Chapter 80.2 – Avoidance
“Happiness in this world isn’t interlinked.”
Translated by: DMlations/Zryuu
Edited by: Amelea, FistFullOfDollars and Juurensha
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Ou Qihang took out a lighter, lit it, and raised his hand in front of Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng casually patted him, “Thanks.” He then turned around and sat on the other bench beside them.
Yu Hao was about to introduce Zhou Sheng to Ou Qihang when Ou Qihang glanced warily at the nearby Zhou Sheng and said,
“I’m leaving.”
Yu Hao got up, “I’ll send you out.”
Yet Ou Qihang waved his hand at Yu Hao. He mounted his bike that was parked on the roadside and cycled away.
“I’ll remember you! Yu Hao!” Ou Qihang looked back and shouted at Yu Hao.
“Watch out!’ Zhou Sheng leaned back on the bench, draped his arms on the back of the bench and put one foot over his other knee as he said, “Don’t run into someone!”
Yu Hao, “……”
Zhou Sheng turned his head to the side and smiled at Yu Hao.
“What do you want to eat tonight?” Zhou Sheng asked.
“In a good mood now?” Yu Hao said.
Zhou Sheng pinched the cigarette between his fingers and carefully studied Yu Hao, “Why do I feel like I’ve seen that kid somewhere before?”
Yu Hao observed Zhou Sheng and didn’t say anything.
“I think I hurt him.” Yu Hao said, “I’m a little upset, Zhou Sheng.”
Zhou Sheng didn’t say anything. The look in his eyes was familiar to Yu Hao; his gaze seemed slightly hesitant, but Yu Hao had never really been able to understand Zhou Sheng’s expressions. The two of them looked at each other in silence for a moment, before a shout suddenly travelled over from the dormitory above.
“Zhou Sheng! Your girlfriend’s here to look for you!’
Yu Hao, “……”
Zhou Sheng, “………………”
The voice came from the sixth floor, from Zhou Sheng’s class. That shout had triggered a small-scale disturbance. Zhou Sheng looked bewildered, then comprehension suddenly dawned upon him. He got up in annoyance and walked quickly to the courtyard in front of the dormitory building.
Yu Hao frowned slightly as he followed Zhou Sheng. When they reached the roadside in front of the dormitory building, they saw two girls who were chatting and laughing as they waited for someone. Zhou Sheng shouted, “Huang Jinya!”
“I was searching for your dorm.” That girl turned around, and her eyes lit up as she smiled.
Yu Hao stood waiting for Zhou Sheng to introduce them, but Zhou Sheng didn’t motion for to say hello and just went straight up to ask, “Why did you come all the way to my college? How do you know I live here?”
Huang Jinya smiled, “I was just passing by. Your Dad said that you stayed in this building, and I ended up looking for you for half a day.”
The girl standing beside Huang Jinya was tall, slim with shoulder-length hair and was extremely beautiful. She was smiling, but her gaze seemed extremely sharp as she cast a glance at Yu Hao. She was different from Jinya. The tall girl was very beautiful and aggressive, and she was carrying a paper bag of desserts.
“Go back first.” Zhou Sheng said to Yu Hao.
Yu Hao turned around and went upstairs. There were a lot of guys upstairs who had so much free time that mushrooms were beginning to grow on them. About 70% of students had returned to school today and were all restless in the first place; coupled with how Zhou Sheng was an influential figure here and had managed to find such a beautiful girlfriend, how could they resist cheering and causing a ruckus? Half of the dormitory immediately rushed out and leaned over the railings to look downstairs while whistling and knocking Coke bottles.
Yu Hao went up to the fifth floor. The boys in front of the building were lined up in a row as they looked down, with Xia Lei at the front. The rest were mostly classmates with Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun, but this group was unusually quiet. They only whispered a few comments to one another as they curiously looked on.
“This is the real Young Madam?” A classmate was a bit confused.
Xia Lei saw Yu Hao and whistled to him.
Yu Hao joined them and leaned over the railing. He saw Zhou Sheng say a few words to those two girls before turning around and leading them out of the dormitory area, walking along the outside lane.
Yu Hao smiled, “That’s the Young Madam.”
At that moment, everyone laughed. Fu Liqun had just gone down to pick up the pizza and stood behind Yu Hao to watch for awhile.
Another said, “The other is Bei Xiaozhou ba? It’s her!”
“She’s so much better looking than in her stream!”
“Woah fuck, we actually saw her in person!”
“Who?” Yu Hao wondered, “Who’s Bei Xiaozhou?”
“A popular star online who has more than 2 million fans.” Fu Liqun answered.
“A female goddess!”
“Ask Young Master to introduce us……”
“Yu Hao.” Fu Liqun said, “Pizza’s here, let’s go back ba.”
Zhou Sheng and the two girls disappeared from the public’s sight. Yu Hao followed Fu Liqun back to the dormitory, and strangely enough, he was neither upset nor angry right now. What replaced it was instead an unusual calmness. It was as if a surging undercurrent had silently receded, leaving behind a lonely reef that stood upright between the heavens and the earth, right where it should be.
“I need to take some medication.” Yu Hao said, “My head’s starting to hurt again.”
Yu Hao ate two slices of pizza, took his medication, and went to sleep. Fu Liqun said, “Maybe it’s better you don’t go tomorrow ba?”
Yu Hao didn’t respond. He turned around and lay quietly facing the wall. He could sense that the girl definitely likes Zhou Sheng; he could tell from her eyes and suddenly without reason, he once again recalled what the shop assistant had said to him at the beginning of the year when he was working as a barista. Eyes really are the window to one’s soul. When he saw Zhou Sheng, his gaze, expression, and smile would all light up at once, as if he was watching sunlight illuminate the whole world.
Ai……
Yu Hao felt dizzy and didn’t know how long he lay there before he heard someone walk past outside. That person turned on the tap and sang loudly. Fu Liqun was on the phone with Cen Shan, while their neighbours opposite were playing games and shouting unbridledly……just like what someone had said before, happiness in this world isn’t interlinked, and Yu Hao could only feel that they were being overly noisy.
After some time passed, Yu Hao began to sweat. Through his muddled consciousness, he thought it would be alright tomorrow after he took a nap, but he shouldn’t sit on the roller coaster too often because he might puke……
“You’re back?” Fu Liqun’s voice rang out.
Zhou Sheng replied, “Sent them away, annoying. Why’s he asleep again? Does he feel better?”
Yu Hao didn’t want to move and didn’t want to talk either. He felt Zhou Sheng climb up the ladder and test his forehead temperature with the back of his slightly cool hand to make sure that he didn’t have a fever.
“Wanna eat the cake? They brought it.”
“Food handed out in contemptuous pity, give it to the dorm opposite ba.”
“You’re really something aren’t you? You can stomach all of Kaikai’s cakes, but you won’t eat the ones from girls?”
“I was about to starve to death those few months, did I have any other choice?”
“……”
“Have you eaten yet? Here, pizza.”
Yu Hao heard Zhou Sheng open the pizza box and a bottle of coke. There was still a lot of shouting outside, as well as someone’s off-tune singing. Zhou Sheng opened the door and went out, then knocked on all the doors of the surrounding dormitories before it turned quiet.
Thank goodness. Yu Hao finally felt a little better.
“Did you buy the tickets for tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
“Huang Jinya said that she wants to go too.”
“Oh, why? Yu Hao’s not going.”
“I didn’t say that.” Yu Hao turned over.
Zhou Sheng suddenly became motionless. He looked up at Yu Hao and asked after a moment, “Does your head still hurt? Are you cold?’
Yu Hao remained silent. Zhou Sheng said, “I got you this.” He tore open a Hello Kitty heating pad as he spoke and handed it to Yu Hao. Yu Hao looked at it; it was something that girls used, he didn’t need to think deeply to know where it came from. He didn’t take it and threw it down, where it smashed onto Fu Liqun’s head with a “pa”. Fu Liqun was caught off guard and immediately shouted.
“Assassin! Assassin! Guards! Someone’s trying to murder Zhen!”
Zhou Sheng was wearing long-sleeved sportswear and had his hands in his pockets. He stood quietly on the ground and looked up at Yu Hao.
“Then sleep a little longer ba.” Zhou Sheng said, “Being sick feels uncomfortable, right?”
Yu Hao ignored him. Zhou Sheng continued, “Call me whenever if you feel uncomfortable later. I won’t go anywhere tonight.”
Yu Hao turned to the side, curled up under his blanket and closed his eyes. Zhou Sheng walked below his bunk and pulled the desk drawer open. The Golden Crow Wheel was inside. After he pondered for a moment, he didn’t take it out in the end and instead locked the drawer.