Secretly Liking Him - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Shi Juntao shouted even louder than him: “Who knew you guys would slip away so fast!”

Wang Xiaosong asked the most practical question: “Stop BS-ing! What do we do!”

Gu Xun felt that in terms of physique, only Wang Xiaosong on their side could put up a fight against the other party, but Wang Xiaosong panted after walking just two steps—he simply wasn’t the material for getting into a physical scrap!

To say Gu Xun wasn’t scared would be complete nonsense, but since the other side was ultimately there for him, he still took a step forward, bolstered his courage, and asked: “What do you want to do!”

The tall, sturdy boy opposite him asked: “You are Gu Xun?”

Gu Xun stuck out his neck and replied: “Yeah!”

The boy smiled slightly and said with a bit of a “big brother” air: “I’m only looking for trouble with Gu Xun today; the rest of you just leave.”

But no one moved.

Seeing that they weren’t moving, the smile on Hu Lei’s face turned into a cold sneer: “I can’t tell, you actually have quite some loyalty.”

Gu Xun just couldn’t control his own mouth, blurting out: “Who doesn’t have a few brothers? Don’t you have them too?”

Hu Lei felt that Gu Xun’s words carried mockery, and he instantly flew into a rage: “You’re looking for death!”

As he spoke, his fist swung toward Gu Xun’s face. Gu Xun didn’t expect him to strike without a word and was just about to dodge when he felt himself being pulled back.

Shen Yanzhi was standing right beside him. Seeing Hu Lei’s fist coming up, he didn’t even think before yanking Gu Xun aside and raising his leg to kick toward Hu Lei.

There was a loud “thud” sound.

Shen Yanzhi kicked Hu Lei onto the mailbox next to them.

Gu Xun: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

It happened too fast, the sound effect was too shocking, and the result was too unexpected; no one could react.

Shen Yanzhi noticed that everyone, including Gu Xun, was looking at him. After a moment of hesitation, he said: “…He moved first.”

Gu Xun raised a hand to wipe his face Big Brother, what we care about isn’t the matter of who moved first!

Gu Xun felt the world was too surreal, then he let out a roar: “Run! What are you standing there for!”

After shouting, he grabbed Shen Yanzhi’s arm and ran, putting in every ounce of strength to rush toward his home.

As they ran, Gu Xun discovered that it had changed to Shen Yanzhi dragging him forward.

Gu Xun felt that if his physical fitness hadn’t been decent, he’d probably be getting dragged along the ground by Shen Yanzhi by now.

Gu Xun felt like he was about to pass out: “Slo… slow down!”

Hearing this, Shen Yanzhi turned his face and shouted at him: “What?”

Gu Xun used his last bit of strength to roar back: “I told you to slow down!”

Only then did Shen Yanzhi stop. Gu Xun suddenly went limp like he had no bones and was about to collapse to the ground, but Shen Yanzhi quickly reached out and caught him.

Gu Xun was about to die from exhaustion, yet he insisted on speaking: “…I couldn’t tell!”

Shen Yanzhi: “What?”

Gu Xun: “What a ‘King of Flowers’ (Overlord Flower)…”

Shen Yanzhi: “Huh?”

Gu Xun: “Big brother, remember to cover me from now on…”

Shen Yanzhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “You still have the mind to think about this?”

Hearing this, Gu Xun quickly turned his head to look for Wang Xiaosong and the others, but he couldn’t see anything.

Shen Yanzhi said: “They ran off onto other roads.”

Gu Xun: “You still had time to look back?”

Shen Yanzhi: “How would I know where they chased us to if I didn’t look?”

Gu Xun smacked his lips. So, while Shen Yanzhi was dragging him along like a mad dog, he was actually looking back while running?

Shen Yanzhi asked: “Still running?”

Gu Xun: “…Better not?”

After saying that, he turned his face to look behind. After discovering that no one was chasing them, he asked: “Where did you kick him just now?”

Shen Yanzhi recalled: “The stomach.”

Gu Xun’s hair stood on end instantly: “You didn’t kick him into having a medical emergency, did you?”

Shen Yanzhi: “Probably not, I didn’t use much force.”

Gu Xun recalled that huge, startling “thud” from earlier and couldn’t help but shiver.

Gu Xun swallowed his saliva. He felt incredibly hot, so he grabbed the collar of his T-shirt to fan himself. Then he looked at Shen Yanzhi again and found that the other guy was only sweating a tiny bit as if the person who had been wearing long sleeves and pants in the blistering sun while dragging someone in a frantic sprint wasn’t him.

Gu Xun was truly envious, jealous, and hateful: “I’ll be, why aren’t you sweating!”

Shen Yanzhi wiped a bit off with his hand to show him: “I did.”

Gu Xun lifted the hem of his T-shirt to wipe his face. Shen Yanzhi saw his pale belly, which had been covered up, exposed.

After wiping, Gu Xun thrust the sweaty hem of the T-shirt in front of him: “Look! This is what you call sweating!”

Shen Yanzhi could only say: “My sweat glands might not be as developed as yours.”

Gu Xun: “…I think obsessing over this question is a mistake.”

Gu Xun looked back again. After finding that truly no one was chasing them, he said: “Let’s go home first, then we’ll ask around for news…”

Shen Yanzhi asked him: “Ask for what?”

Gu Xun clutched his chest and said: “To see if that kid was kicked to death by you!”

Shen Yanzhi suddenly raised his hand to touch Gu Xun’s messy hair, which was wet with sweat, and said with a smile: “Don’t worry, it’ll definitely be fine.”

Gu Xun opened his mouth and said a bit stutteringly: “How… how could I not be worried…”

Shen Yanzhi only smiled. After helping him brush away the hair stuck to his forehead by sweat, he withdrew his hand.

Gu Xun didn’t know if it was the heat or something else, but he felt as if his whole body was being roasted over a fire; his heart was beating so fast it was about to exceed the limit.

Shen Yanzhi’s house was just ahead. Gu Xun originally thought this path was a bit long, but at this moment, he felt the road was a bit short.

It felt like there were many things he hadn’t had time to say yet before the walk ended.

Shen Yanzhi stood at the entrance of the alley and asked him: “How about I walk you back first?”

Gu Xun waved his hand: “They aren’t so ‘badass’ that they’d block me at my own front door.”

Shen Yanzhi thought about it and agreed, so he nodded: “Then be careful on the way.”

Gu Xun grinned: “Yeah, you go back!”

When Shen Yanzhi turned to walk into the alley, the smile on Gu Xun’s face could no longer hold. He didn’t know why, but anyway, he felt a bit reluctant to leave.

Just as Gu Xun was savoring that baseless reluctance and wondering what it was for, Shen Yanzhi suddenly turned around and walked back toward him with large strides.

Gu Xun’s gaze met his directly, and his heart thudded wildly.

After Shen Yanzhi walked up to him, he took out paper and a pen from his backpack, brushed a string of numbers onto it, and stuffed it into Gu Xun’s hand, saying: “Remember to call me when you get home.”

Gu Xun clutched the paper with Shen Yanzhi’s phone number written on it. His brain had long since gone elsewhere; he only knew to respond mechanically: “Uh, okay.”

Shen Yanzhi packed his bag again, slung it over his shoulder, and said to Gu Xun: “See you tomorrow.”

Gu Xun looked at Shen Yanzhi’s face and replied: “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Only then did Shen Yanzhi turn again to walk home.

Gu Xun stood on the spot for quite a while before finally, as if waking from a dream, he started walking back.

As he walked, he picked up the paper Shen Yanzhi gave him to look at.

It was a mobile phone number.

Gu Xun couldn’t help but look back at the tip of the small building he could see, thinking that being outstanding in every way was truly different. The kid is only in his first year of high school and his parents already dared to buy him a cell phone.

Enviously, Gu Xun looked at that string of numbers again and again. Without much effort, he memorized it. He couldn’t help but feel proud of himself, thinking his memory was quite good.

When he got home, Gu Jingyuan and Shen Lan were waiting for him to start dinner.

Seeing Gu Xun’s face covered in sweat, Shen Lan quickly got a wet towel to wipe him down.

Shen Lan frowned: “I told you to ride your bike if it’s hot, and you didn’t listen. Look at you, tanned like a monkey.”

Wiping his face, Gu Xun said indistinctly: “I was just being hunted down by assassins…”

Shen Lan didn’t take it seriously at first, until she heard Gu Xun say: “The apprentice of Song Xinxin’s dad is in my grade; he brought people to block me.”

Shen Lan’s voice suddenly spiked: “What! Say that again!”

Gu Xun was startled by his mom’s voice and said weakly: “Just… was blocked by Song Xinxin’s dad’s apprentice…”

Gu Jingyuan wasn’t calm either: “Did you get hit?”

Shen Lan quickly went to lift Gu Xun’s T-shirt, asking anxiously: “Where did they hit you! Let me see!”

Gu Xun scrambled to block her: “No, no, no! They didn’t hit me! I ran fast!”

Shen Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief: “Running was right!”

Gu Xun hesitated: “But…”

Shen Lan became alert immediately: “But what?”

Gu Xun’s eyes drifted: “Shen Yanzhi kicked the guy who wanted to hit me…”

Shen Lan: “…”

Gu Xun: “Kicked him onto the mailbox… the sound was quite loud…”

Shen Lan clutched her heart, then said: “No matter what, they started this whole thing! You eat first!”

Gu Xun watched as Shen Lan headed straight for the telephone. He quickly lunged for it first: “Mom! Wait! Let me use it first!”

Without even looking at the number, Gu Xun dialed Shen Yanzhi. The other side picked up very quickly: “Hello.”

Ignoring his mother, Gu Xun hurriedly said: “I’m home! A-Yan, wait for my news in a bit! My mom is going into battle!”

Shen Lan was originally glaring at Gu Xun, but hearing him call “A-Yan,” she whispered: “Who is it?”

Gu Xun whispered back to her: “Shen Yanzhi.”

Then Shen Lan snatched the phone away; Gu Xun didn’t even have time to resist.

Shen Lan took the phone and said: “Little Shen, I am Gu Xun’s mother, Auntie Shen.”

On the other end of the phone, Shen Yanzhi said obediently: “Hello, Auntie Shen.”

He seemed to naturally carry that “good student, obedient boy” aura. Just hearing him call her “Auntie,” Shen Lan felt very comfortable.

Shen Lan felt that the child must be feeling uneasy right now, so she hurriedly comforted him: “Little Shen, don’t worry. This whole thing was caused by my Gu Xun. Auntie will handle it, okay?”

Shen Yanzhi responded: “Okay.”

Shen Lan’s heart softened by several degrees. Her gaze swept over to Gu Xun, and she felt that God was truly cruel. How could a child as good as Shen Yanzhi not even have half the luck of her own troublesome brat!

Gu Xun mysteriously felt that his mom’s gaze carried killing intent and was very confused—what happened?

Shen Lan spoke a few more words to Shen Yanzhi before hanging up.

Gu Xun: “Mom! I didn’t even get to speak to A-Yan!”

Shen Lan pointed at the dining table: “Behave and get over there to eat!”

Gu Xun: “Oh…”

Gu Xun looked back with every step and saw his mom change to a very serious expression. She started flipping through the phone book to make a call. Once the call connected, she opened with: “May I ask if this is Song Yumin’s house? I am Gu Xun’s mother.”

Gu Xun simply didn’t want to leave; he wanted to stay and hear how his mom was going to start the war with the other party.

As a result, Shen Lan’s gaze swept over, fiercely and silently saying three words: “Go. Eat. Food!”

Cowardly, Gu Xun went to eat.

Gu Jingyuan sat opposite him, putting food in his bowl, and asked: “Really didn’t get hit?”

Gu Xun shook his head: “No, A-Yan’s moves were faster than his. Besides, I’m not a wooden post.”

Gu Jingyuan then instructed him: “In the future, if you encounter things, don’t try to be a hero, okay? If things don’t look right, run. As long as the green hills remain, one doesn’t need to worry about firewood.”

Gu Xun nodded vigorously, indicating that in the future he would definitely run faster than anyone and would absolutely never let “trying to be a hero” happen.