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Chapter 95: Bookstore

Bai Luochuan ran fast and, as he wished, saved his portion of the meal.

There was still a lot of food in the canteen, all hot. The boys ran to get their own food and gathered together to eat. After a day of training and an extra lap, the food was particularly delicious.

Bai Luochuan’s plate had an extra portion of sweet and sour pork with pineapple. Someone tried to take a piece but was knocked away by his chopsticks. He finished it in a few mouthfuls.

Mao Yue sat beside him, also looking with envy. He could never get much meat when he got his food. Seeing the well-served dishes on Bai Luochuan’s plate, he said with envy, “Brother Bai, your little brother is so good to you.”

Bai Luochuan buried his head in his food and just casually said “mm.”

A few of the people at the second class’s table were also slow eaters. Zhou Tong was among them. He was just about to leave when he saw the lively scene on Bai Luochuan’s side and also came over. He also brought a lot of drinks for everyone and said with a chuckle, “Our drill instructor prepared these. Many of the girls in our class are afraid of getting fat and don’t drink this. Let’s drink it together.”

The two classes were the most competitive on the field, and their relationship also easily became good. In addition, Zhou Tong was a glib talker, and after a bottle of drink, everyone was talking and laughing.

After the meal, Bai Luochuan also went to the second class’s side. With Zhou Tong there, he also quickly became familiar with the people there. There was probably also a bit of a celebrity effect. Everyone was very curious about this legendary new student representative. Compared to the fierce pack of little wolf cubs trained by the black-faced drill instructor of the first class, the students of the second class were much more obedient and, like the little drill instructor in charge of them, would always show a three-part smile to everyone, with a particularly friendly feeling.

Bai Luochuan felt the atmosphere of the second class and, after confirming that Mi Yang was doing well in this class, he was slightly relieved. But he still cared in his heart. When it was free time in the evening, he went to Mi Yang’s dormitory for a look, and even reached out to touch the upper bunk where Mi Yang was sleeping, and whispered a few words to him on the ladder before he left.

The classmates in the same dormitory with Mi Yang were all a little curious, but Bai Luochuan didn’t look very easy to talk to, so they didn’t dare to ask rashly. After he left, everyone started to ask Mi Yang, “Your older brother is so close to you. He came to see you again?”

Another one chimed in, “Mi Yang is also very good to Brother Bai. I’ve seen him help him get water for the past few days.”

Mi Yang was very curious about this title and asked, “Why do you all call him ‘brother’?”

A classmate in the dormitory said as a matter of course, “I heard everyone in the first class call him that. And Bai Luochuan looks tall. Oh, right, I heard his birthday is in July. He’s older than all of us, right?”

The other few also nodded in agreement. One of the boys had already ranked the dormitory by month and said with a chuckle, “Hey Mi Yang, you’re in September, right? You’re third!”

Mi Yang smiled and accepted it, not saying that he and Bai Luochuan were the same, a year younger than them.

The matter of their age was not exposed until Bai Luochuan took the college entrance exam early, but that was a long time later.

In the last few days of military training, the drill instructor also relaxed a little with them. The black-faced drill instructor of the first class would only punish Bai Luochuan after his hat brim had moved three times. But even so, Bai Luochuan still did a lot of extra push-ups in one day.

When the formation was resting, the little drill instructor of the second class even felt a sense of compassion and took the initiative to pair up with the first class, and they sat there and sang songs together, having a great time.

They also played a game of passing the flower with a drum. There were many people in the two classes, and to liven up the atmosphere, they also had the losing students come up and perform.

Bai Luochuan was caught in a moment of distraction. He stood up, walked to the front, and thought for a moment. “Report, I can’t perform. I’ll do a few push-ups. I’m good at that!”

Everyone burst out laughing. They had seen Bai Luochuan’s standard push-ups a lot during this time.

The little drill instructor of the second class agreed, “That’s fine too!”

The other men who were familiar with Bai Luochuan followed suit and jeered, “Do obstacle push-ups!”

“That’s right! Just doing push-ups is too easy for the people of the first class. It has to be higher. The height of a person lying down is the best!”

Bai Luochuan said, “Report, drill instructor, I think this is disrespectful to both boys and girls!”

A boy shouted mockingly, “Brother Bai, I’m not afraid! I’m willing for you to be disrespectful to me!”

The people around them started to laugh again.

The black-faced drill instructor also smiled a little, but he quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. “Forget about the girls. How about this, you can choose a boy yourself.”

Bai Luochuan quickly said, “Report, drill instructor, I request Mi Yang from the second class to cooperate with me!”

The drill instructor nodded in agreement.

Mi Yang walked over, first lay flat on his back to be a human obstacle. Bai Luochuan did a few push-ups on top of him. His strength was very steady, and his form was as standard as usual. When his arms bent and the two of them got closer, the girls’ screams were even louder than the boys’, and a few of the girls were holding their hands, their eyes sparkling as they looked at them.

Mi Yang was also looking up at him, but he was not too nervous. He even had the leisure to smile at Bai Luochuan.

Bai Luochuan tensed his waist and legs and slowly lowered himself. It felt as if the tip of his nose was about to touch the other’s, and the space between them was filled with each other’s scent—from childhood to adulthood, so familiar it couldn’t be more familiar, but it could also make his heart beat like a drum at this moment. He stared at Mi Yang without blinking, his arms straightening and then bending, bringing him to the closest distance.

Bai Luochuan whispered, “You count for me.”

Mi Yang then counted slowly in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “1, 2…”

Bai Luochuan only did two or three push-ups like this. He knew that Mi Yang was shy and couldn’t stand being teased. He then had him sit on his back and did a few push-ups with him. Bai Luochuan’s waist was very good, and his movements of pushing up and lowering were very steady.

After Bai Luochuan finished his performance, the few boys who had been jeering the loudest were also called out by the black-faced drill instructor and had them perform “obstacle” push-ups.

Mao Yue’s hands were red from clapping just now, and his laughter was also loud. After being called out by the drill instructor, he also cooperated with a boy to do push-ups. Mao Yue was on top, but after he got on, he looked up with a red face and shouted, “Report, drill instructor! His, his legs are too far apart. Do I just lie down like this?”

The little drill instructor of the second class said, “Zhou Tong, close your legs!”

Zhou Tong shouted “yes” and, with a “smack,” he clamped Mao Yue’s legs together!

Everyone started to laugh again, and a group of students were laughing so hard they were falling over.

After a day of training, it was free time in the evening.

Bai Luochuan went to Mi Yang’s dormitory. It just so happened that the other few people in the dormitory had all gone out, leaving only Mi Yang there, tidying up his internal affairs.

When Bai Luochuan went in and saw the quilt by his side, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you folding it now?”

Mi Yang, while folding, said, “Oh, this is one of our dormitory’s. He doesn’t cover himself with a quilt at night. He’s afraid he won’t have time for the surprise inspection of internal affairs tomorrow morning, so he asked me to help him tidy up the four corners in advance. It’s done now.” He said as he had already finished, neatly placing the quilt back on the lower bunk. He turned to look at him. “Why are you here?”

Bai Luochuan said, “I’m here to get you some medicine.”

Mi Yang: “What medicine?”

Bai Luochuan took out a small box from his pocket, had Mi Yang sit on a chair, and unbuttoned his collar. He said to him, “It’s for your shoulder. The recoil of the gun butt was so strong during the shooting practice. It must have hurt, right?”

“It’s alright.” Mi Yang said as he didn’t move, cooperating and taking off half of his shirt to reveal his shoulder and sitting there. “Did you have your family send it?”

“No, Mao Yue’s family sent it. There was an extra portion. I saw it and asked him for it.” Bai Luochuan applied the ointment for him and rubbed it for a while. Seeing that his shoulder had relaxed a lot, he then gave the ointment to Mi Yang and had him apply it for him as well.

Bai Luochuan turned around and sat astride the chair, his hands holding the back of the chair, and his head also tilted and resting on it, urging him, “Hurry up.”

Mi Yang also applied the medicine for him as he had just done, and then his fingers pinched the back of his neck and chuckled. “This is all red from the sun.”

Bai Luochuan said lazily, “Then you can apply some medicine there too. It’s been peeling a little these past two days from the sun.”

Mi Yang applied some for him and teased him, “You really are a delicate young master. You can’t stand the sun.”

After he had finished applying it, Bai Luochuan first turned around and pinched his cheek, then his hand went down and patted Mi Yang’s waist, sneering, “You’re still talking about me? You’re the one who’s delicate… How about we switch for those few push-ups during the day? Can you carry me?”

Mi Yang thought for a moment. “Why don’t you let me try? I think I can do it too.”

Bai Luochuan squeezed his waist with both hands, tested the strength, and shook his head. “Forget it. I’m afraid I’ll have to apply for a car to go to the hospital in a bit. This place is far from the city.”

After Mi Yang had finished applying the medicine for him, he didn’t move his hand away, letting him pinch and play with the soft flesh on his waist. His waist was not ticklish, so he didn’t mind.

After Bai Luochuan had had enough of pinching, he stood up and put on his shirt. As he was buttoning it, he asked him, “Are you familiar with your classmates? Are they good to you?”

Mi Yang watched as he struggled with one button with one hand. He couldn’t stand it anymore and reached out to help. “They’re very good. Everyone helps each other, and we’re very united.”

Bai Luochuan frowned and whispered, “Why don’t I transfer to your class?”

Mi Yang glanced at him. “Are you really going to?”

Bai Luochuan was curious. “What’s wrong? You don’t want me to be in the same class with you?”

Mi Yang buttoned his shirt for him. “You should go and discuss it with Auntie Luo. Don’t make things difficult for her. These are all small things.”

Bai Luochuan nodded and was about to say something more when he heard his ears twitch. “I think our drill instructor is coming up. I can hear his leather shoes. I’m going back first.”

Bai Luochuan left quickly. Compared to his impatient look when he was tidying up his clothes just now, he was now tidying up his coat and hat very quickly, and he was dressed neatly and out in less than a minute.

Following that, he heard the sound of the black-faced drill instructor of the first class blowing his whistle in the hallway, shouting, “First class, all of you, emergency assembly—!!”

Mi Yang: “…”

Well, the young master Bai has also trained his counter-reconnaissance skills.

The training time in the military camp passed quickly. After the military training ended, a report performance was held at the city stadium with several other high schools, similar to a military parade. The students, wearing the green military uniforms of the trainees, marched in formations, goose-stepping past the podium, saluting, and shouting slogans.

Mi Yang was also among them, a small dot in a sea of green. He was surrounded by young and vibrant smiling faces, and his ears were filled with the shouts of teenagers. He felt that he had also blended in, a feeling of returning to the best and most progressive part of his youth.

After the military training ended, the school gave them a two-day holiday for the students to go home and rest.

After Mi Yang returned home, he smelled a rich fragrance coming from the kitchen. A pot of stewed corn and pork rib soup was brought out, steaming hot. On the table in the living room were also a few of his favorite dishes: blanched shrimp, stuffed tofu, and sweet and sour bean sprouts, and also a dish of braised pork. The newly steamed rice was plump and full, and it was best to eat it with the braised pork and some sauce. Mi Yang and his little sister both loved to eat this, and even Mi Xue, who had a small appetite, had a second helping, eating half a small bowl more of rice.

Cheng Qing felt sorry for her son for suffering during the military training and wanted to give him a good supplement when he came back. As she was giving him some food, she said, “Eat more. You’ve lost weight.”

Mi Xue also imitated her mother and gave her brother a piece of meat. “Brother, eat more. You’ve gotten a tan.”

Mi Zehai pushed his own bowl towards his daughter. Mi Xue didn’t understand. Mi Zehai said with a thick face, “Daddy has also been running around outside every day and has gotten a tan.”

Mi Xue frowned. “Daddy has already eaten three pieces. I’m counting. You can’t eat more! Mom said you’ll feel uncomfortable if you eat too much!”

Mi Yang said, “What’s wrong?”

Cheng Qing smiled. “It’s nothing major. I’m just having him lose some weight. He’s been eating out a lot, and his physical exam this year showed a mild fatty liver. It’s good to be on a diet for a few days. Xiaoxue is managing him for me. She’s very strict. You can eat your own food. Don’t mind the two of them.”

Mi Zehai’s daily food intake was now managed by his daughter. Mi Xue strictly followed Cheng Qing’s requirements, wishing she could count the grains of rice for her father to eat. She was very responsible for his health. Mi Zehai was both in pain and happy, and he would fight a battle of wits with his daughter every day, just to eat one more piece of meat.

Mi Yang was amused by them. When Mi Xue was not paying attention, he secretly gave his dad a piece of meat. Seeing Mi Zehai quickly eat it, Mi Yang lowered his head and continued to eat with a smile.

After a day of rest, Mi Yang had a good sleep at home. After he felt that he had more or less relaxed and recovered, he told Cheng Qing the next day that he was going to the bookstore to buy some reference books.

He was in high school now, and it was time to get serious. It was always good to prepare more in advance.

As Mi Yang was choosing reference books, he saw some mock college entrance exam papers and real exam papers. He picked up a real exam paper and looked at it. He had also used the sea of questions tactic when he was in high school, and he felt a sense of familiarity as he flipped through it. After two pages, he suddenly thought of a problem.

In his previous life, he had taken the college entrance exam in 2007. Now, after he had skipped a grade, even after repeating a year of elementary school in Shanghai to stabilize his grades, he was still taking the college entrance exam a year earlier than before.

If he only had a deep impression of a few questions on the 2007 college entrance exam paper, then the 2006 real exam paper was something they had practiced many times, and the teacher had also explained it thoroughly. They had even compared and analyzed it with the test papers of the previous few years and had found many similar types of questions to explain.

Mi Yang stood there, holding the roll of real college entrance exam papers, and after a long while, he looked at the roll of test papers in his hand with a wry smile. He had taken the college entrance exam in Lu City in his previous life. Now, he had switched to Shanghai. Both were areas with their own independent exams, and the questions on the college entrance exam papers were not the same. This “leaked question” was not of much use to him now.

In his previous life, he had worked hard to get into a key university. Now, his grades were much better than before, and his family had no plans to move back to Lu City. Even without the “leaked question,” he could still get into the school he liked.

Mi Yang’s mentality was quite good. Although he was a little disappointed, he still put the test paper back and picked a few reference books for the first year of high school, taking two copies of each to the counter to pay, habitually buying a set for Bai Luochuan as well.

The bookstore owner saw that he was quite young and, as he was bagging them, he asked with curiosity, “You’ve just started the first year of high school, right? You’re starting to work hard now?”

Mi Yang paid the money. “I’m preparing in advance.”

The bookstore owner said with a chuckle, “And you’re buying two copies. Are you buying for a classmate?”

Mi Yang nodded, smiled, and agreed, then took the change and left.

He had nothing to do at noon, so he strolled over to Bai Luochuan’s and delivered the reference books to him.

Bai Luochuan was at home, tidying up his things. He couldn’t find a pair of sneakers he liked very much and had turned the small living room next to his bedroom upside down, with things scattered on the floor. Now, he was also lying on the wooden floor. When he saw Mi Yang come, he couldn’t even get up. It was unclear how long he had been at it.

Mi Yang was also startled by the scene. He looked around. “What happened?”

Bai Luochuan said weakly, “I’m looking for my shoes. I can’t find a pair of sneakers. I wanted to take them to school to play basketball.”

Mi Yang looked at the shoe boxes scattered beside him and asked him, “Are those few pairs not okay? I think they’re all very good. The tags haven’t even been taken off, right?”

Bai Luochuan was not happy. He was stubborn and insisted on the pair he liked, indifferent to the other thousands of yuan of sneakers that were there.

Mi Yang helped him look for a while but couldn’t find them either. There were too many things here, with dozens of pairs of sneakers alone, and his preference was obvious. Mi Yang thought they all looked about the same and really didn’t understand why Bai Luochuan had to have that one pair. He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to be late for dinner at home. Can you lend me your bicycle?”

Bai Luochuan said lazily, “No.”

Mi Yang said, “Then I’ll walk back?”

Bai Luochuan then hugged his waist, rubbed against him like a large dog, and acted cute with him, “Don’t go. Stay and be with me. You don’t know, I’ve turned over so many things to find this stupid pair of shoes. They’re all on the floor and haven’t been tidied up. It’s too messy. I can’t stand it.”

Mi Yang ruffled his head and smiled. “What’s with this habit of yours? You complain when others do it, and you complain that it’s dirty when you don’t tidy up… Alright then. I’ll go and call my family. I’ll stay and help you.”

Bai Luochuan pushed his luck and made a new request, “You can stay the night too. We can go to school together tomorrow.”

Mi Yang dragged him to find his bag, took out his phone to find his home phone number, and heard him shake his head. “No, I have to go back tonight. I promised to tutor Xiaoxue.”

Bai Luochuan was not very happy. He was about to protest when he heard Mi Yang add, “But I can stay and have dinner with you.”

Bai Luochuan thought for a moment and said reluctantly, “Alright then.”

Mi Yang called his family. Cheng Qing’s side was very busy. Hearing him, she immediately agreed. The Bai family was often empty, with only the little young master Bai living in that empty and luxurious large house. The decoration, chef, and driver of the house were all the best, but it just lacked a bit of human touch. Mi Yang often stayed over, and his family was all supportive.

Cheng Qing would sometimes even take the initiative to have Mi Yang go and be with Bai Luochuan. She had also watched this boy grow up in front of her. Even though he was now a teenager, in her heart, he was still a child who needed to be taken care of.