Just in Time Chapter 57
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 57 Notes
The streets were quiet at night. Yun Fang was riding a small electric scooter, with Yi Chenliang sitting behind him, one arm around his waist.
The evening breeze was a bit chilly. Yi Chenliang shrank his neck and rested his forehead on Yun Fang’s back.
“Midterms are coming up soon,” Yi Chenliang’s voice came through Yun Fang’s back.
“Hmm.” Yun Fang was looking at the road ahead, but he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.
“Can we continue dating after the exams?” Yi Chenliang asked from behind him.
The surrounding scenery was whizzing by. Yun Fang’s answer was somewhat distorted in the wind. He seemed to have laughed, but Yi Chenliang didn’t hear it clearly.
By the time they reached the bottom of the building, it was almost half past ten at night. Yun Fang, sitting on the small electric scooter, handed the backpack to Yi Chenliang, “Heat up the milk before drinking it, don’t stay up too late doing problems, take a bath and go to bed early.”
Yi Chenliang helped him push his slightly slipping glasses up his nose bridge, and casually messed with his bangs, “You didn’t turn off the light until one o’clock last night.”
“You stayed up that late?” Yun Fang remembered that Yi Chenliang’s window had been dark since eleven o’clock the previous night.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Yi Chenliang said, “I didn’t expect you to stay up so late, you’ve lost weight.”
He pinched Yun Fang’s cheek with a bit of heartache. It wasn’t as soft and tender as before. The contours of his cheeks were gradually becoming more pronounced. Yi Chenliang still remembered his initial impression of him as a fair-faced bookworm. At that time, Yun Fang still had some baby fat on his face.
Yun Fang let him pinch, his eyes curved, “Looking good after losing weight.”
In Yi Chenliang’s eyes, Yun Fang had always looked chubby, as if his face could be poked into a hole. But considering the rather fierce first impression Yun Fang had left on him, and how he had always taken care of him afterwards, plus his constant old-fashioned demeanor in front of Yi Chenliang, Yi Chenliang always had the mistaken impression that he was the older brother.
But looking at him so closely now, he was actually a few months younger than himself, and quite cute.
“Chubbier is cuter,” Yi Chenliang couldn’t help it, he bent down and kissed him on the cheek, after the kiss, he cursed in annoyance, “Ah crap, I forgot.”
He had forgotten that they couldn’t kiss now.
He glanced at Yun Fang nervously, finding that he wasn’t angry. Instead, he was smiling, half of his face buried in the soft scarf, looking so soft that it made him want to bully him.
Yun Fang was sitting on the electric scooter, a bit shorter than him. Yi Chenliang, with his backpack on, leaned over to look at him and asked softly, “Sugar, can we make an exception?”
Yun Fang narrowed his eyes dangerously, “What did you call me?”
Ever since he had been honest with Yi Chenliang, although he hadn’t said it, he was actually a bit scared of him. It wasn’t exactly fear, but rather a mix of reverence for his elders and natural obedience. He was used to letting him make decisions, and for a while, he didn’t even know what to call him, sticking to him awkwardly.
But now, he saw a hint of aggression in Yi Chenliang’s eyes.
The little brat wanted to rebel.
Yi Chenliang didn’t give him a clear answer, he reached up to pull down his scarf, and kissed him without any courtesy.
Yun Fang’s hand was still on the handle of the electric scooter, one leg on the ground. He was almost unable to steady the scooter when he suddenly did that.
Under the cold moonlight, Yi Chenliang could even see Yun Fang’s eyelashes. They were too close, and a thin layer of fog had formed on Yun Fang’s glasses.
Yi Chenliang’s palm was on the back of his neck, their noses touching, their intertwined breaths were especially hot in the cold wind.
“Pretty sweet.” Yi Chenliang turned his head and kissed his face again, laughing mischievously, “Classmate Sugar.”
Yun Fang ground his molars, “I think you’re itching for a beating.”
Yi Chenliang kissed his nose, admitting his mistake quickly, “I was wrong.”
Before Yun Fang’s snicker had ended, he heard Yi Chenliang say cheekily, “But I dare to do it next time.”
“Hurry up and scram.” Yun Fang kicked his leg, saying unhappily, “It’s so cold, aren’t you afraid of freezing your brain?”
“Okay, Sugar.” Yi Chenliang fearlessly pressed a kiss on his lips, and ran upstairs with his backpack.
Yun Fang stared at the dark entrance of the building for a while, pulling up his scarf in frustration to cover his hot ears.
The next day was a math unit quiz.
Ever since Yi Chenliang scored full marks on a test last semester, he had become the new favorite of the math teacher. The teacher always called on him to answer questions and solve problems during class, occasionally gave him extra lessons after class, and often praised him during class.
Of course, Yi Chenliang did not disappoint the math teacher’s expectations. Perhaps he had found the right learning method, or perhaps the math teacher’s favoritism was too much, his math grades skyrocketed, and he could often score full marks. Even if he performed abnormally in the last monthly exam, he still scored 104 in math.
The math teacher’s surname was Xu, who was the young class teacher of the Class 8 next door who was often frustrated. Teacher Xiao Xu was a good young man in his late twenties, who had recently been troubled by hair loss.
“Hurry up and finish, I’ll collect it after class.” Teacher Xiao Xu walked around the classroom with his hands behind his back, “It’s less than a week until the midterms, look at you all, like you haven’t woken up.”
Halfway through his round, Teacher Xiao Xu suddenly asked, “Where is Su Qingbai?”
“He didn’t come this morning.” Shen Zhouzhou, as the math class representative and Su Qingbai’s deskmate, answered with a stiff face, “The head teacher also asked.”
That old Fang will handle it, Mr. Xu nodded, and didn’t continue to ask.
Yi Chenliang and Yun Fang exchanged a glance, then both lowered their heads to do the problems.
****
Su Qingbai was sending a text message, his head bowed.
The tall and handsome young man looked extremely good even when he was silent with a cold face. The nurse holding the medicine box couldn’t help but sneak several glances at him.
“…If she takes her medicine on time, the madam’s health won’t be a major issue.” The family doctor told Su Qingbai, “You should try to console her more often. A good mood can greatly help her recovery.”
“I understand, thank you, Dr. Zheng.” Su Qingbai nodded, “Let Uncle Zhou see you out.”
Dr. Zheng left with the nurse, the butler Zhou went to arrange for a driver, the aunt was making medicine in the kitchen, Su Qingbai put his phone in his pocket, and pushed open the bedroom door to go in.
The woman lying on the bed was beautiful, even with a pale face, she still maintained an elegant and noble demeanor. She was half-closing her eyes and didn’t react when she heard him come in.
“Mom, the doctor said you need to take your medicine on time.” Su Qingbai helped her tuck in the blanket, “Don’t be stubborn.”
Chu Xia opened her eyes to look at him, tears welled up in her eyes as soon as she opened her mouth, “What did your brother say to you, tell me again.”
Su Qingbai pursed his lips, “He said he’s doing quite well now, he doesn’t need us to hypocritically disgust him.”
Chu Xia’s face quickly turned pale, but because she was too emotional, a pathological blush appeared on her cheeks. Her beautiful eyes were full of sorrow, tears welled up, “It’s our fault, it’s all my fault…It’s right that he doesn’t forgive us, he must have suffered a lot…”
“He doesn’t want us to disturb his life.” Su Qingbai gently held her hand, “Mom, let’s go.”
“How can you say that!” Chu Xia threw off his hand, sat up agitatedly from the bed, and started coughing violently because she was too emotional. Su Qingbai handed her a glass of water, but she rudely pushed it away. She grabbed her hair somewhat neurotically, “I’ve been looking for him for sixteen years and finally found him, why should we go…Anyone can say that, but you can’t!”
Chu Xia glared at him hatefully, “You’ve lived a life of luxury in the Su family for seventeen years, your brother, it’s unknown where he’s suffering, how can you be so heartless!?”
Su Qingbai listened numbly to her repeating the words she had said countless times over the years, he lowered his eyes to hide his emotions, and gently persuaded, “Mom, your health is the most important. If we recognize my younger brother now, dad is at a critical moment, it’s very likely that others will use it against him.”
“Don’t mention your dad to me!” Chu Xia screamed, her face smeared with tears, “All he cares about is that damn official position! No matter how high he climbs, he still sent his own son to the orphanage! You and your dad are both cold-blooded, all you care about is yourselves!”
“…I just want to find my son…” Chu Xia covered her face in despair, crying hysterically, “I just want to find my son…”
Su Qingbai stood by the bed, watching her coldly, his voice so soft that it was hard to hear, “Am I not your son?”
The emotionally collapsed woman didn’t hear his words at all, she didn’t know how long it took before she stopped crying, hugging her shoulders and shivering.
Su Qingbai sat on the edge of the bed, holding her in his arms, slowly stroking her hair, “Mom, you still have me.”
Chu Xia seemed to finally come to her senses, she lifted her head to look at Su Qingbai, her eyes red. Her voice, hoarse from screaming, was filled with regret, “I’m sorry, Qingbai, mom didn’t mean to say that about you.”
Su Qingbai smiled gently, “I know.”
“I just…I just want to find your brother so badly.” Chu Xia’s emotions finally calmed down, she tightly held Su Qingbai’s hand, “Mom only has you now, can you help mom? You’re so good, your younger brother will definitely like you!”
Su Qingbai’s smile faded slightly, “I know.”
After calming Chu Xia down and giving her medicine, Su Qingbai let Uncle Zhou take him to school.
Uncle Zhou had watched him grow up since he was a child, and was very fond of him, “The madam sometimes can’t control her emotions, Qingbai, don’t take it to heart.”
“Um, I understand, Uncle Zhou.” Su Qingbai smiled helplessly, “Is my dad coming this Saturday?”
“There’s a meeting in the province on Saturday, and he has to go for an inspection.” Uncle Zhou looked at him through the rearview mirror, “He should come over the weekend, then we can arrange for him to meet the little young master, but it’s not quite appropriate to recognize the little young master at this critical moment.”
Su Qingbai laughed sarcastically when he heard him say ‘little young master’, “My younger brother doesn’t seem to want to.”
“Ah, you should try to persuade him more.” Uncle Zhou sighed, “It’s fate, who would have thought of what happened back then…”
Su Qingbai turned to look out the window.
Everyone was like this, feeling guilty and sorry for his “younger brother” whom they had never met. They told him how difficult it was back then, how things went wrong, and that he must be sensible and make it up to his “ younger brother”.
There was nothing more ridiculous than this.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, but everyone felt that he owed Yi Chenliang.
Why?
When Su Qingbai arrived at school, it was just time to collect the test papers. He stood at the door and looked towards Yi Chenliang’s seat, only to see Yi Chenliang covering someone who was lying on the table with a jacket. Although his face was expressionless, his eyes were full of tenderness.
Su Qingbai frowned unhappily.
Yun Fang had been doing problems until midnight last night, and then concentrated on doing a class test paper. He wasn’t sleepy, just simply tired. He knew that Yi Chenliang was covering him with a jacket, he propped his arm and opened his eyes to look at Yi Chenliang.
Yi Chenliang took his math notebook, reached out and ruffled his hair, “I’ll write the framework for you, you sleep.”
So Yun Fang closed his eyes sleepily, originally thinking of just taking a nap, but he didn’t expect to fall asleep in the noisy classroom.
The sun shining in from the window outside was a bit dazzling, Yi Chenliang tilted his head and stared at Yun Fang for a while, leaning forward, just blocking the sunlight on Yun Fang’s face.
He watched Yun Fang’s slightly furrowed brows relax, smiled, turned his head and started writing notes.