Chapter 7: The Rebellious Youth

  Chen Chufan didn't know that he had already become a mysterious figure in the eyes of the school flower. After running out of the music classroom, he continued to jog all the way back to his dormitory.

  When he pushed open the bedroom door with a loud gasp, only Lao Da was left in the room. He had set up a chessboard and was studying the endgame, while Yang Tao was nowhere to be found.

  Lao Da's fondness for Chinese chess is no secret, Chen Chufan once thought that Lao Da was taciturn because of the harm caused by Chinese chess. It can be said that a person who can ponder alone in front of a chessboard for a whole day cannot be someone who likes to talk.

  Walking into the dormitory, Chen Chufan panted heavily and greeted Meng Wei: "I'm back!"

  "Oh!" Meng Wei didn't even lift his head, casually responding with a sound.

  Chen Chufan was most afraid of Meng Wei in this state, basically at this time talking to him was no different from talking to a donkey. Maybe it's not right to say that. Because when you talk to a donkey, the donkey may occasionally have some reaction, but when you talk to Meng Wei who is studying chess, you don't even have the qualification to show your presence.

  Chen Chufan was thoroughly depressed, he really wanted to go out and clear his mind, but thinking that going out now would not only make him a spectacle, but also possibly be pursued by the beautiful girls from the music department, completely dispelled this idea. He even began to miss Yang Tao, although when talking to Yang Tao, he generally found it hard to get a word in edgewise, but being an audience was better than sitting in his dorm room staring blankly. Moreover, he now strongly yearned for someone to communicate with him, because he felt that too many strange things had happened to him recently, such as falling into the lake for no reason, walking on the road and inexplicably running to the music department's music classroom, and sitting next to the piano. But facing Lao Da, he really had nothing to say.

  Under the boredom, Chen Chufan's gaze fell on the remaining chessboard of Lao Da. The blue flag still had a car, a cannon, and a horse, with all the pieces intact. The red flag only had two soldiers, one cannon, and one horse left, and the placement of the red flag was extremely awkward. It was clear that it was about to lose.

  "Which color is going?" Chen Chufan asked.

  "Red!" The boss was brief and to the point.

  "Meaning you're looking for a chance to turn red?" Chen Chufan continued to ask.

  "Agreed!" The boss still said just one word, without even lifting his head.

  "Is it just a matter of asking Hong for help? You're still studying this simple endgame?" Chen Chufan said disdainfully.

  This sentence did indeed pique Lao Da's interest, and Meng Wei even raised his head to take a look at Chen Chufan before saying to him: "Oh?"

  A very loud voice, representing Meng Wei's question and invitation. Chen Chufan, who often conversed with Meng Wei, of course understood the boss's meaning at this moment, so he walked to the chessboard, picked up the horse that was placed in the middle, and jumped one step: "Jumping Horse, General!"

  The big man quietly picked up the cart and blocked the horse's hooves.

  After a few moves, Chen Chufan seemed to be familiar with Lao Da's possible responses. After more than 10 moves, the Red Flag still had one horse and two soldiers left, while the Blue Flag only had one cannon and one elephant left.

  "This isn't settled yet? How troublesome, and we still have to study for half a day!" Chen Chufan said disdainfully.

  Meng Wei didn't make a sound, he silently pulled out a very old "Ten Classic Endgames of Xiangqi" from under his pillow and waved it in front of Chen Chufan, then asked: "Have you read this?"

  "No!" Chen Chufan shook his head.

  Meng Wei put the book back in its original place and quietly walked out of the dormitory.

  "Where are you going, Lao Da?" Chen Chufan asked in puzzlement. Had he defeated Lao Da so badly in this game of chess that he was leaving?

  "Jump into the lake!" Meng Wei said without turning his head back.

  Chen Chufan was shocked, he rushed forward and pulled Meng Wei back to the dormitory. "It's just a game of chess, why do you want to jump into the lake? Are you kidding me, boss! What kind of joke is this?" Chen Chufan said with a mixture of laughter and tears.

  "I'm not kidding!" Meng Wei's face was stern.

  "Are you serious?!" Seeing the serious expression of Lao Da, Chen Chufan was really scared. He accidentally fell into the lake and got a bunch of troubles, such as being criticized in a public notice, writing self-criticism and guarantee letters. And he was also deprived of the qualification to get the scholarship for this semester. But Lao Da still wanted to jump into the lake voluntarily. What's going on?! "Why? It's just one game of chess, do you have to go that far, Lao Da?"

  "Didn't you play chess before jumping into the lake?" Chen Chufan said. Meng Wei rarely explained.

  "Yes!" Chen Chufan replied.

  "After you jumped into the lake, I studied the remaining chessboard for a week, but you broke it in just 10 minutes. So I also want to give it a try!" Meng Wei said seriously.

  Meng Wei's words flashed through Chen Chufan's mind like lightning! Ah, yes, he had never dared to be interested in Go before, and at most only knew how the pieces should move. How did it seem so natural and clear how to move just by looking at Lao Da's leftover board? This is not scientific! It's just like how he inexplicably ended up in the music room today - this isn't scientific either! The only difference is that when playing Go, his opponent was Lao Da, and he knew what he did. But in the music room, his opponent was a school flower, and he didn't even know what he did himself! This is really damn embarrassing!

  Thinking of this, Chen Chufan excitedly hugged Meng Wei and said exaggeratedly: "Boss, listening to you say that, I found out that after falling into the lake, there's really something not quite right with me!"

  At this moment, the bedroom door, which was only slightly ajar, was kicked open with a "bang", and Yang Tao's figure appeared in the doorway.

  At this time, Chen Chufan was holding Meng Wei tightly, his excited face facing the dormitory door. After Yang Tao kicked open the dormitory door, Chen Chufan's two eyes met Yang Tao's two eyes. When their eyes met, seeing Yang Tao's shocked expression, Chen Chufan immediately felt something was wrong and quickly let go of Meng Wei, who he had been holding tightly.

  "Chen Chufan, you're not serious, are you?! You've changed your sexual orientation just because of a breakup? Alright, alright, but isn't your taste a bit too heavy? Can your small body handle the ravages of an older man?" Yang Tao stood at the dormitory door for a while, then walked in with a surprised expression. He closed the door behind him and shook his head, saying in a tone that sounded like reciting poetry:

  "Get out!" Chen Chufan cursed in a fit of rage.

  "Don't be angry, I won't tell anyone! I promise!" Yang Tao said with a serious face.

  "Who would believe that mouth of yours!" Chen Chufan, in a fit of rage, reacted half a beat slower than usual and spoke without thinking, not realizing that his words indirectly acknowledged Yang Tao's analysis.

  "This time Yang Tao's mouth was really given to Zhang Yuan, 'Saying, you guys are still playing for real ah! Boss, I've always seen it ah! Your thinking is quite open-minded ah! Can still cooperate with Old Three to play this tune.'"

  "Get out!" This time it wasn't Chen Chufan who spoke, Meng Wei had already turned around and glared at Yang Tao fiercely.

  "What's going on here?!" Yang Tao still had a look of surprise on his face.

  "What's going on! Nothing is going on!" Chen Chufan said gloomily: "I'm saying, why did you come back at this time, neither early nor late?"

  "I didn't do it on purpose! How was I supposed to know you were doing that?! If I had known you guys were busy, wouldn't I have left enough space and time for you?!" Yang Tao said with a wronged expression. "Otherwise, tell me how much more time you need, and I'll go out and stand guard for you?"

  Chen Chufan was so angry that he couldn't help but want to slap himself twice, how did he end up saying such things and getting more and more carried away?! "Get out, I have no way of communicating with you!" Chen Chufan said fiercely to Yang Tao, but somehow it seemed a bit insincere.

  "You'd better not communicate with me, continue to communicate with the boss! You guys communicate slowly, I'll leave first! You guys come slowly, no hurry!" Yang Tao said, turning his head and preparing to leave the dormitory.

  "Come back!" This time it was Lao Da Meng Wei who spoke up.

  "Oh!" Yang Tao also followed Old Big Meng Wei's words and honestly walked back.

  "Let me explain!" Meng Wei said loudly.

  "Oh?" Yang Tao imitated Meng Wei's classic tone.

  "It's not like that!" Meng Wei said.

  Chen Chufan nodded vigorously beside him, like a little chicken pecking at rice.

  "What's that?" Yang Tao asked in doubt.

  "He's not normal!" Meng Wei said.

  This sentence seems a bit off! Chen Chufan thought to himself, but he indeed felt a bit unwell. So he still nodded slightly.

  "So?" Yang Tao continued to ask skeptically.

  "He's very excited!" Meng Wei continued squeezing toothpaste.

  This is really true, I was indeed very excited at that time, and Chen Chufan nodded again.

  "Then?" Yang Tao still had some doubts.

  "He hugged me!" Meng Wei replied seriously.

  Chen Chufan continued nodding.

  "Really?" Yang Tao's mouth corners started to twitch slightly.

  "You interrupted us!" Meng Wei's expression remained stern.

  "Oh!" Yang Tao's mouth corners were already twitching and couldn't be closed anymore.

  Chen Chufan, who had been nodding beside him all along, listened more and more unconvincingly. What on earth was going on?! Wasn't this just painting a black picture?! It couldn't be that these two people were colluding to trick him, could they?!

  I finished writing this chapter with a smile, if the reader smiled after reading this chapter, please collect it! A new author, every collection is an encouragement!