CFHE Chapter 46

“…Who said that?” Wen Yu was stunned.

 

Fu Yuhan pointed toward the front row.

 

In the row in front of them, Sun Wenrui had just opened his vocabulary book, and Fang Jiayuan was tensely writing something. Wen Yu glanced at them both, then looked at Fu Yuhan.

 

“I am writing new notes,” Wen Yu wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t seem angry either, “…but why would I let you see them first?”

 

He instinctively found fault as usual, thinking Fu Yuhan would retort.

 

Unexpectedly, Fu Yuhan’s expression clearly relaxed: “I thought so. How could I possibly be the first to see them?”

 

Wen Yu: “…”

 

He felt uncomfortable again.

 

Wen Yu sat down, placed his breakfast on the desk, and pulled three notebooks from his drawer to throw on Fu Yuhan’s desk: “Three more subjects aren’t finished yet.”

 

Fu Yuhan was speechless.

 

“…Although photocopying would be more convenient, copying it yourself helps with memorization…” Wen Yu glanced at him. “I suggest you copy from the textbook yourself.”

 

“Go for it, Brother Fu!” Fang Jiayuan turned around. “Don’t forget to give it to us first after you finish copying!”

 

Wen Yu pulled out a stack of papers to block his view.

 

Fang Jiayuan looked up in confusion: “?”

 

“Take these to copy.” Wen Yu smiled at him and said, “How long would it take if one notebook gets passed around for copying? I also made two photocopies. You guys figure it out.”

 

“Wow! Thank you, Brother Yu!” Fang Jiayuan gratefully took the photocopies and turned back.

 

Fu Yuhan’s eyes flickered.

 

The three subjects of notes Wen Yu gave were indeed good stuff.

 

After Fu Yuhan finished organizing the test papers from the past few days, he finally spread out the notes. After reading just two lines, he came to this conclusion.

 

He hadn’t seen what Wen Yu’s previous notes looked like, but whatever they were like, rewriting a copy would definitely take a lot of time.

 

“What are you spacing out about?” Wen Yu turned his head. “Is it hard to understand?”

 

Fu Yuhan shook his head: “You’ve made this detailed enough that ‘even monkeys could understand.’ If strategy guide authors were this patient back then, I could have beaten Dark Souls much earlier…”

 

“Dark Souls…” Wen Yu blinked. “What’s that?”

 

Fu Yuhan turned his face: “You don’t know?”

 

“No.”

 

“Oh, it’s a game,” Fu Yuhan said. “I’ll take you to play it sometime.”

 

Wen Yu smiled: “Why are you suddenly so friendly?”

 

“I thought about something while I was home these past two days… *cough cough*,” Fu Yuhan coughed lightly twice, his voice flat, “the ‘adult expectations’ you mentioned.”

 

If a person grew up under strong expectations and was able to meet those expectations from a very young age, Fu Yuhan thought, then his childhood must have missed out on many things.

 

Fu Yuhan wanted to help him.

 

Anyway… anyway, he also needed to do something to divert his attention lately.

 

Fu Yuhan was still coughing. Speaking at length made him frown and forcibly suppress the itchy sensation rising in his throat. Wen Yu saw him struggling and gently patted him.

 

“Shut up, talk less when you’re coughing.” Wen Yu said. “Save what you have to say for when your cold is better.”

 

He didn’t need people pondering over what he had said.

 

Too mushy.

 

Fu Yuhan said nothing more, and the topic was quickly dropped.

 

That day, Fu Yuhan took time to go to the office, and when he came back, he threw himself into studying.

 

At first Wen Yu didn’t pay attention, but later he noticed that Fu Yuhan was spending almost all his free time on review. Not only him, but even Sun Wenrui and Fang Jiayuan in the front row noticed Fu Yuhan’s unusual behavior.

 

Because at noon that day, when they wanted to call Fu Yuhan downstairs to play a half-court basketball game, Fu Yuhan actually refused.

 

“Why are you suddenly so studious?” Wen Yu chose a time when people were still eating and there weren’t many in the classroom to ask.

 

“Didn’t I want to skip evening self-study to take art classes?” Fu Yuhan didn’t look up. “I asked the homeroom teacher. Teacher Zhou said if I can improve by 30 places compared to the monthly exam in this midterm, he’ll convince other teachers to give me extra tutoring—this way I won’t have to worry about missing the ‘underachiever remedial class’ for evening self-study when I go to art classes.”

 

Wen Yu’s gaze flickered: “So I’m just asking… I saw you preparing to study hard before, but not to this extent. How did getting heartbroken actually motivate you?”

 

Fu Yuhan was stunned.

 

His face went blank for a moment, his gaze somewhat dazed and unfocused for a while. When he came back to his senses, he smiled lightly and said softly: “When I had a fever, I kept sleeping and dreamed about childhood several times. In the dreams, my parents were fighting again, and I habitually went next door to find Yang Fan, only to discover he had moved away.”

 

Wen Yu looked down at him: “You’re really obsessed.”

 

“Someone like you who doesn’t put their heart into liking people naturally wouldn’t understand.” Fu Yuhan smiled for two seconds, then spaced out again. After a while, he said, “…Actually, maybe I don’t like him that much either. I’m just… used to having him with me. Very selfish—I’m not any more noble than you.”

 

Wen Yu made an “mm” sound.

 

“So I think I need to stay with him, in the capacity of a ‘bro.'” Fu Yuhan said. “This is my way of compensating—since he hopes I’ll also take the exams to go to the capital with Chu Lei and the others.”

 

T University wasn’t easy to get into, even for art students.

 

Wen Yu remembered he had been hesitating about where to apply before, not so eager for T University. He didn’t expect that Yang Fan actually getting taken would instead strengthen his goal of T University.

 

Wen Yu himself had also encouraged him.

 

But it was hard to say whether Wen Yu felt happy at this moment.

 

…As a “toy,” Fu Yuhan should have more vivid and lively expressions.

 

But his rare smile at this second made him look dead instead.

 

Quiet as silence.

 

“Fool,” after a while, Wen Yu reached a conclusion, “so foolishly ugly.”

 

Fu Yuhan glanced at him, spun his pen with his index and middle fingers, and tapped the pen barrel on his forehead: “Heartless people have no right to attack me.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“‘Then is the teacher superior? The Master said: Going too far is as bad as not going far enough’—I just memorized this sentence.” Fu Yuhan pulled out his Chinese textbook and said in a tone as if it had nothing to do with him, “Heartless people and obsessive maniacs are both sick. No one should mock anyone else.”

 

Moreover, at least he was actively saving himself, while Wen Yu still thought he was clever.

 

Who was really the fool?

 

Emotions in his heart couldn’t be controlled, but reason could control behavior. Perhaps because he often lived miserably, Fu Yuhan actually didn’t like to immerse himself in some kind of desperate pain. After getting sick, he felt he had figured things out.

 

He wanted to apply to T University not because “Yang Fan is also there” but because “T University is a good school” and “he also wanted to continue being with his friends.”

 

The reasons were legitimate and purely for himself.

 

Wen Yu saw something new in Fu Yuhan again.

 

When he said he wanted to improve by 30 places, he really spent several days studying Wen Yu’s notes at his desk during and after class—skipping all lunch basketball activities, keeping lunch simple, and even omitting the step of going home for dinner after school.

 

Wen Yu watched as he pulled out a piece of bread he’d brought in the morning from his bag, gnawing on it while still doing problems.

 

Wen Yu: “…”

 

This person could really go this far for Yang Fan.

 

“Stop eating that.” Wen Yu was really speechless and reached out to try to snatch away the bread that didn’t look very appetizing. “It’s just studying. Can you really not even have time to eat?”

 

“Don’t you know I have routine fighting performances when I go home?” Fu Yuhan glanced at him and tried to grab the bread back. “It’s just a matter of how much time it wastes.”

 

“Can’t you just find any restaurant by the school gate?”

 

“A meal at the gate costs twenty or thirty yuan, there aren’t many good places, and the good ones have lines at this time.” Fu Yuhan was helpless. “Give it back.”

 

“I really am…” Wen Yu stood up, snatched the bread away, and threw it into the trash can at the back of the classroom. “I feel like I’m being an old mother hen—wait here, I’ll bring you food when I come back.”

 

Fu Yuhan: “?”

 

Every day after school, Wen Yu went home to hot meals and dishes made by his auntie. Usually he would eat slowly at home and dawdle until it was almost time for evening self-study before returning. But because there was someone at school waiting for him to feed today, he told the auntie to pack food for him as soon as he got home.

 

The auntie wouldn’t object to his decisions, but still joked with a smile: “Is Little Yu dating someone?”

 

“…No.” Wen Yu felt a bit uncomfortable, thinking that the person clearly hadn’t agreed, and he didn’t know why he was rushing to deliver food.

 

He might really be sick.

 

“If not, why are you packing two portions?”

 

“…I’m eating it myself,” Wen Yu randomly found an excuse, “studies are intense lately, I get hungry easily while reviewing.”

 

“I see,” the auntie understood, “then should I make you some nourishing soup in the evenings from now on?”

 

“Won’t that delay you going home?”

 

“No, it’s not far from here to my home.” The auntie smiled. “You’re a senior this year, so you still need to work hard. It’s fine if Auntie works a bit harder.”

 

“Thank you for the trouble.” Wen Yu thought for a moment and said, “I’ll tell my dad later to give you some bonus.”

 

“No need to calculate so carefully…”

 

The auntie declined for a long time, but Wen Yu didn’t listen to a single word.

 

He had just thought he was sick, then immediately thought that if the auntie made some soup in the evening, he could share some with Fu Yuhan, since he might not have much to eat when he went home.

 

…It was just for fun, so why was he putting in so much effort?

 

When Wen Yu got home, the auntie still had one dish left to cook, so he waited a few more minutes. By the time Wen Yu returned to school, more than half an hour had passed.

 

Before he left, Fu Yuhan had been doing an English passage. When he came back, he saw him working on the second passage.

 

“Your speed is a bit slow.” Wen Yu took out the lunch boxes from his bag one by one and placed them on the desk. “Stop working, let’s eat.”

 

“…Of course it’s slow, I can’t understand most of it.” Fu Yuhan tapped his head with his pen and frowned. “Building up vocabulary is too exhausting.”

 

“You can find some BBC news or something to put on your phone as bedtime music to improve your language sense.” Wen Yu said. “I’ll help you find some later.”

 

“Thanks—damn, you actually have five dishes for one meal?” Fu Yuhan opened the lunch box lid and was stunned.

 

Wen Yu sat down and opened his own portion: “Auntie made too much.”

 

“Worthy of a young master, such good living conditions.” Fu Yuhan joked and didn’t stand on ceremony with him.

 

Wen Yu had helped him too many times—this favor wasn’t much compared to the others.

 

Besides, it would be strange for friends to calculate such things.

 

“What young master,” Wen Yu laughed, “when did you pick up this habit from Chu Lei?”

 

“Wrong, I learned it from Fourth Brother.”

 

“Do you still go to Fourth Brother’s place often lately?”

 

“Yeah, for work.” Fu Yuhan said. “Besides, his place lets me paint. At home… there’s no room to spread out.”

 

Not having enough space at home to set up an easel was secondary—the main thing was his mom didn’t want him to paint.

 

And he had other business going to Fourth Brother’s place recently.

 

“Thanks for this meal.” Fu Yuhan said while eating. “I’ll give you something in a few days.”

 

“What thing?”

 

“You’ll know when the time comes.” He left it mysterious.

 

##

---

 

 (advanced chapters available on kofi)