Chapter 16 – The Road to School
The dish that my old man made was Zha Jiang Mian (ED: Similar to Korean jajangmyeon). Out of the few dishes he knows how to make, his noodles aren’t that bad.
It’s a pity that I’m not in the mood and I don’t really have an appetite.
“Did something unpleasant happen at school today?” my old man asks as he lifts his eyes from the manga that he was reading.
“No… I just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Even though I met the female pervert and the doll, the one that troubles me the most is still Ren Xiao Qin.
I’ve never spoken about the events that happened with Xiao Qin since it’s just too embarrassing. However, in the event there’s a parent conference in the future, then it will definitely get exposed.
What will the old man think? He’s never forced me to study, or prohibited early romantic relationships.
Xiao Qin used to be our neighbor. So, to the old man, she should be like a relative to him by now, right?
Even though Xiao Qin used to be extremely naughty, now she’s definitely considered a beauty.
If my old man says something like “It wouldn’t be that bad if Xiao Qin became my daughter-in-law” then I’ll definitely lose my standing. (ED: as in he believes he’ll lose societal standing if he gets married to Xiao Qin… Damn bro riajuu die)
It seems like I should temporarily hide this from the old man.
“Ah, right. Xiao Lin, can you help me with a task tomorrow?” my old man asked.
“What is it? Seeing as how you’re pleading, it definitely won’t be anything good, right?”
“It’s nothing much. Can you help me send this package of manga to a client’s home tomorrow noon?”
He pointed to a stack of manga wrapped in kraft paper, piled next to the fridge. Judging by the thickness, it probably contained 5 or 6 books which I should be able to carry in my backpack.
“Isn’t there express delivery? Why do you want me to deliver it?”
“Well… there’s a regular customer, and he lives extremely close to your school. However, if I used expressed delivery it wouldn’t be delivered on the same day. He’s in a rush to read the newest manga, so he asked if I had any way… to…. so I just wanted to ask if you could help.”
“Well it’s not really a problem for me, but…. don’t tell me the package is full of H mangas?”
“……Son, other than H mangas, do we even have any other types of mangas?”
I wasn’t sure whether I should have laughed or cried at my dad’s reply.
“We don’t have much left, although there are some that are borderline H, because they don’t sell well… it seems that everyone’s tastes are becoming stronger.”
I unconsciously started calculating the online business profits. There’s going to be one day when my old man gets dead drunk, so I have to help take care of the online shop.
I suddenly thought: “Will I eventually take over my dad’s business and become the owner of a shop that sells adult stuff. Investigating vibrators and love dolls every day while solitarily passing my life?” I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.
In order not to forget about delivering the mangas tomorrow morning, I stuffed the package into my backpack while taking a look at the address on the package. It was indeed very close to my school, it was right behind the street with the food vendors.
“Old man, I’ll help you deliver the package at lunchtime since we have a 2-hour break and so that the client can read it as soon as possible.”
“Haha, I knew my son’s the best!” the old man had a face that looked like he was trying to curry a favor.
How embarrassing, I really wish you can go back to teaching at University!
Luckily I didn’t have any dreams so I was able to sleep well.
The school’s regulated start time was 7:50. I finished breakfast at 7:20 and left the house at 7:40.
“Don’t forget to deliver the manga!” my old man told me from behind.
I definitely won’t forget, having such a sinister thing inside my bag. I won’t be able to calm down until I deliver it.
I hummed Jackie Chan’s “Drunken Fist” as I walked to school. Either side of the streets was filled with vendors selling breakfast.
“Ye, Ye Lin classmate!” Ren Xiao Qin stood underneath a telephone pole and flusteredly waved at me.
She really looks like a vigorous young girl.
The backpack she was carrying wasn’t as filled as yesterday, she probably left what she doesn’t need at home today.
Furthermore, she wore her uniform. (TN: why’s he so obsessed with uniforms) (ED: the dreams of men, hot girl plus uniform, nothing tops that)
The blue and white striped sportswear.
It was just as I imagined, it was slightly too big for Xiao Qin. When she wore it her, her hands were hidden inside the sleeves only revealing the fingertips.
It was just like when we first met.
Correction, it was like the first time I met her when I knew she was female (refer back to Chapter 1)
I don’t know if it had anything to do with me stepping on her shoes, but today she wore a pair of white sneakers.
Didn’t you not want to participate in physical activity? Why are are you copying me and wearing sneakers?
Did you think that it would be easier to display your teleportation skills with sneakers on?
It was still pretty cold in the mornings and I reckon that Xiao Qin waited for a while. She was quivering and moving her feet back and forth for warmth.
Seeing that she wasn’t speaking I was going to go around her.
“Ye Lin classmate, it’s me! Let’s go to school together!” Xiao Qin said as she followed from behind.
I scoffed.
“What are you doing here? If you’re taking the subway to school you shouldn’t pass by this road, right?”
“Yeah…I’ve already investigated thoroughly before and found out that Ye Lin classmate will often pass by here while going to school. I got up at 5 am in excitement because I was able to meet Ye Lin classmate again today. After I came here by subway I was waiting in amb…no just waiting here.”
You wanted to say ambush, didn’t you? Were you going to ambush me here like I’m prey? This dedication…females are a formidable enemy!
“Speaking of which…I haven’t solved my beef with you regarding Optimus Prime.”
“Ara? As expected you were going to bring this up ~” Xiao Qin scratched her head while pretending to be stupid.
“I purely wanted Ye Lin classmate to go home earlier and completely forgot about it! I’m really sorry!”
I stared at her.
“Although I wanted to bring Optimus Prime in my bag today, if the school decided to do a surprise bag inspection, wouldn’t it be bad if he was confiscated?”
Her argument was sound, although they’ll probably be too scared to check my bag it still has its risks. Speaking of inspections, I’m kind of worried about the H mangas in my bag. It would be very embarrassing if anyone saw it. Especially if Xiao Qin discovers it, I don’t know what kind of trouble that’ll bring.
Those H mangas can destroy one’s ethics with just one glance.
Xiao Qin followed up very sincerely and said, “Next time Ye Lin classmate sends me home, I’ll definitely offer Optimus Prime up. It’s true! Ye Lin classmate, you don’t have to look at me that skeptically, or else I’ll be hurt! If you don’t believe me…If I don’t give it to you next time, you can lock me up at home and do whatever you want to me!”
I don’t have time to bother with you. If I ignore you, you’ll get bored quickly right?
Yet Xiao Qin was still in high spirits.
“Ye Lin classmate, let’s go to school together from now on! I’ll come early and wait for you!”
“…”
“Although I may be rushed in the morning, I won’t be tired as long as I can spend more time with Ye Lin classmate!”
“…”
“How romantic is going to school together every morning. I’ve decided, I’ll name this time between me and Ye Lin classmate as ‘early relation’ time!”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Why are you randomly giving it a name! What the hell does ‘early relations’ mean!?”
“It’s the communication relations time between us in the morning.” Xiao Qin didn’t feel that there was anything weird in what she said.
“Also, there’s ‘lunch relation’ and ‘night relation’ times.” Xiao Qin raised her fists in front of her chest as if she’s full of enthusiasm.
“What about it, Ye Lin classmate? Is 3 times a day enough?”
“Get lost!”
“Does Ye Lin classmate feel that it’s not enough? I’m fine with it, I don’t mind even if it’s 5 times a day…”
There was a vendor ahead of us selling Xiao Long Bao, a person standing behind the tall bamboo steamer staring boredly at the passer-bys.
“Ye Lin classmate, help me buy a steamed bun!” she said as she passed me some spare change.
“Can’t you buy it yourself if you have the money? Why didn’t you eat breakfast when you got up so early?”
“I, I was thinking that if Ye Lin classmate didn’t eat breakfast either, we could find a place to eat together. However, it seems like Ye Lin classmate already ate egg fried rice for breakfast…”
“How did you know I ate egg fried rice for breakfast? Were you spying on me with binoculars!”
“Ye Lin classmate has an oily grain of rice on his lips…”
I hurriedly licked the embarrassing grain of rice into my mouth.
Xiao Qin was still holding the hand with money hoping that I would help her buy a steamed bun.
“I’m not the store owner, just give your money to him and you’ll have steamed bun to eat.”
“But, but I’m afraid to talk to him…”
“Eh?”
“I mentioned it before, …as soon as I dress in female clothing, I’m afraid to talk to young men…”
“Although I’m not afraid of Ye Lin classmate, and if you’re around I’ll be much braver. However, the store owner over there looks really scary. Ye Lin classmate should help me buy it! If you don’t help me, I’m going to be hungry for the entire morning!”
I glanced at the store owner, he looks like a very honest and considerate person. I’m not sure what she’s afraid of.
It looked like Xiao Qin’s hands were already sore from raising it for so long.
I sighed, took the money and bought 10 buns from the store owner.
The Xiao Long Bao in Hangzhou is very small, if it was me, 10 wouldn’t even be enough as an appetizer.
Xiao Qin happily took it and ate while walking.
She padded the food with napkins she brought and carefully prevented any oil from dripping onto her uniform.
If you’re putting so much effort into staying clean you should have just eaten at home! Who knows if these vendors are using Gutter oil or not.
Though Xiao Qin looks pretty cute when she’s eating.
She carefully took a bite, chewed without making a single sound and then swallowed with a satisfied expression.
It’s like you’re feeding a small animal.
Of course, we couldn’t walk quickly while she was eating, and because I wanted to see her eat I didn’t push her to walk quicker.
In the end, we were both late.