Chapter Eighteen: Through Thick and Thin

"Disgusting!" Shi Feng pulled an exaggerated face of revulsion. "Who wants to play Brokeback Mountain with you? Don't let your imagination run so wild!"

Luo Chen cursed, "Damn it, if you want me to think clean thoughts, stop grinning so lasciviously!"

Shi Feng was a little frustrated. "I've trained for seventeen years to perfect my sunshine-style, naturally radiant smile, which is recognized as a lethal weapon by beauties, and yet you see it as lewd? How did your sense of aesthetics end up this warped?"

Catching a glimpse of the ring on Luo Chen's hand, Shi Feng looked puzzled, knowing full well that his roommate never wore accessories. He pointed to the ring and asked, "Where did you get that ring?"

Luo Chen hesitated for a moment, deciding not to tell Shi Feng what had happened in the Hungry Ghost Marsh. He knew Shi Feng wouldn't believe it anyway—he might even think it was nonsense. So he replied casually, "Bought it. Street stall stuff. Five copper coins for one."

"That's really unique!" Shi Feng looked intrigued. "Which stall did you buy it from? I want to get one too!"

He just accused me of having poor taste, Luo Chen thought grumpily, yet he finds this shabby ring, which no one would pick up if dropped on the ground, 'unique.' He said dryly, "It was the last one." As if Shi Feng could ever buy one—he'd gotten it in the Hungry Ghost Marsh.

"Oh, that's a pity then." Shi Feng seemed genuinely disappointed but quickly broke into what he considered his sunshine-style, naturally radiant smile—what Luo Chen called a 'lewd grin.' "What's gotten into you, buying a ring for no reason and wearing it? I bet your heart is stirring—tsk tsk!"

"Give me a break," Luo Chen retorted, thoroughly exasperated. "Do you think everyone is as desperate as you, can't live without women?"

Shi Feng replied in a solemn tone, "You're absolutely right—the world without beauties would be unbearably dull. If all the women on the continent died one day, that would be the apocalypse, and I'd rather die too. Can't rely on 'Five Sisters' forever!"

[Five Sisters: slang, essential for any homebody. No further explanation—figure it out yourself.]

He patted Luo Chen's shoulder. "Now I truly understand why you left Ellie behind and ran. If you're alone and carefree, you're not afraid of death, but once you have someone in your heart, it's different. Even if you don't think of yourself, you have to think of her. Haha, I never imagined you, such a reserved guy, could hide it from me. So, which female student has managed to capture the heart of our pure Luo Chen?"

Luo Chen rolled his eyes, utterly speechless. "Fine, if you say so, that's how it is. I'm leaving now—you can have fun with your Five Sisters!"

"What? You're leaving? Where to?" Shi Feng howled dramatically. "How can you bear to leave this poor soul, who can't even go out today, all alone in this lonely, crumbling building? I get it now! You're clearly off to meet that female student, putting romance above friendship! Romance above friendship!"

Luo Chen ignored his rambling and walked straight out. His daily training at Thunder Falls was a must, no matter how tired he was after his part-time work. He still had a bit of energy left, and draining every last bit made absorbing spiritual energy easier.

"Bad choices in friends! Bad choices in friends!" Shi Feng kept grumbling in dissatisfaction.

His complaints, though loud, were really just a special way for two brothers to bond. Shi Feng didn't mind at all—in fact, he quite enjoyed this way of interacting.

In his family, most of his interactions were with those old men who wore stern faces all day. Even his cousins of the same age treated him like a genius and the future heir, constantly fawning over him. Shi Feng was tired of the endless pressure from elders, the fake smiles and deliberate flattery around him, a place with no joy in life. That's why he came to Weston Academy.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived, he met an interesting fellow—Luo Chen. Luo Chen never treated him as a young master from a great family, and his own talent never made this guy, who hadn't even advanced to Dou Qi Level Four, feel inferior. For the first time, Shi Feng experienced the pleasure of maintaining an equal relationship.

Friendship. That's what real friendship is. If two people's relationship isn't equal, true friendship is impossible.

Luo Chen's place in Shi Feng's heart was upgraded from friend to brother on the third day after entering the academy.

Luo Chen wasn't the first to apply for the old library as a dormitory—Shi Feng beat him by a step. That's how they became roommates. Luo Chen initially thought Shi Feng must be as poor as himself to choose the old library to save a little money.

Over the next three days, Luo Chen noticed that Shi Feng ate wild vegetables for every meal. Sympathetic to a roommate in an even tougher situation than his own, Luo Chen always claimed he couldn't finish his food and shared some of his not-so-abundant meals with Shi Feng.

In reality, as the young master of a great family, Shi Feng could never be so poor as to rely on wild vegetables to fill his stomach. His family served lavish meals every day. He just wanted to experience the life of ordinary people.

When Luo Chen shared his food, Shi Feng was moved for the first time. Though the food itself was modest in value, Shi Feng understood: when a poor kid whose tuition was subsidized by the Eternal Alliance, who had to work for all his living expenses, shared his food with someone else, it meant something special.

It meant he was willing to share hardship with you.

Giving help when things are easy is simple. Sharing hardship is hard.

Shi Feng accepted Luo Chen's shared food and, from then on, regarded him as a brother—his only brother, far closer than any of his family's phony cousins.

Luo Chen had no idea Shi Feng was the young master of a great family. No one knew his true strength when he first entered school, so there was no need to flatter him. Even after realizing Shi Feng was wealthy, their relationship didn't change. Luo Chen never tried to ride Shi Feng's coattails, and even refused any financial help, preferring to work hard and earn his own living—neither servile nor arrogant.

Thinking of all this, Shi Feng couldn't help but smile—not the sunshine-style, naturally radiant smile he considered a lethal weapon to beauties, but the most genuine smile of all.