CH 9
The car was going down the familiar path to their house until it turned away on a corner. Huo Ming Chen suddenly said,
“This time, your fight…… wait, actually it should be said that it was you being beaten up and it was all thanks to me and Fang Qi who passed on the message. Let’s have dinner to thank him, which is perfect since we haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
It was obviously not a sudden thought that came to Huo Ming Chen’s mind.
“……”
He didn’t call Huo Ming Chen out, and instead slowly smoothed back his hair. With his handsome face mismatched with bruises, he for once did not have the words to explain,
“You can’t just say that because I didn’t fight back, I don’t have any strength.”
“I never underestimated your strength.”
Huo Ming Chen brought his attention back to the road as he drove, and said honestly,
“You’re pretty strong in bed.”
“…… I’m so happy that I still have that kind of strength in your eyes.”
By the end of this conversation, they were at the restaurant. Lu Qi felt that the bruises on his face affected his visuals too much, and at first would not get out of the car. Huo Ming Chen stood by the passenger door and bent down to look at him through the window,
“If you don’t want to get out of the car, we can go home and have some fun in bed instead.”
Lu Qi crossed his arms, and lowered his eyes. Sitting like a statue in the car, he thought that Huo Ming Chen was too childish,
“That won’t scare me.”
Even though he said that, he still reluctantly got out of the car, and was dragged to a private room on the second floor of the restaurant.
Huo Ming Chen had mentioned that they were having dinner with only Fang Qi, but once the door opened, Lu Qi found that it was not just Fang Qi inside. Lu Qi scanned across the room at the familiar faces, Cheng Tian Qi, Chi Yi Ke, Zhao Shi Han. He suddenly realized that while he thought he had already forgotten these faces, everything was still as clear as day.
Huo Ming Chen introduced them to him, one by one, and he explained with a rarely seen patience.
“These are all my best friends. Fang Qi you already know. This is Tian Qi, Yi Ke, Shi Han.”
Zhao Shi Han was a person who could get a little crazy. She saw Lu Qi had his head down and was just eating, giving off a very obedient look, and she wanted to tease him.
“Ah, little brother1 Lu Qi, we are meeting for the first time today, we cannot not have a drink right. You have to drink a bottle for us to be considered brothers.”
She held a bottle of wine in her hands, and it did not look light in alcohol content. Sitting beside her, Cheng Tian Qi silently edged away from her. Chi Yi Ke’s face twitched and he felt an oncoming headache. It was quite evident that she’s done this a million times before.
“You crazy woman, let’s video call your parents so they can see you like this.”
“Only a three year old would tell on me to my parents.”
Zhao Shi Han did not care. She filled a glass of wine up to the top and passed it to Lu Qi, looking like a rambunctious female gangster .
“Drink if you are a man!”
Lu Qi smiled and was just about to receive it when Huo Ming Chen forcibly stole it out of her hands.
“Look at his bruised face. He just came out from the hospital. I’ll drink for him.”
He tossed down the entire drink in one go.
Lu Qi watched from the side, and who knew what he was thinking. He didn’t utter a sound. When Zhao Shi Han heard that Lu Qi went to the hospital because of a fight, she didn’t try to get him to drink again. Instead, she turned her sights on Huo Ming Chen,
Zhao Shi Han was an alcoholic, and drank another glass of wine before responding,
“It’s just Heng Shui Lao Bai Gan2, only 67% alcohol, eh it’s alright.”
Huo Ming Chen felt his head hurt even more when he heard that. Thankfully, his alcohol tolerance has always been higher than average, and so he drank another glass. On the other hand, if Lu Qi drank the amount Huo Ming Chen had consumed there was an 80% chance that he would need to go to the hospital again.
“Drink some soup.”
Huo Ming Chen opened one eye, and as soon as he saw Lu Qi pass him a bowl of soup, he straightened himself up. He drank the soup in one go, seeming as if he was a drunk pretending not to be drunk.
“At least you show some conscience. Didn’t waste my efforts to cover for you.”
Lu Qi sighed, and looked at the table full of intoxicated people,
“I don’t have many things, but I really don’t have a conscience.”
Huo Ming Chen felt that Lu Qi always had to challenge him. Staring at him, he dully said,
“What, eaten up by dogs?”
“Why are you eating up my conscience?”
The moment he said that, Huo Ming Chen kicked him. It didn’t really hurt, and Lu Qi couldn’t stop laughing. He thought in his heart that this was definitely a cat with claws. He instinctively patted his pockets, but they were empty, so he gave up.
The group drank for a while, and by then, there were only a few who could stand up. Zhao Shi Han has a driver coming to pick her up, and the others decided to stay at a hotel nearby for the night.
After tidying up the aftermath, Lu Qi drove home with Huo Ming Chen in the passenger seat. Huo Ming Chen’s eyes were already drooping, and he yawned a few times before saying,
Notes:
*1 brother: it was briefly mentioned in chapter 4 (Fang Qi saying Huo Ming Chen was a close friend like a brother to him) but brother is a direct translation of 兄弟. Which is like what I translated as in Chp4 – very close (best) friend that could be so close to you like a blood related brother. In the upcoming chapters, it’d be used more interchangeably between an actual brother vs a best/extremely close friend that is like a brother (just as a side note).
*2 the wine they are drinking are called baijui – “white wine” with a very distinctive taste and looks clear (very different from a western white wine). There’s quite a few versions of the 67% alcohol they could be referring to but here are some pictures of some of the baijui of that brand Zhao Shi Han mentioned.
“This time, your fight…… wait, actually it should be said that it was you being beaten up and it was all thanks to me and Fang Qi who passed on the message. Let’s have dinner to thank him, which is perfect since we haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
It was obviously not a sudden thought that came to Huo Ming Chen’s mind.
“……”
He didn’t call Huo Ming Chen out, and instead slowly smoothed back his hair. With his handsome face mismatched with bruises, he for once did not have the words to explain,
“You can’t just say that because I didn’t fight back, I don’t have any strength.”
“I never underestimated your strength.”
Huo Ming Chen brought his attention back to the road as he drove, and said honestly,
“You’re pretty strong in bed.”
“…… I’m so happy that I still have that kind of strength in your eyes.”
By the end of this conversation, they were at the restaurant. Lu Qi felt that the bruises on his face affected his visuals too much, and at first would not get out of the car. Huo Ming Chen stood by the passenger door and bent down to look at him through the window,
“If you don’t want to get out of the car, we can go home and have some fun in bed instead.”
Lu Qi crossed his arms, and lowered his eyes. Sitting like a statue in the car, he thought that Huo Ming Chen was too childish,
“That won’t scare me.”
Even though he said that, he still reluctantly got out of the car, and was dragged to a private room on the second floor of the restaurant.
Huo Ming Chen had mentioned that they were having dinner with only Fang Qi, but once the door opened, Lu Qi found that it was not just Fang Qi inside. Lu Qi scanned across the room at the familiar faces, Cheng Tian Qi, Chi Yi Ke, Zhao Shi Han. He suddenly realized that while he thought he had already forgotten these faces, everything was still as clear as day.
Huo Ming Chen introduced them to him, one by one, and he explained with a rarely seen patience.
“These are all my best friends. Fang Qi you already know. This is Tian Qi, Yi Ke, Shi Han.”
Zhao Shi Han was a person who could get a little crazy. She saw Lu Qi had his head down and was just eating, giving off a very obedient look, and she wanted to tease him.
“Ah, little brother1 Lu Qi, we are meeting for the first time today, we cannot not have a drink right. You have to drink a bottle for us to be considered brothers.”
She held a bottle of wine in her hands, and it did not look light in alcohol content. Sitting beside her, Cheng Tian Qi silently edged away from her. Chi Yi Ke’s face twitched and he felt an oncoming headache. It was quite evident that she’s done this a million times before.
“You crazy woman, let’s video call your parents so they can see you like this.”
“Only a three year old would tell on me to my parents.”
Zhao Shi Han did not care. She filled a glass of wine up to the top and passed it to Lu Qi, looking like a rambunctious female gangster .
“Drink if you are a man!”
Lu Qi smiled and was just about to receive it when Huo Ming Chen forcibly stole it out of her hands.
“Look at his bruised face. He just came out from the hospital. I’ll drink for him.”
He tossed down the entire drink in one go.
Lu Qi watched from the side, and who knew what he was thinking. He didn’t utter a sound. When Zhao Shi Han heard that Lu Qi went to the hospital because of a fight, she didn’t try to get him to drink again. Instead, she turned her sights on Huo Ming Chen,
Zhao Shi Han was an alcoholic, and drank another glass of wine before responding,
“It’s just Heng Shui Lao Bai Gan2, only 67% alcohol, eh it’s alright.”
Huo Ming Chen felt his head hurt even more when he heard that. Thankfully, his alcohol tolerance has always been higher than average, and so he drank another glass. On the other hand, if Lu Qi drank the amount Huo Ming Chen had consumed there was an 80% chance that he would need to go to the hospital again.
“Drink some soup.”
Huo Ming Chen opened one eye, and as soon as he saw Lu Qi pass him a bowl of soup, he straightened himself up. He drank the soup in one go, seeming as if he was a drunk pretending not to be drunk.
“At least you show some conscience. Didn’t waste my efforts to cover for you.”
Lu Qi sighed, and looked at the table full of intoxicated people,
“I don’t have many things, but I really don’t have a conscience.”
Huo Ming Chen felt that Lu Qi always had to challenge him. Staring at him, he dully said,
“What, eaten up by dogs?”
“Why are you eating up my conscience?”
The moment he said that, Huo Ming Chen kicked him. It didn’t really hurt, and Lu Qi couldn’t stop laughing. He thought in his heart that this was definitely a cat with claws. He instinctively patted his pockets, but they were empty, so he gave up.
The group drank for a while, and by then, there were only a few who could stand up. Zhao Shi Han has a driver coming to pick her up, and the others decided to stay at a hotel nearby for the night.
After tidying up the aftermath, Lu Qi drove home with Huo Ming Chen in the passenger seat. Huo Ming Chen’s eyes were already drooping, and he yawned a few times before saying,
Notes:
*1 brother: it was briefly mentioned in chapter 4 (Fang Qi saying Huo Ming Chen was a close friend like a brother to him) but brother is a direct translation of 兄弟. Which is like what I translated as in Chp4 – very close (best) friend that could be so close to you like a blood related brother. In the upcoming chapters, it’d be used more interchangeably between an actual brother vs a best/extremely close friend that is like a brother (just as a side note).
*2 the wine they are drinking are called baijui – “white wine” with a very distinctive taste and looks clear (very different from a western white wine). There’s quite a few versions of the 67% alcohol they could be referring to but here are some pictures of some of the baijui of that brand Zhao Shi Han mentioned.
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