Yuan Yeâs father didnât reply to the message for a long time, and Fu Yuanzhou was feeling a little strange. Bu then the other party quickly replied: âSorry, I just answered a call.â
âItâs okay!â Fu Yuanzhou replied immediately.
âItâs nothing important, itâs been dealt with.â Yuan Yeâs father said, âYou said Yuan Ye is staying at your house tonight? Where would he sleep?â Then, perhaps he thought that his expression was not in place, and added, âYour home⌠do you have a spare room?â
âHe is going to sleep in the next house. My neighbors are my friends, and they also know Yuan Ye.â
Fu Yuanzhou said, âToday we moved to a new house and invited Yuan Ye to play. We didnât pay attention, and it got too late. If I want him to live here, will it cause trouble to my uncle and aunt?â
He didnât tell the truth, for example, Yuan Ye came here by himself, and he insisted not to go home, so as not to make Yuan Yeâs father angrier after explaining it clearly.
âNo.â Yuan Yeâs father replied, âItâs him who caused you trouble. You should call him back.â
He was quite happy, but other people didnât, so now he couldnât care about this so much, and tried his best to brag about Yuan Ye in front of his father: âAnd he also helped me with my homework and taught me papers. Today is not the first time, so we wasted a lot of time.â
The man was silent for a moment, then replied: âReally? He taught you a topic? Wasnât it a game?â
âItâs true, I took pictures for you to see.â Photos of notes and test papers were sent to the man.
In fact, they didnât study today, just like Yuan Yeâs father said, they were playing games all the time, but what he said was not all false. He and Yuan Ye sat at the same table in the school. Because they were close together, Yuan Ye often gave him lectures. Although it was still as messy as before, but now that Fu Yuanzhou had covered the basics, he could already understand what Yuan Ye said, but he still had a lot of problem in solving process and notes written by Yuan Ye to him.
The man should have been looking at these photos carefully. He didnât speak for a few minutes, and then solemnly thanked Fu Yuanzhou: âThank you for helping Yuan Ye become better.â
âUncle said the opposite, Yuan Ye helped me improve my grades.â Fu Yuanzhou replied, âBack in the mid-term exam, Yuan Ye took the second rank in the grade. He is very smart and has good grades. I didnât help him much.â
âNo. He stopped going to school late and started leaving early, he is more attentive in his studies, and is also taking part in exams and school activities on time. I heard that this is all due to you. You made him change.â
Fu Yuanzhou was stunned, thinking about it carefully, it was true, he had said that he thought Yuan Yeâs black hair looked better, so Yuan Ye dyed his hair back to black the next day, and he did start coming to school on time every day since he didnât know when.
But he also knew that Yuan Yeâs original intention of arriving at school on time was not to study hard, but to have more time with himâŚ
Fu Yuanzhou was silent for a few seconds, feeling that he still had to let the man continue to misunderstand that his friend helped the child become better. It sounded much better.
âThese are small things.â
So, he admitted without changing his face: âYuan Ye has helped me even more, he is really good, I value him as a friend, andâŚâ
He felt that the time had come, finally, the main purpose of contacting the man tonight was thrown out.
âI added your WeChat because I saw that he was not in a good mood. After asking, I found out that there was a little unpleasantness with you, and I felt bad. I apologize to you on his behalf. If possible, I hope you can forgive him and reconcile with himâŚâ
âOkay, Iâll consider it.â The original father replied, changing the subject, âYou are a good boy.â
Fu Yuanzhou replied, and at the same time he deeply believed that this man would never think this way in his previous life. He was even regarded as his sonâs bad friend, which was actually the case, since he didnât study well at that time.
However, after some exchanges, Fu Yuanzhou himself had a big change in his opinion of Yuan Yeâs father. He originally thought that the other party was a ruthless and fierce man, but after the exchange, he realized that he was just an ordinary father.
âCan I talk to you again in the future?â the man asked, âI want to know the current situation of Yuan Ye, and I basically donât communicate with him at home.â
âOf course there is no problem!â
Fu Yuanzhou was very happy, and this was what he hoped. This way he could subtly influence Yuan Yeâs fatherâs view of Yuan Ye playing games, allowing him to support and understand the dream pursued by Yuan Ye.
The two briefly said a few more words and ended todayâs conversation. The three people had gone next door, and Fu Yuanzhou went to bed. Early the next morning, Yuan Ye came to look for him.
âIâm going to see the house nearby.â
Yuan Ye smiled refreshingly at Fu Yuanzhou. When Fu Yuanzhou saw that he was going, he quickly stopped him. After repeated persuasion, he reluctantly let Yuan Ye give up on the idea and made him agree to return home.
âYour dad is actually a nice guy. I talked to him yesterday. He cares about you a lot. Donât be old-fashioned about him.â Fu Yuanzhou said.
Yuan Yeâs expression was subtle, and he seemed to disagree, but since the person who spoke was Fu Yuanzhou, he didnât directly refute, he just mumbled: âWhat are you talking about, you actually speak for himâŚâ
âItâs nothing, he just thinks you are too rebellious to trust you enough.â Fu Yuanzhou patted him on the shoulder, âBehave well when you go back, I told him that you came to my house last night to help me with my studies, so donât say anything.â
âHe wouldnât believe it.â Yuan Ye shrugged.
âAnyway, I made him believe it.â Fu Yuanzhou said, âIt doesnât matter if you like to play games, but you have to learn to let your dad accept it slowly, and I will talk to him for you.â
Yuan Ye suddenly laughed and lengthened his tone: âHey? Youâre so good to meâŚâ
âIâm just helping you as a friend, it doesnât matter what else, donât think about it.â Fu Yuanzhou was expressionless.
âAlright, since youâve spoken, then Iâll go back first and see you at school tomorrow.â
Yuan Ye left, but after a few seconds he suddenly leaned back half of his body, smiled and said to Fu Yuanzhou, âI like you.â Then he was afraid of being beaten up by Fu Yuanzhou, so he slipped away, and ran faster than anyone else.
Fu Yuanzhou: ââŚâ Come on!
After that, another week passed in a blink of an eye, and basically nothing happened. Yuan Yeâs father really talked to him a few times, most of which were related to Yuan Ye, but sometimes he didnât talk about Yuan Ye. He would ask Fu Yuanzhou about his own things.
Fu Yuanzhou was very happy about this, and calmly told Yuan Yeâs father that he also liked to play games and mentioned that the scale and specialization of professional game competitions were becoming a trend, and e-sports players were now even recognized by the country and society. It was a legitimate career, with great prospects for development, and might even become one of the major sports events in the future.
Yuan Yeâs father said nothing about this, but Fu Yuanzhou was not discouraged. He knew that it was a long process and would take time.
On weekends, Fu Yuanzhou invited his classmates to his new home. The people who came were basically people who had been to his home during the National Day, including Yuan Ye and Ran Shutang.
âHow are you and your dad these days? Are you still arguing?â
Fu Yuanzhou asked when he saw Yuan Ye, since he didnât ask questions at school for the past two days.
âItâs okayâŚâ Yuan Ye showed him a very subtle look, âWhat are you two talking about in private? He⌠He actually asked me the name of the game I was playing last night and asked me to carry you well in the game.â
âIsnât that good?â Fu Yuanzhou was very happy, this meant that his strategy was effective, âKeep working hard!â
Yuan Ye nodded, Fu Yuanzhou was relieved, and went to greet others, he stood in place and kept looking at Fu Yuanzhouâs back, then he couldnât help thinking of what his father said to him last night.
âFu Yuanzhou child is not bad.â When his father spoke to him, his tone was rarely so calm, âYou take care of him more.â
Of course, he didnât need anyone to remind him, he naturally wanted to be nice to Fu Yuanzhou.
Yuan Ye tilted his head and leaned against the wall lazily, his sharp eyebrows softened unconsciously, revealing a gentle smile.
The classmates who came to be guests brought gifts with them, and Du Man also brought a lot of ingredients. They had discussed it last night. They would cook at Fu Yuanzhouâs house at noon today, because it was very interesting for everyone to cook together.
âYou wonât blow up my kitchen, will you?â
Fu Yuanzhou asked incredulously, standing at the door of the kitchen.
He didnât know anything about cooking himself. The only thing he knew was to cook instant noodles. Thatâs because he was sometimes hungry in the middle of the night and wanted to eat them, but he was embarrassed to ask his aunt to get up and help him cook, so he barely learned it.
âDonât worry, weâve cooked before. Besides, thereâs auntie, so it wonât happen.â
Du Man pushed him out: âGo help us choose the dishes, all the dishes on the table should be selected.â
Fu Yuanzhou was also not good at choosing dishes. He learned from others temporarily, and gradually found the joy of cooking. Everyone was busy all morning, and finally finished the dishes. Of course, they also borrowed the kitchen of Xie Linâs house. Otherwise, it would have taken too much time to cook so many dishes.
The cooking skills of the classmates were surprisingly good, especially the lemon chicken, which was Fu Yuanzhouâs favorite dish since he was a child. He happily ate it and asked, âWho made this lemon chicken? Itâs delicious.â
âIt was made by Shutang,â Du Man said.
âFuck, is it true, Ran Xueshen[1]Â can still cook?!â
âYes, half of the dishes on the table are made by him.â
âWow, Xueshen has been worshipped by me, may I ask you, old man, what else can you do? Is there anything you canât do?â
The table was blown up, and Fu Yuanzhou was also very surprised, and he felt more and more that he really didnât know Ran Shutang. After two lifetimes, he actually didnât know that Ran Shutang could cook and that his cooking craft was still very good.
âWhoever marries Shutang in the future will be very happy.â Someone said with a smile.
Ran Shutang didnât speak, but his ears turned a little red. Fu Yuanzhouâs heart jumped, and he suddenly didnât know if it was a coincidence that Ran Shutang made lemon chicken. After all, lemon chicken was not a common dish on their side.
Naturally, it was impossible for him to ask, and this matter became a mystery for the time being. After dinner, someone suggested to go to KTV to sing, which was widely accepted. After washing the dishes and chopsticks for the aunt, he was ready to leave.
Xie Lin couldnât go in the afternoon because of something. After everyone left, he took Fu Yuanzhou to the side alone and said to him, âDonât drink, Iâll check.â
Fu Yuanzhou nodded, wondering if he had eaten too much. He felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach, so he definitely wouldnât drink.
âDonât get too close to them.â Xie Lin said.
This was a bit embarrassing, how could it be possible to keep a distance in a KTV environment⌠Although he thought so, but Fu Yuanzhou knew that if he would not agree, Xie Lin would not let him go, so he nodded and agreed: âOkay.â
âYou canât sing love songs with others.â Xie Lin said.
Fu Yuanzhou: ââŚâ He didnât know how to sing, but it was not that he could really make Xie Lin feel at ease!
âHave fun.â Xie Lin rubbed the top of his hair, âIâll wait for you to come back.â
Fu Yuanzhou responded helplessly and quickly caught up with the others.