The next morning, a ray of morning sunlight streamed through the window into the room, accompanied by soft, slightly cool breezes that gently lifted the curtains, causing them to sway in the air.
Several potted ornamental flowers by the window basked in the nourishing sunlight, caressed by the gentle wind, their leaves and petals dancing gracefully.
Yang Haoran was sleeping deeply. Yang Mengyao, following her mother’s instructions, came to call her brother to get up for breakfast.
After shaking him and calling out for a long time, Yang Haoran was only half-awake. Under his sister’s persistent urging, he had no choice but to struggle up despite his drowsiness.
While washing up, he noticed his underwear felt sticky. He went to the bathroom, took it off, and checked. Well, as expected, he had had a wet dream.
The erotic scenes from last night’s steamy dream flashed vaguely through his mind. He licked his dry lips, savoring the lingering sensations.
He swore to himself that he would turn that dream into reality.
After changing his underwear, he went downstairs, and the family had breakfast together. Then, yawning, Yang Haoran set off for school with his sister.
The two took bus line 103, passed seven or eight stops, got off at their station, and walked away.
After his sister left, Yang Haoran lingered for a few minutes before swaying lazily toward the school.
Not long after entering the campus, Yang Haoran ran into Zhou Shiwen. He was sitting alone at one of the green tables and chairs placed outside the school convenience store, drinking soy milk and slowly chewing on a fried dough stick while looking around as if waiting for someone.
Several other students were also sitting outside the store, eating breakfast and chatting in small groups.
Shortly after Yang Haoran spotted Zhou Shiwen, Zhou noticed him and waved him over.
“Didn’t Aunt Shen make you breakfast this morning?” Yang Haoraο½ asked without ceremony, plopping down opposite Shiwen and grabbing a fried dough stick from the transparent bag on the table.
He had to admit, it was pretty tasty. When he got up, heβd been too sleepy to have much of an appetite, so heβd just hurriedly eaten a little to satisfy his mom.
Now, after walking quite a bit, his drowsiness had faded somewhat, and his stomach had actually started to feel hungry.
“No, my mom had something to do this morning, so she told me to eat at school,” Zhou Shiwen said, nervously taking a sip of soy milk to cover himself as he spoke, all while observing Yang Haoran.
He wasnβt actually telling the truth. Shen Qing had made breakfast, but he hadnβt eaten it. He had rushed to school early in the morning specifically to intercept Yang Haoran in advance.
“Mhm.” Yang Haoran took a big bite of the fried dough stick and asked while chewing, “It looked like you were waiting for someone just now. Who were you waiting for?”
Hearing this, Zhou Shiwenβs hand, holding the fried dough stick, paused. At that moment, various thoughts flashed through his mind. He hesitated about whether to be direct and confess to the other, but now that he was here, he found it hard to bring himself to broach the subject.
He had been up all night, his mind filled with ideas on how to stop the other, but concerned about their lifelong friendship, he didnβt want to fall out with him over something that hadnβt even happened yet.
So, he had come up with an idea: to stop the other from reading the erotic novel his mother had written, to nip the potential conflict in the bud.
As his thoughts churned, Zhou Shiwen made a decision internally and pretended to stammer, “N-no… it’s just… just…”
Seeing the hesitant look on his good friend Zhou Shiwenβs face, Yang Haoran said in surprise, “You werenβt waiting for me, were you?!”
As soon as he said it, Yang Haoran himself suddenly realizedβit must be because of what happened yesterday.
Sure enough, seeing that Yang Haoran had brought it up, Zhou Shiwen felt somewhat more at ease inwardly and said, “Haoran, you didnβt read that novel my mom wrote yesterday, did you?”
After he spoke, he stared intently at Yang Haoran, watching for any change in his expression.
Having already guessed what he was going to ask, Yang Haoran kept a straight face: “No, I havenβt had the chance to look at it yet. When I have timeβ”
“Donβt read it!” Zhou Shiwen cut him off, his expression solemn. “Can you promise me, Haoran, that you wonβt go read those novels?”
“Why?” Yang Haoran pretended to be puzzled. “Theyβre just some novels, right? Even if Aunt Shen wrote them, itβs no big deal, is it?”
Here, with other classmates occasionally passing by, he couldnβt easily bring up the word “pornographic.”
Zhou Shiwen took a deep breath, his face serious, his gaze fixed firmly on Yang Haoran. His tone was stern, his words firm and forceful: “Haoran, no matter what, promise me this! Iβm begging you, never, ever go read those novels. Otherwise, we canβt be brothers anymore.”
Zhou Shiwenβs approach only confused Yang Haoran further. But facing his serious-looking good friend, he had no choice but to say: “Alright, I promise you. I will never read those novels.”
Seeing Yang Haoran agree, Zhou Shiwen felt relieved inwardly, but he still didnβt forget to press further: “Remember, you said itβnever read those novels.”
“Okay, okay, I said it. Iβll never read those novels,” Yang Haoran said, exasperated. “Shiwen, whatβs going on with you? Why all this secrecy? Do you want me to swear an oath or something?”
He genuinely didnβt understand what Zhou Shiwen was doing. Swear an oath?
This kind of childish moveβnot only had he already read it, but even if he hadnβt, the otherβs behavior would inevitably pique his curiosity, and heβd want to see what the fuss was about no matter what.
Besides, about that oath: he only promised not to read those novels from now on. Having already read them in the past naturally didnβt count as breaking the oath.
“Donβt ask anymore. Letβs not talk about this matter again from now on. Just pretend it never happened.”
Faced with Yang Haoranβs questioning, Zhou Shiwen evaded the issue, refusing to give a direct answer.
1
But by making the other promise like this, hadnβt he considered that even if Yang Haoran hadnβt read it yet, his behavior might inevitably provoke curiosity and lead him to investigate further?
Was it an oversight?
Or was it deliberately avoiding thinking in that direction due to some psychological reason?
At that moment, Yang Haoran didnβt quite understand this question. It was only later that he suddenly realized, never expecting that his close, understanding good friend had such a hidden preference.
1
With his inner worries resolved, Zhou Shiwen relaxed, and the two chatted casually while eating.
In the middle of it, Yang Haoran, thirsty from eating the fried dough stick, went to the convenience store to buy a drink. Afterward, the two returned to the classroom.
Following the usual morning reading session, Yang Haoran endured two dull classes. Though he had originally intended to study hard and pay attention in class for his motherβs sake, he simply couldnβt understand what the teacher was saying. Combined with his lack of sleep from the previous day, drowsiness washed over him, and he ended up sprawled over his desk, fast asleep.
After class, Yang Mengyao, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, secretly glanced back. Noticing her brother was still asleep, she felt both helpless and frustrated at his lack of ambition. She considered waking him up but hesitated, worried about what their classmates might think and afraid her brother would scold her after returning home. Torn between these concerns, she hesitated until the class bell rang again, ultimately giving up helplessly.
“Stop sleeping, Haoran. This next class is Teacher Guβs class.” Fortunately, before long, Wei Ming, who sat behind Yang Haoran, shook him awake.
“Uh… got it.” After waking up, Yang Haoran rubbed his eyes and sat up straight.
He wouldnβt dare sleep during Gu Qingyingβs class. Other teachers might let things slide, but if he slept during her class, she wouldnβt hesitate to call his mother.
Before long, Gu Qingying walked into the classroom in her black high heels. Dressed in a black-and-white teacherβs outfit, she was both sexually attractive and professionally authoritative.