CFHE Chapter 70.3

Wen Yu thought for a moment and started typing.

 

Wen Yu: You know I’m not short of money.

 

Yang Fan: You can’t say it like that!

 

Wen Yu: Isn’t it Xiao Han’s birthday that day?

 

Yang Fan: Right, right, I thought the seventh would be perfect since it’s a weekend and we could celebrate Xiao Han’s birthday too. He definitely can’t celebrate properly at home.

 

Yang Fan: Huh, you know the date?

 

Wen Yu: I asked him.

 

Yang Fan: Oh.

 

Wen Yu: Yang Fan, let me tell you something. Don’t drink water, and don’t scream.

 

Yang Fan: Mm?

 

Wen Yu: I never told you, but I’m actually gay.

 

Yang Fan: …Huh?

 

Wen Yu: Naturally bent, can’t be changed.

 

Yang Fan: …

 

Wen Yu: Do you discriminate?

 

This time, Yang Fan didn’t reply instantly.

 

Coming out was a big deal after all, even though it was sudden. Perhaps he was thinking about how to word his response. Yang Fan took two minutes before sending another message.

 

Yang Fan: No. I’m just… quite surprised, but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this, and neither will Tongtong.

 

Wen Yu: Thanks.

 

Yang Fan: But why are you suddenly telling me this?

 

Wen Yu: Because I plan to pursue Xiao Han, so theoretically, I should also pay half of the room fee that day.

 

Yang Fan: …

 

Yang Fan: …………………

 

Yang Fan: ????

 

Wen Yu naturally knew what the other person was surprised about.

 

His recent anger transformed into impulse, flooding his mind. Wen Yu knew he wasn’t very calm right now, but he really didn’t want to stop. His phone keyboard made its characteristic input sounds as his fingers moved rapidly.

 

Midway through, Fu Yuhan inexplicably glanced his way, probably not understanding why this person suddenly seemed to be having an online battle with someone.

 

Yang Fan: But you two fought for two years? Damn, I even advised him several times to get along well with you?

 

Yang Fan: And is Xiao Han… gay?

 

Yang Fan: Yu-ge, you’re both my bros. Normally I shouldn’t say anything about relationship matters, but this thing…

 

Wen Yu: I know what you mean. I can only guarantee that I won’t deliberately try to turn him.

 

Yang Fan: Mm…

 

Wen Yu: I’ve grown up this big and never seriously liked anyone, but I’m serious about Xiao Han. Even if he can’t accept it, it absolutely won’t affect the friendship between us. Please also help me keep it secret, don’t tell Xiao Han.

 

Yang Fan: …

 

Yang Fan: I’m really torn inside right now.

 

Wen Yu: It depends on who’s more important to you between me and Xiao Han.

 

Yang Fan: …Is it too late for me to choose Tongtong now?

 

Wen Yu: I certainly don’t mind.

 

If Yang Fan chose Zhao Tong, that meant staying out of it, which was completely consistent with what Wen Yu said about “help me keep it secret.”

 

Yang Fan: Of course you don’t mind!

 

Yang Fan: Damn, why though? Homosexuality can’t be changed back, right?

 

Yang Fan: Then… there are so many men, why does it have to be Xiao Han? [holding head.jpg]

 

Wen Yu: Don’t you know how good he is?

 

Yang Fan: …

 

Yang Fan didn’t reply, and the group chat also became quiet. The oblivious Fu Yuhan reported in the group about the progress of the task Yang Fan had assigned him earlier—

 

Fu Yuhan: I asked our class beauty, she said she’d help get a few more girls, depending on how many you need.

 

Zhao Tong: To make it natural… at least three? If the girls come in even numbers, my parents won’t be as suspicious, but having only one girl from Third High would be weird.

 

Fu Yuhan: Okay, I’ll ask her again later.

 

Zhao Tong: Thank you~

 

Fu Yuhan: What about boys? Do we need to call one more to make it even?

 

Fu Yuhan: @Yang Fan?

 

Zhao Tong: If there are any, call them! I see this house has seven or eight rooms, enough to sleep everyone.

 

Fu Yuhan: Good.

 

Song Ting: Call some handsome guys, please!!

 

Li Sisi: Save us single sister flowers!! We’re already stuffed from those two’s dog food!!

 

Fu Yuhan: …I’ll try my best.

 

Yang Fan pulled Chu Lei into the group, then spoke after adding him.

 

Yang Fan: Pi Qiu and Ma Gan said they have to go back to their hometown that weekend and can’t come. Xiao Han, if you get the class beauty, pull her in too so everyone can chat first.

 

Fu Yuhan: Okay.

 

When Fu Yuhan went to add Xu Qianyi, Yang Fan finally replied to Wen Yu in private chat.

 

Yang Fan: Yu-ge, I thought about it for a long time. I have no experience with this, but don’t do anything to wrong Xiao Han. He’s a person who keeps things bottled up and doesn’t say much. I hope you won’t bully him.

 

Wen Yu: I won’t.

 

Wen Yu: Besides, Xiao Han isn’t that fragile… do you think he’s someone I could bully casually?

 

Yang Fan: [crying face.jpg] You’ve been classmates for so long, don’t you know whether he’s easy to bully or not?

 

Admittedly, Fu Yuhan didn’t have a good temper.

 

But he really would respond to any request from people around him and rarely got angry. Like a rambutan—covered in spikes on the surface, but only when peeled could you see the tender and full interior.

 

Take a bite, and it’s abundantly juicy.

 

Spending time with him, you’d fall in—

 

Wen Yu suddenly smiled.

 

That’s right.

 

Wen Yu: Okay, I promise.

 

Perhaps Yang Fan couldn’t necessarily read his tone at this moment, but when typing these four characters, Wen Yu was truly incredibly solemn.

 

Yang Fan: Alright, then I’ll trust you this once.

 

Yang Fan: I’ll act like I don’t know.

 

Wen Yu: Thanks.

 

“What are you doing?” Fu Yuhan glanced at the person beside him again, “You’ve been typing for ages but not saying anything in the group. Fighting with someone?”

 

“No, just discussing something.” Wen Yu smiled, “Let me catch up on the chat history.”

 

Chu Lei was a mischievous live wire. As soon as he entered the group, he started acting up, saying Yang Fan definitely didn’t love him anymore since he didn’t add him to the group first, etc. But as soon as Fu Yuhan added Xu Qianyi and introduced her in the group as “this is our class beauty,” Chu Lei immediately forgot his grudge with Yang Fan and started making small talk with Xu Qianyi.

 

Chu Lei: Little sister, I’m Chu Lei, a pure and innocent little boy from First High’s senior year. Let’s be friends~~

 

Zhao Tong: [vomiting.jpg]

 

Fu Yuhan: [vomiting.jpg]

 

Fu Yuhan: @Xu Qianyi, don’t mind him, this buddy of mine is brain-dead.

 

Xu Qianyi: It’s fine, I don’t think you have many normal friends anyway… I’m used to it.

 

Fu Yuhan: You’re also my friend.

 

Xu Qianyi: I admit I’m not normal.

 

Fu Yuhan: Then you win.

 

Chu Lei: ?

 

Chu Lei: Why do I feel like you two… emmmm, Han-gege, could you please add some young ladies who have nothing to do with you? Have pity on my glass heart that’s been repeatedly fed dog food by that beast Yang Fan.

 

Fu Yuhan: I have nothing to do with our Qian-jie.

 

Xu Qianyi: How would I dare have anything to do with our Fu-ge.

 

Chu Lei: ?

 

Chu Lei: I feel like I’ve been hurt once again.

 

Yang Fan: Lei’er, can you bring some honor to First High?

 

Yang Fan: You’re really embarrassing like this.

 

Zhao Tong: @Xu Qianyi Sorry, don’t mind him, everyone at our First High is really normal [covering face.jpg]

 

“Chu Lei really is…” Wen Yu finished reading and couldn’t stop laughing, “There’s really a reason he’s single.”

 

Fu Yuhan also had a smile on his face: “But honestly, I think he and Xu Qianyi might be unexpectedly compatible.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Both are people who are frivolous on the surface but serious deep down,” Fu Yuhan said casually, “maybe they’ll hit it off when we go out together this time?”

 

“I didn’t know you moonlighted as Cupid.” Wen Yu said while typing.

 

“I was just saying.” Fu Yuhan smiled, “I haven’t even solved my own relationship problems, who’s going to be Cupid for that fool Chu Lei.”

 

Wen Yu: “…”

 

Tsk.

 

Wen Yu: @Chu Lei Be normal, don’t scare people away.

 

Fu Yuhan: If you scare her away, you’ll have to find girls yourself.

 

Chu Lei: …I was wrong, both big brothers.

 

Xu Qianyi: [big laugh.jpg]

 

Xu Qianyi: By the way, @Fu Yuhan I also asked Ge Ran, is that okay?

 

Wen Yu was stunned and turned to look at Fu Yuhan.

 

Fu Yuhan: Whatever.

 

Fu Yuhan turned his head: “What?”

 

Wen Yu shook his head, thought for a moment and asked: “You still remember that Ge Ran likes you, right?”

 

“Sun Wenrui really hated you at first, not just because you were pretentious when you first came, but also because Chen Mengxian used to like you.” Fu Yuhan said, “But look, she didn’t tell you, and she quickly lost interest.”

 

“You think Ge Ran likes you just because of your face?”

 

“Regardless of whether she does or not,” Fu Yuhan turned his head, lowered his eyes, his voice very soft, “she didn’t say anything, so I’ll pretend not to know… I couldn’t possibly be with her anyway.”

 

The car arrived at their destination. Wen Yu hummed in acknowledgment and pushed open the door to get out. After the taxi drove away, he asked in the howling wind: “What if she says something someday?”

 

“Then I’ll reject her.” Fu Yuhan looked up at him for a while, then suddenly smiled lightly, “You’re getting stranger and stranger. I thought you being unhappy about Yang Fan was one thing, but now you’re even concerned about girls liking me. Christmas is coming, why don’t you chase away all the girls who come to give me apples?”

 

Every Christmas Eve, the senior and junior girls who came to Class 6 to give apples were quite a sight.

 

“That’s not impossible.” Wen Yu nodded.

 

“You’re sick,” Fu Yuhan laughed for a long time, “you think you won’t receive any? Big handsome guy.”

 

That trailing tone was softer than the bitter cold wind, colder and harder than the heating at home, carrying a special flavor that lightly hooked Wen Yu.

 

“I’ll send you a whole box first when the time comes, let’s see if you’ll still laugh at me.” Wen Yu said, “Want to eat at my place?”

 

“Mm,” Fu Yuhan answered as if it were natural, “haven’t we been eating at your place lately?”

 

Wen Yu had an auntie who cooked for him, which was cleaner and fresher than outside food, and tasted better than roadside stalls. Plus, not going back to eat would be wasteful—he used to eat at home every day anyway.

 

After forcibly dragging Fu Yuhan to eat with him, Fu Yuhan finally didn’t have to eat gutter oil takeout anymore.

 

“Don’t rush to go back after dinner,” Wen Yu thought and said, “watch two movies with me.”

 

“You’re in senior year and instead of studying properly, all you know is finding movies to watch,” Fu Yuhan said helplessly, but didn’t refuse, “don’t get addicted, Yu-ge.”

 

“What do I need to review?”

 

“What about your national first place?”

 

“The finals are still far away… besides, I already reviewed at school.”

 

The two chatted as they walked home.

 

–

 

Christmas Eve came before final exams—the last holiday of the semester when students could let their hormones run wild.

 

Because New Year’s Day would be a holiday, but on Christmas Eve, everyone was at school—

 

Actually, if Fu Yuhan hadn’t reminded him, Wen Yu would have really forgotten about this holiday. But since he’d said it, that morning he really brought two boxes of apples to school.

 

The target was too big and he was almost stopped by security, only getting in after some explanation.

 

Fu Yuhan was startled by him: “You’re really giving them?”

 

Wen Yu opened the fruit box, found the biggest, reddest, most perfect apple and placed it on Fu Yuhan’s desk, snorting: “How could that be? Could you finish two boxes if I gave them to you?”

 

That was definitely impossible.

 

“Then why did you buy so many?”

 

“Can’t I give them to others?” Wen Yu looked at him, then suddenly lowered his voice, “or do you think I have to give you everything I buy?”

 

“…” Fu Yuhan opened his mouth.

 

“Just kidding, everything else is for you.” Wen Yu smiled and naturally poked his cheek, “Since you can’t finish this, forget it—I wanted to pick a nice one for you, so I just bought two boxes… I’ve decided to benefit the people with the rest.”

 

“…Mm?” Fu Yuhan rubbed the spot where Wen Yu had poked him with the back of his hand, his expression subtle.

 

Wen Yu carried the box toward the podium.

 

Then he placed an apple on every person’s desk in the class.

 

This way, his act of giving Fu Yuhan an apple didn’t look so strange, and when classmates arrived at school, they didn’t express any confusion about the apple on Fu Yuhan’s desk.

 

Although the junior girls who came to give him apples were all politely but coldly sent away.

 

But since everyone in the class had an apple, no one noticed that Fu Yuhan’s apple was particularly beautiful, as if someone had specially selected it for him.

 

–

 

The day the joint exam results came out, the art teacher sent Fu Yuhan a WeChat message. Fu Yuhan checked his score on his phone in his desk drawer, with Wen Yu sitting right beside him.

 

92 points.

 

“How was it?” When he looked up, Wen Yu, who had been watching him the whole time, asked softly.

 

Fu Yuhan showed him his phone screen.

 

“…Is this good or bad?”

 

“It’s out of 100.” Fu Yuhan said.

 

Although Wen Yu didn’t understand art standards, he knew that 92 out of 100 wasn’t low. He smiled: “Congratulations… but why don’t you seem very happy?”

 

Fu Yuhan shook his head: “I’d say I’m more surprised.”

 

In this provincial art joint exam, the highest score was 98, with only one person achieving it. There were three people tied for second place with 97, and five people with 96.

 

By 92 points, the number of people had exceeded three digits. Fu Yuhan ranked 168th in the province, with dozens of people having the same score—the rankings were very tight.

 

But at the same time, the passing score was only 65, showing an extreme gap between the upper and lower limits.

 

He thought that since he hadn’t received much formal art training, getting a score that would get him into a good school would be enough.

 

Like 80 points.

 

He hadn’t expected 92.

 

When the news reached the art teacher, she congratulated him and told him that his habit of casually drawing for fun had helped a lot.

 

Drawing was a magical thing.

 

Perhaps the person often felt bottlenecked, but looking back, they would discover that persistence had meaning.

 

His past love had ended without result, and persistence hadn’t brought him any reward, but an insignificant hobby had given him positive feedback.

 

What about other forms of persistence?

 

Would the results also be good?

 

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Fu Yuhan thought for a while, “I think I’m a bit moved.”

 

“By the score?”

 

He shook his head: “By myself.”

 

Wen Yu smiled: “Keep it up, I’ll take you to eat something good this weekend.”

 

“…” Fu Yuhan rolled his eyes at him, “I’m not doing it for food.”

 

“Eat and drink well for the college entrance exam.” Wen Yu said, “I’m still waiting for you to come to T University.”

 

“…Mm.”

 

–

 

It was getting colder and colder, with final exams approaching. Regardless of whether the college entrance exam was slowly approaching, they first had to deal with the final exams right in front of them. For a while, the review atmosphere in class was intense, and with air conditioning in the classroom, few people chose to run to the hallway during breaks.

 

Third High, which had always been carefree in style, finally entered the most well-behaved season of the year.

 

And Fu Yuhan’s new sketchbook had unknowingly been filled completely.

 

He bought another new one.

 

Actually, Wen Yu had asked him why he was still frantically drawing after the joint exam ended. He only said he hadn’t taken the school exam yet and still needed to prepare. However, he never let Wen Yu see the contents of that notebook.

 

He had several identical sketchbooks, and sometimes Wen Yu couldn’t tell which one he was drawing in, so he got away with it.

 

Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Day.

 

Then final exams arrived as scheduled, followed by Spring Festival.

 

Wen Yu had to go home on New Year’s Eve, but on the afternoon of New Year’s Day, he found an excuse to slip out and asked Fu Yuhan to come out and watch movies all day.

 

Senior year winter break really was only four days. The two of them played until the afternoon of the second day before finally taking out their homework and starting to write, each occupying half the table.

 

Wen Yu thought life would continue peacefully like this until he felt the time was right, then formally propose dating to Fu Yuhan once again.

 

But unexpectedly—

 

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 (advanced chapters available on kofi)