The Slip Into the Pool Chapter 8

The magical development of things was beyond Max Ye's imagination.

In the Internet cafe's poorly soundproofed private room, Leo Liao sat on the left, Ethan Cheng sat on the right, and Max Ye was sandwiched in the middle. Listening to the two people discussing math problems that he couldn't understand, his head was buzzing and he felt like a mentally retarded person who had mistakenly entered the camp of academic masters.

"Student Ye," Leo Liao said, probably because he was afraid that he would be bored, he took out a set of Chemistry 53 from his schoolbag and turned to the basic review paper of Unit 2, "This part is your weak point. Do it here. It's a good opportunity for Student Cheng to explain the questions to you in a simple and easy-to-understand way."

Max Ye waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, I haven't finished the homework assigned by the teacher yet, I'll go back first..."

Leo Liao showed a surprised expression: "No way? The teacher assigned exercises from the textbook." Then he took out a chemistry book from his schoolbag, "I wrote it in the homework book, you can use my book, I circled the key points and wrote simple solutions to make it easier for you to understand."

Faced with this kind of educational method that his mother had chewed up and brought to his lips, Max Ye could not say no. He slowly took the chemistry book, tried to reduce his presence as much as possible, and huddled in the middle to do his homework in a daze.

It was not until Ethan Cheng's temporary internet card expired that the three of them packed up and prepared to leave.

In the evening, more and more people came to surf the Internet. Leo Liao took two classmates out with open arms like a child, and reminded them seriously at the door: "There are many young people here at night. Don't stay after checking the information."

Max Ye responded, but in his heart he thought that you were the only one who would come here to study. When he entered Ethan Cheng's box just now, the interface on his computer screen was clearly his mailbox, but he didn't know what email he was sending.

Maybe he was sending it to James Ye. James Ye likes to act like a superior and asks his employees to report even the smallest matters to him by email. There are clear regulations on hyphenation and format. He even had the sudden idea of   asking Max Ye to write a semester summary and send it to him.

Outside, Leo Liao enthusiastically invited everyone to have dinner together, patting his head and saying, "Oh, we talked for so long just now that I forgot to introduce you to each other. Let's talk while we eat."

Max Ye didn't want to stay with Ethan Cheng, so he hurriedly said, "Let's get to know each other, Ethan Cheng, the top student in the next class."

"Student Ye knows Student Cheng? How come I don't know..." Leo Liao was puzzled.

Ethan Cheng looked at Max Ye, as if he wanted to hear more details.

Max Ye was tongue-tied: "It's the notes you printed last time, squad leader. Didn't I go to return them? I saw him outside the window."

"So that's how it is." Leo Liao said sincerely, "Student Cheng not only has good grades, but is also very handsome. It's not surprising that I can remember him after just one meeting... Hey, it was Student Cheng who caught you during the pull-ups in the last PE class, right?"

Max Ye nodded, feeling extremely nervous. He and Ethan Cheng were not just casual acquaintances.

"Does Cheng know Ye? He and I were in the same class in the first year of high school, and Ye was the youngest student in our class..."

"Little brother, they all call me brother." Max Ye interrupted Leo Liao's enthusiastic introduction. At this moment, he finally understood why Owen Zhou covered the squad leader's mouth. As long as he was given the opportunity, he would chatter like a machine gun.

"Oh?" Ethan Cheng seemed very interested. "I don't have much impression of this classmate Ye. Why don't we find a restaurant nearby and have a meal while chatting?"

Sitting in a small restaurant near No. 6 Middle School, Max Ye was so annoyed that he wanted to pull his hair.

Ethan Cheng clearly did it on purpose. He knew that he had heard his secret in the next room of the Internet cafe, so he pretended not to know him in front of the squad leader, using threats and pressure to make him shut up.

Max Ye thought about it while fiddling with the tissues at hand, tearing them into strips, feeling a sense of pleasure as if he was tearing the hands of the person opposite him.

The restaurants near the school are affordable. Leo Liao ordered two dishes and a soup. When he sat down, he saw that the two people sitting opposite each other didn't say a word. He said to warm up the atmosphere: "Are you all hungry? The food here is a little slow, but it tastes very good. When I don't have time to go home at noon, I often order a stir-fry and a bowl of rice here. After eating a full meal, I have energy to study in the afternoon."

Max Ye looked around. There were a few wooden tables with mottled paint and a TV with a screen full of broken pixels mounted on the wall. It looked so shabby no matter how he looked at it. He didn't know if the food they cooked would be edible.

He calmly raised his arms away from the greasy table, turned around, and found a few more candies on the plate in front of him.

"Eat this first to fill your stomach." Ethan Cheng said.

Max Ye had eaten this brand of candy before, and the milk flavor was his favorite. He was indeed a little hungry at the moment, and when he saw Leo Liao peeling and eating it without hesitation, he also quietly picked up one, quickly peeled off the candy wrapper and put it in his mouth.

Because they were hungry, the table was exceptionally quiet during the meal. The food in this restaurant was fresh and the ingredients were sufficient, which unexpectedly broke Max Ye's prejudice against civilian fast food. In addition, he didn't eat much at noon, so he ate a plate of sour and sweet tomato scrambled eggs and finished two bowls of white rice in one go.

When it came time to pay the bill, Max Ye habitually took out his wallet to pay for the meal, but Leo Liao firmly disagreed, saying, "Student Ye, this is not right. We will have plenty of opportunities to eat together in the future. How can we feel comfortable if you pay for everything?"

Ethan Cheng said nothing, tacitly agreeing with Leo Liao's point of view. Max Ye was speechless, thinking, please don't let me run into you guys again, and then pouted and reluctantly agreed that the three of them should share the meal money.

Leo Liao's bicycle was parked nearby. He sat on it and waved goodbye to the two people: "I am so happy today. Let's keep in touch in the future, study together, and make progress together."

The positive energy made Max Ye feel inexplicably ashamed.

After seeing off the squad leader, Max Ye turned and headed towards the direction where he had parked his car. He kicked a small stone away and saw Ethan Cheng not far ahead of him, walking in the same direction as him.

"Hello."

Ethan Cheng stopped and turned to look at him.

Max Ye started to organize his words after he finished shouting, hesitating: "That... I mean what happened just now..."

Ethan Cheng took out the remaining candies from his coat pocket and held them in front of him: "These are all I have left."

Max Ye, who had just eaten five candies, blushed, feeling ashamed of being treated like a child: "...I didn't mean this, I was just next to you in the Internet cafe."

He hoped that Ethan Cheng would take the initiative to promise not to tell anyone about the previous embarrassing incident, but unexpectedly, this guy remained calm and stood there waiting for him to continue talking, with no intention of taking the initiative to respond.

Max Ye was embarrassed and anxious, and had no choice but to get straight to the point: "I heard you making the phone call, and I also heard your secret. As long as you don't tell anyone, I won't tell anyone either."

Ethan Cheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

This was the first time Max Ye saw him smile. The previous few times were vague smiles, but this time he really smiled. The corners of his mouth turned up, his thin lips curved into a clear arc, and his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he heard some funny joke.

Max Ye was about to ask him "What are you laughing at?" Ethan Cheng raised his chin slightly as he inhaled, the smile on his face not fading at all: "What secret?"

Max Ye's eyes widened, unable to believe that this man had such a good psychological quality and was not afraid to tell others such a terrible secret.

Or it would be more accurate to say that he is thick-skinned.

Max Ye, who was very thin-skinned, felt that he was being laughed at, and his face turned red and he almost ran away. He couldn't say anything more, so he kicked a small stone and hit Ethan Cheng's foot. He shook his head and ran away angrily, with his untied shoelaces swinging left and right with his steps.

Another week passed, and everything in No. 6 Middle School was back to normal. Leo Liao hadn't heard any news about Ethan Cheng other than his studies.

Just when Max Ye let down his guard and thought that Ethan Cheng had silently accepted the exchange conditions and he no longer had to be afraid of him, the truth at home was revealed.

He skipped two evening self-study classes and ran home in one breath. When he opened the door, his mother Laura Luo was sitting on the sofa crying.

"Why did you call the child back?" Father James Ye's first reaction was to feel embarrassed. He strode over and closed the door, and ordered Max Ye, "Go upstairs first. Your mother and I have something to talk about."

Max Ye rushed back after receiving a call from his aunt. A while ago, he told his aunt to notify him if there was any special situation, in case James Ye brought outsiders home. He didn't expect it to work so quickly.

Laura Luo didn't want her son to see her sad and helpless look, so she wiped away her tears, forced a smile, and pretended to be calm as she pushed him upstairs: "Why are you back? You're not going to evening self-study today? Go upstairs and do your homework first. Mom will ask Auntie to heat up some soup for you..."

Seeing his mother forcing a smile, Max Ye's heart ached and anger rushed to his head. He pushed the porcelain vase on the side cabinet to the ground with his backhand. With a loud "bang", the vase smashed to pieces.

James Ye was startled, pointed at him and yelled, "What are you doing? Do you want to hit me? I'm rebelling against you." Then he pointed at Laura Luo and said, "Is this the good son you taught? Do you think he has the potential to be the heir of the Ye family?"

Once the anger was ignited, James Ye's so-called self-restraint was wiped out, and his rude side hidden under his hypocritical appearance was easily exposed. Although he was unwilling to admit it, Max Ye subconsciously understood that his perverseness and irritability were probably inherited from James Ye.

Laura Luo was so frightened that she forgot to wipe her tears and pushed Max Ye upstairs desperately: "Qinqin, be good, you go upstairs first, mom will be here soon."

Max Ye held the stair railing, motionless, his dark eyes fixed on James Ye, like a little Leo Liaopard that was not afraid to challenge authority, forcing his father to confess the crime.

James Ye walked back and forth in the living room twice. Perhaps because he had made a mistake and was too unconfident to admit it, his tone softened when he spoke again.

"It's not what you think. I don't know why that woman's stuff ended up on me." He vowed to Laura Luo, "You know, there are too many people out there trying to get close to me, but I can guarantee that I've never looked at anyone more than once."

Max Ye naturally didn't believe what James Ye said, but he didn't dare tell his mother the truth.

The next day, the family returned to peace. Laura Luo watered the flowers while helplessly telling her son what happened that day. There was nothing strange about the process. As Laura Luo herself said, it was probably because of the sensitive nature of women that she had already noticed some clues.

"But you heard it yesterday, too. It's just that mom is too sensitive and is making things up. Your dad is busy with work and socializing a lot, and he often interacts with different people, so misunderstandings are inevitable. You are still young, so listen to mom and don't pursue it any further."

Laura Luo's voice was gentle when she said this, with a smile on her face, but Max Ye could not find any smile in her eyes.

At night, Max Ye tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. His mind was full of the scene of James Ye's black commercial vehicle driving into Yulin Community and parking under Building 3. Then James Ye's ferocious face appeared in front of him: "This is the good son you taught? Do you think he looks like the heir of the Ye family?"

Max Ye stared at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, and refused to close them even though his eyes were sore.

Yes, I am his more than one son, so of course he doesn’t care about my mother or this family.

Max Ye suddenly remembered Ethan Cheng's cold eyes when he looked down at him. The private detective reported that James Ye had only reconnected with Grace Cheng and her son at the end of last year, and that he had sneaked in when Ethan Cheng was not around. The family information Ethan Cheng left at school also said that his father had passed away, so it seemed that he was completely ignorant of the matter, and he might not even know that his biological father was still alive.

But...

Max Ye gritted his teeth and couldn't help but associate Ethan Cheng with James Ye.

Sooner or later, that person will return to his ancestral home, and maybe even inherit the Ye family's property on his behalf. He doesn't care about the identity of the heir, but the Ye family's surname should be Luo, and all this belongs to his mother Laura Luo. Why does James Ye have the right? What about Ethan Cheng?

The scene in front of his eyes flashed, and Max Ye saw the cold amber pupils slightly dilate, and a smile that could be described as sarcastic appeared on Ethan Cheng's face.

He must have been laughing at me in his heart, laughing at me for not knowing my own limitations, laughing at me for jumping up and down but still being pinned down by him, looking as ridiculous as a clown.

Max Ye closed his eyes tightly, and his thick eyelashes trembled in the darkness.

Max Ye clenched his fists and fell asleep, while Ethan Cheng, who disturbed his sleep, had already gotten up. When he got dressed, washed up, and made breakfast, and walked out of the corridor with his bicycle, a faint crescent moon was still hanging in the sky.

Yesterday, the breakfast shop owner asked him to come to the store earlier today, saying that a regular customer had placed an order for a batch of steamed buns to offer to the temple on Red Leaf Mountain, and the store also had to entertain the guests and might be too busy.

Ethan Cheng had been helping his mother at home since he was young, and kneading dough and making steamed buns were easy tasks for him. He had helped to make 100 steamed buns before dawn. The boss was happy and allowed him to leave early, and gave him a basket of steamed buns and soy milk, asking him to take them to school to share with his classmates.

He walked into the classroom carrying food, and a classmate in the front row who had arrived early like him asked, "Wow, there are so many today, is there any for me?"

"Yes, I have."

Ethan Cheng walked to his seat, put his schoolbag down and stuffed it into the table. After pushing it a few times but failing, he reached out his hand suspiciously and took out a delicate pink paper bag.

The students in the front row came over to ask for steamed buns. When they saw the milk, sandwiches, and a box of beautifully packaged imported milk candies taken out of the paper bag, their eyes widened: "The top student is great. More and more girls send him love letters every day. Now there are even girls sending him breakfast."

Ethan Cheng has been transferred to No. 6 Middle School for more than two months. His classmates don’t know him well. They only know that he has good grades and is called a top student.

I opened the card at the bottom of the paper bag and saw a line of crooked words on it: A happy day starts with breakfast. The signature was two letters: YQ.

Ethan Cheng went through all the possible people in his mind, and there was no one whose initials were "YQ". After waiting for a day and no one came to claim the item, he guessed that the item might have been sent to the wrong person.

However, the next morning, the pink paper bag appeared on his desk again. Several classmates who arrived earlier than him said they didn't see who put it there. This time, the message on the card was: "How delicious was yesterday's sandwich? Let's try a new flavor today." The signature was still "YQ".

By Thursday, Ethan Cheng still hadn't figured out who had sent the letter. However, the person who delivered the breakfast couldn't help but changed the signature.

He revealed his identity but hesitated to reveal it completely. He signed his name with the intimate and ambiguous "Yourslovely", and left only one Chinese character at the end, which was written very sloppily.

Ethan Cheng looked at it for a while and it looked like the word "铁". Combining it with the previous "YQ", he expanded the scope to the entire No. 6 Middle School. He did not miss any one he remembered, and then made some slight adjustments. This time he finally got a result.

The next morning, Max Ye walked into the classroom yawning and following the ringing of the bell, and immediately saw the pink paper bag on his desk. As he got closer, he found it familiar, as if it was the one he asked Owen Zhou to help pick out.

A card was pressed under the paper bag, with a line of elegant and Grace Chengful handwriting in fountain pen underneath my own cursive writing: Classmate Ye, my seat is by the window in the second to last row of the fourth group in Class 2 (1).

The signature format is neat and rigorous---

Yourssincerely,

Pool.