Chapter 2

<I like you, your eyebrows, your lips, everything about you, I only like you! You are my salvation!>

Xiao Chen picked up the card on the table and frowned. He quickly looked around himself, but there were only a few other students in the classroom. He could be counted as one of the earliest people to come to school every day and one of the latest to leave. It had already been two weeks since he had been able to receive similar cards to the one currently in his hand. There would always be some things stuffed into his desk, such as thermoses, snacks, and breakfast.

And today there was an umbrella inside.

Xiao Chen was stunned. He was a person who didn’t like to bring an umbrella, so if it didn’t rain too hard, he wouldn’t take one unless he absolutely needed to. In addition, he didn’t pay much attention to the weather forecast. Most of the time, as long as it rained, he would be drenched like a chicken which had fallen into soup. But he could never remember to bring an umbrella.

Yesterday when school ended, it suddenly began to drizzle, and Xiao Chen had to use his school uniform to cover himself. His house wasn’t far away from the school, and it only took 10 minutes to walk there. By the time he arrived back home, he was already soaked.

Xiao Chen patted the male student closest to him and asked, “Who was the one who came first today?”

The male student froze for two seconds. “It was me, what’s the matter?”

Xiao Chen held up the umbrella. “Do you know who put this in my desk?”

The male student shook his head. “I didn’t pay attention, but I haven’t left the classroom since I entered. It must have been placed inside your desk before I arrived.”

Xiao Chen nodded in reply and didn’t speak as he returned to his seat and looked out the window.

His seat was by the window and had a very wide view.

His sight flickered, abruptly meeting light grey eyes outside.

It was that boy.

He paused.

Xu Sheng was hiding behind the bulletin board, shyly sticking out half of his face. His thick bangs fell to the side as he tilted his head, revealing a pair of eyes. They locked onto Xiao Chen’s window in the distance. When Xiao Chen looked over, the boy tried to hide by crouching on the ground and shrinking into a ball, but his actions only made himself more obvious. One of his eyes cautiously peeked out, staring fixedly at Xiao Chen like a mimosa pudica flower that had closed its leaves bashfully after being poked by someone. But this flower remained stubborn and carefully wrapped its leaves around the person’s finger, refusing to let go.

Without knowing why he had these feelings, the corners of Xiao Chen’s mouth lifted into an amused smile.

Xu Sheng’s figure shrank even lower.

He saw me! He even smiled at me!

The boy swallowed, his eyes scorching and crazy as he showed a silly smile.

Ah, my Seniork2026;

The rain came as expected and pitter-pattered on the asphalt pavement. Students grouped together in twos or threes and held umbrellas as they walked towards the school’s entrance, happily laughing and bustling about.

“Sister Ni, we don’t have an umbrella. What should we do?” A long-haired girl wore a miniskirt and Dr. Martens boots, constantly tapping her foot on the floor. She looked at the rain in front of her and was somewhat annoyed. Then, she glanced at the short-haired girl beside her, who had a hairstyle similar to a boy’s.

The tomboy’s name was Li Ni, while the long-haired girl’s name was Zhou Qingqing.

Li Ni snorted and coldly laughed. She used a finger to casually point at a corner. “Don’t we have him?”

Zhou Qingqing frowned. “Him?”

She only saw the boy squatting alone in the corner, seeming sneaky, with no one knowing what kind of things he was doing. His thick bangs blocked his eyes, and he tightly grasped an umbrella in his hand. No one knew how long he had stood there for.

Wasn’t this boy Xu Sheng?

“No way, if we take his umbrella, we might get AIDS! With how dirty his mother is, he definitely got a disease from her! What should we do when we get sick?” Zhou Qingqing’s voice wasn’t that loud, but it could be clearly heard within ten meters. Hearing this, people around the two looked sideways, their gaze filled with disgust and maliciousness towards Xu Sheng. No one cared that the girls’ original purpose was to steal someone else’s stuff.

But Xu Sheng didn’t even bother to listen, so he didn’t refute them.

Xiao Chen frowned. He had just walked down the stairs when he heard the two girls, giving him chills. AIDS couldn’t be transmitted through body contact, but more importantly, how could these children in the flower of their youth use such insidious words to judge someone! Even with Xiao Chen’s good temperament, he couldn’t help but want to swear.

Xiao Chen handed his own umbrella to one of the girls. Zhou Qingqing was originally distracted, but once she saw who it was, her cheeks were tinged red. She whispered, “Senior, Senior Xiao Chen?”

In the beginning, Xu Sheng wanted to be regarded as a corpse, but now he started to tremble. He secretly lifted his head, narrowing his eyes into a thin line. He gripped the umbrella in his hand silently, his eyes burning and filled with killing intent.

The good looking boy passed his umbrella to the shy, love-struck girl in front of him.

How could Senior give away the umbrella Xu Sheng gifted him! Why should he be so good to others! What qualifications does this woman have to receive Senior’s care?

Xu Sheng clenched his teeth, and his twisted universe seemed to explode.

In that case…

they should all go die! Senior is only his!

Go die! All of you go die!! Every single one of you guys!

Xiao Chen showed a slightly ironic smile. “Junior classmate, listen to your senior’s advice and be more polite. If a girl as young as you can speak so viciously, you must also be very bitter!” He lifted his legs and approached Zhou Qingqing, who was absentminded as she murmured, “What?”

“Otherwise, how could you be so unwilling to see others happy?” Xiao Chen’s tone wasn’t harsh, so it seemed rather gentle, with words like pearl beads. This sentence wasn’t cruel when compared to what the girl had said. The girl’s face reddened, and the people nearby were unable to speak.

Senior…

Xu Sheng’s eyes widened, his expression grim until he looked closer and became distinctly ecstatic. His heart beat rapidly, and he felt like he would faint in the next second. He clearly wasn’t someone who had heart disease, but he felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore. His senses were so strong that they couldn’t be neglected.

He intensely focused on the back of his Senior, enduring even when his eyes were so dry they hurt, as if he was afraid that the other would disappear.

This is his salvation…….

Xu Sheng’s mouth drew into a casual arc.

His god……

His Senior……

The news that Xiao Chen had helped Xu Sheng had spread all over the campus earlier. After all, with the addition of Yellow Hair, the three were very famous in the school. At first, Zhou Qingqing and other girls still didn’t believe it, but they saw it today! She bit her lip grievingly and whispered, “But I didn’t say anything wrong…….”

Xiao Chen smiled, and icily said, “Junior classmate, don’t say any more. Take this umbrella and go home early, don’t stand in the rain.” He peered at the awkward Li Ni who was standing next to Zhou Qingqing, and said, “I think you two shouldn’t be like this in the future!” His tone was light, but it also brought a sense of dominance. He left the other party with a path to escape so that they wouldn’t look too bad.

Observing the back view of the two girls in the distance, the crowd intentionally or unintentionally immediately dispersed.

But no one noticed that the heads of the two girls were shrouded in a cloud of black mist, and that a somber air of death wrapped around their limbs. There was even a bit of blood.

The small discussions reached Xiao Chen’s ear.

“Why does Senior treat that weirdo so good?”

“It’s not that, Senior is just a considerate person. He treats everyone very well!”

“……”

Xiao Chen withdrew his gaze and lightly, step-by-step neared the boy’s position.

Xu Sheng froze in place. At this moment, his five senses amplified until he could even hear the clear and incomparable sound of every step on the ground. All things in the world seemed to lose color, with only Xiao Chen’s bright light remaining.

Xiao Chen squatted to be at the same height as the boy, and smiled. “Classmate, are you okay?”

Xu Sheng’s mind wandered, his mouth slightly agape as if he had been scared silly.

Xiao Chen wasn’t upset. Once he saw that Xu Sheng wasn’t hurt, he said, “It’s good if you’re fine. It’s not that early anymore. You should also go home. I’m leaving!”

Xu Sheng heard the word “go” and violently raised his head. Xiao Chen was stunned. The boy’s light grey eyes were inconceivably beautiful, and hidden behind his bangs was an androgynous face, with fair skin. Without waiting for Xiao Chen to recover from the impact of his shock, the boy hurriedly stuffed something into his arms and rose up to run back to the teaching building, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Xiao Chen bowed his head.

It was an umbrella.

A pair of eyes looked through the glass window and scanned the crowd.

Xiao Chen opened the umbrella and slowly left.

Xu Sheng hastily followed, his sight, all hot and crazy, locking onto the other.

T/N: Still one more chapter to go until the real fun starts!

The summary makes it seem like Xiao Chen will never know about the passersby, AKA players, but that’s not true. In fact, he actively takes a role in the game they’re playing, trying to solve mysteries and survive (of course, we all know from the title that he has nothing to be afraid of). Try not to give away this spoiler if you want to comment.

淋成落汤鸡, someone who experiences the consequences of their actions, hence the chicken falling into chicken soup. It is usually used when someone is soaked by the rain. It came from a Ming Dynasty book called “Stone Nod”, a collection of short stories about idiots. There originally was nothing to do with actual chickens. Summary of the story: A rich man, nicknamed Luo Tangji (chicken falling into soup), went to collect rent in the countryside with his servant. However, before they left, Luo Tanji’s wife gave the servant rules such as “the master should always walk in front”, “you are not allowed to speak when someone greets the master”, and “the master should never carry the luggage”. Naturally, the servant was upset. Later in the trip, it suddenly started to rain heavily. The rich man asked his servant for an umbrella, but the servant replied, “That’s not alright. Your wife told me when we left that the master should never carry the luggage.” No matter what the rich man said, the servant refused to hand over the umbrella. Soon, he was soaked. The same situation happened for all of the other rules that the wife gave. When a dog attacked the rich man, the servant was “not allowed to speak when someone greets the master.” When the river flooded, the servant told his master that he wasn’t allowed to walk in front. After the rich man went into the river and almost drowned, he still acted very arrogantly. The wife was startled when she saw his drenched appearance, and exclaimed, “What happened to you? You practically became a chicken falling into soup!”

字字珠玑, ½ of an idiom which means words spoken so beautifully (like pearl beads) that they must be true. The full idiom is 字字珠玑,言之凿凿. This half originated from Qing Dynasty writer Wen Kang’s book The Story of Hero Boys and Hero Girls. Surprisingly, there is a wikipedia page for this work if you’re interested. The phrase comes from the sentence “任凭是篇篇锦绣，字字珠玑，会不上一名进士”, which roughly translates to “despite page after page of words like pearl beads, why can’t it pass the Jinshi?” The Jinshi was the highest level of imperial examination in Imperial China. This phrase was later combined with another sentence from Qing Dynasty writer, Pu Songling’s, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, which also has a wikipedia page btw. The sentence is “言之凿凿，确可内信据”, meaning “the verdict can indeed be based on concrete evidence”. The idiom 字字珠玑,言之凿凿 therefore is “with words as beautiful as pearl beads, they must be based on concrete evidence”.