How To Deal With A Tsundere Gong

Chapter 14 - Jiuri

Except for the day when he found out that Xu Bai Chuan’s act with Tang Jin became genuine, Cheng Xu rarely ever exposed such a gloomy expression.

He had plenty to eat, drink, play, have fun since he was rich. As long as he wanted it, he was able to attain it. Cheng Xu never had a hard time before, but instead was smiling all day long with evil tricks up his sleeve.

Every single one of his taunts towards Cheng Xu was genuine since Xu Bai Chuan didn’t like these traits of his. If by any chance any comment thrown Cheng Xu’s way struck a nerve, Xu Bai Chuan could perhaps fight against him to his heart’s content. It was a pity that this playboy was fully aware that he had a rotten interior with a fine exterior, thus allowed others to mock him and refused to act out. As Xu Bai Chuan was a reasonable person, when facing Cheng Xu’s shamelessness, he actually couldn’t find a good excuse to strike.

It was rare to come across Cheng Xu’s darkened face so Xu Bai Chuan was in high spirits. “Angry?”

Cheng Xu stared at him for a long time, pinched his forehead and smilingly shook his head. “There’s no need with you.”

Xu Bai Chuan sneered. “But of course, you’re¹ the Young Master”.
[T/N: 1 Honourable ‘you’]

Cheng Xu raised a hand to fiddle with his own hair. He earnestly questioned, “Let’s talk. Can you not think the worst of whatever I say?”

Xu Bai Chuan truthfully replied, “I can. But it’s unnecessary”.

Just like how he could be completely silent. Yet there was no need to.

During senior high, Xu Bai Chuan was taciturn, a person who could fight yet never spoke. He was desperate to the point of contemplating su*c*de since his parents were always fighting. Even when he left the house to vent his frustrations in the darkness, he would not shout nor scream. This was his life until he met Tang Jin.

The word ‘until’ had a somewhat fatalistic overtone. Once it emerged, there was certainly a foretelling that something had deviated from its original path. In Xu Bai Chuan’s life thus far, no matter positive or negative, nearly all the ‘until’s were related to Tang Jin.

A majority of Tang Jin’s childhood was spent at his grandfather’s house. As Tang Jin’s grandfather was a soldier at the time, he insisted that boys must be able to withstand a beating. Being roughed up from a young age, he had developed an iron body. Later on when he returned to his parents, he was surrounded by many pampered sons near his age who were molded with extravagant flesh. This iron body was a visible aspect that distinguished Tang Jin from nearly all the pampered sons around him.

Tang Jin has many friends. If one wants to play well with Tang Jin, they had to speak well. Xu Bai Chuan was truly an expert at amusing people. There was nobody he couldn’t win over apart from Cheng Xu who went crazy later on.

From the moment he met Tang Jin, Xu Bai Chuan learned a few witty remarks. Such things could be easily said. As long as they started chatting, he could discern what others think from their body language, grasp people’s emotions, and perform with great ease. An effortless remark was able to win the hearts of others just like that. After a long time, he was used to leaving people speechless. No matter who he faced, he was always the one who had the last word.

He no longer wanted to nor was accustomed to silence so he naturally stopped being taciturn.

Most of the world’s flattering words can be summed up in a nutshell. A single ‘sincere’ was enough to conceal the lightheartedness. ‘Sincere’ praise. Praise ‘sincerely’. Anyone will feel happy receiving such words. One might need to put in the effort when coaxing people. Offending people with hateful words is much easier; just being truthful is enough.

If Xu Bai Chuan were to speak the truth one by one, he could and would talk the heavens to death. But he didn’t care to use this tactic on Cheng Xu. He tilted his head back to look up and had a faint smile on his face. His following words seemed to be genuine yet also sounded false. “Why? I can also be angry with you, but it’s unnecessary. Because I don’t want to get on your nerves.”

These words sounded too intimate and somewhat vague. Yet in comparison, Cheng Xu always had a teasing speaking manner. Just like his younger self from long ago, one still has no idea whether he is being truthful or insincere.

Due to Xu Bai Chuan’s secret efforts, he succeeded in hanging out with Tang Jin and Cheng Xu after the group assignment. At that time, the most popular game was an online MOBA game. The three of them had fun communicating through in-game voice calls every day. Xu Bai Chuan was uninterested in the game, but in order to make Tang Jin happy, he practised a lot in private just to hear a word of praise after he carries them to a win.

Xu Bai Chuan was playing better and better, displaying more brilliant performances in each following game. Once when Cheng Xu was disadvantaged and besieged by three players, Xu Bai Chuan descended from the heavens and it escalated to a 2 vs 4 situation. Not only did they escape, but they also killed two players. After leaving a trail of blood behind them, Cheng Xu threw his mouse away and embraced him. He couldn’t help pressing down on Xu Bai Chuan’s head. “What do I do? I really like you.”

Helplessness, gloominess and a hint of happiness. These emotions mixed together to give off an intense aura that contrasted to his usual playful nature. This change caused Tang Jin and Xu Bai Chuan to be stunned.

Tang Jin frowned. “Cheng Jiuri², you…”
[T/N: 2 Cheng Xu’s childhood name]

He had yet to finish speaking when Cheng Xu suddenly smiled broadly. Xu Bai Chuan’s instincts were lousy and he couldn’t escape in time as Cheng Xu pressed him down and ruffled his hair until it became messy. While ruffling, he continued speaking, “I hired you to play games for me. Don’t worry about anything else, just carry me…”

Xu Bai Chuan returned a smile. “Carry your ass”. Then he vigorously struck back.

There were more excessive things that have happened as this kind of occurrence was common. But this all occurred before he became entangled with Tang Jin. Does God know which string Cheng Xu pulled wrong to receive those seven years?

Xu Bai Chuan had quite a headache from suddenly being on the same wavelength as Cheng Xu. Strange. It was truly strange. Could it be that realizing he was finally willing to let go of his two friends, Cheng Xu decided to reconcile with him?

Are you kidding?

If it was true, then Cheng Xu was asking for the moon.

It was difficult to redeem mistakes once made. Many estrangements lasted for a lifetime. So there was great weight in ‘treasuring things‘.

Legs are made for walking wherever one wishes. There was no reason for one to walk millions of miles away while another awaits at the original place.

Who waited for whom? Who owed whom?

Facing Xu Bai Chuan’s coldness and indifference, Cheng Xu became firmly resolved and was about to speak when a buzzing noise sounded. He reached into his pocket to take out his phone and his pupils constricted when he saw the name on the screen. His hands unconsciously tightened.

Feeling frustrated, he let out a snort and waved his phone in front of Xu Bai Chuan. “I’ll return tomorrow.”

Xu Bai Chuan looked at him walking out the door and suddenly thought of the booklet he had. After closing the door, he inputted the phone number of the property management. If Cheng Xu came over tomorrow, Xu Bai Chuan would have to trouble the security guards.

The author has something to say:
All I can say is that Cheng Jiuri had confessed countless times before.