Just in Time Chapter 18
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 18: Doing a Problem
Yi Chenliang walked ahead of Yun Fang, who was not in a hurry to catch up with him.
The young man’s figure was still somewhat thin, with a white short-sleeved shirt, black trousers, and a pair of sneakers that had been worn for many years and were now coming apart at the seams. Disappearing into the crowd, it would be difficult to find him.
Yun Fang knew about Yi Chenliang’s moment of hesitation when he took the short-sleeved shirt, his struggle when he took the ice cream, and his carefulness when he paid for the bus fare for him.
Facing the bright and beautiful crowd, a sudden sense of helplessness and escape surged up.
The pride and self-esteem of the young man did not allow him to face these sensitivities and inferiorities, but they would always inadvertently leak out when he was at a loss, making the people who were always watching him feel sour.
So in the end, he didn’t have the heart to drag him to eat lamb skewers, but went into the cheapest noodle shop on the roadside.
Yun Fang wanted to tell him that it was not necessary. When he grew up, even if he spent money like dirt, he would not feel a bit of heartache. He could face money and this moment of embarrassment with great magnanimity. Sometimes self-esteem was not worth mentioning in front of reality.
But he couldn’t say that to Yi Chenliang.
When he was fifteen, he could kneel down and beg for mercy just to eat a meal, but now Yi Chenliang didn’t have to.
Yi Chenliang had Yun Fang.
This sudden thought made him a little happy. Yun Fang looked at his back and smiled. Just then, Yi Chenliang stopped and turned around to wait for him.
Yi Chenliang saw the clean and neat young man standing in the crowd, smiling at him. The noisy and lively crowd suddenly quieted down.
It was as if he was looking at himself through an insurmountable time, through the crowd. The shallow and short smile was full of regret and melancholy.
Yi Chenliang suddenly felt a bit inexplicably sad, so he walked against the crowd and came to Yun Fang.
“I didn’t mean to scold you just now.” Yi Chenliang thought it was because his tone was too harsh just now, and he apologized to him awkwardly, “Let’s go.”
He hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly grabbed Yun Fang’s wrist and pulled him forward.
Like a little wolf that was only good at being arrogant and domineering, he finally learned to show weakness, nudging the other’s palm with his fluffy head.
But it was only once.
Yi Chenliang let go after taking two steps.
Even if it was just grabbing wrists, he felt it was quite sticky between two men.
But even this was enough to pull Yun Fang out of his past gloomy and dark memories. Walking side by side with Yi Chenliang, he suddenly felt that the summer in Wu City was not that long.
“Let’s go to my house to get the homework,” Yun Fang said.
Yun Fang’s house was not far from Wufu Street, they didn’t even need to take a bus, and they arrived after walking for more than ten minutes.
Yi Chenliang originally wanted to wait downstairs, but Yun Fang said, “There’s no one at home, it’s a good chance to cool off.”
Yi Chenliang frowned, “No need, I’ll wait here.”
Yun Fang dragged him into the building, “You don’t mind the heat, I do. Come up, I won’t eat you.”
And so, Yi Chenliang was dragged into his house.
Although Tang Yi didn’t like to cook, she liked to keep the house clean. The house was small but very cozy.
As soon as Yi Chenliang entered the door, he stared at the two dog head pillows.
Yun Fang also stared at the two dog heads for a long time when he first saw them, he laughed, “Aren’t they stupid?”
Yi Chenliang glanced at him, “Like owner, like object.”
Yun Fang was pouring water for him, and upon hearing this, he handed the water cup to him, “Pour it yourself.”
Yi Chenliang was indeed thirsty, the two of them each held a cup and drank for a long time before they felt alive again.
“Come in, I’ll tell you about the homework.” Yun Fang went into the bedroom, and Yi Chenliang also put down his cup and followed.
Yun Fang’s bedroom was clean and cold, which was quite like him, but there was also a strange disharmony. Before Yi Chenliang had time to think carefully, he saw Yun Fang take out a stack of papers from his school bag.
Yi Chenliang’s gaze became vacant in an instant.
He didn’t want to do homework.
Even though he knew that studying was important, it was the only straw he could grasp at the moment, but his inner resistance was so real.
“You can do it here.” Yun Fang saw through his thoughts at a glance.
The brat would definitely not do his homework honestly if he took it home.
Yi Chenliang expressed his refusal, but Yun Fang forcefully pressed him onto the chair in front of the desk. He took a pen from the pen holder and stuffed it into his hand, “Do you want to do English or Math first?”
Out of a strange sense of obedience to the top student, Yi Chenliang, who didn’t want to do anything, blurted out two words, “…Math.”
Yun Fang’s desk was quite spacious, barely enough to seat two people. He moved a slightly taller stool from the living room, pulled the standing fan next to the desk and turned it on, then sat next to Yi Chenliang and started to make up for missed lessons.
The clock in the living room was ticking, the cool wind blew through the sweaty shirt, Yun Fang looked up when he was tired of writing, and could just see the green leaves of the elm money tree outside the window.
Yi Chenliang, who was leaning on the back of the chair next to him, was staring at a problem and calculating, occasionally bumping into his arm.
Yun Fang suddenly felt very quiet in his heart, he lowered his head again, looking at the physics problem that had made him a little irritable just now.
The hour hand turned a circle, Yi Chenliang finished the math test paper, Yun Fang wanted to come over and check the answers with him, and then stuffed him with the English test paper.
Yi Chenliang reluctantly faced the tiny English text on the paper, his expression was even more depressed than when he was doing math.
After Yun Fang finished checking the math answers, he circled a few questions for him with a pencil, and then saw Yi Chenliang’s depressed expression, he couldn’t help but ask, “What don’t you understand?”
“I don’t understand.” Yi Chenliang pointed to a sentence, and read it out stumblingly, “I could have enjoyed loneliness if I hadn’t met you.”
Yun Fang was stunned after hearing this, just as Yi Chenliang looked up at him with eyes full of desire for knowledge, “What does it mean?”
“If I hadn’t met you, I could have enjoyed loneliness.” Yun Fang subconsciously translated the sentence, but his gaze was fixed on Yi Chenliang.
Yi Chenliang felt tense under his gaze, and moved his gaze away somewhat stiffly, pointing to the word and saying, “I don’t understand this ‘loneliness’.”
“It means ‘loneliness’.” Yun Fang looked down at the small word, “Loneliness is a noun, lonely is its adjective, meaning ‘lonely’.”
“Oh.” Yi Chenliang wrote the Chinese meaning on it with a pen, paused and said, “This sentence is quite interesting.”
“Hmm.” Yun Fang pulled over the paper and added the adjective for him, “Continue.”
Yi Chenliang wrote ‘adj. lonely’ on the side, couldn’t help but pinch the pen, and suddenly wanted to talk to Yun Fang, “Why is your nickname Sugar?”
Yun Fang: “…Shut up.”
“Do you like to eat candy?” Yi Chenliang rarely saw him deflate, put down the pen with great interest, “What kind of candy do you like?”
Yun Fang coldly ignored his shining eyes, reached out and pinched his chin to turn his head back, “Do your problem.”
“I don’t understand.” Yi Chenliang said fearlessly, “Classmate Sugar.”
“Yi Chenliang.” Yun Fang lowered his voice, “Are you trying to rebel?”
Yi Chenliang took the opportunity to fight back, grabbed his hand to pry him open, and teased, “What’s wrong with Sugar, it’s so sweet–hey hey don’t pinch my wound!”
“I think you’re asking for a beating!” Yun Fang put one arm around his neck and pressed him on the table, raising his eyebrows, “Call me brother.”
Yi Chenliang struggled several times without breaking free, and laughed a little breathlessly, “Sugar, how can you be angry out of shame?”
Yun Fang was both angry and amused, “Get lost.”
“Cousin?” A surprised voice suddenly appeared behind the two, “What are you doing?”
The two were having a great time and didn’t notice someone coming in, and they were startled.
Yun Fang let go of Yi Chenliang and stood up straight. Yi Chenliang almost jumped up from the table, “Damn, who’s talking!”
Sun Yuan stood at the door and looked at Yun Fang with a smile, “I was wondering why you ran away after eating half of it, so that’s why.”
Yun Fang straightened his slightly messy collar and said leisurely, “I thought knocking on the door when entering someone else’s room was basic manners.”
Sun Yuan was choked by him, but laughed instead of getting angry, and his gaze fell on Yi Chenliang, “Cousin, didn’t you like Song Cun? How come…”
Sun Yuan left his words half-finished, looking at Yi Chenliang with a meaningful look, “Changed your taste?”