Shoutout to Kari for the commission!
Le Cheng fell asleep quickly.
He slept deeply, cut off from all outside sounds.
When he opened his eyes, the light was bright. Le Cheng stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling a bit disoriented, listening to the faint sound of a mechanical keyboard coming from beside him, and raised his hand to gently shield his eyes.
“Le Cheng, are you awake? Are you still feeling that bad?” Tan Xiaobai was standing by his bed, asking him.
Le Cheng turned his head; an unusual flush spread across his fair face. “I’m okay. I don’t feel as bad anymore.”
“That’s good,” Tan Xiaobai nodded. “You were already asleep when I got back. Did you take your medicine?”
Le Cheng paused for a moment. Medicine?
He hadn’t blacked out from the fever, but he really hadn’t been very lucid when talking to Zhou Shirui.
Zhou Shirui had brought him medicine and seemed to have even helped him get into bed.
Le Cheng blinked, his long eyelashes slightly damp: “I took it. Zhou Shirui brought it to me.”
Tan Xiaobai: “He brought it to you? That’s actually pretty nice.”
Le Cheng nodded in agreement.
He’d previously thought that even if Zhou Shirui didn’t dislike him, he must still be pretty annoyed with him, but he hadn’t expected him to bring him medicine after hearing that he had a fever.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t that he wasn’t annoyed with him. Whether in everyday life or in the original novel’s plot, Zhou Shirui was a very responsible person.
Le Cheng instinctively reached beside his pillow but didn’t find his phone.
Tan Xiaobai asked him, “Are you looking for your phone? It’s down here.”
Tan Xiaobai handed it to him, and Le Cheng said, “Thanks, Xiaobai,” as he took it.
“By the way, I brought you some food: stir-fried pork with green peppers over rice. It’s a little cold, though. Do you still want to eat it?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Le Cheng perked up immediately. “Xiaobai, I’ll eat it. Go ahead and hand it to me.”
After taking the lunch, Le Cheng didn’t open it right away; instead, he checked his phone messages first.
There was a little red dot on Zhou Shirui’s profile picture.
[Big Brother: Are you feeling better? Drink plenty of water after taking your medicine.]
Le Cheng’s heart skipped a beat; he thought Zhou Shirui was truly responsible.
He didn’t reply right away, but opened the lid to eat first.
He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and now it was already 1:00 p.m., he was starving.
After taking a couple of bites, Le Cheng chewed thoughtfully, glanced down, and only then realized that the sound of the mechanical keyboard had come from
Qin Yu—his other roommate.
But one bed was still empty.
Le Cheng paused in surprise. It was Monday, why hadn’t he come back yet?
After finishing his meal, Le Cheng transferred money to Tan Xiaobai and asked, “By the way, where’s our other roommate?”
Tan Xiaobai followed his gaze and nodded toward the empty bed: “Looks like he’s not living on campus anymore. But that’s just as well, he snores really loudly.”
Le Cheng thought for a couple of seconds upon hearing this: “Do I snore?”
Tan Xiaobai replied dramatically, “Beauties are raised on dew, so of course they don’t snore—”
Le Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then laughed to himself for quite a while.
After dinner, Le Cheng called in sick to his teacher. He felt weak all over and couldn’t make it to class.
He exited the teacher’s chat window, and Zhou Shirui’s chat box was right at the top. Le Cheng stared at it for two seconds, then tapped to open it.
[Orange: Okay, I got it. Thanks for bringing me my medicine today qwq]
[Orange: Here’s a little flower for you.jpg]
[Orange: How much did the medicine cost? I’ll transfer the money to you.]
“Ding-dong—”
[Big Brother: No need.]
Le Cheng realized something. He noticed that Zhou Shirui was very generous. No wonder, in the original storyline, he’d given the original host a breakup settlement after they split up.
Le Cheng tapped the screen and didn’t press the issue: [Okay, did bringing me the medicine make you miss class?]
[Big Brother: No]
Le Cheng was relieved and was just about to type a reply when another message popped up immediately.
[Big Brother: If you’re not feeling well, just skip this afternoon’s class]
Le Cheng stared at those words, wondering if he was seeing things.
A top student actually encouraging someone to skip class!
Le Cheng always felt that Zhou Shirui was usually cold and aloof; even when combined with traits like responsibility and helpfulness, he still seemed like a distant, aloof genius who kept others at arm’s length.
But now, Zhou Shirui suddenly seemed closer, as if he’d gained a bit of… “human warmth”??
Le Cheng couldn’t help but laugh at his own odd description.
[Orange: What’s going on? A top student actually teaches people how to skip class?]
Zhou Shirui replied quickly.
[Big Brother: Yeah, only teaching you.]
…That sounded strangely like flirting, and Le Cheng paused for a moment.
But soon, Zhou Shirui sent a second message.
[Big Brother: To be precise, you’re sick, so you’re on sick leave, it doesn’t count as skipping class, and I’m not really teaching you.]
Le Cheng fell silent for a moment.
He knew it, there’s no way Zhou Shirui would flirt with him!
Just typical straight guy behavior.
Because he was sick, Le Cheng stayed in his dorm for three days. Aside from occasionally pestering Zhou Shirui, he spent his time drawing.
He finished four sketches at breakneck speed, working so hard his head spun which also slowed down his recovery.
After uploading them for review, he also posted the drawing process and the final artwork on Weibo and Douyin, respectively.
His Douyin account really had great luck; he already had over a thousand followers, and two of his works had gone somewhat viral.
Weibo’s recommendation algorithm is different from Douyin’s, so naturally he didn’t have quite as much luck there, he barely managed to attract over a hundred views, but they were all quite enthusiastic.
By the time Le Cheng went to class, four days had passed, it was Friday.
Their class was held in the lab building. After class, Tan Xiaobai suddenly had to pee and needed to use the restroom.
The restrooms on the third floor were closed for repairs, so Le Cheng accompanied him to the fourth floor, but it was packed. Tan Xiaobai waited for a while, and then Le Cheng said, “Let’s check out the academic building, there might be a stall available there.”
The lab building and the academic building were connected by a walkway, so they didn’t have to go back downstairs.
Tan Xiaobai nodded, walking in a rather odd way.
After finally making their way to the fourth floor of the academic building, Tan Xiaobai headed straight for the restroom. Once he was done and came out, Le Cheng suddenly remembered that Zhou Shirui was having class here.
It seemed to be room B-429.
Le Cheng wasn’t quite sure, so he took out his phone to check.
Hmm, it was B-426.
Lately, he’s been chatting with Zhou Shirui more often than usual. Aside from acting up for no reason and checking up on him every now and then, Le Cheng has been sending Zhou Shirui annoying text messages, usually just those pointless, corny jokes.
Zhou Shirui’s replies are still unenthusiastic, maybe he’s just not a warm person by nature, but he almost always responds.
Just now, Le Cheng sent him a funny profile picture from roll call and asked where he was taking class.
Zhou Shirui replied: [Two long lectures, B-426]
Figuring Zhou Shirui hadn’t left yet, Le Cheng thought it had been a while since he’d pulled off his plan, so he decided to go pay him a visit.
After saying goodbye to Tan Xiaobai, Le Cheng headed over on his own.
When he arrived at Room 426, he was surprised to find that a professor was actually running over time, something he hadn’t expected in college. Le Cheng pressed his face against the window by the back door, trying to spot Zhou Shirui.
He habitually scanned the room from the front, looking halfway around before finally spotting Zhou Shirui in one of the back rows. He was wearing a black jacket and sitting relaxed in his seat, his half-rimmed glasses perched on his high, straight nose, and the contours of his profile were exceptionally handsome.
Cheng Yufei usually didn’t pay attention during theory classes; he’d hunch over and play video games. After losing a few rounds, he sat up straight in frustration and glanced out the window.
“Huh? Holy cr*p…” Cheng Yufei muttered, “Brother Rui, look at the back door, is that Le Cheng over there?”
Zhou Shirui heard his voice and initially rolled his eyes, but then paused, turning his head to glance outside.
The glass in the back door was rectangular and quite narrow. Le Cheng’s face was pressed against it; he looked fair-skinned and cute, with big eyes and the tip of his nose slightly reddened from the pressure.
The moment their eyes met, Le Cheng broke into a surprised yet delighted smile, his eyes crinkling with joy. He even reached out to grip the window frame and waved slightly.
Zhou Shirui paused briefly, then heard Cheng Yufei whisper, “It really is him. Oh my god, my eyesight is amazing. People like us who don’t wear glasses are practically chosen by heaven… Why did Le Cheng come looking for you? I mean, aren’t they supposed to be in the lab building for this class? And he came all this way just to find you…”
Cheng Yufei adopted the air of a sage: “If that’s not love, then what is it?”
Zhou Shirui fell silent for a moment: “How do you know he’s in class in the lab building?”
Cheng Yufei: “Whoa, you’re a genius, you really know how to zero in on the key points. I have a friend in their class; he told me that.”
Zhou Shirui nodded in understanding.
Cheng Yufei looked at him: “I told you he must like you, but you wouldn’t believe me.”
Zhou Shirui replied nonchalantly: “Thanks, but I still don’t believe it. ”
“D*mn it!” Cheng Yufei made a face as if he were spitting blood.
Zhou Shirui looked away and gently swiped through his phone.
Their frequent chats had brought him and Le Cheng closer, yet at the same time, he felt even more uncertain, it was a very subtle feeling.
He’d never been in a romantic relationship before, but he had a rough idea of how things worked. Le Cheng showed him an extraordinary level of enthusiasm, and he really liked to act all cute and clingy with him.
That’s right, acting cute.
This ambiguous attitude made it impossible for him to judge the situation accurately.
But perhaps Le Cheng just liked playing the role of a boyfriend, after all, they were a couple now.
Another three or four minutes passed before the teacher at the podium finally announced the end of class.
Le Cheng stepped back slightly to clear a path; whenever someone came out the back door, their gaze would fall on his face.
“Huh? Who’s that?”
“No idea… He looks so young. Is he a freshman?”
“He’s so handsome. Is he here to see his girlfriend?”
“Hahaha, how do you know he isn’t his boyfriend?”
“Oh? Then my heart’s broken…”
Le Cheng stood to the side, listening to their discussion in silence.
…How embarrassing, he really was there to see his boyfriend.
Even though this boyfriend was an arranged match.
Once the crowd at the back door had mostly dispersed, Le Cheng took a couple of steps forward, peered over, and saw that Zhou Shirui was being stopped by a teacher, who seemed to be giving him some instructions.
Cheng Yufei was standing right next to Zhou Shirui; when he saw Le Cheng, he even winked at him.
Le Cheng thought he seemed really lively, so he smiled back at him.
Zhou Shirui quickly said goodbye to his teacher and walked out. As he approached, Cheng Yufei nudged Zhou Shirui’s shoulder with a mischievous grin: “Ahem, your junior is here to see you. Then this bro will leave first?”
Zhou Shirui told him to get lost, and Cheng Yufei walked away, chuckling.
Le Cheng had heard the term “junior” twice in one day, which he found amusing. He looked at Zhou Shirui and said deliberately, “Senior Zhou, you took a long time to come out.”
Zhou Shirui lowered his gaze to look at him. “Hmm, so what should we do?”
Le Cheng: “Well, of course we have to grab a meal together! I’m in the mood for braised chicken with rice. How about it, Senior? Zhou Senior?”
His voice was soft, and he deliberately drew out the last two words, making them sound light and airy, like a playful feather gently tickling him.
Zhou Shirui’s heart skipped a beat.
Le Cheng was still looking up at him, his thick eyelashes curving slightly: “How about it, senior?”
Zhou Shirui stared at him for two seconds.
“Okay,” Zhou Shirui said softly. “Junior.”
