Times of Our Lives - Chapter 9
With only a week left until the sports meeting, Zhang Ganggang finally managed to pass the ball out of a double-team without falling to the ground and rolling in frustration. Qi Fei felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders and the long road ahead, with no trace of his former enthusiasm… Of course, progress was not limited to just that.
For some reason, Ji Qinyang dyed his hair back to black before the parade.
When the boy appeared at the classroom door, he attracted most of the attention. Xie Meng looked up and saw Ji Qinyang staring at him.
“Morning,” Ji Qinyang took off his earphones. His hair seemed smoother, less fluffy, and dyed jet black.
Xie Meng stared at him for a long time. “Morning…”
Ji Qinyang smiled. His facial features were naturally exquisite, and with his hair dyed black, his advantage was even more pronounced, resembling a high-resolution male model on a fashion magazine cover.
Qi Fei said, “Are you evolving into a male god?”
Ji Qinyang was puzzled. “Wasn’t I one before?”
Zhang Ganggang pondered. “You are the school’s number one beauty…”
Ji Qinyang looked surprised. “How come I didn’t know?”
Qi Fei clapped his hands. “I remember now! Last time on the school’s female channel, someone ranked them.”
Zhang Ganggang counted on his fingers. “Ji Qinyang, Xie Meng, Zhuo Xiaoyuan… Three out of the top five are ours!”
Qi Fei rolled his eyes. “Zhuo Xiaoyuan is from Class 6.”
Zhang Ganggang argued, “He knows Xie Meng, so Xie Meng’s friends are our friends!”
Xie Meng said nothing.
Ji Qinyang chuckled. “That’s interesting.”
Xie Meng glanced at him. Ji Qinyang happened to turn his head, and they locked eyes for a long time before Maitreya Buddha came in.
Qi Fei and Zhang Ganggang kept arguing about Zhuo Xiaoyuan, and Maitreya Buddha’s loud voice quieted them down.
Maitreya Buddha ruffled Ji Qinyang’s hair. “Oh, you dyed it back.”
Ji Qinyang, impatiently, smoothed out his ruffled hairstyle.
Maitreya Buddha smiled. “It looks good, like a well-behaved pretty boy.”
When Xie Meng heard “well-behaved pretty boy,” he couldn’t help but laugh. Ji Qinyang stared at his smiling face, widened his eyes, and made an innocent expression.
Xie Meng coughed while laughing.
Zhang Ganggang and Qi Fei were less subtle, laughing hysterically.
Maitreya Buddha got annoyed and started scolding them before they quieted down.
Because of the upcoming sports meeting the next day, classes were lazy that day. After school, they stayed behind to line up for the parade. Ji Qinyang, Qi Fei, and Zhang Ganggang took turns shouting “Number One Beauty of W Middle School” and “Well-behaved Pretty Boy” on the sidelines of the sports field… On the track, Class 6 was also lining up. When Xie Meng passed by Zhuo Xiaoyuan, he nodded.
Suddenly, Zhuo Xiaoyuan shouted, “Class 6! Six Six Lucky! Class 6! We’re the best!”
Xie Meng: …
Qi Fei was about to die laughing. “This slogan is too funny, hahaha!”
Zhang Ganggang: “Hahaha!”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan was angry. “If you think it sounds good, you shout it!”
Ji Qinyang, carrying a sign on his shoulder, casually said, “Friendship first, competition second.”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan: …
After the parade, a few people stayed behind to practice basketball. Chen Dong suggested having a friendly match with Class 6. Zhuo Xiaoyuan brought his sister, Zhuo Jinyin, who sat obediently on the sidelines.
“Brother Qinyang!” Zhuo Jinyin waved her arms happily.
Zhuo Xiaoyuan frowned. “Why are you calling him?”
Zhuo Jinyin honestly replied, “Because he’s better looking than you, brother.”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan: …
Ji Qinyang walked over, with Xie Meng following behind him. When Zhuo Jinyin saw him up close, his eyes widened.
“Hello, Jinyin.” Xie Meng squatted down, smiling as he patted the little girl’s head.
“Ah! Ah!” Zhuo Jinyin screamed and hid behind Zhuo Xiaoyuan.
“…,” Xie Meng stiffened, unsure of how to respond.
Zhuo Xiaoyuan clicked his tongue, displeased.
Ji Qinyang chuckled ambiguously, “She didn’t react this way the first time she saw me.”
Blushing, Zhuo Jinyin peeked out from behind her brother and shyly exclaimed, “You’re so handsome~”
“…,” Xie Meng was speechless.
Zhuo Xiaoyuan sighed and rubbed his forehead, “Ignore her, she’s acting silly.”
Qi Fei was most experienced with children. Compared to his mischievous cousins, 10-year-old Zhuo Jinyin was like a little angel. Zhuo Xiaoyuan, watching Qi Fei entertain his sister by turning coins into flowers, finally couldn’t take it anymore and frowned, “Give up, I won’t let my sister marry you!”
Zhuo Jinyin laughed gleefully and clapped her hands, “I want to marry Xie Meng!”
“…,” Zhuo Xiaoyuan retorted, “Didn’t you say a few days ago you wanted to marry Ji Qinyang?”
Qi Fei pretended to be heartbroken, clutching his chest, “Am I not good enough?! I’m handsome too!”
Zhuo Jinyin laughed heartily. Qi Fei lifted her up onto his neck and signaled Zhang Ganggang to bring the basketball, “Big brother will play shooting with you.”
Zhuo Jinyin missed twice and then protested, “I’m too weak.”
Ji Qinyang stood by her waist under the basket, looking up at her with a gentle smile, “It’s not your fault, Qi Fei is just too short.”
Qi Fei immediately squatted down, pretending to be pitiful, “Yes, yes, my neck is sore from looking up.”
Zhuo Jinyin giggled. She took the ball handed to her by Xie Meng and stared seriously at the basket. This time, she gently released it and scored.
There was cheers on the court. Ji Qinyang gently put Zhuo Jinyin down and joked, “Pre-game show is over, little princess, will you watch from the sidelines?”
Zhuo Jinyin looked at Xie Meng, “Are you going to play too?”
Xie Meng nodded with a smile, “Yes.”
Zhuo Jinyin took Zhuo Xiaoyuan’s hand confidently, “Although I really like you, my brother won’t lose.”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan didn’t speak. He lifted his own sister, and the two shook hands. Zhuo Jinyin clenched her fist, “Go, big brother!”
“Okay,” Zhuo Xiaoyuan promised her, leaning over to give Zhuo Jinyin a kiss on the cheek, “A kiss from your big brother.”
Zhuo Jinyin hugged him tightly and kissed her brother’s cold and fierce eyes.
Zhuo Xiaoyuan grinned stupidly.
The friendly match didn’t start intensely. Class Three mainly trained cooperation and tacit understanding. Zhang Ganggang’s skills were only enough not to be a drag, and Chen Dong also tried to feed the ball mainly to Ji Qinyang and Qi Fei.
Qi Fei liked to charge into the penalty area alone, but Ji Qinyang rarely did so.
At first, Xie Meng did not immediately make a choice when he got the ball passed from Ji Qinyang, but later his reaction became faster and faster.
“Over here!” Qi Fei signaled on the right side. Ji Qinyang glanced at him, then flicked his wrist, but the ball went to the left. Xie Meng quickly shook off two defenders from Class Six, received the ball, turned around to dodge into the penalty area. Ji Qinyang was already waiting under the basket. Zhuo Xiaoyuan tried to intercept, but Xie Meng stepped back and prepared to shoot.
“Grab the rebound!” Zhuo Xiaoyuan shouted.
The ball was thrown with a high arc, but it wasn’t aimed directly at the basket. Zhuo Xiaoyuan realized Xie Meng’s intention too late. Ji Qinyang jumped high and caught the pass in front of the basket, dunking directly.
Zhuo Xiaoyuan: “…”
“Wow!” Zhang Ganggang laughed and jumped on Xie Meng’s back.
Ji Qinyang tousled his wet hair and smiled, reaching out his hand to Xie Meng.
Xie Meng shook hands with him, but unexpectedly Ji Qinyang gripped his hand tightly and pulled him into a hug, wrapping his arm around Xie Meng’s shoulder, holding him tightly.
“Well done,” Ji Qinyang patted Xie Meng’s neck, seeming not satisfied, he even hugged the boy’s waist with one hand, lifting him off the ground.
Xie Meng: “…”
Fortunately, Ji Qinyang released him after a moment, but Zhang Ganggang was more excited than both of them, hugging and jumping, almost spinning in circles together. In the end, even Qi Fei couldn’t hold him back.
“Don’t be so happy too early,” Zhuo Xiaoyuan challenged with a smirk, “It’s just the beginning!”
They fist bumped, and the next defensive battle became noticeably tighter. Xie Meng and Ji Qinyang showed excellent coordination, and Zhang Ganggang gradually caught up with the rhythm. However, Class Six was tough, especially with Zhuo Xiaoyuan’s three-point shots proving unstoppable. Despite the exhausting match, Class Three ended up losing by two points.
“Yeah!” Zhuo Xiaoyuan rushed to the sidelines and lifted Zhuo Jinyin onto his shoulders, the little girl laughing so much her eyes disappeared.
Xie Meng lay on the cement ground, panting. In his view appeared a pair of basketball shoes, Ji Qinyang smiled and reached out to him, “Was it fun?”
Xie Meng nodded, not in a hurry to get up. They stayed hand in hand, one lying down and the other squatting, and no one found it strange.
“This is my first time playing like this,” Xie Meng suddenly said, raising his chin to look into Ji Qinyang’s eyes, smiling, “It’s really interesting.”
Ji Qinyang raised an eyebrow, he looked down at Xie Meng’s smile, as if pondering over his words for a while before replying, “Let’s play together in the future.”
Xie Meng smiled for a long time, the curve of his mouth never dropping. He stood up with Ji Qinyang, suddenly asking, “Why did you dye your hair?”
Ji Qinyang was stunned for a moment, then tilted his head and smiled at Xie Meng, “Doesn’t look good?”
“Of course not,” Xie Meng reached out and tousled Ji Qinyang’s hair at the back of his head forcefully.
Ji Qinyang rubbed his nose, the tips of his ears hidden in his sideburns turning slightly red.
“You look good without dyeing it too,” Xie Meng thought for a moment, seriously saying, “You look beautiful no matter what.”
Class Six won the game, so Zhuo Xiaoyuan naturally had to treat everyone. Several boys went to the school gate to have ice cream together. Ji Qinyang took one for himself and Xie Meng, and they bit into them in almost the same posture.
Zhuo Jinyin, holding an ice cream cone, pulled down Zhuo Xiaoyuan’s uniform collar, “Brother…”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan turned his head, “What’s up?”
Zhuo Jinyin leaned closer to him, gesturing for him to look towards the school gate.
Ji Qinyang turned his head to look and his smile faded.
Zhuo Xiaoyuan frowned, his forehead creasing. He picked up Zhuo Jinyin and headed towards the school gate alone.
Xie Meng: “?” He wanted to turn back, but Ji Qinyang hugged his shoulders tightly, his strength holding his head.
Lin Hengjing leaned against the car door. Zhuo Xiaoyuan glared coldly at him, “What do you want?!”
By appearance alone, Lin Hengjing was refined and could even be considered delicate. His gaze shifted to Xie Meng’s back, who was facing away.
“I just want to talk to him alone,” Lin Hengjing raised his hands, “I won’t do anything.”
“You have nothing to talk about with him,” Zhuo Xiaoyuan said coldly.
Lin Hengjing smiled, “You’re not him, how would you know?”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan didn’t want to waste words with him and cursed, “Get lost!” Lin Hengjing was somewhat helpless, suddenly shouting loudly, “Xie Meng!”
“…You!” Zhuo Xiaoyuan was infuriated and wanted to explode, but Lin Hengjing called out again, “Xie Meng!”
Xie Meng finally turned his head. He seemed to look here for a while before slowly walking over.
Ji Qinyang followed with a nonchalant smile.
Lin Hengjing looked at Xie Meng gently and said, “Long time no see.”
Xie Meng nodded. “Do you have something to tell me?”
Lin Hengjing looked at Ji Qinyang’s hand on Xie Meng’s shoulder, hesitated for a few seconds, then left.
“I just want to talk to you alone,” Lin Hengjing lowered his posture. “I’m unemployed now and won’t pose any threat to you.”
Zhuo Xiaoyuan wanted to say something more but was stopped by Ji Qinyang.
Xie Meng thought for a moment and agreed, “Okay.”
Lin Hengjing turned to the side, gesturing to speak privately. Ji Qinyang signaled for Zhuo Xiaoyuan to go ahead first, casting a cold glance at Lin Hengjing before walking over to Xie Meng.
“You called for me,” Ji Qinyang said.
Xie Meng smiled, “Well… there’s nothing really.”
Ji Qinyang focused on him, then suddenly reached out, adjusting the collar at the back of Xie Meng’s neck. Xie Meng was stunned for a moment, then obediently lowered his head slightly.
“You’ve wrinkled it,” Ji Qinyang chuckled lightly.
Xie Meng murmured, “Thanks,” smiling.
After Ji Qinyang had walked away, Lin Hengjing withdrew his gaze. He scrutinized Xie Meng’s expressionless face and sighed bitterly, “It’s been a long time since you smiled at me like that.”
Xie Meng remained silent, frowning.
Speaking to himself, Lin Hengjing muttered, “You used to take my classes seriously, even came to ask me questions afterward… Though there was no real meaning, you smiled so beautifully. Did that boy also get attracted to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xie Meng said coldly. “Ji Qinyang is different from you.”
Lin Hengjing smiled oddly, “How is he different? Because he’s younger, better looking than me, better…”
Xie Meng cut him off, “If you’re only here to say these things, then we have nothing to talk about.” With that, he turned to leave.
Lin Hengjing grabbed his arm in agitation, “How do you know he doesn’t think differently from me?!”
Xie Meng: “…”
Incoherently, Lin Hengjing continued, “You seduced me, and now you’re seducing someone else… It’s all your fault…”
Xie Meng forcefully shook off Lin Hengjing’s hand, then grabbed him by the neck, slamming him against the rear bumper of a car with a loud bang. Lin Hengjing, unprepared, hit his lower back on the bumper, crying out in pain.
Ji Qinyang ran over but didn’t pull Xie Meng away, only asking, “Are you alright?”
Xie Meng nodded, looking down at Lin Hengjing’s pained expression coldly, “It’s your business if you like pretty boys, but you shouldn’t arrogantly impose your desires on others. Apart from an apology, I don’t want to hear any other explanations from you.”
Tears streamed down Lin Hengjing’s face. He kept apologizing until Xie Meng let go of him, still kneeling on the ground coughing.
“Scum!” Zhuo Xiaoyuan spat, “Get lost!”
Shaking, Lin Hengjing stood up. He glanced at Xie Meng one last time, then reluctantly stared at Ji Qinyang.
Xie Meng: “…”
Ji Qinyang: “…”
Refusing to give up, Lin Hengjing said, “Does he… does he also like men…”
Xie Meng sighed helplessly, his face cold as he shielded Ji Qinyang behind him, warning, “If you don’t want to end up in the hospital again, don’t think about him.”
Fear clearly appeared on Lin Hengjing’s face. After hesitating for a while, he finally awkwardly got into his car and drove away.
After Lin Hengjing’s car had gone far, Ji Qinyang still looked bewildered. “What did he mean just now?”
Xie Meng didn’t want to answer. He bought two more ice creams, ate one himself, and handed the other one, with the foil peeled off, to Ji Qinyang.
“No need for hush money,” Ji Qinyang mumbled through his ice cream, “If you don’t tell me, I’ll keep asking.”
Xie Meng glanced at him calmly, stating, “I don’t understand it either.”
Ji Qinyang raised an eyebrow and smiled. He wrapped half of the headphone cable around Xie Meng’s neck, inserted the earphones, and turned up the volume a bit. Xie Meng’s head almost leaned on Ji Qinyang’s shoulder.
The melody they had listened to before played in the headphones.
Xie Meng heard Ji Qinyang softly singing in his ear, “The fleeting years don’t know when to stop, time is slow and gentle, gradually, gradually, the light and shadow no longer linger.”
The setting sun outlined Ji Qinyang’s delicate features. He turned his head and sang softly into Xie Meng’s ear, “Your smile is like sand and snow, falling into my heart, gradually, gradually, concealing between the years.”
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Dyeing your hair for your crush huh