Chapter 53

As a result, three people watched the countdown party at night. The takeaway for dinner was a little small, thus, before it reached 10:30, Zhong Jing’s stomach grumbled. The two boys on the opposite side of the sofa looked at him at the same time. As an adult, being stared at by the two young men made him feel ashamed, so he puffed himself up and said: “Let’s have a midnight snack. How about I cook noodles for you guys?”

An Ning: “I’ll go, Teacher Zhong!”

Zhong Jing was deeply moved. After meeting An Ning, he respectfully called him ‘Teacher Zhong’ because he had taught Qin Weihang rock climbing, yet the boy who was properly taught by him never called him ‘teacher’. At this moment, listening to his roommate saying this, Qin Weihang’s face still looked quite indifferent.

Qin Weihang’s eyes met his, and his gaze seemed to mean, ‘He’s calling you this in my place, so it should be enough’.

Alas, it was not unreasonable that An Ning, this child, was likable. Zhong Jing thought to himself, if he were a girl, then he would be quite a good match for Qin Weihang. What a pity.

Qin Weihang turned his head and asked An Ning, “You can cook noodles?”

An Ning nodded, with an expression of ‘Of course’.

Qin Weihang said, “I don’t mean instant noodles.”

An Ning blinked, “Boiled noodles.”

Qin Weihang stopped talking.

Zhong Jing heard this and stifled a laugh. Qin Weihang himself doesn’t know how to do anything, so he thought that the top student would be the same as him. You humiliated yourself, handsome guy.

Zhong Jing originally felt that the visitor was a guest, so it wasn’t good to have him work. However, the noodles he made himself really didn’t taste good, and he would only use Lao Gan Ma* for the noodles. Moreover, Qin Weihang didn’t care what noodles he ate. Qin Weihang once came over when he was in high school to freeload on a meal. He had cooked noodles for Qin Weihang but forgot to add salt. When he remembered and came out of the kitchen, Qin Weihang was already playing a game on the sofa and there were no noodles left on the table. He held the noodle bowl and asked Qin Weihang in surprise: “Didn’t you think the taste was off?” Qin Weihang played with his phone and said, “It’s a bit bland.”

[*TN: Famous brand of chili sauce in China.]

Thinking about this, Zhong Jing decided not to be polite: “Okay then, you can use the kitchen ingredients as you like. If you can’t find anything, just ask him.”

The top student went to the kitchen, and with a clinking and banging sound, he took a bowl and peeled garlic. Qin Weihang was still sitting and watched the women’s group dance. Zhong Jing frowned and urged him: “Why are you sitting here? Go and help him.”

Qin Weihang sighed and stood up. When he left, he casually said, “It’s not like I’m hungry.”

An Ning was looking for soy sauce when he heard the sound of the cabinet door opening with a click above his head. Qin Weihang stood behind him, raised his hand and took two bottles of oil from the cabinet above his head, then bowed his head and asked him, “Which one do you want?”

An Ning leaned over and took a look, then took the bottle in his right hand, and turned to the stove; quietly giving way to the side. Qin Weihang put the remaining bottle back. An Ning felt that the body temperature close to him seemed to be hotter than that of the flame, and his heart pounded.

After that, Qin Weihang leaned against the kitchen counter and asked after a long time: “Need me to help?”

An Ning said with his head lowered, “You can bring three eggs here.”

Qin Weihang opened the refrigerator door and came back with three eggs in one hand. He didn’t even know where to put the eggs. He raised his hand, wanting to put them in the noodle bowls, but there were already condiments in the bowls, so he almost didn’t put it down.

As soon as An Ning turned around, he saw Qin Weihang holding three eggs in one hand, dazedly hanging above the countertop. Thus, he stretched out his hands to take them, and Qin Weihang put the eggs in his two hands.

“Just tell me what you need.” Qin Weihang said.

An Ning said that he needed a frying pan.

Qin Weihang murmured behind him, “Frying pan…” and turned to look for it. An Ning discovered that Qin Weihang didn’t know where the things were. Anyway, whether it was seasonings or pots and pans, he rummaged from top to bottom. Sometimes he would even chant the words as if he wouldn’t be able to find it without chanting the name.

It…was too cute, An Ning could not help but think. Then he saw Qin Weihang take out the pan, looking as if he was confirming if it was a frying pan. An Ning quickly said: “This is it!”

Qin Weihang, who was looking at the bottom of the pan while holding it up with one hand, then brought the pan over. He turned it over and put it directly on the stove.

Qin Weihang leaned at the side to watch while An Ning fried the eggs. For the first time, he felt that he was a person of little use, but he felt that watching this person fry eggs was more interesting than watching the countdown party, so he would rather stay here as decoration.

Because Qin Weihang had been watching him all this time, An Ning wisely told Qin Weihang the cooking tips of cooking. Qin Weihang looked uninterested, thinking, I don’t want to know how to make it. Isn’t it fine as long as you do it?

Qin Weihang remained silent, so An Ning felt like had gotten carried away. It was just frying an egg and boiling noodles, not making braised pork. There was no need to explain; the other person can just tell with one look.

As soon as he stopped talking, Qin Weihang raised his eyes and glanced at him. Why isn’t he talking anymore? Although your manner of being fond of teaching others is a bit old-fashioned, I’m still fine with it.

There wasn’t much left of the noodles, so An Ning filled two bowls with a bit more and a bit less for himself.

The three of them ate the noodles while watching the party. Zhong Jing took two bites and found that the taste was quite good. It didn’t look like noodles that were made by a boy, but it was much better than the same old Lao Gan Ma noodles that he makes.

Qin Weihang ate the noodles in silence and did not express any opinions. An Ning kept looking at him.

The gaze from his side poked himself repeatedly, and Qin Weihang looked up at An Ning. An Ning was dumbfounded by those eyes, and couldn’t ask the sentence, “Do you think the taste is okay?” Thus, he could only smile and bow his head.

He wondered if it was a guilty conscience as someone with a crush on him, but Qin Weihang’s eyes always feel like hooks with the words ‘Willingness to take the bait*’ written on them.

[*TN: Allowing yourself to be deceived.]

By 11 p.m, Zhong Jing’s eyes were a bit unable to stay open, so he was going upstairs to sleep first. He told the two boys to be a bit more comfortable and treat this place as their own home. He originally wanted to stay up all night with the two young boys and spend the New Year’s together, but time was not forgiving to a person. The wheelchair slid to the elevator, and he pressed the elevator button, but then he thought for a moment and whispered, “Qin Weihang.”

Qin Weihang was leaning on the sofa in a relaxed manner, with his upper body almost stuck to the sofa. He looked in his direction after hearing the sound, then slowly got up and stood.

When Zhong Jing watched him walk over, he was thinking that this kid would only lie lazily on the sofa when Mu Dan was away. He respected the teacher’s wife more than the teacher himself.

Qin Weihang didn’t ask him why he called him and just pushed the wheelchair straight into the elevator. The wheelchair was actually electric and does not need to be pushed by anyone. After the elevator doors were closed, Qin Weihang lowered his head and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Zhong Jing said, “Do you know which room is the guest room? If you don’t want to sleep with Xiao Ning, you can let him sleep in the guest room while you can sleep on the sofa. “

Qin Weihang asked in confusion: “Why would I not want to sleep with him?”

Zhong Jing was puzzled: “I thought you don’t like to squeeze in a bed with others?”

The elevator door opened, and Qin Weihang froze for a while before lifting his head. Then he took the wheelchair and pushed it out and said, “Got it.”

It turned out that it was because of this, he thought. When Zhong Jing explained to him, he reflexively understood the subtext of that sentence as ‘If you hate sleeping with Xiao Ning,’ which was why he asked.

Of course it was impossible to sleep on the same bed, it would indeed be very cramped for him.

An Ning was watching the party on the sofa. As he kept watching, his eyelids were fighting to stay open. Qin Weihang came down from upstairs at this time. He didn’t take the elevator but walked down the stairs. Although he didn’t walk very fast, An Ning still felt that he brought along the wind when he walked over. Perhaps it was because he was too tall, but when Qin Weihang sat down, An Ning felt the sofa cushion sink and rustled, and his energy also revived.

On the screen was the singing and dancing empress, Gu Sangni*. Without Zhong Jing laughing along with them, the huge living room seemed much quieter all at once. Qin Weihang picked up the remote control and turned down the volume a bit, and asked, “Are you sleepy?”

[*TN: The literal title was Heavenly Empress. She’s a celebrity that appears in the author’s novel, 轻错.]

An Ning straightened his back: “I’m not sleepy, I’ll wait for the finale!”

Qin Weihang put the remote control back beside him: “Who is the finale?”

An Ning said: “It’s LOTUS every year.”

Qin Weihang tilted his head and looked at him: “So you really do like LOTUS.” I wouldn’t stay up late just to wait for LOTUS in the finale.

An Ning forced a smile: “I’m really just a casual listener.”

Maybe he really was just a casual listener, Qin Weihang thought, because the person next to him fell asleep on the sofa before LOTUS appeared. Qin Weihang leaned against the sofa, his gaze was no longer on the boring party. When An Ning’s eyes had been closed for a while, he gently sat up, turned, and took the black down jacket that was behind him. He picked up the jacket with one hand and placed it above An Ning’s body, but he did not place it down for a long time. The shadow of the black down jacket was projected on An Ning, like a dark cloud falling on the surface of a lake. His thoughts wandered, feeling that the rain coming from inside his body was about to fall on this person, drenching him.

He put down the jacket in his hand, unwilling to think about it. As a result, the jacket was piled on An Ning’s waist. It was not fully unfolded, and it was neither up nor down, so it couldn’t protect against the cold.

He did something unnecessary. A hint of irritation rose in his heart, and suddenly, LOTUS appeared. He began to hesitate whether to wake An Ning, because he wasn’t sure whether the other party was a shy fan* or really was a casual listener. If he really was a fan, he would definitely not want to miss the live broadcast, but if he was a casual listener, maybe a pleasant dream would be even harder to come by.

[*TN: The words used here is to be embarrassingly short of money, which means that he’s assuming AN is too shy to say that he is a fan because he doesn’t have the means to support them.]

He looked at the sleeping person in a daze. While being distracted, the verse had passed and the chorus came.

After the gloomy and sad verse, the chorus suddenly brightened. The chorus attracted him and made him look at the TV screen.

The stage of the countdown party was magnificent—it was shrouded in a melancholy blue starry sky. The cosmic vocalist of the cosmic sky band* was holding the microphone in both hands, raising his head and closing his eyes, singing with a voice like a wind chime in the night breeze:

[*TN: Apparently both are nicknames that were originally made by anti-fans, but the lead vocalist made it into a slogan/catchphrase.]

And this is not me

Not like I used to be

Like a swing in the sky, I’m swinging

To the magic beat

He was not a fan of LOTUS, but this chorus, and that brilliant starlight guitar behind the chorus, made his heart pound. The so-called heart-pounding turned out to mean this—it was the feeling of the heart moving with the wind.

He looked at An Ning again. It was no use to wake the other party up at this moment. He wondered if An Ning was hearing this song in his dream.

The black down jacket was still awkwardly covered on An Ning’s waist. His jacket should be enough to cover An Ning’s body, at least from his chest to his thighs.

In his ears, Ji Shi’s voice was singing:

Isn’t it a mistake

Should I just miss it

I met a hurt butterfly, should I

Protect it from rain

Or let it in

This was too beautiful. Wasn’t it too foul for a rock band to sing such a song? Qin Weihang was thinking this, then finally stretched out his hand to unfold the stacked parts of the jacket. He patiently unfolded the sleeves, unfolded the placket, and pulled down the hem until the jacket completely wrapped the arms, chest, and the seemingly flexible waist of the sleeping person.

When the song progressed to the wonderful bridge, the guitar and bass turned over like dark clouds parting away. With Ji Shi’s loud and clear treble, the glittering Milky Way plummeted at that moment, and he heard his heart thumping. He does not know if An Ning was a fan of LOTUS, but he thinks he was about to become a fan.

Wish it is love

I wish it is love

I wish it is love

I wish it is love

[*TN: Btw, the song was written/sung in English.]

He leaned on the sofa and thought with overwhelming emotions, this was really a song that makes people want to fall in love.