Chapter 8
What exactly are you trying to do?!
Yang Liwan roared inwardly, itching to tear him apart.
Xia Fengsheng had only been there ten minutes, and Yang Liwan was already being driven insane by him.
“Look it up in the dictionary yourself. Use your phone,” Yang Liwan said.
“Teacher, I don’t know pinyin,” Xia Fengsheng replied.
Yang Liwan let out a pig-slaughtering screech. “Then use Wubi!!!”
The sheer volume of his voice drew the attention of everyone in the office.
Why are you shouting so loudly?
Keep quiet in public places!
Everyone threw condemning looks at him.
Yang Liwan was embarrassed. Just then, a finger suddenly tapped his shoulder.
He turned his head.
“Teacher,” Xia Fengsheng said, “you’re getting irritable.”
“……”
Right now, he wanted to hit someone.
Yang Liwan regretted coming to the office to work today. If he had known Xia Fengsheng was coming, he never would have come.
Lately, anything involving this guy was guaranteed to bring no good.
Xia Fengsheng did nothing except sit on the sofa and read.
“If you’ve got nothing to do, then go back,” Yang Liwan said.
Anything to spare him the headache.
Every word in and between the lines was trying to drive him away.
Xia Fengsheng had just finished using his phone to search up the fourth character. “I do have something to do. I’m reading, teacher. If there are any more characters I don’t know later, I’ll ask you again.”
“……”
Amnesia had not only taken away Xia Fengsheng’s knowledge, it had also taken away his emotional intelligence.
The old Xia Fengsheng had always been excellent at reading the room. He did not need anyone to say anything—just by looking at their expression, he could tell what they were thinking. He was smooth, eloquent, and knew exactly how to handle people.
That was why Yang Liwan had always been willing to bring him to drinking parties.
Usually, whatever he was told to do, he did. He never had extra nonsense.
But ever since coming here today, his mouth had not stopped once.
One sentence after another. He was being pestered to the point his brain was about to explode.
“How come I never noticed you talked this much before?” Yang Liwan asked sourly.
“Teacher, when it’s someone I don’t care to deal with, I usually don’t talk to them,” Xia Fengsheng explained, describing the kind of people he did not care to deal with. “Especially when some stupid pig tries to chat with me, I just go mm-hmm, oh-oh. At most I answer with two characters. Any more than that, no chance.”
After saying that, he went back to reading.
Yang Liwan returned to his desk, sat down, and pulled out his phone to look through his old chat history with Xia Fengsheng.
Xia Fengsheng: Mm-hmm.
Xia Fengsheng: Oh-oh.
Xia Fengsheng: Received. =
Yang Liwan: ……
Near two in the afternoon, the school leadership came by the office.
Seeing that all four teachers were, for once, actually present, the leader clapped his hands and said, “Perfect, everyone’s here. Since you’re all free anyway, let’s go out and take a picture together for the new department brochure.”
The promotional booklet was being redone, so naturally the photos needed updating too.
One of the teachers asked, “Where are we taking it?”
There were plenty of scenic spots around Jing University.
The school leader said with a smile, “At the artificial lake to the north. The snow scenery there is beautiful—it’ll definitely look good in photos.”
Every winter, Jing University’s artificial lake froze over, and students and faculty alike would flock to it to skate and play, enjoying the lake’s limited winter-season fun.
Since the leadership had spoken, the teachers all responded enthusiastically and stood up to put on their coats.
Xia Fengsheng stood up too.
Yang Liwan’s brows twitched. Staring at him, he asked, “What are you doing?”
Xia Fengsheng opened his mouth. “Teacher, I want to go too.”
The school leader knew Xia Fengsheng. Because he had outstanding grades and was excellent in his major, the leader had personally given him an award before. He was also used to seeing him by Yang Liwan’s side, so the impression was strong.
Besides, when it came to photo poses, young people understood that best. The brochure was aimed at students, and students best understood what other students liked. If Xia Fengsheng came along, it would get twice the result with half the effort.
The school leader smiled. “Sure, you can come too.”
Yang Liwan shot Xia Fengsheng a look. He had better not try any funny business.
The group headed north together.
On the way there, the school leader gave instructions for the shoot. “Later, everyone smile a little more kindly. A little cuter too.”
Walking behind Yang Liwan, Xia Fengsheng murmured in a low voice, “Teacher, what if you don’t have that in you? How are you supposed to smile it out?”
Yang Liwan sucked in a breath and turned around.
Xia Fengsheng was still holding that copy of In the World in his hands.
Yang Liwan could not be bothered with him.
Very soon, the whole group reached the artificial lake.
The frozen lake surface looked like an enormous round platter, pure white and translucent. The weather was good today, sunny and bright—perfect for photos.
The school leader kindly reminded them, “Everyone, be careful when you step down.”
One by one, the teachers started walking out onto the lake.
Xia Fengsheng followed right behind them.
Who would have guessed that winter ice and snow could be so treacherous? His foot slipped, and he landed on his butt with a smack, kicking Yang Liwan half a meter forward.
“Old corpse!!!!”
After being launched forward, Yang Liwan’s limbs went limp, and he lay sprawled on the ice without moving.
Xia Fengsheng hurriedly scrambled up to check on him. The copy of In the World in his hand fell, and halfway there he had to turn back and retrieve it.
After all that trouble, he finally reached Yang Liwan’s side.
Yang Liwan lay on the ice with his eyes shut like a dead pig.
With so many people around, he was too humiliated to be willing to wake up.
He could sense Xia Fengsheng coming over, but he was completely powerless. He had no idea how to deal with Xia Fengsheng anymore.
He wanted so badly to run away.
Might as well just lie there and play dead.
If someone called 120 and had him hauled off, that would be fine too. Today, he did not want to open his eyes and see Xia Fengsheng ever again.
“Teacher, are you okay?” Xia Fengsheng shook him. “Are you still in the world?”
Maybe because Yang Liwan refused to wake up, Xia Fengsheng had begun throwing remedies at random in his panic. He opened the copy of In the World in his hand, apparently trying to keep Yang Liwan in the mortal world.
As if it might have some kind of soul-summoning effect.
“Teacher, I’ll read the parts I know.”
Xia Fengsheng licked his lips. “I just happened to learn a few of these characters today.”
How many characters have you even learned in total?!
A bad feeling rose in Yang Liwan’s heart. He immediately opened his eyes. “Don’t you dare!”
But it was already too late.
A few characters came straight out of Xia Fengsheng’s mouth:
“You’re an idiot.”
“……”
*
“Help me look at this one.”
“That’s enough!” Ding Qizhen finally snapped and jumped up from the sofa.
Shi Ye held his phone with a blank look. “What?”
Why was he suddenly blowing up?
“What else could it be?! What do you think?!” Ding Qizhen accused him of his crimes. “Is choosing one photo really that hard?!”
He had already been sitting there with Shi Ye for half an hour helping him pick pictures. He had been stuck motionless on the sofa the whole time—if he sat any longer,
“My butt is about to die!!!”
Not satisfied with this one, not satisfied with that one. Was it really the photo he was dissatisfied with, or was it him?
If every picture he said was good got rejected, then why keep asking him at all?!
He wanted nothing more than to delete every single photo in Shi Ye’s album except one, so the man would have no choice at all.
“Your family’s big truck finished eating, drinking, and sleeping half an hour ago, and I’m still here helping you choose photos.”
Ding Qizhen was going insane. “Do you agonize this much over the photos you post on regular platforms?!”
Shi Ye said, “If it’s going up as a Moments background, of course I have to choose carefully.”
How could he just casually pick any random one?
Ding Qizhen wanted to pry open his skull and see what was inside. “It’s just for Xia Fengsheng’s Moments background. Why are you choosing so carefully?! Wasn’t your whole goal just to embarrass him?”
Shi Ye explained stiffly, “Yeah, but I can’t let my face do the embarrassing.”
“……”
Ding Qizhen truly wanted to punch his handsome face.
Everyone who had met Shi Ye in public thought he was some arrogant, wild, devastatingly handsome cool guy. When he wore a cold expression, his aura was downright intimidating.
Only those who knew him understood how different he was in private. His one possible virtue was that he had a stable mood and knew he was handsome, but he never grew complacent. To maintain a good state, he held himself to strict standards. And if he was not looking his best, he was often dissatisfied with himself.
Shi Ye brought over another photo. “What about this one?”
It was the very first photo he had shown him at the start.
Ding Qizhen: “Right now you’re being disgusting in exactly the way a client is.”
Shi Ye asked again, “So is it handsome or not?”
It was as if he had been born knowing only that sentence. Other babies cried waah waah when they were born; the moment he opened his mouth, it was, “Am I handsome?”
Ding Qizhen closed his eyes. “……Handsome, handsome, handsome!”
Shi Ye sat there with one long leg hanging off the sofa. “Really?”
“Really. Really.”
Shi Ye: 😀
Shi Ye nodded. Actually, this had been the one he liked best all along.
“I’ve got one more question for you.”
Seeing that he had finally finished picking, Ding Qizhen’s tone softened quite a bit. “What question?”
As long as it was not about photos anymore, he could stay emotionally stable forever.
Shi Ye stretched out a long arm and pulled over his backpack—a black one gifted by a brand. With two fingers, he pinched the little bear charm hanging from the zipper. His fingers were longer than the bear charm by a whole section.
“What do you think of this?”
What did he mean, what did he think?
Ding Qizhen examined it closely for a few moments. Hanging that on the bag was pretty cute, actually. Nice contrast too.
So he told the truth. “Pretty cute.”
Relief appeared in Shi Ye’s eyes. “None of them know how to appreciate me.”
Ding Qizhen, who had no idea what had happened: “……” There he went again, lamenting that people did not appreciate him.
On the other side, Xia Fengsheng was lying in his dorm when he received the photo Shi Ye had sent over.
Shi Ye: “Moments background.”
Shi Ye: “[Image]”
Xia Fengsheng clicked it open. It was a photo of Shi Ye standing in the rain with an umbrella, wearing a coat. He looked into the camera with his brows and eyes slightly lifted. Sharp brows, bright eyes—at a glance, all there was to say was handsome. Nothing else. That was the only word his mind could produce.
Dating Shi Ye really would bring honor to one’s face.
Xia Fengsheng replied with an “Oh.”
While changing his Moments background, he mulled over how to make Shi Ye bring up breaking up first.
In order to get along well with others and secure a better future for himself, Xia Fengsheng had long since forgotten how to make people feel genuine disgust from the bottom of their hearts.
The thing he was most practiced at, most skilled at, was pleasing people—saying nice things, leaving a good impression, making sure the next time they met, the other person would still remember him and be able to call him by name.
The first step in speaking and dealing with people, and the most crucial step, was to put away the “male stink.” Or rather, not even put it away—that disgusting vibe had always repulsed him to begin with. Xia Fengsheng simply acted like a normal person: modest and polite.
Unfortunately, there were pitifully few normal people in the world. Hardly anyone could even do the most basic things, so the normalcy he had cultivated became especially rare and precious.
Shi Ye must have had some reason for coming to find him. If he wanted to make the man unable to stand him, then he had to make himself seem disgusting.
Xia Fengsheng’s eyes turned slightly. He really had seen no shortage of disgusting people before. There were plenty of them at drinking parties and KTV business nights. Just thinking of their ugly faces, if he copied them like drawing a tiger from a cat, he could probably reach a level so revolting it would make people laugh.
Xia Fengsheng took the initiative to send a message:
“How long have we been together?”
Shi Ye: “Nine years.”
From when Xia Fengsheng first met Shi Ye until now, it had only been ten years in total, yet the other had counted all the time in between.
Xia Fengsheng kept the conversation going on purpose, pretending to chat casually.
“Nine years isn’t short. We should be pretty intimate by now, right?”
Shi Ye replied with a single character: “Mm.”
Xia Fengsheng softened his tone, showing a fragile side of himself.
“You know I’ve lost my memory. Right now there aren’t many people around me I can talk to, and the person I’m closest to is only you.”
“So I want to understand you properly.”
There was a pause on Shi Ye’s side before he replied, “How do you want to understand me?”
Xia Fengsheng: “Let me see your leg.”
