Chapter 14 Laozi is Happy_2

"You mean..." he suddenly laughed, a laugh that couldn't be suppressed, "you went to see them for our sake? To see if they are a match for us? Is it us who you care about?"

That had been Xu Xunsheng's original intention, but faced with his eyes that suddenly lit up like stars, Xu Xunsheng found it both amusing and slightly uncomfortable, so she turned her head and gave a noncommittal "hmm."

But when she looked down, she saw several cigarette butts on the ground where he stood, obviously he had been waiting for quite a while. Xu Xunsheng was taken aback. A kind of delicate tenderness, as subtle as smoke, began to roil gently at the bottom of her heart. It was an elusive feeling, touchingly indefinable. While Xu Xunsheng was still dazed, her wrist was suddenly gripped tightly; the smell of alcohol and the cold from the boy's body approached instantly as he planted a kiss on her.

Cen Ye moved fast, suddenly hugging her waist and pinning her against the wall. The lights softly draped over Xu Xunsheng's vision like a veil, followed by his gently swaying long hair brushing against her cheek. His face was icy cold, clearly, he had been waiting in the chilly night for a long time.

Xu Xunsheng's mind was blank, and before she knew it, he was prying open her lips roughly, his tongue dashing inside. As soon as it touched hers, his body shivered slightly, so he held her even tighter. Clearly besotted and aroused, his hands began to roam recklessly over her back, carrying hunger, fervor, piety, and awkwardness.

How could Xu Xunsheng at that moment understand the emotions of a drunken young man? Everything was blurry but resolutely so. The ecstatic delight of a life beginning to win races and respect, the infinite longing for the future; the surprise of learning she hadn't disdained or abandoned him, and a sense of breaching taboos, he wanted to do something reckless. Right now, to her.

It took only a few seconds for Xu Xunsheng to fully regain her composure. The young man's irrational kisses and his hands wandering like any lust-intoxicated man at her back brought her both disappointment and revulsion. She desperately tried to push him away but couldn't; his body was too heavy. Xu Xunsheng decisively raised her hand and a crisp slap, "smack," harshly landed on his face.

Cen Ye's movements stopped abruptly. Like a little beast that was excited and out of control suddenly stunned into stillness.

He looked up at her. That silently injured look in his eyes actually made something deep inside Xu Xunsheng tremble. She coldly pushed him away, "Cen Ye, are you out of your mind?"

She stepped back a few paces, but he stood still, looking as tall and awkward as ever, only his gaze was lost. Then he suddenly laughed lightly and said, "I kiss you, and you're not happy?"

Having calmed down, Xu Xunsheng felt a fire burning inside her, silent and unseen but fiercely ablaze.

Standing at the doorway of her own yard, she looked at him and said clearly, "Cen Ye, what do you take me for? One of those fanatic fans that swarm around you? Or someone from your circle, eager to be with you? Get lost, get the hell away from my house and never come back!"

Cen Ye just stood there, silent and immobile, staring straight at her. After a while, as if he had processed what she had said, his gaze dimmed, and his head slowly hung down, his hair barely stirring in the breeze.

Even with Xu Xunsheng's temper, it was tonight, for the first time in her life, that she slammed the door forcefully in someone's face.

A room dark and cold.

She stayed quiet for a while, then turned on the light and the heater, but the nameless flames in her heart continued to dance wildly, leaving her still agitated.

She stood silent in the room for a while, then walked to the window, pulling back the curtain to peek through a slit, only to see that under the bright streetlight, the corner was now empty, Cen Ye had left.

——

Cen Ye woke up after a long sleep to find it already the afternoon of the next day. He felt sore all over, as if he had been hit somewhere. Rubbing his eyes, he discovered he was sleeping on Zhao Tan's lower bunk, while the sound of mobile games came from above.

He moved a bit, and Zhao Tan, noticing the movement, asked, "Awake?"

Cen Ye rubbed his throbbing head, "Why am I here?"

Zhao Tan rolled off the bed and laughed, "I was going to ask you that! You were drinking last night, where the hell did you run off to? I nearly killed myself getting those guys into a car. When I came back at 1 a.m., I found you lying on the roadside downstairs, almost frozen into a block of ice. It took so much effort to drag you back here!"

Cen Ye: "Damn!"

"How did you end up there?" Zhao Tan asked.

Cen Ye tried to think but found his mind a complete blank and said irritably, "How would I know?"

Zhao Tan looked at him, "I remember you had a serious look on your face at the time. You didn't pay any attention to us and just walked out of the restaurant. You had a lot of energy, probably up to no good." Suddenly remembering something, he slapped Cen Ye on the shoulder, his laughter deep, "Didn't go find someone to have a quickie, did you? You looked pretty pent up."

Cen Ye pushed his buddy away, laughing, "Go fuck yourself, that's impossible. Even if I'm drunk, I keep myself clean."

Though he said that, standing in the cramped and mottled bathroom brushing his teeth, Cen Ye looked at his weary face in the mirror and still couldn't remember where he had gone or what he had done after leaving the restaurant last night. He was completely blank.

There was just a vague unease. He always felt like he might have done something else.

But he was always an easygoing guy, so he stopped worrying when he couldn't remember. He then remembered that they had passed the preliminary round yesterday and that Xu Xunsheng hadn't come to watch them, having gone to see Heige Paradox instead. But now that he thought about it, he wasn't angry anymore. After all, he was not a petty man.

"Everyone's probably sleeping today, we'll go to Mr. Xu's tomorrow, practice a bit, and prepare well for next week's rematch," Zhao Tan said.

"No problem!" Cen Ye replied, his hands on the edge of the washbasin, looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn't explain why, but his mood gradually lightened. Many things, clear, vague, present, and future, seemed to all be filled with hope.

He has to go practice at Mr. Xu's tomorrow, Cen Ye thought lazily and happily, then blew himself a loud whistle.