Bloom of Youth - - - Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Because Kou Chen wouldn’t even count as a rookie biker, Huo Ran didn’t take him on a particularly long or hard route. He picked one where they… saw a bunch of elderly people on the way.

He didn’t even want to go on this route when he first started biking. He thought it was boring, and also a little embarrassing. But with Kou Chen, he had to play it safe. Kou Chen wasn’t the one that had been going into the woods since kindergarten. At most, he ran around his yard as a kid.

But it was all the same ROAD the first third of the way, so Kou Chen didn’t really feel anything.

He was actually pretty excited, pedalling eagerly.

“Stick to the side,” Huo Ran glanced at Kou Chen, who rode up beside him. “There’s no bike lane here, it’s not safe. You can come up later when there is.”

“You can come up later,” Kou Chen raised an eyebrow and moved in front of him.

The trail at the beginning was flat without much incline. It’ll make anyone cocky and think they can bike around the whole world. After this part, they would see people stop and rest.

The weather was decent today, a bit cloudy so it wasn’t very hot.

After they passed the section with a lot of vehicles heading out of the city, there were fewer cars and people on the road. The buildings also slowly became shorter, and they started to see more and more green.

“Where’s the bike lane?” Kou Chen turned around and asked.

“There’s a sign up ahead, it’s a kilometre after that,” Huo Ran sped up and rode beside him.

“Are these people all going the same way as us?” Kou Chen looked around him and saw twenty, thirty people all riding in the same direction.

“Probably not, they just all pass here,” Huo Ran said. “We haven’t even started yet.”

“It’s already been one fucking hour from your house to here,” Kou Chen said. “We haven’t started?”

“The part in the city doesn’t count,” Huo Ran said. “I don’t count from directly out of my house either, if you’re tired… We can stop for a bit?”

“Are you underestimating me?” Kou Chen glanced at him.

“Nope, you’re the greatest,” Huo Ran replied instinctively.

“As long as you know that,” Kou Chen nodded.

Huo Ran started laughing after he realized what he said: “You have the greatest face.”

Some more ways ahead, the bike trail and the hiking trail appeared. A part of the group of riders split off and continued down the road, while most of them went on the path.

“Where are they going?” Kou Chen asked.

“There’s a lot of tourist farms there, and fishing spots and strawberry gardens,” Huo Ran said. “To have fun.”

“Isn’t it really close? Does that still count as biking?” Kou Chen said. “And they’re wearing cycling clothes? We’re going for two days and we aren’t even wearing them.”

“We’re wearing the pants,” Huo Ran reminded him.

“We’re not wearing a set,” Kou Chen said.

“That’s because you said they’re ugly,” Huo Ran said. “I usually wear them.”

“They are,” Kou Chen tsked. Then he lowered his voice, “If you didn’t scare me and say I’ll get blisters on my balls, I wouldn’t wear the pants either.”

“…I wasn’t trying to scare you,” Huo Ran said. “It chafes easily anyways, even if you don’t get blisters, it’ll hurt your ass.”

“Ah,” Kou Chen suddenly started laughing.

“Fuck off,” Huo Ran glared.

“I’m fucking off—” Kou Chen yelled before shooting off.

Huo Ran sighed, not bothering to chase him.

Kou Chen was still full of energy, and his spirits were eight hundred metres high, so he could go fast. If Huo Ran chased him, he would go even faster, and even look proud after he overtook everyone else.

Idiot, don’t make me drag you along on a rope later.

Soon after, Kou Chen indeed started slowing down. When Huo Ran caught up to him again, he didn’t shoot off, he just breathed in.

“Tired?” Huo Ran asked coolly.

“Fuck, not really,” Kou Chen frowned. “My legs are sore. It’s only been an hour, I shouldn’t be this tired, why is biking so hard?”

“It’s not the same as riding,” Huo Ran said. “I’m telling you to steady yourself, there’s a gradual incline for four kilometres up ahead. If you can’t pedal then get off and walk, I’m not gonna feel sorry for you.”

“Incline?” Kou Chen started. “Four kilometres… isn’t that long, actually?”

“Mhm,” Huo Ran nodded. “You better not think it’s long.

At the beginning of the incline, Kou Chen didn’t think it was too hard, but his thighs soon started to feel sore.

“What fucking gradual incline is this?” Kou Chen cursed as he pedalled. “What do you mean gradual? It’s steep! It’s very steep! Super steep! It’s…”

“Keep yelling, won’t you?” Huo Ran looked at him. “Use up all your energy and push your bike up the rest of the way.”

Kou Chen shut his mouth.

A hundred metres later, he asked: “You don’t care about me?”

“Nope.” Huo Ran said.

“Who am I?” Kou Chen pointed at himself. “You don’t care about me?”

“You’re a twistie,” Huo Ran said. “Why should I care? Twistie Kou brought this upon himself, why should I care?”

Kou Chen couldn’t hold in his laugh, “You’re so cute.”

“Fuck off,” Huo Ran turned back around to face the front.

This part really wasn’t that long. If Kou Chen hadn’t sped off like an idiot earlier, he wouldn’t be feeling sore right now.

But not long after, Huo Ran suddenly felt a weight on his bike, and it was getting harder to pedal.

He glanced at the gear shift. No problems there, so he turned around.

And then he cursed at Kou Chen: “I’ll kill you!”

Kou Chen had his left leg stretched out onto his luggage rack as his right leg slowly pedalled, moving forward with his force.

“This fast?” Kou Chen said. “I just put my leg on.”

“Bullshit,” Huo Ran said. “I’ll feel even fifty grams of extra weight?”

“How much longer?” Kou Chen asked. “Until we go downhill?”

“After the bend up ahead,” Huo Ran nodded. “A kilometre or so.”

“Let’s go,” Kou Chen took his leg back and stood up to pedal, charging forward.

“Are you crazy?!” Huo Ran yelled.

“I’ll wait for you up ahead—!” Kou Chen whistled.

“Keep to the side when you turn, they’ll come fast the other way!” Huo Ran told him.

“Got it!” Kou Chen yelled.

Going biking with someone so cocky and full of energy is very troublesome.

Huo Ran frowned and followed Kou Chen towards the peak, and then he disappeared around the bend.

He could also speed up, but all his years of experience… No, you didn’t even need experience to know that going so fast here would drain all of Kou Chen’s energy before the halfway point.

He miscalculated. He was enraptured by the Kou Chen who had been studying hard and steadily lately and forgot his true nature.

Now that he was done with studying and reached his goal, he would be ecstatic.

They should’ve gone towards the farms to pick strawberries and apples with the little kids before then going to fish with their parents…

Past the bend, Huo Ran saw Kou Chen stopped at the side of the road with one leg on the ground.

“You’re mental!” Huo Ran stopped beside him.

“I drank some water, didn’t want to drink too much,” Kou Chen said. “We only brought this much, where would we get more?”

“There’s shops in the villages we’ll pass by…” Huo Ran noticed that Kou Chen’s expression looked a little off. “What is it?”

“What kind of villages?” Kou Chen furrowed his brows.

“Relax, they’re all close to the city,” Huo Ran quickly realized. “Not in the middle of nowhere like the one from last time, we’ll go through them.”

“I really don’t want to run into another one like Madam Gao or Madam whatever,” Kou Chen sighed. “It was kinda traumatizing. When we were barbequing on my birthday I kept worrying that a lady would run out from somewhere.”

“You’re too easily scared,” Huo Ran patted his back. “No wonder you’re even scared of twisties.”

“A lot of people are scared of twisties!” Kou Chen glared at him.

“Mhm,” Huo Ran laughed and nodded. Then he patted his thigh. “We’re going downhill, don’t go to fast, you won’t be able to break if something happens, and you’ll flip over.”

“Okay,” Kou Chen agreed.

He had to admit that Kou Chen had good stamina. They went the whole way, sometimes slow and sometimes fast, without pause. When they stopped to eat lunch in a village, Kou Chen still looked alright, he wasn’t stumbling as he walked.

Huo Ran bought two meal sets for 20 bucks each at a little restaurant called “Full in Ten”, and the two of them sat down at a table by the road to eat.

“I thought it was full in ten?” Kou Chen pointed at the sign.

“You only get meat and veggies for ten,” Huo Ran said. “It’ll fill you up sure, but some people get upset if they don’t get enough meat.”

“Want a drink?” Kou Chen laughed and asked, “I’ll get them.”

“Coke,” Huo Ran said.

Having coke to drink would be absolutely amazing when you’re sweaty and thirsty and slightly tired.

“Are we eating dinner at the campsite?” Kou Chen came back with the coke and drank half a bottle.

“Mhm,” Huo Ran nodded. “It’s summer break right now, so it might be busy. If there isn’t anything you want to eat, we can go back half an hour to the village.”

“If it’s busy…” Kou Chen whispered. “How busy? There’ll be rows of tents side by side? Will they hear us talk?”

Huo Ran took a bite of his food and swallowed it before looking up at him.

“What?” Kou Chen fidgeted slightly at the staring.

“Side by side, the tents are practically touching. If you turn around you might cave in someone else’s tent.” Huo Ran held back his laughter and said seriously and somberly, “You can fart and they’ll hear you, they’ll even hear you breathe.”

Kou Chen stared at him in shock, mouth half open.

“Also,” Huo Ran said, “You’ll sleep outside, in your sleeping bag.”

Kou Chen closed his mouth.

Huo Ran started shovelling food in his mouth after he finished talking, afraid to start laughing and give it away.

Kou Chen pushed his food around with his spoon, and then he suddenly threw it and stood up. “Fuck.”

“Hm?” Huo Ran looked at him.

“I want to go home,” Kou Chen said. “I want to go home, I’m not continuing.”

Huo Ran burst out laughing. It was really loud, he just couldn’t hold it in. The people nearby all looked over at them.

Kou Chen paused for a few seconds before dropping himself back down in the seat. He grabbed Huo Ran’s arm: “Huo Ran!”

“Yes?” Huo Ran laughed.

“You’re done for!” Kou Chen pointed at him and then poked him in the nose harshly. “You’re done for!”

“It really is pretty busy,” Huo Ran was still laughing. “But it’s a big space, the tents aren’t gonna be touching.”

Kou Chen let go of his arm, taking a few bites of food and washing it down with the rest of the coke. Then he wiped his mouth and leaned over to whisper: “Then… if we do something… will they hear?”

“Depends on what you want to do,” Huo Ran said.

“You want me to yell it out loud right here?” Kou Chen asked.

“We’ll see if you still have the energy for that after an afternoon of biking,” Huo Ran said.

“Will they hear?” Kou Chen asked stubbornly.

“Probably… not?” Huo Ran thought about it.

“Then I can get up even if I’m dying for another night of fun.” Kou Chen ate a piece of meat. “Eat.”

After lunch, they rested for a little longer before getting back on their bikes. There were also a few university-age students setting off at the same time as them.

“It feels like I’ve been doing the splits for half an hour.” One of them said.

After they rode for a bit, Kou Chen said: “I also feel like I just did the splits…”

“Don’t be so cocky now, the afternoon is gonna be harder than the morning,” Huo Ran said. “If you keep pedalling like an idiot, we won’t be there until the evening.”

“Are you tired?” Kou Chen asked.

“I’m okay,” Huo Ran said. “Mountain trails are the tiring ones, this is nothing.”

“Why do you like all these tiring activities?” Kou Chen didn’t really understand.

“Dunno, I just like the feeling.” Huo Ran pedalled a bit and let go of the handles. He spread his arms to feel the wind. “I go these roads, past places most people I know will never go. I see them, they see me, I see the mountains, the mountains see me…”

“Put your hands back! You just told me not to be cocky,” Kou Chen said. “Do you feel like reciting poetry right now?”

“Have you ever thought,” Huo Ran grabbed the handles again and smiled, “About how long the mountains and lakes have been here for?”

“Before there were people here,” Kou Chen said.

“Yeah. The houses in the city, the road beneath our feet, how long could they have been here for…” Huo Ran pointed ahead, “That’s between heaven and earth.”

Kou Chen looked where he was pointing. The road they were on continued forward, disappearing in the horizon. The rolling hills on both sides, the clouds drifting with the wind.

“I just like this feeling,” Huo Ran moved his bike closer to his, and their arms touched. “Moving through the distant past, being a guest of so many landscapes. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Me too,” Kou Chens said.

“Yeah,” Huo Ran nodded.

“You’re permanent here with me,” Kou Chen said. “Not just a guest.”

“Yeah,” Huo Ran smiled.

“What about me?” Kou Chen asked.

“You’re mine,” Huo Ran slapped his ass and shot off.

“Fuck,” Kou Chen caught up to him with a laugh. “I never knew you were so flirty.”

“Watch it,” Huo Ran said.

“I never knew you were so romantic?” Kou Chen said.

Huo Ran almost fell off his bike as he laughed.

Their afternoon journey was indeed very long. It felt a thousand times longer than the morning, especially since he was already a little tired.

Kou Chen talked to Huo Ran the whole way in the beginning, but he shut up after two hours.

Of course, even his mouth was probably tired.

“Want to take a break?” Huo Ran asked.

“No,” Kou Chen said. “We already took three breaks, it’s gonna get dark.”

“No way,” Huo Ran said. “We rode pretty fast, and we’ll probably get there early. We can get a good spot.”

“A spot off to the side,” Kou Chen said.

“All of this can’t even make you give up on that idea?” Huo Ran said.

“What do you mean?” Kou Chen yelled. “How old am I? Don’t tell me you’ve given up on it?”

Huo Ran laughed so hard he choked.

He said all of that, but at the campsite, Kou Chen threw his bike down and stood there for a long while before finally moving his legs gingerly.

“Sore?” Huo Ran asked.

“It’s okay,” Kou Chen frowned. “You really do have to wear these pants, huh? My ass would be probably cracked up to my grim reaper without it.”

“That’s why you should listen to me.” Huo Ran looked around, “Let’s go up there, there’s a bunch of rocks here, we can find somewhere flatter and softer to put up the tent.”

“Is that a cafeteria?” Kou Chen pointed at the wooden cabin in the middle of the campsite.

Huo Ran nodded: “Yeah, we’ll eat there later. They also sell other stuff, equipment and stuff, even tent rentals…”

“We don’t need that,” Kou Chen immediately said.

Huo Ran glanced at him, but he didn’t say anything.

They found a good spot, and after Huo Ran put the tent up, Kou Chen realized why he looked at him like that earlier.

This one person tent… Was really for just one person.

It was the smallest tent Kou Chen has ever seen.

If the two of them really squeezed inside, they would barely be able to lie down flat.

“Why did you bring that thing?” Kou Chen said.

“It’s small, light, doesn’t take up space,” Huo Ran looked at him. He laughed at his misfortune as he crawled in. “You can rent a tent or you can sleep in the dirt. I’ll reluctantly give you the waterproof mat…”

Kou Chen looked around. There weren’t many people around, only an empty tent ten metres away.

He bent down and shoved Huo Ran’s ass before squeezing in.

It was pretty embarrassing for two grown men to squeeze into one tiny tent. Even if you don’t take it the wrong way, they would look like outsiders who can’t even bring the right tent… He didn’t want anyone to see.

“Fuck!” Huo Ran stumbled. “What are you doing?”

“Let’s see if we can fit or not!” Kou Chen crawled over to lie on his side. “See, if we lie on our sides, it’s fine.”

Huo Ran struggled to flip around and press right up to him face-to-face: “You can sleep like this the whole fucking night?”

Kou Chen thought about it, and then he replied seriously: “I can.”