Rose Dust

Chapter 5 – Hooligan

She had a dream last night, and the content was also very simple. There was a tall shadow in the blur, their voice exceedingly gentle. The two people were waiting for the bus together at the bus stop; as if they had agreed to go to the same place, the atmosphere was relaxed and natural.

Ye Jiegeng could almost smell the scent of the falling locust blossoms on the roadside. It was early summer, the rain was not heavy, and only the two of them were under the eaves, talking about which roadside stalls had the best takoyaki1.

She woke up before the bus arrived, vaguely upset and feeling that they would never reach that place.

In the classroom, she saw him walking in with his textbook and his head lowered, fine black hair, cold eyes hidden under the glasses, sitting by the window holding his chin, not knowing what he was thinking. 

Ye Jiegeng thought about what he said, that there will be opportunities in the future. She felt far away, and that dream was not auspicious. She didn’t listen to anything for the whole lesson, and kept lying on the table and biting the back of her hand, afraid that she would cry as soon as she let go.

“Ye Jiegeng, are you okay?” The classmate sitting next to her asked her.

“It’s okay. My stomach hurts a bit,” she said.

After the class, she got up, rubbed her eyes and packed her school bag, and turned her head to realize that Anyang Chunyuan was looking in her direction while holding his chin. 

She looked back and saw that no one was around her. After making sure he was looking at her, she could only throw him a shy smile.

Anyang Chunyuan pushed the frames of his glasses and smiled faintly. He walked a few steps and asked, “Are you uncomfortable?”

“Well, a little stomach ache is all.” It turns out that lying was also a kind of skill.

“Then don’t go to the next class. Go to the infirmary, get some medicine and go home to rest.” The boy in front of her said in a tone that could not be rejected, “I will accompany you.”

“In fact, it’s not very painful…” She wanted to refuse, but after seeing his determined attitude, her shoulders slumped, and she looked at him like a puppy trying to please its owner, “It really doesn’t hurt anymore. I’ll just go home, OK?”

He helped her carry her bag, and she kept tugging at the corners of her clothes in embarrassment, but it also had a sense of obedience. In fact, without Li Kong’s reminder, Chunyuan could feel that the child in front of him had feelings for him beyond that of friendship. 

Without saying anything, he waited for the bus at the stop sign. As soon as the bus to Huaishan Road arrived, he dragged her onto the bus.

“This isn’t my bus home.” Ye Jiegeng reacted slowly.

“I know.” Chunyuan turned his head and showed off his white teeth with a bright smile. “This is back to my house.”

“Huh?” She was dumbfounded.

Chunyuan didn’t answer any more. He took out an English novel and read it seriously. From the reflective window glass, he saw her wanting-to-ask-but-don’t-dare-to-appearance.  

She was fidgeting and worrying and acting suspiciously. He felt funny, lowered his head and a vague laugh came out of his throat. Ye Jiegeng glanced at him nervously and sadly; and simply turned her head to the other side, sulking.

Anyang Chunyuan lived in a residential area in the 90s. The red walls were covered with green vines. Whenever the wind passed by, you could hear the singing of leaves. 

He lived on the sixth floor, and Ye Jiegeng crawled up until she was out of breath, but she saw him open the door calmly and instructed her to change her slippers. 

It was an old-style two-bedroom apartment. The light in the living room was dim, but it was clean and tidy, so you could see that the host was very demanding on hygiene.

“You live alone?” she asked.

“No.” Chunyuan went to the refrigerator to take a drink, thought about it, put it back, and said, “Let’s drink some hot water.” He went to the kitchen to pour boiling water and saw her standing still on the same spot, looking around the house. 

He unconsciously smiled, pointed to the sofa and said, “Sit down, no need to be polite. Or do you want to go to the bedroom to lie down for a while?”

“You are really…” Ye Jiegeng’s face flushed, searching earnestly for adjectives, “Really…a hooligan…”

Yes, he was just a hooligan.

She soon realized that she had somehow entered the house of a gangster, and the current situation was that she was alone with a man in the same room. 

Anyang Chunyuan looked at her with a smile on his face. Seeing this smile, she wanted to scream and rush out the door. What kind of situation was this? Those messy novels always teach you not to go home with strangers.

So, was Anyang Chunyuan considered a stranger?

What she said to him could be counted with both hands. Although they had been  classmates for a year, she knew almost nothing about him.

No matter how hard she thought about it, she felt that her relationship with Anyang Chunyuan was not good enough to be a guest at the other party’s house. 

Sitting on the sofa, she took a few sips of water, and thought about a way of saying goodbye and leaving home. Before she could even open her mouth, she heard an earth-shattering laugh erupt in her ears. Her nerves were shattered by fright.

Li Kong pointed at her nose and laughed so hard that tears almost fell. He even clutched his stomach and shouted, “Oh, I can’t do it anymore, Chunyuan, you devil, look at how scared you made her! Laughing my ass off! Ye Jiegeng was wrong; you are not a hooligan, you’re the devil, the absolute devil!”

Chunyuan innocently spread his hands, took out a can of beer from the refrigerator and threw it to him. The phone rang, and he went into the bedroom to answer it. Ye Jiegeng took this opportunity to look up at the young man in front of her who was smiling with no image.

The legendary President of the Student Union, Li Kong, was a giant iceberg that would never melt in a million years, and was also nicknamed President Ice Sculpture. Ye Jiegeng had seen him instructing people countless times with a sharp and ruthless look.  

Seeing him smiling so warmly, she forgot her original intention for a while, just looked at him curiously. She also smiled and said, “It turns out that Anyang Chunyuan lives with Senior Li Kong.”

“Yeah, Chunyuan and I can’t stand the dormitory. He loves cleanliness and cleanliness. I always have to stay up all night and do things.”

“So that’s the case. Didn’t the senior attend class today?”

“Originally there was a class, but next month there will be a large-scale performance in the drama club. I’m making a plan at home. It is estimated that the old professor will not be named in these two days.”

“Ah, what if the name is called, you are bold enough to say it?”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to go home with a strange male classmate–” Li Kong tweeted, “Don’t blame this senior for not reminding you; if you are friends with Anyang Chunyuan, you must have a heart that can see through the world. “

“Why?”

“Because—” Li Kong said with a serious face, “He’s just like a cold-blooded snake. If you put him in your arms, he will bite you without hesitation when he wakes up.”

The look in Li Kong’s eyes was so serious and complicated that she couldn’t understand it. She felt that the topic was suddenly a bit grim, so she played dumb and drank water. 

Chunyuan came out of the bedroom at this time, and Li Kong resumed his slanderous self, went up and put his arms around his neck and asked, “Who’s on the phone?”

“Well, the informant called and said she was downstairs.”

“So fast!”

Chunyuan and Li Kong exchanged glances. Before entering the room, Li Kong thoughtfully threw Ye Jiegeng with a self-seeking expression. She only felt strange when she saw Anyang Chunyuan coming over and sitting next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

She was taken aback, her brain slowed down for a minute, and before she could resist, she heard the sound of a keyhole turning at the door.

The moment the door opened, Chunyuan was already holding her face, his lips pressed very accurately on her lips.