Today, the Foolish Scum Gong Screwed Me Over Again

Chapter 93 - Little Liar x Little Trash (3)

Three months later.

Qin He finally wheedled his way relentlessly into Xia Yuan's home.

Xia Yuan used every excuse in the book from 'there no room here' to 'my house is leaky/the roof fell in/the power/water was cut off'.

All to no avail. Nothing stopped Qin He from wanting to live in Xia Yuan's home.

Just before Xia Yuan was about to open his mouth and lie for the umpteenth time, Qin He pursed his lips and said, "Xia Yuan, I can't stay in my house anymore."

Every decoration inside reminded him of his father and mother, and an endless stream of relatives he had never seen before came to his door. Gripping the door frame, they all reiterated their desire to move in and take care of him.

"Xia Yuan, I don't want to go back to that house."

They had already reached the fork in the road.

Qin He stood in front of Xia Yuan with his bike in hand and his head down. His eyelashes casted long shadows on his cheeks.

Xia Yuan was silent for a moment before slowly shuffling forward and sitting on the back seat of the bike again.

"Go straight and turn right 500 meters ahead."

That's how Qin He ended up moving into Xia Yuan's house.

The reason Xia Yuan never let Qin He go to his house before was just because he felt it was too shabby to look at.

30 square meters was by no means spacious to begin with.

Plus the place was stuffed full with his mother's things to the point where there was hardly any place to stand.

It looked dirty and messy.

When Qin He opened the door and saw this room, he was obviously taken aback.

Xia Yuan felt his ears start to burn. He finally made up his mind to do something he wanted to do a long time ago but never got around to doing.

"Qin He, can you help me tidy up the place?"

Qin He: "Okay."

Actually, the 30-square-meter house looked more crowded than it was because there was three wardrobes full of his mother's clothes and a shoe cabinet stuffed inside.

One of the cabinets blocked the only window in the house.

Which made the entire place seem gloomy and dim.

"Are you throwing out everything inside the wardrobes?"

Xia Yuan  "The empty wardrobe is all we need."

Almost everything inside belonged to his mother.

He burned some of the stuff when she passed away, but there was too much for him to burn everything.

Actually, Xia Yuan didn't want to see these clothes.

After all, most of them were stolen by him.

When Qin He was helping to clean the closet, he noticed something strange.

Brightly coloured women outfits were neatly hung on clothes racks at the top of the wardrobe he was working on.

Yet below were a scant few of Xia Yuan's clothes and school uniforms.

When Qin He took out Xia Yuan's clothes, he discovered a tiny box hidden underneath them.

Qin He was taken aback by what he found inside.

There were three award certificates, two pieces of candy, and a tiny crown inside.

Qin He remembered this crown.

Last semester, he and Xia Yuan starred in the play 'Snow White' together.

At the very end, the prince put a crown on the princess' head and declared her his bride.

But after the play was over, the princess put this crown on the poisoned apple's head for some reason.

The crown was a prop Qin He casually bought at the boutique in front of the school before the play.

Inlaid on it is obviously the cheapest of cheap rhinestones.

But atop Xia Yuan's head, they glittered brilliantly and became peerlessly beautiful.

The sight was so captivating that Qin He couldn't help but recite the prince's lines once more.

"...Take my crown, for you are the only bride for me in this lifetime."

Xia Yuan blinked and said, "Okay."

Qin He was dumbfounded.

Then Xia Yuan tore the crown off his head and stuffed it back in Qin He's hands with a sigh. His expression was filled with sadness. "Little Trash, I didn't know you wanted to be the prince this badly, ah. If there's another chance next time, I'll definitely nominate you to be prince again, okay?"

Qin He was still stunned.

Xia Yuan reached over and manhandled Qin He's cheeks with a smile. "Stop blanking out and change. You need to return the costumes and props, okay?"

Qin He looked at the tiny crown he was holding and pursed his lips.

He stuffed that tiny crown back into Xia Yuan's hands. "This doesn't belong to the props department, I bought it myself. Here, for you."

With that, he turned and headed to the changing room.

Qin He thought that Xia Yuan had thrown this crown away a long time ago.

But it turned out he kept it hidden in this box along with his most treasured awards and candy?

"Did you finish tidying this wardrobe?" Xia Yuan walked over.

Qin He panicked. He put that crown back in the box and closed the lid.

"Y-yeah!" Qin He stood up and turned to look at Xia Yuan, his body stiff and tense.

Xia Yuan walked over and look a look. He frowned. "No you're not. You didn't even take out my treasure chest."

With that, he carefully sidestepped Qin He and carried out the box behind him.

Qin He felt his chest warm for some reason. His tongue was hard to control. "...Your treasure chest?"

"Everything inside is very precious." Xia Yuan murmured quietly. Then he put the box away in one of the other already organized wardrobes.

...Very precious?

Qin He felt his heart start to uncontrollably beat very hard again.

He licked his somewhat dried lips and opened his mouth.

He wanted to ask, 'Xia Yuan, why's the crown I gave you offhandedly in your treasure chest?'

Or, 'Xia Yuan, do you know what this crown symbolizes?'

But his brain seemed to short circuit when he looked at Xia Yuan.

He ended up stumbling out:

"Xia... Xia Yuan, would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Xia Yuan was stunned.

Qin He himself was stunned too....He didn't intend to be so blunt about it.

Xia Yuan blinked and stared at him blankly. "Qin He, is there something wrong with your brain?"

Qin He: "..."

What's done's done. Since he already said it, Qin He had no intentions to take it back.

Instead, he stared right into Xia Yuan's eyes and solemnly declared:

"Xia Yuan, I like you. Would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Xia Yuan froze for a long time before opening his mouth. "I'm a guy."

Qin He: "I know."

Xia Yuan: "...You're a guy too."

Qin He: "So what?"

Xia Yuan frowned and tilted his head at Qin He. "Qin He, are you a pervert?"

Qin He was silent for a while before replying, "I'm not a pervert. I only like you."

"But we're both guys. Guys can't like other guys." Xia Yuan said.

Qin He looked into Xia Yuan's eyes. "Liking a person has nothing to do with their gender."

"Well I don't like you regardless." Xia Yuan quickly blurted out. "So you should stop liking me."

Xia Yuan paused before continuing, "If you say such strange things again, I won't let you stay here anymore."

Qin He felt his heart sink to the bottom of a lake.

His entire body felt cold.

He stood up straight, facing the unusually calm Xia Yuan.

Behind Xia Yuan was a room that was becoming tidy.

Yet Qin He only felt a chill crawling up his legs.

He looked at Xia Yuan's extremely calm and indifferent eyes, and thought to himself:

I just got rejected.

I should storm out and slam the door behind me.

If I've already been rejected and Xia Yuan said he wouldn't ever like me...why should I continue to shamelessly live here?

Then he swallowed dryly.

Turning and squatting down somewhat stiffly, his voice was dry and hoarse like a teenager's sometimes was.

"Let's keep cleaning up. It's about to get dark."

Xia Yuan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

For a moment there...

He was actually very afraid that Qin He would storm out.

The house looked much more spacious after they threw away the excess clothes and wardrobes. Sunlight also streamed in from that now uncovered little window.

Lightning up the entire space.

"We'll also save on electricity this way."

Xia Yuan stood by the window.

He reached out and cupped the sunlight in his palm.

Qin He knew that Xia Yuan lived on a tight budget, so he wanted to go home on the weekend to get some money.

Yet he heard noises coming from within as he stood at the door with key in hand.

His relatives had, at some point, brazenly broke the lock and started living in his home.

They were also planning to wait for him at the school gates tomorrow.

"What if he doesn't want to live with us?"

"He's a minor, what right does he have to refuse? There's nothing he can hope to do with his parents both dead."

"Ge, getting one of the houses his family owns in exchange for raising him isn't too much to ask, right?"

Qin He stood frozen on the doorstep for a while. Clenching the key in his hand, he turned and ran off.

After he returned to Xia Yuan's house, he called his teacher and asked for a week off.

Just in time for summer vacation.

He hid out at Xia Yuan's house like this.

Sometimes, Xia Yuan would coldly ask when he was going to leave.

Yet at other times, he came back with a few ounces of meat and a smile on his face.

"Little Trash, I'll make the preserved egg and minced meat porridge you like today!"

When he drank the porridge, Xia Yuan looked at him with a pair of dark, glittering eyes and asked him expectantly, "Is it good?"

His nod would make Xia Yuan beam again.

Qin He would also often sit with Xia Yuan at his desk and teach him math and physics.

Xia Yuan always listened very attentively, his eyes not even blinking once.

Xia Yuan looked at the math problem solved in two steps before looking up at Qin He with wide eyes. "How are you so good at this, Little Trash?"

Qin He swung his legs somewhat triumphantly. "Still want to kick me out?"

Xia Yuan froze for a moment. Then he turned his head and pretended to be gruff. "O-of course. The sooner you leave the happier I'll be."

...Little Liar.

Qin He pinched his face. "Then I'll never leave so you'll never be happy!"

On his way back from throwing out the trash, Qin He was stopped by an old man he had never seen before.

The old man was in his sixties, but his eyes were as sharp as ever. His meticulous and neat way of dress revealed his privileged way of life.

"Qin He," The old man said, "I'm your grandpa. Will you come home with me?"

Qin He immediately thought of those relatives he had never seen, the bunch who pried open his front door and started to live in his house.

He vigilantly took a step back.

Coldly said he wasn't interested.

And ran away.

Qin He couldn't help but be restless after that encounter.

So he leaned onto the only window in the house and waited for Xia Yuan to come home.

Qin He waited from noon to sunset before Xia Yuan appeared in sight.

However, he wasn't alone.

A girl was hanging off his arm. They walked very slowly, laughing all the while.

Xia Yuan parted ways from the girl in front of a nearby building. Before he left, Xia Yuan took out a tiny crown.

And carefully put it on the girl's head.

On Xia Yuan's way back, the door of that luxury car parked on the side of the road opened up. Qin He saw the old man claiming to be his grandpa step out.

The old man stopped Xia Yuan and said something to him with a kindly expression.

Then he gave Xia Yuan a very thick envelope.

Xia Yuan was taken aback but accepted it.

Qin He's lips trembled before he shut the window.

Then he emotionlessly curled up in the corner.

The envelope was nowhere to be seen when Xia Yuan entered the room.

Qin He looked up. "Xia Yuan, where were you today?"

Xia Yuan opened his backpack and took out two green peppers and a cut of meat. "I went shopping."

Qin He: "...Who did you go with?"

"I went by myself.”

...Liar.

Qin He's voice became hoarse. "...I just saw you talking with an old man.”

Xia Yuan was taken aback for a moment.

He licked his lips as he slowly zipped up his bag.

"...He was asking for directions."

Qin He's height allowed him to see the corner of the envelope in the backpack.

Liar.

Qin He clenched his fists.

They got into an unprecedented argument.

Qin He asked: Xia Yuan, why do you always lie to me?

Xia Yuan coldly replied: I'm like this with everyone. Why should I be honest with you?

People often let anger get the best of themselves when arguing.

And say a lot of harsh things they don't really mean.

In the end, Qin He stormed out and slammed the door behind him, never to return.

Xia Yuan watched Qin He leave with a death grip on his backpack.

He got a text on his phone.

Little Jun's mother thanked him for taking her blind daughter home.

Xia Yuan put his phone aside.

And slowly retrieved that thick envelope from his bag.

...Inside were the documents that strange old man had given him about his biological father.

He stared at this envelope for a long time without opening it.

If his biological father didn't want him, there was no need for him to seek the man out.

But if his father came to find him, he would go with him.

After all, he was all alone once again.

Xia Yuan walked over to the wardrobe and bent down. He found his treasure chest and put the envelope inside.

When he was about to close the treasure chest, Xia Yuan saw that tiny crown.

It was small, intricate, and an exact replica of the one he had picked up for Little Jun when she dropped hers.

...This was the first gift he ever received.

Xia Yuan was still a child then.

He didn't know that argument would precede a ten-year parting.

He also couldn't have known that the youth he angered into storming out would become his most vivid memory and regret for the following decade.

He didn't even know what he had lost at this point.

He could only thump his inexplicably stuffy chest and slowly tidy everything up.

Lying in bed, he pulled the blanket over himself and went to sleep.