Chapter 2 - Tiger Entering The Sheep’s Den

Self-harm, gruesome depictions

Warning tag: Some depiction of self-harm, gruesome!

Chapter title footnotes 1

Translator: humu

Hu Zi 2 ’s original name was Chen Qiao. From a young age, both of his parents were busy making ends meet, so he was raised by the village’s elderly. The old folks weren’t well educated, but they always felt that the name ‘Chen Qiao’ wasn’t pleasant to the ears. Chen Qiao, Chen Qiao, oh how it sounded so unlucky! The name Hu Zi was still the best. In the future, the child would grow up to be steady and firm, tall and strong.

Hu Zi didn’t let down this name. When Hu Zi was about to attend senior high school, he was already at a height of more than 1.8m. He had dark tan skin, dashing, white pearly teeth, was outwardly straightforward and honest.

As Heaven dictated, there would always be unexpected circumstances. Just as Hu Zi had gathered up his courage to confess to the village’s Chun Niu, 2 people whom he had never met before, used the title of “parents” to bring him out of the village where he had lived for 15 years.

Alright, Hu Zi felt extremely awkward. Sitting in the Beetle 3 and facing the two who called themselves “mom” and “dad”, his face was flushing red.

His mouth opened and closed, then re-opened after a while. Hu Zi’s parents were very excited and emotional, using an especially expectant gaze to look at Hu Zi, whom they had neglected for many years. They hoped that he would be able to call them “Dad” and “Mom”.

“Can you guys…… not look at me 4 like this?! It’s really embarrassing.”

Scratching his head, Hu Zi smiled naively.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since they left. He always felt as if it was dark outside, then bright, then dark again. This pattern continued, up until someone woke him up, saying that they had arrived. He then followed that person to the bedside in a muddle headed manner before plopping onto the bed and going to sleep.

How soft. It was even smoother than Chun Niu’s face.

This was Hu Zi’s last sigh of lament.

He had been in this foreign city for more than a year already. He had lived in this extraordinary big house for more than a year. Except for his parents, he still seemed to be unaccustomed to most of the things here.

Especially the younger brothers and sisters who looked exactly like him. From the beginning, he had never recognised himself to be their Elder Brother.

Even though Hu Zi didn’t know how to read a person’s face, he understood that they didn’t like him.

Quickly gobbling down his food, he grabbed his bag and bid a quick farewell before leaving the house.

Nowadays, there was hardly any students who would wake up early to walk to school; but Hu Zi just wasn’t accustomed to the Beetle, so he insisted on walking everyday.

Reaching the school, there weren’t that many students yet. He placed his bag on the field and started to run his laps.

When he went back to retrieve his bag, he found that there was someone lying on the field, with his entire body coincidentally lying down on Hu Zi’s bag.

Frowning, Hu Zi squatted next to the person.

“Classmate, classmate, you are lying on my school bag! Classmate……!”

For the longest time ever, the person did not respond. Just as Hu Zi was about to give up, the person cursed. Even though the voice was frail and soft, Hu Zi still heard it.

The wheel of fate started to turn. On Hu Zi’s future timeline, there was a stain of the colour of a Japanese Rose 5 , a colour that Hu Zi hated the most.

~

From behind, there came the sound of footsteps, following closely behind Hu Zi. When Hu Zi sped up, it hastened its pace too. When Hu Zi slowed, it decreased its pace.

Pausing his steps, Hu Zi impatiently turned around.

“ I have already told you a lot of times. I don’t want you to follow me. I don’t like it.”

This person had persistently followed Hu Zi through the last 2 years of senior high, 2 years of college and was still following him in his third year. This person was really testing Hu Zi’s patience.

If the person looked ordinary, that was fine. It was alright becoming friends too. But that person just had to look like everyone’s ideal lover, who they yearned for. By following him, others had already discussed that there would only be Hu Zi in his eyes.

Even his own siblings looked at Hu Zi with hatred and disgust, as if Hu Zi had blasphemed a sacred object that even the Heavens didn’t dare to.

“Why are you always following me ? I don’t even know you.” Saying so, Hu Zi turned and left. But this couldn’t shake off Bai Yang at all. He still continued to follow behind Hu Zi.

Upon returning home, two long rows of black-shirt men wearing shades stood at his side.

“Young Master, welcome home.”

“En.” Bai Yang nodded without the gentle smile he constantly showed Hu Zi. Walking straight to his room, he entered his very own secret room. He turned on the lights and faced the light towards himself. He sat on a chair and silently gazed at the wall with a projected image for a while. He stretched out a hand and groped around for the knife. Without even looking, he made a vertical slit on his arm. When the sharp knife landed on the clothes, which he hadn’t moved away in time, the knife had already sliced through it. With just one move, fresh blood gushed out, resembling a clear spring waterfall. The knife wound was wide and deep, it was an extremely horrifying scene.

Bai Yang’s mother was sitting on the sofa in the living room, leaning against her husband as she shed silent tears. Her poor, pitiful child. Just when was he able to obtain the happiness he desired?

When the fresh blood gradually dyed the entire photo red, Bai Yang held onto his wound and walked out of the secret room. He dropped a kiss onto the lovely person in the photograph.

Cold water splashed all over his body, just like a blooming flower. The heart that was just as cold, only beat for one person.

~

After a few years, Hu Zi was still not accepted by his siblings and wasn’t able to fully integrate into the family. Staying there wouldn’t have any meaning either. So after graduation, he immediately found a job. Hu Zi made a thorough preparation. He was afraid that his parents wouldn’t agree to his departure so Hu Zi didn’t notify anyone and left behind a short letter, bringing his few belongings with him to another city.

Work was fairly easy. The task of a Physical Education teacher at a college wasn’t a heavy load. In addition, Hu Zi really liked to exercise, so life was still considered to have some fun, some spice.

Whenever he felt lonely, Hu Zi would always remember that person.

Actually, he didn’t dislike Bai Yang. He had always felt that Bai Yang was more adorable than his own siblings, but they hated to see Bai Yang and Hu Zi together, so Hu Zi distanced himself from Bai Yang.

He really didn’t know if he was doing well.

“Teacher, don’t tell me that you’re thinking about your girlfriend?!” All the students loved Chen Qiao. He didn’t have the attitude of a teacher and wouldn’t force his students to work hard. Furthermore, the passing rate was relatively higher, so all the students loved to choose his class. Even so, the students would treat this class with seriousness and respect.

“No.”

“Don’t lie to us. Teacher, you have a face that’s like the colour of a Japanese Rose. It obviously means that you’re missing the one in your heart dearly. Don’t be too embarrassed to admit it.”

“That’s right. Teacher, make sure to bring your wife to visit us someday!”

The students slowly started to cheer and make noise, entirely unaware of a girl’s red, flushed face among them.

She had actually started to pay attention to Hu Zi the moment she saw him. Hu Zi’s good personality had deeply attracted her. As she had been incomparably hurt by love before, she had just ignited the flame of desire to date once again.

Towards the cheers of his students, Hu Zi was visibly feeling a little helpless.

Hu Zi, who was not used to lying to his students, had honestly told them his true thoughts.

“Not at all! There’s no wife. He’s a male.”

This news was even more shocking than the news of having a wife. Everyone was stunned by the outburst, even Hu Zi himself.

Scratching his head, Hu Zi didn’t know how to explain. The more he tried, the worse it became.

Suddenly, a thunderous applause came from within the crowd.

“Teacher, I support you! So what if you’re homosexual?! I believe what you two have is true love! True love defeats all!” Turning his head, he saw a boy shedding his tears all over his face, yet shouting his support with joy in his voice.

A few other females reacted and followed along the clap, shouting from the depths of their hearts, being genuinely happy for Hu Zi.

What on earth was going on?!

What’s going on with these students?! Was homosexuality so welcoming?!

Although he was dubious, Hu Zi wouldn’t really ask. He thought about Chun Niu, who he had once liked, only to realise that he had already forgotten how she looked. The one that sprang to his mind, was always that one person, named Bai Yang.

The bachelor teacher’s apartment was reconstructed from a used school building. Although it had some history, it was able to make others feel at ease.

Opening his wallet, what entered his eyes was a face of unspeakable seduction. It had always made him calm for some reason. This photo was taken when he just got a phone and wanted to test the camera quality. That person had suddenly run into his camera frame. Ever since then, he hadn’t deleted the photo. Even Hu Zi didn’t understand why he acted like this.

As he sat on the bed, he turned on the tv, casually scrolling though some interesting channels.

The screen paused at a certain channel. The host was narrating the scene of a local piece of news that had entered City A’s exploding hot news. The remote control in his hand slowly fell to the floor.

One hand grabbing onto his jacket that he just removed, he ran into his room to grab his bag, anxiously stuffing some things inside and ran wildly as he zipped the bag.

All the way until the plane landed, his mood couldn’t calm down.

Flagging down a red Beetle, he rushed the driver to City A’s largest private hospital.

At the hospital entrance, there was a dense mess of crowd. All the unrelated personels were blocked outside, yet only Hu Zi was allowed a smooth entry; all the way till he arrived outside of the emergency room, blocked by that huge white door.

The light on the door was still red. Other than staring at that red light, Hu Zi didn’t know what else he could do.

Both eyes were deep red, as if staring at an absolutely irreconcilable enemy.

Mrs. Bai was sobbing in the arms of Bai Lang and since she didn’t look up, she hadn’t noticed Hu Zi’s arrival completely.

But Bai Lang noticed. The person they had been looking for for more than 2 years, had finally shown up.

Gazing at the emergency room, Bai Lang smiled. He knew that Bai Yang would definitely live through this.

A week later, Bai Yang finally opened his amber eyes. Without even caring about the state of his own body, Bai Yang got up and tried to look for Hu Zi’s shadow.

Before waking up, he had always felt Hu Zi’s breath. He could guarantee that Hu Zi was next to him.

Hu Zi pushed open the door only to see the mummified 6 Bai Yang insensibly moving all over. That shining pair of phoenix eyes seemed to be persistently looking for something.

“What are you doing?! You better lie back down for me ! Don’t you know just how grave your wounds are? Without the doctor’s permission, you absolutely can’t move!” Hu Zi roared at him angrily, then realised that he shouldn’t be shouting at a patient.

“Come here.” Bai Yang’s eyes gleamed when they landed on Hu Zi. He just knew that Hu Zi would be next to him.

Hu Zi placed the flower vase he was holding on a chair at the side, then slowly walked to Bai Yang’s bedside.

“Kiss me!” Lifting his head forward, Bai Yang opened his eyes widely while waiting for Hu Zi’s agreement.

This kiss wasn’t a simple allowance. It was a promise of a lifetime.

Hu Zi paused. Just when Bai Yang was about to reach the point of desperation, Hu Zi finally gave the promise of his future life to him.

Hu Zi hesitated for a while before pressing his lips onto those bright red lips, only for one second, before moving away.

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This wasn’t what Bai Yang had wanted. Bai Yang desired more, much much more.

With one hand, he pressed down the head that was about to part from him. Like a predator, he kissed Hu Zi. He used all of his strength to press down Hu Zi’s flabbergasted and resistant head, stretching his tongue into Hu Zi’s mouth. He tangled into a dance with Hu Zi’s tongue. The taste of that sweetness attracted Bai Ying to seek and explore that mouth he craved for.

Even the craziest and wildest thunderstorm couldn’t depict the kiss of promise between them. It felt as if half a decade had passed before Bai Yang reluctantly parted ways with the lips that he often yearned for.

He licked his lips unsatisfactorily. Bai Yang revealed a smile that was filled with happiness for the first time. His eyes wrinkled into crescents, resembling a little fox who was satisfied from successfully stealing his prey.

T/N: oodamn I wonder who’s the bottom and who’s the top :3

Footnotes

the original phrase is this 羊入虎口, the sheep entering the tiger’s den. as for what the title means, decipher it for yourself :). also means a tiger. Volkswagen Beetle. spoken in a Northern dialect. . wrapped in bandages from head to toe.