Chapter 23: Flattery
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Xu Xingran cooperatively opened his arms, indicating that An Lan could check.
An Lan didn’t intend to be polite. First, he reached into Xu Xingran’s upper pocket, finding nothing. Then, he reached into Xu Xingran’s pants pocket. An Lan’s fingers were about to enter when Xu Xingran suddenly lifted his leg, and his knee hit An Lan’s forearm.
“Itchy,” Xu Xingran said.
Only then did An Lan realize that his fingers had touched Xu Xingran through the inner lining of the pants pocket, and he felt awkward, as if his fingertips had been electrocuted.
“Is there no red armband?” Qiao Chuluo asked.
An Lan shook his head.
“I told you there isn’t one.” Xu Xingran said, lowering his head to continue drinking pig liver soup. He was smiling, his eyes squinting.
An Lan raised an eyebrow, feeling that something was not right. He reached out to pull the zipper of the class monitor’s uniform.
Xu Xingran grabbed An Lan’s wrist playfully, looking at him half-jokingly, “An Lan, even though we’re both alphas, your behavior seems a bit rogue, doesn’t it?”
An Lan moved his wrist, and Xu Xingran let go.
“I strongly suspect, Class Monitor, that your red armband is hidden inside the uniform.” An Lan squinted, saying very seriously.
“Oh?” Xu Xingran’s index and middle fingers rhythmically tapped the table twice, “I can take it off to show you. But I can’t take it off for nothing, right?”
His eyes and brows carried a hint of a smile.
“I won’t let you take it off for nothing. You take it off, I take it off, and then we’re even.” An Lan grinned.
Qiao Chuluo, on the side, laughed, “I say, An Lan, you’re not an omega. What’s the point of you undressing?”
Xu Xingran lowered his head and chuckled, and the night market lights falling on his shoulders also slightly trembled.
An Lan coughed and shamelessly said, “I am also a muscular athlete.”
Xu Xingran nodded, “Hmm, makes sense. I want to see.”
After saying that, Xu Xingran really opened his uniform, hanging it on his elbow. He was wearing short sleeves inside, and the lines of his shoulders and arms were smooth and powerful, but not excessively exaggerated, making people envy.
Although An Lan had seen it before when playing basketball, seeing it up close like this was the first time.
Xu Xingran was nonchalant, indifferent to being seen.
Even several girls at the nearby tables, who were eating supper, couldn’t help but look over, completely unable to look away.
“An Lan, take a good look. No red armband.” Xu Xingran lifted his chin.
An Lan took a big sip of pig liver soup, pulled open his own uniform without care, and, like Xu Xingran, let it hang on his elbow. “Undress is undress.”
He was wearing a pure white short-sleeved T-shirt inside his uniform, in an oversized style. The lines of his arms below the sleeves were also beautiful. In order to maintain stability when aiming, An Lan had also put effort into his shoulder and arm strength.
Xu Xingran put his uniform back on, but his gaze remained on An Lan.
Just as An Lan was about to put his uniform back on, Xu Xingran spoke, “Can I touch it?”
Because of the embarrassing scene of a high-quality Alpha and a quasi-Alpha flexing their muscles in front of him, Qiao Chuluo, who was already blushing and feeling embarrassed, heard Xu Xingran’s words and sprayed the soup from his mouth.
“Class Monitor… What do you want to touch?” Qiao Chuluo asked in astonishment.
“An Lan’s muscles.” Xu Xingran leaned towards An Lan, with a serious look in his eyes, “I’m just curious, I haven’t seen you playing basketball or practicing on the parallel bars. Are your arm muscles real or fake?”
“Nonsense, they’re real.” An Lan’s arm extended from one side of the uniform.
Xu Xingran held An Lan’s wrist, and his knuckles were right against the tender skin on the inner side of An Lan’s arm, slowly moving upward.
An Lan felt a bit embarrassed, “Class Monitor, my muscles can’t compare to yours, right?”
However, Xu Xingran lowered his head and whispered, “Really beautiful…”
“Class Monitor, don’t tease me.”
Xu Xingran was probably just praising his arm muscles.
“You just don’t understand how… How much you…”
Xu Xingran’s knuckles had slid to the elbow, and he lowered his head, looking very focused.
This concentration was different from the seriousness of listening to a teacher explain a problem in class. It was like a net slowly and methodically closing in, capturing everything in the surroundings. This included all of An Lan’s perceptions—the aroma of food, the conversations of the customers, the sound of the boss stirring the pot, the vibrations and scents of electric scooters passing by—everything was infinitely compressed into An Lan’s brain and then disappeared.
Only Xu Xingran remained.
Every cell of An Lan seemed to want to leave his body with Xu Xingran’s gaze, irresistibly attracted by the other person. His spirit also wandered out of his brain, moving towards Xu Xingran.
The air became slightly warm, and all scents were purified, leaving behind a very special and elegant fragrance.
Rich and steady.
An Lan’s throat felt a bit warm, as if it had been roasted with high-quality wood, not uncomfortable, but yearning for the unique scent of burning wood.
Xu Xingran’s hand gently tugged at An Lan’s elbow, and An Lan was drawn towards him.
“Hey, An Lan!” Qiao Chuluo’s voice rang out.
An Lan suddenly snapped back to reality. Seeing that he was about to fall into Xu Xingran’s arms, he propped himself up with one hand on the table, maintaining his balance.
Suddenly, a clear voice spoke, “What are you guys doing?”
The pleasant and enveloping warm fragrance suddenly disappeared.
The isolated world started flowing again.
An Lan looked up and saw Gu Liyu standing in front of them with a single shoulder bag.
Although Xu Xingran turned his face and seemed slightly stunned, his face quickly regained a smile, “We’re having supper. Egg fried noodles and pig liver soup, interested?”
An Lan originally thought that Gu Liyu just happened to pass by. After all, this was the entrance of Nandeng Street, and if Gu Liyu took a shortcut on his bike to go back, he would seem to pass by.
However, Gu Liyu opened his backpack and then threw a stack of papers on the table.
It was An Lan’s comprehensive simulation test paper set.
He remembered lending it to a classmate in the back row, and he forgot to take it back… How did it end up in Gu Liyu’s hands?
“Tha… Thank you.”
Oh d*mn, fortunately, Gu Liyu took it back for him. Otherwise, there were still two major questions he hadn’t done in the comprehensive mock exam, and it would be impossible to complete them on the next day.
Gu Liyu turned to leave after a brief pause, and An Lan suddenly remembered that Gu Liyu had only eaten two egg rolls during evening self-study.
“Gu Liyu, I’ll treat you to fried noodles!” Taking advantage of the fact that the other hadn’t gone too far, An Lan stood up and shouted.
Gu Liyu had already stepped onto his bike, and one foot was about to come down. Hearing An Lan’s voice, he stopped.
“I’ll treat you to fried noodles. You definitely didn’t eat enough at night.”
Xu Xingran chuckled, “Give it a try; it’s delicious.”
Gu Liyu looked like he was going to leave. Although he always showed no joy or anger, An Lan faintly felt that the other person might not be very happy about something.
An Lan hurriedly went over and grabbed Gu Liyu’s bike, “Give me some face, okay? You’ve already eaten the egg rolls; try the egg fried noodles while you’re at it.”
Gu Liyu specially came to return his papers, and during evening self-study, he reminded An Lan that he owed him a meal.
After a brief one or two seconds of awkward silence, even Qiao Chuluo couldn’t help but cover his eyes. Oh my god, why did An Lan go and intercept Gu Liyu’s car… No, it was a bicycle, right?
Gu Liyu turned around and said to An Lan, “Let go.”
An Lan felt a bit regretful; it seemed he couldn’t stop him after all. However, unexpectedly, Gu Liyu parked his bicycle to the side and walked to the empty side of the small table where four people could sit.
Qiao Chuluo was stunned, wearing an expression as if to say, “Is it going to rain red?”
An Lan quickly dragged another chair over for Gu Liyu and placed his backpack on it.
“Egg fried noodles with pig liver soup?” An Lan asked.
“En,” Gu Liyu nodded.
An Lan immediately went to the boss to pay the bill, leaving Qiao Chuluo bewildered.
“This is differential treatment…”
“What differential treatment?” Xu Xingran asked curiously.
Qiao Chuluo replied, “Didn’t you see how An Lan is usually very frugal with himself? In fact, he doesn’t lack pocket money on regular days, but practicing shooting can be quite expensive. Some of the expenses at the club, if he can cover them with his pocket money, he won’t ask his parents for extra.”
“He has always been sensible,” Xu Xingran nodded.
“If it were him alone, he would have shared the egg fried noodles with me. He’s been eating a lot lately, and I can’t have a few bites. At this moment… The school grass, Gu Liyu, is here. Not only is there egg fried noodles, but also pig liver soup. Isn’t this differential treatment?” Qiao Chuluo complained.
Xu Xingran looked thoughtfully in An Lan’s direction, tapping his fingers on the table twice. “Now that you mention it, I’m jealous too.”
“Yeah. Just now, the fried noodles and soup we ate were all courtesy of Class Monitor.”
“What were you guys doing just now?” Gu Liyu’s eyes lifted as he looked at Xu Xingran.
His voice was lower than that of his peers, carrying a sense of oppression.
Xu Xingran replied, “An Lan and Qiao Chuluo suspected that I, wearing the red armband, was here to catch them eating street food. So, I took off my school uniform to prove my innocence.”
Gu Liyu continued to gaze at Xu Xingran, his eyes cold, making Qiao Chuluo, sitting nearby, feel uncomfortable. He wondered why An Lan hadn’t come back yet.
“Then what happened?” Gu Liyu asked again.
Qiao Chuluo’s brows furrowed, suddenly feeling that Gu Liyu seemed to care a lot about the class monitor grabbing An Lan’s arm just now.
“I just teased An Lan. It wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one undressing, so he also took off his uniform to show me his arm muscles. Despite An Lan not being a show-off, his physique is quite good,” Xu Xingran’s voice was calm and unhurried, as if he wasn’t displeased at all by Gu Liyu’s questioning.
At this moment, An Lan returned with fried noodles and pig liver soup.
He even rinsed the spoon used for drinking pig liver soup several times with hot water.
“Just cooked, smells so good.” An Lan smiled, pushing the fried noodles in front of Gu Liyu. He then split the chopsticks, removing any burrs before handing them to Gu Liyu.
Qiao Chuluo gave An Lan a look that said, “You’re really flattering.”
An Lan returned the look with one that said, “If the school grass brought your practice papers over. Do you want to flatter him?”
Gu Liyu took the chopsticks, picked up some fried noodles, and then paused.
An Lan wondered if Gu Liyu found disposable chopsticks too crude.
But unexpectedly, Gu Liyu said, “Xu Xingran’s red armband is hidden in the sleeve of his school uniform.”
Instantly, the expressions of An Lan and Qiao Chuluo changed.
“Class monitor? You betrayed us!” An Lan stood up abruptly, pressing down on Xu Xingran’s shoulder. He rolled up the cuff of Xu Xingran’s school uniform, and sure enough, they saw the red armband with the conspicuous words “Patrol Officer.”
“Darn it, class monitor, how could you do this! You deliberately deceived us!”
Xu Xingran was too cunning. When he took off his school uniform just now, he deliberately stopped at the elbow, hiding the red armband on his forearm. Because it was covered by the sleeve of the school uniform, An Lan and Qiao Chuluo couldn’t see it.
An Lan was irritated to the point of itching teeth, “Class monitor, this is so unethical! If you want to patrol, just patrol! We can promise not to eat street food again tomorrow. What you did… it’s really unlike you…”
Xu Xingran suppressed a smile and said, “Didn’t I eat with you guys too? We’re all in this together. If you still care about this armband, it’s discrimination.”
Qiao Chuluo pulled An Lan, “Makes sense. The fried noodles and pig liver soup are still courtesy of the class monitor.”
“No… Class monitor, you are noble and upright, yet you’re doing this…” An Lan was no longer angry; he just found it a bit amusing.
Xu Xingran putting effort into deceiving them about the absence of the armband was quite clever.
“What’s wrong with doing this? Isn’t it fun? Are you not enjoying your meal, or am I not generous enough?” Xu Xingran tilted his face upward, smiling at An Lan.
“That’s not the case. But… Class monitor, since you have the red armband, yet you knowingly break the rules…”
“What’s the matter?” Xu Xingran asked.
“Buy me another bowl of sweet rice wine tangyuan.” An Lan said.
Xu Xingran was momentarily surprised, not expecting Qiao Chuluo on the opposite side to nod as well.
“Sweet rice wine tangyuan is good! Sweet rice wine tangyuan is wonderful! Sweet rice wine tangyuan croaks!”
Xu Xingran pressed his temples, “Why not just tell me directly if you have anything else you want to eat?”
“Nothing else, really.”
So, two steaming bowls of sweet rice wine tangyuan were also brought over.
Xu Xingran had good self-control. Even with An Lan eating noisily beside him, he could calmly watch without feeling tempted.
As An Lan ate the tangyuan, he glanced at Gu Liyu sitting next to him, who had silently eaten most of the fried noodles. An Lan smiled.
Xu Xingran across the table asked, “An Lan, why are you smiling?”
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