[Chapter 080] Final Chapter
Understanding that Valentineâs Day was approaching, Lu YunFei took the initiative to buy a present for Bian JinYuan. Bian JinYuan lacked too many things; Lu YunFei felt that he lacked this and that, and after thinking it over, decided to buy a practical laptop to gift him.
Bian JinYuan felt that this Valentineâs day gift was too expensive, so Lu YunFei waved the salary card and asked, âAre you taking it or not? If you arenât, then Iâm not accepting this either.â
Bian JinYuan could only accept the gift. He gifted him a pair of earphones that he had bought for him. Lu YunFei had casually mentioned wanting this new model two days ago. He had forgotten about it, but Bian JinYuan had remembered.
âYou have the money to buy me a pair of earphones huh, looks like our student Bian is hiding a large sum of private money,â Lu YunFei knocked on the desk.
Bian JinYuan smiled, âAn appropriate amount of private money to further a relationship.â
Lu YunFei nodded and let him off the hook.
The both of them had a meal outside. As they walked along the road, a little girl ran over to ask if they would like to buy some flowers, âGege buy a stalk, you can give it to a pretty jiejie.â
Lu YunFei teased her, âThen could I give it to a pretty gege?â
The little girl was too young to understand what he meant, and obediently replied, âYes, you can also give it to a pretty uncle or aunty.â
Lu YunFei found her endearing, and bought all the flowers in her basket.
As he was about to pay, Bian JinYuan was one step ahead. Lu YunFei turned to look at him, and Bian JinYuan smiled and said, âIâm giving it to a pretty gege. Is gege willing to accept it?â
Lu YunFei: ⊠Fuck! He got ahead of him! He was clearly the one who thought of the idea, and had initially wanted to gift it to Bian JinYuan.
Bian JinYuan lifted the flowers from the basket and said to the little girl, âgo back, thank you for your flowers.â
The little girl belatedly said, âThank you gege, youâre welcome,â and took her basket with her as she ran back.
Bian JinYuan presented the flowers in his hand to Lu YunFei, who looked at him and turned his gaze back to the bunch of roses. For some reason, he felt a little shy as he reached out to receive them.
Lu YunFei felt that they were being blatantly obvious, two boys carrying a bunch of roses during Valentineâs Day. He furtively suggested, âLetâs go home, thereâs no one at home today.â
Bian JinYuan naturally didnât have an opinion regarding that.
Father and mother Lu had gone out to celebrate the festival, while Lu YunShang had work overseas, leaving Lu YunFei alone. He had given aunty Zhang and uncle Li a day off to let them spend the festival with their loved ones. So it wound up that it was just himself and Bian JinYuan in the entire house.
The first thing that Lu YunFei did when he arrived home was to look for a vase to stick the roses in, and placed it on his desk.
âDo you like it?â Bian JinYuan asked.
Lu YunFei nodded, âTheyâre quite pretty.â
He shot a smile at Bian JinYuan. Bian JinYuan lifted his hand to touch his hair, and bent his head to give him a kiss.
Since aunty Zhang wasnât around, Bian JinYuan took the initiative to make dinner. Lu YunFei looked in the fridge and suddenly thought of something as he took out two pieces of steak, âLetâs have a candlelit dinner,â he looked at Bian JinYuan, âYouâll be in charge of cooking while Iâll be in charge of eating.â
Bian JinYuan teased him, âWhat courage. Now that the mountain has no tigers, the monkeys proclaim themselves king.â
Lu YunFei smiled cheekily, âItâs just the two of us anyway.â
This was the first time that Bian JinYuan cooked steak. To make sure that he got it right, he even searched for the recipe online. Lu YunFei went through the drawers in his home and retrieved candles and candleholders. He even brought out a bottle of red wine, and happily placed them on the table.
The lights in the dining room dimmed, and the sounds of a violin lilted through the room. Atop the expensive table were clean plates serving freshly cooked steaks. The candlelight wavered and the red wine smelled aromatic. It was truly a candlelit dinner.
âItâd be terrible if your parents were to come home at this time,â Bian JinYuan pulled out a chair to sit, feeling a little worried.
Lu YunFei wasnât as worried as he was. He quickly turned the situation around: âIf my parents come back, Iâd say that this was prepared for them and ask if they are delighted, surprised, happy?â
Bian JinYuan smiled and toasted to him.
This was probably the simplest candlelit dinner they had together, but it was the most memorable. Because, this was their first Valentineâs Day celebration together. It scored a certain youthful courage, like the red wine in their glasses, fresh and aromatic.
After the candlelit dinner, Lu YunFei was in charge of putting things back, while Bian JinYuan was in charge of washing dishes. Lu YunFei packed up quickly. Seeing as Bian JinYuan was still washing dishes, he walked over to hug him from behind and whined, âDonât go home tonight alright?â
Bian JinYuan turned to look at him.
Lu YunFei turned his head sideways and smiled cheerily. Bian JinYuan nodded, âAlright.â
Lu YunFei kissed him happily and hugged him tightly as he placed his head on his shoulder.
Bian JinYuan wiped his hands and turned around to hug him tightly as he said gently, âLetâs rent a place to live in when we enter university.â
âSure,â Lu YunFei didnât disagree, âletâs rent somewhere near the school so that I can sleep in.â
As the both of them talked, they couldnât help but smile. It was almost as if they could see their future right in front of them, as if they could touch it if they reached out.
The weather turned hotter after Valentineâs Day was over, and the new semester started up together with the blossoming of spring. This was the final semester of their high school, and so teachers and students alike were more on edge. Li Li hung a calendar counting down to the last 100 days to the college entrance exams, and hit it as she told them, âWe only have 100 days left. For the last 100 days, everyone should start getting serious, as this will determine your future.â
The students in the classroom looked at this countdown calendar and started to tire in their hearts.
Bian JinYuan ceased his part-time job at Liu Moâs shop for this final semester. This wasnât his intention, but Bian Jie and Liu Mo had insisted. As the older adults, they respected the college entrance exams. To them, everything should come second to it. Something like a part-time job could always be continued after the exams were over.
Liu Mo even said, âCome back when you clinch first place, Iâll double your pay. Iâll even put up a banner saying âCelebrating student Bian JinYuan from our shop who got top place in the sciencesâ. Iâve even thought of the advertisement: Sweet dreams cake, wishing you beautiful college entrance exams! By then, youâll be our living billboard!â
Bian JinYuan thought that his boss was very imaginative.
Now that he had ceased his part-time work at the cake shop and milk tea shop. Bian Jie even wanted him to cease his tutoring in order to concentrate on his studies. But this notion was rejected by Bian JinYuan, âThis wonât affect me, and I like tutoring him.â
Bian Jie didnât press the issue since he said that he enjoyed it.
Father and mother Lu were extremely delighted at this. Lu YunFeiâs English scores had risen steadily under Bian JinYuanâs help, stabilising at 130 marks ever since the first semester of year three. They were highly appreciative of Bian JinYuan, especially these few semesters, where the results had doubled, yet Bian JinYuanâs tutoring had only increased in quantity while staying at the same price. On this point, father Lu felt that he really didnât take after Yuan Shuo.
âThe Yuan family is notoriously shrewd, nothing like teacher Xiao Bian whoâs such a traditionally good kid. If only this kid were a girl, we could couple you two up,â father Lu mused out loud.
Lu YunFei wouldnât know if Bian JinYuan was traditional or not, but his father was surely too traditional. Even if teacher Xiao Bian wasnât a girl, he would be able to couple up with him as long as he wanted to!
But Lu YunFei didnât say those words out loud to his father. Instead, he reminded him, âDonât mention Yuan Shuo in front of teacher Xiao Bian alright?â
âI know,â father Lu said, âYuan Shuo told me that teacher Xiao Bian hadnât acknowledged him yet. Heâd even wanted to rope me in to help him by asking you to put in a good word for him.â
âThen why didnât you tell me about this?â
Father Lu smiled, âI never knew that teacher Xiao Bian had been separated from his father since he was young, and purely thought that they both looked very similar, which was why I had mentioned it. Who knew that it would be such a coincidence, that he would be teacher Xiao Bianâs father. If I had known about it earlier, I wouldnât have told him. I would have had a private chat with teacher Xiao Bian and gave him the autonomy to make his decision. Teacher Xiao Bian is such a good kid: such good grades, handsome, and with a good character. Not to mention how he treats you, bringing your failing English grades up to the top. For such a good kid, I would naturally help him instead of Yuan Shuo.â
Lu YunFei listened to him heap praises onto Bian JinYuan and nodded his head silently. Hopefully one day when he and Bian JinYuan came out to them, his father would continue to have this attitude. Even if he didnât maintain this attitude, he hoped that he would at least remember what he had just said.
On behalf of the Lu family, father Lu insisted upon doubling his pay to Bian JinYuan. After Bian JinYuan failed to reject it, he no longer resisted and simply took a picture of his pay to send to Lu YunFei, reminding him, âBabe I got my salary. You father doubled my pay, so you can buy more of the things you like.â
Lu YunFei looked at his message and then at the salary card in his wallet, feeling a sense of wonder.
When Bian JinYuan had first started tutoring Lu YunFei, Lu YunFei had simply closed the door without locking it. After the both of them became a couple, Lu YunFei began silently locking the door.
It was a good thing that the Lu family trusted them and had never interrupted their tutoring sessions. And so, no one noticed that the door was locked for the longest time.
On the final day of the exams in April, Lu YunFei noted down his answers for English and brought it home to compare his answers with Bian JinYuan. Bian JinYuan compared their notes and found to his surprise that Lu YunFei had done very well this time, estimating his score to be over 140. Lu YunFei was instantly delighted and hugged him tightly while showering him with kisses.
As the both of them continued kissing, it gradually turned into a make out session. Just as things were getting heated up, they heard the sounds of âknock knockâ on the door, scaring Lu YunFei and Bian JinYuan into freezing in their places.
Luckily, mother Lu had no intention of entering, only saying through the door, âXiao Fei, Iâm placing some fruits outside for the both of you, remember to eat them during your break.â
Lu YunFei quickly replied, âUnderstood.â
Mother Lu turned around and headed towards the stairs.
Lu YunFei patted his chest and looked up at Bian JinYuan who was equally shocked, and burst into laughter.
The both of them opened the door to retrieve the fruits. Lu YunFei ate as he chatted with him. As they chatted, they talked about their childhood. Lu YunFei went to the cupboard at the head of the bed and searched through its drawers to pick out an album containing his childhood photos to show Bian JinYuan.
This was a side of Lu YunFei that Bian JinYuan had never seen before. He was six or seven years old, cheerfully sunny, and even charismatic.
He flipped through each photo, until he suddenly stopped when he came to a photo, as he said in a happy surprise, âLooks like we had met when we were young.â
Lu YunFei was confused, âHuh?â
Bian JinYuan pointed to the top right corner of the photo at a small silhouette. The details were blurry, but the outline showed a handsome young child wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans as he stood upright.
âThis was me,â Bian JinYuan said in a good mood, âI remember that this should have been when my mum brought me to the zoo,â he turned to look at Lu YunFei, âFrom this pose, I must have been taking a picture too.â
Lu YunFei was surprised, and expressed that he wanted to look at his photo too.
âIâll send it to you when I go back to look for it,â Bian JinYuan said, âI should still have it, donât worry.â
That night, Lu YunFei received a photo that Bian JinYuan sent.
It was the same silhouette as his photo. A small Bian JinYuan wore a black short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans as he stood straight. A bright smile adorned his face, looking cute and handsome.
At the bottom left corner of the photo, Lu YunFei found his own blurry silhouette.
He instantly broke into a smile and posted both photos to his friends circle to exclaim: Fate is such a mystery!
Father and mother Lu who didnât know any better liked his post and even recalled the situation when they brought him to the zoo. Lu YunFeiâs heart almost leapt out of his chest by his parents and decided that next time, heâd have to screen them before posting to his friends circle!
The college entrance exams loomed closer, and Bian Jie was getting increasingly worried over a few issues, including their housing situation. After the mid-semester exams were over and seeing Bian JinYuanâs excellent scores, as well as after thinking about Li Liâs advice to the parents, she finally decided to move. Only, this was a matter that she had to discuss with Bian JinYuan first.
âMy colleague has a house that theyâre no longer living in. The rent is cheap, and itâs in a good location. Itâs also quiet. How about we move there?â Bian Jie asked.
Bian JinYuan didnât have an opinion on that, âUp to you, Iâm fine with whatever you decide on.â
And so the Bian family moved house.
Lu YunFei paid a visit the night before the move. He had some attachments to this house, first as a Tmall Genie residing in it, and later when he was together with Bian JinYuan as they spent intimate moments together. Now with the sudden move, he felt happy for Bian JinYuan, but also a sense of reluctance.
Bian JinYuan was very open-minded about it, âIt doesnât matter where I live. From the very beginning, I lived with my mum in a rented apartment. After that I lived with my small aunt in another apartment. It was only after my uncle passed away when we had no money left, that we rented this place.â
He turned to look at Lu YunFei: âMy living conditions were at its worst when I had met you.â
âBut you still lived proudly, like a pauper prince.â
Lu YunFei said, âBut youâre no longer a pauper now, but a veritable prince.â
Bian JinYuan shook his head and said truthfully, âIâm still poor.â
âStop it. The Yuan family is always trying to win you over and have been waiting eagerly for you to agree to inherit their family business, youâre simply unwilling to do so.â
At this, Bian JinYuan smiled softly and scooted closer to him to whisper, âActually, I know that theyâve done a few things behind the scenes for my small aunt and the Jiang family.â
Bian JinYuan said cheerily, âHow could there be such coincidences, for me to visit my cheap grandparents once and then the entire Jiang family falls into ruins, yet my small auntâs salary keeps rising. There must be demons when things go wrong, itâs only a matter of whether one is willing to catch those demons.â
âYou donât wish to.â
Bian JinYuan looked at him, âHave I ever told you how hard my small aunt has it.â
A solitary woman having to raise two children after her husband passed away, how could she not have had it hard. It was just that Bian Jie had never talked about her hardships.
âAnd so, I hope that she gets to live more comfortably, and more happily,â Bian JinYuan said gently.
He reached out to hold Lu YunFeiâs hand, âIn my lifetime, I donât care about too many people. Only you, my small aunt, and Shuang Shuang. To me, the lives of other people donât affect me. But I wish for you to be able to live more comfortably and happily. To this end, Iâm willing to close an eye on things.â
Lu YunFei held his hand back and said softly, âYes,â he said, âweâll both have a marvelous future together.â
Lu YunFei didnât leave that night. Bian JinYuan didnât want him to leave either, and so he stayed over at the Bianâs home.
The both of them lay on Bian JinYuanâs bed, drew the curtains shut and switched off the lights. Separated by a wall to Bian Jieâs room, they hugged and kissed. Lu YunFei worried that they would be discovered by Bian Jie and pulled the blanket over their heads as he made out with Bian JinYuan under it.
Bian JinYuan smiled as he kissed him for a long time, before pulling the blanket down to let him catch some fresh air.
Lu YunFei laid on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. In that moment, everything was perfect and peaceful.
Following the â1 day to the college entrance examsâ paper stuck onto the blackboard, Lu YunFei and Bian JinYuan finally stepped into the college entrance examination hall.
Father and mother Lu had specially taken time off to accompany Lu YunFei to the examination hall, and didnât forget to encourage him with: âDonât worry, Xiao Fei. Just go in there with your usual self. It doesnât matter if you score well or not, youâll be inheriting the familyâs business anyway, all roads lead to the same destination.â
Meanwhile, Bian JinYuanâs side was more relaxed. He had refused the concerns of the two Yuan family elders and Yuan Shuo. Beside Bian JinYuan was Bian Jie, who was confident in him, âXiao Yuan will definitely do very well.â
Bian JinYuan nodded, âMmm, donât worry.â
Father and mother Lu had helped Bian JinYuan to book a hotel room next to Lu YunFeiâs, saying, âTeacher Xiao Bian could help in case Xiao Fei needs last-minute assistance for questions he doesnât know.â
Bian JinYuan was happy with the arrangement, and said politely, âThereâs no need to spend so much,â and managed to arrange it such that he and Lu YunFei shared a room.
The first day of exams were Language and Mathematics. Lu YunFei had always fared well in these two subjects, and so he was in a good mood during the exam. The next morning was the examination for sciences, and then the afternoon was English.
Lu YunFei held onto Bian JinYuanâs hand for a while right before the English exam, hoping that he would score well this time. Seeing his nervousness, Bian JinYuan bent his head to land a light kiss onto the back of his hand. Lu YunFei was startled, to which Bian JinYuan said laughingly, âNow youâll have doubly good luck.â
Lu YunFei peered around anxiously and saw that no one in the corridor seemed to pay attention to them. Only then did he breathe out in relief.
Bian JinYuan rubbed his head, âLetâs go. Good luck, youâll do well.â
Lu YunFei nodded, and finally held his hand once more before entering the examination hall.
After the exam, Lu YunFei felt like he was floating. It was as if he was walking on cotton, slightly unreal.
Bian JinYuan saw his frown and asked worriedly, âYou didnât do well?â
Lu YunFei shook his head, his face showing obvious confusion, âBian Bian, were the questions for this English exam very simple? I felt that I knew how to answer every one of them.â
Bian JinYuan couldnât help but lower his head to laugh at this, âIt was easy,â he said, âthis was possibly the easiest English paper in the past few years.â
Lu YunFei instantly lit up, âIs my luck that good?â
Bian JinYuan nodded and looked at him mirthfully, his eyes full of warmth.
That night, with Lu YunFeiâs apprehensiveness, the both of them compared their answers for the English paper. After comparing them, Lu YunFeiâs entire being was ill at ease.
He looked at Bian JinYuan and said disbelievingly, âI got how much after calculating the scores?â
â146, excluding deducting marks for the essay. For the essay that you memorised before, it usually gets a mark deducted. If we deduct 5 marks this time, 141.â
Lu YunFei felt that his heart was beating irregularly.
Bian JinYuan smiled, âItâs quite good. I told you before, if the English exam this year wasnât too difficult, you would have the chance to score above 140.â
Having the chance to score above 140 and actually scoring above 140 were two very different things. They were so vastly different that Lu YunFei had never actually prepared for this.
Bian JinYuan asked, âSurprised?â
Lu YunFei nodded, very surprised.
Lu YunFei continued nodding, very delighted.
Bian JinYuan laughed, âThatâs good. Now, we can both attend the same school.â
At this, Lu YunFei suddenly hugged him, and fervently planted several kisses onto his face, âThatâs right,â he said happily.
And then before Bian JinYuan could react, he kissed him two more times, âThis is a reward, for getting me to score so well for English.â
Bian JinYuan wrapped him into an embrace and kissed him twice in return, and then continued hugging him as they talked about their answers for the other subjects.
As far as the both of them were concerned, once Lu YunFeiâs English was shown to have no issues, the other subjects werenât an issue. As expected, after they compared Mathematics and Sciences, they deduced that they would be getting full marks for those. As for Language, all objective questions were completely correct, and theyâd hit the main points for the subjective questions. All in all, they fared very well for the exams.
Lu YunFei was elated, Bian JinYuan was also very happy, and the both of them couldnât help but kiss each other as they imagined what their university life would be like.
Before long, the college entrance exams results were announced. Bian JinYuan was the first to receive the phone message: 746 marks, the top scholar in this batch. Lu YunFei received his a few seconds later: 739 marks, a difference of 7 marks from him. This was a result that Lu YunFei previously hadnât dared to conceive. When he had first entered the same class as Bian JinYuan, his English scores would have pulled him down to create a difference of 70 marks.
âYouâre simply my lucky star! My life-saving elixir!â Lu YunFei hugged Bian JinYuan as he exclaimed, âThe saying âthose whoâre near cinnabar are stained red and those whoâre near ink are stained blackâ. Those whoâre near you are stained with an improvement of grades!â
Bian JinYuan looked at how excited he was and subconsciously smiled as well.
The both of them had already thought about their aspirations. Now that the results were out, they immediately went to register for their choice school.
On the afternoon after they had filled in their aspirations, Lu YunFei and Bian JinYuan walked along the road from school and headed toward the city wall. They followed the road as they moved along, the rich history under their feet, and a vast view of their future ahead of them. They stood atop the city wall overlooking the city. It was a very old city filled with a long history, but it was also a very young city, full of promise. Just like them, possessing a great and long future.
As the sun set, its rays shone onto the city wall in front of Lu YunFei. He looked at the golden scenery, as if everything was coated in honey, shining brilliantly. Lu YunFei looked up at Bian JinYuan, the ringing of a nearby bell tower in his ears. Amidst the sonorous and charming ringing of the clock, he said to Bian JinYuan, âI love you.â
Each word was imbued with sincerity.
Bian JinYuan looked at him, seeing the spark shimmering in his eyes and the light emanating from behind him. He was basked in the glow of the sunset, as if he stepped on light as he walked sincerely in the light of youth. He gently tilted his head and displayed a bright smile. In that moment, Bian JinYuanâs entire world brightened.
âI love you too,â Bian JinYuan said.
He bent his head and kissed his beloved young man wholeheartedly.
The author has something to say:
The end! I havenât written a story in a school setting in so long. Now that itâs over, thank you everyone for accompanying me on this journey, love you all!! Fei Fei and Bian Bian are my favourite type of youthful personalities, I hope you like them too~~ Tomorrow Iâll write the extras, and after that Iâll be writing ăAfter Rebirth, I Became My Geâs Cat and Dog [Entertainment]ă. This is Wen MingYiâs story, and will start when he is in university. Fei Fei and Bian Bian will probably make appearances there~~~ Then weâll see each other in the extras tomorrow~ The extras should be about Fei Fei and Bian Bianâs college life, coming out stories. In any case theyâll be fluffy. Muacks, love you all (ă„ïżŁ3ïżŁ)ă„â Readers who donât wish to read the extras can bookmark my next story or myself [embarrassed]. The mountains wonât change, and the rivers will continue to flow. Weâll see each other again! mua~