Eat Less Fish in the Future - Chapter 10

“How many times do I have to say it! Open flames are prohibited in the school! Prohibited! Can’t you see all the flowers and plants around? What if they catch fire?!”

The dormitory supervisor aunt rushed out of the building, fire extinguisher in hand, and put out all the candles.

“You young people, why do you have to do all these fancy things? No matter what, safety should come first.” The aunt coughed twice. “Don’t do this again in the future!”

Xiao Feng stared wide-eyed, watching as the aunt quickly destroyed hours of his work.

Seeing that the atmosphere was ruined, it was the perfect time to refuse.

Zheng Yimian took two steps back, smiled, and said, “Thank you, but I don’t have any plans to date recently.”

This was a catch-all phrase that could be used anytime. She had been using this excuse from high school to college.

Xiao Feng looked at her. “Is it because the candles were extinguished? If you like, I can go outside…”

“It’s not that,” Zheng Yimian said. “It has nothing to do with these things.”

Xiao Feng was stunned for a moment, then after a while, he opened his dry lips and said, “Okay, I understand.”

Zheng Yimian smiled, pulled Li Min along, and walked past Xiao Feng into the building.

Liang Yu, who was upstairs, took in all of this.

Soon after, he relaxed, stretched his shoulders, and said with a leisurely smile. “I knew she wouldn’t agree.”

Zhao Yuan could only grumble in his heart: …Is that why you ran so fast earlier??? You looked so anxious it was as if you had “Kill anyone who gets in the way” written on your face.

After thinking for a moment, he asked Liang Yu. “What if sister-in-law…”

He hadn’t even finished his hypothesis when Liang Yu shot him a glare. “Not possible.”

The confession had no impact on Zheng Yimian whatsoever. She continued to go about her business as usual.

There was an orange cat downstairs in the dormitory. It was particularly endearing, meowing at everyone it met, and it was very well-behaved when petted.

When Zheng Yimian went shopping, she would casually buy some cat food. Whenever she encountered the cat on her way back to the dorm, she would feed it a little.

Over time, Zheng Yimian also developed a close bond with the cat.

After two days of rest, the sketching trip was about to begin.

That day, Zheng Yimian woke up at around five o’clock to be ready for the 6:30 assembly.

When she arrived at the bus station dragging her suitcase, the class monitor called out. “Put your suitcase in the trunk.”

Zheng Yimian stood by the trunk, about to put her suitcase in when she saw Liang Yu lazily getting off the bus.

Class monitor: “Liang Yu? Why did you get off again?”

Liang Yu raised an eyebrow, ruffled his dark brown hair, and made up an excuse. “To sunbathe.”

Zheng Yimian glanced at the faintly whitish sky.

Liang Yu had somehow walked to her side and reached for her suitcase, saying softly, “I’ll put it in.”

After putting the suitcase away and getting on the bus, Zheng Yimian and Li Min chose a seat and sat down.

Having slept late last night and woken up early today, Zheng Yimian immediately felt drowsy upon touching the seat cushion.

She sat there with her eyes closed, cultivating sleepiness, with Liang Yu sitting right in front of her.

The bus started moving smoothly.

Zhao Yuan was doing something, reaching out to adjust the air conditioning. In the end, unsatisfied with the wind speed, he increased it by several levels.

Sitting in the back, Zheng Yimian felt the “caress” of the cold wind and frowned, whispering to Li Min. “It’s so cold…”

Liang Yu extended his leg and kicked Zhao Yuan, who was happily adjusting the air conditioning. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Zhao Yuan looked at him in confusion. “What did I do now?”

“Turn off the air conditioning.”

Zhao Yuan was surprised. “Are you cold?”

Liang Yu didn’t answer. While playing with his hero, he spared a moment to glance at him. “What do you think?”

Zhao Yuan didn’t dare to respond. Under Liang Yu’s imposing aura, he silently submitted and turned off the air conditioning.

He and Liang Yu had been good brothers for several years now. At first, people would ask him what it felt like to be Liang Yu’s brother.

In reality, Liang Yu only appeared strong on the surface and in his words, but he was very loyal to his friends. Years ago, when someone had messed with Zhao Yuan, Liang Yu had stood up for him without hesitation, ending up with the other person having a bone fracture and himself hospitalized.

It was precisely because Zhao Yuan knew this that he never got angry and didn’t think Liang Yu was overbearing. His domineering attitude was only for outsiders; for good friends, it was just a facade of strength while actually…

No, towards Zheng Yimian, he seemed to be genuinely gentle both inside and out.

🙁

Six hours later, noon arrived.

The journey was barely halfway through.

When the bus stopped at a rest area, everyone got off to relax.

Liang Yu heard no movement behind him and guessed that Zheng Yimian must be asleep.

He wanted to turn around and look, but there was no appropriate moment to do so.

As he was tapping the armrest lost in thought, the person in front happened to drop a pen.

The pen rolled down the aisle, and Liang Yu finally got his chance. Pretending to casually look down at the pen, he turned back and raised his eyes.

She was sleeping soundly.

She had a light pink jacket draped over her, her head slightly tilted on the headrest, her sleeping posture very proper, lips gently closed, eyelids occasionally fluttering slightly.

Perhaps finding this position a bit uncomfortable, she nuzzled the headrest, a soft breath escaping from the tip of her lips.

Like a cat’s paw, it scratched at his heart.

He restrained his Adam’s apple from moving, watching as she changed position, facing left.

But because the left side was next to the window, the dazzling golden fireball outside was too glaring, and she frowned, uncomfortably returning to her right-facing position.

Liang Yu turned back, looking at the curtain.

Zhao Yuan was happily playing on his phone.

Liang Yu leaned over and reached out to undo his side of the curtain.

Zhao Yuan: “What are you doing?!”

“Sunbathing,” he replied concisely.

While pulling the curtain, Liang Yu carefully pondered for a moment about where exactly to position the curtain to successfully block the light for her.

After some thought, he said to Zhao Yuan. “Pull it a bit.”

When Zhao Yuan held the curtain, he leaned back in his seat, squinting to feel the light.

“A little more towards the back.”

“Further back.”

Zhao Yuan looked at him suspiciously. “If we pull it further back, are we even shading ourselves anymore?”

Liang Yu frowned impatiently, and Zhao Yuan immediately understood, glancing back. “Oh, the drunkard’s intent is not in the wine but in the sister-in-law, right?”

“Just pull it when I tell you to, why so much nonsense?”

When the shaded area of the curtain was finally pulled just behind him, Liang Yu nodded, indicating it could stop.

Zhao Yuan, being nosy, wanted to turn back and glance at Zheng Yimian.

Before he could turn his head, Liang Yu’s displeased face blocked his view.

Zhao Yuan stuttered, lowering his head with a foolish smile. “I got it, I got it, I won’t look…”

Not long after, Zheng Yimian woke up, awakened by hunger.

She opened her eyes groggily, not yet realizing there was an extra curtain on her side.

Feeling thirsty, she drank some water first, then slowly rummaged through her bag for something to eat.

After finishing the bread and eight-treasure porridge she had brought, she finally regained some energy.

Li Min inside also woke up around the same time, holding her neck. “My head is about to fall off from sleeping… Where are we now?”

Zheng Yimian looked outside. “Can’t tell, pull the curtain a bit.”

Then, both of them were momentarily confused.

Li Min: “How did an extra curtain get here?”

Zheng Yimian looked at her. “Didn’t you pull it?”

Li Min reached out to touch the curtain on her side. “This one should be ours, right? The open one should belong to the people in front, right?”

“…”

Zheng Yimian licked her lips. “Did you pull their curtain to our side while you were half-asleep?”

Li Min’s expression was complex as she nodded to herself. “Very likely.”

Zhao Yuan in front was holding back his laughter.

Li Min opened her own curtain, pushing it forward, and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I accidentally pulled your curtain over.”

“It’s fine,” Zhao Yuan responded. “I’m okay, but Liang Yu has been sunbathing the whole way.”

Zheng Yimian peeked forward and, sure enough, in the entire bus, only the front row was bathed in sunlight, with Liang Yu’s whole body soaked in daylight for the most part.

Feeling guilty, she reached through the gap between the seats and offered two fruit jellies. “Want some fruit jelly?”

Zhao Yuan was about to reach out, his hand already raised, but halfway there, it fell back down.

He smiled at Liang Yu. “You take it, you take it.”

Zhao Yuan pouted, watching Liang Yu neglect his game to reach for the fruit jellies in Zheng Yimian’s hand.

Liang Yu’s posture seemed to be the result of careful consideration, each finger exerting force together, closing like the auxiliary claw in a claw machine.

— Using this finger position, he could ensure that each finger touched her palm.

Tsk.

Zhao Yuan’s whole body shook, soured to the core by Liang Yu’s messy, inexplicable boyish sentiments. He leaned against the window, stifling his laughter.

When he finally finished laughing and turned around, he found Liang Yu coldly staring at him with folded arms.

Zhao Yuan: “…”

The bus jolted for an entire day.

Starting from six in the morning, maintaining a pace of resting at a gas station every two hours, they arrived at the sketching base at six in the afternoon.

The mountain road was bumpy, with trees along the way uneven and jutting out, hitting the window frames and making muffled sounds.

Zhao Yuan kept changing his posture. “My butt is about to rot…”

Liang Yu had it worse. Because of his long legs and the limited space in the bus, he couldn’t straighten his legs at all, just cramped in one spot.

He covered his eyes for a moment, then lowered his hand, looking completely exhausted.

This sight suddenly reminded Zhao Yuan of what Liang Yu was like before he met Zheng Yimian.

“Alright, everyone off the bus!” The class monitor stood up timely. “Leave your things on the bus first. We’ll go eat, then come back for our stuff after the meal.”

Everyone got off the bus, stretched, and wearily headed to the dining hall.

Liang Yu and Zhao Yuan sat down first.

While Zhao Yuan sat there studying the strange local specialties, Liang Yu’s gaze was fixed on the door outside.

She hadn’t come in yet.

After a while, she came in laughing with Li Min, holding a bottle of water.

She paused for a moment, looking at the empty seats nearby, and asked Li Min’s opinion. “Where should we sit?”

“Anywhere is fine.”

She looked forward again, as if searching for something.

Shortly after, she walked this way with Li Min.

“Let’s sit with our class then.”

She first moved along the round table towards the inside, sitting next to Liang Yu.

The displeasure and heaviness accumulated from the long journey seemed to dissipate the moment she arrived.

After the meal, everyone collected their luggage and could finally settle in.

Zheng Yimian found her room and was just opening her suitcase to sort things out when Li Min, who had gone out, came back in and mysteriously whispered in her ear. “Liang Yu really is staying on the floor above us.”