Attacca: attack or attach; go straight on.
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The next morning, the class got a little excited when the students spotted Zhou Yongliang entered the room without wearing his old glasses. The crooked glasses were no longer perched on top of the young guy's tall nose. Without his glasses, Zhou Yongliang looked many times more handsome. His crystal clear eyes looked very attractive without the glass barrier. His long, curvy lashes seemed to be waving, calling for attention from anyone who saw him.
Zhou Yongliang did not look bad in glasses, but without them, the young man was much better. So, it was no wonder that the students in his class stared at him in awe. Even his close friends were excited when they saw Zhou Yongliang without a pair of round glasses.
"My didi is getting more and more handsome without glasses! Why didn't you wear contact lenses since long time ago, huh? Be careful on your way. Talent agencies may kidnap you," Ren Weisheng sincerely praised his 'adopted' brother as he giggled cutely.
But, the said brother didn't seem too happy hearing the praise. "What do you mean, Ren Weisheng gege?" He asked in a sad tone. "Did I look really bad in glasses?"
The short guy finally realized his mistake. "Eh? It's not like that! You didn't look bad in glasses, but you are getting more handsome without your worn glasses," he quickly clarified. "Anyway, who was the person who suggested Liangliang wear contact lenses? I want to thank the person."
"My brother gave Zhou Yongliang the idea, Weisheng. I will pass your gratitude to him later," Huang Bo replied.
"Eh? Are you for real, Huang Bo? Hwang Jihyuk gege gave the idea?" Now, it was Chen Guangli's turn to ask.
"Yes, my brother did it," Huang Bo answered while nodding his head proudly. "Yesterday, my brother also bought several packages of contact lenses for Zhou Yongliang's supplies for a month. My brother is very nice, isn't he?"
Ren Weisheng and Chen Guangli gawked at Huang Bo's explanation. Yes, they both knew that Huang Bo had an older brother who was very kind to everyone, but they did not expect that Hwang Jihyuk would be so kind to Zhou Yongliang, whom he had just met. Indeed, Hwang Jihyuk was not picky and was so helpful to everyone.
"But, I still feel bad, Huang Bo. I should have paid for the contact lenses and the glasses with my money yesterday. I haven't received my salary yet, but I still have the money from my grandfather," Zhou Yongliang sadly spoke again.
"Uh, why are you always refusing our help, Yongliang? Yesterday you also refused when we wanted to send you home." Huang Bo protested in an annoyed tone. "And, about paying for the items, didn't you remember what my brother said yesterday? My brother said that you better save your money for future needs, it's possible that someday you would have urgent needs and needs a lot of money. You don't need to feel uneasy, my family has a lot of money, after all."
"Don't be arrogant, Huang Bo! The money is your parents' money, not yours! Modesty benefits, arrogance hurts1[1]!" Chen Guangli warned.
Huang Bo didn't actually mean to be arrogant. The boy was just too straightforward and didn't know how to filter out information worthy of mentioning or not.
"Huang Bo, I want to ask you something." Zhou Yongliang suddenly poked Huang Bo's arm who was sitting beside him. "Are you and your brother real siblings? I saw his name tag yesterday, and his name was written in the Latin alphabet. His name also doesn't sound like a Chinese name."
Huang Bo blinked for a moment, but the next second he smiled. "Ren Weisheng and Chen Guangli used to ask the same thing." He glanced at the two boys. "I and my brother are real siblings, we have the same father and mother. Our father is a Korean from the Hwang family, and our mother is a Chinese from the Huang family. I should have used the Hwang surname as well, but my grandfather wanted to give me a Chinese name before he died. That's why my brother has a Korean name, and I have a Chinese name. Hwang and Huang have similar pronunciation, after all."
Zhou Yongliang finally nodded after he understood the situation. Huang Bo was right, the Hwang and Huang surnames have similar pronunciations. In fact, if the names were written in Chinese characters, the character of Hwang's name would be the same as Huang's character.
"Wait, Huang Bo." Zhou Yongliang suddenly realized something. "Your brother doesn't have a Chinese name? He lives in China but still uses his Korean name? Even his name tag was written in Latin alphabet."
Huang Bo nodded before answering, "My brother has a Chinese name, and it's Huang Jianyu. But, he is more comfortable using his Korean name even though he is living in China. He used to be called by his Korean name since he was a kid, after all. That's why his name tag is written in the Latin Alphabet."
Zhou Yongliang now understood why Hwang Jihyuk's name on the name tag was written in the Latin alphabet. Yesterday, he felt a bit uneasy because of the oddity, but today he got the answer he needed.
"The story of Huang Bo's family is complicated. They often moved from one country to another before finally settling in China three years ago," Ren Weisheng added Huang Bo's explanation. The bronze-haired guy had known the story of Huang Bo's family. The owner of the story had shared it with him and Chen Guangli a few months ago.
"Huh? Huang Bo and his family just moved to China three years ago?" Once again, Zhou Yongliang asked curiously.
Huang Bo nodded to answer. "That's right. My family mostly stayed in Korea before, but since my grandma was no longer able to handle the business here, she asked us to move here and handle the business for her."
Zhou Yongliang nodded in understanding. Finally, he could understand the complexity of Huang Bo's family. They only knew each other for about one month, so it was normal that there were things they didn't know about each other.
His eyes suddenly traveled in another direction when a tall student entered the classroom. That was Yang Liu, his evil classmate and also his co-worker. He still remembered how they worked together last night.
"Our evil prince finally came. I want to give him a lesson or two before the class started." Ren Weisheng was about to stand up and ready to attack Yang Liu, but Zhou Yongliang quickly grabbed his hand.
"Please don't do something that may ruin your reputation, gege," he said softly. "Let's just forget about yesterday's matter and move on."
Ren Weisheng frowned but didn't brush away the new student's hand. "Why are you so kind, Liangliang? Yang Liu is in the wrong. Have you already forgiven him?" He asked in disbelief.
Zhou Yongliang let go of Ren Weisheng's hand and sighed. "Yeah, I have forgiven him. It's no use for me to keep thinking about yesterday's matter. I don't want to cause trouble in this school," he answered sternly.
Ren Weisheng was about to rebuke, but this time Chen Guangli held his shoulder and shook his head. "Yongliang was right, it's no use for us to prolong the matter. I know you have a personal grudge against Yang Liu, but you can solve your problem outside school. Don't cause trouble here."
Ren Weisheng finally sighed and gave up. "It's not like I was going to punch him or something. I was just going to lecture him and ask him to apologize to Liangliang," he said softly.
"But, that may provoke Yang Liu's anger and he may punch you instead. After that, you surely would punch him back, and the detention room would be waiting for you, Ren Weisheng. Or, it could be worse if the school decided to expel you," Chen Guangli said sarcastically.
Ren Weisheng's doe eyes widened at that scenario. He didn't think much about the consequence, but apparently what Chen Guangli had just said was right. He and Yang Liu may end up fighting if he provoked the latter.
Their 'gossip time' had come to an end when the bell rang loudly, indicating that the class would start soon.
But, Zhou Yongliang was still curious, 'What is the personal grudge between Weisheng gege and Yang Liu?'