Shi Yan saw the bite on He Nuo’s apple that had already oxidized, yet He Nuo still wasn’t eating it, “You don’t like red delicious apples?”

“I don’t want to eat it.”

Li Mengjiao continued, “Can’t you tell that he doesn’t want to eat it cause your saliva’s on it?”

Shi Yan wouldn’t believe that kind of explanation at all, it sounded too ridiculous to him. But when he saw He Nuo blush and avoid his gaze, He Nuo looked as if his secret had been exposed. Shi Yan immediately got angry and suppressed his voice as he asked, “Is that true? You won’t eat it just cause I took a bite?!”

“No, I don’t like eating red delicious apples.” He Nuo could hear the anger in his voice so he tried to find a reason to explain.

Shi Yan took a golden delicious apple that was sitting at a side, then after he wiped it with his handkerchief he took a bite, “Here, this is a golden delicious one!”

He Nuo helplessly accepted the apple and took a small bite at the other side of it. But Shi Yan s.n.a.t.c.hed it back and turned it to the side that he had taken a bite out from before he placed it near He Nuo’s mouth. He Nuo reluctantly took a bite, then Shi Yan took another before he fed He Nuo the side that had his teeth imprints. He Nuo didn’t want to anger Shi Yan, the guilt he felt over dinner was still bothering him, so he endured his embarra.s.sment as he and Shi Yan finished the apple while taking bites out of it one after the other.

The girls by their side didn’t care about how willing He Nuo was, they only cared about who was sharing such intimacy with Shi Yan. Even if he was a guy, they still felt jealous of him. So after that, the two of them were temporarily less compet.i.tive with one another as they talked about He Nuo and Shi Yan’s friendship. This was something that a lot of students in school were curious about too — no one knew how the friendship between these two had blossomed, how they fell out, and how they miraculously reconciled.

He Nuo wasn’t good at answering this kind of questions. He wasn’t willing to share about the things that had happened between him and Shi Yan. But Shi Yan was really generous as he simply said, “We befriended each other through fights.”

They immediately deduced from his words that it must have been Shi Yan who had hit He Nuo, then suspected that He Nuo got scared after his beating so he became Shi Yan’s lackey. These guesses were deemed to be right after a round of questioning. He Nuo didn’t agree with their way of thinking, so he didn’t pay much attention to them and he had a cold look on his face that he didn’t know how to conceal.

Yet Shi Yan laughed and tugged on He Nuo’s sleeve, then pretended to act as he said to the girls, “We fought with words, not fists. I didn’t take advantage of him at all, and in any case this guy is now my grand master. Right, master?”

Within all the nonsense he was spouting, there was some truth and some lies to it so He Nuo didn’t answer him. But he knew very clearly that Shi Yan’s intention was to give him face, protect his dignity and shelter him. He couldn’t express his thanks in front of others, so he could only remember this kindness in his heart as he looked at Shi Yan with eyes full of grat.i.tude. Meanwhile, Shi Yan made eyes at him and threw him another wink. He Nuo’s heart rate suddenly accelerated.

Zhou Yue called out, “Yan Ge, we’re still here and yet the two of you are making eyes at each other. I don’t care, throw me a wink too.”

Shi Yan said with a smile, “He Nuo, now you see how amazing my winks are? Hurry and call me master, then I’ll teach you how to throw one to Zhou Yue.”

“I only know how to throw mothb.a.l.l.s and camphor b.a.l.l.s.” He Nuo rolled his eyes — he really can throw mothb.a.l.l.s (TN: if this was too confusing, He Nuo was joking that he can only throw mothb.a.l.l.s = roll his mothball eyes), coupled with his expressionless face and emotionless voice, this was the true highlight of his cold joke1. As they looked at how serious he was, Shi Yan and Li Mengjiao burst out laughing. Only the Zhou Yue who had been hit by a mothball looked all gloomy and constipated.

It was almost 12 midnight, so it was time for everyone to leave. Students who were going the same way started to form groups and left together. Zhou Yue was still angry about He Nuo’s “mothball”, so when Shi Yan pushed his bike over, she immediately jumped onto its back seat and hugged his waist, “Yan Ge, I want to ride your bike, send me back.” She raised her chin at the He Nuo who was waiting for Shi Yan like she was trying to display her authority.

Without waiting for He Nuo’s reply, Yu Yao’s voice travelled over from the back, “He Nuo, you can come and ride my bike.”

So He Nuo walked over to the Yu Yao who was standing next to her bike. Because it was already this late, and his house was quite a distance away, it was impossible for him to choose to walk back on foot. He had intended to ride Yu Yao’s bike and cycle together with Shi Yan, so he didn’t say much as he accepted her bike and mounted it first. Yu Yao sat behind him, and she might have eaten something wrong today as she suddenly wrapped her arms around He Nuo’s waist. He Nuo reacted as if he had just been p.r.i.c.ked like a needle, and almost couldn’t control his urge to shake her hands off.

The Shi Yan who had looked up and was about to mount his bike looked deathly pale under the streetlight. He lips were tightly pursed and his gaze was burning brightly like it was spewing out fire, and He Nuo actually lowered his head as if he was feeling guilty.

“Get down!” Shi Yan said to the person behind him.

“Yan Geee~” The voice that drew out the second syllable of her words was both pettish and full of blame, because she and Shi Yan were childhood friends who had known each other since kindergarten.

“Get down! Only He Nuo can sit on my bike from now onwards.” Shi Yan called another guy over and asked him to send Zhou Yue back.

Zhou Yue indignantly went to the other person’s bicycle with great reluctance.

He Nuo’s brain was on a strike after he had heard Shi Yan say “only He Nuo can sit on my bike from now onwards”, and in the midst of his confusion, he heard Shi Yan’s voice, “Aren’t you coming over.” He Nuo was quite familiar with Shi Yan by now, and he understood Shi Yan’s personality and temper. These four words that sounded flat to others was actually filled with a lot of Shi Yan’s suppressed anger — it meant that a storm was brewing, and He Nuo understood this very well.

After he got off Yu Yao’s bike, he sat on Shi Yan’s backseat. Then Shi Yan mounted his bike and left without caring if the other students who were going in the same direction wanted to leave together. On this cold winter night, Shi Yan rode down the street under the light of the street lamps so quickly that he seemed like he was competing with someone. After they were halfway through their journey, Shi Yan finally began to slow down. He Nuo couldn’t understand why he was angry, but he himself felt heavy-hearted and uneasy so he remained silent as he sat at the back.

“I’ll lend you my back!”

“?” He Nuo’s brain that was on strike had received the verbal signals, but he couldn’t compose a whole message out of it. While he was in his moronic state, Shi Yan held his bike’s handlebar with one hand, then used his other hand to pull He Nuo’s hand and wrapped it around his waist. Then he did the same for his other hand, and now both of He Nuo’s hands were wrapped around Shi Yan’s waist. He Nuo stiffened up.

“Didn’t I say that I’ll lend you my back? Lean over!”

He Nuo gently leaned on Shi Yan’s broad back and felt his facial muscles twitch, then Shi Yan placed his hand over He Nuo’s gloved hands.

1. A joke that’s funny by virtue of not being funny at all.↩