Chapter 7

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Chapter 6 | 🍑 Contents 🍑 | Chapter 8

******

Food of the Day: Duan Lei’s Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce

With a side of wire mesh.

******

Translator: Silvery

PR: Decadence

After realizing he had wasted his time on those 1000 MCQ, Yu Sheng is unable to eat his lunch with a peace of mind.

Duan Lei balances a plate of shredded pork with garlic sauce as he advises him well-meaningfully:

“Such is the nature of all humans. By the time you crossed all obstacles before you, it no longer matters why you were trying so hard to break through them. You’ve just gotta see it through to the end…”

Yu Sheng zones out, his spoon absently scooping bite after bite of egg fried rice to his mouth.

Putting aside the issue of human nature, he also vaguely realizes now that he has got a bit of a bad habit.

Whenever he sets out to do something, even if he should technically stop mid-way, he would still see it through to the end.

Take for example, how he did not actually need to answer all 1000 questions. Or how he did not need to finish both cups of millet congee. Or how he does not actually need to finish this plate of egg-fried rice, which has been cooked and left to sit for who-knows how long.

“Such is human nature! Sheng Gē, just think about it!”

Duan Lei is still jabbering on and getting more impassioned with every word:

“What you seek is not the end but the challenge of the process! You have successfully beaten the test—Pleh! Why is there another steel scrubber bit here…?”

He cusses and pulls out the metal wire to dump away.

Central Third’s Cafeteria has always been remiss in their attitude. It is hardly surprising to find something out of the norm in their food. All too used to it, Yu Sheng crunches an eggshell to pieces and swallows it whole with the rice:

“Iron supplements.”

Duan Lei: “……”

Even for a person as obtuse as him, he has also noticed something is off with Yu Sheng. He reaches over to feel his temperature:

“Sheng Gē, what’s wrong… Are you sick?”

Yu Sheng scowls and slaps away his hand:

“No. Focus on your own meal.”

He is just a bit irritated.

And it is not entirely because he answered all 1000 MCQ for real.

This irritation is hard for him to put his finger on, in fact. It is like the gaping cavity left after extracting a wisdom tooth. While one does get used to it in time and does not feel out of sorts, one day, they will just suddenly come to a jarring halt and realize, nothing seems to feel right when they chew on their food.

Yu Sheng takes a deep breath and applies a bit of force without thinking. The spoon in his hand digs into the grains of rice.

…How the heck was there a person so bored by the exams, they’d rush off to buy porridge at the sight of someone with an upset stomach?

His momentary lapse in attention causes him to bite into another egg shell.

This piece is slightly bigger this time and it cuts into his gum. Yu Sheng instinctively laps at the wound, his tongue coming off with the slightly sweet taste of blood.

It just so happens that Duan Lei was also pondering the same thing. While tearing into pieces of shredded fish and carrots, he laments:

“To think that Big Bro is also an exam-taking student. I cave. How much must his grades suck, to give up so completely…”

Yu Sheng sucks on the wound and extracts a paper napkin to spit the eggshell out. He massages his temples:

“Each to his own. Mind your own business.”

Duan Lei instantly applauds:

“Nice! You rhymed*!”

(*人各有志，少管闲事

No Eng TL)

……

Yu Sheng decides to discontinue this line of conversation.

The afternoon session is about to begin. Lots of students are already scrambling back in a bid against time to study. Yu Sheng dumps his spoon in his plate and draws out another paper napkin:

“The exam’s about to continue. Aren’t you going to study?”

“Nah. My brain’s already at maximum capacity. No more. I’m just gonna wing it and leave it all up to fate.”

Duan Lei’s vigour when it comes to studies has never exceeded three hours. Just working through the morning session alone has already pushed him to his limit. He shakes his head hopelessly:

“It’s not like I will remember anything at this point. At most, I’ll get a faint sense of déjà vu if I run into a question I’ve seen before…”

Yu Sheng remains silent, wiping down his table and stacking up his own plate and utensils.

Duan Lei has already long since gotten used to his habit of seeing everything through to the end. He picks up his bag and waits for Yu Sheng to get up unhurriedly before they head out of the cafeteria.

Duan Lei has always been the chatty sort of person. While others are bugged to no end by that, only Yu Sheng ever listens to his BS patiently for the most part. These past few days when they each went their separate ways for summer vacation, he was nearly driven insane by the oppressing silence.

Now that he has reunited with Yu Sheng at long last, Duan Lei is nearly moved to tears. His bullet train of a mouth runs non-stop, gossiping lowly while following the other:

“Sheng Gē, do you know that Big Bro? What’s his name? Which faction is he a top dog of…?”

Yu Sheng does not hesitate:

“I don’t know.”

Duan Lei sighs in disappointment:

“And here I wanted to get acquainted with him too. If such a mighty fellow really isn’t a Great God, I bet he is the Big Bro of some territory.”

Yu Sheng has no interest in either Great Gods or Big Bros.

Having just eaten lunch, the unknown contents of mysterious origins in that egg-fried rice are now surging through his veins. His sleepiness beats out its intensity from the morning half. Yu Sheng yawns, eyes already half-closed:

“Really, I don’t know him. I merely bumped into him this morning.”

As he says this, he also can’t help but be a little surprised.

If not for Duan Lei’s query, he wouldn’t have noticed that he still doesn’t know that Black Blouse’s name.

It doesn’t matter even if he knows it.

They aren’t from the same school, as evident from his zero recognition of that person before. It’s highly likely they were just assigned the same venue this one time. After this, they will go their separate ways and never see each other again.

He must indeed be too tired. A mess of thoughts flits through Yu Sheng’s head in a split instant, leaving him with just that final feeling of a hand pressing on the crown of his head.

It felt a tad warm and it had a bit of strength. He might have even ruffled his hair twice.

Yu Sheng subconsciously follows the action and lifts his hand to his head, tousling his hair.

Duan Lei stumbles at his action and also replicates the action. An instant hiss is drawn at the heat:

“Fuck. Why’s the sun so freaking hot? And here I thought I smelled something barbecuing…”

Yu Sheng snaps back at once and withdraws his hand.

…He must really still be sleepy.

He blames it all on that damned White Silver Substitute last night.

Seeing the Third Year Building draw closer to them, Yu Sheng stops and abruptly makes a U-turn to head back.

Duan Lei is startled:

“Sheng Gē! What’re you doing? You’re gonna be cooked in this heat! Just wait till it’s cooler…”

“I’m dead beat. I’m heading back to sleep.”

With his eyes closed, Yu Sheng makes a wave and pulls the collar of his uniform higher:

“Good luck for your exams.”

Duan Lei is dumbstruck:

“O-Oh, thanks…”

Yu Sheng endures the sun’s heat and picks up his pace. In a blink of an eye, the school building is left far behind.

The sun above is blazing hot, coming close to cooking him inside out. Bit by bit, the frustration coiling deep inside his chest simmers down and drains away, leaving him in a daze caused by the sleep-deprived throbbing of his head.

Pure white ground stretches out before his eyes. A disarray of images which had long since faded into oblivion leaps back at him with their voices forming a broken record.

“That’s just a token of your aunt’s appreciation. Keep it. She bought this specially for you.”

“The money’s been wired over to your card. Just speak up if it’s insufficient. Make sure you’re on your best behaviour. Don’t cause trouble like always.”

“Lil’ Sheng, what would you like to eat? You are our VIP for today. If there’s anything you want, just let your Uncle buy it. There’s no need to hold back with us…”

……

Yu Sheng squeezes his eyes shut tightly. He can’t keep himself from doing it: His fist slams dead on his own head:

“……Fuck.”

Nearly a decade has passed. He had clearly forgotten it.

This is all because of that crazy Black Blouse.

Yu Sheng looks back over his shoulder. After affirming he is far from the exam hall, he turns in search of a cool, shady place where he can rest up a little.

Suddenly, a hand lightly pats him on the shoulder.

It is an unspoken rule of thumb amongst all Central Third students that patting one on the shoulder is an extremely dangerous deed. Its gravity does not fall short of an outright provocation. By right, one can immediately pull out all guns.

Yu Sheng has never been as annoyed as he is now. His hands shoot out automatically to grab that hand, and he drags that person close in order to dig his shoulder into the socket of the other’s shoulder. Locking his grip firmly, he inhales harshly and he bates his breath, throwing the person forward in a solid slam to the ground.

Yu Sheng pulls up his sleeves, voice chilling several degrees:

“Which fight are you here to avenge? Have you gotten in line—”

His words cut short.

The loony that’s the root cause of his problem is currently lying flat on his back on the searing hot cement. Two of the topmost buttons on his neat black blouse have been ripped off by the overly violent action, openly revealing a small patch of pale skin.

Black Blouse had even found the chance to pull off his glasses in the midst of that over-the-shoulder flip. Glasses raised to the air with one hand, he meets his face and he hesitates:

“…Did I cut the line?”

……

10 minutes later, Yu Sheng towed this person back to the dorms with a dark face. He pulled out a tube of burn medicine and he tossed it over.

Presently, Black Blouse has his head tilted to an angle as he eyes himself in the mirror, trying his best to see the state of his neck. With every tiny cautious touch, he inhales sharply at the pain.

Touch and hiss. Rinse and repeat.

He’s loud to boot. Not even the earphones can block him out.

Yu Sheng, who is laying face-up on his bed with Bose’s Bluetooth sound-cancelling earphones stuffed in his ears: “……”

He heaves a heavy sigh and caves, getting up to snatch the tube of burn medicine away and he raises his hand to apply-

……

Half a beat later, Yu Sheng instructs chillingly:

“Sit.”

This guy turns out to be taller than him by half a head.

Irksome.

Black Blouse plops down as ordered, tilting his head towards the table for ease of treatment.

The pale-green burn medicine feels like a jello to touch. Yu Sheng squeezes a large amount on his hand and casually spreads them over his palms before smacking them down on the base of his neck.

Black Blouse’s neck and shoulders seize, but he does not make a peep.

He was still hissing just now as though the pain’s enough to kill him. Now that he’s silent, Yu Sheng’s the one discomforted in contrast. He scowls:

“It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“……It hurts.”

Black Blouse’s lips are pale. He caught his breath before he answered. Then, he turns with some strain to force a smile at him:

“Go on. I can bear with it.”

Forbearing and persevering, brave and noble, as if knowing this is a tiny speck of darkness in light with all things. It is a very tear-jerking scene.

Yu Sheng: “……”

Yu Sheng is still a troublemaking teen with some kindness left in him. Alas, he is unable to make the killing move. With a face darkened and hand lightened with mercy, he helps the other lather on the last of the gel upon the scald-reddened neck.

The room plunges into silence. Only the buzzing drone of the fan can be heard.

After rubbing off the last of the medicine, Yu Sheng pulls out a paper napkin to wipe off his hands. He is just about to kick this guy out when his gaze falls upon his back.

It was not visible under the blinding sun, but that black button-up had been covered with a thin layer of dust. When that high quality fabric is dirtied like so, it is not seemly no matter which angle one views it from.

Yu Sheng’s old habit acts up again. He pulls the guy back on the stool when he is preparing to stand up and helps him dust off his back.

Black Blouse: “—ss.”

“What are you hissing for?” Yu Sheng exposes him coldly, “Did that fall hurt?”

The other had such quick reflexes, he could even pull off his spectacles in the midst of that flip. In a fight, he definitely wouldn’t be any weaker than Yu Sheng. It is impossible for him to be flipped for real.

If anything, Black Blouse’s only slip up was probably how he monkeyed around too much and fell on the ground for real. Then, he nearly had the back of his neck seared by the at least 45°C ground.

The least he could have done when acting was to be a bit more professional. He didn’t even put another dash to his hisses.

Yu Sheng can’t be any more annoyed. He squashes down his temper as he helps to slap off the dirt on his back.

This person was seriously way too skilled at acting. His entire back’s covered with dust. On the way down to his waist, while Yu Sheng bats away and is about to continue downwards, his head dips without warning and is covered by a weighty warmth that is a tad familiar.

Black Blouse has turned around, and his palm is on his head.

With his other hand still clinging on to the table for support, he looks a bit awkward, but thankfully for him, his arm length and palm are just long enough to manage this action.

Yu Sheng stiffens up.

“Alright. That was my bad.”

Black Blouse looks at him. His long, narrow, and dark eyes curve behind the glass of his spectacles. The hand which is resting on the top of his head tousles twice good-naturedly:

“I’ll let you flip me for real next time. So don’t be mad anymore.”

******

The author has something to say:

God Kun: No more patting. Anymore, and you’ll be patting on my bum : )

Silvery: Reminder: there’ll be an update tmr as well

Next Time on DTTM!

Chapter 8: <You didn’t say anything before the exam, right?>

******

Chapter 6 | 🍑 Contents 🍑 | Chapter 8

For every USD$3 donated to one of the charities above, I will be releasing a chapter on the same day, subject to chapter availability.

Alternatively, you may also choose a local charity of your liking. I know how cross border tax may end up sapping a portion of the donations, so that’s totally fine by me.

When you’re done, do remember to take a screen-shot of the receipt / check your inbox for the email confirmation & forward them to aubade074@gmail.com so we will be notified. 🙂 It’ll be extra helpful if you could drop a comment here too, in case your email somehow ends up in our spam box.

Thank you loads for your interest in donating! (ღ′◡‵)

Current Donation Counter: $0/3

Current Chapter Availability: 4

Like this:Like Loading...

Related