On the last day before the exam, even Chu Cheng had started diligently reviewing, but Qin Shu just couldn’t focus no matter how hard he tried. His boyfriend’s refrigerator kept popping up in his mind, and he was completely unable to concentrate. He was almost ready to give up.
Exams, after all, didn’t rely solely on strength—sometimes you had to depend on luck. What if all the questions happened to be the ones he remembered? What if he managed to perform beyond his usual level? Even if he failed, there’d still be make-up exams; even if he failed the make-ups, he could retake the class; even if he failed the retake and couldn’t graduate, his family was wealthy enough that he’d never go broke; and even if his family went bankrupt, he still had a rich boyfriend.
Qin Shu imagined himself trailing pitifully after Xie Lanzhi, begging for allowance money. The thought made him choke, and he flipped his textbook open again.
The two of them studied all the way until lights-out, then switched on a desk lamp to keep going. Seeing his little baby working so hard, Qin Shu was actually surprised, and asked: “You’ve already resigned yourself to failing, and you’re still working this hard?”
Chu Cheng’s head felt like it would explode. He chewed on his pen and said gloomily: “When I was bringing Xu Ning back to school today, I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He said the best gift would be me not failing any classes.”
Qin Shu couldn’t help but laugh and cry. He’d tried persuading Chu Cheng to study properly in the past, but even after wearing his tongue thin, Chu Cheng had brushed it off like a fart. Sure enough, it only worked when a girlfriend said it. No wonder some people’s grades improved once they started dating.
“This is when having a boyfriend in the same major really pays off,” Qin Shu said. “If you don’t understand something, you can just ask him.”
Chu Cheng didn’t even look up. “You make it sound like you’ve got a boyfriend in the same major.”
Qin Shu almost spoke but held back. He didn’t feel the need to hide his relationship with Xie Lanzhi from his close friends, but saying it out loud was essentially coming out. And Xie Lanzhi had always presented himself as straight—whether to make it public or not should be his decision. Besides, they’d only just gotten together, and had only kissed once. At the very least, they should kiss ten times or so, until he could stop acting like a clueless idiot afterward, before he even considered coming out.
Qin Shu glanced at his phone, wondering whether to say goodnight to Xie Lanzhi, when a message popped up.
[Boyfriend: Time to sleep.]
[Uncle Qin: But I haven’t finished reviewing yet. (smile-but-dead-inside.jpg)]
[Boyfriend: Ever heard of the sleep-study method?]
[Uncle Qin: (confused-cat.jpg)]
[Boyfriend: Get enough sleep, keep your brain in a good mood, and trick it into thinking you’ve already reviewed.]
[Uncle Qin: Fine, then let me cast a spell on myself first.]
[Boyfriend: ?]
[Uncle Qin: Gu Na La, Dark Lord—never fail exams! And now, a high-score spray: spray spray spray spray spray!]
[Boyfriend: .]
[Boyfriend: Idiot.]
[Uncle Qin: 0.0]
What the hell was “idiot”? Weren’t couples supposed to say “little silly” or something cuter?
Forget it, forget it—two guys shouldn’t nitpick this much. At least he hadn’t said “big dumbass.”
Taking his boyfriend’s words to heart, Qin Shu gave up on pulling an all-nighter, set an early alarm, and went to bed. The next morning, when his alarm rang on time, he groggily turned it off, rolled over, and planned to keep sleeping—when his phone rang again.
Still half-asleep, he answered in a kitten-soft voice: “Hello?”
A familiar voice came through the line: “Open the door.”
Qin Shu froze for three seconds, then his eyes flew open. “…. Brother?”
Hearing his shock, Xie Lanzhi chuckled. “Didn’t I say I’d help you review? Forgot already?”
“I’ll come right away!”
Chu Cheng was still wrapped up in his blanket asleep as Qin Shu thumped out of bed and rushed to open the door.
Xie Lanzhi stood there in a black hooded coat and a cream-colored turtleneck, a chill clinging to him, breakfast in hand. The north wind outside was fierce, his hair blown a little messy, but even like this he looked effortlessly handsome—so handsome it was impossible to look away.
Heaven was unfair. The male god could throw on anything and barely style his hair, yet still utterly crush all the ordinary good-looking guys who spent hours grooming themselves and using wax for a perfect hairstyle.
“Brother, you—”
Before Qin Shu could finish, Xie Lanzhi lowered his gaze and simply scooped him up.
Qin Shu nearly yelped. To steady himself, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Xie Lanzhi’s neck, legs hooking around his waist like a koala climbing a tree. “Brother?”
Holding him, Xie Lanzhi asked: “What’s the temperature today?”
“Huh?” Qin Shu didn’t understand why he suddenly asked that. “These days it’s all below zero, right?”
“Then why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
Qin Shu’s toes wiggled in embarrassment. “I forgot. Besides, there’s heating.”
Xie Lanzhi walked a couple steps and set him on the desk. Qin Shu was wearing fluffy panda pajamas, complete with a hood that had two round black ears. Xie Lanzhi pulled the hood over his head, pinched the ears, and said: “Go wash up and eat breakfast.”
He turned, intending to fetch Qin Shu’s shoes, but Qin Shu tugged on his coat pocket, not letting him go. “Brother, is it really cold outside? Your clothes are freezing.”
Xie Lanzhi stood still. “Yeah.”
“I’ll warm you up then.”
“Okay—how?”
Qin Shu clasped his hand and breathed warm air onto it. “Is that better?”
“Mm, but the rest is still cold.”
“Eh? Where?”
Xie Lanzhi looked at him, then suddenly smiled. “Nowhere.”
Qin Shu: “???”
They kept their voices low, so Chu Cheng wasn’t woken by them—but the smell of breakfast eventually lured him awake. He sniffed, forced his eyes open, and saw that somehow, this early in the morning, there was a gorgeous man in his dorm room. His roommate was sitting on the desk, the gorgeous man standing between his legs, their posture way too ambiguous.
“Brother Lan?”
The sudden shout nearly made Qin Shu’s panda ears stand straight up. For the first time, he understood how parents must feel when their kid barges in on them being intimate. Xie Lanzhi, however, stayed calm and stepped back. “Morning.”
“Morning, Brother Lan. Did you come bring us breakfast? I think I smell hot dry noodles.”
Not “us”—him!
Since he didn’t know what Qin Shu liked for breakfast, Xie Lanzhi had bought a little bit of everything. It was enough for two. “If you want to eat, come down and eat.”
Chu Cheng flipped out of bed in one motion, grinning. “The school grass bringing me breakfast—today must be my lucky day.”
Xie Lanzhi said lightly: “It’s your exam day.”
Chu Cheng’s smile vanished completely. “Sh*t, there goes my good mood. I’ve still got a few points I don’t understand. This isn’t good.”
Qin Shu really wanted to ditch the cub and have breakfast alone with Xie Lanzhi, but as his father-figure, he couldn’t just let him fail. He nudged Xie Lanzhi and said: “Can you tutor Chu Cheng too?”
Xie Lanzhi nodded. “Okay.”
After breakfast, the three of them started a two-on-one tutoring session. Xie Lanzhi went through the exam outline with them, explained a few questions that were very likely to appear, and said that even if they didn’t understand, they still had to memorize the steps.
Chu Cheng asked, “Brother Lan, how do you know these will definitely be on the exam?”
Xie Lanzhi said, “The exams are made by the professional course teachers taking turns. If you look at enough past papers, you’ll see the pattern. You guys don’t want to fail, and the teachers don’t want you to fail either. As long as you can write something down, getting points isn’t hard.”
Chu Cheng was struck as if by a divine revelation and exclaimed that he really knew his stuff.
Qin Shu and Chu Cheng studied with complete focus—even lunch was bought for them by Xie Lanzhi. In the afternoon, Xie Lanzhi personally sent the father and son to the exam hall. Chu Cheng was so moved he could hardly stand it. “Brother Lan, you’re my real brother! From now on, if Zhuge Liang has any trouble, I’ll take it for you!”
Xie Lanzhi: “That won’t be necessary.”
“All right, all right,” Qin Shu said in annoyance, “just get inside already.” Thanks to little Baby today was another day Dad didn’t get to be alone with his boyfriend.
Qin Shu pushed Chu Cheng toward the exam hall but stayed outside himself. “Brother, you should head back. I’ll do my best on the test.”
Xie Lanzhi: “No hug this time?”
Qin Shu looked around. “But there are so many people.”
Xie Lanzhi raised an eyebrow. “Last time you didn’t seem to mind.”
Qin Shu scratched his head. “It’s different now.” Before, he hadn’t realized his feelings; hugging Xie Lanzhi was just to borrow the top student’s good luck, so of course he did it openly. Now that he wasn’t so innocent anymore, hugging Xie Lanzhi wouldn’t be just about luck.
Xie Lanzhi gave a soft laugh, lifted his hand, and lightly brushed Qin Shu’s lip corner with his fingertip. “Go on.”
Qin Shu walked a couple of steps, then suddenly thought of something and ran back. “Brother, I’m also willing to take trouble for you.”
Xie Lanzhi: “…”
When the exam papers were handed out, Qin Shu immediately flipped to the big questions at the back. Four of the five were ones Xie Lanzhi had gone over. He lifted his head and exchanged a look with Baby—both of them were grinning inside.
After this exam, Qin Shu got a short breather, just in time for Xu Ning’s birthday. He and Chu Cheng had to join the photography club’s team-building event under the “family members” label again, this time with the addition of Lu Rulu. Everyone agreed to meet at the party house in the afternoon, but Chu Cheng started rallying the group chat in the morning.
【Chu Overlord: @everyone, let’s go let’s go, heading out.】
【Red Carp Green Carp and Donkey: ???】
【Red Carp Green Carp and Donkey: It is, Beijing time, exactly 10:00 a.m. right now.】
【Chu Overlord: I need to set up the confession scene ahead of time, bro.】
【Red Carp Green Carp and Donkey: …What’s that got to do with us?】
【Chu Overlord: You guys said you’d help me!】
【Uncle Qin: Fine fine fine, I’ll drive you.】
【Shuimenjian: Count me in.】
【Red Carp Green Carp and Donkey: …】
【Red Carp Green Carp and Donkey: (ridiculous.jpg)】
【Uncle Qin: @Brother, I’ll drive your car, I’ll pick you up downstairs later.】
【Shuimenjian: 1】
【Uncle Qin: 0.0】
…Already boyfriends, and still just replying “1.” Couldn’t even say a proper “Got it.”
After replying, Xie Lanzhi saw Hehe speaking in the photography group chat:
【@Xu Ning, last time you brought two family members. How many this time?】
【Xu Ning: Those two are coming again today, and I added another one. Three in total.】
Xie Lanzhi, who rarely spoke in the group, replied:
【Qin Shu is the one I’m bringing.】
【Hehe: !!!】
【Wang Youyu: Uh… does that make a difference?】
【Xie Lanzhi: A title matters.】
After a moment of silence—
【Xu Ning: I’m only bringing Chu Cheng.】
Author’s note:
Lu Jingyun: What about me???
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