Chapter 11
#“Xuezhang, you are that boy’s hero. You always have been.”#
@CanyonNo1Sakuragi: Calling Crater, calling Crater! @Crater: Crater receiving. @Crater: Is your make-up class over? @CanyonNo1Sakuragi: Not yet, but soon. Our Laoban always drags the class out. @CanyonNo1Sakuragi: I’ve already packed my bag. The moment he says class dismissed, I’m rushing out. @CanyonNo1Sakuragi: I’m practically starving to death. @CanyonNo1Sakuragi: Are you still in the library? Wait for me to come find you. @Crater: Okay.
Yuan Man would send four sentences before Xu Jingyou replied with one word.
However, Yuan Man didn’t dislike his coldness, because that was just Xu Jingyou’s nature. When they chatted on WeChat, he often saw “Typing…” displayed on Xu Jingyou’s side for a long time. He would think the other party was brewing some earth-shattering famous quote, only for a single “En,” “Okay,” “Fine,” or “You decide” to arrive three minutes later.
He didn’t know what was up with Xu Jingyou. Chatting with him wasn’t like chatting with a girl; was there a need to weigh every word so carefully?
After contacting Xu Jingyou, Yuan Man secretly hid his mini-phone up his sleeve.
On the podium, the homeroom teacher was still reciting those ear-grating phrases: “You are already in your second year… time waits for no one… have a sense of urgency… one point equals a whole playground of people…”
He completely ignored the students below the podium who were shaking their legs, checking their watches, their minds having flown away long ago.
Today was Saturday. According to school requirements, Grade 2 had half a day of make-up classes on Saturdays, Grade 3 had a full day, and by the second semester of Grade 3, it was even scarier—weekends required a day and a half of classes! It truly made them adapt to the 996 work culture before they even entered society.
However, Yuan Man had always been a hedonist. Even with the Great Demon King of the College Entrance Exam chasing his butt, he ran leisurely, looking left and right, occasionally stopping to fiddle with his player cards, checking his game level, spacing out to gossip, and even having the mind to investigate his potential secret admirer.
He was always like this. In his happy sixteen years of life, studying occupied only a tiny space, and troubles were like leaves sticking to a kitten drilling through a flower bush—a quick shake and they fell off.
Today, he had agreed with Xu Jingyou that after the make-up class ended, he would take Xu Jingyou to the No. 1 Middle School Snack Street for a feast.
Grade 1 didn’t require make-up classes, but Xu Jingyou conscientiously went to the library to self-study, waiting for class to end so they could set off together.
Terrifying. There was actually a high school student in this world who loved studying so much. In the prime of his youth, no puppy love, no Honor of Kings, no collecting player cards—Yuan Man really couldn’t imagine what meaning Xu Jingyou’s life held.
On the podium, the homeroom teacher, who had dragged on for twenty minutes, finally closed the lesson plan and picked up his water cup. “Alright, class dismissed. Finish the few papers I left on your own, correct them yourselves…”
Before the sentence was finished, a figure hugged his schoolbag and darted out of the classroom. Anyone who didn’t know better would think there were nails on his chair.
…
Yuan Man ran out of the teaching building, intending to go to the library, but after just two steps, he ran into Xu Jingyou, who was walking slowly toward the building.
Yuan Man braked sharply. “Aiya, Xu Jingyou, why didn’t you wait for me in the library?”
The temperature was high recently. With such a big sun, he hoped it hadn’t melted his little xuedi.
Even though Grade 1 didn’t have classes today, Xu Jingyou was still dressed properly in his long uniform, neat and clean, with the zipper pulled all the way to the top, resting securely under his Adam’s apple.
Xu Jingyou held a small plastic bag in his hand. Opening it, it turned out to be bread and milk from the school tuck shop. “Didn’t you say you were hungry? I was afraid you wouldn’t last until No. 1 Middle School, so I bought some food. Pad your stomach first.”
“Good brother, truly loyal!” Yuan Man yelled gibberish excitedly. Without standing on ceremony, he tore open the bread wrapper and took a big bite.
Xu Jingyou had bought the most popular “caterpillar bread.” It was a long stick with thick solid cream sandwiched inside, perfect for high school students to replenish energy.
Yuan Man exercised a lot and was at the age where he was growing. The little bit of food he ate at home in the morning had been digested completely by mid-morning. Usually, he relied on his deskmate, Wang Shanshan, to aid him.
The girls’ desks always had an assortment of snacks, and on weekends, they often met up at cafés to have afternoon tea and do homework together. While the boys in the class were still foolishly eating spicy sticks and instant noodles, the girls’ friend circles were already full of “high-end goods” like soufflés, molten chocolate cakes, durian milk, and éclairs.
While eating the bread, Yuan Man told Xu Jingyou, “I heard from Wang Shanshan that a new shaved ice shop opened over at No. 1 Middle School. I’ll treat you!”
Xu Jingyou obediently said, “En.”
In his heart, however, he thought sourly, Why is it that female deskmate again? Xuezhang talks about her every three sentences.
Suddenly, Xu Jingyou stopped walking, the gaze behind his lenses landing on the corner of Yuan Man’s mouth.
It turned out the boy had eaten too hastily, and a small dab of cream was stuck to the corner of his mouth.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something dirty on my face?” Yuan Man wanted to wipe it, but before he could raise his hand, Xu Jingyou’s finger reached out and landed lightly on the corner of his mouth.
The weather was so hot, yet Xu Jingyou’s body was icy cool; even his fingertips held no warmth. His finger tapped the corner of the xuezhang’s lips, and with a slight force, that naughty bit of cream transferred to his fingertip.
“Aiya!” Yuan Man was embarrassed. “Why did you do it yourself?”
He didn’t have any tissues on him. He patted his uniform pockets but couldn’t find a single sheet. Just as he was fretting about how to wipe Xu Jingyou clean, he saw Xu Jingyou retract his hand without hesitation, lower his head, and lick the cream off his fingertip.
“!!!” Yuan Man was frantic, blurting out, “Xu Jingyou, that’s so dirty!”
His face flushed red. Holding the cream bread, he stammered, “Even wiping it on me would have been better, why did you eat it?”
“How could anything you’ve eaten be dirty?” Xu Jingyou’s tone remained calm as he tossed out a seemingly unrelated question: “Besides, who washes your school uniform?”
Yuan Man: “My mom…”
His family naturally had a washing machine, but boys were always mischievous, and there were often oil spots on the uniform that even the machine couldn’t clean. He felt a little dirt didn’t matter, but his mother cared very much. Every weekend, Mama Yuan would scrub the oil spots on the uniform with a small brush while severely scolding him.
Yuan Man finally understood Xu Jingyou’s good intentions. It turned out Xu Jingyou was worried he would get cream on his clothes and be scolded by his mom, so he ate the cream for him. Xu Jingyou didn’t mind at all that he had eaten the cream. How could there be someone as considerate as Xu Jingyou in this world?
Remembering their first meeting when Xu Jingyou was cold and distant, yet now he actively cared about whether he was hungry, accompanied him to read manga and eat good food, and even assisted him in investigating the secret admirer… Did this mean Xu Jingyou had fully accepted him and considered him a good friend?
He knew it—Xu Jingyou wasn’t nearly as unapproachable as he looked on the outside!
…
After finishing the bread, the two hopped onto the bus heading to No. 1 Middle School.
It took swaying for nearly half an hour before they reached their destination.
No. 1 Middle School used to be right next to a residential area. Because of the prime location, the snack street at the entrance was exceptionally prosperous. But last year, the residential area was demolished, and a lot of the foot traffic left, making the snack street less lively than before.
The bus stop was at the entrance of No. 1 Middle School. Although today was Saturday, there were many students attending make-up classes. As soon as the bus stopped, a large swarm of No. 1 Middle School students surged up, nearly preventing them from getting off.
“Hey, hey, hey, make way, we need to get off! First off, then on!” Yuan Man tried hard to squeeze out. Terrified of being separated from Xu Jingyou, he gripped Xu Jingyou’s hand tightly and, relying on brute force, dragged both of them off the bus.
When they got off, his hair was messy, and Xu Jingyou’s glasses were crooked. They stood holding hands at the bus stop, looking at each other’s disheveled appearance, and laughed simultaneously.
Except, Yuan Man’s laugh was a big laugh, a wild laugh, a maniacal laugh with no image, the dimple on his left cheek dipping deep; whereas Xu Jingyou’s laugh was restrained, fleeting, pausing for a moment before he couldn’t help but let it bloom again.
Yuan Man was laughing at Xu Jingyou’s wretched state; Xu Jingyou was laughing at Yuan Man’s laughter.
After laughing enough, they tidied their uniforms and bags and continued walking toward the snack street.
To go to the snack street, they had to pass through a small alley not far from the school gate. This alley was something Yuan Man had discovered by chance; it was a shortcut, allowing at most two people to walk side-by-side. If someone came riding a bicycle from the opposite direction, it would definitely be blocked.
Stepping into the alley, Yuan Man remembered something and looked up at the alley entrance.
Xu Jingyou noticed his gaze and asked what he was looking at.
“Look, a camera and a streetlight,” Yuan Man pointed out to him. “When I came here before, there was nothing here, pitch black. I called the Education Bureau to report the problem. When I called, they asked for my name, and I said I was the ‘No. 1 Middle School Sakuragi Hanamichi.’ I didn’t expect them to move so fast and actually install them!”
His mind was always flexible. Other students encountering a dark, dangerous alley would react with “for safety, do not pass through,” while his thought was, Why not pass through such a convenient road? Just install a camera and streetlights.
Xu Jingyou’s eyes flickered as he looked deeply at him. “…Thank you.”
“Why are you getting so serious? It’s kind of cringe,” Yuan Man deliberately shook off the goosebumps on his body. “But this alley really was quite dangerous before. One time I came here, I even ran into bad kids from your school bullying a chubby boy in the alley.”
Xu Jingyou asked softly, “And then? Did you descend from the sky like a hero and chase away those bad kids?”
“Of course!” Yuan Man immediately got excited, as if returning to that high-spirited moment. “First I did a flying kick like this, then a heart-digging elbow like this, followed by a left hook, an uppercut, then ‘Hey! Ha! Ah—Strike!’ Finally, a ‘Yee~ Ha!!’ You didn’t see the tragic battle situation that day. There were five bad kids… no, eight… maybe ten. Anyway, I beat them all to the ground!”
As he spoke vividly, he punched the air with both hands as if really fighting those bullies; he performed with extreme immersion. In this moment, he was the peerless hero who settled the universe with one punch.
He spoke with exaggeration, and Xu Jingyou listened with seriousness.
By the end, Yuan Man felt a bit embarrassed. Looking at Xu Jingyou’s admiring gaze, he said awkwardly, “Why do you believe whatever I say? Can’t you tell I’m bragging? Actually, there were only three punk kids that day, and they ran away after I scared them.”
“Whether it was three bad guys or ten bad guys, you saved an innocent person from their hands.” Xu Jingyou said in a deep voice, “Xuezhang, you are that boy’s hero. You always have been.”
[Author’s Note] [Let me see][Let me see] The reward for the hero saving the beauty is, of course, eating the beauty’s cream bread [Starry Eyes][Starry Eyes]
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
