Chapter 17
Zhou Rui felt a bit neglected, as no one called him and he woke up on his own.
After getting up, he did something reckless. He bought a temporary tattoo sleeve and spent some time in the bathroom applying it. The end result was a bit crooked, which was especially disgusting because it didn\'t even wrap around his arm completely. Was his arm too muscular for it?
He looked at himself in the mirror from different angles. After a while, he thought it didn\'t look too bad. The blank space was under his armpit, so it wouldn\'t be visible unless he raised his arm.
As someone who usually didn\'t do any physical work, he took out wet wipes and tissue paper to clean the mirror.
Then he changed into a short-sleeved shirt and started taking selfies in front of the mirror, with the focus on his arm.
He was very satisfied. The photo didn\'t show that the tattoo was crooked, and he looked very cool and confident. It had an indescribable aura of dominance and wildness.
Just as he was admiring himself, he heard the sound of the door opening. He immediately turned off the bathroom light and sat on the sofa in the living room, pretending to be calm and composed, as if he had been sitting there all along, playing with his phone.
Casually, as if it were a normal occurrence, Chai Meicen arrived while shopping for groceries, and she called Hou RanXi to ask if she should bring any ingredients. The two of them met up at the market.
Chai Meicen, a girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen, was accompanied by a handsome man in a well-fitted suit. This kind of pairing was not commonly seen at the market.
After finishing their shopping, they returned together, with Hou RanXi carrying most of the items.
Chai Meicen used her fingerprint to open the door and told Zhou Rui, "Come help us carry the stuff inside."
Zhou Rui didn\'t move. "I\'m halfway through my game."
Chai Meicen didn\'t say anything more. She changed her shoes and carried the vegetables to the kitchen. On the way, she noticed Zhou Rui\'s arm.
She stopped in her tracks and stared at the tattoo on Zhou Rui\'s arm.
Hou RanXi came in later and saw the tattoo on Zhou Rui\'s arm. He chuckled and carried the items into the kitchen.
Soon after, he came out and carried the items Chai Meicen was holding into the kitchen as well.
When he came out again, he noticed that Chai Meicen was still staring at Zhou Rui, giving him an almost deathly gaze. He didn\'t say anything either. He took off his suit jacket, skillfully put on an apron, and went into the kitchen to wash the vegetables.
At first, Zhou Rui tried to act calm and continued playing with his phone.
After a while, being stared at by Chai Meicen made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and changed his posture.
They maintained this standoff for a good three minutes.
Chai Meicen still didn\'t say a word, nor did she show any anger. She just kept staring at him. Finally, he couldn\'t bear it any longer and confessed, "It\'s a temporary tattoo. It\'ll be gone after I take a shower."
Chai Meicen still didn\'t say anything. She walked straight into the bathroom.
Zhou Rui quickly put down his phone and let out a sigh of relief. He slumped onto the sofa, muttering to himself, "If my mom\'s glare could kill, I would have died a dozen times just now."
"Why did you tease her?" Hou RanXi asked as he entered the kitchen doorway.
"Just wanted to test her reaction, who knew it would turn out like this? Didn\'t you see? She didn\'t react at all."
"If it\'s a fresh tattoo, there would be red inflammation marks around the edges, but your arm is perfectly clean. It\'s obviously fake."
"Do you think my mom noticed?" Zhou Rui asked curiously.
"Probably not, otherwise she wouldn\'t be so angry."
"How is it that two people of the same age can have such a big difference in intelligence?"
"She\'s talented in other aspects." Hou RanXi always praised Chai Meicen.
While they were talking, Chai Meicen came out of the bathroom holding a bath towel in her hand. She walked quickly over to Zhou Rui and rubbed his arm forcefully.
The rub was accurate and painful since Zhou Rui hadn\'t wet the tattoo. He yelled in pain, quickly pulled his arm back, and jumped away, hiding in the room. "It\'s just a temporary tattoo!"
"What kind of nonsense is this? You wasted my time!" Chai Meicen was furious, chasing Zhou Rui to remove his tattoo.
"Hou Uncle! My mom is hitting people! She\'s hitting good people!" Zhou Rui immediately hid behind Hou RanXi.
"She\'s hitting you because you\'re always up to something. You do all sorts of things every day and even got a fake tattoo. Why don\'t you get a big gold chain tattooed on your neck? It might make you look a bit wealthier." Chai Meicen\'s cheeks turned red from anger as she chased after Zhou Rui, intending to rub off his tattoo.
Hou RanXi quickly stepped in to stop Chai Meicen. Seeing that Chai Meicen couldn\'t calm down, he pulled her by the armpit and took her to the kitchen.
Chai Meicen kicked and even threw a slipper, which happened to hit Zhou Rui\'s back.
"Alright, he was just playing around and didn\'t do anything wrong. Besides, Zhou Rui is such a good kid, only you would dare to hit him." Hou RanXi placed Chai Meicen near the balcony door, patting her head to calm her down.
"Bring him in!" Chai Meicen shouted at the top of her lungs.
Zhou Rui didn\'t go into the kitchen, but he threw the slipper inside.
Hou RanXi went to fetch the slipper, crouched down, and helped Chai Meicen put it on. He said, "Alright, let\'s hurry up and cook. With so many dishes, it\'ll probably take until after one o\'clock to eat."
"I\'m a fast cook. You just watch." Chai Meicen finally let Zhou Rui go and put on another apron to start cooking.
Hou RanXi stayed in the kitchen and assisted her.
Zhou Rui was also a capable person. After being scolded, he recovered in just over half an hour.
He soon walked into the kitchen, hanging around. Sometimes he would eat a slice of ham sausage, sometimes a slice of cucumber. He asked Hou RanXi, "Did you buy aspic?"
"Yes, I bought it for you."
"Did you buy duck blood?"
"I didn\'t buy that. Didn\'t you burn your mouth last time?"
Zhou Rui immediately became displeased. "Last time was when I was ten years old. I\'m sixteen now."
"Then I\'ll buy it next time," Hou RanXi promised again.
"Get out!" Chai Meicen turned around and said to Zhou Rui.
Zhou Rui was about to make a cheeky remark, but when he saw Chai Meicen holding a knife, he obediently went outside.
After a while, Hou RanXi came out holding a small plate of ham sausages and placed it in front of Zhou Rui.
"Do you want any fruit? I\'ll wash one for you," Hou RanXi asked.
"Do you have watermelon?"
"I bought some."
"Give me half, and just one spoon." Zhou Rui took a bite of his hot dog and said.
Hou RanXi nodded and quickly brought it out. Then she went back to the kitchen to help again.
Zhou Rui sat on the sofa, eating watermelon and connecting his phone to the projector to watch a movie.
Lunch wasn\'t served until one o\'clock, and at that time, Hou RanXi was just trying to persuade Chai Meicen not to have a conflict with Zhou Rui.
After finishing lunch, Zhou Rui brought a selfie stick and sat between Hou RanXi and Chai Meicen. "Come on, let\'s take a family photo."
Chai Meicen slapped Zhou Rui\'s arm and said, "Don\'t let your arm stick out!"
"It looks good, but you ruined it," Zhou Rui said reluctantly.
Hou RanXi smiled gently at the camera, while Zhou Rui made funny faces.
When Chai Meicen looked at the camera, she smiled too, but it was obvious that her smile was forced. Fortunately, she was beautiful, so it made up for everything.
After dinner, the three of them watched a movie together, and then Zhou Rui and Hou RanXi took a nap in Zhou Rui\'s room.
Chai Meicen couldn\'t sit still and kept tidying up the room.
Hou RanXi had a dream.
In the dream, he was always following behind Chai Meicen.
Chai Meicen had a cheerful personality, always smiling and talking to her sister. She looked extremely happy.
He didn\'t dare to get too close, but he kept staring at Chai Meicen.
She looked beautiful when she smiled, and he couldn\'t take his eyes off her.
His heart started beating irregularly, and he didn\'t know when it had started, but his heartbeat was now controlled by Chai Meicen.
So he began to chase after Chai Meicen\'s footsteps, and they both got into the same junior high school and high school.
Everything changed in his first year of high school when he saw another person appear by Chai Meicen\'s side.
That boy was tall and slender, with unnaturally fair skin.
He stood under a tree, looking up at the teaching building. The wind gently blew his hair, and Hou RanXi could see the handsome profile of the boy, even the contours of his ears were attractive.
Upstairs, Chai Meicen was leaning on the windowsill, looking down. She had a beautiful smile that was only for that boy.
"He\'s so handsome, the demon of our school. It probably took centuries to cultivate such a fairy-like creature. Otherwise, how could he be so good-looking? Chai Meicen pursued him for two years and tried every method before finally getting him..."
He remembered what his sister had said.
He just stood there, feeling like his heart had been exposed to the wind, shivering.
He was in a panic, wanting to grasp something but unable to. Nothing belonged to him, so he could only reach out and try to hold on to something...
Chai Meicen bent down and stared at Hou RanXi, wanting to see if it was uncomfortable for him to sleep in a shirt. It seemed like his chest was really tight.
If she had known, she would have found a shirt belonging to Zhou Rui for him to wear.
Noticing that Hou RanXi seemed to have had a nightmare, she reached out and poked his arm, only to have her hand grabbed by Hou RanXi.
She was taken aback and saw Hou RanXi open his eyes and look at her.
Hou RanXi had slight myopia, not too severe, but he felt more comfortable wearing glasses. When he didn\'t wear glasses, he would squint slightly, and he looked the same when he looked at Chai Meicen.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Chai Meicen asked.
Hou RanXi hadn\'t fully awakened yet and casually replied, "Dreamt about you."
Meanwhile, Zhou Rui, lying beside them, turned over with a swift movement, facing away from the two of them. It seemed like he was pretending to be asleep, pretending not to hear anything, giving them the freedom to continue without worrying about him.
By this time, Hou RanXi had fully regained his senses. He quickly let go of Chai Meicen and sat up, explaining in a low voice, "I dreamt about the past, and also about my sister."
"How about... you go back and see them?" Chai Meicen asked.
"Forget it, I won\'t easily forgive anyone," Hou RanXi replied, standing up and taking a sip of water from the side.
He wouldn\'t easily forgive anyone, and likewise, he wouldn\'t easily fall in love with anyone or easily give up on someone.
It started drizzling on Monday.
The rain wasn\'t heavy, but it was enough to be annoying as it fell consistently throughout the day.
Zhou Rui stood at the entrance of the teaching building with his hands in his pockets, watching the rain curtain and contemplating whether he should brave the rain and go to the comprehensive education building.
At this moment, a boy walked up to him and stood by his side, turning his head to look at him and asking, "Where are you going?"
Zhou Rui\'s first thought was, "Oh, his voice sounds nice."
When he turned his head, he saw Zhang Ruchen and immediately rolled his eyes.
"To the comprehensive education building," Zhou Rui replied.
"I\'m going there too. Let\'s go together," Zhang Ruchen said, opening his own umbrella. Zhou Rui glanced at it and saw that it had a design of a little yellow character.
"No need, I\'ll run over in a bit," Zhou Rui said.
Zhang Ruchen turned his head to look at Zhou Rui.
Zhou Rui was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and his tattooed arm was still visible, showing a large section of it.
He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Won\'t your tattoo fade when it gets wet in the rain?"
"Nonsense, it won\'t!" Zhou Rui replied stubbornly.
"Why is there a lighter patch in the middle, did it fade?" Zhang Ruchen pointed to the middle of the tattoo.
That part had been scrubbed vigorously by Chai Meicen with a bath towel, so the color had lightened in that area.
"You don\'t understand, that\'s called a highlight."
"Oh..." Zhang Ruchen couldn\'t help but laugh in response. He walked a few steps with his umbrella and then turned back to look at Zhou Rui. "You really don\'t have to go together."
Zhou Rui hesitated for a moment but still ended up standing under Zhang Ruchen\'s umbrella. He took the umbrella away from Zhang Ruchen and held it himself, placing one hand on Zhang Ruchen\'s shoulder and said, "You\'re too short, it\'s more comfortable for me to hold it."
"Oh, it doesn\'t matter," Zhang Ruchen sidestepped and avoided Zhou Rui\'s hand.
Zhou Rui clung to him like a plaster and refused to let go. He pulled him closer and said, "Come closer, don\'t make it seem like I\'m bullying you. Let\'s go, pick up the pace."
Zhang Ruchen was dragged by Zhou Rui and they ran towards the comprehensive education building. When they reached the bottom of the building, Zhang Ruchen pulled up his pants and checked his shoes, which had been slightly dampened by the rain.
Zhou Rui closed the umbrella and handed it to Zhang Ruchen. "Thanks."
After saying that, he walked inside.
Zhang Ruchen followed closely behind, and the two of them climbed the stairs, one after the other. Just as Zhang Ruchen reached the second-floor landing, he heard Zhou Rui mutter, "Damn it!"
Curious, he looked over and witnessed a spectacular scene, catching a glimpse of Chai Meicen inside the classroom.
The second floor of the Comprehensive Education Building housed the dance studio, which had a rather unique design. From the outside, it appeared as a large glass wall, allowing a view of the dancers practicing inside.
However, inside the classroom, there was a mirrored wall, enabling dancers to observe their own movements.
The placement of this classroom here had a bit of a showcase vibe to it.
Due to this intriguing design, a crowd had gathered to watch.
When Zhou Rui had come here in the past, there weren\'t many students watching, and most of them were girls.
But this time, a large group of people had assembled, with more boys than before, some even recording the scene with their phones.
"Wow, Chai Meicen is really cute."
"She looks especially pure."
"My goddess should be like her."
"She dances so well, learning the routine after just one lesson. She became the lead dancer in no time."
Zhou Rui had known that Chai Meicen used to dance in public squares, but he hadn\'t expected her to pick up formal dance so quickly.
While other students struggled with complex dance moves, needing the steps broken down for them, Chai Meicen effortlessly followed along after watching a demonstration only twice.
Previously, Chai Meicen\'s public square dance moves had been quite stylish, and now she was learning the formal style with great finesse.
Standing behind the crowd, Zhou Rui observed how Chai Meicen\'s aura had completely changed when she danced.
She looked quite handsome, occasionally speaking to those around her, smiling sweetly—a sight that was almost unreal.
He quietly took out his phone and recorded the scene, sending a video of Chai Meicen dancing to Hou RanXi.
Zhou Rui: "She\'s amazing."
Zhou Rui: [Video]
Hou RanXi: "Be nice."
Zhou Rui: "If you don\'t chase after her, someone else will."
Hou RanXi: "Are you okay with being called \'Dad\' by someone your own age?"
Zhou Rui\'s mind instantly filled with memories of the movie "Goodbye Mr. Loser." He immediately found the idea absurd.
Zhou Rui: "Definitely not."
Hou RanXi: "I believe you."
Looking at his phone, Zhou Rui felt that Hou RanXi was going too far. He only knew how to provoke him instead of making an effort himself.
Alright, Hou RanXi had successfully provoked him. Zhou Rui wouldn\'t allow such a thing to happen, so he cleared his throat and asked, "Is she good-looking?"
"She\'s pretty good-looking." No one realized that the person who had asked the question was Zhou Rui, and someone instinctively responded.
Zhou Rui was furious. He knocked on the door and entered the dance studio, startling the girls inside.
However, some of them were secretly excited, as they rarely had the chance to see Zhou Rui up close.
Zhou Rui ignored them and walked up to the one-way mirror, giving himself a thumbs-up in front of the mirror.
There was an instant silence outside the classroom.
The girls inside the classroom had no idea what had happened. Someone opened the door to take a look and saw a group of boys dispersing from the entrance, creating quite a spectacle.
"There was a group of people outside the classroom just now," Zhuo Wen Qian, who also studied dance, asked in astonishment.
Jiahua School had many extracurricular classes, and some students would skip their classes for a break. This group of people was clearly skipping class.
"It\'s alright," Zhou Rui replied.
"Eww... disgusting," Zhuo Wen Qian couldn\'t help but complain.
Chai Meicen walked over and asked Zhou Rui, "Are you also here to learn dancing?"
"Impossible. I have classes today too. I\'m going to learn bass later," Zhou Rui said as he walked outside the classroom. After some thought, he pulled Chai Meicen to a corner of the classroom.
Chai Meicen was taken aback and asked, "What\'s wrong?"
"If a younger boy tries to talk to you, just flick him off. If a younger boy asks for your WeChat, scold him. Got it?" Zhou Rui instructed.
Chai Meicen never imagined that one day Zhou Rui would give her such advice.
Seeing Zhou Rui\'s serious expression, she couldn\'t help but burst into laughter and couldn\'t stop for a while.
Zhou Rui was annoyed and reminded her, "Can you be more serious? I\'m talking about something important!"
"Why would I flirt with younger boys? Having one more son like you is enough of a headache for me."
Zhou Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief. Yeah, who would like a guy who could be their own son?
Soon, Chai Meicen added, "Besides, I never had the intention of finding a father for you."
"Poor Uncle Hou," Zhou Rui suddenly felt sorry for him.
"I\'ve told you so many times, we\'re both outcasts, relying on each other for survival. We only have such a good relationship because we\'ve been together for so long. If there were any romantic feelings, it would have happened long ago."
After Chai Meicen finished speaking, she saw that the others had started again, so she immediately joined the group.
Zhou Rui watched Chai Meicen practicing dancing and sighed. He walked out of the classroom and saw Zhang Ruchen standing at the entrance of the dance studio.
"You\'ve been here all this time," Zhou Rui asked him.
"Ah... Where is Room 218?" Zhang Ruchen asked.
"Just turn around and go through the glass corridor, then turn right," Zhou Rui answered.
"Can you take me there? I\'m completely lost."
Zhou Rui nodded. He didn\'t want to refuse after being helped before, so he walked over and led Zhang Ruchen.
After Zhang Ruchen found the classroom, he suddenly smiled and thanked Zhou Rui, "Thank you."
"You\'re good at studying, but you\'re terrible with directions," Zhou Rui teased.
Zhang Ruchen didn\'t mind and continued to smile, "That\'s why I don\'t have dreams of traveling the world."
"Yeah, you have a dream of going to Harvard."
"You remember my speech very well."
"I didn\'t remember, I just remembered Harvard. It\'s earth-shattering and shocking. Alright, I\'m leaving."
"Okay, bye."
Author\'s Note: Zhou Rui sarcastically mocked Hou RanXi, saying, "Your way of speaking is truly an art of language..."
This book does not have any **cp. The main theme is about how a mother would react if she found out her son was in a relationship early on or if she misunderstood her son to be gay...
Bromance! It\'s bromance!
Repeat after me: Bro! Romance!
If you find it cute, let\'s keep it a secret. Let\'s not argue over this.
There will be a chapter in the early morning. Sweetie, if you sleep on time, you can read two chapters at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
So... where\'s the nutrient solution?!
50 random red envelopes in the comments.