MM | Chapter 53

Gathering

The businesses near the Affiliated High School’s gate are quite the opposite of others. While most places get busy during holidays, these shops thrive when school is in session.

This weekend was a short break, and most students left campus. The BBQ restaurant had fewer customers than usual, but there was still a line. Thankfully, the owner opened the back door and reserved the largest area for Class A.

Sheng Wang’s previous class had similar gatherings, and it was considered good if half of the forty or fifty students showed up. He thought this time would be the same, but unexpectedly, 37 classmates attended. Except for a few who had issues with Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian or had other commitments, almost everyone was there.

Zhao Xi had reserved enough space, but he didn’t expect it to be completely filled. Seeing the crowd pouring in, he could only think of the phrase “the whole nest is out.”

“Your class has great camaraderie,” he remarked, then rushed into the kitchen. It’s said that teenagers can eat their parents out of house and home, and with the effect of skewers, 37 kids together… it was like a locust swarm.

In no time, Chu-geizi was driving out to restock.

Sheng Wang came looking for Zhao Xi and Lin Beiting and saw the car leaving. He asked curiously, “Where’s Chu-geizi going? Isn’t he staying for some skewers?”

“Later, no rush,” Xi-ge replied, directing the staff to bring over kegs of beer and drinks. “He saw so many people and ran off to restock, worried you wouldn’t have enough to eat.”

Gao Tianyang poked his head out of the private room, “Restock what?”

Sheng Wang succinctly explained, “Afraid you’ll eat the whole place out.”

“No need to be so scared. We’re not bottomless pits, and there are girls here too,” Gao Tianyang said, pointing at Pepper and Li Yu. “They’re always talking about dieting and fasting to ascend to heaven, they won’t eat much.”

Pepper slapped him on the back, “You’re the one ascending!”

“Ouch—” Gao Tianyang almost cursed but swallowed it under the girls’ glares, rubbing his back like a gorilla. “Why are you so strong? My back’s swollen.”

“Serves you right!” Pepper said.

Gao Tianyang put his hands together, “Okay, okay, I was wrong. You don’t need to diet or fast, you eat more than us, alright?”

In just a few words, he painted her as a female Li Kui. Pepper glanced at Sheng Wang, then quickly looked away, her ears turning red as she chased Gao Tianyang off.

Zhao Xi noticed and nudged Sheng Wang with a grin, “Quite popular, huh?”

Sheng Wang stumbled a bit, “Popular for what?”

“Playing dumb,” Zhao Xi raised an eyebrow.

Sheng Wang rubbed his nose with a bent finger, not saying a word. He had a vague idea of what Zhao Xi was teasing about. Xiao Lajiao’s blush was too obvious, and he wasn’t blind.

But he felt it didn’t mean much. Some people just blush easily. There was a boy in their class named Cheng Wen, naturally flush, who blushed talking to anyone. By that logic, he must like the whole class.

Just as Sheng Wang was about to use him as an example, Zhao Xi teased, “The little girl chased Gao Tianyang around twice, why? Just because he said in front of you that she eats more than the boys.”

Sheng Wang thought, weren’t we talking about blushing?

His argument suddenly lost its footing, so he opened his mouth and then silently closed it.

Teenagers playing around can get a bit noisy, but Zhao Xi watched with great interest. He seemed to reminisce a lot and finally commented, “This age is full of energy. They do all sorts of silly things, but only care about their image in front of the one they like.”

“Says who?” Sheng Wang retorted.

Zhao Xi pointed at his own nose, “I say so, got a problem?”

Sheng Wang thought to himself that he cared about his image in front of everyone, especially Jiang Tian. But he decided not to argue and respectfully gestured, “Fine, no problem, Teacher Zhao, please take a seat.”

Zhao Xi laughed and gave him a pat.

Apart from when they first opened, Zhao Xi and Lin Beiting didn’t really act like bosses. They rarely came to the restaurant, and when they did, it was to grab a table and eat BBQ.

So whether they were there or not, the staff managed just fine. Class A saved them seats, and Zhao Xi, after a word with the staff, joined the private room without a worry.

“Beef skewers, chicken skewers, lamb skewers, tendon… and all these, we need them all.” Sheng Wang confirmed the order with the server, washed his hands, and went in.

As soon as he entered, someone asked Gao Tianyang, “Where’s Tian-ge? Why isn’t he here yet?”

Gao Tianyang had just escaped Pepper’s clutches and was cooling off in front of the air conditioner. Without turning, he said, “Don’t ask me, I’m too hot to send WeChat, ask Sheng-ge.”

Another chimed in, “Yeah, ask Sheng Wang, why ask Old Gao?”

“Hey, Sheng-ge’s here,” the person asked Sheng Wang, “Where’s Tian-ge?”

“He went to the alley in front to deliver something,” Sheng Wang glanced around, “Did you save me a seat? Where do I sit?”

Gao Tianyang pointed to the two empty seats between him and Zhao Xi, “Here, you and Tian-ge sit here.”

Then someone worried, “What about Lin-ge? Why isn’t he here yet?”

Zhao Xi said, “He went to get some medicine.”

“Is Lin-ge sick?” Everyone looked concerned.

Zhao Xi quickly waved his hand, “No, it’s for hangovers. Afraid you guys might overdo it, so we’re prepared.”

“Don’t fool the kids, clarify who’s afraid of getting drunk.” A steady voice interjected, mercilessly exposing him.

Everyone looked over to see Lin Beiting standing at the door with a small box of medicine.

“Your timing is impeccable,” Zhao Xi said, annoyed.

“Punctual,” Lin Beiting weaved through the tables and sat in the empty seat to Zhao Xi’s right. When he placed the medicine box in front of Zhao Xi, it was exactly 6 o’clock, the agreed time. Indeed punctual.

“Does this medicine really work?” Sheng Wang asked curiously.

“It’s alright,” Zhao Xi swallowed one.

Sheng Wang remembered his own foolishness when he drank too much last time and felt tempted, “If I take it, I won’t get drunk?”

“No, just less damage,” Zhao Xi said. “Why, you want some?”

Sheng Wang considered it and nodded.

But Zhao Xi teased him, “No way.”

Sheng Wang: “…”

He sulked and sent Jiang Tian a WeChat—

Sticker: Xi-ge is stingy

Jiang Tian: ?

Sticker: Won’t even give me a pill

Jiang Tian: ?

Jiang Tian: Why do you need a pill?

Sticker: Not regular medicine, for hangovers

Jiang Tian: …

A few seconds later, a voice message popped up, and Sheng Wang instinctively tapped it.

“He has his reasons—”

Because he wasn’t wearing headphones, WeChat automatically switched to speaker mode.

Jiang Tian’s cool voice was unmistakable, and just a few words drew everyone’s attention. Sheng Wang quickly turned the volume down to the lowest.

“Is that Jiang Tian?” Zhao Xi asked.

“Yeah,” Sheng Wang nodded.

“Why does he sound like he’s sneaking around?” Zhao Xi teased, “Is he talking bad about someone?”

Caught red-handed, Sheng Wang simply showed the chat to Zhao Xi. Zhao Xi chuckled, converting Jiang Tian’s voice message to text, “Let me see what he said.”

Jiang Tian: He has his reasons. When he first returned to the country, there were too many gatherings, and he drank too much, so he keeps a pill. Do you really need it with your tolerance?

Even though it was converted to text, Sheng Wang’s mind automatically filled in Jiang Tian’s tone. His cool voice saying that last line was truly mocking.

Zhao Xi laughed, recalling Sheng Wang’s antics with a beer mug last time. Just as he was about to tease him, a new message popped up in the chat.

Jiang Tian: Do you think taking a pill will stop you from filming me?

Sheng Wang: “…”

This jerk really knew how to chat, always bringing up the most awkward topics.

Sheng Wang’s fingers flew as he sent a row of “drop dead” stickers.

After venting his frustration, he locked his screen and looked up to see Zhao Xi’s expression was a bit off.

“Xi-ge?” Sheng Wang called.

Zhao Xi snapped back, “Hmm?”

“What’s up?” Sheng Wang asked.

“Nothing,” Zhao Xi took a sip of water, smiled, and said, “Just thinking. Jiang Tian’s almost here, right?”

“Oh, I forgot to ask.” Sheng Wang unlocked his screen again to check with Jiang Tian.

This time, Jiang Tian took a moment to reply: Didn’t deliver.

It was a special batch of fragrant pears Sheng Mingyang and Jiang Ou brought back a few days ago. They picked some to give to Old Man Ding.

Sheng Wang was puzzled and sent a question mark.

Jiang Tian: Someone’s at the old man’s place

Jiang Tian: I turned back, will deliver after BBQ

Sticker: Oh

Sticker: Where are you now?

Jiang Tian: At the private room door

Sheng Wang was stunned and instinctively looked up. The door to the private room was half-open, and Jiang Tian stood there holding the handle. He glanced down, pressed the lock screen button, and then slipped his phone into his pocket.

“Tian-ge!”

Greetings echoed from the room, and Gao Tianyang shouted, “Finally, I’m starving.”

“If you’re starving, why not eat?” Jiang Tian maneuvered through the chairs, talking to Gao Tianyang while naturally pulling out a chair next to Sheng Wang.

“Waiting for you!” Gao Tianyang said, “With so many mouths to feed, if we start without you, you won’t even get a skewer, believe it or not?”

Jiang Tian leaned back in his chair, chuckled at him, greeted Zhao Xi and Lin Beiting, and then turned to Sheng Wang. He lowered his head slightly and said softly, “Shall we go to Wutongwai after eating?”

“Sure,” Sheng Wang replied, “Where are the pears?”

“Left them at the bar, we’ll grab them on the way out.”

The server came to confirm the headcount and finally started bringing in skewers by the handful. With so many people, Sheng Wang ordered everything in units of 100 skewers, making for quite a spectacle when they arrived.

The room erupted with the sound of clinking glasses and cheers. Those who could drink poured themselves cold beer, and the atmosphere heated up instantly.

Zhao Xi and Lin Beiting, about ten years older than the group, didn’t seem out of place at all. More than teachers, Class A saw them as seniors—admired yet approachable, open to jokes and teasing.

When a group gathers, the conversation flows best with relatable topics.

They unabashedly complained about school—the new class-shifting system was insane, Old Xu had new ways of catching rule-breakers, a bunch of dummies in Grade 10 got caught sneaking out to surf the internet, and when Old Xu caught them, they still had trash bags over their heads. Then there was the gossip about who was dating whom and getting called to the principal’s office.

Sixteen or seventeen is a restless age, so the last topic lingered. Led by Gao Tianyang, the group of single guys showed keen interest in the caught couples.

Overly excited, they even extended their gossip to Zhao Xi. They were too intimidated to ask Lin Beiting.

“Xi-ge, did you do anything like that in high school?” Gao Tianyang asked mischievously.

“What kind of thing?” Zhao Xi asked, unfazed, spinning his glass.

“What else? Puppy love,” Gao Tianyang said.

Everyone burst into laughter, eagerly watching Zhao Xi.

Zhao Xi raised an eyebrow and said, “Me? If you ask me now, from an objective and rational perspective, I’d advise you to suppress any impulsive feelings. It’s not worth it. Focus on your studies, so you don’t look back and think, ‘I liked so-and-so in high school, and because of that, my grades plummeted. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be where I am now.’ That would be a shame.”

The group expected him to start lecturing and sat up a bit straighter, some even adjusting their posture.

But after saying that, he added, “However, I was a bit of a rule-breaker in high school, so… yes, I did have a rebellious romance.”

Sheng Wang, having downed three cups of cold beer with his skewers, felt a slight buzz despite his calm demeanor. Perhaps influenced by the alcohol, he thought Zhao Xi glanced at Lin Beiting when he said that.

Then…

Maybe still under the influence, he subconsciously glanced at Jiang Tian.