Chapter 41
The moment Gu Nian sent that message, he realized he had probably sent it to the wrong place and hurriedly withdrew it.
Xie Ning basically never spoke in the group chat. Only when they needed to split the cost of shared dorm items would he transfer money in there. To the other roommates, the dorm group chat was no different from a private chat. When they needed someone to bring back food or help check attendance, they would just say it directly in the group.
Gu Nian sent the message and then immediately withdrew it. It was obvious he did not want Xie Ning to know something.
Xie Ning sent a “?” into the group. No one replied for quite a while, so he sent another line.
[Ning: I’m on my way to the gym.]
This time Gu Nian replied instantly: [Huh? [What are we supposed to do now meme.jpg]]
Xie Ning: “…”
They were definitely hiding something from him.
He withdrew the message he had just sent, then opened a private chat with Gu Nian.
[Ning: Don’t tell Pei Zhi I’m here.]
…
Forty minutes earlier.
Training was almost over, and the students were all starting to grow restless. While the coach stepped away to take a phone call, a bunch of them gathered together to chat and joke around, while others idly scrolled through their phones.
Usually, during breaks, Pei Zhi either closed his eyes in thought—reviewing the previous round of training—or emptied his mind in meditation so he could throw himself into the next round.
But this time, his goal was very clear. The moment he returned to the rest area, he picked up his phone to reply to messages, and he looked distinctly anxious about it.
Things had been going well lately between Gu Nian and Fang Ke. As soon as training ended, he hurried off to reply to her messages too. Chen Xi, the only truly single dog among them, looked left, then right, and felt completely out of place between the two of them.
Gu Nian was practically radiating pink bubbles, the atmosphere of being in love overflowing from him. That part Chen Xi understood.
But the problem was… why did Pei Zhi have that same kind of aura around him too?
There was clearly no girl around him.
Chen Xi could not figure it out, and he did not want to figure it out either. Maybe love really did come with some kind of buff effect, one that instantly made people forget the exhaustion of training. The two on either side of him were both full of energy and glowing with life.
Only he himself had been tortured by training until he felt like a dead dog. At that moment, other than consuming mindless short videos, he wanted nothing.
Chen Xi laughed out loud at something on his feed. On his left, Gu Nian must have received some reply, because he smiled shyly. On his right, Pei Zhi opened his photo album, and whatever he saw there made his brows and eyes soften further.
After finishing the short videos, Chen Xi opened the forum, as he habitually did every day to take a quick look around.
A trending campus post had been pushed to the top.
Title: [Are xn from the arts department and pz from the sports department dating?!] [hot]
1st floor: As we all know, xn from our department is an iceberg beauty who doesn’t really socialize much even with classmates. But today, I saw xn actually coming to class with someone else! The other person was none other than pz, the star of the sports department. Not only did pz come to sit in on his class, the first thing he did after entering the classroom was take off his coat and drape it over xn’s legs? My god, my eyes almost fell out right then and there… Before class even started, pz kept asking xn whether he was cold, like he practically wanted to tuck him straight into his pocket. And xn didn’t show the slightest bit of resistance or disgust. Doesn’t he have cleanliness issues? He can actually accept close! range! physical! contact! ps: one more thing. Half a month ago, xn hurt his leg, and pz took care of him the whole time. I accidentally captured this in one of my photography assignments back then. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I was too busy staring at xn’s face… god, that face is too powerful.
[Attached image: Pei Zhi kneeling on one knee beside a wheelchair, his right hand lifting Xie Ning’s face, while Xie Ning lowers his eyes to look at him.]
2nd floor: Came in ready to curse people out. Left shipping it hard.
3rd floor: Xie Beauty’s face alone has me standing at attention.
4th floor: Taking my wife away. OP, stop spreading rumors, okay?
5th floor: Your wife? Don’t joke around. He’s clearly my wife. We’re very much in love and do not accept third parties. [angry]
6th floor: u1s1, is pz’s hand really that big? Is it the angle? It feels like he could cover xn’s whole face with one hand. Is it because of the leg injury? xn looks so fragile and sickly.
7th floor: My god, this sickly beauty is so weak and pitiful, let me have him once. [smirk] [clap] [come here gesture]
8th floor: No wonder pz’s from the sports department. These muscles, this presence, and those thick veins on the back of his hand—he feels like the kind of mad dog who’d be rough in bed and make xn lose con—
9th floor: Honestly… the pairing really works. I’m sending money ahead of time as a wedding gift.
10th floor: …
Chen Xi laughed so hard he almost cried. He shoved the phone toward Pei Zhi, but Pei Zhi reflexively covered the screen with his hand, as though afraid Chen Xi might see something.
Chen Xi looked wounded. “Brother Pei, aren’t we good brothers? Like I’d sneak a peek at your chats? No, hurry up and look at this thread. It’s too funny… Their imaginations are insane. They actually think you and Beauty Xie are a thing!”
“A thread?” Pei Zhi asked.
“Yeah, the campus forum.” Chen Xi loved spending time online. “Some people are even saying the two of you look really good together.”
Although Pei Zhi had no idea what exactly they had posted or what they were talking about, that part about looking good together—he wholeheartedly agreed.
The masses really did have sharp eyes.
“I mean, it’s one thing to read gossip threads for entertainment, but lately people have really been getting way too outrageous. They actually paired together two pure straight guys like you…” Chen Xi laughed as he complained.
Pei Zhi did not respond. He simply opened the campus forum, found the thread Chen Xi had mentioned, and started scrolling through the comments.
A lot of people were saying that he and Xie Ning looked very good together. As for the replies that poured cold water on it, he directly ignored them.
Forum usernames were self-chosen, more like nicknames than real identities. Since it wasn’t a real-name platform, many people spoke without restraint, saying all kinds of nonsense just because no one knew who they were.
Then Pei Zhi suddenly came across one particular reply, and his expression turned ugly at once.
245th floor – sy234: Xie Ning and Pei Zhi are impossible, okay? Pei Zhi is just acting as Xie Ning’s model. Also, Pei Zhi is not Xie Ning’s type at all, thanks. Have you all forgotten that Pei Zhi is a homophobic straight guy? How could he possibly like Xie Ning? He literally said himself that seeing gay people makes him want to puke. Those were his exact words. Can you all stop fantasizing?
253rd floor replying to sy234: Who even are you? Why are you so worked up?
sy234 replying: I’m one of Xie Ning’s pursuers. I’m chasing him. I seriously can’t stand this. What is there to ship about them? Every day Pei Zhi walks around with that cold expression pretending to be cool—for who? Xie Ning is sapiosexual. There’s no way he’d like some sports guy who only has muscles and no brain.
Pei Zhi, whose mood had been quite good until then, looked distinctly unhappy now.
There was no need to guess who “sy” was.
Why was Shen Ye everywhere?
“Is this Shen Ye guy sick in the head?” Chen Xi saw the same comment. “These people were obviously just joking around. No one was taking it seriously. But he’s in here getting all worked up and insulting you in code, saying you’ve got no brains?”
If his brother was getting insulted, Gu Nian could not exactly keep sitting there. “I got in through early admissions, but I remember Brother Pei’s academic score wasn’t bad, right? How many points was it again…”
Pei Zhi didn’t say anything.
He sat there lazily, damp bangs shading his unreadable brows. Then his fingers moved across the screen—and a moment later, Chen Xi suddenly shouted.
“Holy shit! Brother Pei, is this really you?”
404th floor – Pei Zhi: Sapiosexual?
[Image: College entrance exam score inquiry — Total Score: 692 (provincial rank: 296)]
405th floor: Is this the actual person?
406th floor: Wait, what? He’s just using his own name as his ID???
407th floor: Pei Zhi’s academic score was that high? That provincial ranking could’ve gotten him into one of the flagship hot majors at our school.
408th floor: What was our school’s admission line this year again? 680? Good-looking, rich, athletic, and his academic scores are also… this is just…
409th floor: Delete this, bro. I’m actually emotionally broken right now…
410th floor: I understand posting the screenshot to slap people in the face, but what does the “sapiosexual” part mean? Is he implying sy said he and Xie Ning aren’t a good match, while in reality he’s not just muscular but intellectually strong too? Great, now I’m shipping them even harder.
410th floor: Wait—wasn’t Pei Zhi supposed to be homophobic? What is going on? 0.0???
411th floor: …
Other than Pei Zhi and Shen Ye, everyone else in the thread was anonymous, and plenty of people had started joking around in the comments.
After making the post, Pei Zhi exited the forum and irritably opened WeChat.
Xie Ning still hadn’t replied to his message.
“Oh right, I remember Brother Pei’s gaokao score was pretty good,” Gu Nian said. “But I didn’t know it was that good!”
Chen Xi wanted to say something, then stopped. He had the distinct sense that Pei Zhi wasn’t the same as before.
The old Pei Zhi would never have bothered with this sort of thing. He would have thought it was a waste of time. Other people’s opinions meant absolutely nothing to him. But now, just because someone said he wasn’t a good match for Xie Ning, he’d gone straight into the forum thread and posted his gaokao score from years ago.
It wasn’t just Chen Xi who thought so.
Pei Zhi himself also felt like an idiot.
Just reading someone say that he and Xie Ning weren’t a good match, that Xie Ning could never like him, had ignited a fire inside him that wouldn’t go out, burning away even his rationality.
He forgot to think carefully. Forgot to stay calm. Instead, in a rash and childish way, he tried to prove that he had the qualifications and ability to win Xie Ning’s favor.
And who the hell was Shen Ye supposed to be? If Shen Ye said Xie Ning would never like him, did that mean Xie Ning truly wouldn’t?
But that was something between him and Xie Ning. No one else had the right to judge it.
After something has happened, people always go back and analyze it, replay it in their minds, and regret that they weren’t more mature or rational in the moment. They think about how they should have handled it in a more proper and tactful way.
That was probably what was happening to Pei Zhi right now.
But he wasn’t exactly all that regretful.
Even if he had another chance, he probably still wouldn’t come up with some more perfect response.
He believed that even if it happened again, he would still do something just as stupid.
Whenever it came to Xie Ning, he really had very little self-control.
The coach finished his phone call, and the group that had just been slouching around immediately straightened up, chests out and posture rigid.
The coach glanced over them. “Alright, let’s stop here for today. Keep an eye on the group messages later, and don’t pull that disappearing act again, got it?”
Gu Nian and Chen Xi were about to head to the cafeteria. As Pei Zhi packed up his things, he said, “You guys go ahead. I’m going to wait for Xie Ning after class.”
“Oh, right.” They were already used to that. Even before Xie Ning had moved in, Pei Zhi hadn’t often eaten with them. Still, they would always ask out of habit.
Pei Zhi planned to take a quick shower first and then go wait outside Xie Ning’s classroom. But just as he was about to stand up, several people came striding into the gym, led by none other than Shen Ye.
Shen Ye was the sunny-boy type, but at the moment, his mood looked awful. He stopped in front of Pei Zhi. “We’re short a player for basketball. Want to join us for a bit?”
“No time.”
Pei Zhi turned and started to leave. Behind him, Shen Ye suddenly said, “Are you even serious about this?”
Judging from the way Pei Zhi usually acted, Shen Ye didn’t believe he could genuinely like Xie Ning. Or maybe he was just momentarily dazzled by looks. After all, Xie Ning had a face that charmed both men and women. It wouldn’t be strange if Pei Zhi got briefly confused because of that.
Pei Zhi had no intention of answering Shen Ye’s question. He didn’t need to prove anything to him. But that dismissive attitude struck Shen Ye as deeply offensive.
Shen Ye could not imagine Xie Ning seeing this nasty side of Pei Zhi. If Xie Ning really got together with someone like him—someone who always looked sour and intimidating, someone who wouldn’t repent even when he did something wrong—how much would Xie Ning have to suffer?
He wanted to have a proper talk with Pei Zhi.
He stepped forward a couple of paces. At that moment, Pei Zhi was replying to a message and apparently didn’t notice Shen Ye had come right up to him.
The phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. A photo that had been tucked between the phone and the case slid out and landed at Shen Ye’s feet.
Shen Ye happened to raise his foot right then and stepped on the edge of the photo. He didn’t have time to clearly see the faces on it—only that it looked like a photo of two children together, perhaps one of those oversized sticker-style shots that had been popular seven or eight years ago?
Just as he was about to lower his head for a better look, a hand suddenly clamped onto his shoulder and shoved him away hard. Shen Ye’s blood instantly rushed to his head, and he swung a punch back almost immediately.
It all happened far too quickly.
No one saw every detail clearly. Most of them only saw Pei Zhi, eyes full of hostility, shove Shen Ye hard.
Shen Ye had brought friends with him, and they immediately rushed forward. Gu Nian and Chen Xi, who hadn’t left yet, quickly moved to stand on Pei Zhi’s side.
Pei Zhi had only been trying to snatch back the photo. He’d barely managed to dodge Shen Ye’s punch, but part of it still hit his face. The corner of his mouth was bruised dark, and the skin there had split a little.
In that state, he absolutely couldn’t go meet Xie Ning.
Shen Ye wasn’t in much better shape. Pei Zhi had shoved him so hard that he’d almost certainly twisted his ankle. It just didn’t show much on the surface. In reality, his injury wasn’t any lighter than Pei Zhi’s.
The two sides stood facing each other in a tense standoff.
In the thick silence, Pei Zhi bent down, picked up the photo, took a wet wipe from his pocket, and carefully wiped it clean. Only after making sure the photo wasn’t damaged did he go back for his phone.
“Do you even know—” One of them looked ready to start the fight again at any second.
Pei Zhi lowered his eyes and sent a message to Xie Ning, then slowly raised his lids. “You’re really fucking annoying.”
“You cling and cling, shamelessly. You’ve been rejected that many times, yet you still keep licking along without a shred of dignity. And you even act like you’re his actual boyfriend, jumping around in front of me and warning me? What exactly are you warning me as?” Pei Zhi was tall enough that even doing nothing, he still radiated immense pressure and contempt from above. Looking down at Shen Ye, who was shorter by a noticeable margin, he asked, “Do you seriously have no self-respect?”
Supported by his friend, Shen Ye stared at Pei Zhi’s arrogant face, then slowly shoved his friend away.
A second later, he threw another punch straight at Pei Zhi’s face.
…
By the time Xie Ning arrived at the gym, it was noisy inside.
Not the kind of noise that came from an actual brawl, though—more like… people trying to break one up.
When he stepped a little closer, the noise from inside suddenly quieted. Then a series of footsteps came toward the entrance, and the first person to push open the glass door was Shen Ye.
The moment Shen Ye saw Xie Ning, his eyes lit up.
But right now his face was bruised, and he wasn’t walking properly because of his foot, so it wasn’t exactly convenient for him to step forward and greet him.
Almost immediately after, the glass door opened again.
Pei Zhi came out with a dark expression. The habitual way his brows drew together made him look impatient and annoyed. He looked a little better than Shen Ye—only a small bruise at the corner of his mouth.
But the moment he saw Xie Ning, his expression froze.
It was already too late to pretend he hadn’t seen him. Standing on the steps, he stared at Xie Ning for a few seconds, then came down and walked over like a giant dog that had done something wrong.
The Pei Zhi who had just been radiating hostility now looked as though all his claws and fangs had been pulled. Lowering his head in front of Xie Ning, he softened his voice and said, “I’m sorry.”
If the Pei Zhi from a moment ago had looked like the apex predator of the grasslands, ferocious and dangerous, then now he was no different from a lamb with no ability to fight back.
That sharp contrast made all the onlookers freeze in surprise.
Shen Ye ground his teeth on the side. “Don’t believe him. That obedient act is all fake. Just now he looked like he wanted to beat me to death… Xie Ning, believe me. He’s not as simple as he looks.”
Xie Ning ignored Shen Ye.
Instead, he reached out and gently touched the bruised corner of Pei Zhi’s mouth.
It hurt a little. Pei Zhi instinctively wanted to dodge, but he stopped himself and let Xie Ning touch the bruise.
“Does it hurt?” Xie Ning asked.
“No.”
“You got into a fight?”
“…Mm.”
There was no force in Xie Ning’s tone, just an ordinary question, yet it made Pei Zhi feel extremely guilty. He didn’t dare meet Xie Ning’s eyes.
Xie Ning wanted to ask why. But there were too many people around, and Shen Ye was right there too. He could already roughly reconstruct what had happened. Most likely, the reason they’d fought was him.
This wasn’t the place to talk.
He slowly lifted his face and asked, “Do you still want to have lunch together?”
Pei Zhi froze. This time, he answered immediately. “Yes.”
“If we go now, is it still in time?” Xie Ning asked.
“Yes. The car’s already in the parking garage nearby.”
The entire time, Shen Ye was being ignored.
He could feel very clearly that the way Xie Ning treated Pei Zhi was different. Usually Xie Ning was cold and indifferent to everyone, showing little enthusiasm, but in front of Pei Zhi, he was clearly not the same.
That was why Shen Ye had always considered him the strongest rival.
“Xie Ning, you…”
He really wanted to talk to him. In the past, Xie Ning would at least offer a polite reply or two, but now he realized Xie Ning wouldn’t even acknowledge him anymore. Ignoring the injuries on his body, Shen Ye chased after them. “Where are you going?”
Xie Ning stopped. Beside him, Pei Zhi also halted at once.
Turning slightly to the side, Xie Ning’s refined face looked less cold than usual in the sunlight. It was as if long-frozen snow and ice had been warmed and softened by the sun, revealing a few traces of warmth underneath.
“Where I’m going has nothing to do with you.”
Then, after a brief pause, Xie Ning added one more line.
“We’re going on a date. Was there anything else?”
A date.
We.
Not only did Shen Ye freeze in place, but Pei Zhi’s expression changed too. He stared fixedly at Xie Ning’s face, his Adam’s apple moving once with nervous tension.
Up on the steps, Gu Nian and Chen Xi—who had just been helping break up the fight—stood there dumbfounded, staring at each other.
…
At the restaurant.
The server brought over warm towels. After wiping his hands, Xie Ning spoke in a calm tone.
“Can you explain now? Why did you lie to me?”
After a brief silence, Pei Zhi said, “Because I was afraid you’d be angry.”
“Angry?” Xie Ning didn’t understand. “If you told me the truth, I wouldn’t be angry. But if you lie to me, that’s when I get angry.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t like me. Afraid I wasn’t your type. I wanted to keep my image as perfect as possible in your eyes,” Pei Zhi said. “I know you don’t like violence.”
Xie Ning really did dislike people who always used violence to solve problems.
“Why did you fight him?”
“He said you’d never like me.”
“Just because of that?”
“Just because of that.”
Of course that wasn’t the only reason.
It was just the only reason he could bring himself to say aloud. If he said the rest, Xie Ning might think he was petty.
Teaching Shen Ye a lesson was something Pei Zhi had wanted to do for a long time. Shen Ye kept pestering Xie Ning again and again, even after Xie Ning had clearly rejected him. He’d treated those refusals like background noise, buzzing around Xie Ning like a fly, even sending harassing messages.
Pei Zhi had disliked him for a very long time.
Xie Ning picked up his spoon and scooped a spoonful of cream of mushroom soup with puff pastry. He didn’t say anything more, and Pei Zhi lost his appetite entirely, his heart hanging in the air.
“Don’t be angry.” Under the table, Pei Zhi stretched out his long leg and nudged the tip of Xie Ning’s shoe with his own. When Xie Ning lifted his eyes, Pei Zhi leaned forward slightly, looking almost pitiful. “I swear I’ll never lie to you again. I was just too scared. I really was scared… scared of leaving a bad impression on you.”
This was the period during which Pei Zhi was trying to win Xie Ning over, and everything he did mattered.
The fight had been an accident. Although it barely counted as understandable under the circumstances, a fight was still a bad thing. And on top of that, he’d beaten Shen Ye up like that. If Shen Ye hadn’t thrown the first punch, the whole thing probably would have escalated further. Once rumors started flying, plus disciplinary action or something of that sort, his image in Xie Ning’s heart would be ruined.
In the past, Pei Zhi had never cared about rumors. He’d heard plenty of false things people said about him, but he’d never given a damn.
Now it was different.
Now he was trying to win Xie Ning’s favor.
Now he did have to think about these things carefully.
As he spoke, Pei Zhi rubbed the tip of his sneaker against Xie Ning’s shoe in a quietly ingratiating way.
Under the table, the tip of Pei Zhi’s branded sneaker kept brushing against Xie Ning’s white shoe. His foot was much larger, making Xie Ning’s seem even smaller by comparison, and because of that size difference, the entire scene somehow felt strangely intimate.
“Pei Zhi.”
His foot stilled.
With lowered eyes, Xie Ning said softly, “You’ve rubbed my shoes dirty.”
“I’ll clean them for you.” That sounded too little, so Pei Zhi added, “Step on me instead. Then I’ll buy you a new pair too.”
“Like that?”
Xie Ning’s voice carried no special emotion, barely any rise or fall.
Slowly, he lifted the tip of his shoe and placed it on top of Pei Zhi’s, covering part of the rounded toe.
The smaller white shoe standing on top of the larger one looked especially dainty by contrast.
Pei Zhi had never thought his feet were especially large before, but now he suddenly felt that if he reached out with one hand, he could easily wrap his whole palm around Xie Ning’s foot, shoe and all.
So cute.
The thought appeared in his mind.
Xie Ning’s shoes weren’t a luxury brand. They had been custom-made by someone his parents found specifically for his foot shape. They were very comfortable to wear. But now, stepping on the expensive surface of Pei Zhi’s shoe, he felt an odd kind of comfort too.
It was the kind of comfort that came from the mind.
Xie Ning didn’t move his foot away, so Pei Zhi kept his shoe under there and let him continue stepping on it.
Then Xie Ning suddenly lifted his head and asked in genuine puzzlement, “Why do you want me to step on you?”
“I’m trying to coax you,” Pei Zhi said. “I want to make you happy.”
The thought process was simple. Since he’d “stepped on” Xie Ning’s shoes and dirtied them, then cleaning them or buying him new ones was the minimum compensation. But to really make Xie Ning feel better, what he’d done wrong needed to be redirected back onto himself.
Something like tit for tat.
Except Pei Zhi didn’t feel punished at all by having Xie Ning step on him.
Under that cool, detached gaze and the light pressure of Xie Ning’s foot, it felt more like a reward.
Xie Ning set his utensils down with the faintest little sound. His voice grew even more puzzled.
“If it makes me happy, then anything is okay?”
“Of course.” Pei Zhi answered instantly. “As long as you’re happy, I don’t care about anything else.”
Xie Ning looked at him.
Pei Zhi’s answer had come naturally, as though it were something self-evident, something that required no thought at all.
Pei Zhi seemed to like him even more than he had imagined.
At least for now, that was how it looked.
Only then did Xie Ning begin to understand why some people loved being in love so much, and why it was so easy to be moved by the warmth of someone who was in love with them.
Faced with this kind of complete, open, unreserved preference, even he could not stay untouched.
Xie Ning fell silent again.
Pei Zhi reflected anxiously on whether he’d said something wrong or upset him somewhere along the line. But at the same time, he could vaguely sense that Xie Ning’s mood… seemed to be pretty good?
“Xie Ning.”
Pei Zhi called softly. When Xie Ning raised his long lashes to look at him, Pei Zhi’s fingers tightened, and with visible nervousness he asked, “…Just now, you said we were going on a date. What exactly did you mean by date?”
The restaurant’s décor was elegant, and the crystal chandelier above cast diamond-like light across Xie Ning’s face, softening his features even more.
Xie Ning’s lips curled just a little. His toe pressed lightly down against the front of Pei Zhi’s shoe, as if deliberately stepping on it. There was a faint smile on his face, but under the table his foot was misbehaving. For some reason, it made Pei Zhi think of a little cat intentionally causing trouble.
“Aren’t you pursuing me?” Xie Ning said. “You’re courting me, and I agreed to have lunch with you. If that’s not a date, then what is it?”
Xie Ning rarely hesitated over something for so long.
He was someone decisive, and intelligent too. Yet when it came to Pei Zhi, he had lingered at the same crossroads for a very long time, circling back and forth, never arriving at a clear answer.
He had already wandered in the same place for so long. Deep down, he more or less knew the answer in his heart—he just hadn’t dared to admit it.
Xie Ning disliked the feeling of plans being disrupted. He hated losing control, and he hated accidents.
But if the person in question was Pei Zhi…
Then perhaps he was willing to spend a little more effort revising the plans he had for his future.
And in that moment, he chose to listen to the voice in his heart.
When faced with a confession from someone pursuing him, Xie Ning had never given such an ambiguous answer before. In the past, when someone confessed, he either ignored them completely or rejected them outright. He would never have said something as wavering as this.
And suddenly, Pei Zhi understood.
He was pursuing Xie Ning, and Xie Ning was accepting the pursuit. Xie Ning was giving him positive feedback, which meant his attitude was being made clear too.
Joy crashed over Pei Zhi like a flood.
He wanted to smile, but the wound at the corner of his mouth pulled, twisting his expression awkwardly.
He must look stupid right now. Like a complete idiot, making a fool of himself, a total mess.
But he no longer cared about managing his image.
Instead, he looked at Xie Ning with a mixture of excitement and restraint. “I’m a little nervous.”
“Mm?”
“Can I hold your hand?”
Pei Zhi had trained in sports since childhood and was usually very good at controlling his breathing, but at this moment those long-practiced habits failed him. His breathing became shallow and uneven. “I’m too nervous. I want to hold your hand.”
Xie Ning held out his hand to him.
“You can.”
There was still some distance between the two sides of the table, and Pei Zhi hated that distance. It was too far. So he simply got up and came around to Xie Ning’s side, crouching down in front of him. He took Xie Ning’s hand and then pressed his cheek into Xie Ning’s palm.
“I… I’m so happy.”
He desperately wanted to say something, anything. “Wait. Let me calm down first.”
Right now, he was too excited—so excited he could barely speak coherently, barely control his expression.
Xie Ning could feel the very obvious trembling running through Pei Zhi’s body.
So when someone was too excited, it really was true that they couldn’t control their physical reactions.
But had he even said anything that dramatic? Why was Pei Zhi this happy?
A little helpless, Xie Ning reminded him, “I haven’t actually agreed to you yet. Aren’t you getting happy a little too early?”
For Pei Zhi, Xie Ning allowing him to pursue him was already enough to make him unbelievably happy.
He held that slightly smaller hand in his own. His hand was large enough to wrap around Xie Ning’s completely. One by one, his fingers slipped into the gaps between Xie Ning’s fingers until their hands were tightly interlaced, and the psychological satisfaction this gave him was overwhelming.
Once again, Pei Zhi pressed his face to the back of Xie Ning’s hand and mumbled, “Baby.”
Under the soft light, Xie Ning lowered his eyes slightly. Pei Zhi met his gaze. Xie Ning’s eyes were misted with a faint trace of moisture, and his cool face was deeply beautiful.
Under that gaze, Pei Zhi felt like he was about to sink completely. He couldn’t help rubbing lightly against the back of Xie Ning’s hand, his voice solemn and earnest.
“I like you.”
…
That afternoon, Pei Zhi trained in exceptionally high spirits.
At lunch, not only had he gone on a date with Xie Ning, but Xie Ning had even let him drive him to the studio.
Before this, Xie Ning had never allowed that.
Although the corner of his mouth was bruised, Pei Zhi’s mental state was excellent. Even when someone accidentally took the water bottle he’d bought, he didn’t show the slightest bad temper. He only said calmly, “It’s just one bottle of water.”
The people around him looked at Pei Zhi as though they’d seen a ghost.
Just one bottle of water? The old Pei Zhi would already have been glaring with a dark face by now. Everyone knew he hated other people touching his things. Even if it happened by accident, it still wasn’t okay.
Gu Nian and Chen Xi both wore complicated expressions.
Their expressions were complicated, but their inner thoughts were even more so. They exchanged a glance, yet neither one dared ask first, afraid the topic might be too sensitive.
But at the same time, if they didn’t ask, they really couldn’t stand it.
In the end, it was Pei Zhi himself who brought it up. He asked, “Did you look at the group notice? We’ve got a pretty long break coming up.”
“Huh?” What kind of question was that? They’d both seen the notice. “Yeah. So I was thinking maybe I’d go home for a bit. We don’t really have many classes left anyway.”
Then Pei Zhi looked at Chen Xi. “What about you?”
Chen Xi said, “Gu Nian’s talking crap about going home. He’s obviously moving in with his girlfriend and busy dating, right? As for me… sigh, Brother Pei, you know how it is. I’ve never really had much luck in the romance department. Going home? Forget it. I don’t want to go home and get nagged by my parents.”
“So you’re staying in the dorm?”
Even though Pei Zhi’s tone was perfectly polite, Chen Xi immediately caught a hint of something off in the question. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
Oh, shit. How had he forgotten about that?
Today Pei Zhi had gone on a date with Xie Ning. Their dorm had produced a couple. What was he supposed to be in the middle of that? A third wheel?
No wonder Pei Zhi had suddenly brought the topic up.
That answer he had just given was way too lacking in awareness.
He hurriedly corrected himself. “Uh, actually, I suddenly feel like going on a trip to Tibet and Sichuan. Yeah, travel. Since we don’t have classes for a while, I should go wild a little. If you don’t travel while you’re young, you won’t have the chance once you start working…”
As he spoke, he threw Pei Zhi frantic looks and even looked a bit smug.
Wasn’t he being exceptionally tactful?
“Mm,” Pei Zhi said. “I’ll pay for the trip. Book the best hotels. Don’t hold back.”
Chen Xi clasped his hands together in gratitude. “Bless you, Father Pei. I wish you and Beauty Xie a long life together and… and that things work out soon.”
Pei Zhi’s mood visibly improved even more.
With no one else left in the dorm, just him and Xie Ning, he would be able to fully focus on pursuing him.
Of course, the dorm couldn’t be a long-term solution. Once Xie Ning accepted him, buying or renting a place nearby would work too. After all, the dorm wasn’t exactly convenient, and it affected their roommates’ lives.
More importantly, Pei Zhi had realized something else.
His possessiveness toward Xie Ning seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.
Even knowing they were “just roommates,” the truth was that living under the same roof meant there was almost no privacy. And the thought that other people might see Xie Ning right after he woke up, or just after a shower…
He found it utterly unbearable.
Pei Zhi knew that being too possessive wasn’t a good thing.
He had already been trying to control it.
With his head lowered, Pei Zhi was messaging Xie Ning updates about his training progress, just like any other pair of people in that ambiguous pre-dating stage, wanting to tell the other person every moment of the day what they were doing.
Gu Nian looked at the current Pei Zhi the way one might look at his former self. He still found the whole thing dreamlike. “Brother Pei, you’re really chasing after Beauty Xie? But… weren’t you straight before?”
“I’m not now,” Pei Zhi said. “I like Xie Ning. Only him.”
“Brother Pei, then you really need to go after him seriously and with all your heart. Beauty Xie has a good personality and he’s outstanding too. So many people like him. Every day when I scroll the forum I see people asking for his contact info…”
Chen Xi sighed. “The number of romantic rivals is seriously insane.”
Pei Zhi sent Xie Ning a sticker that said [Has our little baby finished class yet? jpg], then replied calmly, “Xie Ning is excellent. Of course lots of people like him.”
The way he said it almost sounded proud.
Pei Zhi had been planning to chat with them a little longer, but then Xie Ning sent him a message saying he’d gotten out of class. Pei Zhi immediately stood up, walked out onto the balcony, and called him.
Xie Ning still had an evening class today, but it was only two periods, and now it was already over.
“Do you still need to go to the studio later?” Pei Zhi asked. “Or are you heading back to the dorm? I’m almost done too. What do you want to eat tonight? I can bring you some late-night food.”
“Or maybe hotpot? I can go buy ingredients, and we can make a little hotpot ourselves. It’s so cold out—hotpot would feel amazing.”
“Hotpot? That would work, but—” Xie Ning sounded like he was walking somewhere, and the wind noise was strong. His clear, cool voice mixed with the noisy wind in a way that was oddly calming. Then he added, “Wait… I need to go out for a bit first. Let’s hold off on hotpot.”
“You’re going out?”
“Mm. My younger brother suddenly sent me a voice message. I converted it to text and read it. He sounds like he got way too drunk and wants me to go pick him up.”
Xie Ning looked at his phone. Qi Ran had sent him a bunch of voice notes, and even recorded a video.
The thumbnail already showed his face streaked with tears, and beside him there was a man leaning in with what looked like bad intentions. Xie Ning had no idea whether they knew each other or not.
It wasn’t convenient to listen to voice messages or watch video while on a call, and he was worried something might happen to Qi Ran. “I’m hanging up first. We’ll talk later. Focus on your training.”
The gist of Qi Ran’s voice messages, all ten full-minute clips of sobbing, came down to this:
I’m actually gay. What do I do? I don’t want to be a gay guy. Will drinking Chinese medicine help?
That was basically the core message.
Xie Ning couldn’t exactly give him very good advice, because he himself had apparently also turned gay now. But he had no intention of telling Qi Ran that just yet. Otherwise Qi Ran might have an even bigger breakdown.
Qi Ran would definitely stare at him in disbelief and think, Even my brother—the sacred and untouchable one in my mind—has turned gay? Is this world run by gays now?
He would absolutely think that.
So Xie Ning called Qi Ran.
For the moment, Qi Ran still had some minimal awareness left. Xie Ning said, “Are you alone? No, you went with friends, right? Tell me their names. Mm, I know those few. Their character is okay. Tell them not to leave you alone for too long… and don’t let strangers get too close either. Especially don’t let strange men touch you however they want.”
“Is this Brother Xie Ning? Brother! Don’t worry, I’m taking really good care of Qi Ran!” An excited voice rang out from the other end. “Brother, are you coming over? It’s been so long since we saw each other… Actually, how about I come pick you up? We could grab food nearby?”
Xie Ning ignored Qi Ran’s friends and continued, “Did you hear what I just said?”
Qi Ran cried as he answered, “I heard.”
“Send me the bar’s location. I’m coming to get you now. Hurry.”
Qi Ran sent over the bar’s location. Xie Ning happened to have reached the school gate by then and flagged down a taxi. He stayed on the line with Qi Ran the whole time.
At the same time, another message came in from Pei Zhi.
[Childish Brat: I asked for leave. I’m coming with you to get your brother. It’s too late out. I’m worried something might happen if you go alone.]
[Childish Brat: My side says you’re on a call. Are you talking to your brother? You’re probably already in the car. Send me your location and I’ll drive straight over.]
[Childish Brat: It’s better if there’s another person too.]
Xie Ning didn’t refuse.
An extra person really would help. And as for Qi Ran’s friends… well, how to put it. They were a little too enthusiastic, and Xie Ning found them hard to handle.
Since Pei Zhi had already taken leave, there was no need to be polite. Xie Ning simply forwarded him the bar’s location.
On the other end, Pei Zhi inserted the car key.
The phone vibrated. As he started the engine, he unlocked the screen one-handed and saw the bar location Xie Ning had sent. For a moment, he went still.
Arc…
It was one of the largest bars in A City.
And also the wildest, most chaotic, highest-intensity gay bar in the whole city.
