Just in Time Chapter 62
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 62 White Sugar
“…That’s pretty much it. Your mother and I only recently heard that Qingbai transferred to No.1 High School. We should have invited Qingbai and your aunt for a meal, but we really couldn’t find the time…Qingbai seems to be a freshman, right?”
The person on the other end of the phone seemed to be confirming with someone nearby, “Oh, oh, first year, Class 10. Qingbai has just arrived, you should take care of him in school, invite him for a meal, you two should bond more.”
Chang Ziqi was not interested in what he heard, and finally said, “Alright, I got it.”
Father Chang probably still remembered the angry question just now, mixed with a bit of grievance, which finally aroused his pitifully scarce paternal love, “Ziqi, after Mom and Dad finish this project in Europe, we will definitely spend some quality time with you.”
Chang Ziqi had heard this promise that would never be fulfilled countless times, and he didn’t take it to heart at all. He responded and then hung up the phone.
Su Qingbai had transferred to No.1 High School, first year, Class 10… He seemed to remember that Yi Chenliang and Yun Fang were also in class 10.
His grandfather’s family was wealthy and had only two daughters. His mother, Chu Dong, married his father, but his aunt, Chu Xia, married a poor clerk at the time.
Su Qingbai was born in the same year as him, two months younger, but for some reason, Chu Xia’s family moved to Beijing. His aunt’s husband turned out to be quite influential, and since then, he only saw Su Qingbai a few times during holidays at his grandfather’s house.
In his memory, his aunt always looked worried and unhappy, while Su Qingbai was always polite and gentle. But he always felt that this cousin was hypocritical, and he didn’t like him, but they could still get along on the surface.
Thinking of this, he picked up his phone and called Su Qingbai.
“Hello?” It was a bit noisy on Su Qingbai’s end.
“You transferred to No.1 High School?” Chang Ziqi asked.
“I just arrived a few days ago. I was thinking of looking for you but was afraid you were too busy.” Su Qingbai always used the adults’ set of hypocrisy to perfection.
Listening to this, Chang Ziqi would rather hear Qi Huo curse “Mind your own business” than this. He politely said, “It’s okay, I’m not too busy. Are you free tonight? I’ll treat you to dinner.”
The noisy sound on Su Qingbai’s end quieted down, “Alright, you decide the place?”
Chang Ziqi mentioned a place.
“Okay, see you in a bit.” Su Qingbai hung up the phone.
Chang Ziqi stared at his phone for a while, but he didn’t get a call back from Qi Huo.
Fine.
In Qi Huo’s view, boyfriends should be ranked after games.
****
Qi Huo played a few rounds of games happily, opened a bottle of soda, picked up his phone, and wanted to invite some friends to go out for a walk. However, he only transferred to Wu City last semester and was not familiar with these people. When he sent out a message, he found it boring, and withdrew the message with a flick of his finger.
It's really so damn boring.
He stayed on the message box for Chang Ziqi for a while and made some deletions.
He couldn't possibly tell I've played enough games and remembered you. Let's go out and make an appointment to get a room, right?
Qi Huo got a bit agitated and scratched his ear, thinking that it's much more troublesome to date a man than a woman. Women, you could say a few sweet nothings, and if it didn’t work out, then take her to watch a movie or buy clothes and bags, shower her with sweet talk, and she would definitely be won over.
But Chang Ziqi was different from the people he had talked to before, and Qi Huo didn't feel like using the same tactics on him.
"Damn, dating is really a damn hassle!" Qi Huo angrily kicked the table, he recalled Yi Chenliang asking him at the school gate today about getting married to Chang Ziqi, and it made him shiver.
“Marry my ass! If I really lived with him, would I still be alive?” Qi Huo grumbled resentfully, “I’m just purely attracted to his good looks…”
Qi Huo was grumbling as he walked out, dialing Yi Chenliang’s number. “Hey, brother Liang, where is your shop? Your brother is coming to support you!”
Yi Chenliang gave him an address, then turned to ask Yun Fang, “Qi Huo wants to come over.”
“Let him.” Yun Fang was bending over to move something, a bit of his waist was exposed, and Yi Chenliang quickly pulled down his clothes to cover it.
“Yun Fang said you can come.” Yi Chenliang casually pinched his waist and replied to Qi Huo on the phone.
“You kid will definitely be henpecked by your wife in the future!” Qi Huo sighed dramatically, “Wait for your brother to rescue you!”
Yi Chenliang hung up the phone and immediately sent a private message to Chang Ziqi.
Yi Chenliang: [Qi Huo wants to come to our shop.]
Chang Ziqi: [Give an address? Coincidentally stop by and take a look.]
It was the first time Yi Chenliang saw someone who could take a detour without knowing where it was, and he silently sent Chang Ziqi an address.
Yun Fang saw the mischievous smile in Yi Chenliang’s eyes and couldn’t help but lean over to take a look, “Letting Chang Ziqi catch someone?”
Yi Chenliang said seriously to Yun Fang, “Qi Huo said you’re not as handsome as Chang Ziqi.”
Yun Fang: “…He needs to be taught a lesson.”
“We’re out of sugar!” Huang Chu had been rummaging around the ingredient table for a while, “Xiao Yi, can you go buy some?”
“Okay.” Yi Chenliang pocketed his phone and went out.
There was a grocery store on the street behind, Yi Chenliang took a shortcut through the alley to get there, there was no one in the grocery store, only a five or six-year-old child.
“Where are your parents?” Yi Chenliang asked.
“Mom went home to get something, she’ll be back soon.” The little boy was playing with an Ultraman in his hand, and asked him in a milky voice, “Big brother, what do you want to buy?”
“A pack of white sugar.” Yi Chenliang took a pack of white sugar from the shelf and put the money on the counter, “Three yuan, count it.”
“One, two, three!” The little boy obediently started counting. After finishing, he looked at him with bright eyes and happily said, “It’s three yuan.”
“Mm.” Yi Chenliang couldn’t resist pinching the child’s face, “Remember to tell your mom when she comes back.”
“Okay~” The little boy sat on the chair, swinging his legs, and nodded happily.
Yi Chenliang took the white sugar and left. As soon as he returned to the store, Yi Chenliang received a call from Qi Huo.
“Where is your store? I’ve been following the navigation for a long time, and it clearly shows that I’ve arrived at the destination.” Qi Huo looked up and around, “Why is it a grocery store?”
“You come out from the alley next to the grocery store, then turn left at the third store, the second floor is a law firm.” Yi Chenliang tilted his head to hold the phone, busy tearing open the packaging bag of white sugar.
“…Okay.” Qi Huo hung up the phone, took a pack of chewing gum from the shelf, “Kid, how much is it?”
The little boy looked at him in confusion, “Let me think, I remember my mom told me.”
Qi Huo didn’t have the patience to wait for him, threw five yuan on the table, “It’s okay, no need to find change, the extra money, from this big brother, is for you to buy candy.”
Qi Huo walked out of the grocery store with long strides, almost bumping into Chang Ziqi, who had a gloomy face.
“Holy sh*t!” Qi Huo stared at him incredulously, “Why are you here?”
Chang Ziqi shook his phone, the navigation address on it was obviously the same as his –also leading to this damn grocery store by the map.
Qi Huo, gritting his teeth, “Good ah, Yi Chenliang, you sold me out!”.
“Why did you hang up my call?” Chang Ziqi didn’t give him a chance to change the subject.
Qi Huo was instantly silenced, “I was…busy.”
“Busy playing games?” Chang Ziqi looked at him with a smile yet not a smile.
Qi Huo felt his hair stand on end under his gaze, and said with a strong front, “Then you should give me some personal space, right? Can’t I even play games?”
Chang Ziqi sighed, “Do you know how many points you scored on your last monthly test?”
Upon hearing him mention grades, Qi Huo turned and walked into the alley, with Chang Ziqi following closely behind.
The night was dark, and neither of them noticed two adult men getting out of a van parked by the roadside.
“I’ll study if I want to, mind your own business!” Qi Huo kicked the wall in anger.
“I just want us to be together in college.” Chang Ziqi said, “I’ll be in my senior year next year.”
Qi Huo choked up, unable to describe how he felt.
Everyone knew how excellent Chang Ziqi was at No.1 High School, and it was almost certain that he would be admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University without any surprises.
But Qi Huo also knew his own level. He didn’t like studying and was very rebellious. Whether he could graduate from high school was an unknown to him.
That’s why he was so annoyed with Chang Ziqi recently.
The gap between him and Chang Ziqi was too big. This was just in high school. When they got to college, and after they graduated from college, they would only drift further apart. They were not from the same world at all.
Qi Huo stopped, looked at Chang Ziqi with a frown and said impatiently, “Don’t think so far ahead, we’re just messing around at most.”
Chang Ziqi was stunned, “What did you say?”
“I said we’re just messing around!” Qi Huo raised his voice, “Once we’ve had enough, we’ll break up and go our separate ways, so stop nagging me all the time!”
“Qi Huo!” There was a hint of anger in Chang Ziqi’s eyes, “What do you mean?”
The two of them were arguing fiercely in the dark alley, completely oblivious to the footsteps gradually approaching.
“Damn it! Can I have enough of playing with you!?” Qi Huo angrily turned around and walked away, but a muffled sound came from behind him.
He quickly turned his head, a dark figure rushed towards him, a severe pain came from his forehead, causing him to lose consciousness completely.
“What should we do with this kid?” Someone spoke in a low voice.
“Tie them both up!” Another person spat impatiently, “If we leave him here and he wakes up, he’ll definitely go to the police. Damn, rich people really know how to play, now two men can get together!”
Each of them carried one person and crawled out of the alley. As a result, a child holding an Ultraman toy was staring at them at the entrance of the alley, “…Ah, big brother who gave a lot of money!”
“Damn!” Someone cursed in a low voice.
A few minutes later, the alley was empty. The plastic Ultraman was crushed under someone’s foot and lay alone on the ground.