BGPOTC CHAPTER 17

April showers came right on schedule during the Qingming Festival.¹Also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors

In the north, the rain always arrived on time, bringing cool breezes that, along with cherry blossoms and raindrops, filled the air with the essence of spring.

The spring sunlight gently spilled over the blackboard, illuminating the large, neatly written words:

“Countdown to the College Entrance Exam: 68 days.”

Counting the days made time seem to fly by even faster. In the blink of an eye, it had gone from one hundred days to 68.

Today was special. Not only was it April Fools’ Day, but it was also the day of the second mock exam.

The students were all listless.

“Seriously… of all the days to choose for the second mock exam, why pick today?”

“Yeah… I wanted to take advantage of April Fools’ Day to confess to my goddess, but now my plans are ruined.”

“Same here! My goddess said she’s focusing entirely on studying! She’s turned off her phone for two days! No disturbances allowed!”

“How tragic…”

A boy slammed his desk in frustration, “The heavens are against me!”

A few other boys chimed in with equally pained expressions, “The universe is unfair!”

Xu Yi, listening from the back row, found it amusing. He mischievously ran over to Bo Xinghang’s side and poked his arm. “Hey, do you have anyone you want to confess to on April Fools’ Day?”

Bo Xinghang had just woken up, his tousled hair sticking up, making him look harmless and obedient.

He’d slept well, so instead of snapping back at Xu Yi’s teasing, he raised his eyes and asked, “If I said yes, would you believe me?”

Xu Yi met his gaze and, for once, thought seriously. Considering Bo Xinghang’s attitude toward girls, it would be surprising if he actually liked someone—especially since, whenever someone praised Doctor Ji, Bo Xinghang would glare at them as if they were enemies.

He seemed to want to bite everyone he saw.

Like a vicious dog.

After some thought, Xu Yi paused, then replied honestly, “…Absolutely not.”

“Then was your question necessary?”

After saying that, Bo Xinghang ignored him. He leaned back in his chair, took his phone from his backpack, and checked for messages from Doctor Ji.

Last time, Doctor Ji had sent a voice message agreeing to meet up, but he didn’t specify a time before he got swallowed up by endless work again.

The medical profession seemed to be even busier than imagined. As a leading figure in the field and the hospital’s star surgeon, many people specifically requested Doctor Ji for surgeries.

With lives on the line, he couldn’t refuse even if he wanted to.

As a result, the agreed-upon time ended up being the day before the Qingming Festival. By coincidence, exams were scheduled for the two days before that.

Suddenly, Bo Xinghang remembered something and turned to Xu Yi. “Oh, by the way, is it true that the day after our exams, there’s a parent-teacher meeting?”

“Yeah, why?”

“…Tsk, a parent-teacher meeting, huh.” Bo Xinghang muttered to himself, then shook his head. “Nothing.”

It was indeed nothing.

Just a parent-teacher meeting, and it didn’t matter if no one came.

In previous parent-teacher meetings, it had always been the same. His seat was always empty. His grandmother wanted to attend, but her health had been poor for a long time. Xiao Meng-jie advised against her moving around too much, so he convinced his grandmother to rest at home.

The parent-teacher meeting was far less important than his grandmother’s health, but she insisted that her precious grandson had to have a representative there, and she was stubborn about it.

So, he spent quite some time coaxing her, and she finally agreed to “go next time.”

He readily agreed.

Next time is next time; the longer it could be postponed, the better.

A few days ago, he had visited his grandmother, and her health had really improved. She was energetic, and her face had become more rosy. He was happy about it, and his grandmother was cheerful too.

This was an important recovery period, and he couldn’t possibly let his grandmother attend the meeting now.

Xu Yi asked him, “Is it just you alone again for the parent-teacher meeting? If it is, let’s hit the internet cafe together.”

A person’s image flashed across Bo Xinghang’s mind, but only for a second before he pushed it aside. He played with the silver stud on his earlobe, feeling its cool touch with his fingertips.

“Mm, I’ll be alone.”

Doctor Ji was very busy.

Super busy.

The word “busy” seemed to be his defining label. Whenever someone mentioned Doctor Ji, those who knew him would chuckle and pat the person on the shoulder, saying, “Him~ Don’t even think about asking him. He’s a big-time doctor, always busy.”

Yet, the rare breaks he had during holidays were delightful. He specifically cleared his schedule for a few days during the Qingming Festival to spend some time with the kid.

Buzz—

A new message popped up on his private WeChat.

Doctor Ji picked up his phone without hesitation and opened the WeChat chat box.

It was from his junior, White Rabbit.

The pinned chat box at the top of his WeChat remained silent, like the calm, still waters of the ocean—heavy and unmoving.

In contrast, White Rabbit’s messages were pouring in like a flood. Doctor Ji scrolled down to open the chat box.

White Rabbit was a certified chatterbox. In the blink of an eye, his messages had filled the screen and showed no sign of stopping.

Doctor Ji cruelly interrupted him.

—Get to the point.

—…Alright, Senior, you’re such a busy person.

—I just started working at the medical department of the Provincial Experimental today! It’s an easy job with good pay! And then I heard they have a strong forum culture here. So I checked it out! Guess what I saw?

The ruthless Doctor Ji had zero interest in guessing.

—The point?

When dealing with others, Doctor Ji’s aloofness was on full display.

His junior sent a crying white rabbit emoji, not daring to prattle on, and cut straight to the point.

—Senior Ji, you’re so, so, so cool!

—…Forget it. Let me continue. I just saw your photo. A bunch of high school girls were commenting on how handsome you are. But I didn’t even know you had a younger brother. What’s his name, Hang something?

It’s Bo Xinghang.

Doctor Ji glanced at the screen, removed his white coat, and casually hung it on the coat rack. He didn’t hurry to reply; instead, he went to the bathroom to wash his hands at a leisurely pace before coming back to check his phone again.

Impatient, his junior couldn’t hold back and fired off several more messages.

—When did you even have time to visit the Provincial Experimental School, given how busy you are? The post said you helped your brother explain some school announcement.

—Isn’t your brother supposed to be well-behaved?

—And your brother’s the school bully? Wow, kids these days aren’t much different from us back then. They still use the term “school bully.”

—Senior?

—Holy shit! I just saw a photo of your brother. He’s so damn handsome!

After spewing a lot of colorful language, White Rabbit’s last message ended with “so damn handsome.”

Ji Wenzhen casually skimmed through the earlier messages, pausing for a few seconds on the last line as the image of the young man’s face surfaced in his mind.

The scene from that night at the night market vividly came back to him.

He hadn’t closely observed the young man before, but fragments of that night included every move, glance, and smile.

Even the boy at the barbecue stall, whose features were only a faint silhouette under the dim lights, was etched clearly in his memory.

This was the same boy who had boasted, “I’m underage,” his amber eyes blazing like fire in the night, searing into people’s hearts.

And then… he felt the budding spring beneath the boy’s youthfulness, a warmth that even alcohol couldn’t mask.

Amidst the cheers of onlookers, the warm kiss and burning secret could no longer be hidden. His feelings at that moment were laid bare.

April had arrived, and it seemed that spring had followed.

Buzz—

The buzz of a message notification snapped him back to reality.

Ji Wenzhen replied to the earlier messages. His slender fingers typed, “Mm, very handsome,” before continuing to read White Rabbit’s messages.

—The second mock exams at Provincial Experimental are these days. How are your brother’s grades? If he doesn’t do well, the parent-teacher meeting might lead to a good scolding from the teachers.

—I mean, if he’s called the school bully, his grades probably aren’t great, right? Then again, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

—Who knows, your brother might be a genius who excels both academically and in fights!

Ji Wenzhen stared coldly at the screen, recalling Bo Xinghang’s headache-inducing zero-point exam papers. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like saying anything at all.

…

What on earth is a genius who excels both academically and in fights?

Doctor Ji pursed his lips.

All he saw was a boy who couldn’t be separated from his cigarettes and alcohol.

–

The two days of exams passed by effortlessly—at least, that was the case for Bo Xinghang.

The exams ended at five, and by the time he was heading home, it was still daylight. He had taken a day off from the bar and, for the first time ever, decided to go home and tackle a few sets of test papers.

He didn’t have any specific reason; he just wanted to prove himself and prepare for his future confession.

Doctor Ji was handsome and diligent in his work. On the other hand, Bo Xinghang was handsome too, but his academic performance left much to be desired.

To be worthy of Doctor Ji, he painfully forced himself to practice exam papers.

When he arrived home, the atmosphere was different than usual. The door was wide open, and loud voices echoed inside, accompanied by the clatter of mahjong tiles.

His grip on his backpack strap tightened, and he chose not to go inside.

“Hey! Quiet down!”

A few women started cursing. One slightly younger woman shouted, her voice sounding as though it had been shredded, likely from smoking too much. It was an unpleasant sound, and her shouting made no difference as the voices quickly blended back together.

Bo Xinghang recognized the familiar voice and took deep, heavy breaths.

His gaze was fixed on the house, but the entire space was clouded with smoke, obscuring any figures inside. With the incessant clatter of mahjong tiles, it was unclear how many people were there.

He didn’t hesitate and turned to leave.

In his haste, he bumped into a trash bag by the door. It wasn’t a bag he had thrown away. The slight bump sent it toppling to the ground, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.

Shards of transparent green glass spilled out.

Beer bottles.

He instinctively glanced back into the house, and as expected, the noise inside fell silent for a few seconds. The voice that emerged was familiar yet alien to him.

“Xiao Hang—you’re back?”

The chatter quickly followed her words.

“Oh!! Is that your baby boy?”

“I heard he’s handsome!”

“Why don’t you come in quickly? Come, let us aunties have a look—”

Bo Xinghang pursed his lips, paused for a moment, and then said “No,” before turning away.

It was the same every year. Despite disappearing for so long, she seemed to have a sudden urge to invite a bunch of “friends and family” over just days before the Qingming Festival.

As if trying to numb herself to something.

He left quickly, forgetting the shards of glass on the tiles in his haste, and ended up stepping on them.

A slight sting pricked his foot, but it didn’t hurt much.

Yet, his chest felt so tight that it was difficult to breathe.

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  Also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors