Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 193

Chapter 193: The Clear Spring Stone Flows Upwards
Xichuan County was a small city in the western region. It was still considered a poor county about eight years ago. No. 2 Junior High School was located on the south side of the old train station. It could be regarded as a suburb of the old county seat. From No. 2 Junior High School to Baijia, it took a little more than a ten-minute walk. After passing Renmin Road, it became a residential area where two- to three-story buildings populated both sides of the road. Because it wasn’t a main road, there were no streetlights; only the lights from the buildings could be seen.

Bai Qingquan had gone to self-study that night, so he was coming back a bit late. As he walked, he would glance back. He noticed that someone was following him and had been following him for the past two days now.

The person following him was also a student from his school because they were wearing the same school uniform. However, the figure was very tall and big, unlike a junior high school student.

He had walked this road countless times, so he wasn’t afraid of encountering bad people. He just wanted to know who was following him. As he continued walking, he suddenly turned around and ran towards the figure. The figure paused, but instead of running away, it stopped in place.

“You… Why do you always follow me?” Bai Qingquan asked.

The boy looked two years older than him, with a crew cut, a very energetic look, and surprisingly bright eyes. He only wore a school uniform on his upper body, and his pants were black. The school uniform was loose on him, and he had a playful image as he carried his school backpack on one shoulder and had both hands in his pockets.

“I’m asking you.” Bai Qingquan frowned, pretending to be fierce.

“I also go this way,” The boy said.

Bai Qingquan asked, “Where does your family live?”

“In Shixiao.”

Then it should be this way. Did he make a mistake?

Bai Qingquan felt embarrassed. He turned around and walked away, but the boy chased after him and asked, “What’s your name?”

Bai Qingquan looked back at him and asked, “Why are you asking this?”

“I know you. My name is Shi Lei,” the boy said.

When Bai Qingquan heard this, his heart tightened suddenly. Shi Lei was a well-known slacker* in their school. Rumor had it that his family was extremely messy. His father liked to drink, smoke, fight, and do everything of the like that eventually landed him in jail. Last week, he heard gossip from his desk mate that Shi Lei’s gang had met with a group of seniors from the vocational high school next door. They got into a huge fight that resulted in him beating up the seniors, who all ran away. His desk mate felt proud while telling the story and thought Shi Lei’s gang were pretty awesome.

*(学渣) Refers to students who do not study hard at ordinary times but only start to attack and crawl near the end of the term.

Although Bai Qingquan was also a slacker, his type of slacker was completely different from that type of slacker. He was the obedient and sensible kind. No matter how much he studied, he couldn’t improve his grades, and no matter how hard he worked, he still couldn’t learn much.

“My name is Zhang Dawei,” Bai Qingquan said.

Shi Lei laughed when he heard this but did not speak. He looked like a ruffian when he laughed, especially with that crew cut and the small scar on his head.

When he got up the next morning, it wasn’t even dawn yet. He had gotten up a little late, so he ran to school. At the corner near Shixiao, Shi Lei jumped out and joined him.

Bai Qingquan was taken aback. When he saw that it was him, he didn’t speak and continued running towards the school. Shi Lei followed him and asked, “Why did you get up so late today?”

Bai Qingquan ignored him, and it was not until he entered the school that Shi Lei parted ways with him and went to the teaching building next door.

After self-study in the evening, when Bai Qingquan left the school, he saw Shi Lei with his hands in his pockets standing on the road opposite of the school, whistling while leaning against a French sycamore tree.

Bai Qingquan lowered his head slightly, thinking that he could just walk by unconsciously. However, as soon as he passed Shi Lei, he turned and joined him, walking side by side. “The lights are already out at school. How do you even read in the dark?”

“I use a candle.” Bai Qingquan turned his head and glanced at him and asked, “Are you waiting for me?”

Shi Lei smiled and responded with a “Nn.”

Bai Qingquan felt weird. He had never dealt with such a ruffian. Shi Lei took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and asked him, “Do you smoke?”

Bai Qingquan said, “No.”

Shi Lei lit one for himself. As Bai Qingquan watched, he found that he was very proficient.

Truthfully, Bai Qingquan didn’t hate people like Shi Lei. While the other party may have a bad image and a ruffian look, it also poked his heart a little. Occasionally, he would like to be a bad boy who’s mischievous, smokes, and gets into fights.

As he was staring at Shi Lei, he suddenly turned to look at him. Bai Qingquan pursed his lips. He didn’t know what Shi Lei was planning. Why did he suddenly start following him? He even thought about whether he had offended someone who had sent Shi Lei his way to clean him up.

But nothing happened afterwards. Since then, Shi Lei would only follow him from school and back home. Just when Bai Qingquan thought that the two of them were going to become friends, one night as Shi Lei was walking with him, he suddenly pulled him into a back alley, and before he could speak, he felt Shi Lei had come up and kissed him.

This frightened him so much that he ran away.

He couldn’t sleep well that night. When he woke up the next morning, he was deathly afraid of meeting Shi Lei. For the first time in his life, he had mixed feelings for this person.

As a result, when he came around Shixiao, he saw Shi Lei, carrying a bag, standing on the corner, smoking. When he saw him coming, he immediately threw away the cigarette in his hand and ran over.

Bai Qingquan walked quickly as Shi Lei followed him and asked, “Bai Shu, do you want to fall in love with me?”

As if some kind of conjecture in his heart had been verified, Bai Qingquan was so scared that he ran away. Since Shi Lei was taller than him, he easily caught up, but he didn’t touch him. He just ran beside him and asked, “Would you like it?”

“You sick pervert!” Bai Qingquan yelled.

Shi Lei stopped suddenly as Bai Qingquan continued running for a long time. When he looked back, he saw that Shi Lei was still standing in the same spot.

Since then, Shi Lei had never escorted him to and from school again. In fact, neither of them said much to each other when they walked together. Shi Lei would always walk with him silently, looking like a rogue but more like a taciturn rogue, so they weren’t particularly familiar with each other.

Bai Qingquan felt as if he couldn’t let go of it. Every time he went to school, he would go to the corner, where Shi Lei would always wait for him. He would look around, but he never saw Shi Lei again.

When he didn’t see him, he breathed a sigh of relief but also felt disappointed.

He was only a teenager who didn’t know what homosexuality was. He didn’t understand what love was. All he wanted was just to know. He had told Shi Lei his name was Zhang Dawai, yet how did She Lei know his real name was Bai Shu? Did he find out later, or had he always known all along?

If it was the latter, then most likely Shi Lei had approached him purposefully.

How frightening.

Shi Lei continued to be a living legend at their school. Rumor had it that he would get into fights with anyone and anything. It was said that his mother had been ill for many years and recently passed away. The school radio station would still recite his name as a bad example.

Later, his name stopped coming up. Bai Qingquan had never seen him again, so he couldn’t help but inquire about it. It turns out that he had dropped out of school and gone to work in the city.

Bai Qingquan was very sad. He was still too young to understand love, but he already had vague regrets. He thought he should tell Shi Lei that he was sorry, and he shouldn’t have called him sick or perverted because he was the same way as him.

Now that so many years had passed, he felt that Shi Lei hadn’t changed much. His hairstyle was still similar, but the scar on his head had become lighter. His eyes were still as bright as ever, and his whole body was fierce and still had that ruffian-like aura. He instantly recognized him with just a glance.

Seeing him again, Bai Qingquan was surprised. With an “Ah”, he smiled and said, “You’re here too?”

He took off his mask. “Do you remember me? I’m Bai Shu.”

Shi Lei said, “Nn. How could I forget?”

He hadn’t forgotten for a single moment.

Bai Qingquan stretched out his hand, smiled, and said, “It’s been a long time since I saw you.”

Shi Lei held his hand as he stood on the lower step, looking up at Bai Qingquan. His hands were trembling.

The author has something to say:

I really love this kind of student crush.

For the sake of the clear spring stone flows upwards1, I gave the crew-cut guy a very popular name2, ahhahahaha.

1Reminder: This is part of the poem “The Autumn in the Mountains” by Wang Wei.
2Clarity: The [Shi] (石) in [Shi Lie] (石磊) is stone, referring to the stone in the line “The clear spring stone flows upwards”. The clear spring in that line is [Qingquan] (清泉). As you can see, their names are derived from this line of the poem.