Extra 3

Afterwards, Rong Zan waited two and a half years for Qiu XiaoHai to return to the country.

In between, Rong Zan and Qiu XiaoHai maintained a trans-pacific phone call every week. Sometimes Qiu XiaoHai would be the one calling, more often it was Rong Zan who calculated the timing and called. Perhaps it was because of nearly losing Qiu XiaoHai and then regaining him, but Rong Zan really valued and preciously protected their connection to one another.

In addition, in the original kindergarten class, Rong Zan didn’t have any other very good friends. Even when he went to primary school, Rong Zan put all of his spare time into studying. Around him there weren’t any other intimate friends like Qiu XiaoHai.

This situation was something that Rong Zan’s mother Lin Qing didn’t discover for quite some time.

After all she was usually very busy with work. When she interacted with her son in the evenings, Rong Zan always very obediently stayed in his room to read his books.

It was not until the kindergarten teacher called their house to chat and disclosed the fact that Rong Zan didn’t seem very willing to form groups with other children to play.

He wouldn’t even allow them to sit in the seat beside him.

Lin Qing immediately thought of Qiu XiaoHai. She actually thought she was very familiar with her son’s ways and thinking. However she thought that stubbornness was simply stubbornness, it would be unable to withstand a child’s natural ability to forget. As time passed, Rong Zan would naturally make new friends. So all she did was help Rong Zan arrange some summer camps, sporting activities, chess clubs and other extracurricular activities. This was so the usually quiet Rong Zan could get to know some more people.

As these activities increased, Rong Zan seemed to come around.

He was someone who was more quiet than most children. When it came to Lin Qing’s arrangements, he treated it just like homework set by his teacher. He would complete them very well. In some occasions he even displayed a natural ability to lead the group. When it came to picking a team leader, this role would often fall to Rong Zan.

It was only although he did well in everything, no matter how many suggestions or questions Lin Qing gave Rong Zan, he had never again voluntarily brought any child home with him. This really made Lin Qing feel helpless. After thinking for a while, Lin Qing and Rong SiYu decided to have a second child.

Lin Qing’s second child turned out to be twin boys. This was unexpected. Originally the husband and wife only wanted Rong Zan to have a brother or a sister to be a companion.

After all Rong Zan really had too little friends. In three years, Lin Qing could count all of them, including Qiu XiaoHai, on one hand.

All the way until Qiu XiaoHai returned to the country and pressed on their doorbell.

From the day, a child’s excitement and natural liveliness once again returned to Rong Zan’s eyes.

It had to be said that Lin Qing, who was sensitive about these things, actually felt somewhat complicated in her heart.

She looked at the two infants on the bed, and then at her oldest son who had not displayed such joy in a long time.

Lin Qing could only sigh helplessly. Well, just let it be. She would just let kids be kids.

{T/N: Not sure if the translation conveys it adequately, but I think author is indicating LQ has a premonition of QXH’s and RZ’s relationship in the future and while not disapproving, feels complex about it.}

***

While a family revolution was slowly taking root in Rong Zan’s household, Qiu XiaoHai actually still had yet to completely realize what was happening.

Recently he and Rong Zan had been having a small disagreement. This was because Rong Zan didn’t like the commercial he had shot. But the film was clearly of his family ah. He had thought that Rong Zan would like it, but he didn’t expect to Rong Zan to get quietly upset for a few days now. Qiu XiaoHai might be slow but his ability to judge Rong Zan’s mood was actually quite accurate.

Qiu XiaoHai carefully reviewed his thoughts, and thought that perhaps it was because too many people wanted to talk to him, and that made the Rong Zan who liked peace and quiet, unhappy. Look just today, the two people were eating lunch in Rong Zan’s classroom (they weren’t in the same class), and yet another person came to look for him.

This time it was a big-eyed pretty girl with princess curls. She leaned over and said in a clear voice, “You’re Qiu XiaoHai ba. My name is Wang KeLing. I’m the class president of the neighbouring Class 2. You should have heard of me before ba.”

The last sentence was because many people said that Wang KeLing was this year’s most beautiful girl. She also had good style. Every day she would wear expensive western clothes and a princess hairdo, accessorized with pearls and butterfly hair clips, or small hats, which made the other young girls green with envy. During this time the young boys were just in the midst of the age where they liked to tease each other about which girl they liked, and so while playing this game, Wang KeLing was seen as the most desirable girlfriend.

But Qiu XiaoHai who had just transferred over didn’t know anything about this. He only raised his head from his large lunch box and replied in a natural manner, “Oh. Hello.”

Wang KeLing smiled cutely. “I saw you on TV before. Are you going to be a star in the future? That’s what I want too. I’ve been dancing from a young age and been preparing for a long time. My mommy told me to ask you to contact your director uncles, and tell them to put me on TV with you.”

Qiu XiaoHai swallowed the food in his mouth then shook his head. “After filming the current one, I won’t be doing anymore.”

After saying that he glanced sideways at Rong Zan. He said in a coaxing manner, “I won’t film anymore, okay ah?”

Rong Zan glanced at Qiu XiaoHai once and didn’t reply. The rule of not talking while eating was one that Rong Zan followed stringently.

“Why won’t you film anymore? My mommy says the advertisement was very good ah.” Wang KeLing looked as though she didn’t believe. “Then, how about you give me the contact details for your director uncle. My mommy will contact them directly.”

Qiu XiaoHai had never met someone this proactive. He paused slightly, unsure what to do. “But I don’t know the phone number ah.”

“How can you not know it? Doesn’t your family live together with Bai Lang?” Wang KeLing furrowed her delicate brow. She said in the voice of a child pretending to be an adult, “Ai, even if you don’t have it, Bai Lang will definitely know. Let’s ask him. When you finish school today, wait for me. I will come home with you ah.”

Qiu XiaoHai opened his eyes wide in surprise. “You want to come to my house!?”

Rong Zan’s face immediately went wooden.

Wang KeLing nodded in a natural manner. She blinked her eyes. “We’re schoolmates ah. Haven’t you ever been to a schoolmate’s house to play before? Today I’ll come to your house and tomorrow you can come to my house–”

At this time, Rong Zan replaced the lid on his lunch box. He stood up. “I’ve finished now. I’m going to wash my hands.”

“Ah?” Qiu XiaoHai froze. He saw Rong Zan turn around and walk out of the classroom without looking back.

But clearly Ah Zan hadn’t finished the contents of his lunch box yet.

Wang KeLing ignored Rong Zan. She tugged Qiu XiaoHai’s sleeve and confirmed, “Then it’s all settled oh. Today after finishing school I’m coming to your house. Let’s meet at the school gates.”

“Ah?” Qiu XiaoHai hurried to turn his head around. “No, no you can’t. Ah Zan is coming over today.”

“We can go together it doesn’t matter.” Wang KeLing first felt a bit confused, then she felt unhappy. “Can it be that Rong Zan also wants to be a star? Since you helped him, you should help me too. In the future when I’m more famous than him I won’t snatch his jobs. After all I’m a girl and he’s a boy ah.”

Qiu XiaoHai opened his eyes wide again. He said in a straightforward manner, “How can you be more famous than him. Rong Zan is better looking than you!”

“How- how ah!?” Wang KeLing’s face went red and stamped her feet.

But at this time Qiu XiaoHai had already jumped up from his seat and chased Rong Zan outside.

On the other side.

In the hallway, Qiu XiaoHai hurried to chase down and grab Rong Zan in a panic.

“Ah Zan Ah Zan, I didn’t tell her to come to my house. Today we already agreed that you would come over, I remember oh.”

“Then if I don’t come, is it okay for her to come?” Rong Zan turned around with an expressionless face. He couldn’t help asking this question.

He suddenly had the impulse that he wanted to knock Qiu XiaoHai out and hide him away in some place. After the advertisement had broadcast, there were always people looking for Qiu XiaoHai. Since then this kind of feeling had been growing inside his chest.

Qiu XiaoHai stared at him blankly. This type of hesitation made Rong Zan’s little face grow frosty. Qiu XiaoHai realized this so vigorously shook his head. “If you don’t want her to come, I’ll tell her not to come.”

Rong Zan turned his head away. “It’s your house, you don’t have to worry about what I want or not.”

Qiu XiaoHai anxiously crowded in front of Rong Zan’s eyes. He said in a pacifying voce, mimicking what he had learnt from Qiu Qian, “Ai, whatever you want, I’ll listen to you. I said it before oh.”

Rong Zan looked at Qiu XiaoHai’s coaxing smile. He couldn’t help placing his arms around Qiu XiaoHai’s neck. He absorbed Qiu XiaoHai’s warm temperature, the feeling was very reassuring. “She’s noisy, I don’t like her.”

Qiu XiaoHai nodded his head to express he understood. “I know. I didn’t think that there would be so many noisy people. No matter if it’s eating or at class. In the future there won’t be anymore.”

Rong Zan thought for awhile then proposed a solution. “In the future let’s eat on the rooftop.”

“There’s no need,” Qiu XiaoHai smiled and added. “I’m going overseas soon with Ah Bai and daddy to film something. This time I’ll be going for eight months.”

“…………………………………………………………………………”

Perhaps it was because Qiu XiaoHai was missing a few brain cells, but after confirming his relationship with Qiu XiaoHai, Rong Zan’s possessiveness was even more serious than Qiu Qian’s.

***

Eight years later.

A particular private senior high school’s opening ceremony in A city.

On the stage there was a tall and handsome student making a speech on behalf of the year. Below the stage there was a flurry of discussion which could not be suppressed.

“Who, who’s that on the stage ah? So handsome, he doesn’t even look human.”

“Who are you talking about ah? That’s Senior Rong! He’s the year representative of the second years, he’s also the president of the student representative council. Didn’t you hear the teacher introduce him from before?” {T/N: Schooling works a bit differently in different countries, so just in case it’s confusing to you, in China senior high school is grades 10-12, second year would be grade 11.}

“Ai, I was too busy staring at him. How can someone be this good looking ah….”

“Paired with our school’s uniform, his looks can really kill. Hehe, for Senior Rong, I did everything I could to get into this school ah.”

“Does Senior Rong have a girlfriend ah? She must be a big beauty ba.”

“Hehe, that’s an even bigger killing point. He. Doesn’t. Have. One!”

“He doesn’t!? The voices became more excited. “Is it because the school is too strict, and forbids young dating?”

“Our school isn’t that strict. It’s not really forbidden. Senior Rong really doesn’t have one, no one’s seen it before. I think he spends all of his time studying ba. After all he’s very busy, not only is he the top student in the school, he’s also the representative for the student council, math olympiad, debating and sporting clubs ah.”

“Are you serious? You’re not exaggerating? Then isn’t he like a prince from a manhua, the type that when he smiles there’s a glow surrounding him!? Senior must be very friendly and easy to get to know ba!?”

“Oh, no no no, Senior Rong is an ice immortal-type beautiful boy ah~~”

“Ice, ice immortal?”

“He always has an emotionless face and doesn’t like to smile. When he walks he has a regal and elegant air.”

“This this this, this is completely my type ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—”

“Save it, you. Before coming out today did you take a good look at yourself in the mirror?”

“No no no, you don’t understand. This type of perfect prince is just the type that should end up with a regular girl ah!!”

“Ha, unfortunately that’s not the case in our school. Here, we don’t even have a student assistant …” {T/N: I’m not sure what the author means by this, she put an asterick after “student assistant” as though she wanted to explain her meaning but there’s no explanation after….}

***

Two hours later, in Year 2 Class 1’s classroom.

Everyone was sneakily looking at Rong Zan who had chosen a table in the very back row. And when Rong Zan sat down, he really placed his bag on the seat next to him. In everyone’s heart floated the sentence “just as expected”, after all everyone had heard this story before.

When it came to the order of choosing seats in the classroom, logically it was determined by how good your grades were. Rong Zan entered the school with the highest marks, so in Year 1 Class 1 he was the first one to choose his seat. And every time he would choose a table in the very back row. Because he was very tall, the fact that he chose a seat in the back row seemed to be very considerate towards his classmates.

So the male student who had the second highest grades thought that if he sat at the same table next to Rong Zan, then perhaps they could learn from and inspire each other to study better, so he picked the seat next to Rong Zan.

But as soon as he sat down, Rong Zan suddenly turned around and said to him, “I’m used to sitting by myself. Sorry.”

After saying that he picked up the bag he had just placed down, then changed to another table further down.

The boy with the second highest mark’s face became very ugly. He had also worked very hard to get into this high school so naturally he couldn’t stand this kind of humiliation. He naturally raised his head and complained to the teacher that Rong Zan wasn’t following the rules. Unexpectedly, the teacher only smiled. He said that until everyone had picked their seats, people were free to change their spots. The boy couldn’t say anything, and Rong Zan opened his book and began reading. Of course after that no one dared to pick the seat beside Rong Zan to sit in.

In the next time, according to the grades, Rong Zan was still the first person to choose his seat. So when they came to Year 2, and the classes were shuffled, all the new students to the class paid special attention to this event when choosing their seats.

Of course there were still people among them who didn’t believe it.

Right now it was the no 8 student, Shi Ting’s turn to choose. Not only was she a very good student but she was also very beautiful. Previously people had admired her as a female version of Rong Zan, however her personality was much more friendly and easy to get to know. She had many male fans in the school, and a lot of them were worried that their female goddess would get taken away by the cold-faced male god Rong Zan.

However things didn’t happen that way.

When it came to Shi Ting’s turn, she directly walked towards the table Rong Zan had chosen. She indicated the empty seat beside him with a smile. “Do you mind?”

Rong Zan raised his head from his book. He said expressionlessly, “I mind.”

From the waiting area outside the classroom there was a buzz of opinions.

However Shi Ting didn’t seem angry. She then pointed at the seat in front of Rong Zan. “Then how about here?”

“Feel free.” After talking Rong Zan lowered his head back into his book.

A flash of interest passed through Shi Ting’s eyes. She smilingly sat down on the seat in front of Rong Zan.

This type of exchange was as though even though she had been rejected by Rong Zan, but she had received permission for some level of intimacy. This made her male fans, who were lining up behind, to gnash their teeth and some of the female students that liked Rong Zan also felt unhappy.

However they didn’t expect that, half an hour later, something that would be even more shocking to the fans was about to happen.

Halfway through the welcoming speech by the teacher, a staff member appeared outside the classroom and waved their hands.

The teacher saw it and turned to the class. He coughed and said, “Students, this term we also have a transfer student who hasn’t had time to be entered into the numbering of our students yet. He is a very talented sporting student, and just returned home from a competition overseas. Please everyone get along well.”

This caused some slight chatter. After all this was Year 2 Class 1, and all the best students in the year were concentrated within it. It was a class which primarily requisite was good grades. They had never heard of any sporting talent being put into their class.

Rong Zan didn’t say anything. He also glanced with some surprise from the window outside to the front podium.

This time he had chosen a seat next to the window so that it would allow him to space out during class.

At this time, when the teacher gave a signal, a tall and slender youth came in. The youth was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and it seemed he hadn’t had time to purchase the school uniform yet. Paired with his tanned, wheat-colored skin and a row of pearly white teeth, he looked sunny and friendly, and all the female students couldn’t help staring.

No one noticed that in the very back row, Rong Zan’s facial expression changed. Even the way he sat in his chair changed.

The person who came in also didn’t throw any airs. He said openly and with a big smile, “Hi. Nice to meet everyone. My name is Qiu XiaoHai. Please lead me well.”

After that he waved his hand in a Western way.

The teacher nodded. “Find a seat for yourself. Let’s continue the class.”

After speaking, the teacher suddenly seemed to remember something. Actually there were a few empty seats in the classroom. Other than the seat beside Rong Zan, there were several tables in which only one person was sitting. However the transfer student was unfortunate enough to choose Rong Zan…

As he was thinking this, Qiu XiaoHai had already, under the gaze of the teacher and the entire classroom who were waiting in anticipation for a good drama, directly walked to Rong Zan’s table.

When Qiu XiaoHai placed his bag on the table next to Rong Zan, there was a flurry of conversation in the classroom.

At this time Rong Zan suddenly shot out of his seat with the “kua-la!” sound of the chair sliding along the floorboard.

The atmosphere in the classroom suddenly became a lot more tense. Even the teacher’s mouth dropped open. He thought he had to hurry and divert the new transfer student to avoid an altercation.

However Qiu XiaoHai only laughed. He held out his hand and said in a somewhat coaxing mamner, “Ah Zan, I’m back la.”

Rong Zan took one step forward and hugged Qiu XiaoHai forcefully. “If you didn’t come back soon, I would have gone to go grab you.

When he released him, there was a smile for the first time on his face.

“Ai, you’ve gotten taller again. When clearly half a year ago, we were the same….”

“Just cycling a bike won’t make you taller.”

“Who says! I also did some training!”

From the moment that everyone’s jaw in the classroom dropped, very quickly the whole school got to know that Rong Zan had a best friend called Qiu XiaoHai.

No matter if it was a seat, smiles or even the first love that everyone was secretly suspicious of.

It turns out Rong Zan had been waiting for Qiu XiaoHai this whole time.

(T/N: Author’s notes says the two people weren’t separated for 8 years, it was just that Qiu XiaoHai travels back and forth from China to overseas, and the two people aren’t always in the same school.}