Chapter 6 – Your Prince Is A Nutcase

Editor – Chubby Dragon
Proofreader – Happy Bubbles

After conducting a rigorous study of the current level of scientific knowledge, Long Junhao finally knew how serious his mistake had been. It was no wonder his cheap parents left him here. 

Having gone through this painful experience, he got someone to bring the four treasures of study¹ Brush, ink, paper and ink stone and wrote a large ‘There is no end to learning’ on the wall of his bedroom to encourage himself. And each session of hard study firmed his resolve towards successfully getting out of this place the next time his cheap parents came to visit.

With hope and purpose came motivation. The knowledge he gained each day gave him confidence. He felt more at ease and everything appeared pleasing to the eye.

Long Junhao thought about his current life. He ate and drank very well everyday and had people waiting on him round the clock. When he got tired, those pretty nurses would even massage his tired shoulders and pamper him. Furthermore, he got to see Gu Chen everyday. Although this wasn’t the Gu Chen he knew, being able to see that familiar face wasn’t so bad and was better than not seeing it at all. Long Junhao thought as he placed the book in his hands down, that such a life… didn’t seem all that bad.

He knew he would definitely encounter more stuff in the future that would inevitably be more complicated and dangerous than what he was facing here. Nobody would treat him as a noble young master outside, but this didn’t make his conviction waver. This wasn’t only because he felt the need to get away from these creatures, but also because of the pride instilled in his soul since a young age.

He was a prince who had been praised and pampered since young. How could he tolerate others treating him as a nutcase?

“My prince, the afternoon meal is ready.” Just as he was lost in thought, the door to his room was pushed open and the sweet voice of a nurse wafted in.

Long Junhao grunted a ‘Mhm’.

After strongly emphasizing a number of times, these people finally changed the way they addressed him back to ‘prince’. However, they interpreted it in a different version——The prince found his true love and decided to be with General Gu for his whole life. With no way of continuing the royal bloodline, he gave up the succession to the throne in order to live his days mundanely with the general. Long Junhao had since gotten used to the wild imagination of this bunch and no longer cared. He just watched Gu Chen in secret and saw that he was indifferent towards all this. 

 As he dug in, a familiar melodious voice rang out from the walkway outside, “My son~ I have come~”

Long Junhao leaped off the bed as if he had been shot with a dose of amphetamine. He tossed his chopsticks aside and rushed to open the door. At that moment, Long Junhao’s mother, the cheap but beautiful Xia Han, just reached the doorway. Long Junhao immediately called out sweetly, “Mom~”

“My son~ Mommy missed you~”

Long Junhao went closer and smiled coquettishly. “Mom~, bring me home if you really miss me. That way, you will get to see me everyday~”

These words pricked Xia Han’s heart and her eyes reddened at once. “Mommy also thinks so. When you get better, Mommy will surely bring you home… surely…”

“Mom, I’m alright now. I’ve really recovered.” Long Junhao immediately spared no expense and started to persuade his mother.

Xia Han didn’t believe him in the beginning but after following her husband’s previous demonstration, she also decided to give her son a simple test. Long Junhao had long been prepared and passed easily. Warm tears welled up in Xia Han’s eyes as she stared at Long Junhao blankly. “My son has gotten better… he’s gotten better…”

Long Junhao nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes. Mom, I am all better.”

“Great, it’s wonderful…” Xia Han choked with emotion and hugged her son.

This warm sight greeted Long Xi when he stepped inside the room, but his face remained as expressionless as ever. Xia Han hurriedly scrambled over with reddened eyes when she saw him enter. “Hubby, our son has recovered. This time for real. I’ve tested…” She recounted what just happened with tears of joy flowing down her cheek, “Hubby, we can finally bring our son back home.”

Long Xi listened quietly and glanced over. Long Junhao met his gaze and suddenly felt his innards quiver. To be honest, he was more afraid of this cheap dad. This person was too profound and it was impossible to know exactly what he was thinking.

Long Junhao pondered for a moment and grunted a ‘Mhm’ before turning to leave. Long Junhao bit his lip and waited in silence. He quickly went through the knowledge in his head and thought to himself – Bring it on, I am not afraid of you.

Long Xi returned very quickly and passed over an object to Long Junhao.

Long Junhao’s eyes lit up. He recognized this item as a cellphone. He had seen it countless times on the television. It was a real cellphone! This was the sort of advanced technology that absolutely couldn’t have appeared in that world of his! It was a magical object! He swallowed hard and reached out a trembling hand to take it. Stay calm, must stay calm. Victory will be decided in this move! Long Junhao thought to himself.

Long Xi observed his son and nodded. “Mhm, we will go handle the discharge procedures. Your friends from before have sent you many messages, take a look.” Having said that, he pulled Xia Han along as he walked out. Long Junhao sneakily stretched his head out the doorway to ensure his parents were headed to the institution’s office and not towards the car. When he saw that it was indeed so, Long Junhao then turned his attention to this cellphone and started to study it excitedly. 

At this moment, the door opened and Xia Han returned. Long Junhao immediately showed a calm expression once again and hid any trace of delight. Xia Han asked softly, “Have you seen the’ messages from your friends?”

Long Junhao nodded with his best impression of indifference.

Xia Han then asked, “Have you replied to them yet?”

Long Junhao, once again, nodded calmly.

“That’s good.” As she choked up, Xia Han came over to pat Long Junhao’s head. “My son, you have suffered. We will immediately bring you out of this place. Wait for me while I go to sign the discharge papers.”

Long Junhao copied his cheap father’s grunt of acknowledgment and watched her leave. He then lowered his head and continued to study the cellphone with a passionate desire for knowledge. After playing around for a bit, he suddenly thought whether he would be able to  meet Gu Chen again if he left this place. Thus, Long Junhao immediately rushed out of his room.

“Gu Chen!”

This shout was a mix of impatience, reluctance and other deep emotions. All the institution’s staff were silenced as they hurriedly gave way to form a straight path to help the prince meet his General Gu. Gu Chen felt slightly startled and turned around slowly, the corner of his mouth curling up ever so slightly.

Long Junhao watched him with an unblinking gaze. Bathed in sunlight, it seemed as though this person had a halo around him that even seemed ethereal. Long Junhao’s pace went from long strides to a jog before becoming a full blown sprint. He knew that this person wasn’t the general, yet he didn’t understand the panic he felt at the thought of leaving him.

Everyone else watched them with sparkling  eyes. What’s going to happen? Will they hug? And after that, kiss in a passionate embrace? Followed by a [censored beep]. Then this [censored beep] and [censored beep]? Will that be it?

The entire institution fell silent in an instant. Long Junhao could even hear his own heart beating excitedly. He locked eyes with Gu Chen and the distance between them got closer and closer. At this moment, a Chinese opera tune started. “May the lord have a drink and enjoy music, may the lord dance away his worries~” 

His footsteps halted, then continued.

“Be it success or failure, sit, relax and drink~”

He halted again, getting pissed as the tune became even more mournful. With veins bulging on his forehead, he turned towards the long-haired beauty in the walkway and barked, “Impudence! Go sing ‘Farewell my concubine’.² A Chinese opera play about a devoted concubine that pledged her undying loyalty to the warlord Xiang Yu by committing suicide to prove she would never leave him somewhere else! You should be the one committing suicide, your entire family should be the one committing suicide! Drag him out and behead the one who taught him the song!”   

The doctors and nurses in charge of the long-haired beauty hurriedly gathered around him and persuaded, “Sir, you won’t earn much here, let’s go somewhere else to busk…”

“Yeah, think about what happened to that General Chu…”

The long-haired beauty was rather compliant and kept his mouth shut after some persuasion. He also paid no heed to Long Junhao’s fury as he giggled and watched on. As he gazed into the distance, his smile widened.

Without this obstruction, Long Junhao arrived before Gu Chen in no time and grabbed his arm. “Gu Chen, what is your cellphone number?”

Gu Chen became flabbergasted momentarily. But then, he understood when he saw the thing in Long Junhao’s hands, “As expected of rich people, this model of imitation cellphone toy has been in the market for a mere half a month and is really expensive. I never imagined your parents would get you one during this visit.”

Long Junhao’s entire body went rigid. The words ‘imitation toy’ reverberated continuously in his head…

Gu Chen watched him, baffled, and waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Hello…” Seeing no reaction for some time, he helped himself to that cellphone toy and keyed in his number, “Oh, it’s advanced technology indeed. Hey, it’s done, keep it safely.”

Long Junhao brought a hand to his chest as  tears welled up in his eyes. He felt as if his heart was crumbling bit by bit. Gu Chen stuffed the device back into Long Junhao’s hands and patted his head with a smile. “Don’t worry, it’s no biggie. You don’t have to feel so touched.”

Long Junhao remained silent for a long time before turning his head stiffly towards the institution’s gates. During the previous occasion, he had still been able to see the car leaving, but this time around, all he could see was a tiny, little, black dot in the distance. He inhaled and choked with emotion. “Bastards… Liars… Despicable, how despicable…”

Gu Chen looked over in the direction Long Junhao was looking at and finally realized something was wrong. He then joined the dots to Long Junhao’s hurried manner just now… He tried probing, “Uh…You wouldn’t have thought this was the real deal, right…”

Long Junhao looked over and sniffled pathetically. He looked as though he was going to fall apart.

“…”

“Do you also think I am a nutcase…”

“…”

“Right, your prince is a nutcase!” Long Junhao exploded with rage. He turned and started to walk away when he suddenly caught sight of the nurse in charge of the long-haired beauty and caught her.

The nurse was shaking. “Your… Your… Your Highness… It… It… It wasn’t me…”

“What do you mean it wasn’t you?”

“That song… It wasn’t me who taught him that…”

“Who’s asking about the song…” Long Junhao tried to imitate a good-natured smile as much as possible. “Relax, Your Prince just wants to tell you a joke. There was once a nutcase who somehow got his hands on a gun. Following that, he came across a youngster in an alley. Without saying anything more, he pointed the gun at the youngster’s head and asked: 1+1=? The youngster was scared stiff and spent a long time answering with a trembling voice: equals 2… The nutcase fired the gun without any hesitation and killed the youngster. He then said coldly: You know too much. Mhm, I’ve finished telling the joke.”    

The nurse wanted to give an appropriate laugh but before she even opened her mouth, the prince spoke, beaming as he spat each word out individually, “Hey, now let me ask you, 1+1=?”

The nurse recalled the joke and started sobbing immediately. Wouldn’t I die if I answered two as well? She could vaguely see that the prince wasn’t in a good mood and wanted to take his anger out on someone. But why does it have to be me, ahhhh!

She hesitated for quite a long time, then rolled her eyes and wisely pretended to faint.

Long Junhao clicked his tongue in disgust and continued on. At this moment, a person appeared beside him. It was the poker-faced man. Long Junhao asked him as well, “1+1=?”

The poker-faced man was astonished and spent a long time thinking before choking up, “…I don’t know.”

“Don’t know?” Long Junhao stared at him in utter contempt. “Why are you still alive if you can’t even answer such a simple question?!”    

The impassive face of that man started to choke with emotion, and he rebutted like a mistreated damsel, “I… I… I shouldn’t be alive?”

“Yeah,” Long Junhao continued in contempt. “There is no value in you being alive.”

The man thought about it and nodded seriously. “Yes, you are absolutely right!” Having said that, he turned and walked over to the pond and jumped in, creating a huge splash.

Long Junhao humphed and continued on while everyone else backed away at once. Nobody dared confront and offend him. In just moments, only Gu Chen was left in the small courtyard.

Gu Chen watched him without batting an eye. He had already observed enough during this period. Before this, he could still tell whether this person was pretending to be ill, but ever since he came back from overseas, he couldn’t really tell. He pondered for quite some time before taking out a cellphone and dialing a number. “Hello, it’s me. I can confirm that that person is really insane. What plans do you all have? Ah…” He lowered his voice, “You all are really vicious…”  

• 1
  Brush, ink, paper and ink stone ↩︎
• 2
  A Chinese opera play about a devoted concubine that pledged her undying loyalty to the warlord Xiang Yu by committing suicide to prove she would never leave him ↩︎