Chapter 7

Proofreader: Akimi

This was the first time Zhen Yuanbai had to stay after school to write a self-criticism

He laid on the desk across Shi Bufan. The latter had already begun to write rigorously. He had finished writing half a page already while Zhen Yuanbai didn’t even move yet.

The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was unworthy of him to lie to Shi Bufan.

Had he known that being his good friend involved participating in a fight and writing a self-criticism, he would never lie to him.

Shi Bufan noticed that he had been staring at him so he looked up. “Do you think Brother Shi is very handsome?”

How could he be so narcissistic? Zhen Yuanbai was confused for a second before he said, “Yes, you’re pretty handsome.”

Shi Bufan squinted his eyes. “Too enchanted by my looks? How come you aren’t writing anything?”

Zhen Yuanbei kept his head down but felt weird in his heart. How come Shi Bufan was talking in such a… cheesy manner?

He held the pencil in his hand for a while but only wrote a “self-criticism letter” in the end. Shi Bufan quickly finished writing a whole voluminous page. He lazily stared at Zhen Yuanbai and said, “What? You don’t know how to write it?”

“Mhm…” Zhen Yuanbai said upset. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”

What did he do wrong? He didn’t even know anything. Lin Kun was the one who started the fight and Shi Bufan had beaten him up. He was the one who got bullied. He hadn’t retorted or fought back…why’d he need to write a self-criticism letter?

Shi Bufan propped his chin up with his hands and curled his fingers, motioning for Zhen Yuanbai to come over. “Give me it. I’ll write for you.”

“We have different handwritings.”

“How about you copy it after I write one for you?” Shi Bufan grabbed a piece of paper and Zhen Yuanbai immediately stared at the pencil tip.

The pencil tip brushed against the paper and a line of words quickly appeared:

I am writing a self-criticism letter. I shouldn’t be so smart and have good grades. I should’ve stopped the teachers in different classes from using me as a role model. I shouldn’t let the teacher brag about how good my grades are or how smart I am. But the major thing I’ve done wrong was to apply and get accepted into this school. I shouldn’t have allowed the school to use my name as a means for attracting students to apply.

If it weren’t because I was too outstanding and had great grades, how would I be purposefully targeted by others? Why would they purposefully give me an insulting nickname? Or how would I end up being involved in this random mess?

…

As he was writing this, Zhen Yuanbai reached over to look at the letter. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Shi Bufan looked up and raised his eyebrows. He said, “How is it? Do you know how to write one now?”

Zhen Yuanbai’s face was slightly flushed and he said, “You’re too shameless. If I write in this style…the teacher will think I’m provoking her.”

Shi Bufan thought about it and asked, “Then besides this, have you made any other mistakes?”

Zhen Yuanbai made eye contact with him and bit his lips. He slowly shook his head.

Shi Bufan passed the self-criticism paper that he wrote over and said, “Copy it.”

Zhen Yuanbai picked up his pencil hesitatingly, only to see Shi Bufan rummaging through some things. He asked, “What are you doing?”

“Looking for a glass. I’m thirsty.”

He was rummaging through the office as if this was his home. Zhen Yuanbai subconsciously looked out the window and stood on guard for him. Ji Yanping didn’t force them to write the letter while she was looking over them. However, she did close the door when she left.

At this time, Shi Bufan finally found a disposable cup. He went to the water dispenser and filled two cups of warm water. He placed one cup in front of him and said, “How come you’re taking such a long time to even copy a letter?”

Zhen Yuanbai felt quite shameful. “I think…it’s not good to write this.”

Shi Bufan propped his chin up and knitted his eyebrows. “If you don’t want to write it, I’m leaving. You can stay here and think for as long as you want.”

Zhen Yuanbai was frightened.

He would be losing face if he was discovered in the teacher’s office writing a self-criticism letter!

He stared at the draft Shi Bufan had written for him, and then buried his head and rigorously started copying it. After he copied a few words, he couldn’t help but laugh again. There was a feeling of happiness from the mischief that rose in his heart. He secretly glanced at Shi Bufan and the latter curled his lips, raising his chin and motioning him to quickly write.

He held in the urge to laugh while he finished the letter. Shi Bufan reached over and placed the two’s self-criticism letters under the glass on Ji Yanping’s office desk. Then he said, “Let’s go.”

“The teacher isn’t back yet…”

“Then you can stay and wait. I’m leaving now.”

Shi Bufan opened the door and walked out. Zhen Yuanbai sat down and waited a while. Seeing that he was the only person present, after having an internal conflict over this in his heart, he hurriedly stood up and walked out as well.

“Shi, Shi Bufan?” He was nowhere to be seen. Zhen Yuanbai was a bit afraid. He had never done anything like this before. He was scared of being by himself and as he was considering going back to the teacher’s office, Shi Bufan suddenly appeared from a corner. “I’m here.”

Zhen Yuanbai sighed and asked, “Then, are we going home now?”

“You want to go home?” After receiving a positive answer, Shi Bufan said, “Fine, I’ll take you home.”

“Is it really fine if we just walk off like this?”

He kept asking the same question and it was rare that Shi Bufan was patient with him. “There won’t be any problems.”

Zhen Yuanbai returned to class to retrieve his backpack. Then he followed Shi Bufan downstairs, feeling a bit guilty. While they turned a corner, they suddenly saw Ji Yanping walking up. Shi Bufan remained calm while Zhen Yuanbai shivered. His hands were filled with cold sweat.

Ji Yanping saw them as well, asking, “You guys finished writing the self-criticism letters?”

“Mhm.” Shi Bufan replied and said, “I placed it under the cups.”

Zhen Yuanbai hid behind him. Ji Yanping wanted to ask him something but didn’t have the nerve to.

Originally, Zhen Yuanbai was the innocent one in this matter. It was Lin Kun’s teacher in charge’s request for him to write a self-criticism letter though. Ji Yanping decided to turn a blind eye and said, “Fine, you guys can go back. Be careful on your way.”

“Bye teacher.”

Clearly Zhen Yuanbai had responded politely. Ji Yanping followed them and knitted her eyebrows. Although she believed it was good for Shi Bufan to stand up for Zhen Yuanbai, she was also a bit worried. What if Zhen Yuanbai was influenced by Shi Bufan’s behaviors?

There were many high school students who rode their electric bicycles to school. Shi Bufan walked downstairs and asked him, “Where’s your bicycle?”

Zhen Yuanbai was still wondering what the teacher would think once she saw the self-criticism letter so he casually said, “I didn’t ride it today.”

Shi Bufan raised his eyebrows. “Why didn’t you?”

“People are going to damage it.”

Zhen Yuanbai didn’t dare to ride his bike to school because his bike had been damaged a few times when he was in middle school. It was clear that Zhen Yuanbai had never reported this to a teacher. For a majority of the time, he even spent his allowance secretly to have his bike repaired. Later on, he decided to just quit biking to school. After all, the house his parents just newly bought wasn’t far from the school. It would take at most a half-hour bus ride to school.

Shi Bufan was upset. “Who damaged your bike? Was it Lin Kun from this morning?”

“No.” Zhen Yuanbai was scared of him going to beat people up again. He hurriedly waved his hands and explained, “I don’t know who it was either. It was in the past and I haven’t been riding my bike for a while now.”

Shi Bufan was more and more upset. They walked towards the bus station and Shi Bufan said, “In the future, you can do whatever you want to. You don’t need to be afraid of anyone, ok?”

Zhen Yuanbai had never been protected by anyone. His heart thumped rapidly. He was a bit touched by this stolen relationship.

When they were out the school door, a bus just passed them. Since they had to wait, either way, he called for Shi Bufan, “I’ll go buy milk tea for you.”

Shi Bufan glanced at him and asked, “You want a drink?”

“Yes.”

They walked to the milk tea store across the school door. Zhen Yuanbai said, “Milk tea with less sugar. What do you want?”

“Same as you.”

Zhen Yuanbai took out his phone and was about to pay for it when he heard a ding. Shi Bufan took the menu and scanned the code to pay. The workers there knew them and chuckled. “Yuanyuan has a membership here. You’ve just suffered a loss.”

Zhen Yuanbai had good grades and a great reputation. The businessmen nearby were more than willing to make less money from him. Those who had membership cards would give him some and those who didn’t have would give him things for free. They wanted to bring some luck to their own kids by forming a close bond with the genius.

Shi Bufan looked surprised at him. He never said anything about it. Who knew he was a significant figure among these people?

Zhen Yuanbai was a bit embarrassed. He kept his head down and walked to the bus station with him. Shi Bufan asked, “Your name was “Wise Zhen” in the past?”

When this name was mentioned, Zhen Yuanbai’s expression turned unwell. “Right, you even called me a “real fool” in the past.”

Shi Bufan didn’t expect Zhen Yuanbai to suddenly scold him. He was stunned and Zhen Yuanbai turned the other way, sipping his milk tea. He knitted his eyebrows.

How come the two of them suddenly started to revisit old quarrels? Shi Bufan had no memory of this at all. Despite the sudden scolding, he didn’t have many expressions on his face. He asked, “After we confirmed our relationship, I never promised that I wouldn’t call you by your nickname before?”

Of course not. Zhen Yuanbai found a stupid reason. “But you don’t even remember anything.”

“Then how about I just promise you now?” Shi Bufan held a great attitude regarding this matter surprisingly. “Don’t be mad at me in the future, ok?”

Since he’d already said this, it wouldn’t look good if Zhen Yuanbai continued to complain. He said, “Fine.”

He noticed that Shi Bufan was worthy of being the Big Bro in Sheng Yi High School. He treated his “friends” nicely and knew about the “rules of Jianghu.” He would sacrifice himself for his friends. Now that he thought about this, Shi Bufan did have some strengths after all.

When the bus arrived, Zhen Yuanbai bid farewell and got in. However, Shi Bufan suddenly got in as well. Due to the pressure, he felt from behind him, Zhen Yuanbai immediately turned around. “Why, why did you come on too?”

Zhen Yuanbai didn’t remember him living in the same direction as himself.

“I’m free so I might as well bring you home.”

They missed the rush hour since they were writing self-criticism letters. Barely anyone was in the bus and Shi Bufan tugged on his wrist, pulling him to window seats in the back. Zhen Yuanbai’s heart was thumping rapidly. Qin Ying was frugal and she usually took the bus to work and home. She would often get on the same bus as Zhen Yuanbai. He took out his phone to look at the time. It was almost 7 pm now. Unless Qin Ying decided to make a trip to the supermarket, they would probably see each other.

Shi Bufan tugged the corner of his lip and said, “What? You don’t like me bringing you home?”

Of course I don’t like it! Zhen Yuanbai screamed in his heart. But he said, “I don’t mind.”

The bus started to announce the next stop: XX Supermarket. Zhen Yuanbai immediately held onto the front seat and looked over. The moment he sighed in relief, he heard a familiar voice. “The meat has become more and more expensive.”

“Right? Just a few days ago, it was just over 10 yuan. Today, it’s already 22 yuan.”

Zhen Yuanbai suddenly grabbed his backpack and covered his face, sliding down his seat as well. Shi Bufan looked up to see a couple of women in front carrying their groceries. He said, “It seems like there aren’t any seats in the front and they’re heading towards the back now.”

Qin Ying looked over here questioningly and asked, “How come I thought I just saw Congming?”

“He’s probably home already.”

“He sent me a text saying that he would be home late today.”

As Qin Ying said this, she walked towards the back. Zhen Yuanbai shrunk in his seat and cold sweat covered his body. His heart was about to jump out of his throat. At this time, a school uniform covered his face, along with his backpack. Shi Bufan held Zhen Yuanbai’s head in his arms and made it seem like he was pretending to sleep, hugging a huge stuffed animal.

Kids these ages usually wore school uniforms and it was hard to recognize who it was after covering their faces and sleeping on their backpacks. Qin Ying’s gaze swept over Shi Bufan’s resting face and then sat down in the seats ahead of them with her friends. Then they started to catch up with one another. “It’s going to be the monthly exam, right? How are Shanshan’s grades?”

“Obviously can’t be as good as Congming’s. He’s always first in the grade.”

The parents started to boast one another’s kids. Zhen Yuanbai’s face was covered and for a moment, he only smelled the scent of Shi Bufan. He was too terrified. If his mother found out he was with Shi Bufan, who knew how she would punish him.

Shi Bufan opened one eye and stared at the back of Qin Ying’s head, then at the guy whose head he covered with his school uniform. Zhen Yuanbai was really nervous that he ended up exhaling deeply, blowing at the school uniform. Shi Bufan stared at him for a while before he suddenly lowered his head and pecked him.

He moved away from him after a second and licked his lips. He thought: so damn exciting.

Zhen Yuanbai whose eyes could only see black was confused.

T/N: Ayee, double release! Starting off the new year the right way~