Qin Zhongyue supported himself using the table and slowly sat down. He was sporting a new hairstyle today and had even applied two face masks and sprayed on some perfume. He was certain that his current self must be filled with the handsome and mature air of an adult man.

But based on Xie Zhongxing’s expression just now, he felt uncertain.

Did his heroic act that day really not leave any impression on him?

Qin Zhongyue felt a little aggrieved, “You really don’t remember me? We met at Jinyu Hotel last time, and I also gave you my number so that you could call me if anything happens.”

Xie Zhongxing furrowed his brows slightly. Qin Zhongyue continued to stare intently at him, “Have you remembered?”

Xie Zhongxing looked back at him with a look of realisation, “It’s you.”

“Yes, yes, yes, that was me.” Qin Zhongyue couldn’t help but let out the breath he was holding when he saw that he had finally remembered him. With him being so handsome, there was no reason for Xie Zhongxing to forget about him.

Please read this from kk translates

Qin Zhongyue remembered the matter with the phone call and asked again, “So why haven’t you called me?”

Xie Zhongxing asked back, “Why should I call you?”

Qin Zhongyue glared at him, “You’re asking me why? Why would you need a reason to call me? You can just call when you want to call.”

Xie Zhongxing, “?”

“……….” Qin Zhongyue continued, “Didn’t I say that you can call me if anything happens?”

With him acting so persistent, Xie Zhongxing conversely felt a little curious, “I’m fine.”

Qin Zhongyue fell silent for a few seconds. He then finally said, “Then I’m glad.”

Xie Zhongxing hinted, “Class is about to start.”

Qin Zhongyue’s gaze travelled over his handsome face. His voice became a little softer and he asked despite already knowing, “How old are you?”

Xie Zhongxing glanced at him, “Eighteen.”

Qin Zhongyue said, “What a coincidence, I’m also eighteen. My birthday is February 18th. You?”

Xie Zhongxing answered, “Don’t know.”

Qin Zhongyue wasn’t happy with his answer, “Who are you trying to lie to? Who wouldn’t know when their birthday is? If you want to lie, you should lie about something better.”

Xie Zhongxing looked at him “October 22nd.”

Qin Zhongyue clapped his hand in excitement, “Then I’m older than you. Let’s do this. You can treat me as your older brother. From now on, I will protect you.”

Xie Zhongxing didn’t speak.

Qin Zhongyue, “Then that’s settled!”

He happily reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch, “Made in Switzerland. I just got it recently. This is greeting gift for my younger brother, you don’t have to be polite.”

He grabbed Xie Zhongxing’s hand, wanting to help put it on.

Extremely baffling.

Xie Zhongxing pulled his arm away and calmly refused, “No thanks.”

Seeing him pull away, Qin Zhongyue felt a little upset inside —– Why wouldn’t he let him touch him? He used to be able to touch those hands as much as he wanted to!

Qin Zhongyue however quickly threw those thoughts to the back of his mind, “You have pale wrists with defined joints. Although this is a women’s watch, this watch looks very good and suits you.”

Xie Zhongxing felt that this person had no sense of propriety. Even if he hadn’t taken a closer look, just the feel of the watch was enough for him to know that this watch wasn’t anything cheap.

For him to give away such an expensive gift to someone he had just met, it was extremely baffling.

Xie Zhongxing ignored him. The bell just happened to ring at this moment. Zhou Quan shuffled over and reminded, “Brother, Class is starting.”

Qin Zhongyue took out a hundred-yuan note, “Change seats.” (KKnotes: 15-16 USD)

Zhou Quan immediately received the money and smiled, “No problem brother! I’ll move over now!”

Xie Zhongxing’s eyelid twitched at the sight of this.

Qin Zhongyue on the other end was still muttering, “It looks pretty good. Why don’t you want it?”

The rest of the classmates heard everything he said to Xie Zhongxing and they also saw everything he did. Recalling the luxury car Qin Zhongyue left in the other day, they knew that he was a genuine rich second generation.

Soon afterwards, the male classmate sitting behind Xie Zhongxing shyly leaned forward, “Brother, I’m also your younger brother. Do I get a greeting gift?”

Qin Zhongyue glanced at him and casually passed him a hundred-yuan note, “Good boy.”

The male classmate immediately smiled brightly, “Thank you big brother! Starting today, you are my greatest big brother!!”

Xie Zhongxing’s eyelid twitched even more fiercely.

With that male classmate as a precedence, even despite the bell having already rung, many male students still scrambled over each other, shouting, “Big brother, please spare this little brother a glance! This little brother also wants big brother’s love!!”

“Hi big brother. Starting today, you are my greatest big brother!”

“Big brother! Big bro!”

“Do you accept little sisters? Begging big brother to spare this little sister a glance!”

Qin Zhongyue was pleased. He pulled out all the money in his wallet with two fingers and threw it in the air, “No need to be polite, let me treat you all to some food!”

Xie Zhongxing’s eyelids were twitching so much it was about to start a fire.

At this moment, the dean suddenly appeared at the door, “What is all this noise?! Haven’t you heard the bell ring?”

Most of the people in the class were still bending over picking up the money. Hearing the dean’s shout, they immediately sat up straight.

The dean took a closer look. Seeing that many of the students were still holding money in their hands, he turned and asked a female student sitting near the door, “What is going on?”

The girl replied enviously, “The new classmate is giving away money to everyone.”

The dean’s eyes hardened, “What? Giving away money?”

Ten minutes later, under the supervision of the dean and Wang Yuxue, the money Qin Zhongyue had thrown out were all gathered.

The dean passed that thick stack of notes to Qin Zhongyue and warned sternly, “This is not a small amount. You should keep it safe. Don’t spend it so casually.”

These students nowadays really don’t know how hard it is to make money. Who on earth would just casually throw away twenty thousand yuan?

The dean directed his burning gaze at Qin Zhongyue. This was the only one he had seen in his many years of teaching.

Qin Zhongyue didn’t have the habit of disrespecting teachers like most others in his friend group. He proceeded to nod and answer obediently, “Okay, Teacher.”

After the dean left, Qin Zhongyue sat back down next to Xie Zhongxing. Wang Yuxue was surprised when she saw this, “Qin Zhongyue, your seat is at the back.”

Qin Zhongyue said, “Teacher, I want to sit here.”

Wang Yuxue, “With you sitting there, the students behind won’t be able to see—-”

Before she could finish speaking, the row of male students sitting behind Qin Zhongyue all said in unison, “It’s okay Teacher, we can see the board!!”

Wang Yuxue, “…………”

Xie Zhongxing turned his head away and looked out the window.

This group of money slaves.

After class, Qin Zhongyue once again took out that thick stack of notes, “Come and line up. Big bro will give you some money.”

Many people cheered.

And they really lined up one behind another to get the money from Qin Zhongyue.

Xie Zhongxing didn’t look at them. He just immersed his mind and body in the ocean of knowledge to help him resist capitalism’s corruption.

Almost all the classmates were given a one hundred yuan note. Most were taken by the boys as the girls were more thin-skinned and were too embarrassed to line up for it.

But just looking at the thin stack left, if you calculated it conservatively, it is estimated that the initial stack was probably about twenty thousand yuan. (KKnotes: More than three thousand USD)

A high school student would actually bring twenty thousand yuan in cash to school and give it out to his classmates?

Please read this from kk translates

Is this a normal person? No definitely not! This is a fortune distributing saint coming to help the people in need!!!

In an instant, the Qin Zhongyue in everyone’s eyes was practically glowing a golden light!

In an instant, everyone had become a slave to money!

Qin Zhongyue rolled up the remaining notes and said, “Alright, alright. Everyone go back to your seats.”

He turned to look at Xie Zhongxing and said while feeling quite pleased, “I left you some. Here, take it.”

After saying that, Qin Zhongyue placed the notes on Xie Zhongxing’s desk.

The rolled-up notes bloomed like a flower in an instant. Xie Zhongxing only glanced at it before quickly averting his eyes and lightly refusing, “Don’t want it.”

Qin Zhongyue asked, “Everyone got it too. Why don’t you want it?”

He was a little confused. He remembered Xie Zhongxing liked cash the most.

Xie Zhongxing this person had a very strange habit. He would always have a thick stack of cash in his wallet and when he gave him his pocket money, he didn’t transfer it using Alipay or Wechat and insisted on giving him cash.

Apart from his love for cash, Qin Zhongyue couldn’t think of any other reasons for this. It was also precisely because of this that he brought a lot of cash today.

Qin Zhongyue felt a little proud inside. He had a lot of advantage. He knew all of Xie Zhongxing’s preferences and habits so it could be considered that he had the upper hand.

Qin Zhongyue’s appearance was handsome. His maternal ancestor was German, so he had a quarter German blood in him which had manifested on him through his pale skin and deep features. He also had thick and dark eyelashes as well as thin eyelids which made his eyes appear particularly bright, like a clear stream were the bottom could be seen with much ease.

With such a pair of eyes, it made it hard for others to think of him as a scheming individual. It conversely made it more likely for others to suspect that he was foolish and naïve.

In short, Qin Zhongyue’s appearance was a pure type of handsome.

Appearance was one thing, but with him giving away money to others so casually, it made Xie Zhongxing a little repulsed.

Qin Zhongyue who was completely aware of this was still feeling proud of his schemes. He said in an easy-going manner, “I could tell in one glance that you are very kind. I think we are quite fated, so I wanted to recognise you as my younger brother. You really don’t need to be so polite. With me around, you will get a lot more benefits than this in the future.”

“…………” Xie Zhongxing’s eyelid started to twitch again.

Qin Zhongyue secretly felt at awe at his own words, “Here, you should also accept this watch.”

Xie Zhongxing, “I really don’t need it. Thank you.”

Because of his good mood, Qin Zhongyue’s stare carried some pleasantness. “Really don’t want it?”

Xie Zhongxing, “Yes.”

Qin Zhongyue’s eyes fell onto Xie Zhongxing’s somewhat round cheeks and felt a little itchy inside. He really wanted to reach out and pinch it. It looked like it would feel nice.

He had never dared to pinch Xie Zhongxing’s face in the past. With his thoughts elsewhere, he no longer insisted and said, “If you don’t want it, then you don’t want it. I’ll keep it aside for you for the time being.”

After watching Qin Zhongyue take away the watch and money, Xie Zhongxing withdrew his gaze.

Qin Zhongyue once again leaned over and stretched out his well-defined hand, “Smell it. Does it smell nice?”

As early as when he first sat next to him, Xie Zhongxing had smelt the scent coming from him. It was very light, like the woods in the morning, and it also contained the aroma of hazelnut and vanilla, bringing about a subtle sweetness amongst the clearness.

It smelt good, but why was he asking him so directly about this?

Would a high school boy worry about whether or not they smelt good?

Xie Zhongxing didn’t reveal those thoughts and just replied, “Smells nice.”

Qin Zhongyue then proceeded to take out a small bottle of perfume from his pocket, “Then I’ll give it to you. It’s a niche brand in France and can only be bought in France.”

Xie Zhongxing wanted to refuse but Qin Zhongyue had already stuffed it into his hands.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he firmly grabbed Xie Zhongxing’s arm. Xie Zhongxing’s eyelid twitched slightly. He continued to stare straight at Qin Zhongyue. His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to tell him to let go.

Qin Zhongyue however was faster. His voice was filled with surprise, “Why is your hand so rough?!”

Xie Zhongxing, “……….”

The author has something to say:

Baby Yue: Wifey’s hands used to be much tender and smoother! (lick, lick)