novelDon't You Like Me? (2)
| ← Ch.024 | Ch.026 → |
Translator: TeaAddict, Editors: Celtic, Pyrrhae, PR: Baumkuchen
At a glance, it appeared there would be some sort of secret inheritance. Grandpa must have put in MAX effort to leave him a legacy!
Lin Feiran clumsily lifted the mattress, set it aside, and found a loose bed board underneath that seemed to open like a cabinet door. Digging his fingertips into the small crack, he lifted the board and discovered a small notebook. The book looked awfully old-fashioned: it had a bright red cover embossed with the portrait of a leader above a slogan that encapsulated the feelings of a bygone era. Lin Feiran picked it up and opened it carefully, the pages yellow and brittle with age. Glancing through, he found it was full of records of magic spells and the like.
What 'black donkey hoof wards off evil'? What 'draw a cup of chicken blood and splash it in the southeast direction at maoshi?.... .
"What is this?" Lin Feiran asked.
"The contents were passed down by your great-grandpa, I copied them myself." Grandpa looked at the book with nostalgia."The notes recorded inside... can be thought of as magic and stuff. However, most of them are for exorcising particularly resentful and malicious spirits. You don't have to learn them; even if you do, about eighty percent are useless. Grandpa also does not expect you to pass this down, just take it and keep it with you just in case."
Lin Feiran made a weak sound of agreement.
Inheriting his deceased grandpa's secret manual for exorcising ghosts or whatever originally should have marked the beginning of an upgrade streak. Wouldn't it be reasonable to say that Grandpa's manual was a golden finger that would blast open the path to exorcising ghosts and spirits with the utmost ease? That would just feel awesome, awesome, and even more awesome! However, Lin Feiran was terrified of ghosts, and just hearing the two words "malicious spirits" was enough to make his heart jump in fright. If he could simply live a normal life even while seeing ghosts every day, then he would be more than satisfied.
Lin Feiran placed the palm-sized book into his pocket."Grandpa, " he asked, "Am I unable to tell these things to others? Each time I try to speak, the words won't come out. I can't even write about it."
Grandpa shook his head, "You can't do anything about it, and there is no way to convey it to others. If there were a way, why would I not tell your Dad? That stinky boy!"
Lin Feiran lowered his head in disappointment, thought about it, and said in a depressed tone, "In fact, I haven't seen ghosts that often since that day. My classmate has very strong Yang energy; if I touch him once, I can go for five minutes without seeing the ghosts. The same goes with his dog, so I have to either stay close to him or his dog every day. Yesterday, I even stayed over at his house. Do you have any ideas on how I could stop being like this? It's terrible for me to always be bothering others like this every day."
Moreover, Gu Kaifeng seems as if he's a little... Lin Feiran's heart suddenly jumped. Shaking his head vigorously, Lin Feiran tried to disperse that blush-inducing thought.
"Yang energy can temporarily decrease the effects of your Yin constitution." Grandpa stroked his beard."Since your friend's Yang energy is so strong, there should also be residual Yang energy in the things he used. It's just that the Yang energy is too little, so you can't see it. Still, it should be able to temporarily suppress your Yin energy."
The things that Gu Kaifeng used are also effective? Lin Feiran's eyes brightened as a door to a new world opened!
If that's the case, then I have to think of some ways to take one or two of Gu Kaifeng's things and secretly send them back once the Yang energy is consumed. Isn't this so much better than sticking to him 24 hours a day?
"However, " Grandpa coughed heavily, before continuing solemnly, "Grandpa recommends that you don't do this. The best method is for you to gradually adapt and get used to it. Otherwise, don't tell me you're going to follow this classmate your entire life..." Pausing, Grandpa confirmed, "Is the person you spoke of a male student?"
Lin Feiran was startled. He heard the implications of Grandpa's words and blushed slightly, "Yes, a male classmate."
"Then are you planning on taking a pet everywhere in the future? You'll bring a dog to school or to work?" Grandpa asked.
Lin Feiran deflated, as the little hope he had left completely vanished, "No."
It truly was impossible. In the future, he still had university and then work. How could it be possible to guarantee he would not see ghosts under all circumstances?
"It is normal for you to be afraid now. It is also a good thing to have a person with such strong Yang energy shield you in the beginning." Grandpa softened his tone, "However, you cannot be too dependent on him. Eventually, you will need to face this alone."
Lin Feiran nodded weakly. He said, depressed, "Got it, Grandpa."
Afterwards, Lin Feiran chatted with Grandpa for a long time and listened as Grandpa shared some anecdotes from his past. He hadn't known that his Grandpa used his Yin constitution to do so many things. As he listened, he began to understand why his Grandpa had wanted his Dad to inherit his "legacy."
".... The Heavens must have their own reason for why people like us exist. Perhaps right now you don't want to understand and feel this is burdensome. Later you will understand." The two continued chatting and at the end of the conversation, Grandpa placed his hand about one centimeter above the top of Lin Feiran's head. Patting the air above Lin Feiran's head, he murmured, "Just do good things, don't ask about the future."
Confused, Lin Feiran nodded, "En."
Before heading back, Lin Feiran took Xia Xia with him to the village's delicatessen. He bought some of Grandpa's favorite foods that he hadn't dared to eat when he was alive due to bad health: roasted chicken, pig head meat, duck neck...
After he finished there, he went to buy 500 grams of liquor, and then he went to Grandpa's grave. Following Grandpa's method of making an offering to spirits, he placed the items in front of the tomb. Then, he silently pictured Grandpa's image in his head while he lit two incense sticks and prayed.
"This time, you can eat without restraint." Lin Feiran picked up Xia Xia — who was staring attentively at the meat while drooling — and smiled at the empty space in front of him."From now on, I will frequently take time to come back and give you delicious food."
Lin Feiran stood up after making the offerings. Carrying Xia Xia, he took out a small piece of chicken from another bag in his hands and tore it into shreds for Xia Xia to eat. While feeding Xia Xia, he walked back to his ancestral home and added a big portion of chicken to Da Huang's meal. From what Grandpa said, Da Huang's spiritual sense was relatively strong. Every night from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am — the darkest part of the night when Yin energy is the most concentrated — Da Huang was able to sense Grandpa and Grandma's presence. Therefore, Da Huang vehemently refused to be taken back and raised by other relatives. Helpless, everyone ultimately allowed Da Huang to stay in the courtyard of the ancestral home with a distant uncle coming by every day to bring food for him.
In the evening, after Lin Feiran sent Xia Xia back to Gu Kaifeng's home, Gu Kaifeng's mother drove the two of them back to campus. Upon reaching the dormitory, she opened the car trunk and pointed to large and small packages of various imported snacks and fruits."I bought you guys a few things to eat at school, " she said.
"I'll carry them." Gu Kaifeng rolled up his sleeves, wanting to carry up this mound of 'a few things' by himself. Lin Feiran hastily took a couple bags from Gu Kaifeng. He wanted to take another but Gu Kaifeng dashed up the stairs like the wind, taking the big packages and small bundles with him. Lin Feiran thanked Gu Kaifeng's mother, said goodbye, and turned around to chase him upstairs.
In the dormitory, Gu Kaifeng took out a large fruit bowl and brought the fruits to the washroom. Lin Feiran also stickily went over to help. Taking blueberries out from a small plastic tub, he put them under the water and rubbed them gently before dropping them into the bowl. Gu Kaifeng also followed these steps, but each time he went to put the washed fruits into the bowl, Gu Kaifeng would deliberately touch Lin Feiran with his fingers and then glance at him with an ambiguous gaze. Without Xia Xia for support, Lin Feiran's courage shrank into a small ball. Even though Lin Feiran felt Gu Kaifeng's actions were strange, he could only put up with Gu Kaifeng's teasing and dared not ask any questions!
After teasing him a few times, Gu Kaifeng was amused by Lin Feiran's 'dare to get angry but don't dare to say it' expression. He smiled and asked, "Where did you take Xia Xia today?"
Lin Feiran was reticent and faintly said, "Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed."
"Little cutie." Gu Kaifeng only thought he was being playful and used his wet fingers to pinch Lin Feiran's angelic little face.
Lin Feiran: "......"
It really is something that cannot be revealed, okay! Do you think I'm selling meng?
They went back to their room to eat some of the fruit. Filled with worry, Lin Feiran grabbed his mobile phone and climbed to the upper bunk bed.
Right. As a good boy who listened to Grandpa, Lin Feiran decided that from today forward he would start practicing how to adapt to seeing ghosts. He had always understood that sticking to Gu Kaifeng was not a real solution. Previously, he was simply too terrified, so he did not want to address this point. He'd hoped he would be lucky when he saw Grandpa and that he would have some method to help him stop seeing ghosts. However...
Lin Feiran looked at the time on his mobile phone; he had decided he would begin training himself by looking at ghosts for five minutes. Unfolding the quilt that he had left neatly folded on the bed, he bundled himself up, leaving only his head and hands exposed. Then, he bowed his head to play on his phone, trying to distract himself.
Several minutes passed and the familiar ice cold feeling invaded. Lin Feiran bit his lip, then cautiously and solemnly extended his head to look down. The sun had just set and the nocturnal ghosts in the dormitory still had not gotten up. They were either lying on the ground in every direction or sleeping on the table. The room was filled with the sounds of successive breathing and snoring, and sometimes even some mumbled words spoken in sleep. The faces of these sleeping ghosts were still just as scary, but at least when sleeping they were a little less threatening.
Lin Feiran forced himself to look for half a minute. His heart pounded erratically and his complexion became pale. He took one deep breath through his mouth after another and huddled in the corner by the wall.
On the one hand, he comforted himself, it will get better after I get used to it. Ghosts are just scary to look at, they won't actually hurt me. On the other hand... he lowered his head and rigidly stared at his cell phone screen. After the five minutes training time he assigned himself were up, he would immediately get out of bed and absorb Gu Kaifeng's Yang energy.
However, before the time was up, a voice floated up from the lower bunk. It belonged to Gu Kaifeng."Did you see the school forum?"
"No. What happened?" Lin Feiran tried to make his voice steady, not wanting Gu Kaifeng to hear it tremble.
Gu Kaifeng did not respond and instead climbed directly to the upper bunk. He did not bat an eye as his gaze swept across Lin Feiran, who had wrapped the quilt around himself like a small cocoon. Gu Kaifeng placed his mobile phone before Lin Feiran's eyes and said, "Look."
The effects of the Yin-Yang eyes disappeared the moment Gu Kaifeng came over.
Rescued, Lin Feiran relaxed and took a closer look. Gu Kaifeng's phone was showing a post on their school's forum. The post was titled "818 Sophomore class has CP that is cute enough to cause you to shoot blood." The contents were mostly YY about Lin Feiran and Gu Kaifeng by various fujoshi classmates.
"Uh..." Lin Feiran's eyes widened uncomfortably.
Gu Kaifeng swiped his fingers upwards to scroll down the post. Lin Feiran saw that someone had released a picture of him and Gu Kaifeng from the backstage of the Arts Festival two days ago. The picture was taken secretly after Lin Feiran finished his piano solo, when Gu Kaifeng had walked down from the stage, held Lin Feiran, and spun him around in a circle.
By chance, Gu Kaifeng was directly facing the camera in this picture. His pair of black eyes were curved gently as he gazed at Lin Feiran, held in his embrace. The depths of his eyes glowed with restraint and a soft radiance, his expression full of pampering indulgence and affection.
The time Gu Kaifeng had spent holding and spinning Lin Feiran was very short, and Lin Feiran's thoughts were also not on Gu Kaifeng at the time. Therefore, he had not noticed the other's expression. But now... Lin Feiran's eyes locked with the eyes of Gu Kaifeng in the picture and his face, which had been ghostly pale just a moment ago, suddenly reddened.
Lin Feiran lowered his eyelashes, his gaze moving about erratically. Even his voice was weak as he laughed dryly and struggled to find something to say."What's up with this post? How did we become a CP..."
"Someone posted on the forum just a few days after you transferred." The corners of Gu Kaifeng's mouth tilted slightly upwards and he said with a smile, "All of them are saying I am the gong and you are the shou."
"I am definitely not a shou." Lin Feiran's nervousness and unease were written all over his face."I am straight as a pen, straight as a pen..."
Gu Kaifeng chuckled and uttered cheerfully, "Like hell you're straight."
Lin Feiran choked and blushed as he protested, "Is it proper for you to so simply and rudely deny other people's sexual orientation?"
"Stop playing, I'm about to go crazy." Gu Kaifeng's voice was very low. His gaze swept across Lin Feiran's crimson face and he changed the subject."Why are you bundled up in the quilt? Cold?"
What playing? What about to go crazy? Lin Feiran vaguely felt something was off and hastened to follow the new topic. He nodded and said, "Cold. These days, there is a drastic difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures— What are you doing?"
"Helping you warm up." Gu Kaifeng had peeled off the quilt that was wrapped around Lin Feiran, trapped his slender body against the wall, and gave no explanation as he pressed his body against Lin Feiran's. Using his fingers to flick Lin Feiran's deep red earlobes, he smiled lightly and asked, "Is it warm?"
Lin Feiran was in a daze from being pressed down and his bright black eyes widened into perfect circles. Although he had the feeling that a disaster was about to occur, in a futile attempt to maintain the 'conversation between ordinary friends atmosphere, ' he stammered, "Quite, quite warm, it's just, it's just that I'm a little out of breath..."
"Lin Feiran, " Gu Kaifeng's deep gaze was entirely focused on Lin Feiran. He gently pinched his chin and asked, "Can I call you RanRan from now on?"
Lin Feiran swallowed stiffly, his face so red that even a monkey's butt could not compare."Only my, my family calls me that."
"A boyfriend can partially count as a family member, " Gu Kaifeng spoke vaguely. Under the deer-like watery, panicked, and watchful gaze of Lin Feiran, he moved a little closer to him and asked the question that he had been suppressing deep in his heart these days."Let me ask you something... Don't you like me?"
Finally!!! The moment we've been waiting for!!
Go go go Gu Kaifeng!
| ← Ch. 024 | Ch. 026 → |