“Because you’re more handsome than me. I’m jealous.”
Sheng Renxing smiled at him and even whistled.
Xing Ye stuffed the rubbish into his own pocket, put his hands in his pockets, and lifted one brow.
“Then are you going to beat me?”
“No!” Sheng Renxing shook his head. “I’m not as petty as you.”
“You only record it, don’t hit me.”
Xing Ye tilted his head with an imitation of seriousness.
“Draw a circle and curse me?”
“…” Sheng Renxing said, “I’m discovering you’re pretty funny.”
Xing Ye did not answer.
He looked steadily at him.
His gaze carried the remaining warmth of sunset.
As though he was smiling.
But with the mask on, Sheng Renxing could not see clearly.
Sheng Renxing coughed. “Take the mask off?”
There was no reason to disguise themselves this early.
The mask was not breathable and felt stuffy.
Xing Ye shook his head.
“Afraid you’ll see my face and regret it, then want to beat me.”
“…Stop pushing me. I’m drawing a circle to curse you right now!”
When Yellow Hair and the others came out, this was exactly what they saw.
Yellow Hair hooked an arm around Jiang Jing’s neck in horror.
“What’s happening? Why is my dad smiling so…”
His vocabulary failed him at the crucial moment.
He thought hard.
“…like a trembling flower!”
Jiang Jing stumbled from the arm around his neck and forcibly pried it away.
“Do you even know how to use idioms?!”
Then he turned and tattled.
“Xing Ye! Your son says you’re all flowery and coquettish.”
“You’re full of shit!”
Yellow Hair punched him.
Sheng Renxing turned to look at them, then back at Xing Ye.
Actually, he really was rather attractive.
Xing Ye swept them a glance, adjusted the mask higher, and said, “Let’s go.”
The road was fairly remote.
The farther they walked, the more suspicious things felt.
Sheng Renxing asked, “Are you planning to go straight to his house and catch him?”
“Of course not.” Jiang Jing looked back and pointed ahead.
“There’s a secondhand bookstore there. Wang Dahai comes every day after school.”
So they had come to block him here.
Sheng Renxing was a little surprised.
They had researched this thoroughly.
The bookstore’s frontage was tiny.
Inside, books filled the shelves in messy stacks.
Most were secondhand, with old creases still visible.
Sunlight could not reach inside.
Even the electric lights were dim.
Once they entered, the already cramped space seemed even tighter.
The woman sitting near the entrance looked at them in surprise.
Clearly, she did not think a group of young men with dyed hair, pierced ears, and masks had come to read books.
Here, they were like drops of ink in clean water.
Completely out of place.
The clerk quietly pushed her chair farther into the corner.
Maybe knowledge itself inspired unconscious respect.
Or perhaps the environment was simply quiet.
The group stopped talking.
Then they walked toward the shelves with exaggerated seriousness, pretending they had actually come to read.
The clerk looked as if she had seen ghosts.
Sheng Renxing walked to one row of shelves and casually pulled out a book.
It was old.
A layer of dust covered it.
Only after lifting it did he notice.
He held it farther away and shook it by the spine.
Dust fell to the ground like snow.
He instantly lost all desire to open it and prepared to put it back.
“What are you reading?”
Xing Ye happened to come over and glanced at the book.
“Hm?”
Sheng Renxing looked down too.
Only then did he realize he had picked up a collection of Shelley’s poetry.
In the original English.
—No wonder it had accumulated so much dust.
“Can you understand it?” Xing Ye asked in a lowered voice.
“Are you provoking me?”
Sheng Renxing stopped caring about the dust.
Using the page that had happened to open, he began to read:
“The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion…”
As he read, he suddenly noticed something was off.
He glanced at the poem title:
Love’s Philosophy.
“…”
He glanced at Xing Ye again.
Xing Ye had lowered his eyes and was looking at the page too, quietly listening.
Sheng Renxing’s throat moved.
He continued.
His voice was naturally clear.
Now deliberately lowered, it became clean and gentle.
Even the rebellious red hair seemed to soften along with the curve of his lips.
Xing Ye had meant to look away.
Instead, Sheng Renxing suddenly lifted his eyes and met his gaze, laughter floating there.
“…
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea—
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?”
That soft, rippling look transformed into the poem and curled into Xing Ye’s ear.
Xing Ye looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
“What does it mean?”
Having finished teasing him, Sheng Renxing smiled like a cat that had stolen fish.
“You don’t know?”
“Were you insulting me?”
“Guess.”
Sheng Renxing shrugged carelessly.
“My English can’t be better than yours. Otherwise after you beat up Wang Dahai, you’ll beat me next.”
Xing Ye was defeated by the strength of his grudge-holding.
He laughed and pointed at him.
“He can’t. You can.”
“Thank Your Majesty for your grace!” Sheng Renxing answered with a laugh.
At that moment, the door opened again.
Wang Dahai arrived.
The two exchanged a glance.
Sheng Renxing returned the book and followed Xing Ye deeper inside.
Wang Dahai first went to the clerk to return books.
“These two?”
“Mm.”
“Didn’t you only borrow them two days ago? Teacher Wang reads so fast!”
“I read when I have nothing to do. Finished them quickly.”
The man’s voice carried a smile.
He sounded rather proud of his reading speed.
Sheng Renxing remembered what he had seen in the office last time.
He truly did have plenty of nothing to do.
He turned, wanting to see Xing Ye’s expression.
Xing Ye was looking at him instead and pointed at the mask.
Sheng Renxing put his mask on.
Xing Ye was still not satisfied.
He took the cap off his own head and placed it on Sheng Renxing’s, covering the red hair.
It was the same cap Sheng Renxing had given him.
Xing Ye happened to be wearing it today.
When Xing Ye took it out earlier, Sheng Renxing had even looked twice.
He had not expected it to “return to its original owner” this quickly.
Thinking about how distinctive his red hair was, Sheng Renxing did not refuse.
He lifted the cap a little, swept all his hair backward with one hand, and put it on again.
His smooth forehead was exposed.
Once he finished adjusting it, a thought occurred to him.
He looked toward Yellow Hair at the other end of the shelf.
“He’s fine,” Xing Ye said quietly.
“?”
Sheng Renxing thought for a moment and understood.
There was no way Wang Dahai would not know who they were.
The masks were only to stop him from having concrete evidence.
Among the group, the only person whose identity actually needed concealing was Sheng Renxing.
At that thought, he grinned.
This was kind of exciting.
Wang Dahai soon finished chatting.
He clearly knew this place well and headed straight toward one shelf.
Sheng Renxing was surprised.
He had not expected a bookstore that looked like a dog kennel to have organized categories.
He soon understood.
Wang Dahai crouched and counted along the second-lowest shelf.
Without even checking titles, he grabbed three neighboring books at once.
Oh.
So that was how he chose books.
Sheng Renxing was momentarily stunned by the breadth of Wang Dahai’s reading.
By the time he reacted, Xing Ye and the others were already moving.
Wang Dahai stood with the three books in his arms.
Before he could straighten, someone suddenly shoved him from behind into the shelf.
The impact made him suck in a breath and cry out.
“You—”
He had barely asked when pain shot through his leg.
His body collapsed sideways onto the floor, knocking down several books that then fell onto him.
Several hands held him down from behind.
Someone dragged out one of his hands and pinned it to the floor.
Then they took the corner of one of the books he had been carrying and smashed it hard onto the back of his hand.
Once.
Twice…
Wang Dahai screamed and struggled.
Apart from his cries, no one made a sound.
It was like a silent torture session.
After a long time, the person beating his hand finally released it.
Wang Dahai had no strength left to struggle.
Then the corner of the book pressed against his temple.
The plea for mercy had not yet left his mouth when a cold voice spoke heavily:
“Next time you skip class, this is what I’ll smash.”
Wang Dahai shuddered.
In the next second, he suddenly knew who was behind him.
All the hands released him at once.
Furious, he rolled over and saw several boys walking out of the bookstore.
“Xing Ye!”
Remembering the words of surrender he had nearly spoken, he cursed through clenched teeth.
As they left, Sheng Renxing glanced toward the book-rental desk.
No one was there anymore.
Xing Ye kept Sheng Renxing in front of him, using his body to cover Sheng Renxing’s back as they exited.
There were few shops on this street to begin with.
After those screams rang out, every door and window was tightly closed.
At first Sheng Renxing had wondered why they did not cover Wang Dahai’s mouth.
Wouldn’t bringing curious people over only create more trouble?
Yet from beginning to end, not one unrelated person entered to see what happened.
He could not tell whether they were simply arrogant enough not to fear anyone coming,
or whether they had known all along that no one would.
The instant they left the bookstore, sunset poured across them, staining half the sky red.
Sheng Renxing narrowed his eyes and raised a hand to block the light.
His fingers struck the brim of the cap.
He turned toward Xing Ye.
Xing Ye was not wearing a hat.
The sunlight made him narrow his eyes too, and he raised a hand just like Sheng Renxing to shield them.
There was a little blood smeared across his hand.
It looked especially obvious beneath the sun.
Sheng Renxing pinched the brim, took off the cap, and placed it back on Xing Ye’s head.
Xing Ye turned and glanced at him.
Avoiding Sheng Renxing’s eyes, he adjusted the cap into place.
“Ah!” Yellow Hair stretched. “Find somewhere to eat?”
Jiang Jing said, “Brother Lu’s treating. Brother Lu decides.”
The other boy, Lu Zhaohua, said, “Sure! Let’s go eat at a restaurant.”
He waved and took the lead.
Sheng Renxing’s steps paused.
He was not sure whether he should go.
Beside him, Xing Ye put a hand lightly against his back and urged him forward.
“Come on.”
Lu Zhaohua took them to a spicy hotpot-skewer shop.
Inside, everyone chose their own skewers and handed them to the owner to cook.
They also ordered several cans of beer.
Before the food arrived, they started drinking.
After a few mouthfuls, Yellow Hair spoke first.
“Guess whether Wang Dahai goes crying to Old Li tomorrow.”
Jiang Jing shook his head. “Won’t take until tomorrow.”
The remaining boy, Dong Qiu, added, “Not to Old Li.”
He clinked cups with Jiang Jing. “Same thought!”
“Old Li’s the dean. If not him, then who?” Yellow Hair raised his cup too, asking for a clink.
Lu Zhaohua clinked with him. “Everyone knows Old Li protects us.”
“Idiot,” Jiang Jing insulted him.
Dong Qiu clinked too, agreeing.
“Fuck!” Yellow Hair said. “Then who does he complain to?”
Lu Zhaohua guessed, “The principal?”
Jiang Jing and Dong Qiu both clinked with him.
“Seriously?” Yellow Hair did not quite believe it.
Jiang Jing said, “Want to bet? Five yuan.”
Yellow Hair’s eyes turned once.
He refused to fall for it.
“What does Brother Xing say?”
Xing Ye leaned against the back of his chair.
“Whatever he wants.”
Except for Sheng Renxing, the other four all raised their cups and clinked with him.
Xing Ye perfunctorily lifted his beer without drinking.
“So what are you going to do?” Sheng Renxing looked around and asked.
Yellow Hair drained his last mouthful and opened another can.
“Cold salad.”
Meaning: nothing.
“Worst case, they call my parents again. I’m already prepared to get beaten.”
He glanced at Xing Ye, then at Sheng Renxing.
“But why did you come?”
“Curious. Came to watch the excitement,” Sheng Renxing answered honestly.
The group was stunned by his fearless spirit.
Jiang Jing smiled. “Then any thoughts?”
From the corner of his eye, Sheng Renxing saw Xing Ye turn to look at him.
He considered.
“It was pretty exciting.”
The five raised their cups.
Xing Ye included.
Sheng Renxing raised his and clinked with them.
