Chapter 6
#He flipped through the entire manga but couldn’t find any evidence that they were heterosexual.#
Although to outsiders, Yuan Man seemed to smile all day long without a care in the world, in reality, his life wasn’t entirely smooth sailing.
In his sixteen years of life, he had encountered three “fatal blows” sufficient to reshape his worldview.
The first was during his first health class in elementary school, when he discovered he wasn’t actually born from his dad’s belly button.
The second was playing football with classmates in junior high. The match ended in a goose egg, and he realized he would never lead the Chinese men’s football team to the world stage in this lifetime.
The third was just recently—he had bought a copy of Slam Dunk: The Sequel at a flea market. He excitedly thought it was part two, but the moment he opened it, he was critically hit by a scene of Kaede Rukawa and Akira Sendoh kissing!!
How… how could this be!
Yuan Man naturally knew that male-male couples existed in the world; there were several “rotten girls” (fujoshi) in his class. For instance, his deskmate Wang Shanshan was a senior rotten girl who often gathered with her little sisters to ship couples, loving nothing more than match-making male celebrities.
But, but! Everyone in the world could be gay, but Akira Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa absolutely could not!!!! (Super Loud Voice)
Yuan Man even hopefully wondered if the manga artist had drawn one of them as a girl cross-dressing as a boy. But he flipped through the entire manga book and couldn’t find any evidence that they were heterosexual.
In the manga, when Sendoh and Rukawa’s feelings deepened, first they [BEEP——], then they [BEEP——], and then [BEEP BEEP BEEP——]. The first time Yuan Man saw it, he was so scared he threw the book on the ground. After recovering for a long time, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity and could only carefully pick the book back up to continue reading.
He read until his face was red and his ears burned, scratching his head and cheeks. It was the first time he learned that boys and boys could [BEEP——] then [BEEP——] and finally even [BEEP BEEP BEEP——].
Yuan Man’s hands trembled as he held the manga. He could hear his heart pounding against his eardrums, as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his head (note: the head on his shoulders).
He felt shame, shock, and a sliver of inappropriate restlessness.
So scary.
…Doesn’t it hurt?
Is it really that comfortable?
Yuan Man hadn’t decided how to deal with this accidentally purchased fan comic. He was afraid his parents would see it if he threw it in the trash, so in the end, he confusedly hid it deep in the bookshelf. Just like every little secret of adolescence that couldn’t be known by parents, the boy sealed it in the cracks of time—or so it should have been!
Yuan Man absolutely never imagined that this very manga would be dug out by Xu Jingyou at this exact moment!
He let out a sharp, piercing shriek.
Xu Jingyou was startled by his scream and immediately looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong?”
Yuan Man wanted to snatch the book away but feared that overreacting would only invite Xu Jingyou’s suspicion. He could only stare pitifully at the book, explaining incoherently, “Xu Jingyou, you took the wrong book. That one is… that one belongs to Wang Shanshan. She left it here and forgot to take it. I’ll return it to her next time I see her!”
I’m sorry, Wang Shanshan! He let her take the blame for a massive, flying black wok.
Hearing that unfamiliar name, Xu Jingyou frowned. “Wang Shanshan?”
Yuan Man: “She’s my deskmate.”
Xu Jingyou asked again, “Boy or girl?”
Yuan Man: “A girl, obviously.”
“…” Xu Jingyou lowered his eyes to look at the book in his hand, asking very quietly, “Then why is her manga book with you? Has she been to your house too?”
So, he wasn’t the only person the Xuezhang had brought home.
“No, bro, why does your tone sound so weird?” Yuan Man finally picked up on the strange note in his voice. He scratched his head and spoke bluntly, “You sound like a paranoid first wife interrogating her husband about picking wildflowers by the roadside!”
“That analogy is certainly interesting.” The corner of Xu Jingyou’s mouth lifted slightly, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m not Xuezhang’s anything. I don’t have any standing to question your friendships.”
“…Eh?”
Why does it smell even more like vinegar (jealousy) now!
Before Yuan Man could figure out why the xuedi cared so much about Wang Shanshan, Xu Jingyou had already placed Slam Dunk: The Sequel on the adjacent desk, pushing it away with the tip of his finger in disgust, clearly not wanting to look at it again.
Then, the boy turned around, looked at the bookshelf overhead, and asked, “So, where is the genuine Slam Dunk you wanted me to find?”
The topic returned to square one. While directing Xu Jingyou to take down the real manga, Yuan Man swept that trouble-making fan comic into his schoolbag.
There were twenty-four volumes of Slam Dunk in total. Yuan Man had saved his allowance for a long time to buy the whole set. The books were preserved exceptionally well; he handled them gently even when reading them himself and never ate while reading manga.
Other boys had asked to borrow this set before, but Yuan Man had never agreed. Yet this time, he actively lent it to Xu Jingyou because he knew how much Xu Jingyou loved and cherished books—he would absolutely never damage them.
He lovingly stroked the book cover, pushed it in front of Xu Jingyou, and introduced it: “You’ve definitely heard of this manga, right? The male lead is called Hanamichi Sakuragi, a red-headed guy with a flamboyant personality.”
“En.” Xu Jingyou did recognize the famous Hanamichi Sakuragi.
He took the first volume of the manga, opened it, and immediately began reading.
But after three minutes, he was still on the first page.
Yuan Man, who had been watching him nervously, quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xu Jingyou looked up. Even the reflection on his lenses couldn’t hide the confusion in his eyes. He asked, “How do you read manga?”
“Huh??”
Xu Jingyou felt incredibly awkward. As a straight-A student who could read classics independently since elementary school and had almost read through the entire school library since starting high school, what he had to say next was truly difficult to utter: “I don’t understand it. I don’t know how manga should be read.”
The boy’s finger tapped on the black-and-white comic in his hand. “Like here, whose dialogue is in this bubble? Several bubbles appear at once; which one do I read first? This character takes up the whole panel, but behind him, there are other frames and other characters. I don’t know where to look.”
Only then did Yuan Man realize that there were people who couldn’t read manga!
“No way, you never read comics when you were little?”
Xu Jingyou didn’t speak. His long eyelashes trembled as he silently admitted it. By now, Yuan Man understood him quite well; when this awkward xuedi didn’t want to answer, no one could pry a single word out of his mouth.
Yuan Man sighed. “I thought since you liked reading so much, you could read any book in the world. I didn’t expect you wouldn’t even know how to read a manga book…”
Xu Jingyou looked at him, thinking, Is Xuezhang disgusted by my stupidity? Because I can’t understand manga, have I lost the qualification to go undercover in the Anime Club for Xuezhang?
Sure enough, after Yuan Man finished that sentence, he reached out to take back the manga book from Xu Jingyou’s hand.
Xu Jingyou subconsciously gripped it tighter, refusing to let him take it.
Yuan Man pulled harder; his fingertips turned red.
Xu Jingyou didn’t make a sound, but the veins on the back of his hand became distinctly visible.
“Xu! Jing! You!!” Yuan Man got angry. “Let go! You can’t even read manga, don’t ruin my book!!”
“…” The boy’s fingers finally relaxed. He lowered his eyes, watching Hanamichi Sakuragi on the cover inching away from him.
Watching Yuan Man distressingly cradle his manga book, rubbing it here and wiping it there, a sourness slowly welled up in his heart.
Xu Jingyou felt he was truly ridiculous. Now he was even jealous of a comic book.
The next second, Yuan Man flipped open the book and muttered to himself, “You really are troublesome. Sigh, but since I’m the one who sought out a trouble-maker like you, I can only accept my bad luck—why are you sitting so far away? Come closer!”
Xu Jingyou looked at him in confusion.
Yuan Man: “Didn’t you say you couldn’t understand manga? Then I’ll read it to you page by page. Don’t worry, I’ve read Slam Dunk several times; I know the plot with my eyes closed.”
Saying that, Yuan Man pulled over a chair and motioned for Xu Jingyou to sit beside him.
Xu Jingyou, still dazed, let himself be pulled down, looking at the manga spread out before him.
Yuan Man’s finger pointed to the first panel, and he began to narrate the story with rich emotion. He truly had a talent for storytelling. When he got to the exciting parts, he would gesture enthusiastically, his entire face filled with excited smiles. Anyone could see how much he loved manga and basketball.
Occasionally, Yuan Man’s hand would brush against Xu Jingyou beside him. Xu Jingyou gazed at him, so close at hand, suspecting that everything happening today was a beautiful dream.
The twilight sky outside the window blending orange and pink, the schoolbags thrown haphazardly on the floor, the knees pressed tight together under the desk, the open manga on the table, the snacks within reach, and the person eating snacks…
No, how could this be a dream?
Even in Xu Jingyou’s dreams, such a happy scene had never appeared.
Soon, they finished reading two volumes.
Yuan Man read until his mouth was dry. Although physically tired, his eyes shone brightly. If time permitted, he really wanted to keep reading manga with his friend!
“What a pity, my parents are coming back,” Yuan Man muttered. “And I haven’t finished today’s homework.”
He suddenly remembered something. “Xu Jingyou, me dragging you to read manga won’t affect your studies, will it?”
The boy shook his head. “It won’t.”
Yuan Man relaxed. “True, you’re the top scholar. How could you be influenced by me so easily?”
Xu Jingyou: “…”
Indeed, my studies won’t be influenced, but other things will be.
Yuan Man asked again, “You read two volumes today, which character do you like the most? Just so you know, I like Hanamichi Sakuragi best.”
Xu Jingyou: “Then I also like Hanamichi Sakuragi.”
“What do you mean ‘then I also like’? Don’t copy me. You have to like them yourself for it to be real.”
Xu Jingyou replied, “But there really isn’t any character I particularly like in this manga. In my view, this is just a few bored boys chasing a boring ball, constantly playing matches.”
Yuan Man was furious, feeling his life’s creed had been blasphemed. “Xu Jingyou, you jerk! How can you evaluate Slam Dunk like that? You just haven’t read enough. If you read a few more volumes, you definitely won’t think that way!”
They agreed that starting tomorrow, Yuan Man would bring two manga books to school every day. They would use the noon break to read together in the library, aiming to finish within two weeks!
Yuan Man firmly believed that no boy in the world could resist the charm of Slam Dunk!!
Before his parents returned, Yuan Man hid the manga books again and sent Xu Jingyou off.
“By the way, we still don’t have each other’s contact info. It’s inconvenient to find you.” Like a magic trick, Yuan Man dug his hidden mini-phone out of an inconspicuous car model in the display cabinet.
He had saved up to buy this secretly. It was palm-sized, could run short video apps, QQ, and WeChat, though playing games was laggy, which really affected his performance in the Canyon.
There was no helping it; high schoolers hiding phones was a battle of wits and courage against parents. One slip up and it would be confiscated.
Yuan Man: “A good student like you wouldn’t happen to not have a mobile phone, right? If you’re still using a phone watch, I won’t laugh at you!”
“I have a phone.” Xu Jingyou opened his schoolbag and took out his iPhone 17 Pro Max 1TB Deep Purple edition.
Yuan Man: “………………………”
Yuan Man was shocked. “No, brother, your phone is just in your bag? You bring it to school every day? The teachers don’t care???? Your parents don’t care?????”
Xu Jingyou was perplexed. “Why would they care?”
Yuan Man: “………………”
In this world, academic tyrants always have privileges.
The two finally added each other on WeChat.
Yuan Man’s WeChat name was [@CanyonNo1Sakuragi].
Xu Jingyou’s WeChat name was…
“@Crater?” Yuan Man was embarrassed to admit he didn’t know this English word at all.
After Xu Jingyou left, Yuan Man immediately opened a dictionary to look up this unfamiliar vocabulary.
Crater.
[Noun] A bowl-shaped depression on the surface of the moon. Formed by meteorite impact, circular in shape.
[Author’s Note] Xu Jingyou: My crush was born on the full moon (Yuan), and his classmates call him Yuanyuan (Round/Circle). Crater is related to the moon and is also circular… Is the hint too obvious? Will I be discovered? So nervous.
Yuan Man: Nice, learned a new English word today [Laughing Out Loud]
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