In 419, Lu Rulu was sitting in Qin Shu’s chair, playing PUBG side by side with Chu Cheng. When they saw Qin Shu, it was like a wounded soldier spotting a teammate—their eyes practically sparkled.
Lu Rulu: “Ahhhhh Little Love Letter, wind or rain, I’m waiting for you!”
Chu Cheng: “Is my fried noodles mildly spicy?”
Qin Shu: “Yes.”
Chu Cheng: “No sesame seeds, right?”
Qin Shu patiently: “…No.”
Chu Cheng: “Did you tell the chef to add extra scallions and soy sauce?”
Qin Shu tossed a pile of late-night snacks onto the table. “Eat it or don’t, stop cosplaying as Sherlock.”
Once the snacks arrived, Lu Rulu had no real mind to play PUBG anymore; he just wanted it to end. His movements were aggressive, and he was quickly eliminated. Chu Cheng complained as he went, managing to make it to the finals alone, and ultimately scraped third place by surviving.
Qin Shu and Lu Rulu had already started eating. Chu Cheng opened his lunchbox and devoured a third of the fried noodles in one sitting.
Lu Rulu leisurely peeled his little crayfish, holding up two fingers: “It’s been two years, and every time I see Chu Cheng eating, I have to say this—slow down, nobody’s stealing from you. Why are you in such a rush to eat?”
Chu Cheng swallowed and took a sip of water. “I’m used to it. I can’t slow down.”
Qin Shu cradled his strawberry cheese drink, sipping carefully. “Do you act like this in front of Ningning too?”
“Yeah.”
“He doesn’t mind your eating?”
“Nope,” Chu Cheng said proudly. “He says he likes watching me eat.”
Qin Shu smiled. Yep, he was shipping again. The thrill of sweet moments anytime, occasionally even watching the CP themselves hand out sugar—it was a pleasure only he could enjoy. No one else could share it.
Ah, how lonely it is to be invincible!
Lu Rulu nearly sprayed his beer: “Wait… does Xu Ning like you too?”
Chu Cheng froze, quickly slurping the fried noodles in his mouth. “Brother Yun, do you really think so? You really think he likes me?”
He doesn’t just like you. He’s even tried to steal kisses—you’re just too dense to notice.
“No, no, no. I don’t know! I’m just saying,” Lu Rulu said earnestly. “But Xu Ning’s always been nice to everyone, gentle and kind. Even if he dislikes someone, he wouldn’t say it. Sigh… why can’t Brother Lan, another handsome guy, treat people as nicely as him?”
Chu Cheng drooped like a husky scolded by its owner.
“Don’t listen to Brother Yun’s nonsense,” Qin Shu hurried to comfort his cub. “His kindness to others”—he pointed at the crayfish head Lu Rulu had snapped off the table—“is about this big. But his kindness to you is as much as a whole crayfish! To him, you’re definitely different. Also,” Qin Shu looked at Lu Rulu, “how has Brother Lan ever treated anyone badly?”
Lu Rulu grumbled indignantly: “He still calls me ‘Lu Jingyun’ to this day. That’s how he treats people nicely? Xu Ning would never do something so mean.”
“Well, we still call you ‘Brother Yun.’”
“At least there’s a ‘Brother.’ Little Love Letter, you’re too young. Xie Lanzhi is famous for being a cold-type male god, okay? He’s only slightly warmer to the few of us friends. Most of the time, he still barely acknowledges anyone.” Lu Rulu complained. “You have no idea how bitter I feel inside.”
Qin Shu looked baffled. “Are we even talking about the same Xie Lanzhi?” Sure, when he’d first met him, Xie Lanzhi was a bit cold, polite but distant. But after months of contact, Qin Shu had realized that although the senior could be unpredictable, he’d always treated his friends well. Qin Shu had already handed him several “good guy” cards.
“Hah?” Lu Rulu got worked up. “He’s my roommate. Nobody at this school knows him better than me…”
Chu Cheng didn’t join their debate. Instead, he picked up a whole crawfish with his chopsticks and held it beside a shrimp head, comparing, trying to figure out exactly how much gentler Xu Ning was to him versus to others.
Qin Shu and Lu Rulu’s discussion on Xie Lanzhi’s character escalated. To prove his point, Lu Rulu even pulled out his phone and showed Qin Shu their chat history. “Look, see? The messages he sends me most are just ‘1’ and ‘.’ He never sends me a single sticker. Every time I message him it feels like I’m some pathetic simp.”
Qin Shu pointed at one message with a smiling emoji. “Isn’t this a sticker?”
Lu Rulu deadpanned. “Too much, man.”
Qin Shu couldn’t help laughing. “Brother Lan just doesn’t like wasting words, that’s all.”
“If you say he’s not cold, then show me proof,” Lu Rulu challenged. “Let’s see your chat logs?”
“Sure.” Qin Shu opened his WeChat with Xie Lanzhi—only for his pupils to contract at the sight of the nickname Onii-chan.
Lu Rulu craned his head over.
“What is it?”
Qin Shu jolted, quickly hiding his phone behind his back. “M-my phone’s almost dead!”
“Then charge it.”
Qin Shu’s cheeks burned. “I’m not arguing with you. You’re right about everything.”
Suspicion filled Lu Rulu’s face. “Why are you blushing out of nowhere?”
Qin Shu threw the blame onto the food. “The grilled cold noodles are a little spicy.”
Lu Rulu believed him. “Want some beer?”
“No thanks, I’ve got milk tea.” Qin Shu’s heart was still pounding—thank goodness he reacted quickly. If Lu Rulu had seen the nickname he’d set for Xie Lanzhi, he could’ve declared social death on the spot.
Meanwhile, Chu Cheng, silent all this time, finally reached a conclusion. One whole crawfish was about three shrimp heads’ worth, so Xu Ning’s gentleness toward him was roughly three times greater than toward anyone else.
After they were full, Lu Rulu took it upon himself to clean up. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he said: “Oh right, let me share something rare with you—Brother Lan skipped class tonight!”
Qin Shu, who had been about to wash up on the balcony, sat right back down.
Chu Cheng wasn’t impressed. “Night classes are all electives, right?”
“Brother Lan only picks electives he’s interested in. Normally, he’d never skip. We know there was nothing going on at home, and at dinner he even said he was planning to go. So why do you think he didn’t?” Lu Rulu asked mysteriously.
Chu Cheng: “No idea.”
Qin Shu murmured under his breath, “For me.”
Both Chu Cheng and Lu Rulu snapped their heads toward him. “Huh?”
“For me—impossible.”
Chu Cheng gave him a look like he was an idiot. Lu Rulu chuckled, “Bet it was for the player or whatever.”
Chu Cheng: “What the h*ll is that.”
…but no. It really was for him that Xie Lanzhi had skipped. A complicated, indescribable feeling welled up inside Qin Shu. He swore to himself in secret: he had to work twice as hard, study well, absolutely not fail any classes, and even score higher than Baby.
Lu Rulu stayed until the dorm lights went out at midnight before leaving. Qin Shu yawned as he went to wash up, half-squinting while squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush. The moment he saw the toothpaste, he thought of Xu Ning’s white-peach toothpaste—instantly annoyed, wishing he could smear a whole faceful of it on Baby’s face.
Just how dense do you have to be to not understand the kiss-me hint in “Do you like white peach? My toothpaste is white-peach flavor”? D*mn it!
Expression blank, Qin Shu brushed his teeth in front of the mirror. Suddenly, his brows furrowed, and his movements froze.
…
…?
He seemed to have figured out why, when he bought lollipops at the library, he’d felt that strange sense of déjà vu.
“What flavor lollipop are you eating? Let me try it.”
—No way no way no way! Could it be that Xie Lanzhi was also… trying to…?!
Xie Lanzhi, he—what the h*ll—how could he—back then @#$^&%!$# ……*&%&@34%#!
The thought completely scrambled Qin Shu’s brain. He nearly swallowed the toothpaste foam without spitting it out, coughing violently with his tiny toothbrush still in hand.
“Qingshu?” Chu Cheng came over to check, only to see Qin Shu hacking like crazy, foaming white at the mouth. Remembering Qin Shu’s chronic illness that sometimes required oxygen, he was instantly terrified, his facial features scrunching up, “Sh*t sh*t sh*t, hold on Qin Shu! I’m calling 120 right now!”
Qin Shu grabbed his sleeve, “You stay put—cough cough! I’m fine!”
“You’re foaming at the mouth and you call that fine?!”
“You’re the one foaming at the mouth,” Qin Shu said weakly. “I’m spitting toothpaste!”
“Really?” Chu Cheng let out a sigh of relief. “Scared me to death. What were you coughing for, out of nowhere?”
Thinking of the real reason, Qin Shu nearly suffocated. “Old problem acting up. I’ll just take a couple puffs of oxygen later.”
Maybe it was because of all the milk tea, or maybe something else, but Qin Shu couldn’t fall asleep. Chu Cheng across from him had long since collapsed into a “slab” of sleep, yet he didn’t feel the least bit drowsy.
Xie Lanzhi had said, if you can’t sleep, come to him. Qin Shu opened his WeChat, stared for ages, typing and deleting, unable to decide what to send.
【Bro, are you awake? I can’t sleep orz】 —Too plain.
【Thanks for skipping class to study with me tonight! 0v0】 —Too fake.
【Xie Lanzhi! Back in the library, were you trying to kiss me?】 …What kind of psycho sends this?!
Qin Shu knocked his phone against his head, wanting to knock the water out of his brain. Suddenly his phone buzzed—
【Oni-chan: ?】
Qin Shu glanced at the time. Half past one in the morning.
【Uncle Qin: ???】
【Oni-chan: Staring this long and still can’t decide what to say?】
Qin Shu’s breath caught—how did Xie Lanzhi know!
He wanted to send a Black Question Mark meme, but after thinking, changed it to 【Confused Cat】.
【Uncle Qin: How did you know.】
【Uncle Qin: Have you been watching my WeChat all along.】
【Oni-chan: Not at all.】
【Oni-chan: Just happened to see.】
【Uncle Qin: (Really? I don’t believe it.jpg)】
【Oni-chan: …So it’s insomnia?】
【Uncle Qin: Yeah. 0.0】
【Uncle Qin: How come you’re still up too, bro.】
【Oni-chan: I also drank zhizhi-meimei.】
That cup of zhizhi-meimei with the milk cap he had sipped from?
Qin Shu rolled over under the covers, face buried in the pillow.
Late-night chatting with the campus god—kinda intoxicating.
Author’s note: Alright alright, we get it, you two “indirectly kissed.” Next! (dog head)
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