A Dog Out of Nowhere Chapter 81

The next day, there were even more people at the exhibition. Because of last night’s news feature, many more people came compared to the first day.

Fang Chi originally wanted to pull Sun Wenqu into sleeping a bit longer, but Sun Wenqu woke up early. Fang Chi got up with him, brushing his teeth while watching the TV replay.

“Hey,” he stared at the screen showing Sun Wenqu being interviewed. “I realized you’re really photogenic.”

“Really?” Sun Wenqu wasn’t too interested, he had grown up watching reporters interview his dad, so he felt nothing much about it. “Am I very handsome?”

“You look like some transcendent artist,” Fang Chi said with a toothbrush in his mouth. “So handsome.”

“You still have to come with me to the exhibition this morning,” Sun Wenqu said while getting dressed. “After lunch I’ll take you to the station.”

“If you’re busy, you can just drop me at the exhibition center entrance. I can take a taxi myself, it’s not troublesome,” Fang Chi said.

“So considerate,” Sun Wenqu smiled. “Doesn’t seem like a chive anymore.”

“I’ll grow into a chive flower eventually,” Fang Chi said. “And I still have to go buy roasted chestnuts near our school, Cheng Mo plans to use them to win over Xiao Yiming.”

“…What a unique idea,” Sun Wenqu said.

Taking a taxi to the station himself, that’s what Fang Chi had said without thinking he couldn’t do it. But after spending the whole morning watching Sun Wenqu, and then watching him through lunch, he suddenly regretted it.

He even regretted what he said yesterday about wanting Sun Wenqu to stay here instead of going to the branch.

He couldn’t bear it.

It was driving him crazy.

Fang Chi, how did you manage to be so noble and understanding yesterday?

What kind of medicine did you take?

In the end, he walked around to the back of the booth and said to Sun Wenqu, who was sitting and playing with his phone, “You should… take me to the station after all.”

Sun Wenqu looked up, leaned back in the chair, stretched his legs, and smiled. “Didn’t you say you’d go yourself?”

“I changed my mind,” Fang Chi said. “I still have to buy chestnuts, if you take me, it’ll be more convenient.”

“Didn’t you say this morning that since you had to buy chestnuts, you didn’t need me to take you?” Sun Wenqu curled his lips.

“Are you taking me or not?” Fang Chi clicked his tongue.

“Let’s go.” Sun Wenqu stood up with a smile and grabbed his coat.

Sitting in the little Beetle, neither of them spoke. Fang Chi kept his head turned, watching Sun Wenqu’s profile. The sunlight was beautiful today, outlining his face with a warm golden glow, it looked really nice.

Sun Wenqu had showered in the morning, and that faint coconut-milk scent still lingered.

Fang Chi sighed softly and turned his gaze out the window, looking at the familiar streets. Only at this moment did that feeling of having to part again, the reluctance and faint anxiety, begin to clearly and uncontrollably spread in his chest.

It didn’t feel good.

The roasted chestnuts were still the same old flavor, delicious. Fang Chi held a bag of them, standing with Sun Wenqu at the school entrance.

“Thinking about it, time really passes fast,” Fang Chi watched students entering the school one after another. “Before you know it, this place becomes your alma mater.”

“Yeah,” Sun Wenqu nodded while eating chestnuts. “In one year, you went from a 14-year-old second-year middle schooler to a first-year university student.”

Fang Chi laughed. “Ah, don’t mention it. Back then I just wanted to help Fang Ying, otherwise Little Guo wouldn’t have had it easy.”

“You should thank her too,” Sun Wenqu said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have met me.”

“Mm,” Fang Chi looked at him seriously. “Almost missed a treasure.”

“That flattery,” Sun Wenqu gave a thumbs-up. “Clear rhythm, just the right emphasis.”

Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “I won’t flatter you anymore, I’ll just know it in my heart.”

From his beloved alma mater to the train station, there wasn’t even traffic, it felt like they arrived in an instant.

Sun Wenqu parked the car and was about to get out to walk Fang Chi to the entrance, but Fang Chi stopped him, opened the door, and pushed him back into the driver’s seat.

“You just go back,” he checked that no one was watching, leaned in through the window, and kissed his cheek. “I’ll go in myself, I don’t even have luggage.”

“You don’t need me to accompany you?” Sun Wenqu looked at him.

“No,” Fang Chi smiled. “I’m afraid I might get emotional and drag you in with me.”

Sun Wenqu laughed, reached out, and pinched his face. “Alright, go in yourself. Message me when you arrive.”

“Mm, I’m going then,” Fang Chi nodded. He walked a couple of steps, then stopped and turned back. “I’m going.”

“Hurry up,” Sun Wenqu leaned back in the seat, smiling.

Fang Chi clenched his teeth, turned, and strode toward the ticket gate.

The ticket check was quick. He didn’t have much luggage, just a bag, so he got through easily.

As he was about to turn inside, he looked back, and froze.

Sun Wenqu was standing outside the gate, leaning on the railing, watching him with a smile.

“D*mn!” Fang Chi froze. It was too late to go back out, so he quickly pulled out his phone and called him. “Why did you come over! Didn’t I tell you to just leave!”

“I knew you’d look back,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile. “I was afraid you’d be disappointed if you turned around and saw nothing.”

“If I knew you came over, I wouldn’t have gone in yet!” Fang Chi glared at him.

“That would’ve delayed things,” Sun Wenqu said. “Alright, go in. I’m leaving.”

“Mm,” Fang Chi looked at him from afar. “Drive safely.”

Sun Wenqu hung up, waved at him, and turned to leave.

Before he even got back in the car, that overwhelming longing surged up like a volcanic eruption, completely uncontrollable. Fang Chi sighed, went to buy a box of ice cream, and ate it all in one go before calming down a bit.

After returning to school, just as he sent Sun Wenqu a message saying he’d arrived and hadn’t even entered the dorm building yet, Cheng Mo came running out.

“You’re back! We really have a connection. I just came out of the bathroom, stood by the window, and saw you,” Cheng Mo slapped his shoulder and took his bag. “Did you buy the chestnuts?”

“Bought four bags,” Fang Chi said. “They said this stuff doesn’t taste good after a couple of days, what are you going to do?”

“It’s fine. I’ll just borrow the cafeteria oven, or a microwave works too,” Cheng Mo said. “I’ve already looked up several ways to process roasted chestnuts. I’ll prepare them tonight and bring them to him.”

“Have you met him these past few days?” Fang Chi asked as they walked upstairs.

“No. I asked him to eat together, he said he’s busy,” Cheng Mo clicked his tongue. “Tonight I’ll ask if he has time for roasted chestnuts.”

“He definitely will,” Fang Chi smiled.

After returning to school, everything instantly went back to how it was before.

Classes, reading, training and part-time work at the club, occasionally being dragged by He Dongbao to check out the school climbing team, and asking about Cheng Mo and Xiao Yiming’s progress… Fang Chi felt his adaptability was pretty strong. Even though he missed Sun Wenqu terribly, life still went on quite normally.

Things on Sun Wenqu’s side progressed quickly after partnering with Ma Liang. There weren’t really any conditions left to negotiate between them, Ma Liang had just been waiting for Sun Wenqu to agree.

Originally, Fang Chi thought going to a branch would be exhausting and Sun Wenqu wouldn’t handle it well, but he hadn’t expected that staying at the main base wouldn’t be much easier either. Every time he called, Sun Wenqu was busy, sometimes busy until eleven or twelve at night.

“If I’d known, I would’ve had you come over,” Fang Chi sighed. “Why is even a design director this busy? I thought the job was just, ‘Ah, pay attention, this should be like this, that should be like that, okay, go do it,’ and then you can drink tea.”

Sun Wenqu laughed for quite a while on the other end. “It won’t be this busy later. It’s just the beginning, lots of things to do. And we just signed a big order. After New Year, we’ll have to deliver.”

“Do you still have to work during New Year?” Fang Chi asked.

“Maybe just a shorter holiday,” Sun Wenqu said. “But if you have time, you can come stay with me for a couple of days, watch me work.”

“Okay,” Fang Chi chuckled. “Honestly, just being able to look at you is enough for me.”

“You don’t have to keep emphasizing that just looking at me is enough,” Sun Wenqu said softly. “You’ve already proven countless times how false that statement is.”

Fang Chi laughed, a little embarrassed. “If you’re not willing, I can’t do anything anyway, just looking is fine.”

“Really?” Sun Wenqu said. “Alright then. When you come back for winter break, let’s do that. I’ll be tired anyway and won’t want to do anything, you can just sit to the side and watch me.”

“…F*ck.” Fang Chi froze for a moment.

“Look at that reaction,” Sun Wenqu laughed. “Bummed out, huh.”

“I refuse to believe you don’t have needs,” Fang Chi lowered his voice after checking that nobody was around. “Just keep holding it in, you old man. I’m waiting for the day you cry and beg me.”

Sun Wenqu laughed so hard he couldn’t stop.

The days actually passed pretty quickly, especially when he was in a good mood and had something to look forward to.

There were just a few moments when Fang Chi felt depressed, for example, spending Christmas alone, or New Year’s when Sun Wenqu was busy while Fang Chi was also too busy at the club to take time off, and then Valentine’s Day…

They spent Valentine’s Day as a dorm-wide group activity.

“Fang Chi finally makes us feel balanced for once,” Li Zheng, who had broken up with his girlfriend a month earlier, said with satisfaction as he watched Fang Chi texting Sun Wenqu with his head lowered. “The guy actually didn’t reunite with his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day!”

The others in the dorm all nodded in agreement, looking very pleased.

“You guys happy now?” Fang Chi didn’t even lift his head. “A bunch of single dogs who spend every holiday with your roommates.”

“Holy sh*t,” Zhang Junyi had just grabbed a towel to wash his face. Hearing that, he tossed the towel aside and lunged at him. “We can’t let you off today! If we don’t beat you up, you’ll never know how single dogs bark!”

“Woof woof!” Li Zheng shouted as he also pounced over.

The guys in the dorm piled together and pinned Fang Chi onto the desk, poking him and tickling him for a long while.

After everyone finally backed off, Fang Chi lay sprawled over the desk, laughing as he rubbed his arm. “D*mn, why do I feel like somebody bit me?”

“I did!” Li Zheng said. Then he casually picked up Fang Chi’s phone lying nearby and glanced at it, only to freeze. “Why is your girlfriend’s profile picture a guy?”

“…Her idol.” Fang Chi only then realized Li Zheng had grabbed his phone and nearly jumped out of his skin. This wasn’t some bizarre dorm like Cheng Mo’s where five out of six guys openly obsessed over men every day. He hurriedly snatched the phone back.

Li Zheng stared at him. “You can tolerate that? Your girlfriend uses another guy as her profile pic and you can tolerate it?”

“Yeah,” Fang Chi answered shortly. Of course he could tolerate it. The guy in that photo had rolled around in bed with him countless times already…

“You don’t get it. These things must be tolerated,” Liu Yu chimed in. “When necessary, you should even praise her idol alongside her and share the same aesthetic tastes.”

The topic quickly shifted to how to peacefully coexist with the various male idols in one’s girlfriend’s heart. Fang Chi finally relaxed and climbed onto his bed, sending Sun Wenqu a message.

-My dormmates just saw my phone and asked why my girlfriend’s profile picture was a guy. Scared the h*ll out of me.

-Why don’t you just move into Cheng Mo’s dorm?

-That’s actually not a bad idea.

-Then you could find me three romantic rivals so I can enjoy being jealous.

-At most two. Cheng Mo’s completely obsessed with Xiao Yiming now, just like how I am with you. You’re my male god.

-You’re my wild dog.

After chatting for a bit, Sun Wenqu probably got busy and stopped replying.

Lying on the bed, Fang Chi stared at his profile picture absentmindedly. When the person himself wasn’t around, even a tiny profile picture could hold his attention for ages.

Fang Chi tapped on Sun Wenqu’s avatar.

Then he froze.

Sun Wenqu had changed it. It was now the hyacinth Fang Chi had given him.

Fang Chi stared at the hyacinth for a long time.

“Actually,” Fang Chi suddenly said to Li Zheng as he turned his head, “that’s not…”

“Are we going or not?!” Li Zheng smacked the side of his bed. “If we go too late, the couples are gonna take over the whole place!”

“Going where?” Fang Chi jumped.

“For barbecue,” Li Zheng tugged his arm. “Hurry up! Eat first, then we’ll go out into the streets carrying torches. Gotta be full to have energy!”

“Idiot.” Fang Chi laughed, stuffing his phone back into his pocket as he jumped down from the bed.

Once Valentine’s Day was over, there weren’t really any more holidays left to torture people. Everyone just stared at the calendar waiting for winter break.

Of course, before that, they still had to survive exam week.

For the first time ever, Fang Chi didn’t worry about bombing his exams. He even had the smug feeling that Top Student Sun had possessed him.

All his thoughts were free to focus on the fact that vacation was almost here and Sun Wenqu was coming to pick him up. The Cowherd and the Cowherd were about to reunite. Romeo and Romeo were finally going to meet. Liang Shanbo and Liang Shanbo were about to fly together…

His phone rang. Fang Chi rolled over lazily in bed, slowly fishing for it beneath the blanket.

It wasn’t Sun Wenqu’s special ringtone, so he wasn’t in any hurry.

But when he saw “Uncle Liangzi” on the screen, his heart suddenly sank. He picked up immediately. “Uncle Liangzi.”

“Done… done with exams yet?” Ma Liang’s voice came through.

“Two more days and I’m finished,” Fang Chi said.

“How’d you do?” Ma Liang asked with a laugh.

“Pretty smooth,” Fang Chi said. “Us academic geniuses don’t even put exams in our eyes.”

“Good then,” Ma Liang lowered his voice. “Li… Li Bowen rented a piece of land in your… your village, and a house too. Don’t know when construction’s starting.”

Fang Chi didn’t speak. His hands suddenly felt cold.

“If he’s gonna do it, it’ll probably be after… after spring starts,” Ma Liang added. “Ground’s all frozen now.”

“Mm.” Fang Chi responded softly. “Probably rented Uncle Li’s place. It’s along the road by the mountain.”

“What… what are you thinking?” Ma Liang asked.

“Nothing,” Fang Chi smiled faintly. “Thanks, Uncle Liangzi.”

“Not gonna tell me some… some kind of plan?” Ma Liang pressed.

“You’ll tell Sun Wenqu,” Fang Chi said. “Can’t tell you.”

Ma Liang laughed. “Brat.”

“I’ll handle it,” Fang Chi said. “Don’t tell Sun Wenqu. I’ll tell him myself when it’s done.”

“Alright.” Ma Liang laughed and hung up.

Even though he had already planned things out in his head long ago, even though he had mentally prepared himself countless times, and even saved Cheng Mo’s mom’s number in a separate contact group in case he panicked and couldn’t find it…

Hearing the news from Ma Liang and realizing he was finally about to truly face this issue still left Fang Chi feeling suffocated and anxious.

How should he say it?

What wording would make it gentler?

How could he explain it in a way Grandpa would understand?

He had thought through all of those things over and over, imagining countless possibilities.

But the one thing he had never found the perfect answer to was how exactly to say the very first sentence.

That was what frightened and unsettled him the most.

Exactly how was he supposed to open his mouth and say that first sentence?

Like the step of jumping off for bungee jumping. Like that forward lean before the tallest water slide…

Everything afterward could be dealt with. Only that first step was the hardest.

He still hadn’t figured out how to say the first sentence. He couldn’t figure it out. There was simply no answer. Not even one.

After exams ended, everyone was busy packing to go home. Sun Wenqu was coming the next day to pick him up. Fang Chi felt both excited and expectant, while also trapped in unsolvable anxiety and conflict.

“Come out for dinner tonight,” Fang Chi called Xiao Yiming. Originally, he’d wanted Xiao Yiming to come back together with them when Sun Wenqu arrived this time, but Xiao Yiming was continuing his part-time job right up until New Year’s.

“Okay,” Xiao Yiming said. “Just the two of us?”

“Cheng Mo too,” Fang Chi said. “He didn’t ask me to invite you. I’m the one bringing you both out because there’s something I want to discuss.”

“You…” Xiao Yiming paused. “You’re going to tell your family?”

“Yeah,” Fang Chi answered softly.

Xiao Yiming sighed lightly. After a moment he finally said, “Alright. I’ll head over soon.”

“I can go with Cheng Mo to pick you up,” Fang Chi offered.

“No need. I haven’t seen your campus before anyway. I’ll treat tonight as sightseeing.” Xiao Yiming said.

“Okay. Call me when you get here.” Fang Chi hung up.

The moment he slipped the phone back into his pocket, before he’d even taken his hand out, it rang again.

Fang Chi pulled it back out and saw the number for Uncle Zhang next door.

It was Grandpa.

He answered immediately. “Uncle Zhang?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Uncle Zhang laughed. “Here, your grandpa wants to ask when you’re coming back.”

“Little Chi,” Grandpa’s voice came through, “done with exams yet?”

“Finished,” the moment Fang Chi heard his grandfather’s voice, his nose instantly turned painfully sour. He rubbed it hard before adding, “I did really well. Way better than back in high school.”

“You’ve grown up and become sensible,” Grandpa laughed happily. “Studying seriously now, huh?”

“Mm.” Fang Chi smiled along with him. “Out of the six people in our dorm, I’m the only one studying hard and improving every day.”

“When are you coming back?” Grandpa asked.

“Tomorrow,” Fang Chi said. “Shuiqu’s driving over to pick me up tomorrow.”

“Shuiqu?” Grandpa sounded surprised. “He’s specially coming all the way to pick you up?”

Fang Chi bit his lip. “Mm. He’s specially coming for me.”

“Isn’t that too much trouble for him?” Grandpa said. “It takes no time to come back by train. If he drives all the way there and back, that’s his whole day gone.”

“It’s fine,” Fang Chi inhaled softly. “He wants to.”

“You asked, so even if he didn’t want to, he’d still have to,” Grandpa said. “People find it hard to refuse you. Weren’t you always someone who hated troubling others?”

“Grandpa, it’s not that he can’t refuse. He genuinely wants to,” Fang Chi said.

“Oh, really?” Grandpa paused. “Then he must just be idle.”

Fang Chi laughed, but after laughing a couple times, he found he couldn’t anymore. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes. “He’s actually really busy lately, but he still made time to come.”

“That friend of yours really is loyal,” Grandpa laughed.

“He’s not an ordinary friend,” Fang Chi cleared his throat, gripping the railing beside him so hard he felt like he could crush the metal flat. “He’s someone even closer than a sworn brother. I even told Grandma before, if he were a woman, I’d marry him.”

“I heard your grandma mention it,” Grandpa chuckled. “You child.”

Fang Chi felt this was the perfect chance to continue the conversation, but after opening his mouth several times, he still couldn’t say it.

He didn’t dare say it over the phone. He had to say it face to face. He needed to see Grandpa’s reaction clearly, or he’d worry endlessly.

And besides, if Grandpa wanted to hit him, Fang Chi wanted him to be able to raise his hand and do it right there.