abcnovels
Chapter 25 - Whos Coaxing Who?
Chapter 25 - Whos Coaxing Who?
Chapter 25 - Who’s Coaxing Who?
The students of No. 12 High School all collectively fell into a strange silence.
Meanwhile, the students from other schools: “Ermmm...”
At first, they only saw Lin Qian suddenly going into the rink with Zheng Chong behind him. It happened so fast that no one could properly comprehend what had happened. Most of the onlookers knew that Lin Qian couldn’t skate, so their first reaction was to worry about Lin Qian’s safety. They were so worried for him that they had no time to understand the actual situation on the rink carefully.
But as time went on, the No.12 students gradually discovered that the situation was actually different from what they first thought. Their anxious shouts weakened and were soon replaced by some subtle questions.
Some of the students from different schools were somewhat jealous and jokingly said to their friends from No. 12: “Your school’s standards are so high, ah....”
The situation was very embarrassing.
After a brief silence, all the No. 12 students tacitly agreed with each other to pretend nothing had happened. Everyone quietly looked back towards the skating rink.
And at this moment, everyone finally saw just how amazing the situation was.
It turned out the other skating guests had all retreated to the edge of the rink. The now-empty rink now became a stage for Lin Qian and Zheng Chong.
Lin Qian’s body was slightly bent forward, and he looked very much like a professional athlete participating in the Winter Olympic Games. Holding Zheng Chong with one hand, Lin Qian moved fast. Whenever he neared the edges, the onlookers could hear the sound of his skates scraping across the ice.
On the other hand, Zheng Chong was like a sack of potatoes. He didn’t look stable at all, and could barely hold his balance as he was dragged forward. His face had distorted from the cold wind blowing past.
“I don’t want you to apologize anymore. I want you to call him dad.”
After saying this, Lin Qian sharply banked to the side, his center of gravity sinking. Like the speed skaters you see on TV, he touched the ice with one hand, making a breathtaking turn.
Lin Qian’s skates scraped at the ice, and tiny glittering ice chips went flying.
Cheers suddenly burst out, not just from the students attending the party, but also from other passersby.
Lin Qian’s skating was too amazing. Even random onlookers could tell. In the end, the minds of all the surrounding students completely shut down, and they simply began to enjoy the visual feast Lin Qian was giving them.
Of course, some of them had complicated feelings.
Nevermind Zheng PingQing, You NiNi and Luo RunWei had witnessed Lin Qian’s skating just this afternoon. Seeing Lin Qian now, You NiNi turned red with excitement. “I didn’t expect classmate Lin to be....”
Luo RunWei replied, deadpan: “Haha, so unexpected.”
Huo YeRui, who was standing near You NiNi, was moments away from breaking his teeth. He had secretly been glad to see Lin Qian and Zheng Chong fight. Zheng Chong was a rich boy with a bad temper. If he fought with Lin Qian, Huo YeRui thought it would’ve been perfect. When Lin Qian ran into the rink, he couldn’t have been happier. Huo YeRui knew that Lin Qian couldn’t skate, but unlike his fellow classmates, he wasn’t worried about Lin Qian’s safety. Instead, he had been eager to see Lin Qian make a fool of himself. If Lin Qian, lost face in front of You NiNi, all the publicity he had gotten tonight would be wiped clean.
Huo YeRui never would’ve expected Lin Qian to be such an overwhelming force. For someone who was known to not be able to skate, his skills sure are comparable to an athlete’s.
His acting skills were even better than Zheng PingQing’s.
Huo YeRui felt that his trust towards his classmates was sorely misplaced.
The limelight was now solely Lin Qian’s. Huo YeRui, the protagonist of tonight’s birthday party, was now completely forgotten.
But compared to Huo YeRui, as someone who had earlier witnessed the tragedy that was Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing skating together, Gou XinDou felt even more complicated.
Gou XinDou looked at Lin Qian, who was steadily carrying Zheng Chong across the rink with only one hand. He then remembered Lin Qian holding onto Zheng PingQing’s waist that afternoon, with Zheng PingQing being so cautious and gentle as they skated. Gou XinDou felt his entire body grow numb.
Lin Qian could clearly skate, but he had pretended to be unskilled. Too bad Dong MingEn was currently busy wooing a girl somewhere to see this.
Gou XinDou looked at Lin Qian on the rink, and then at Zheng PingQing, who was obviously more nervous than any of the students around him. And suddenly, Gou XinDou realized something.
......
Everyone might have conflicting thoughts about the current situation, but the thing is, all of them were focused on Lin Qian.
Obviously, this was a performance starring two people, but whether it was intentional or not, everyone was ignoring the other person.
When Lin Qian did his sharp turn, Zheng Chong felt like he was being flung about like a rag doll. The wind howled around him, and Zheng Chong could already imagine the terrible scene of him being thrown in the air.
But unfortunately for him, this was just the beginning. They were skating so fast that soon there was a second turn, then a third.
As the cheers around the rink continued, Zheng Chong felt like crying.
When Lin Qian was about to turn for the fourth time, Zheng Chong could no longer bear the psychological pressure and cried out: “I apologize, I apologize, alright?!”
“Nope.” Lin Qian coldly refused. “What did I say?”
Zheng Chong: QAQ
Between the few seconds Zheng Chong had hesitated, Lin Qian had already finished his fourth turn. As he did so, he deliberately loosened his grip on Zheng Chong. Finally, Zheng Chong couldn’t take it anymore and cried out: “Dad-”
When he heard this, Lin Qian slowed down and pulled Zheng Chong towards the sidelines. Like a tide, they were immediately surrounded by several students.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, you’re so powerful, Ah Qian!”
“Excellent in both studies and sports, you’re definitely the light of No. 12 High School.”
“Wah, I’ve fallen even more for Ah Qian today!”
“Who in the world lied to me and said Ah Qian can’t skate? I need to kill them! I was just scolded by my friend from No. 9!”
Ke MuZi had long been pushed to the back of the crowd. This lonely man could only shout: “666!”
Meanwhile, Xu Yao was swimming in his own envy. “Ah, how can he be so handsome? Did he even consider his own friends’ feelings? I don’t want to be quacking for the rest of my life...”
Lin Qian, as modest as always, smiled at the crowd and said: “I’m sorry, I went a little overboard.”
Students: “....”
The forgotten Zheng Chong: “....” He was invisible again. It seems this was his life now.
......
Standing in front of the crowd was Zheng PingQing. He didn’t speak, instead quietly stared at Lin Qian, his gaze complex.
Lin Qian raised a brow, pulled off his stakes and reached out to pull the pale Zheng Chong. “Apologize, kid.”
Zheng Chong was a rich second generation who had been praised by everyone since he was young. He had never been treated this way before. Zheng Chong lowered his head and struggled to open his mouth.
Seeing Zheng Chong stay quiet, Lin Qian put his hand on Zheng Chong’s shoulder, making him shrink like a frightened bird.
Lin Qian said with great emphasis: “Kid, say what you’re supposed to say.”
Zheng Chong looked up at Zheng PingQing with red eyes. Seeing this, Zheng PingQing suddenly said: “Forget it.”
Zheng Chong was stunned.
Zheng PingQing chuckled self-deprecatingly. “It’ll be awkward if you apologize to me now; we were both in the wrong. I won’t apologize either, and we can just call it even. In the future, nobody owes anyone anything.”
Honestly, there wasn’t really much of a grudge between him and Zheng Chong in the first place. As high school boys, their fights usually came from the littlest of things. It was mostly just Zheng PingQing feeling the weight of Chen ShiYi and Lin YaZhi getting together, causing him to have a short temper.
Zheng PingQing later used this animosity as an excuse to transfer, and he made sure that he transferred to No.12 specifically.
After transferring, he threw himself into disrupting Lin Qian’s life as much as possible, and quickly forgot all about Zheng Chong.
Zheng PingQing hadn’t expected Zheng Chong to persistently seek him out.
Zheng PingQing sincerely hoped that Zheng Chong would just forget all about him, as he really didn’t want to be constantly reminded of his stupid young self.
But well, a high school boy will act like a high-school boy. They rarely do what they’re told to. Hearing Zheng PingQing’s reasonable words, Zheng Chong angrily replied: “No way! This master keeps his promises. I’m sorry, you hear that?! I’m sorry!”
Zheng PingQing: “.....”
This entire farce finally came to an end. Still, every student, whether from No. 12 or another school, couldn’t help taking a peek at Lin Qian from the corner of their eyes. On the side, Xu Yao was so sad he had his head on Jiang TingJun’s shoulder and was quacking non-stop (which would directly cause Jiang TingJun’s nightmare of being smothered by a million ducks that night).
“Students, our restaurant is about to close. Can you please cut the birthday cake now?” A waiter stood by the buffet entrance and shouted out to them.
Huo YeRui had got the cake delivered to the restaurant in advance. His original plan involved a merry celebration that led to some cake. Unexpectedly, Lin Qian made everyone forget the reason they were here in the first place.
Huo YeRui walked back to the restaurant, and with a calm face, said: “We’ll cut it now.”
The rest of the crowd snapped out of their trance and followed Huo YeRui back into the restaurant.
Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing followed at the very back of the crowd, and before Zheng PingQing managed to ask him, Lin Qian very considerately explained: “I later learned how to skate.”
By ‘later,’ what Lin Qian meant was naturally the next ten years. This suddenly dawned unto Zheng PingQing.
Lin Qian looked towards the sky. “You know I’m the competitive type. That time you knocked me down haunted me for a long time. After that, I did some lessons whenever I had the time. I practiced a lot, and even participated in a few small competitions.”
Zheng PingQing, who was trying not to die from embarrassment, asked: “Then when you let me lead you earlier...”
Lin Qian clapped his hands. “I was pretty good at skating, but when you said you’d take me, I got so excited I forgot how to skate.”
Zheng PingQing looked at Lin Qian, his eyes melancholic. “I always thought I was good at coaxing my boyfriend. But it turns out it was my boyfriend who’s good at coaxing me.”
Lin Qian spread his arms and asked: “Then you’re not going to coax me anymore?”
Zheng PingQing immediately replied: “Going.”
The author has something to say:
If you can believe me, I really just wanted to write about Zheng PingQing and Lin Qian ice skating together without any trouble. But then Lin Qian wanted to coax his boyfriend, so I had to make him happy.
As for Zheng PingQing and Zheng Chong, of course they have no relation whatsoever. I just name them at random...