Secretly Liking Him - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Gu Xun really didn’t hold back much when he slapped Chen Feifan. It was only later, when his own hand started hurting so much that he couldn’t take it anymore, that he finally stopped.

Chen Feifan kept shrinking back into the corner: “…Have you beaten me enough?!”

Gu Xun rubbed his own hand, having finally calmed down somewhat. Raising his eyes, he saw that Chen Feifan’s tears were actually coming out, and he suddenly realized with a shock whether he had used too much force.

He was just pondering it and keeping quiet when Chen Feifan, thinking Gu Xun was still angry, immediately said pitifully: “Brother… can’t you just let me off the hook this time? I won’t do this anymore in the future, is that okay?”

Gu Xun’s heart suddenly softened quite a bit. At the end of the day, something had happened to the guy’s family…

But this bad habit absolutely could not be coddled!

Gu Xun’s expression was originally about to relax, but he managed to brace himself and keep a straight face anyway: “Bah! What’s the damn use of just talking! Let’s go!”

Chen Feifan shuddered: “Go where?”

Gu Xun: “The hair salon!”

Gu Xun grabbed Chen Feifan by the back of his neck and dragged him toward the nearest hair salon. The moment he walked through the door, he said: “Master! Dye his hair back to black! If it can’t be dyed back, just shave him into a bald head!”

Chen Feifan instantly reacted like a cat whose fur had been rubbed the wrong way: “I don’t want a bald head!!!”

Gu Xun slammed him onto the barber chair with a clatter and sneered: “Now you know how to be afraid? Weren’t you acting pretty flashy just now?”

Chen Feifan looked toward the master in the shop for help. This master was in his forties or fifties, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, looking exceptionally reliable.

The master said: “Dyeing hair is three hundred yuan. Did you bring money?”

Hearing that it cost three hundred, Gu Xun immediately said: “Just shave it directly!”

Shaving a head only cost ten yuan! Dyeing a head actually cost three hundred! This was fucking highway robbery!

Chen Feifan threw his arms around Gu Xun and wailed with all his might: “Brother! Biological brother! How can you have the heart to see me become a bald head!”

Gu Xun pulled him down with all his might, cold and ruthless: “I have the heart for it very much!”

Then, before Chen Feifan could wail again, Gu Xun asked: “How much did you spend to dye this green hair?”

Chen Feifan’s gaze drifted a bit, and he talked about other things to avoid the question: “Going to school with a bald head doesn’t have a good influence either, right?”

Gu Xun: “How much money?”

Chen Feifan: “…Eight hundred.”

Gu Xun dug his ear, turned his head to look at Wang Xiaosong: “How much did he say it was?”

Wang Xiaosong: “Eight hundred…”

Eight hundred yuan—what kind of concept was that for a student? Gu Xun was considered to have relatively loose pockets among them, but he still took a sharp breath at this number of eight hundred.

Gu Xun: “Shave it now! Right now! Immediately!”

Chen Feifan screamed and howled, holding onto him for dear life and refusing to let go: “I won’t shave! Heads may roll, but hair cannot be severed!”

Gu Xun was locked in a stubborn battle with him: “Let go! Even if you don’t want to shave, you must shave! If the master shaves you now, you can still get a good-looking bald head. If I do it myself later, just wait for a dog-chewed bald head!”

The buddies were all watching the show. Shen Yanzhi knit his brows and asked Wang Xiaosong: “…You guys are just watching like this?”

Wang Xiaosong was exceptionally frank: “We can’t not watch!”

The money in their hands had just been squandered on the buffet; now they only had a few coins left in their pockets, which was just about enough to buy a drink or take a bus. How could they scrape together three hundred yuan!

Gu Xun was considered the one with the most flexible pockets among the few of them, but at this moment, he didn’t have three hundred in his pocket either.

Shen Yanzhi let out a sigh, walked over, and asked: “How much money do you guys have left on you?”

Gu Xun: “…”

Chen Feifan, on the other hand, was positive. Seeing Shen Yanzhi ask this, he instantly knew there was a turn of events: “I have forty left!”

Shen Yanzhi looked at Gu Xun. Gu Xun felt very uncomfortable being stared at by him, and muttered to him in a small voice: “Don’t bother with it. Just let him shave it, why waste that foolish money!”

Shen Yanzhi then explained to him patiently: “First, he is clearly unwilling. If you force him to shave it, he might have emotional issues. Second, having it shaved bald will make others look at him strangely. Third, the weather is starting to turn cold now, and it’s easy to catch a cold.”

What he said made a lot of sense; Gu Xun had no way to refute it.

The look Chen Feifan used to stare at Shen Yanzhi was sparkling: “Brother! You are my biological brother from now on! How much money do you still have in your pocket? I’ll pay you back later!”

Gu Xun: “…”

Better to just shave him!

In the end, the shaving didn’t succeed. Gu Xun had over sixty left in his pocket, and together with Chen Feifan, they scraped together one hundred yuan. Shen Yanzhi then pulled out another two hundred and gave it to them.

Having gotten the money, Chen Feifan happily called out to the master: “Master! Dye!”

Gu Xun gnashed his teeth, feeling that he had still beaten him too lightly just now.

Then he coughed, and said to Shen Yanzhi beside him with a bit of unnaturalness: “Thanks.”

Shen Yanzhi pursed his lips before saying: “No need.”

Gu Xun felt that he had a guilty conscience, which was why he always felt exceptionally awkward when facing Shen Yanzhi.

The other buddies expressed one after another that they were going home. Hearing that dyeing it black wouldn’t take long, Wang Xiaosong was planning to wait and go back together with them. Unexpectedly, Shen Yanzhi gave him a pull.

Wang Xiaosong was dazed, but Shen Yanzhi said to Gu Xun: “We are heading back first.”

Gu Xun was just feeling puzzled, and then he saw Shen Yanzhi glance in Chen Feifan’s direction.

Gu Xun understood in an instant. Shen Yanzhi knew that if they were around, there were many things he and Chen Feifan wouldn’t be able to say.

Gu Xun split his lips and squeezed out a smile: “See you later then.”

Shen Yanzhi nodded. After thinking for a bit, he still said to Gu Xun: “Remember to go back early after you’re done. If you get back late, remember to call home.”

Gu Xun nodded: “Okay.”

He just watched Shen Yanzhi and Wang Xiaosong walk out of the hair salon together, his gaze entirely reluctant to move away from Shen Yanzhi’s body.

As if he sensed it, Shen Yanzhi suddenly turned his head and looked back into the shop.

Gu Xun instantly felt as though he had been caught doing something bad. He didn’t know whether he should shift his gaze away and pretend nothing had happened, or if he should be more generous and wave at him.

Shen Yanzhi said something to Wang Xiaosong, and then, surprisingly, turned back inside again.

Gu Xun just stood there like a fool, watching Shen Yanzhi walk closer and stand right in front of him.

Shen Yanzhi fished more money out of his pocket, took Gu Xun’s hand, and placed it into his palm: “You might have a use for it. If you don’t need it, just return it to me later.”

Gu Xun nodded blankly: “Um.”

The person he liked was exceptionally thoughtful; even in the smallest details, he could think ahead for others.

Shen Yanzhi said: “See you tomorrow.”

Gu Xun gripped the money in his hand tightly and continued to nod: “Um.”

And just like that, he stood there foolishly, watching Shen Yanzhi’s figure disappear from his line of sight.

Shen Yanzhi didn’t turn back again. Gu Xun couldn’t tell clearly whether he felt more disappointed or more relieved.

Over there, Chen Feifan had already been applied with the chemical lotion. He was propping up his chin and watching him. Only after discovering that he had been standing there foolishly for a long time without moving did he speak up to shout: “Xunxun, what are you looking at?”

Gu Xun turned around and immediately raised his middle finger at him: “Is ‘Xunxun’ something you are allowed to call?!”

Chen Feifan made a funny face: “Xunxun-ge~~”

Gu Xun felt he was deeply disgusting.

Gu Xun stuffed the money into his pocket, walked over, and reached out, about to remove those messy earrings from his ears.

Chen Feifan immediately started screaming like a ghost again: “Don’t touch! Don’t touch! Just got them pierced!”

Hearing that made Gu Xun incredibly angry: “Knowing it hurts and you still got them pierced! I think your brain is the one that got perforated!”

In the end, those earrings were still taken off by Gu Xun. Looking at the dozen or so tiny holes on Chen Feifan’s ears, the feeling in his heart was truly beyond words.

Gu Xun wished he could beat him up again, but looking at Chen Feifan’s face, he felt heartbroken for him again.

Gu Xun sat down on the chair next to him and said somewhat weakly: “Tell me, why did you ruin yourself like this…”

Chen Feifan blinked his eyes, looked at Gu Xun, then looked at himself in the mirror. He took a breath and said with a bit of self-deprecation: “Yeah, why did I ruin myself…”

Then his eye sockets gradually turned red.

Speaking of it, it was quite ridiculous. He thought that if he ran wild a bit, his parents’ attention would be drawn to him, and they would forget about the whole getting divorced thing.

But, you see, a man whose heart was set on divorce—how could he still have his son in his eyes? And a woman whose world had collapsed—how could she still have the energy to manage anything else?

No matter how much trouble he caused, when it reached them, it all became ammunition to accuse the other party.

This one said you can’t even take good care of our son, that one said how much have you ever cared. The words spoke became uglier and uglier.

When the tears came down, Chen Feifan didn’t even know himself.

Gu Xun didn’t know how to comfort him. He opened his mouth, and after a long time managed to squeeze out one sentence: “Divorce isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Chen Feifan turned his head to look at him. Gu Xun gave a bitter smile: “Someone else told me that too. I thought about it later, and it actually makes quite a bit of sense.”

Chen Feifan didn’t pick up the conversation, so Gu Xun didn’t speak further either.

Dyeing it black was actually quite fast. By the time they came out of the hair salon, Chen Feifan was a black-haired little handsome guy again, looking fair, clean, and quite well-behaved.

Gu Xun knew that he was wilder than anyone down to his bones; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten ear piercings the moment he said so, or started smoking the moment he said so. He wouldn’t be fooled by that well-behaved skin.

Gu Xun then asked him: “Are you moving back?”

Chen Feifan nodded: “Um, my mom doesn’t want to stay in the city anymore.”

Gu Xun patted his shoulder: “Our town is also pretty good. Come on, brother will buy you a cola!”

The two of them each bought a can of cola and sat side-by-side on the bus back, drinking slowly.

Shen Lan was startled for a moment when she saw Chen Feifan, but in the end, she asked nothing. She only told Gu Xun to take good care of him, while she herself was going to make food for them.

Chen Feifan, like nothing was wrong, smiled shiftily at Shen Lan: “We’ve eaten! The two of us will just play video games for a bit and go to sleep. Godmother, don’t keep yourself busy!”

Then the two boys slipped into the bedroom in a flash. The moment Chen Feifan entered the door and took a look, he instantly let out a “Whoa.”

Gu Xun’s current bedroom, compared to before, had truly undergone a massive transformation. The bed had been changed into a bunk bed, and the originally messy desk had turned into a neatly divided layout split into two halves.

Chen Feifan: “…Godmother is pregnant again???”

Gu Xun slapped him across the back: “What the hell are you talking about!”

Chen Feifan pointed at the bunk bed: “Then what is this?”

Gu Xun paused for a moment before saying: “Ah-Yan was staying here before.”

Chen Feifan: “Then why isn’t he staying here now?”

Gu Xun felt he was about to fly into a rage out of humiliation: “Why are you asking so much!”

Chen Feifan suddenly brought his large face close. Gu Xun was startled and quickly took a step backward: “Do you want to die!”

Chen Feifan rubbed his chin: “You…”

For some unknown reason, the hairs on Gu Xun’s back stood right up: “What?”

Chen Feifan said: “How come I feel that whenever something related to that kid is mentioned, you act really weird?”

Gu Xun instantly reacted as if his tail had been stepped on: “Bullshit!”

Chen Feifan said: “See.”

Gu Xun felt as though he had been exposed; it wasn’t right to speak, and it wasn’t right to keep quiet either.

Chen Feifan leaned in closer again: “What’s going on?”

In the past, Gu Xun hadn’t felt that Chen Feifan was this terrifying; at most, the guy had a bit more brains when studying than he and Wang Xiaosong did. But now…

Chen Feifan sat down on the lower bunk, even bouncing twice to feel the comfort of the mattress before analyzing: “I feel like he’s a decent person, it shouldn’t go as far as being disliked. Or is there something I don’t know? Did that kid bully you? That shouldn’t be possible, seeing the momentum you used to slap me, you aren’t someone to take that kind of grievance…”

He tilted his head to look at Gu Xun: “…Could it be that you like him?”

Gu Xun’s legs went completely weak.