Chapter 15: Love at First Sight for the Ball? Okay, No.
Chi Wu clutched his arm, which was numb and painful from the impact. He was stunned for a moment looking at the person lying motionless on the ground. He bent down, approached, and patted the person’s shoulder.
“Student…”
“Ei, I’m fine.” Wang Zhenqiu finally completed his mental journey, casually rolling over on the ground.
Wang Zhenqiu’s free and easy movement, resembling a mop sweeping the floor, paused when he caught sight of Chi Wu. Then, he bared his teeth and instantly retracted his words.
“Wait, no, I’m not fine.”
“Don’t think about scamming us!” Zhang Chulan spoke with utter disdain. This person really didn’t look like a guy, but the moment he opened his mouth, it was exposed.
“You ran out and hit Wubao yourself.”
“Wubao?” Wang Zhenqiu propped himself up from the ground, then leaned in close to Chi Wu, examining him carefully, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Chi Wu’s face.
“What a nice sounding name.”
Zhang Chulan really couldn’t stand it. He felt a strange anger, like someone was stealing his home right in front of him.
“Who let you call him that? His name is Chi Wu. ‘Wubao’ is my nickname for him.”
“Ow.” Wang Zhenqiu waved his hand dismissively, then extended his hand in front of Chi Wu. Seeing Chi Wu didn’t move, he actively grabbed Chi Wu’s hand and shook it.
One person completing a handshake for two.
“Hello Wubao, nice to meet you. I’m Wang Zhenqiu. You can call me Qiu’er [Ball].”
After grabbing the hand, he seemed to sense something, his pupils dilating instantly.
He was somewhat delighted and somewhat curious. His smile deepened as he spoke, sounding like a declaration.
“Wubao, I want to be friends with you.”
Chi Wu seemed to be in a daze. Beside him, Zhang Chulan reacted more dramatically than the person involved, slapping Wang Zhenqiu’s hand away with a swish.
The slap sounded like a face-slap. Wang Zhenqiu tilted his head, looking at Zhang Chulan with seeming confusion and curiosity.
“Why hit me?”
Zhang Chulan pulled Chi Wu behind him like he was protecting a calf. “Don’t think about pulling a scam!”
“What scam am I pulling?” Wang Zhenqiu laughed so hard his shoulders shook. He stared straight at Zhang Chulan, who looked ready to face a great enemy, and studied Zhang Chulan’s face for a good while.
“I just fell in love at first sight, that’s all.” Wang Zhenqiu spouted nonsense casually, disregarding the ripples such nonsense might cause.
Deep down, he couldn’t suppress his excitement. He hadn’t expected to meet such a treasure while completing a mission.
Tsk tsk, just getting close increases cultivation?
“Someone died… someone died… call the police quickly!”
Wang Zhenqiu wanted to say something more, but his eyebrows twitched upon hearing the voice. “Ei, Wubao, I’ll find you to play another day. I have things to do today.”
Chi Wu, who had been observing Wang Zhenqiu, suddenly spoke. “You are the murderer.”
“Aiyaya, Wubao, how can you wrong me?” Wang Zhenqiu smiled brilliantly, reaching out again as if to grab Chi Wu, only to be slapped away by Zhang Chulan once more.
Wang Zhenqiu came to a sudden realization. He looked at the food-guarding Zhang Chulan as if he found it very amusing. His eyes instantly held something else as he laughed and sighed.
“Really interesting.”
After speaking, as if remembering something, he patted his butt, shaking off the dust from his body.
“Wubao, don’t wrong me next time we meet. I, Qiu’er, hold grudges very well.”
With that, Wang Zhenqiu darted out of the hallway with bizarre speed.
Zhang Chulan let out a long breath. Although they hadn’t fought, the human instinct for danger was very intuitive. This person didn’t look like someone with principles.
The dormitory building was chaotic, like chickens pecking at food. A moment later, the voices shouting “someone died” changed to shouting “alive, alive,” like a massive farce.
Zhang Chulan felt deeply exhausted. He dragged Chi Wu by the wrist toward the dorm room.
“Let’s go back and eat the edamame. It won’t taste good if it gets cold.”
Chi Wu hummed an “Mn.” The edamame was already cold, wasn’t it? But understanding Zhang Chulan’s bad mood, he didn’t correct him again.
It was rare to see the always-smiling Zhang Chulan keeping a straight face.
When things are abnormal, there must be a demon. The atmosphere in the dorm room instantly became very strange.
Even though the two hadn’t returned all night, and Chi Wu had severe dark circles looking like he hadn’t slept, no one cracked a joke.
“Wubao, go shower first. I’ll peel the edamame for you.”
“I can’t eat that much. You peel it and eat first.”
Zhang Chulan didn’t say yes or no, only saying, “You go wash.”
The tone even carried a hint of stubbornness, but Chi Wu didn’t say anything and obediently went to shower.
Wang Yuechu was a bit craving, but he knew that “those who understand the times are heroes,” so he didn’t speak up.
Although Zhang Chulan actually really hoped tonight they would crack a few jokes to break the tension, seeing no one speak, he silently peeled the edamame.
The boiled edamame wasn’t prickly in his hand anymore; it felt a bit cool to the touch.
His jointed fingers squeezed lightly, and the green beans popped out quickly. Some were quite active and jumped directly onto the floor.
Zhang Chulan didn’t pick them up.
Zhang Chulan peeled for as long as Chi Wu showered, constantly thinking about Wang Ye during this time.
Chi Wu had never told him about the past. Of course, strictly speaking, he had never asked, because Chi Wu hadn’t been curious about his past either.
He had told Chi Wu those things proactively, often with the intention of garnering sympathy and affection.
It turned out that before being this close to him, Chi Wu had been that intimate with another person.
This made him, who always thought he was the ‘official partner,’ suddenly realize one day that he was the ‘mistress.’
Stop, stop, stop!
Zhang Chulan rubbed the center of his brows, thinking, My brain is really dizzy. Why do my thoughts get weirder the more I think?
It seemed he really needed to separate from Chi Wu for a while.
This was exactly the opportunity.
When Chi Wu came out, Zhang Chulan had adjusted his mood. “Wubao, come eat quickly.”
Looking at the large bag still remaining, he spoke to himself as if explaining, though the bag was already being handed out.
“Grandma Zhao gave us way too much, we can’t finish it. Brother Chu, Brother Hui, have some together.”
Before Chi Wu could even nod, the things were divided up. It seemed Zhang Chulan’s words weren’t seeking his permission anyway.
“Oh.” Chi Wu was a bit confused why Zhang Chulan, who usually disliked sharing food with others, was so proactive this time. He thought to himself, Maybe there really is too much edamame to finish.
But hadn’t Zhang Chulan eaten almost nothing for dinner?
Besides, Chi Wu thought he could eat it. However, he didn’t undermine Zhang Chulan.
He picked up the broom, swept up the edamame that had jumped onto the floor, washed his hands, and then began to eat the small bowl Zhang Chulan had peeled.
Eating the edamame seemed to unlock the usually taciturn Tian Jiahui, who rarely spoke proactively.
“Why does Brother Lan feel a bit off?”
“A little bit.” Wang Yuechu also felt it was amazing.
They hadn’t thought about ‘snatching food from the tiger’s mouth’ before. ‘Tiger’s mouth’ meant Zhang Chulan was particularly exclusionary regarding things belonging to him and Chi Wu.
This was extremely inconsistent with Zhang Chulan’s personality of always mingling with everyone, making it stand out starkly.
This kind of seemingly paranoid territorial behavior was ‘shippable’ among girls, but among guys, it was met with mockery and weirdness, because he really wouldn’t save you any face.
It didn’t matter if he didn’t save face with someone like Chi Wu.
But usually, he was very easy to talk to and seemed to have a good relationship with you. Then one day, you touched one of his things, and he suddenly gave you the cold shoulder, reacting as if your touch was something dirty. That was actually quite hurtful.
This led everyone to say there was a weird vibe about Zhang Chulan.
And in this age between boyhood and manhood, where everyone was a “Brother”—Brother Lan, Brother Wu, Brother Chu, Brother Hui… losing face was something that was cared about very much.
Wang Yuechu gulp ate a handful of edamame. It was as if by eating this handful, he needed to take responsibility for Zhang Chulan’s unhappiness.
With some probing and warmth, he asked.
“Brother Wu, did you guys fight?”
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