50. Give me a smile, then.

The day rental house is on the top floor of the community, a duplex apartment, the lower floor is a living and rest area, and the upper floor has a chess and card and game room.

There are not many people in Group 7 who can play mahjong, and those who can play mahjong are divided into three or four rules according to different regions. It was not easy to get four people together for teaching and learning, surrounded by a group of students who are interested in learning mahjong, with notes in hand, asking questions in a hurry.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, talk one by one.”

There were too many people asking, and Ding Zhengjiao was a bit unable to answer: “This one is not called a bird, but a rooster*, a chicken that is independent of the golden rooster.*”

*(

Image source )

*(not going to go into depth but he follows up by explaining why it’s a chicken)

With the tiles in his hand, he glanced in the direction of the VR game: “Where’s Sheng-ge?”

Liang Yifan held an apple in his mouth: “Downstairs, Sheng-ge is cooking, and Kunshen is trying to help him cook.”

This kind of day rental house has all the ingredients, grain and oil, but you have to buy vegetables and meat yourself. Group 7 also stopped by the market on the way, which made Yu Sheng fully realise that Jin Linkun’s cooking skills are not on par.

Even Wan Yongming, who is used to eating in the cafeteria, knows the difference between shallots and garlic sprouts in the market. Yu Sheng decided to take back control of the kitchen for the sake of his own stomach.

Group 7 had the courage to get into the kitchen enthusiastically. Only Kunshen successfully broke through and was dragged in by Yu Sheng.

Now that the situation inside is still unclear, Cen Rui bravely went down to investigate and came back to report that it smelled very good.

“Sheng-ge won’t stew Kunshen?”

Xia Junhua wrote it down in his notebook while caring: “I feel that Sheng-ge has a murderous look when he picks up Kunshen.”

“Can the stew be so fragrant?” Cen Rui was very interested in this topic, and recalled it carefully, “I think it might be fried, I heard the sound of oil splashing.”

Considering that Sheng-ge beat someone again today, Ding Zhengjiao also felt that he should ask more questions, and stood up from the crowd: “Should we go down and have a look?”

“No. By the way, in my experience, it’s best not to go down.”

Liang Yifan was already accustomed to this murderous aura, and he could basically predict what would happen next: “Don’t be nervous.  Kunshen will tell Sheng-ge that his stomach hurts from hunger, and Sheng-ge won’t believe it, but he still can’t help finding something for him to eat, and then Kunshen tricked him into opening his mouth, and took the opportunity to let Sheng-ge eat something…”

___

In the kitchen, Yu Sheng swallowed hard his mouthful of marinated eggs, and raised his head: “Aren’t you hungry?”

Jin Linkun rolled his eyes in a good temper, poured him a glass of milk, and ate the remaining half of the egg yolk: “Yup, let’s eat together.”

Yu Sheng didn’t bother to pay attention to him, but he was so choked that he still took the milk for a while, and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

“At that time… it wasn’t because I was happy that there was a week left in the summer camp.”

Although the beating was over, Jin Linkun still felt that he should explain, and took the remaining half glass of milk in his hand: “I just thought, if—”

He raised his head, his voice paused, and he couldn’t make another sound for a long time.

Yu Sheng doesn’t drink milk very often, he doesn’t like the flavour.

The circle of milk stains was still on his lips, making him look very cute.

___

Very cute.

Jin Linkun didn’t know what he was thinking, so he unconsciously cleared his throat, his heart beat inexplicably faster, and he couldn’t say the following words.

Holding the knife, Yu Sheng waited for a while between cutting vegetables, but didn’t hear him continue, so he raised his head: “What do you want?”

“…It’s not important.” Before Jin Linkun had time to straighten out his current mood, he replied softly, and raised the hand hanging by his side.

He didn’t know if it was because the kitchen was hotter than outside, but his palms were inexplicably sweaty, and he instinctively squeezed them.

Before he could quite relate to this man’s topsy-turvy logic, Yu Sheng wanted to ask again, but a hand was already on his lips.

Soon, it felt slightly warm to the touch, and it was immediately withdrawn as soon as it touched the lips.

After all, his roommate had a knife in his hand, Jin Linkun quickly took a few steps back, opened his mouth and tried to explain: “Friend, there is a little milk——”

He stopped after speaking half a sentence, looked at Yu Sheng who was still motionless, leaned over hesitantly, and shook his palm in front of his eyes: “Yu Sheng?”

Yu Sheng slapped his hand away: “What are you doing?”

He didn’t scare him away.

Jin Linkun breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the corners of his mouth, and shook his head: “It’s nothing.”

Yu Sheng frowned, didn’t speak, and turned back to chop vegetables.

Seeing the knife in his hand cutting into his hand, Jin Linkun was startled, and hurried over to stop him in time before there was blood, and raised his hand to touch his forehead: “What’s wrong?”

Yu Sheng didn’t know what was wrong.

___

Maybe it’s just a sudden feeling that something is not right.

It’s not that they didn’t have normal friendships where they fought, drank and played games together. If they think that this kind of action was wrong, it would be a bit far fetched.

But what it was, he didn’t know.

He doesn’t know where this strangeness came from.

He only knows that he doesn’t seem to feel conflicted, just annoyed and a bit frustrated.

It was mixed with the chaotic emotions after remembering that the summer camp was coming to an end. It piled up in his chest, making him inexplicably restless.

Jin Linkun was still circling around him worriedly, Yu Sheng got annoyed for a while, and slipped the knife into his hand: “Cut it, I’ll rest for a while.”

“…” Jin Linkun took it hastily and looked at the potatoes that were said to be shredded: “Can I?”

“Trust yourself.”

With all kinds of thoughts in his mind, Yu Sheng took out his phone and encouraged him: “You can do it.”

___

Jin Linkun felt that his roommate might still be angry.

Because of this small episode, until Group 7 sat down to eat together, both of them were not in the right state.

“There are still French fries to eat, so happy to be with Sheng-ge…”

Cen Rui had a big heart, didn’t notice anything wrong, and excitedly grabbed a bunch of French fries: “I like this kind of thick potato! It’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it’s very refreshing to eat!”

“And it’s made with care, the thickness varies.”

Xia Junhua made a reasonable analysis: “Look, the difference between these two French fries is at least half a centimetre – I think this is an ingenious design, through the difference in surface area and shape, the speed of heat conduction is changed to produce a better taste……”

___

It was not easy to feed a group of ten or so people. Yu Sheng cooked a table of dishes, stewed a big pot of rice, and asked a few boys to run out to buy steamed buns, and finally fed the entire group.

A group of students were starving, and it was rare to eat this kind of home-cooked food. After less than five minutes of restraint and humility, they couldn’t help but quickly pick up the food in their own bowls.

“Come here, there are also salt and pepper sauce and tomato sauce, dipped in French fries, everyone choose—”

Ding Zhengjiao took the initiative to serve everyone, holding two small porcelain plates, staring at the empty plates with wide eyes: “… Where are the French fries?”

Everyone quickly turned their eyes away and chatted, but no one answered his words.

Kong Jiahe, who couldn’t help but eat the last French fries, felt a little guilty, stood up and wanted to talk, but Xia Junhua held him back and sat back down.

“It’s okay.” Cen Rui just drank half a glass of Coke, burped in satisfaction, and slumped on the chair to recollect, “We can continue to eat this, let the French fries meet our stomach…”

A group of people are happy. Liang Yifan held the steamed buns and looked back and forth for a long time, but couldn’t help but resume his role, and moved to Jin Linkun’s side: ” Kunshen, what’s the matter… did you two quarrel?”

Over the past few days, Liang Yifan has almost figured out all the methods of getting along with these two people.

The method of getting along with other people is just the opposite. Yu Sheng can usually move without talking, and can use a sentence without wasting a word. On the contrary, Jin Linkun is the one who talks more and has a good temper.

He alone has seen it several times. When Sheng-ge was bored, Kunshen took the initiative to stretch out his hand and let Sheng-ge scribble on his hand.

But today even Jin Linkun didn’t speak.

Liang Yifan instinctively felt that this matter had something to do with the fight between the two people on the road, and felt that it should never be such a superficial reason, so his brain kept popping up with reasons: “You two have a conflict? You eat sweets, Sheng-ge eats savoury. What? You want to put sugar in the tofu’s brain?  Sheng-ge wants to wrap meat in the rice dumplings?”

“…”

Jin Linkun was a little moved because he took the initiative to help, but the more he heard it, the more outrageous he was, and he raised his hand to push him away: “It’s not it.”

Liang Yifan still wanted to continue guessing, but Kunshen moved him aside. Still at a loss, he watched Yu Sheng who was going to serve soup and sat down.

“Take a break and eat first.”

Jin Linkun raised his hand to help him pick up the soup bowl, filled a bowl for him first, put the rest in the middle of the table for a group of people to grab, and then pushed the bowl of vegetables that had been saved: “Hurry up, it will be cold in a while.”

“How to eat.” Yu Sheng looked at the bowl of overly rich dishes, “Are you a mouse?”

Jin Linkun raised his eyebrows and pointed to the soup basin that had already bottomed out in a blink of an eye.

Yu Sheng: “…”

The top students in Group 7 have completely released themselves.

Cen Rui held up the soup bowl to prevent anyone from touching it, obviously too full to eat, but stubbornly hid in the corner: “I’ll keep it! Continue to eat when you’re hungry!”

“You’ve eaten so much, even if you are hungry, that will only happen tomorrow!”

Holding up his chopsticks, Xia Junhua chased and blocked him: “Hand over the last meatball, or I’ll unplug your laptop tonight!”

Cen Rui immediately put down the soup bowl, and continued to hide it.

Dong Jue went over quietly, and quickly took out the last chicken ball from the bowl.

___

As the only person that has not been robbed, Lao Wan, couldn’t help feeling: “It’s nice to be young, so energetic…”

Yu Sheng hadn’t eaten such a lively meal for a long time, and was a little shocked, holding his chopsticks and looking up for a long time.

He doesn’t like to cook, because no one eats it when it’s ready. It’s rare that there are more people eating this time, and the atmosphere seems to be rushing in another unpredictable and uncontrollable direction.

___

When he came back to his senses, Jin Linkun was still trying to pile things into his bowl.

Pine nuts and corn are not easy to pick up, and this person doesn’t know how to use a spoon, so he tries to pick up pine nuts one by one with chopsticks.

On a plate of corn with pine nuts, he basically picked out all the pine nuts, and it seemed that he was trying to make a pattern on the paper plate he bought temporarily.

Yu Sheng couldn’t help frowning, and was thinking whether he wanted to place a pine tree or a pangolin, when his hand that was placed under the table was suddenly gently grasped.

The force is very light, as if it can be broken apart with a little effort.

Yu Sheng’s arms tensed, but he didn’t speak, and met Jin Linkun’s quiet gaze.

He just washed his hands, didn’t wipe them well, they were a little cold, and they were a little wet.

The palm felt dry and warm, Yu Sheng curled his fingers, and was about to clenched, when his hand was completely wrapped in his palm.

Jin Linkun looked at him, leaned his shoulders slightly, and his voice was a little soft, which was not obvious at the chaotic dinner table: “I can’t hold back…don’t be angry.”

Yu Sheng couldn’t help but frown.

He wasn’t angry, he just didn’t know what he was thinking.

He doesn’t want to talk much, but he doesn’t seem to want to hit people that much.

This person usually likes to touch his hands and feet, it’s extremely annoying, but today… it’s different.

He doesn’t know what the problem is, but it seems that something is different from before.

“I know.” Yu Sheng flexed his knuckles and couldn’t help explaining, “I’m not angry.”

His thoughts were very scattered, everything was in a mess, and the first thing that popped up was why is this man’s hands were so warm.

Jin Linkun looked at him: “Aren’t you angry?”

Yu Sheng moved his chopsticks, picked up a pine nut and put it in his mouth: “No.”

Jin Linkun: “Then just smile.”

Yu Sheng: “…”

Jin Linkun: “…”

It is a terrible thing to speak faster than you think.

Jin Linkun regretted it as soon as he opened his mouth, and quickly raised his hand, ready to call it a day. There were only leftovers on the bottom of the plate, but when he turned around, he found that Yu Sheng hadn’t moved yet.

The young man’s brows were slightly furrowed, the corners of his lips were slightly pursed, and he was holding the wooden chopsticks in one hand, exerting strength unconsciously.

He lowered his eyes, as if he was bothered about something, but he didn’t break away from the hand he was holding.

Jin Linkun’s heartbeat was inexplicably fast and unsteady.

The fingers wrapped in the palm were slender and thin, a little cold, and they were gently bent against his fingers.

He moved his hand and slowly added a little more strength.

Before either of the two people recovered, the cheers of the crowd rang out first.

Cen Rui threw Xia Junhua away early, took out the DSLR camera that he carried all the way, found out the position and angle, set the time and put it on the decorative bookshelf.

He ran back dexterously, still unable to relax his mouth and instructed: “Quick, quick! It’s either a peace sign or eggplant*…”

*(version of saying cheese)

A group of people posed quickly. Ding Zhengjiao put his shoulders on the deputy leader’s shoulders. Kong Jiahe was very nervous and tried to straighten his back.

Liang Yifan gave up caring about the two of them a long time ago, and resolutely went back to the front row to grab the camera. Cen Rui found that his meatball was missing, and jumped up with Xia Junhua’s shoulders.

A bunch of people were counting down in a mess, and Lao Wan didn’t know which one to listen to. He looked back and forth, put down his rice bowl and raised his hand to make a peace sign, and shouted eggplant with the rest.

Yu Sheng raised his head, and was met with Jin Linkun who looked back at himself when taking pictures with everyone. He couldn’t hold back, and slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

Seeing the smile on his lips from the corner of the eye, Jin Linkun’s heart skipped a beat and he looked back.

When the timer ends, the photo freezes in a snap.

The most ordinary and special days of youth are truly recorded in this way.

There is the brightest sunshine and smile, there is still youthful brilliance, and there is a group teacher who works hard to blend in among everyone.

Yu Sheng’s lips slightly curved slightly, and the usually cold and sharp edges were softened, revealing a clean smile that only belonged to a teenager.

And the back of Kunshen’s head*.

*(cause I think he was looking at Yu Sheng lmaoo)

___

T/N: Very wholesome chapter.