Chapter 79
After studying at high intensity at school for so long, no matter how diligent and serious Lin Huaixi was, his efficiency still began to drop over time from sheer exhaustion. Once Qi Wang noticed this, he suggested that they go out together over the weekend.
After discussing it, the two of them decided to go to the seaside.
When Liu Zhengnian overheard them talking about it, he found it unbelievable. “Why would you go to the beach in winter? What’s even fun about that?”
In his mind, going to the seaside meant sunbathing, surfing, and splashing around in the water. But now it was already early winter. It was cold enough as it was, and by the sea the wind would only be sharper, biting painfully at your face. Other than suffering, there was nothing fun about it at all.
Lin Huaixi actually agreed with him very much, but still shook his head. “That’s only because you’ve never seen the sea in winter. It’s beautiful. Besides, I checked the weather forecast these past few days. There’ll barely be any wind. It’s just the temperature that’s low.”
Liu Zhengnian thoughtfully reminded them, “Then bring thicker clothes. Don’t let yourselves get cold.”
As he spoke, his gaze could not help sweeping up and down Lin Huaixi.
Lin Huaixi was rather sensitive to the cold. As soon as early winter arrived, he had already put on fluffy earmuffs and a scarf, along with a soft, puffy coat. Wrapped up from head to toe, he looked round and cuddly, like some adorable little animal preparing to survive the winter.
Dressed that warmly, forget the seaside—even Antarctica probably would not freeze him.
And besides, he had the ever-considerate Qi Wang by his side. Qi Wang played the role of bamboo horse to perfection, treating Lin Huaixi like some precious treasure cradled in the palm of his hand, fussing over him, keeping him warm, constantly checking on him. Even if Lin Huaixi wanted to catch a chill, he probably would not get the chance.
As scenes of the two together surfaced in his mind, Liu Zhengnian, that super-straight guy who always said whatever came to mind, blurted out, “Honestly, with you around, I’m seriously worried Qi Wang will never find a wife.”
Lin Huaixi stared at him blankly. “Why would you say that?”
“Because Qi Wang practically treats you like his wife already!” Liu Zhengnian said. “If he gets a wife in the future and she sees how close you two are, won’t she die of jealousy?!”
Lin Huaixi had never, not in a million years, expected him to say something like that. He sat there with a stunned expression, mouth still open, and ended up choking on air so badly that he started coughing, tears nearly springing from his eyes.
Liu Zhengnian was frightened by the earth-shaking fit of coughing and hurried to pat him on the back. “Are you okay?”
Lin Huaixi could not stop coughing and could only weakly wave a hand.
“Why did you suddenly start coughing like that…” Liu Zhengnian, this hopelessly straight man, seemed to gain a sliver of insight at last. “Wait, don’t tell me what I just said actually scared you?”
Lin Huaixi instinctively wanted to deny it, but his body betrayed him. The more anxious he got, the harder he coughed.
Liu Zhengnian squinted at him and teased, “So you really are worried about that, huh? It’s fine, we’re all brothers here. I’m sure Qi Wang’s future wife will understand.”
Lin Huaixi: “…” Was there any chance that I was Qi Wang’s wife?
Well… maybe not yet. Maybe in the future.
Lin Huaixi truly could not continue this conversation with Liu Zhengnian. By now he was coughing so hard his face had flushed red and his eyes were misted with tears. After patting his chest for quite a while, he finally recovered.
“Liu Zhengnian, has anyone ever told you…” Lin Huaixi hesitated, then found a more tactful way to put it. “That your way of speaking is kind of… unique?”
Liu Zhengnian gave a silly grin and scratched the back of his head. “Loads of people say I’m straightforward and dare to say anything. You’re the only one who’s ever praised me by saying my speaking style is unique.”
…Praised?!
Lin Huaixi was left speechless by him. Seeing Liu Zhengnian still so cheerful and optimistic, he could not quite bring himself to point it out anymore.
After parting with Liu Zhengnian, Lin Huaixi walked back with a heart full of thoughts.
All this time, he and Qi Wang had always interacted as bamboo horses, and the people around them were long used to it. If they suddenly announced that they were together now, all their friends would probably be shocked beyond belief and completely unable to accept it.
Maybe they could take it slowly. Maybe they could first leak a little hint here and there, and only after everyone had enough time to prepare themselves mentally would they reveal his relationship with Qi Wang.
…Though right now, he and Qi Wang were only trying being together. Did that even count as being boyfriends?
Completely immersed in his own thoughts, Lin Huaixi did not notice how much time had passed. It was only when he pushed open the apartment door that he snapped back to reality.
Qi Wang was just coming out of the bedroom, pulling a suitcase behind him. Lin Huaixi instantly remembered the important matter at hand and hurriedly changed his shoes before walking over. “Wait a second. I’ll finish packing up in no time.”
“I saw the clothes you laid out, so I already packed them into the suitcase for you. I added a few other things too. Do you want to check it over again?”
Lin Huaixi: “……”
He stared at Qi Wang, dumbfounded, and could not speak for a long while.
Laid out? That was not packing at all—he had just thrown a few pieces of clothing onto the bed. He had gotten up too late this morning and had not even made the bed… Wait, where had he tossed his dirty clothes from yesterday? And had he brought in the underwear he left hanging outside?!
Lin Huaixi’s pupils constricted. His whole body instantly tensed, and he shot into the bedroom like an arrow.
The room looked completely different from the chaotic mess he had left behind that morning. The entire bedroom was spotless and orderly, so neat it lifted one’s mood just to look at it.
Lin Huaixi stood frozen in the doorway for half a minute, then turned back awkwardly and forced out a stiff smile, trying to salvage his rapidly crumbling image.
Qi Wang knew Lin Huaixi too well. A single glance at his expression was enough for him to guess exactly what was going through his mind. With an indulgent smile, he reached out and ruffled Lin Huaixi’s hair.
“All these years, you’ve always been the one accommodating me. You know the hearing in my right ear isn’t good, so you always stay on my left side when you talk, and you even deliberately speak a little louder. You know I have a cleanliness obsession, but you’ve never once complained. You’re always mindful of my feelings.”
Qi Wang opened his arms and hugged him. There was none of last night’s rush of hormones or heartbeats—only warmth. “But Xixi, when you’re with me, you only need to be yourself. You don’t have to change so much for my sake.”
Leaning against Qi Wang’s shoulder and listening to the firm rhythm of his heartbeat, Lin Huaixi felt that tiny thread of embarrassment and nervousness instantly vanish. He nodded lightly. “Got it. Actually, I really do love things being clean and tidy too. Don’t make it sound like I’m terribly sloppy.”
With their bodies so close, Qi Wang naturally heard the soft muttering under his breath and laughed. “Of course. You just have the occasional tiny exception.”
He smoothly shifted the topic and pushed the suitcase toward Lin Huaixi. “Take a look and see if anything’s missing.”
Lin Huaixi did not even need to open the suitcase to know what it would look like inside. Every piece of clothing would be folded flat and smooth, without a single extra crease, every corner aligned into crisp ninety-degree angles. The other items would all be sorted neatly into separate bags and tucked into different compartments.
Qi Wang always did things thoroughly and had never once made a mistake. If Lin Huaixi opened the suitcase now, it would technically be called checking it, but in reality it would just be creating trouble.
Lin Huaixi forced another dry smile and declined over and over. “No need. I trust you.”
Qi Wang did not insist. Smiling, he said, “All right. Then go to bed early tonight. We’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
Whenever he did not have an early class, if no one intentionally woke him, Lin Huaixi could easily sleep for ten full hours.
So even though he had deliberately gone to bed early, once he got into the car the next morning he was still drowsy and half-awake, and he slept all the way through in a haze. When he finally woke up, he discovered that his head was resting on Qi Wang’s shoulder and that practically all his weight had been leaning against him.
Lin Huaixi immediately sat bolt upright and wiped at the corner of his mouth in panic. Only after confirming it was dry did he relax. Then he turned to Qi Wang with an ingratiating smile and eagerly scooted closer, kneading his shoulders and massaging his arm in a dog-like attempt to please him.
Qi Wang enjoyed Lin Huaixi’s little display of obedience for barely half a minute before patting the back of his hand. “It’s fine. You just woke up. Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?”
Lin Huaixi nodded, and Qi Wang took out a thermos from his bag. Only after unscrewing the lid did he hand it over.
The water was warm. Only then did Lin Huaixi realize how thirsty he really was. He drank nearly half the bottle in one go before giving it back to Qi Wang.
They were riding in a coach bus with various other passengers. Just in front of them sat a mother and her daughter.
The mother smiled gently, while the little girl—only four years old, with two tiny pigtails—looked exceptionally adorable.
As luck would have it, that mother and daughter went through the exact same motions. The little girl even sweetly said, “Thank you, Mommy.”
Lin Huaixi was suddenly struck by a sense of eerie familiarity. The tips of his ears instantly turned red, and he quickly turned his head to stare out the window.
That way he no longer had to make eye contact with Qi Wang—but in return, his thoroughly reddened ears were completely exposed right in front of him.
It took Qi Wang a few seconds to understand what Lin Huaixi was thinking. He tried very hard to suppress the corners of his mouth, not letting himself laugh out loud.
He deliberately pretended not to notice Lin Huaixi’s awkwardness, but those bright red ears were just too cute. They made his heart itch, and he desperately wanted to pinch one.
But Lin Huaixi would absolutely explode, and they were on a bus right now. Reason stopped him. Qi Wang only let his gaze linger deeply for a moment before forcing himself to look away.
Lin Huaixi remained oblivious to the danger hidden in that gaze. He kept staring outside and taking deep breaths. Only after five or six minutes did the heat in his face finally begin to fade.
All these years, Qi Wang had always taken such good care of him. Over time, their pattern of interaction had become fixed, and he had never thought there was anything strange about it. Only now did he realize that Qi Wang had always been too attentive, always looking after him like he was still a child.
And the worst part was that he had genuinely enjoyed it, without ever realizing anything was wrong.
Lin Huaixi decided that once they got back, he would have a proper talk with Qi Wang.
Another fifteen minutes later, the bus came to a stop. They had finally arrived.
Complaints immediately rose from the other passengers, the older ones lamenting that the bumpy road had nearly shaken them to pieces. Lin Huaixi, young as he was, felt none of that discomfort. After stepping off the bus, he stretched lazily and felt completely refreshed.
But with his arms still raised in midair, Lin Huaixi suddenly froze. Turning his head, he saw Qi Wang holding both suitcases.
“……”
His movement was instantly put on pause. He quickly walked over and reached for his own luggage.
Qi Wang’s brows lifted slightly, but he did not stop him. He simply handed one of the suitcases over.
Since it was just a matter of pulling a suitcase over the ground, it did not really require much effort. After checking in, the two of them headed up to their room.
They had booked a guesthouse. Although it was technically an open-plan space, there were two beds, one upstairs and one downstairs, which more or less counted as staying in separate rooms.
Once they got inside, the luggage obviously needed a little unpacking. Qi Wang deliberately stood by the window looking out at the scenery and did absolutely nothing, leaving everything for Lin Huaixi to handle.
Lin Huaixi instantly felt a surge of accomplishment. For once he did not feel like some child being taken care of. But while the corners of his mouth lifted and he unconsciously swayed his head from side to side with pride, Qi Wang was quietly watching him in the window’s reflection.
Thanks to Qi Wang’s deliberate arrangement, the little bit of negative emotion Lin Huaixi had developed during the trip completely disappeared. Smiling, he said, “Let’s go out for a walk. I heard the scenery nearby is gorgeous, and there are lots of famous photo spots too.”
“Okay.”
The two of them headed out together and strolled down the broad street side by side.
The sea in winter was an especially pure blue, clear and transparent, resting there like a giant sapphire. The waves rolling in sparkled in the sunlight like shards of crushed diamonds.
Winter was bleak, and the wind carried a chill. There were hardly any tourists around, so the whole place looked especially lonely and weathered. Yet Lin Huaixi loved exactly that feeling. He could sit there and quietly watch the sea without interruption, letting time slip by unnoticed, and his whole being felt deeply healed by it.
It was something he and Qi Wang had discovered together. Back before the college entrance exam, when the atmosphere had been heavy and stifling, they had often dreamed aloud of coming to see the winter sea one day. Now that dream had finally come true.
Lin Huaixi drew himself back from his thoughts, turned his head, and smiled at Qi Wang. “Let’s go down to the beach.”
Qi Wang nodded. Smiling, he reached down and took Lin Huaixi’s hand. It was the first time they had held hands out on the street.
Feeling the warmth against the back of his hand, Lin Huaixi froze for a few seconds. Then a single thought surfaced in his mind:
Did this count as… a date?
