Chapter 26 P-Ascension
After a moment of silence, Xing Yu spoke: "Didn't you want to keep drawing? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"
Chu Beiling raised an eyebrow and asked in return, "Can't you keep drawing animation forever?"
Xing Yu paused for a moment, sprinkled salt on the ribs again, and was just about to speak.
Young Master Chu pointed at the ribs and asked, "Did you just sprinkle salt on them?"
"..." Xing Yu stared at the ribs, which were probably too salty, and felt a momentary heart attack. However, the ribs were not important now. Composing himself, he returned to his indifferent and rational demeanor: "It's not worth giving up a career as a painter because of a fight with me."
Chu Beiling met his deep, icy gaze: "What's worth it? Are you questioning your own choice to make animation? If you can, why can't I?"
Xing Yu was taken aback. Chu Beiling always managed to say something surprising, giving him completely different reactions and answers.
He sighed helplessly, "Chu Fanfan, don't do it for my sake—"
After a long pause, Xing Yu finally uttered the second half of his sentence in a detached and almost indifferent manner: "Give up your ideals and choices."
His habitually aloof and cold words instantly pulled Chu Beiling into the world of drifting snow he was in, and he empathized with Xing Yu's coldness and unstoppable loneliness.
“I haven’t given up.” Chu Beiling’s gaze was focused and sincere: “You are my ideal and my belief.”
The stainless steel spatula fell to the ground with a "thud." Xing Yu bent down, picked it up, and rinsed it under the tap. "What did you just say?"
Chu Beiling took a few steps, looked at his profile, and repeated what she had just said: "You are my ideal and my belief."
He wanted to keep painting, but he didn't think it was his ideal. He never even thought about becoming a designer or a professional painter.
His goal and guiding star has always been Xing Yu, ever since he was a child. He competes with him and wants to surpass him. For the past fifteen years, his life has been all about painting and chasing after Xing Yu.
Xing Yu was like a lone boat adrift on a dark sea, accompanied only by the water and with only Grandma Chen as a temporary anchor. He had no one to rely on.
He had been following in Xing Yu's footsteps across the vast ocean. He could chase after him before, and now he could find him and stay with him forever.
Xing Yu stared straight at Chu Beiling, his eyes filled with a surging and complex shock.
Chu Beiling smiled, her eyes crinkling to reveal two sharp canine teeth: "Shall I join you?"
Xing Yu's throat tightened, and he stared at him intently, not missing a single detail.
After a long silence, he asked again, "Are you really going to follow me forever?"
"I'll always follow you." Chu Beiling nodded, her long eyelashes fluttering, her amber eyes filled with a burning flame.
Xing Yu's lips curved slightly, and his dark eyes shone with a glint of light; he was smiling.
There was a faint smell of caramel in the air, and Chu Beiling quickly pointed to the pot next to him: "The sweet and sour pork ribs are going to burn."
Xing Yu snapped out of his daze and quickly turned off the heat, taking the sweet and sour pork ribs out of the pot.
Chu Beiling glanced at the vinegar-braised pork ribs: "Is it still edible?"
"It's edible, not burnt." Xing Yu said, handing him a pair of chopsticks: "Try it."
"Then I won't be polite." Chu Beiling took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of pork rib, stuffed it into her mouth, and then looked up at him: "It's delicious."
Xing Yu looked at his bright amber eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
When Chu Beiling left Grandma Chen's house after dinner, she was in the stairwell preparing to go home. Before leaving, she specifically asked Xing Yu when he would be returning to school the next day.
Xing Yu: "After lunch."
Chu Beiling: "Remember to come and call me, we'll go back together."
Uncle Zhao is away on a business trip. For the past few weeks, they have been taking the subway to and from school by themselves. They were lucky for the first two weeks and could run into him when they went out. Otherwise, with Xing Yu being such a slippery eel, where would they catch him if he got away?
Xing Yu agreed.
Before going downstairs, Chu Beiling emphasized to him again, "Don't forget, or the school will definitely hold you accountable."
"I won't forget it." Xing Yu saw that Chu Beiling kept looking back and her attention was completely off the road, so she reminded her, "Watch where you're going, don't fall."
"Don't worry, I won't fall. I'm as fast as lightning. One flight of stairs is a piece of cake for me." As soon as Young Master Chu finished speaking, he missed a step and fell flat on his face on the landing.
Xing Yu: "..."
Chu Beiling quickly stood up, dusted himself off, mechanically turned around, looked at Xing Yu standing on the stairs, looking down at him helplessly, and gave him an awkward smile: "My mistake, my mistake."
The next day, after lunch, the two boys who had been abandoned by their parents went back to school together.
The subway line 1 heading to West Lake was already packed to the brim, and with the weekend and the weather being perfect, it was even more overcrowded. Xing Yu and Chu Beiling barely made it to Cultural Square before squeezing off the subway and transferring to line 3 to return to Liuxia.
At midday, Line 3 was not as crowded as Line 1, and they finally found empty seats to sit down.
"Give me your hand." Chu Beiling gestured with her chin at him.
Xing Yu didn't understand, but he did as he was told. Chu Beiling took out two fruit candies from her pocket and put them in his hand, then waved her hands back and forth as if she was grabbing them, sending him heart emojis: "biubiu, Brother Yu remembered to call me today, so here are two candies as a reward."
"I'm not a child anymore." Xing Yu put away the fruit candy and touched his index finger.
Chu Beiling stopped what she was doing, blinked at him, and demanded matter-of-factly, "Then you'll reward me next time."
"You have the nerve to bring that up." Xing Yu's voice was somewhat deep, his tone slow and leisurely, with a hint of barely perceptible amusement.
When the subway arrived at Liuxia, Xing Yu got up and walked out. Chu Beiling picked up her schoolbag and caught up with him, asking with a smile, "Brother Yu, is it okay?"
"Shut up," Xing Yu coldly stopped him.
Chu Beiling refused to shut up. The more he was told to shut up, the more excited he became, chasing after Xing Yu and calling him "Brother Yu" repeatedly.
Xing Yu walked faster and faster, his gentle smile melting in the sunlight.
Everyone knows that the two school heartthrobs have been getting along better lately, and those who wanted to see Chu Beiling and Xing Yu fight have been disappointed.
"Little Prince Fanfan, aren't you leaving?" Xue Ziang came to Chu Beiling's seat and patted his hand.
While waiting for Xing Yu to pass the time by painting, Chu Beiling was completely focused on the painting and did not notice someone walking up to him. Suddenly, someone slapped him, causing his hand to tremble and paint to spread a long strip across the canvas, ruining his entire painting.
Young Master Chu hated it most when people touched his hand while he was painting, and his painting was ruined. His face immediately turned cold: "What is it?"
Xue Ziang chuckled dryly: "get out of class is over, why aren't you back in the dorm waiting for Xing Yu?"
Although Chu Beiling was impatient and angry, he still maintained the proper politeness and responded softly.
Xue Ziang: "Prince Fanfan and Xing Yu's relationship is getting better and better!"
"What's wrong?" Chu Beiling stared at the screen without even looking up, thinking about how to fix it so that it wouldn't look abrupt.
"As the class monitor, of course I hope that the relationships between classmates will get better and better," Xue Ziang said.
Chu Beiling said earnestly, "Don't worry, squad leader, you won't have to worry about that anymore."
"..."
Xue Ziang failed to achieve his goal and instead shot himself in the foot, nearly choking on his own words.
But he couldn't say anything more, so he could only awkwardly laugh and continue to agree with him.
Xing Yu, who had just returned from the office, called out at the classroom door. Chu Beiling looked up, saw Xing Yu, immediately packed her things, and walked towards him.
Before leaving, Chu Beiling turned back and asked Xue Ziang, "Squad leader, are you relieved now? Xing Yu and I are very concerned."
After saying that, he and Xing Yu disappeared around the corner.
"Fuck it." Xue Ziang kicked the stool and cursed under his breath.
Chu Beiling naturally possessed an eye for beauty, and this ability to perceive beauty was even stronger the better his mood was.
In just a few days, his sketchbook increased by several pages, twice as many as usual.
When I woke up on Friday morning, the whole campus was filled with the faint fragrance of osmanthus. Looking up, I saw that the osmanthus trees on the school's Osmanthus Avenue were in bloom. Before I knew it, autumn had arrived.
The last class in the morning was taught by Wang Caiyan. She likes to go over time, and it never ends in less than 20 minutes. After finishing her class today, she went over the test paper from the previous night's quiz.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, only the leftovers of a few unpopular dishes remained, making them inedible.
When Young Master Chu saw that, his face turned green, and he said to Xing Yu and the other two, "You guys eat, I'm not eating."
Xu Tunan called out to Chu Beiling, who was about to leave, and suggested, "Why don't you go to the first canteen? The food there isn't as good as the second canteen, but at least it can fill your stomach."
"Forget it." Young Master Chu didn't want to eat at the cafeteria even more; even if he went there now, there would probably only be leftovers.
Xu Tunan had just finished getting his food when he turned around and saw that Xing Yu had also left: "Hey, why did you all leave? Even though it was leftovers, it was still pretty good, right?"
Moreover, when there are leftovers, the cafeteria ladies with shaky hands will scoop all the remaining food into their trays, and the amount of food will even be more than usual.
Li Dong watched the two figures leave one after the other, lost in thought.
He looked away after only a moment and went to the cafeteria window to get his food.
Chu Beiling wasn't planning on eating. Coincidentally, the osmanthus flowers were in bloom, so he decided to go directly to the lakeside at school to sketch. He had just found a perfect spot on the lawn by the lake and sat down.
Xing Yu handed over a cup of oden and some bread: "Not eating often can easily lead to stomach problems."
Chu Beiling glanced at the paper bucket of oden, picked up the wooden skewers one by one, and only after confirming that they were all his favorites did he reach out and take them: "Thanks."
He took a bite of the tempura, looked up at Xing Yu and asked, "How much? I'll transfer it to you."
Xing Yu, who was sitting down next to him with another cup of oden, stopped what he was doing: "No need."
Chu Beiling was about to speak, but after meeting Xing Yu's cold and slightly disappointed gaze, she retreated and couldn't bring herself to say it.
Because Xing Yu told her he wanted to follow him, their relationship has become closer recently.
Chu Beiling could feel Xing Yu slowly retracting his hard thorns and revealing his soft belly to him.
He didn't want to ruin his relationship with Xing Yu over a cup of oden.
Since Xing Yu's parents don't care about him, he'll feed Xing Yu more in the future. Thinking this way, Young Master Chu felt relieved.
The two remained silent, sitting quietly by the lake eating oden. The emerald green lake reflected everything around them clearly. A work boat approached from a distance, causing ripples on the surface. The reflections were instantly shattered, merging into countless shimmering lights and shadows, overlapping each other.
After eating oden by the lake, the two squatted by the lake to sketch together. Fifteen minutes before class, they leisurely walked back to the art building along the lake.
The osmanthus avenue on campus is their only way to the art building. A breeze blows through, and the orange osmanthus blossoms fall like a gentle spring rain, with a petal falling with every step.
Chu Beiling unfolded the sketchbook, deliberately slowing her pace to follow behind Xing Yu, sketching as she walked, watching his back.
In the picture:
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the branches and leaves, scattering across the ground. A gentle breeze stirred, and dappled shadows shifted and changed into various shapes. Tiny golden osmanthus blossoms floated in the air and carpeted the ground. The autumn sun blazed like fire as Xing Yu walked forward, each step a path strewn with flowers.
Flowers grow all the way, on October 12, 2012, Xigao Osmanthus Avenue stayed. "
Just as he finished drawing, Xing Yu, who had been walking leisurely ahead, stopped and turned around. Chu Beiling promptly put away the sketchbook and quickened her pace to run towards Xing Yu.
Xing Yu raised an eyebrow: "Why..." so slow!
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Beiling reached out and hooked his arm around his neck and put it on his shoulder, pulling him forward two steps. Xing Yu glanced over casually, a handsome smile curving his lips, patiently waiting for Chu Beiling to play around.
He then freed his other arm, swept it across the avenue covered with osmanthus blossoms, and said in a particularly childish tone, "Look, this is the empire I have built for you. From now on, walk the flower-lined path with me."
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