Chapter 66: Cold War
An Zhihan was completely confused by Su Jinli's punch.
Ever since he met Su Jinli, he never thought there would be a day when Su Jinli would hit him.
A seemingly gentle and cute boy would suddenly get angry, not hesitating to take action, and wouldn't show any mercy.
An Zhihan clutched his cheek, feeling a sharp pain in his cheekbone. He still had a competition to attend, and hitting him in the face was certainly overboard, right?
However, Su Jinli didn't care about these concerns at all, as he was completely enraged by An Zhihan's teasing of his friend.
"You f-ing hit me? In the face?" An Zhihan was furious, throwing his toothbrush at Su Jinli's face and lifting his fist to counterattack. But Su Jinli firmly grabbed his fist.
Su Jinli was overwhelmed with anger toward An Zhihan, his hand gripping An Zhihan's fist shaking.
He had always regarded An Zhihan as his best friend, with the highest level of trust, and they shared everything. They even kept each other's fingerprints for unlocking their phones.
The best of friends could also cause the greatest anger.
Yet An Zhihan had said something that crossed the line, especially considering that person had been kind to him.
Su Jinli had already refused once before, but An Zhihan still secretly unlocked his phone and added himself as a friend! This had crossed Su Jinli's bottom line.
Even someone with a good temper has their limits.
If An Zhihan had explained himself clearly, Su Jinli wouldn't have lost his logic like this.
Yet, An Zhihan refused to speak reasonably.
"So, you just want to play with her?" Su Jinli asked for confirmation again.
An Zhihan was so furious that his teeth chattered. He said fiercely, "Su Jinli, I've been too nice to you. Look, I just smile at you and you think you're important? Do you have any idea how many people kneel and lick my shoes?"
After An Zhihan's rant, Su Jinli kicked him again, making him lose his balance.
An Zhihan thought he would have a fight with Su Jinli, but it turned out to be a one-sided beating from Su Jinli.
Who could tell that this seemingly easy-to-bully teenager would be so good at fighting?
An Zhihan tried to fight back several times, but found no opportunity.
Wu Yu carried his bowl of instant noodles, and walked over with noisy slurping, standing at the bathroom door watching them. He made an 'OK' gesture with his chopstick-holding hand, and said, "Don't worry, I've turned off the camera."
What is considered kicking someone when they're down?
This is definitely it.
Instead of stopping the fight, Wu Yu stood by eating his instant noodles, watching them fight... or more accurately, watching Su Jinli beat up An Zhihan. Occasionally, he would even give reminders, "Hey, An Zhihan, be careful when you fall. Don't hit the coat hanger. And watch your hands, don't touch my face wash."
He had heard their argument earlier and based on the content, indeed, An Zhihan deserved the beating.
An Zhihan was suffering and couldn't cry out for help. He was beaten until his entire body ached, feeling extremely wronged and on the verge of tears.
However, when Su Jinli grabbed his collar and asked, "Do you realize your mistake now?"
He still stubbornly responded, "No!"
And the beating continued.
Wu Yu watched and cheered on the side, cautioning Su Jinli, "Don't hit the face, don't let it be discovered, or you might get expelled from the programme."
After a while, seeing that An Zhihan really had no strength to fight back, he stepped in nonchalantly and said, "That's about enough."
Fan Qianting heard the commotion and rushed over. By the time he arrived, Su Jinli had already stopped, glaring at An Zhihan, apparently taking a break from the fight.
"What happened?" Fan Qianting asked.
"An Zhihan secretly went through Su Jinli's phone and said he was willing to 'play' with Su Jinli's friend, thinking it would be doing Su Jinli's friend a favor. So, Su Jinli beat up this jerk," Wu Yu explained.
Slapping his thigh, Fan Qianting said, "I was listening to music with earphones, so I missed the juicy gossip!"
When An Zhihan saw that Su Jinli stopped hitting him, he immediately started to boast again. "Don't think you are invincible, Su Jinli."
"Dare to act like this again, I won't hesitate to hit you back."
"Right, your brother is Shen Cheng, you are awesome!" An Zhihan shouted. Previously, these were words that others had used to scold him, only replacing Shen Cheng with An Zhiyan.
Fan Qianting widened his eyes, looking at Wu Yu, "So, he really is Shen Cheng's brother! I thought An Zhihan was talking nonsense before, and didn't take it seriously."
Wu Yu didn't respond. He stepped over and reached to An Zhihan's chin, noticing, "The cheekbone is swollen, probably the program crew will discover it."
"What are you guys going to do, destroy the evidence?" An Zhihan slapped away Wu Yu's hand.
Fan Qianting walked in and patted Su Jinli's shoulder and said, "Calm down, calm down, let's not stoop to his level."
"I'm the one who got beaten!" An Zhihan shouted again.
"You're quite a big guy, how can you be so weak?" Fan Qianting actually scolded An Zhihan.
"I... no one dared to fight me back before."
Su Jinli turned away, leaving the bathroom. Wu Yu followed him out, asking, "Do you want me to make you a bowl of noodles?"
"Do you want to eat, but should I go and confess to the program team first?" Su Jinli asked Wu Yu.
"No need, just pretend you're ignorant and say that An Zhihan is brain-damaged and caused it himself." After answering, Wu Yu sat down and continued eating his noodles.
Su Jinli was still somewhat uneasy, and looked back.
Fan Qianting and An Zhihan walked out pushing each other back and forth. Fan Qianting wanted to persuade him, but unfortunately, An Zhihan insulted whoever he caught. When Fan Qianting failed, he no longer cared. He put his headphones on again and began humming songs immersed in his little world.
________________________
After An Zhihan came out, he looked left and right, walked out of the bedroom by himself, lifted his clothes to check, and found bruises all over his body. It hurt terribly.
He finally believed that An Zhiyan was his real brother, because he didn't hurt as much when An Zhiyan hit him.
With a look of embarrassment, he headed to the program team. After getting in, he continued to act like a big shot, asking them to prepare ice packs and a medicine box to quickly reduce the swelling of his injuries.
After a while, the director came up and asked, "Have you been in a fight?"
An Zhihan knew that if he said Su Jinli hit him, Su Jinli would be expelled, so he held back for a long time before finally saying: "No."
"This injury doesn't look like a fall."
"I have a bad temper. When I get angry, I even hit myself." An Zhihan's face was swollen, and his eyes were asymmetrical while speaking, but he was still showing off.
They didn't argue with An Zhihan, and let it go, but they did remind him not to have violent incidents in the training camp.
An Zhihan nodded, took the ice pack to apply to his face, and chased everyone else out. Then, he pulled out his phone, and dialed An Zhiyan.
As soon as An Zhiyan picked up the call, he sounded impatient, "What do you want? I'm rather busy."
"I just got into a fight with Su Jinli."
Immediately, An Zhiyan's angry voice came over the line, "You hit him? Are you out of your mind?"
"He started it first!" An Zhihan retorted instantly.
"I can't imagine his sort of temperament inciting a fight with you; certainly, you must have been at fault."
"The thing is, I didn't do anything. Yet he came up to confront me."
"You should apologize, or I'm going to come over and give you a thrashing."
An Zhihan had called to complain, but now, even his own brother wasn't on his side.
He'd been beaten up in his room, and no one tried to break it up. After the fight, even his roommates sided with Su Jinli. He thought his brother might help him take revenge, and yet, his brother scolded him and told him to apologize.
He was so aggrieved that he burst into tears, sobbing and ranting, "I... have... been beaten stupid, and you're all still on his side! I got hit, and you're scolding me... aaaah!"
After hearing An Zhihan's wailing, An Zhiyan cooled off a bit before finally saying, "Alright, stop crying for now, tell me what happened."
"Su Jinli probably likes... likes Yura's assistant, Xiao Mi... the one we met at the restaurant last time. I simply added her on WeChat, and he got angry and hit me."
"Xiao Mi? Did he tell you he liked her?" There was a hint of doubt in An Zhiyan's voice.
"He consulted with me about his affections, and then he was chatting with Xiao Mi cheerfully, and even fought with me over her, what do you think?"
"Do the production team know about the fight?"
"I didn't tell them, and they haven't asked either."
"Oh, if he likes her, why did you add Xiao Mi on WeChat?" An Zhiyan asked in a deep voice.
An Zhihan was momentarily at a loss for an answer.
"Did you add his friend on WeChat without his permission, and then he found out and handled you?"
"I didn't... do anything," An Zhiyan answered guiltily.
"Have you been spoiled from a young age, with girls willingly flocking around you, and now you assume that the world's women fall into two categories; those you can sleep with, and those you can't? If you try really hard, could you manage to categorize a third group that you don't want to sleep with?"
"I didn't..."
"You always lack a basic respect for girls."
"I don't! This time, I did it honestly. I just wanted to get to know her, starting as friends. I was really serious..."
"Serious my ass! You broke up just a few days ago and now you already feel lonely? Do you have too much free time in the training camp?"
An Zhihan felt wronged again and cried in response, "No, I didn't! I mean it this time. I wanted to secretly give Xiao Mi a ticket so she could come and see Su Jinli. I promised that I would bring her in to give Su Jinli a surprise. It's true that I wanted to get to know Xiao Mi, but I didn't plan to sleep with her!"
Feeling a bit better, An Zhiyan asked, "Why didn't you explain it clearly? And did you clarify it with Xiao Mi?"
"I forgot to tell Xiao Mi. I had someone else mail the ticket, who knew it'd arrive so quickly! Plus, as soon as Su Jinli walked in and started grilling me, you know how I am. I had to fight back!"
An Zhiyan took a deep sigh, then asked, "How did it go? Did he beat you up badly?"
"He hit me in the face! My cheekbones are swollen, and my body is bruised."
"Take care of your wounds. You still have a match coming up. I will be back the day after tomorrow, I'll come and check on you then. Make sure to explain it to Su Jinli as well and apologize."
"If I ever get back together with him, then I'm his grandson."
"Can you stop saying such things? It makes me feel like I'm degrading myself."
"If you don't speak it out, only both of us know, we can simply pretend it didn't happen."
"..." His brother could only be this useful.
________________________
Everyone found out that An Zhihan got into a fight with Su Jinli, even though no one explicitly spread the news.
An Zhihan's face was injured from the fight, yet he made no fuss, and no one in the training camp was punished. Who could have done something like that?
How many people could restrain themselves like he did?
He suddenly started giving Su Jinli the cold shoulder, and that alone was enough to explain the situation.
An Zhihan may not have the best temperament, but he really cared about Su Jinli. These days, he barely spoke to Su Jinli, showing just how serious their fight was.
But in their dormitory, Wu Yu didn't mediate, Fan Qianying seemed to enjoy the peace, and Chang Siyin tried to intervene twice but ended up getting cursed by An Zhihan, so Chang Siyin gave up.
During the rehearsal, the production crew arranged a high-altitude, breathtaking performance for Su Jinli in line with his style. Su Jinli had to swing in mid-air and then leap down.
"I live in the upper bunk and I can bear that, but this, I really can't bear. I'm very scared," Su Jinli was panicking, hugging the swing's rope and complaining, "I can't do this... I might not be able to do this. I'm just a little fish, I can't be hanging so high!"
"Don't worry, just don't look down," Wu Yu encouraged from below.
"Your stage effect will be really good," Chang Siyin also said.
"If you fall, you'll change from a Koi to a flounder," An Zhihan sat on the side, watching and gloating.
Su Jinli gripped the rope, forcing back his fear.
When it was An Zhihan's turn, the crew arranged a white paper curtain. An Zhihan was supposed to sing a section inside, where only his shadow could be seen under the light. Then, he would suddenly break through the paper and walk out.
However, An Zhihan, trying to look cool, tripped when he walked out from the paper, falling onto the stage.
Su Jinli, standing on the side, laughed out loud when he saw this, which resulted in An Zhihan glaring at him repeatedly.
On the way back, they happened to bump into each other. An Zhihan, with hands in pockets, followed Su Jinli and muttered, "Braised Carp, Pickled Cabbage Fish, Sweet and Sour Fish, Chopped Pepper Fish Head..."
________________________
Author's Note:
Su Jinli: Are you a devil?
Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter
or purchase advanced chapters here
No comments:
Post a Comment