Ch72 - Competition (2/2)
“Your neck looks sunburned.” Zhou Sheng glanced at Yu Hao, “Your skin will definitely peel off tomorrow, come over and wash it.”
Yu Hao said, “I’ll wash it when I get back ba. Hurry, go and get your prize.”
“Get what prize……come over to Laozi……”
Zhou Sheng pressed Yu Hao down and rinsed him with water.
Yu Hao kept shouting, and the two of them got water all over themselves outside the bathroom. The organising committee had already come over to summon Zhou Sheng, so Zhou Sheng threw his helmet and glasses to Yu Hao and smiled as he went to collect his prize. In contrast, the champion was alone as he stood quietly. When he bowed to receive the medal, Yu Hao took the lead in whistling, followed by the whistles and applause of the entire class.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Zhou Sheng smiled and gave Yu Hao a thumbs up. When it was his turn to go on stage, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
“Woah fuck, those good looks can practically kill the whole crowd in seconds.”
Yu Hao overheard a comment made in private.
Late at night, everyone went down the mountain and entered a small stir-fry shop. This shop didn’t have many seats, and it only served a range of stir-fries. Zhou Sheng treated everyone to dinner. Chen Yekai and Huang Ting had an appointment with the plaintiff’s lawyer, so they had to take their leave in advance. Zhou Sheng led the bubbling group of locusts that rushed in, and they completely occupied the shop within an instant.
“What does everyone wanna eat? The menu’s on the wall, look for yourselves ba.” The boss glanced over and saw that there were so many people who came in, so he hurriedly put on his reading glasses and took out a notebook to take orders.
“Fry up this whole wall!” The pack of wolves instantly cheered.
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Zhou Sheng roared angrily, “Yes! Fry up this whole wall!”
Yu Hao was laughing really hard. Fu Liqun went to open a bottle, and everyone in the shop began to drink. However, Zhou Sheng had been thrown to one side and sat in a corner. He and Yu Hao looked at each other, and within this lively world, only the two of them remained as they sat opposite each other. Zhou Sheng hunched over slightly as he sat, looking just like a monkey, and only smiled when he looked at Yu Hao.
“Australia.” Zhou Sheng held his phone and showed Yu Hao the content of his chat. The organising committee requested that Zhou Sheng fill in the names, and Zhou Sheng filled in his and Yu Hao’s ID information and names.
Yu Hao smiled, “I really didn’t expect that you would get second place!”
“The first place’s bike is too good.” Zhou Sheng smiled, “If I rode that bike I would’ve been faster than him, forget it.”
Yu Hao didn’t know why but he was momentarily at a loss for words. He wanted to praise Zhou Sheng for being way too handsome today, so much so that he was even shining, yet he was too embarrassed to say it. Shortly afterwards, the boss served the dishes, and Zhou Sheng encouraged everyone to eat up. The group of people from the sports class were like wolves and tigers. Yu Hao was suffering from heatstroke and didn’t have much of an appetite. He poured some alcohol for Zhou Sheng, who said, “Drink less and eat more. This boss is my Dad’s Shige, the taste of his dishes is superb.”
Yu Hao was a bit surprised. He wanted to eat more, but firstly he was too excited, and secondly he had stood under the sun the whole day and didn’t have much of an appetite. After awhile, Cen Shan was the first to come over. She was holding a beer and rubbed Zhou Sheng’s head, “You did pretty well today, sis-in-law has stuff to do so I have to leave first. Cheers to the both of you.”
Yu Hao quickly held up a glass with Zhou Sheng and drank it. Cen Shan said goodbye to the rest before she left. Fu Liqun sent her out to the car and said to the crowd, “Wait till I get back before you guys start drinking! Open up some white wine!”
After filling up his stomach, Yu Hao once again realised that this group of people could drink as much as bandits; those who drank beer only did so because they were thirsty, and they all began drinking white wine from 7pm onwards. At the start, he thought that they had neglected Zhou Sheng, but it turns out that everyone was just hungry, and once they were sated, they began making Zhou Sheng drink. After they made him drink a few cups, they made Yu Hao drink too. Not only did they make the two of them drink, they were all forcing their own dormitory mates to drink as well. Zhou Sheng asked Yu Hao not to get drunk, and when Yu Hao got any drinks he would take it. Yu Hao didn’t let him drink too much; he was afraid that after today’s high-intensity race, drinking would badly affect his heart.
After a while, Fu Liqun came back and roared angrily, “Gege wasn’t around! And you guys dared to sneak away?! Come? Ai that……Yu Hao take a drink for me, I need to mentally prep myself first.”
“Get lost!”
Fu Liqun began to display his strength as fresh reinforcements and managed to drink for nearly an hour. In the end, the crowd was so drunk that they collapsed everywhere and cheered loudly for Yu Hao to sing. Yu Hao was a bit tipsy, though his mind was still sober, so he asked Zhou Sheng to choose a song.
Zhou Sheng, “Sing one yourself, I’ll choose the next one.”
“Then——let’s go ba, who knows what’s ahead——”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
“Then——let’s go ba, the scenery there is the same.” Yu Hao laughed as he sang.
Yu Hao started directly from the chorus, and the whole restaurant fell silent once he began to sing. The guests sitting outside all turned around at the same time, and even the boss moved a chair out from the kitchen to sit down and listen. Meanwhile, Zhou Sheng earnestly chose the accompaniment from his phone and found《Drown One’s Sorrows》.
Once the accompaniment started, along with the dim sunlight in the pub, the revolving green electric fans, the scent of summer grass, the moonlight in the sky, and the slight intoxication from the wine, it seemed even more ethereal, as if everyone had fallen into a dream for a moment.
“Cheers to the morning sun, cheers to the moonlight, wake up my yearning, turn the cold windows gentle.”
When he sang part of the chorus, everyone actually sang along with Yu Hao; half of them sounded desolate while the other sounded rueful as they all began singing in unison. It was as if there was an inconceivable depth of indescribable melancholy within these 20-year-olds. The last moments of their youth was about to end, just like the gentle breeze in this summer night. It silently penetrated their restless souls, assaulting their senses before brushing past their face.
After the song ended, there was silence.
“The last song.” Zhou Sheng said in the silence, “After we finish this glass, let’s disperse for the night ba.”
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“Good flowers don’t bloom often——beautiful sceneries don’t appear often——” Yu Hao sang again. When he sings, his eyebrows would raise slightly. He grinned as he looked at Zhou Sheng. Fu Liqun then played an accompaniment.
When it ended, the crowd bumped their glasses against one another and they all said, “See you next term.”
“See you next term——”
Zhou Sheng’s money was all with Yu Hao, so he motioned for Yu Hao to settle the bill. Yu Hao used his phone to pay: 26 people, 7 tables, including all the alcohol, and the total came up to 920. The boss even rounded it off for Yu Hao and only charged them 900; this was really too cheap.
“See you next term lo!”
Yu Hao was very glad to bid farewell to the rest. From now on, Zhou Sheng was his.
Fu Liqun, Yu Hao, and Zhou Sheng walked together, “See you again when school reopens lo.”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Zhou Sheng, “Why are you following us?”
Fu Liqun said, baffled, “To return to the dormitory ah, otherwise where would I stay?”
Zhou Sheng, “Aren’t you gonna get a room with your wife!”
Fu Liqun, “Are you blind?! Didn’t you see her leave long ago, where would I go to get one? I only brought a 1,000 with me when I left, and I spent it all on treating them to coffee and ice cream.”
Yu Hao exploded when he heard this, “The ice cream was that expensive?! Are you crazy?!”
“Let’s go ba let’s go.” Fu Liqun was drunk too. He asked, “Can you walk? Do you guys want Gege to carry you back?”
At 11pm in the evening, the three of them arrived at the foot of their dormitory building. Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun stood as they sang《A Little Happiness》. As Yu Hao watched, he thought they looked funny but he still earnestly directed them. After they sang for awhile they got scolded by the 7th floor; Zhou Sheng wanted to go up to pick a fight, and Fu Liqun quickly said ‘never mind, never mind’, then rested his arm around Yu Hao and flipped onto the second floor to return to their dormitory.
“Ai! We’re finally back!” Yu Hao’s head was spinning; his tipsiness hadn’t faded yet.
Fu Liqun waved his hand, “Don’t mix drinks next time.”
Zhou Sheng collapsed into a chair, “Kaikai and Huang Ting ran away pretty quickly, I wanted to get him drunk today.”
Fu Liqun dry retched a few times but didn’t vomit. He drank some water and gargled, then turned around, “He’s afraid that we wouldn’t be able to drink to our heart’s content if he was around, so he found an excuse to leave first.”
“How could the light of a firefly compete with the light from the sun and moon!” Zhou Sheng laid on his chair with legs spread, looking just like a huge crab. He kicked away a stool with one leg, “Yu Hao am I right?!”
Yu Hao, “I didn’t understand.” As he spoke, he took a wet towel and folded it before handing it to Zhou Sheng.
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“Un?” Zhou Sheng opened his eyes to look at Yu Hao. His eyes were a little red from being drunk.
Yu Hao said, “Place it over your eyes, they’re red.”
Zhou Sheng lifted his hand and pointed at his eyes, then laughed. Yu Hao folded the towel, “Close your eyes.” Then he placed it on his eyes.
Fu Liqun lit up a cigarette. Yu Hao said, “Why did you start smoking too?”
Fu Liqun said, “Just one.”
“Yu Hao, you ah——” Zhou Sheng said slowly with his eyes blindfolded.
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“What about me again?” Yu Hao asked.
Fu Liqun laughed.
Zhou Sheng stopped talking. Yu Hao asked, “Fell asleep?” He turned around to look at Fu Liqun, then looked at Zhou Sheng again with question marks all over his head. Fu Liqun placed one foot over his other knee and looked down at his watch.
Zhou Sheng suddenly said, “Yu Hao you’re a Sagittarius ba? I remember that.”
Yu Hao, “Yeah.”
“Sagittarius.” Zhou Sheng said, “Un, a womanizer.”
Yu Hao, “Un, not as family-oriented as you Cancers, okay okay.” As he spoke, he patted Zhou Sheng again.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Zhou Sheng said, “I’ll give you the medal~ do you like it?”
Yu Hao, “I like it.”
Zhou Sheng, “Then that’s good.”
It was Yu Hao’s first time seeing Zhou Sheng this drunk, and he was on the verge of laughing himself to death. Fu Liqun teased, “Why don’t I have one? You’re too biased!”
Zhou Sheng said, blindfolded, “Or you can talk it over with Yu Hao? Yu Hao, do you want to give it to him?”
Fu Liqun, “He gets Australia and the medal too! Why?! I won’t accept it!”
Zhou Sheng said, “Then I’ll give you everything next time?”
Fu Liqun immediately said, “Then please do!”
Yu Hao was on the brink of madness from laughing. Zhou Sheng uttered another “un”. Fu Liqun continued, “That’s more like it.” As he spoke, he took out a lighter and motioned to Yu Hao.
Zhou Sheng waited for a while. The electric fan in the dormitory stopped, and he said, “Yu Hao, have you recorded the song for me? Where’s the song?”
No one answered. Within the silence, Zhou Sheng waited for awhile longer, “What’s going on?”
There was still no answer. Zhou Sheng removed the cloth covering his eyes. In the darkness, Fu Liqun held a birthday cake with candles all over it, and stood in front of Zhou Sheng with Yu Hao, the light illuminating their entire dormitory.