Chapter 63 P - Indulgence
In December, darkness falls quickly. They left the school as the sun was setting, but now it was completely dark, and the streetlights were gradually coming on.
Several young men and women squeezed into Metro Line 1 with the crowd of people leaving get off work, heading towards Hubin.
Xing Yu didn't like crowds, so there were only five of them at the dinner party that night. The others, with whom he had a good relationship, had already received a chocolate pie from Chu Beiling at noon. Chu Beiling also treated the other 65 people to lunch, so they left it at that for the time being.
The carriage was crowded, and they were separated by the rush hour crowd as soon as they boarded.
Chu Beiling was pulled by Xing Yu and walked towards the middle of the carriage. Li Dong and Sheng Xia stood hand in hand at the end of the carriage, while Xu Tunan was the only one standing alone at the door, squeezed into a meat pie.
Xing Yu held onto the railing with one hand and wrapped his other arm around Chu Beiling's side for protection. The young master Chu glanced down at him, then leaned over as if it were the most natural thing in the world, using his strength to support himself on Xing Yu's body, looking quite relaxed and enjoying himself.
Xing Yu glanced at him: "There are a lot of people, don't cause trouble."
Chu Beiling waved his hand dismissively, saying with an air of superiority, "Isn't that what you're here for?"
Xing Yu: "..."
Inside the noisy carriage, everyone was looking down at their phones. Grandpa Chu tilted his head to look at him.
The cinnabar mole on Xing Yu's brow shimmered under the car lights, making him look particularly sexy. His eyes were also beautiful, with soft ripples floating in his deep pupils, like catching glittering fragments of gold from the surface of West Lake.
Chu Beiling's gaze slowly slid down to his right hand, which was gripping the railing. His fingers were long and slender with distinct knuckles, and there was a scar on the back of his hand that ran diagonally from his middle finger to his wrist bone.
Just how hard did Xing Yu's unlucky brother hit? So much time has passed, and the scar still looks brand new. I wonder if it will ever fade away.
Thankfully, my hand is okay.
However, it seems that violinists are more dexterous with their left hand than their right, so it's no wonder he can draw with both hands.
It's a good thing he was so worried back then, but if he hadn't been worried, his relationship with Xing Yu wouldn't be like this now.
For some reason, Chu Beiling suddenly remembered what Grandma Chen had told her some time ago: Xing Yu was more talented in music, and before taking the Xigao entrance exam, he had even obtained the qualification for admission to the music academy.
Thinking back to when Xing Yu actually went to study music, they would never have crossed paths. After all, he was tone-deaf, and the symbols on Xing Yu's sheet music were like tadpoles swimming all over the page, making it dizzying to look at. There was no way he could have gone with him.
Then he inexplicably felt unhappy, very unhappy.
Chu Beiling's expression changed instantly.
Xing Yu's heart sank, and he awkwardly shifted his gaze from Chu Beiling to the billboard flashing past the window: "Wh-what's wrong?"
Chu Beiling stared straight at him: "Why don't you study music?"
Xing Yu didn't answer the question but asked, "Are you planning to take the art school entrance exam or both?"
Chu Beiling asked angrily, "And what about you? What are you planning to do?"
Xing Yu is confident in himself and understands the preparations needed for the animation major entrance exam: "I will take the joint entrance exam next December, and after the exam, I will go directly to Beijing to train at an art studio that offers animation courses."
The dark clouds above Chu Beiling's head stopped raining, and her mood instantly improved: "Then I'll be the same as you."
Xing Yu's heart fluttered as if a cicada's wing were fluttering, and he asked again, "Are you sure you want to make animation too?"
Chu Beiling glanced at him: "Yeah, didn't we agree that I'd go wherever you go?" He belatedly realized: "So you didn't choose music because you want to work in animation in the future!"
Xing Yu pursed his lips and then nodded.
The dark clouds above Chu Beiling's head instantly dispersed, and the sky cleared after the rain. He smiled happily and knowingly: "That's not bad either. If you didn't want to do animation in the future, you would probably go to a music academy. But then we would always dislike each other, and things wouldn't be like they are now. It's quite a pity to think that such a possibility exists."
Xing Yu sighed almost imperceptibly, shrugged nonchalantly, and said with a smile, "I thought you wouldn't want to see me."
"That was true at first," Chu Beiling said truthfully, "but it stopped later."
“Brother Yu, my heart is always with you now. Don’t think that I’m right. Ask me more often. I’ve said I might give you an unexpected answer.”
Xing Yu stared at him for a long time without saying a word.
Chu Beiling reached out and hooked his arm around Xing Yu's shoulder. Xing Yu's body stiffened, and he was frozen in place, unable to move.
He didn't like physical contact with others to begin with, but Chu Beiling was an exception. However, ever since he discovered his inexplicable affection for her, such touches became an irresistible urge that he wanted to refuse but couldn't.
Xing Yu held back for a moment, and just before he was about to blurt it out, he reached out and removed Chu Beiling's soft, mischievous hands that were draped over his shoulder, chin, and ear.
He compromised again under Chu Beiling's unhappy, slightly disappointed and hurt gaze.
Let him do whatever he wants.
Chu Beiling said with relief, "Xing Yu, it's good that you chose the path of art. If you had gone to study music, your tadpole-like sheet music would have been too difficult for someone like me who is tone-deaf."
Xing Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Being tone-deaf means you can't understand the five notes of the pentatonic scale, but you can't understand the staff notation. You're tone-deaf."
Chu Beiling released his hand and stood up straight: "Alright, that's enough."
The lakeside is very close to the entrance of the gate. In the time it takes to talk, we arrived. Several people squeezed out of the carriage with the flow of people.
Xu Tunan, who was left alone, complained, "You guys are really something. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were dating."
Others: "..."
They chose a decent Hangzhou-style restaurant by the lake. The interior was decorated in a classic style, and as soon as they entered, they were greeted by a warm breeze.
The waiter led the group of young men and women to a small private room. Chu Beiling took the menu and started ordering. After ordering, he placed the menu on the turntable and asked, "What else would you like?"
The others weren't too picky, and the dishes Chu Beiling ordered almost catered to everyone's tastes, so apart from the West Lake Vinegar Fish, there was basically no need to order anything else.
Li Dong glanced at the menu and then selected a few more of his favorite summer dishes.
While waiting for his food, Xu Tunan, the gossip king, was still curious about what those two couples—no, those two couples of men and women—were doing sticking together on the subway.
Chu Beiling said frankly, "Xing Yu and I are discussing our future majors."
Xu Tunan: "No, you're thinking about it now?"
Li Dong chimed in: "What else?"
Xu Tunan asked in surprise: "So you and Sheng Xia were just discussing where to go?"
The two nodded in unison.
Xu Tunan asked curiously, "So what are you all planning to do?"
Sheng Xia said, "Cultural relic restoration."
Li Dong glanced at her indifferently and said, "I'm the same as Xia Xia."
Chu Beiling paused, then looked up at him: "You're not... going to study jewelry design?"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Dong interrupted him: "So what about you and Xing Yu?"
Chu Beiling: "I'm an animator, just like Xing Yu."
"Damn it." Xu Tunan cursed directly, "Why are you all thinking so clearly? Shouldn't you wait until after the college entrance exam to make a decision?"
Li Dong couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Making a decision after the college entrance exam has nothing to do with us art students. No, to be precise, it has nothing to do with us. Did Ruan Dao return what she said to you two and a half hours ago?"
Xu Tunan thought to himself, "Are they excluding me?"
Xing Yu: "You can start choosing now, it will be too late to choose later."
Xu Tunan: "..."
Once the dishes were served, the group ate and chatted casually. When they talked about university, everyone except Xu Tunan, who hadn't decided yet, unanimously decided to go to Beijing.
Xu Tunan doesn't have high expectations for himself, nor does his family. He doesn't care about his major for now, as long as he can get into university. But everyone else is seriously planning their future, while he doesn't think about anything, which inevitably makes him feel abandoned.
So he had to decide whether to go to Beijing together and continue hanging out with them, or to do it for Lin's sake—
Stay in Hangzhou.
While we were chatting, most of the dishes had already been eaten.
Everyone else didn't touch the West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce, except for Chu Beiling, who ate almost half a plate with great relish.
I'd never eaten this before, but even though I knew it was a specialty of Hangzhou cuisine, I stubbornly picked up a piece and put it in my mouth despite being dissuaded by several others. I immediately spat it out and grabbed a drink from the side and took several sips.
Xu Tunan, always eager for drama, asked, "How do you feel?"
Shengxia: "It felt like I drank a mouthful of vinegar, then jumped into West Lake and ate several bites of raw fish."
The others laughed heartily, and Chu Beiling pointed at them: "None of you know how delicious food is. It's sweet and sour, so delicious."
The other people at the table shook their heads in disagreement.
After dinner, Xu Tunan suggested renting a karaoke room and singing until dawn.
Xing Yu didn't like such a noisy scene, but he didn't want to spoil everyone's fun. Just as he was about to say it was okay, Chu Beiling took over the topic first and brought up the matter.
Finally, the group unanimously decided to take a stroll along the lakeside and then wait for the sunrise.
As the surrounding shopping malls closed and the shop lights dimmed one by one, and fewer and fewer people appeared around, the date on my phone screen jumped from December 7, 2013 to December 8, 2013.
A group of young boys and girls playfully walked from the lakeside pedestrian street to the West Lake, waiting for the sunrise the next day.
The sky above West Lake is always clear and bright, with thin clouds that drift slowly in the wind, and the crescent moon is hidden in the clouds, appearing and disappearing intermittently.
Five young boys and girls sat side by side by West Lake, gazing at the lake surface, which reflected the stars and the new moon like black silk, listlessly lost in thought.
Xing Yu cautiously turned his head to look at Chu Beiling beside him.
Under the moonlight, his face was bathed in a layer of light, his wispy bangs fluttered slightly on his forehead, his eyelids were visibly varicose, his eyelashes were long and curled, his nose was high and straight, and his lips were slightly upturned and as red as jelly.
Everything seemed so wonderful.
The deity closed his eyes, pitying those who had been abandoned, while his radiant light shone like a god descending, Xing Yu thought.
At noon on the 1st, the students of Class 13 gradually gathered on the playground. Chu Beiling was in charge of checking whether the art supplies were ready, and Xue Ziang was in charge of counting the number of students.
A short while later, two buses drove into the school on time and parked at the basketball court. Under Chu Beiling's arrangement, people were allowed to board the buses one by one.
Once everyone was present, the two buses drove out of the campus one after the other.
The training base is located deep in the mountains, dozens of kilometers away from the city, about a two-hour drive away.
Chu Beiling gets motion sickness on buses, and having not slept all night, he felt terrible as soon as he got on the bus. The faint smell of gasoline in the air was trying to get into his nostrils, and his stomach was churning. He leaned against the window, feeling miserable.
Xing Yu turned his head and asked Li Dong for two motion sickness patches, then approached Chu Beiling.
The familiar, delicate lemon scent wafted over, so refreshing that Chu Beiling instantly felt much better and moved closer to Xing Yu.
Xing Yu froze for a moment, then patted him: "Don't move, I'll put a motion sickness patch on you."
Chu Beiling leaned closer, and Xing Yu tore off a motion sickness patch. The cool touch against his skin felt like a feather brushing against him, a faint itch that made him shudder.
Then a strange heat surged up my back and climbed up my neck and ears, making them feel hot and burning.
Xing Yu lowered his eyes and stared at Chu Beiling's flushed skin, his cool fingertips slowly and gently applying the motion sickness patch to Chu Beiling's skin.
"Okay, are you done yet?" Chu Beiling swallowed hard, his stomach churning and his head spinning.
Xing Yu: "On the other side."
Chu Beiling tilted his head to the crook of Xing Yu's neck, getting even closer. Xing Yu's warm breath sprayed on his neck, and his icy fingertips danced on his skin, creating a sensation of both ice and fire.
Chu Beiling felt her motion sickness had worsened.
Xing Yu: "Okay."
Chu Beiling felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She leaned against the car window, and Xing Yu lifted his eyelids, suppressing the impulse rising in his heart, and didn't say anything.
Chu Beiling sensed from Xing Yu's expression and demeanor that he was somewhat unhappy.
There was nothing he could do; after all, he was a proud little princess. Knight Chu slowly moved closer to Xing Yu, tilting his head and resting it on his broad shoulder. Chu Beiling reached out and hugged his arm, saying, "Don't move, let me lean on you for a bit."
“You…” Xing Yu couldn’t utter a single word.
Chu Beiling half-opened her eyes, looked up at Xing Yu through the shallow slits, and said, "Brother Yu, I really feel terrible. Let me lean on you for a bit, and I'll let you lean on me next time."
Xing Yu looked down at him, sighed helplessly, and then patted his leg: "Go to sleep."
Chu Beiling smiled: "I knew it, my brother Ayu is the best."
Xing Yu pinched his brow, completely helpless, while the silly goose lying on his lap had already fallen into a deep sleep without any burden.
Li Dong looked over: "Is Chu Fanfan asleep?"
Xing Yu nodded.
Li Dong looked at him, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back. With just that one glance, Xing Yu knew; she had figured it out.
Xing Yu's Adam's apple bobbed: "Just say what you want to say."
Li Dong pointed at Chu Beiling, who was lying on his lap: "Don't spoil him, otherwise you'll be the one who suffers. Or... I think he... feels the same way about you..."
Xing Yu: "I... never mind, I can't figure it out... don't think about it... this... is good, I... am greedy."
The nausea subsided slightly, and Chu Beiling lay on Xing Yu's lap. He could vaguely hear Xing Yu and Li Dong talking about things related to him.
He didn't hear clearly because it was intermittent, and planned to ask Xing Yu when he felt more comfortable.
The bus braked suddenly, and Chu Beiling felt an intensified nausea, as if she had been thrown into a washing machine. She abruptly got up from Xing Yu's lap, covered her mouth, and looked around for her bag.
Xing Yu immediately understood and handed him a plastic bag. After vomiting, Chu Beiling felt much better and glanced at Xing Yu beside him.
He was wiping his jeans with his head down when Chu Beiling felt a sense of foreboding: "I just..." He couldn't bring himself to say the word, afraid that Xing Yu, with his obsessive-compulsive disorder, would strangle him on the spot.
Did I get your legs dirty?
Xing Yu glanced sideways, then continued wiping his trouser leg: "Just a little bit, it's nothing."
The impact was quite strong; Chu Beiling didn't know what to say, but he was actually unharmed.
"Are you really alright?" Young Master Chu asked, still worried. "What if I fall asleep tonight and end up on your assassination list?!"
Xing Yu lifted his eyelids: "If anything happens, I'll just throw you out of the car on the spot. I won't drag it out until I'm sleeping to assassinate you."
Chu Beiling: "..." That's true.
Xing Yu reached out and took the plastic bag from his hand, tossed it into the nearby trash can, and asked, "Are you still feeling unwell?"
Chu Beiling was a beat slow to react, nodding and then shaking his head.
Xing Yu handed over a new bag and said, "There's a service area a few kilometers away. Just bear with it for now; you should be able to buy medicine there."
Chu Beiling leaned against his shoulder, savoring the lemon scent emanating from him. "Mmm."
After a moment of silence, he asked, "What did you just tell Li Dong that if you can't figure it out, then don't think about it? What should I figure out?"
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