Yu Qing let out a cry and circled behind Fei Cheng, hooking an arm around his neck in a mock threat. "You actually don't want to talk to a handsome guy like me? Those who follow me shall prosper, those who oppose me shall perish! You *baka yaro*!"
"Let go, you're choking me," Fei Cheng coughed twice.
Without needing a warning from Cheng Yifei, Yu Qing quickly loosened his grip. "You okay? I barely used any strength. Heh heh, I’m in a great mood today. Tonight’s late-night snack is on me!"
Fei Cheng adjusted his collar. "Sure, treat us. Just don't start whining about being broke by Friday."
"It’s not like you guys would just stand by and watch me starve. We’re good brothers! Except for girlfriends, we share everything else. Oh, right, Cheng-cheng, everyone was so enthusiastic toward you tonight—don't just stand there smiling like an idiot next time!"
"You’re the one smiling like an idiot. I just didn't know how to respond. They were seriously interrupting my homework."
Cheng Yifei nodded beside him. "True."
When he and Fei Cheng were discussing things tonight, people kept butting in. It was genuinely annoying.
Seeing them form a united front, Yu Qing couldn't help but ponder for a moment. "My mom said that maintaining good relations with those around you is the most basic thing," he said, sounding a bit uncertain. "If you meet someone you don't like, as long as they don't provoke you, don't go looking for trouble. Your relationship with everyone wasn't great before, Cheng-cheng. Isn't it a good thing to use this chance to get closer?"
"It’s certainly not a bad thing. But I like peace and quiet," Fei Cheng replied. "I have so much to do; I don't want to waste precious time navigating social circles. Besides, I’m busy enough that I don't need a crowd of friends surrounding me. Those who try to befriend me while I’m in the spotlight will likely leave the moment I fall from grace."
Fei Cheng paused, then looked at Cheng Yifei with a look of mock surprise. "Brother Cheng, don't you think what I just said was incredibly philosophical?"
The jump in topic was a bit fast; Cheng Yifei took two seconds to catch up before giving a noncommittal, "...A little, I guess."
Fei Cheng nodded, satisfied.
Yu Qing scratched the back of his head. "What are you even talking about? The more I think about it, the more confused I get. Forget it, let's just eat!"
They walked through the tree-lined path and up the steps to the cafeteria entrance. As fate would have it, they ran straight into the Class 3 basketball team just as they were heading inside, laughing and joking.
The smile remained on Fei Cheng’s face as he glanced at them, intending to brush past them without a care.
"Wait." Gong Zongwei, the captain of the Class 3 team, suddenly pressed a hand onto Fei Cheng’s shoulder, stopping him. "You're Fei Cheng, right? How about another game after school this Friday?"
Cheng Yifei pulled Fei Cheng behind him. "He’s busy."
"I wasn't asking you. Cheng Yifei, since when did you become such a busybody?" Gong Zongwei stared at Cheng Yifei with a warning look.
Cheng Yifei met his gaze evenly. "His business isn't 'meddling' to me."
Gong Zongwei found it strange. "Meaning, if I want to talk to him, I have to go through you first? You're covering for him?"
Cheng Yifei gave a curt "Mm." "You could put it that way."
Fei Cheng thought this dialogue was peak *chuunibyou*. He poked his head out from behind Cheng Yifei and said, "I’m busy. I don't want to play against you guys. Just give it up."
Yu Qing turned his head away to hide a smirk. He loved Fei Cheng’s bluntness.
"No way. You have to play us, or else!" Gong Zongwei glanced at his teammates. "Or else you won't have a single peaceful day left!"
Fei Cheng scoffed internally. How ridiculous. "Then I’ll just wait and see how you plan to make my life difficult."
They walked away immediately after. This time, Gong Zongwei didn't stop them. Instead, he turned to a teammate and asked irritably, "Didn't you say he was a spineless coward? That he’d do whatever anyone told him to?!"
The student he questioned looked bewildered. "I don't know either! He really used to be someone you could order around. He’d do whatever he was told."
"Damn, he’s a tough nut now," Gong Zongwei cursed under his breath. "How do we settle this if he won't play? I can't exactly beat him into agreeing. Dammit, the 'Old Ghost' would call my parents to school. Too much trouble."
Ye Zhilong, who was biting into a hot dog, offered a sudden spark of inspiration. "Find Liu Yucong. He’s definitely not satisfied and will want a rematch. Tell him we won't play unless Fei Cheng participates."
Gong Zongwei blinked. "Good idea. I’m not satisfied either. If this Fei Cheng hadn't suddenly popped out of nowhere, the championship would have been ours!"
They glared at Fei Cheng’s retreating back for a moment before leaving the cafeteria, grumbling as they went.
The next day, Liu Yucong used a commanding tone to demand a basketball match from Fei Cheng.
Fei Cheng indifferently told him to wait until his injury healed. He guessed that the Class 3 guys were likely behind this. It was honestly getting tiresome; he hadn't realized boys could be so dramatic.
Fortunately, Liu Yucong’s hand injury would take some time to heal, which should be enough for him to cool down. Playing against a team like Class 3 was genuinely disgusting—it wasn't basketball; it was a contest of who could pull more dirty tricks. Agreeing to play them was a pure waste of time.
However, Fei Cheng didn't realize that his casual attitude had completely ignited the simmering rage in Liu Yucong’s heart.
Lately, Fei Cheng had been contemplating how to approach Qiu Minmin. He felt he had mostly handled his own troubles; his relationship with his classmates wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. He likely wouldn't be targeted like before. This meant that if he went to get to know Qiu Minmin, he could ensure he wouldn't bring her any trouble.
But even though they had seen each other frequently for a while now, whenever they crossed paths, Qiu Minmin would either immediately avert her gaze or lower her head and pretend she hadn't seen him. It was hard to even say hello.
He felt a bit melancholy. The first semester of eighth grade was still fine; Qiu Minmin hadn't developed any negative thoughts yet. But by the second semester...
By then?
Fei Cheng couldn't quite remember what she had been thinking back then. Regardless, her grades had plummeted. Her close friends had all predictably made it into the top-tier classes for ninth grade, leaving Qiu Minmin as the only one left behind. From then on, the trajectory of her life had changed.
Thinking carefully, he still didn't understand how to save her. Her death was years away, and the root cause hadn't happened yet. Should he start by making up for her regrets?
How should he do it? Fei Cheng rested his chin in his hand, staring at the blackboard. Should he help her maintain her grades in the second semester so she could get into a good high school and finish university?
That sounded good. In his previous life, after becoming an adult, he had often had such thoughts.
Cheng Yifei tapped his desk with a pen. "Earth to Fei Cheng."
"Huh?" Fei Cheng lowered his hand and looked at him. "What is it, Brother Cheng?"
"Why have you been staring at the blackboard?" There wasn't a single word written on it.
Fei Cheng withdrew his gaze and looked down at his exercise book, which was also devoid of writing. He looked back up at Cheng Yifei and asked with a sigh, "Brother Cheng, do you know how to make friends with someone?"
*Liu Yucong?*
That was the first person who popped into Cheng Yifei’s mind.
He replied somewhat dismissively, "Didn't you say having me and Yu Qing as friends was enough? Who else do you want to befriend?"
Fei Cheng gave an embarrassed smile. "Qiu Minmin. Haven't you noticed? Whenever we run into her, she always pretends she doesn't know us."
"She *doesn't* know us, does she?" Cheng Yifei glanced at him and began spinning a ballpoint pen in his hand. After a few seconds, the pen clattered onto the desk. He asked thoughtfully, "Honestly, what do you like about her?"
Fei Cheng couldn't answer immediately. Romantic love didn't exist between them, but Qiu Minmin was a very important presence to him. He tried his best to express his thoughts, choosing his words carefully. "I don't know what I like about her. I just really want to protect her. I want her to be happy every day and see her become better and better."
Cheng Yifei was even more confused. Did she look like she needed protection? Fei Cheng’s own life wasn't exactly great, yet he had the mind to protect someone else?
Seeing Cheng Yifei’s contemplative expression, Fei Cheng knew he had asked the wrong person. Cheng Yifei never needed to take the initiative to make friends.
"You..." Cheng Yifei paused for two seconds before continuing, "You might need to see a doctor."
Fei Cheng: "..."
Cheng Yifei added, "Yu Qing has liked two girls before, but he never said—or even considered—making them 'better and better'."
Fei Cheng was speechless for a long while. He turned around and whispered to Yu Qing, "Fish Head, Fish Head, which girls have you liked?"
Yu Qing, pulling himself out of a sea of practice problems, blurted out, "It was that Cai Wen from Class 7... Holy crap, why are you asking that?"
Fei Cheng looked him up and down and then turned back, leaving Yu Qing’s curiosity hanging.
He said to Cheng Yifei, "So, I didn't say I 'liked' her like that. It’s just a feeling. For example, what was your first impression of me?"
Without a second thought, Cheng Yifei said, "A total dumbass."
Fei Cheng: "..." He suddenly felt like hitting someone.
This conversation was going nowhere. He flipped through his training manual; he might as well do some problems.
Yu Qing couldn't stand it and kicked Fei Cheng’s chair from behind. "What are you two talking about behind my back?"
Just as Fei Cheng turned around, his name was called. It was self-study period, and Liu Yiyang was sitting at the podium supervising. In front of the whole class, he said, "Fei Cheng, can you focus on self-study and stop talking? If I have to say it again, I’m recording a demerit and handing it to the English teacher. Don't think winning a basketball game gives you special privileges."
Fei Cheng frowned slightly, then relaxed. He had indeed been distracted and couldn't argue. However, he had never thought winning a game gave him privileges; Liu Yiyang’s words were laced with thorns.
Why was everyone so unfriendly? It wasn't like he was ugly.
After school at noon, the three of them finished lunch but didn't rush back to the dorms. Yu Qing dragged them to the horizontal bars on the playground to catch the cold breeze.
"What were you guys actually talking about during English self-study? Chatting behind my back... no way, I need to know too!" Yu Qing climbed nimbly onto the bar and sat there, looking down at Fei Cheng and Cheng Yifei.
Fei Cheng kept his hands in his pockets, determined not to let the freezing wind abuse another inch of his skin. He decisively sold out Cheng Yifei. "Brother Cheng said you’ve liked two or three girls. I was curious, so I asked."
Cheng Yifei squinted at Fei Cheng with a smile. "Fei Cheng asked me how to make friends. He said Qiu Minmin always acts like she doesn't see him when they meet."
Yu Qing’s attention was successfully diverted. "Aiya! Cheng-cheng, you should ask me about that! What’s the use of asking Cheng Yifei?" He jumped down excitedly from the bar and hooked his arm around Fei Cheng’s neck, acting like a seasoned expert. "First, you have to take the initiative to strike up a conversation. Girls are shy; you can't expect her to speak to you first. Besides, didn't you give her a band-aid last time? Even though that left me speechless, at least you’ve made yourself a familiar face."
Fei Cheng thought to himself: *Among the three of us, is there anyone who understands girls better than I do?*
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
龚宗维 | Gong Zongwei | Captain of the Class 3 basketball team.
老鬼 | Old Ghost | A nickname for a teacher, likely a strict one.
中二 | Chuunibyou | "Middle school second-year syndrome"; refers to cringey, overly dramatic, or delusional behavior common in young teens.
刘易阳 | Liu Yiyang | The class monitor (class rep) of Fei Cheng's class.
蔡文 | Cai Wen | A girl from Class 7 mentioned by Yu Qing.
