ARBRMW : Chapter 37

 

The evening performance was unusually silent for Chen Xu. Lu Hai didn’t know where to find new people. They sang well, but they lacked stage experience. As soon as they stepped on stage, their legs trembled, and their voices sounded somewhat inexperienced, far from the distinctive style of Xia Xiaoting, and far from Xia Xiaoting’s carefree attitude.

Although Xia Xiaoting was a scumbag, Chen Xu had to admit that he had a good voice. Whether it was rock or lyrical songs, he could handle them. His roar could instantly set the atmosphere for the whole scene, while slowing down his voice was a weapon for singing love songs. No wonder he had the most fans in the whole band. He was indeed a heartbreaker, but he did have the charm to make those girls come one after another.

Probably because of the change in lead singer, Chen Xu didn’t show up(He was not singing this time ), and the whole performance was mediocre. By the end, it was almost midnight. Chen Xu came down from the stage with a cold face. Unfortunately, someone with no eyesight insisted on inviting him for a drink, holding a glass of wine to his face, with a group of hooligans behind him.

The smell of alcohol all over the man reminded Chen Xu of Xia Xiaoting. Seeing that Chen Xu didn’t move, the man thought he was scared. He frivolously raised his hand to hook Chen Xu’s shoulder. Chen Xu didn’t say a word. He took the wine glass from his hand and poured it directly onto the man’s face.

The noisy bar suddenly quieted down. The man wiped the wine off his face. He looked at Chen Xu with gritted teeth, “You…”

Before the dirty words could come out of his mouth, a chair hit him directly in the face, making him dizzy. Sticky blood flowed down from his head, blurring his vision.

He could only vaguely see a slender figure standing under the colorful lights, with a cold gaze and a chilling aura.

“Damn!” Lu Hai saw the commotion from behind and rushed out from backstage.

The bar immediately descended into chaos, with fights breaking out. In the end, it was the police who intervened and stopped both sides from fighting.

“Are you an adult?” The policeman, around forty years old, happened to have a son about Chen Xu’s age who was preparing for his senior year. Chen Xu stood out among this group of people, especially striking.

As for Ke Xinghao, who was also eighteen, he was ignored due to his overly eager appearance.

Chen Xu still had a chill about him. He said sparingly, “Yes.”

“Don’t try to scare me. I’ve seen many kids like you…” Before the policeman could finish his sentence, he saw Chen Xu take out his ID from his pocket and hand it to him.

He was indeed an adult.

“Cough, being an adult means you can’t fight!” The policeman coughed and had them taken away for criticism and education.

Ke Xinghao was at a loss, looking at Chen Xu. Although he caused trouble, he had never been to the police station before. It was already late at night. If his parents found out, they would skin him alive!

The big shot was indeed calm. Chen Xu calmly said to the policeman, “Wait a moment.”

Then he walked up to the bar owner and transferred some money in front of him, saying, “Tonight’s losses are on me.”

When the bar owner saw the amount in the account, he almost popped his eyeballs out. When did Chen Xu have so much money?!

Seeing the bar owner’s exaggerated reaction, Lu Hai and the others wondered how much money Chen Xu had transferred. “Chen Xu, you don’t need to show off. I’ll give you some money later.”

“No need, no need, Brother Lu. Chen Xu isn’t short of money.” Ke Xinghao waved his hand on Chen Xu’s behalf. Lu Hai and Yuan Ren looked at each other in confusion. When did Chen Xu not lack money?

Seeing Lu Hai and Yuan Ren’s bewildered faces, Ke Xinghao suddenly remembered that these two didn’t know Chen Xu’s family situation. He suddenly felt like watching a show.

“What are you chatting about? Move on.” Several policemen saw the four of them not reflecting and still chatting, and reprimanded them from behind.

So the four of them quieted down and closed their mouths.

After some criticism and education, Lu Hai was taken back by his cousin, and Yuan Ren was taken back by his friend. After confirming that someone was coming to pick up Chen Xu, they felt relieved and went back.

Ke Xinghao looked hopefully at Chen Xu. “Chen, can you ask your uncle to take me out too? I’m afraid if I call my parents, I won’t see the sun tomorrow.”

Chen Xu actually didn’t call Si Ye. It was already late, and he didn’t want to disturb Si Ye by calling him. He called Uncle Zhong instead, and Uncle Zhong said he would arrange for someone to come and pick him up immediately.

Estimating that someone would come in about twenty minutes, the police came to respectfully escort Chen Xu out. Chen Xu walked out absentmindedly until he saw Si Ye outside, and he came back to his senses tonight.

“Uncle Si, why are you here?” Chen Xu asked in surprise.

He clearly didn’t tell Si Ye. How did Si Ye come over?

Si Ye waved to him, and Chen Xu obediently walked up. “Come to take a disobedient little friend home.”

Chen Xu lowered his head, closed his lips, and didn’t say anything.

He lowered his head, revealing only a strand of hair for Si Ye to see. Si Ye reached out and rubbed his head. “If there’s anything, remember to find me first.”

This sentence made Chen Xu’s heart ache for a moment. “Okay.”

“Let’s go.” Si Ye reached out to hold his hand, and Chen Xu obediently let him hold it, walking with him outside. Until they reached the door, Chen Xu might have heard Ke Xinghao’s wailing. He stopped and pulled Si Ye. “Uncle Si, can you please take one more person?”

Ke Xinghao, who was not abandoned, was almost moved to tears. He praised Chen Xu all the way, completely unaware that Chen Xu was actually feeling guilty.

“So late, isn’t the dormitory closed?” Chen Xu heard Ke Xinghao say he would be dropped off at the school gate and disagreed.

“It’s okay. I’ve figured out the route a long time ago. I know where to climb the wall to get in. I’ll give the dorm aunt two yuan, and she’ll open the door for me.” Ke Xinghao had already figured out the route for sneaking out for midnight snacks and playing games when school started.

Hearing Ke Xinghao’s certainty, Chen Xu didn’t continue to persuade him and let the driver drop him off at the school gate as Ke Xinghao said.

After Ke Xinghao got off the car, besides the quiet driver, there were only Chen Xu and Si Ye left in the car, with a distance between them that was neither too wide nor too narrow.

Chen Xu lowered his eyelashes. In the light, a small shadow cast over his eyes, and even his bright eyes lost their color. “In a bad mood ?” Si Ye asked.

“Kind of,” Chen Xu replied. He had been feeling bad all night. Even after hitting someone, he didn’t feel much regret. Instead, the need to have Si Ye come and pick him up from the police station late at night made him feel uneasy.

He had wanted to be a good kid in front of Si Ye, but because he couldn’t control his temper, now everything about him was known to Si Ye.

“Do you want to talk to me about it?” Si Ye asked calmly and steadily.

“Since you don’t like it, why did you give birth ?¹“  After saying this, Chen Xu’s brain suddenly realized that this was the last question he should ask Si Ye. Compared to his parents, Si Ye’s parents had caused deeper and longer-lasting harm to Si Ye.

“I…” Chen Xu reached out nervously to grab Si Ye’s hand, and Si Ye firmly caught it, holding it in his hand. Si Ye’s hand was not warm, and even a little cold, but it smoothed out the wrinkles in Chen Xu’s heart.

“Never punish yourself for someone else’s mistakes. You just need to be yourself,” Si Ye’s voice was steady, like a trickle, seeping into Chen Xu’s heart.

After a brief moment of shock, Chen Xu held Si Ye’s hand back, without words, but it made him feel very relieved.

He gradually came to like the feeling of being with Si Ye, as if as long as he followed Si Ye, he would never get lost.

______

The three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Xu was sent to school early in the morning by the driver. Zhu Yaoyuan helped him get professional books, and he entered the classroom, just as the teacher came in.

“You’re really something. If you had been a little slower, Old Qian would have scolded you,” Zhu Yaoyuan said, giving Chen Xu a thumbs-up.

There were many students in the class who had come to sneak a peek at him after hearing his name, and there was inevitably some chattering. When Old Qian noticed this, he pointed the blame at Chen Xu.

“Quiet down, those who are admiring the handsome guy, do you need to use your mouth, can’t you just use your eyes?” Old Qian said meaningfully.

Laughter filled the classroom immediately.

Originally, Old Qian had a bad opinion of Chen Xu, but seeing him answering the questions well and listening attentively in class, taking notes, he gradually didn’t dislike him so much.

“Class dismissed.” When Old Qian said the class was dismissed, some girls immediately stood up and tried to squeeze over to Chen Xu’s side.

“Go to the canteen?” Zhu Yaoyuan asked Chen Xu and Tang Zhen.

Tang Zhen took out a mirror to tidy up his hair and said, “Sure.”

Chen Xu had no objections, so the three of them got up and headed to the canteen.

“Hey, isn’t that effeminate boy Chen Xu’s roommate? Will he be the first to gain an advantage by getting close to him?”

“I don’t think Chen Xu likes his type. Besides, he doesn’t look that good.”

“At least he’s self-aware and hasn’t been sticking to Chen Xu.”

The surrounding students were discussing, but Chen Xu couldn’t pretend not to hear them. Tang Zhen secretly rolled his eyes, thinking that they had no chance, as Chen Xu had long been taken.

After lunch, they went to the convenience store to buy fruit and slowly made their way back.

“Chen Xu.”

Chen Xu turned around at the sound of the voice. It was Lu Hai.

“Are you and Mouse² okay from last night?” Lu Hai had originally wanted to call Chen Xu this morning, but he remembered that Chen Xu had a big class this morning, so he held back.

“It’s fine.”

“That’s good. I heard from Mouse that you and Xia Xiaoting met yesterday?” Lu Hai thought Chen Xu’s low spirits last night must have something to do with that scumbag Xia Xiaoting.

“Yeah.” Chen Xu glanced at Zhu Yaoyuan and Tang Zhen curiously. “You two go back first.”

“Alright.” Zhu Yaoyuan and Tang Zhen were not blind³. They waved to Chen Xu and walked back to the dormitory.

Chen Xu and Lu Hai sat down on a nearby bench, and Chen Xu told Lu Hai about meeting the girl last night.

“Damn, he’s really capable of doing that.” Lu Hai was so angry after hearing about it that he wanted to drag Xia Xiaoting out and give him a beating.

“Although he’s been a playboy, he never caused any fatalities before. This time, he actually caused a death4 and even targeted his own fans.” Lu Hai became angrier the more he thought about it. “This scumbag can’t stay. Whoever wants him can take him.”

“Alright, don’t worry about this. I’ll handle it. Just focus on your studies. It’s not worth getting angry over this idiot,” Lu Hai said a few words to Chen Xu and hurried away.

Chen Xu sat on the bench for a while, thinking that the matter had passed like this. He never expected that there would be a follow-up, and that he would almost ruin his reputation.

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Notes :

1 Brother was questioning the universe… Like why did they give birth to him ?
2 The author wrote ?? (Haozi) which means mouse/Rat to say ? (Hao, from Ke Xinghao) and ?(Zi from kinda the endearment suffix they add to a close friend) so I was like ?-? for 1H trying to know if it was a pun from the author or not lol so from now on Ke Xinghao is a mouse ! ?
3 They know they shouldn’t disturb ?
4 An abortion ?