Chapter Seven

After the start of the school year, Cheng Xiangbei and Lu Nan's relationship remained platonic.

Lu Nan didn't take that so-called kiss to heart at all.

Poor Cheng Xiangbei lost sleep for two days over this, tossing and turning in his thoughts. Lu Nan, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten that such a thing had ever happened, eating and sleeping as usual, living a very carefree life.

Cheng Xiangbei looked at Lu Nan with a complicated expression. The guy was lying on the bed reading comics, looking very relaxed. The slight ripple in his heart had long been blocked by Lu Nan's nonchalance, and finally, he was calm and still. Actually... there's nothing wrong with boys kissing each other, right?

Feeling foolish for dwelling on that kiss for so long, she decided it was more important to focus on her studies. Anyway, Lu Nan was still sleeping next to her; there was plenty of time.

The school organized a spring outing to a nearby place to admire the peach blossoms.

For the residents of the small town, the peach blossoms have become so commonplace that they're tired of seeing them, let alone admiring them. But for the students who have been confined for half a month, being able to get some fresh air is still a blessing.

Ever since the homeroom teacher announced the date of the spring outing, Lu Nan had been counting down the days on his fingers, even asking Cheng Xiangbei to prepare the supplies. Cheng Xiangbei was both amused and exasperated, saying, "What's there to prepare? Just bring two bags of snacks and two bottles of water." "Huh? Is it that simple?" Lu Nan's ears drooped in disappointment. "What else do you want?" Cheng Xiangbei laughed. Lu Nan pulled out a comic book, pointing to a scene under cherry blossom trees, with blankets spread out around, surrounded by food, laughing, and drinking, and said pitifully, "Isn't that what a spring outing is like?" Cheng Xiangbei patted his head reassuringly, saying, "Nan Nan, you can read comics, but try not to daydream too much."

With her illusions shattered, Lu Nan's curiosity was severely dampened.

But whether it fails or not, the spring outing has begun.

After the school bell rang, the homeroom teacher lined up the students in front of the teaching building.

The students chatted and laughed, looking around as they waited for the bus to arrive.

Half an hour later, the bus still hadn't arrived. Everyone was getting impatient and asked the homeroom teacher when the bus would come. Some even complained about how tiring it was to stand. The homeroom teacher paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, remaining silent.

The complaints grew louder and louder. The homeroom teacher stopped, calmly glanced at her watch—it was exactly nine o'clock. "Alright, everyone's here. We can go!"

The students were dumbfounded and asked, "How do we get there without a car?"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you we were going to hike?" Someone widened their eyes, looking utterly innocent.

Immediately, cries of agony filled the air, and even more people cursed inwardly! This was a serious violation of human rights! Protest! Protest! Helpless, the teacher's face darkened, his eyes widened, and he invoked the school as a powerful backer. The group of disadvantaged elementary school students had no choice but to obediently follow orders and march out in neat steps—on their spring outing!

When we first stepped out of the gate, the line was very orderly, but it became more and more scattered as we walked.

The teacher suddenly produced a bicycle from somewhere and started shouting at everyone to keep in formation, moving back and forth between them. Damn it! Who cares about him!

Lu Nan stumbled along with the group, sweat beading on his forehead. They'd been walking for almost an hour and hadn't seen a single peach blossom. This was ridiculous! The people of the small town went to see the peach blossoms nearby almost every year, and Lu Nan was a frequent visitor, but he'd never felt the road was so long. He wiped the sweat from his brow and asked, "Tiger, is this the right road?"

Cheng Xiangbei took a bottle of water out of his backpack and offered it to him to moisten his throat, saying, "The road is right. Have you forgotten that our house is to the north and the school is to the south? We have to cross the city to get there..."

Lu Nan took the water and was about to gulp it down when Cheng Xiangbei quickly stopped him. "Don't drink it all at once, just moisten your throat."

"Shut up!" he said impatiently, but slowed down his pace, took a couple of sips, and handed the bottle back to Cheng Xiangbei. Zhou Pu, who was leading the group, saw that Cheng Xiangbei was only concerned with Lu Nan and wasn't helping him maintain order. "Boss, you can't just keep looking after Lu Nan! Go to the front and take care of your classmates!"

"Zhou Baosi! You're meddling way too much!" Lu Nan said weakly, tugging at Cheng Xiangbei's sleeve.

Zhou Pu protested, shouting, "Don't call me by that nickname! You've made my whole family call me that!"

"Isn't that great! Her smile is enough to captivate a nation," Cheng Xiangbei said with a smile.

"Nonsense! They're ordering steamed buns!"

As we chatted and laughed, the journey seemed to shorten.

Even so, the group still walked for more than an hour.

Upon reaching their destination, they all collapsed to the ground, unable to move. Old Bancha, perched atop his bicycle, looked down at them and said, "Look at you! We told you to exercise, but you wouldn't. Now we've seen what you're made of!"

Lin Xiaotian sat on the ground, glaring, and said, "Teacher, we are not mules or horses, we are human beings!"

"Yes! Living people, oppressed people, people who dare to resist even when oppressed!" Someone immediately stood up to support them.

The teacher crossed his arms and laughed, "I didn't say you weren't human! Does any of you think you're not human?" His roundabout way of putting it only fueled the students' disdain, and they angrily retorted, "Teacher, you can't play games with people like this!"

"Who's playing tricks on you?" The teacher shook his finger and said seriously, "I'm talking to you very seriously!"

"Pah!" Everyone collectively scoffed and turned their faces away.

Lu Nan was very tired from walking, so she leaned against Cheng Xiangbei's back to rest.

The laughter and chatter of his classmates and teacher echoed through the air, but he ignored them with his eyes closed, only feeling the vibrations of Cheng Xiangbei's laughter. A gentle breeze carried the faint scent of peach blossoms. Occasionally, a delicate pink petal brushed against his cheek, soft and tender, before he could catch it, it was carried away by the wind. Cheng Xiangbei seemed to have grown taller; leaning against his back felt very comfortable, and the sunlight filtered through the blossoms onto his face, very warm. Lu Nan smiled, almost falling asleep.

"Nannan?" Cheng Xiangbei called softly.

"Um?"

"Don't fall asleep, it's chilly now, be careful not to catch a cold." As a childhood friend, Cheng Xiangbei knew Lu Nan's habits perfectly well.

"No, it won't." She shifted to a more comfortable position and continued sunbathing.

To make him more comfortable, Cheng Xiangbei deliberately bent over, watching his classmates play in an odd posture. Some people had already taken out their cameras to take pictures, and others were secretly sticking flowers in their teacher's butt. Lin Xiaotian sidled up to him, squatted down opposite him, and said obsequiously, "Hey boss, got anything to eat?"

"You didn't bring it?" This guy clearly stuffed his pockets full before he left.

Lin Xiaotian scratched his head sheepishly. "Hehe, I ate it all on the way."

"You pig!" He pulled out a bag of cookies and threw it at her.

"Boss, you're being unfair! Why isn't there any chocolate?!" Lin Xiaotian cried indignantly, clutching the bear-shaped biscuits. Everyone knows the boss is good to Lu Nan, giving her designer chocolates while giving him these two-yuan bear-shaped biscuits! Don't be so biased!

Cheng Xiangbei rummaged through his backpack and laughed, "There are only two chocolates, not enough for Nannan."

Lin Xiaotian lunged forward to snatch it, and Cheng Xiangbei, caught off guard, had one snatched away. Cheng Xiangbei tried to grab it back, and his sudden movement startled Lu Nan, who had just fallen asleep.

"What's wrong?" Lu Nan looked groggily as Lin Xiaotian stuffed something into his mouth, and the packaging that came out looked familiar. He opened his eyes wide and finally realized that it was the packaging of his own special chocolate! "Ouch! My chocolate!" It was his lifeline, and ignoring Cheng Xiangbei's hand that was trying to stop him, Lu Nan pounced forward and pounced on Lin Xiaotian.

"Give it back!" The hand grabbed Lin Xiaotian's neck, but Lin Xiaotian shook his head violently.

"Ugh... ugh..." He spit it out after eating it! Cheng Xiangbei felt something was wrong when he saw Lu Nan pounce on Lin Xiaotian, and hurriedly tried to pull him up. But as soon as he touched Lu Nan's collar, he realized something was wrong! The person who regarded chocolate as her second life used the same trick again and pressed her lips to Lin Xiaotian's mouth!

"Ah! □!" A female student nearby screamed in alarm!

The students who were playing and admiring the flowers quickly turned around to look, only to find that Lu Nan, the "Great Immortal," was lying on the ground forcibly kissing a male classmate! Shocking! Unbelievable! Male homosexuality is rampant in the class, and they actually did such a shameful thing in broad daylight! The boys whistled and booed, while the girls covered their faces in embarrassment and peeked through their hands.

Cheng Xiangbei angrily lifted Lu Nan off Lin Xiaotian. "Nan Nan, what are you doing!"

"Mmm..." Lu Nan's tongue had barely touched the edge of the chocolate when Cheng Xiangbei pulled it away. She exclaimed, "He stole my chocolate!" Cheng Xiangbei retorted angrily, "So what if he ate it? Why did you kiss him?!"

"Who kissed him! He's so ugly, how could I possibly kiss him!"

Lin Xiaotian was initially stunned by Lu Nan, but upon hearing Lu Nan's slander, he immediately jumped up and said, "Who's ugly?! It's just a chocolate! Is it worth snatching it with your mouth?!"

"That's top-quality chocolate that Dongdong gave me!" Lu Nan grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. "You've ruined it all!"

"Damn it! You're enjoying it, but I'm wasting it!" Lin Xiaotian spat. "What kind of premium chocolate is this? It's so bitter!"

The two continued their bickering and twirling, while Cheng Xiangbei, frustrated by what had just happened, squatted to the side in silence. Their teacher, who had come excitedly to see the live spectacle, found his two beloved students engaged in a tug-of-war more childish than three-year-olds. The topic was so trivial it was practically worthless.

Cheng Xiangbei's expression turned ugly the moment Lu Nan "forcefully kissed" Lin Xiaotian.

Lunch was the dry food everyone brought themselves. Cheng Xiangbei took out Lu Nan's portion and handed it to him, but he didn't eat anything himself. Seeing that he wasn't eating or drinking and looked very strange, Lu Nan quickly asked, "Tiger, what's wrong?"

Cheng Xiangbei remained silent, tracing circles on the mineral water bottle with his finger. Lu Nan then pulled out a piece of bread and handed it to Cheng Xiangbei, saying, "Tiger, don't refuse to eat. You still have to walk back to school this afternoon!" Cheng Xiangbei stared at the bread for a long time before finally taking it and eating it in large bites, as if he had a grudge against bread.

After the food-grabbing blunder, Lu Nan's image in the hearts of the comrades rose to a whole new level, shining brightly from the top, while the masses could only stand at the foot of the mountain and look up in awe. Especially Lin Xiaotian, ever since experiencing Lu Nan's steamy and indecent assault, he was laughed at wherever he went, so embarrassed that he couldn't lift his head for a long time.

In the peach blossom grove, pink blossoms filled the sky.

After the students had eaten and drunk their fill, they played tag. Only Cheng Xiangbei remained sullen. Lu Nan asked him what was wrong, but Cheng Xiangbei just shook his head and remained silent. Zhou Pu watched them from afar, somewhat understanding, but ultimately unable to speak of it. It wasn't until the teacher blew the whistle to call everyone back to their lines that Cheng Xiangbei lazily stood up. He stood with Zhou Pu at the front to count the number of students, no longer lurking at the back of the line like he had in the morning.

Lu Nan was completely baffled by Cheng Xiangbei's behavior and had no choice but to follow the group back.

The return journey was different from the way there; it took a small detour, passing a small pond along the way. Peach blossoms dotted the banks, and green grass swayed gently around the pond, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. Everyone walked along, admiring the scenery. Lu Nan was closest to the roadside, walking all the way to the pond. The water was clear and sparkling, dotted with petals, and Lu Nan couldn't help but take a few more glances at it.

"Lu Nan, come back quickly!" Several companions urged, as Lu Nan had fallen to the back of the group.

"Hmm!" Lu Nan was about to turn around when she spotted a fish about half a foot long surfacing. "Ah! A fish!" Without thinking, Lu Nan instinctively reached for it!

"Lu Nan!" His companion, who had just called him back to the group, immediately shouted! Several people ran to the pond and saw Lu Nan already leaning into the water. They couldn't help but yell, "Lu Nan has fallen into the water!"

Cheng Xiangbei paused, then immediately turned and ran! He ran fast, reaching the pond in a few steps. He saw several people jumping around by the pond, and Lu Nan splashing in the water. His heart tightened, and without thinking twice, he jumped in! As soon as he jumped in, he realized something was wrong—his foot landed on the ground.

Cheng Xiangbei quickly pulled Lu Nan up, and when they stood up straight, the water was only above their knees. The people on the shore also stopped jumping around. The two groups looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally someone couldn't take it anymore and cried out, "Master Lu, what are you doing?!"