Chapter 76: 77

Kou Chen wondered if Huo Ran was poisonous. After biting Huo Ran yesterday, he felt a bit strange, or maybe he had been poisoned before that even.

Huo Ran was exuding a poisonous air. 

A poisonous Shiba.

That’s a little scary.

Kou Chen couldn’t help but muse over a bunch of random things in his head, or else he would feel awkward as well after that awkward smile Huo Ran gave him.

“Are you two eating or not?” Huo Ran’s mom called from the living room. 

“Coming!” They both replied, running towards the bedroom door at the same time.

As they tried to go through the door side by side, their shoulders got stuck in the doorframe.

“What’s the rush?” Huo Ran looked at him. “Can’t you be a better guest?”

“Nope.” Kou Chen turned sideways and went into the living room, sitting down before Huo Ran.

That bit of familiar banter from Huo Ran allowed him to sigh in relief. He felt a lot more relaxed now.

It was like realizing nobody knew you were a thief when you were feeling guilty over it.

Although he didn’t have time to think about where that feeling of guilt came from. He just felt relaxed.

Doesn’t matter if he was just trying to make himself feel better, he just felt better. 

After that, Kou Chen’s mood was a lot better, and he almost forgot about the huge fight he had with his dad last night.

“I’ll do it.” Kou Chen picked up the bowl and started ladling the congee out for everyone.

“It’s fine, just worry about yourself.” Huo Ran’s dad smiled. 

“Let him.” Huo Ran sat down and took a bite of a small steamed bun.

“You never have Xu Zhifan serve everyone when he comes over.” Huo Ran’s mom said. “What, you only bully Kou Chen?”

“That’s because Xu Zhifan doesn’t want to do it.” Huo Ran laughed. “See if I’ll stop him if he does.”

Kou Chen served Huo Ran’s mom and dad each a bowl of congee, then he served himself some, and went back to his seat. 

“Why are you so vindictive?” Huo Ran stared at the empty bowl in front of him.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Kou Chen said as he ate.

“Gotta do it myself.” Huo Ran sighed and stood up to get his own congee. “So petty.”

Kou Chen laughed. 

After breakfast, he hung around Huo Ran’s place for a little while longer before they left together. They all agreed to meet at the park at nine.

The first thing Huo Ran saw when they went down was a black and yellow bicycle leaning against the wall.

He immediately turned to Kou Chen. 

Indeed, Kou Chen was looking back at him proudly.

“Yours?” Huo Ran pointed at the bike.

“Yup.” Kou Chen smiled happily, “What do you think?”

Huo Ran stood there for a while, and then he pressed the elevator button again: “Leave it back inside.” 

“Why?” Kou Chen asked. “No way, you’re stealing it from me?”

“It’s a 5000dollar bike!” Huo Ran glared at him. “If you leave it here, it’ll be gone when we get back! Consider yourself lucky it’s still here right now!”

“…Oh.” Kou Chen took the bike into the elevator.

“Didn’t we all agree to get a cab there? How come you rode your bike?” Huo Ran pressed the button for his floor. 

“I wanted to show you.” Kou Chen said.

“When did you buy it?” Huo Ran picked it up. “Didn’t even ask me first. Good thing it’s a road bike, if you bought a mountain bike I really wouldn’t take you with me.”

“I got into a fight with my dad yesterday, right?” Kou Chen sighed. “My sister told Old Yang to take me, and he took me shopping to make me feel better. He has a friend who knows a bit about bikes, so he recommended a store… Is it good?”

“It’s very good.” Huo Ran leaned down to look at the bike. “If you’re really considering it, I’ll help you with it.” 

“I thought you said you weren’t gonna take me!” Kou Chen raised an eyebrow.

“It’s mainly just for the bike.” Huo Ran patted the seat.

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“Fuck off.” Huo Ran said. “I don’t want it.” 

“Then you have to bring me with you for the bike.” Kou Chen rested his cheek on his hand. “You always say no, it’s like I’ll drag you down or something.”

“Fine then.” Huo Ran glanced at him, “You fought with your dad yesterday?”

“Yeah, it happens pretty much every weekend I go home.” Kou Chen looked down unhappily. “But yesterday’s fight was bad. He hasn’t hit me in a long time, and he almost did yesterday.”

“Why?” Huo Ran asked. 

“Don’t ask, I don’t wanna talk about it.” Kou Chen grumbled.

“Oh.” Huo Ran didn’t insist. He reached out and patted his leg.

The Seven of them probably all had nothing to do, and didn’t want to stay at home. When Huo Ran and Kou Chen arrived at the park at exactly nine o’clock, the others were already there. 

Looking at them, they had to have arrived at least twenty minutes ago.

Xu Chuan even tricked a four or five year old little girl to give him her lollipop.

“Did you guys eat yet?” Kou Chen asked as he got out of the car.

“Yup.” Xu Zhifan said. “Let’s go buy tickets. It’s busy today, we gotta be in line for a while.” 

“I’ll go.” Kou Chen said. “Give me your IDs.”

Everyone gave him their IDs.

When Kou Chen went to get in line, Xu Zhifan glanced at Huo Ran.

They have been friends for years after all, so Huo Ran immediately knew what that glance meant. 

You’re not gonna go with him?

Huo Ran glanced at Xu Zhifan.

Xu Zhifan smiled and didn’t say anything.

  

Kou Chen bought the tickets quickly, it only took a couple minutes.

“How?” Jiang Lei was shocked. “Used your looks?”

“Do I need to use my looks to buy ten dollar tickets?” Kou Chen said. “This is why you can’t get a girlfriend.”

“Okay, okay, okay.” Jiang Lei nodded. “Just tell me how you did it. The line you were in earlier hasn’t even moved yet.” 

“One of the aunties was just arriving to work, I heard her say she was late, so I went to the unopened window.” Kou Chen said. “Right as she opened it, I was there.”

“Great observation skills.” Wei Chaoren gave him a thumbs up.

“Right? Observation skills and IQ.” Jiang Lei also gave him a thumbs up. “I don’t see you with a girlfriend either.”

Kou Chen glared: “Who gave you the balls to talk to me like that?” 

Jiang Lei laughed, patting Kou Chen: “We’re such good friends already, of course I know what kind of person you are. Your temper is actually better than Huo Ran’s.”

Huo Ran tsked.

There were only three parks in the city, and this one had the biggest fairgrounds. There were also two pretty big lakes, and a barbeque site, so it was always pretty busy on the weekends. People dragged their whole families here and all. 

They weren’t in a hurry either, there weren’t a lot of people at the lake, and they would need a big boat for all seven of them. If they wanted the double or four-person boats they would need to rush.

“Breathe in the fresh air, how wonderful is it?” Hu Yi looked up at the sky, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

And then he tripped on a tile, bumping into Xu Chuan.

“Watch it!” Xu Chuan said. “You aren’t even worthy enough to breathe with your IQ, forget fresh air.” 

Hu Yi laughed, and then he sighed: “Ah, to be honest, I feel a lot better when I’m with you guys. Being at home is so boring, it makes me want to go back to school.”

“Me too.” Jiang Lei said. “My parents are fine and even I think it’s boring at home.”

Huo Ran never really felt like that. In the past, he had a bunch of activities on the weekend, so he rarely saw Xu Zhifan and the others with all the hiking and biking he did.

He only started feeling like this starting last semester. At first it was because it was fun to hang out with everyone, and they’ve done a lot of ‘big’ things that were worth looking back on. 

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He glanced at Kou Chen.

Kou Chen turned his head and whispered: “That’s how I am, I get bored at home.”

Huo Ran nodded.

“Before when I didn’t have friends like this,” Kou Chen said. “I would take Shuaishuai out for a walk.” 

Huo Ran smiled.

The air by the lake was pretty nice, and as they walked onto the path next to it, their wish was fulfilled and they saw the swans.

A whole group of them. 

“Are these swans or geese?” Jiang Lei got out his phone and started taking videos.

“Swans,” Kou Chen said. “Are you dumb or are you dumb?”

Jiang Lei turned around and pointed his phone at Kou Chen: “This handsome young man has insulted me multiple times in the past half an hour, only because I’m easygoing and also because I can’t beat him…”

“What a tragic story.” Huo Ran laughed. 

“This handsome young man over here that’s laughing cutely is my friend of two years.” Jiang Lei shifted the camera to Huo Ran. “He’s now given up on the notion of bros over hoes, running into the enemy’s embrace and becoming…”

He pointed the camera back at Kou Chen: “This handsome young man’s boyfriend.”

Huo Ran’s heart clenched, and his mind went blank. He was unable to say a single word, unable to retort back like he usually would, unable to even squeeze out a laugh.

“Hey!” Kou Chen waved at the camera. 

“Shoot the swans, what’s so fun about these two? You see them every day.” Xu Zhifan grabbed Jiang Lei’s arm and turned him back around to face the lake. “Those two, they have their heads together.”

“Holy shit, it’s actually a heart, that’s so cool.” Jiang Lei moved closer towards the lake and zoomed.

Huo Ran snapped out of it and glanced at Kou Chen.

Kou Chen wasn’t looking at him, he was busy trying to get his phone out of his pocket, and then he picked up a call: “Jie? I’m swan watching… With my friends, obviously. Dinner? I dunno, if my dad’s not home I’ll go back…” 

After he hung up, Kou Chen frowned.

Huo Ran looked at him, not knowing if he should ask or not.

Good thing Kou Chen spoke first: “My dad smashed a vase first thing this morning.”

“Because you ran away so early this morning?” Huo Ran startled. 

“I,” Kou Chen pointed at himself. “I didn’t even go home last night. I stayed at my sister’s hotel… He realized I wasn’t at home this morning and got mad again.”

“Why is he so angry?” Huo Ran said.

“Because he has a useless son I guess.” Kou Chen sighed. “Forget it, I’m in a really good mood right now. He’s leaving for a business trip later, his anger will pretty much have gone by the time he’s back.”

  

“Let’s ride one of those big eight-person boats?” Xu Chuan pointed at the small pier.

“Yup.” Xu Zhifan nodded. “A paddle boat?”

“Only four people paddle, the rest can just sit there.” Jiang Lei said. “We have to take turns.”

“Then of course it’s…” Wei Chaoren said as he backed up, but before he could finish, someone pushed him from behind into Xu Chuan. 

“Damn!” They all yelled.

A figure flashed between them, pushing past Huo Ran and running in the direction they just came from.

“Are you fucking blind?” Kou Chen cursed at the back of the person’s head, reaching out to Huo Ran’s shoulder.

Before they could realize what just happened, a woman ran over from the pier, yelling: “Thief! Thief! He stole my purse!” 

“Damn.” Kou Chen turned and chased after that person without a second of hesitation.

The rest of them quickly followed.

“Stop right fucking there!” Kou Chen yelled.

“What are you yelling for?” Huo Ran said. “It’s not like he’s gonna stop!” 

“What do you know?” Kou Chen said. “It’s called imposing!”

They all started yelling.

“Stop!”

“Stop right there!” 

“We’ll beat you up!”

To be honest, this thief must have some experience, and he was extremely familiar with the layout of the park. This place was probably his domain.

They chased the person from the lake into the forest, always a distance behind him. 

“If he were at our school,” Jiang Lei panted, “He’d fucking win all the track medals!”

“My ass.” Huo Ran gritted his teeth.

He sped up, eyes never leaving the back of that guy’s head.

Kou Chen also sped up with him. 

They furthered the distance between them and the others.

Thieves were normally good at short distances, seeing as there weren’t a lot of people who could chase them all this way without stopping. They only needed to shake them off within five hundred metres.

So, the thief in front of them slowed down, losing his momentum.

“Push him over.” Kou Chen said from Huo Ran’s right. “Don’t fall with him.” 

“Mhm.” Huo Ran nodded.

Ten metres later, they finally caught up to the thief at the second lake.

Push him.

Huo Ran followed Kou Chen’s advice and pushed the thief over, almost feeling like he was participating in triple jump. Then he quickly flashed past the thief, so he didn’t trip over him. 

Kou Chen must have caught some thieves before, he has a lot of experience.

No.

Kou Chen must have chased other people like this to beat them up, he has a lot of experience.

Or else Kou Chen’s dad wouldn’t be thinking about sausages all day. 

The thief fell over pretty heavily. His stomach hit the ground first, and then his head and limbs splayed out.

And then Kou Chen jumped, putting a knee on the thief’s back before he could get up. Then he slapped the guy’s face: “Where’s the purse?!”

The thief laid on the ground and panted, pointing at his pants. 

Kou Chen found a pink purse in his pocket, as well as a smaller coin purse.

“Good for you, it’s even a Hermes bag.” Kou Chen clicked his tongue.

“Holy shit!” Jiang Lei pointed at the thief. “There must be more?”

“This won’t do, is your partner not here? Or your boss?” Kou Chen flipped him over by the arm. “Is this it? Are you scared the police won’t have enough evidence for a sentence?” 

The thief glared at him and stayed silent.

They found two phones on him as well.

Huo Ran took the drawstring on Wei Chaoren’s pants and they tied the thief up.

Then Kou Chen called the police. 

As they waited for the police to arrive, the victim of the robbery finally ran over breathlessly. She leaned against a tree, unable to get a word out.

“Which one’s yours?” Kou Chen waved the bags at her.

The woman pointed at the purse, hand a little shaky. She finally breathed out a: “Pink.”

“This one?” Hu Yi took the pink purse from Kou Chen and handed it over. 

“Yes, thank you…” The woman nodded.

As she was about to take the purse, Hu Yi took his hand back.

The woman looked at him in surprise.

The Seven of them paused too. 

Hu Yi turned and ran towards the lake, throwing the purse in.

“Fuck, Carrot, what are you doing?!” Jiang Lei exclaimed.

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