OHD Chapter 23: Frustrating

Chapter 23: Frustrating

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The phone vibrated against his thigh. Zhou Kai loosened his grip on the soup spoon in his left hand and pulled the phone out of his pocket. He turned on the screen, and when he saw the text message on the lock screen, the noodles slipped down his throat, choking him.

After coughing, he blinked his teary eyes and looked at the message again. Confirming he hadn’t misread it, he blushed and put the phone away.

The physical education committee member and the other three classmates sat across from him. Seeing the study committee member’s face turn red from coughing, they curiously asked, “What did you see to get so excited?” “Could it be a girl confessing?” “He’s been confessed to by girls before; it can’t be that.”

Zhou Kai wiped his eyes and didn’t answer. However, the class leader sitting next to him had also seen the screen and, chewing his food with a mouthful, said, “I think it’s just a delivery notification. Nothing special. I just don’t know what he bought that’s making him so excited.”

Lowering his head to drink the soup, Zhou Kai blinked and lied, trying to cover up. “Nothing much, just a comic book.”

Unexpectedly, someone was interested in the comic and chased after him with more questions. “What comic? Whose comic? What do you want to read? Maybe I have it?”

Zhou Kai hadn’t read any comics, at most some picture books his grandfather had collected when he was a kid. He usually watched anime, like the action-packed ones. With a series of questions, he could only laugh awkwardly and tell another lie. “Nothing much, just an educational children’s comic.”

The person who asked looked stunned, as if they had heard a joke. “Children’s comics?”

Zhou Kai put down his spoon and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and nodded firmly. He smiled at the person, “Yeah, it’s for a relative’s child. Is there a problem?”

There was no problem, so they waved it off and went back to eating.

Seeing that they finally stopped questioning him, Zhou Kai sighed in relief. He rubbed his hands on his pants, a bit sweaty and nervous. He thought to himself that he was really something, lying so easily without even blinking.

His hand brushed against the phone in his pants pocket, and Zhou Kai thought, was this delivery too fast? He had expected it to arrive tomorrow, around noon or afternoon, but it had arrived now, already in the delivery box downstairs.

He blinked and rubbed his nose, unable to resist smiling. For the first time, he felt the wonderful coincidence of “everything is just so perfect, so right.”

When He Ye opened his eyes and got up from the table, several groups of people had already gone to the cafeteria and returned, chatting in twos and threes, or reviewing the morning exam papers.

Only He Ye was still asleep, out of place.

Actually, he hadn’t really fallen asleep. He couldn’t sleep with an empty stomach.

Why didn’t he eat? Because he had run out of money.

He had paid the water and electricity bills, and had lent some to others.

Originally, he had saved some money for food, but after a trip to the supermarket last night, he was left with only three one-yuan coins and a 50-cent coin.

He was truly broke, having eaten his last meal without a plan for the next.

It had been a long time since He Ye had experienced hunger, and with his lack of money, he had learned to carefully plan every cent he earned.

This time, Zhou Kai was completely outside of his plan.

But He Ye didn’t regret it. It was strange; he didn’t feel any regret at all.

Standing up, he reached into his pocket to feel the coins, enduring the sharp pangs of hunger in his stomach. He decided to go to the cafeteria anyway. Even if he had to eat just plain rice, it would be better than nothing. If he didn’t eat, the stomach pain would get worse, and he didn’t have money to buy medicine.

On the way back to the classroom, Zhou Kai was distracted, thinking about the package waiting for him when he returned. He was restless, itching inside, and that restlessness spread throughout his body.

Zhou Kai couldn’t stop thinking about He Ye. Just earlier, in the cafeteria, he had looked around but hadn’t seen He Ye. He wondered where he had gone. Had he eaten? And what about the midterm exam? How many points could He Ye score? Would he win a progress award?

The school offered a 100-yuan prize for the progress award, and He Ye had won it last semester in the second year. Zhou Kai had watched He Ye walk up to the stage, and it felt like time had rewound. His eyes had stung, and his heart had ached.

Lost in thought, his pace slowed, and he found himself at the back of the group, walking up the stairs with his head down. One step after another, until someone blocked his way.

He looked straight at the person’s chest and then up to their face.

His breath hitched, and Zhou Kai felt a tickle in his throat. After a few seconds, he realized it wasn’t his throat that was itching, but his heart. That itch in his heart grew stronger.

Standing on the stairs, He Ye’s expression was rarely without his usual cold detachment, but it didn’t show any other unexpected emotions. He simply locked eyes with Zhou Kai, and their gazes seemed to communicate something, their magnetic fields buzzing.

If someone had been behind He Ye at that moment, gently pressing his head down, and said that he would immediately pull Zhou Kai into an embrace and kiss him passionately, with sparks flying, people would have shouted, “I believe it!”

Of course, the class president and the others from the physical education committee were not among those who would shout. To them, He Ye and Zhou Kai looked like two enemies ready to fight at any second. So the class president, ever so loyal, extended his hand to grab Zhou Kai’s arm and gave him a meaningful glance, subtly warning, “Don’t fight with him at school. He’s tough.”

Zhou Kai glanced at the class leader, following the arm that was pulling him. He Ye also turned to look at the class president, and his gaze immediately turned cold, devoid of any warmth.

Though Zhou Kai didn’t fully understand the class president’s intentions, he got the gist. He took a step to the side to make way.

He Ye’s gaze shifted back to Zhou Kai’s face, sweeping over him with force, and then he turned and descended the stairs.

The class president and the members of the physical education committee watched as He Ye walked away, their expressions varied. Zhou Kai glanced down the stairs, but when he no longer saw He Ye, he began walking up again, his steps light.

The bell signaling the end of the exam rang, and Zhou Kai jolted, his breath quickening. He put his pen down, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk, and his feet rubbing against the floor. He was starting to lose his composure.

The exam papers were passed from the last student to the front. He Ye tossed his pen into his bag, looked up at the student in front of him who was scribbling furiously, and stood up. He slapped the paper onto the student’s desk. The student, clearly irritated by the interruption, looked up with a fierce expression.

He Ye’s cold gaze met his, and the moment the student saw it, all the anger drained from him. He lowered his head and went back to writing.

What good is it to write after the bell?

He Ye scoffed inwardly but didn’t care whether the papers had been collected yet. He threw his bag over his shoulder and headed for the back door. Just as he reached the door, he stopped, turned around, and looked back.

Zhou Kai was in a panic. When the paper came to him from the back, he quickly placed his own on top and tapped the student’s shoulder. Once the paper was secured, Zhou Kai stood up and turned to look.

But He Ye was already gone.

It was already a little past 5:30. He had to hurry to his part-time job. If he was late, his wages would be docked, and he might not even get to eat.

Frozen in his seat, Zhou Kai was about to grind his teeth in frustration. He cursed He Ye in his mind.

Hmph! He said he was going to deal with him, but when the time came, he disappeared without a trace. It’s so frustrating!