Chapter 41 (2/2)

After a ht withthe 'the to He still held his chopsticks, unsure what to do But even an idiot could tell that the atht, so he put down his chopsticks and said, ”I' anywhere We're bros, so how can I leave at this ti to fear We'll meet them head on, and we have Old Xie here who can take seven of them”

If this were a different scenario, He Zhao would have patted his shoulder and said, ”You call him Old Xie, too?”

But He Zhao only said, ”Head-onto do with you Leave now”

”Bros?” Ji-ge laughed The word seeerated; he clutched his sto time He raised one hand to wipe tears from his eyes and said, ”…Little friend, you treat hie's best at?”

As Ji-ge spoke, his words slowed and eventually he paused for several seconds before saying, ”He's best at stabbing his bros in the back”

He Zhao said nothing

Or it could be said that the whole restaurant suddenly fell into an inexplicable silence

The two stood face to face Clearly, so had happened here—a lot had happened here and it looked quite exciting Even Shen Jie couldn't help trying to iine: how had He Zhao stabbed his bro in the back?

Xie Yu leaned against the wall, looking on as if watching a show Then Shen Jie heard Old Xie—Old Xie who had negative interest in gossip and who could take seven on in one go—say lazily, ”Don't spout rubbish I don't want to hear it Do you want to go one by one or all at once?”

Ji-ge: ”……”

So the fight happened after all Xie Yu's skill at provoking others was top notch

No one was sure who flipped the table first, but the dishes and the beer bottles all shattered on the ground

Xie Yu fought with a chair Seeing that Shen Jie was surrounded by three people, he finished off his side of things in a fes and let go of the chair, which crashed into the ground with a bang Then he kicked it over and it rammed into the three people's calves

This lot was terrible No challenge at all Only the girl a them was a little troublesome—he couldn't touch her, and on top of that he had to worry about accidentally injuring her

The restaurant's lady boss had dared open her shop near Dian Ji so she was clearly familiar with the ways of the world She didn't turn a hair as she continued pressing keys on her calculator by the counter, starting to tally up how much she would need to ask of thee went one-on-one At first, He Zhao was clearly holding back and didn't retaliate, but Ji-ge was not about to let hi his frustration, each of his bloas fiercer than the last

He Zhao didn't have the patience of a saint, either, and even he was a little annoyed after several rounds ”Are you done?”

Ji-ge said so only the two of them could hear, and then He Zhao went all out with his fists

”You're a dae took a fist to the stoht hiful ”…You're in Erzhong now?”

He Zhao's retaliatory punch seeth fro for attention in hisat his te tio”

On the way back, no one spoke

Xie Yu really had no interest in this matter… or it shouldn't be said that he had zero interest If He Zhao illing to explain, then he would listen If it were anyone else, he probably wouldn't even hear them out

Xie Yu suddenly realized that He Zhao had become an exception to him at sooodbye and broke the silence He waved to theo back You be careful on the way home”

”And your injuries?” He Zhao stuck his hands in his pockets as he stood under the streetlight ”…How are you going to explain to your et home?”

Shen Jie touched the sht I'll say I fell”

He Zhao took his hand out of his pocket and waved back ”Go home And be careful”

Xie Yu stared at He Zhao's face in profile, a little dazed

He Zhao was clearly e about whether Shen Jie would get yelled at when he got ho self-study was about to end so there was no point going back to class If they got caught they'd even get repriht back to the dor, He Zhao suddenly said, ”I'm sorry”

”Sorry for what?”

”Just, today's dinner” He Zhao scratched his head ”How it turned out”

By the tiot to his room door, he seemed to have calmed down to his normal state, and even smiled as he told his little friend to rest early

Xie Yu asked hiht?”

At Xie Yu's words, He Zhao was stunned for a moment, then he said, ”Ah, I'm fine”

It sounded like the truth

If Xie Yu hadn't gotten up in the o to the toilet and seen He Zhao sitting in the stairwell sht even have believed it

The handso between his fingers When he took a drag, the light at the end of the cigarette suddenly flared, dancing in the darkness

The hts in the stairwell hadn't cohts from the corridor

Then the handsome devil looked down and slowly exhaled a mouthful of sarette was half gone he stubbed it out and prepared to get up When he looked up, he saw his cold little friend standing in the stairwell entrance

Translation notes:

[1] The 'Ji' in 'Ji-ge' is the second syllable in laji, the word for 'trash'