Watching the Setting Sun Along the Same Path - Chapter 4

When Lu Ketong arrived at school in the morning, he told the driver not to pick him up later, then happily skipped his way inside. Fei Yuan hadn’t replied to him the day before, but he felt his first move had been quite effective.

He arrived early, with only two or three people in the classroom. He held an English book, memorizing vocabulary, with a small box of cookies placed beside it. Fei Yuan was tall and stood out the moment he walked in. He wasn’t wearing his school uniform jacket, just carrying it in his hand.

As soon as Fei Yuan sat down, before he could even take out his pencil case, Lu Ketong turned around and placed a carton of sweet milk on the desk, smiling brightly. “Boss, you’re here.”

Fei Yuan frowned at him, then reached out to brush aside his bangs and felt his forehead. Lu Ketong then brought over the box of cookies. “Didn’t you want to make me your little brother? Boss, have some cookies my mom baked.”

Fei Yuan leaned back in his chair. “I don’t eat sweets.”

“Then I’ll eat them for you. I like sweets.” He hadn’t brought much—just a carton of milk and a box of cookies—and honestly, he was a little worried Fei Yuan might actually take them. “Do you need to copy homework? I’m pretty fast.”

Fei Yuan placed a hand on top of Lu Ketong’s head and gave it a slight twist, turning him back around.

As more students trickled in, Lu Ketong was still scheming his brilliant plan: disrupt the other’s thoughts, then offer goodwill in a self-sacrificing way. He hadn’t figured out the third step yet, so he’d leave it for later.

The hygiene monitor stood at the front and called out, “Lu Ketong! Go downstairs for cleaning duty!”

Only then did he remember it was his week for cleaning. This was the best part of school—it cured his “prince syndrome.” Lu Ketong grabbed a broom and dashed out. The last one had to take out the trash, and he definitely didn’t want that.

Fei Yuan finally had some peace, but his mind was still a mess.

This little sapling was definitely not a normal kid.

After finishing cleaning duty, Lu Ketong’s hormone levels probably hadn’t settled yet. He carefully took a flower from his pocket and placed it inside Fei Yuan’s desk drawer.

Fei Yuan was sitting right there, looking rather troubled.

“Give someone a rose, and your hands will carry its fragrance.” Lu Ketong sat back in his own seat, eyes sparkling. “I picked it by the path after cleaning. Do you like it?”

Fei Yuan took out the flower. “This is a Chinese rose.”

Lu Ketong thought this guy really had no sense of romance and said playfully, “Who cares? You accepted my flower, so forget about that other guy.”

“What other guy?” Fei Yuan tossed the flower onto the desk, his gaze icy. “Didn’t you hear I like guys? Who told you? What exactly did they say?”

Lu Ketong’s eyesight might be average, but his perception was sharp. He immediately turned back around. “Don’t bully me, okay? Don’t forget my dad’s in the city management team.”

Three classes passed in relative quiet, but Lu Ketong felt uneasy inside. He wasn’t like Qiu Luomin—he was this handsome, and if he got his head smashed in, he’d rather die on the spot.

“Lu Ketong, answer question three.”

He scrambled to his feet and hurriedly looked at the test paper, only to realize he didn’t know how to solve question three—there was even a triangle drawn next to the question number. Before he could say “I don’t know,” someone behind him traced the number one.

Right on his butt!

“Question three is one. I guessed.” Lu Ketong was honest when it came to academics. After sitting back down, his face flushed red—not because he couldn’t solve the problem, but because he couldn’t handle having his butt traced.

It felt like his butt had been sexually harassed.

He sat down and tried hard to focus on the explanation for question three. When the bell rang, he didn’t move. Hesitantly, he thought about turning around. Since Fei Yuan had just helped him in such a rogue-like way, maybe he wasn’t really angry after all.

After mentally preparing himself, he was just about to turn around when a hand clamped down on the back of his neck. Fei Yuan propped his elbow on the desk, gripping Lu Ketong’s neck with one hand to prevent him from turning.

Lu Ketong froze and asked, “What are you doing?”

Fei Yuan rested his head on his other arm. “I’m tired. Let me have some peace.”

Before class started, Lu Ketong hadn’t moved for nearly ten minutes. Fei Yuan was about to let go but found it amusing. The class monitor passed by and saw their posture, asking, “What’s going on here?”

Fei Yuan replied, “Treating Little Lulu’s stiff neck.”

Lu Ketong’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t paid attention yesterday because he was too angry, but now his ears tingled with embarrassment. Even his mom had never called him “Little Lulu”—he was way too shy about it.

At noon, the group of boys went to eat. Some wanted rice, others wanted spicy and sour noodles. Lu Ketong wasn’t much for spicy food because Wen Ning rarely cooked anything hot.

Someone asked curiously, “Lulu, why did you come with us for spicy and sour noodles?”

He first ordered a red bean pastry. When the spicy and sour noodles arrived, he sniffed them and felt his stomach burning. After taking one bite, he nearly burst into tears and called out, “Boss… two more red bean pastries, please…”

Fei Yuan snatched one of his pastries. “How can you eat so much?”

From the afternoon class onward, his stomach ached fiercely, burning like fire. At first, he propped his chin on his hand, then simply gave up and lay his head down, staying that way for two whole classes. A classmate fetched medicine from the infirmary for him, but even after drinking it, the pain persisted.

Lying there, he eventually fell asleep. At least while asleep, he couldn’t feel the pain.

When he woke up, the classroom was nearly empty. He felt truly miserable—what was he even doing this for? Just to spite Lu Ruopei? But when would he ever manage to get under his skin?

Or was it to get revenge for Qiu Luomin? He texted Qiu Luomin: “Qiu, from now on, let me win every time we play games, okay?”

Qiu Luomin replied, “Why should I?”

Was this even a good friendship? Lu Ketong sent another message: “I might be falling in love.” If Qiu Luomin asked who with, he’d tell the jerk his plan.

But Qiu Luomin replied, “We agreed to study hard together, and now you want to start dating early? Fine, I’ll get into Tsinghua on my own.”

Lu Ketong felt his stomach ache even more. He glanced at Fei Yuan’s seat—the backpack was gone, Fei Yuan had already left, leaving only that rose on the desk.

“He ate my pastry and didn’t even say a single word of concern. His manners are just awful.”

As he packed his bag, he remembered telling the driver not to pick him up, and another wave of sadness washed over him. The sycophantic morning, the painful afternoon—all because of that guy named Fei. He couldn’t give up on his plan. Sooner or later, he’d make that Fei guy eat humble pie for him.

Just as he stepped out of the classroom, the cleaning duty group came up the stairs. Since he wasn’t feeling well, no one had called him to join. Lu Ketong stood at the doorway accepting their condolences when he noticed Fei Yuan walking at the back, carrying his backpack.

“Why did you go too?”

A classmate who overheard answered, “Fei Yuan said you weren’t feeling well, so he took your cleaning duty. He was going to leave right after, but he forgot something and came back.”

Lu Ketong was genuinely surprised. He craned his neck to look and saw Fei Yuan walk to his seat and slip the rose into his pocket. His mind raced, and he stood frozen in the doorway, forgetting to move until Fei Yuan passed by and left.

He didn’t like guys, and he’d never been liked by a guy either. Human thinking was terrifying—no one would overthink a simple favor between classmates, but once you assumed someone liked guys, everything felt different.

Lu Ketong followed after him: “Fei Yuan, do you really like me? Then I like you too.”

Fei Yuan stopped, pinched his chin with one hand, and said, “Lu Ketong, you sure have a thick skin.”