through the strait gates(过门/Guomen)//work by priest(CN)//BL

Chapter 13: Decision (vol. scallions)

Dou Xun hated school.

No matter the curriculum in class that was so slow that it was wasting his life, or the same age incommunicable retards around him, they all made him unreluctant to leave, nor hold any expectations.

Growing up, he never viewed anyone as his equal, and neither did anyone want to take him along with them. A kinder environment would isolate and leave him out, while a more violent one would get him into fights every couple of days.

Everytime Dou Xun arrived at a new environment, he wanted nothing else than to get out immediately, as if the next one would be better. Until his high school career had a small tail left did he barely taste what a student should experience.

But just lightly. Even though Xu Xilin did take him along anywhere he went, he couldn't join in with the games and girls they were talking about––he didn't play video games, and girls...except for the ones he occasionally hung out with, he knew none of them. Other people, as if they knew he didn't understand, never initiated a conversation with him.

But even this skin-deep feeling was coming to an end.

Dou Xun was lost in his heart, yet had no one to talk to. He had developed an indescribable reliance on Xu Xilin, and wished he could just pack him along with him after the exam. But that bastard not only was born with an underdeveloped brain, he was fooling around all the time. Not even half of his mind was spent on studying. He had no desire for achievement.

Thinking more and more, Dou Xun was even more disappointed in him. So he found another argument that day, picked at it, and got into a fight with Xu Xilin.

After the argument, he quietly went back to his room, opened a full bag of pork jerky, and thought about the meaning of life while eating. He accidentally finished it, but also found his answer. He thought, "I'm going to take another year of high school."

[Xu Xilin's bratty attitude often made Dou Xun leave in anger.] But arguments were arguments. When the temper went away, Xu Xilin never really kept anything against him. Because Dou Xun was an unknown species of primate mammals, a good-looking human pet with a notable way of thinking. He couldn't be measured the same way as normal humans.

T/N: I strongly suspect that Priest messed the two names up.

The few days after that, Lao Cheng, Xu Xilin and the others took turns thrice a day to convince Tsai Jing to let them help him out.

When they came back from the 5/1 vacation, Xu Xilin, with Dou Xun, who refused to be unattached to him, attended his first "job".

Tsai Jing worked at McDonald's on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Those weren't open for random people to help out, but all the other days of the week were. He worked as a waiter in a small private restaurant. The small restaurant had loose management, they just had to alert the owner beforehand––after all, the owner was only going to pay for one. He didn't care if the paycheck was just received by one.

The first day of work was quite fresh to him. Xu Xilin did his job with enthusiasm.

That evening, an eye-catchingly dressed man walked into the small restaurant. His shirt was ironed, and his look was polished carefully. Charming demeanour, without the piled up body fat of the usual middle-aged man or woman. You could even see traces of styling in his hair. Compared to the labor workers and broke students in the store, he seemed out of place.

The man entered the store, and observed around discreetly. He then picked a table in the corner, lifted up his pant legs, and sat down. But not before he wiped the bench and the table with a napkin.

He sat in a graceful posture. As if he wasn't here to ingest *gutter oil, but to savor a bottle of Lafite.

T/N: illegally recycled waste cooking oil(a food safety scandal that happened a few years back)