Shoutout to Kari for the commission!
It took Le Cheng a long moment to react.
“Can I touch you?” he asked in shock, his eyes widening.
He still remembered how, a long time ago, Zhou Shirui wouldn’t let him touch him at all! What was going on today?
“Mm.” Zhou Shirui lowered his eyes and paused for a moment, as if implying something. “With our relationship now, why can’t you?”
Their relationship now.
Le Cheng’s expression was slightly confused.
The phrase sounded rather ambiguous, but Le Cheng knew that Zhou Shirui was a very serious person, so he definitely didn’t mean anything else.
Got it.
Le Cheng quickly made sense of it in his head.
Friends!
They had been spending so much time together. Although Zhou Shirui had always seemed neither particularly warm nor cold toward him, compared to his attitude at the beginning, he had undergone a huge change.
Moreover, Zhou Shirui had acknowledged his drawing skills, introduced him to work, eaten meals with him, gone with him to take care of the children at the orphanage, and they had even spent the New Year together. Just now, they had even gotten caught in the rain together. With a revolutionary friendship like this, it was perfectly normal for Zhou Shirui to suddenly have a change of heart and indulge some of his little quirks.
Zhou Shirui was so generous to his friends!
To maintain his image, Le Cheng gave a reserved little cough. “Sure. You’re so generous.”
The description was a little strange, but Zhou Shirui was already used to Le Cheng’s train of thought. Holding his wrist, he said, “Mm. I can be even more generous.”
Even more generous?
Le Cheng felt that a person couldn’t be this greedy. He shook his head and politely declined. “No, no, no. I’ll just touch you once. Just once is enough.”
Zhou Shirui was standing in front of him. Le Cheng shook the wrist that was being held, indicating that he should sit down, then turned sideways to face him.
His chest muscles, abdominal muscles, biceps! Without the slightest hesitation, Le Cheng stretched out his slender fingers and pressed them firmly against Zhou Shirui’s solid abdominal muscles.
The moment they made contact, Zhou Shirui’s breathing briefly caught.
Le Cheng didn’t notice. He ran his hand over them twice, feeling the most realistic contours of the human muscles. As he poked at them, he looked up at Zhou Shirui. “They’re soft right now. Can you make them hard?”
For a moment, it was difficult to tell whether Le Cheng had deliberately asked it that way. Zhou Shirui’s Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. He gave a low “Mm.” “I can.”
With a slight exertion of strength, the muscles beneath his hand hardened. Even though Le Cheng knew the principle behind it, he couldn’t help exclaiming at how amazing it was.
Le Cheng touched them a couple more times, able to feel the muscles beneath his hand becoming harder and harder. Zhou Shirui looked down at him, his chest rising and falling slightly.
Le Cheng felt that his drawing skills had improved. At this moment, he was no longer that little artist who spent every day dryly practicing in front of various human anatomy models and photos of muscular men. He was now Niohuru*, The Little Artist Who Touched the Real Thing!
* making a big comeback
Le Cheng carefully felt the direction of the muscles again. Zhou Shirui lowered his eyes and saw Le Cheng’s fluffy head bowed down, revealing the slender, fair nape of his neck. His heart stirred slightly. He raised his hand and gently closed his long fingers around it.
Le Cheng froze at the touch. Thinking that Zhou Shirui no longer wanted him to touch him, and figuring that he had touched enough anyway, he withdrew his hand.
In a very low voice, Zhou Shirui asked, “Not touching anymore?”
“Mm, not anymore. I feel like I’ve touched enough.” As Le Cheng said this, he looked up at him. He didn’t move or resist. His slender, fair nape contrasted strangely with Zhou Shirui’s long fingers, the veins slightly protruding. Zhou Shirui closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that he really couldn’t let him touch any more.
He let out a low, breathy exhale, his fingers moving from the back of Le Cheng’s neck into his hair. “Why didn’t you dry it?”
“Hm? I didn’t dry it?” Le Cheng wanted to feel around and see where it was still wet, but he couldn’t help himself. The instant he raised his hand, he gave the long, beautiful upper-arm muscle in front of his eyes a squeeze.
“…!” Zhou Shirui’s body stiffened. Before Le Cheng could say anything, he had already gotten up at lightning speed, so quickly that Le Cheng could barely see him move.
Le Cheng sat there in a daze.
“What’s wrong?”
Zhou Shirui stopped after taking a few steps with his back to him. His voice was strangely hoarse. “…Nothing. Go dry your hair.”
Le Cheng reached back and touched the back of his head. It really was still a little damp. He nodded obediently. “Okay.”
He pattered back to his room, and after blow-drying his hair for a while, he finally got it dry. He stood in front of the mirror, ruffling his hair, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him.
Hm?!
A new idea had come to him. About the CG Zhou Shirui had commissioned from him.
The inspiration came completely out of nowhere. Le Cheng was so excited he nearly jumped for joy. He turned around and jogged toward Zhou Shirui’s room.
The door was half-closed and unlocked. Le Cheng raised his hand and knocked before saying, “Zhou Shirui, are you busy? I’m coming in, okay?”
“I thought of a new idea!” Seeing that no one answered him, Le Cheng pushed the door open himself. He wanted to immediately tell Zhou Shirui his thoughts. “It’ll definitely look better than the previous version!”
There was no sign of Zhou Shirui inside. Le Cheng’s voice trailed off when he heard the sound of rushing water coming from the bathroom.
Why was he taking another shower right after he’d just showered?
Could it be because I touched him just now? Le Cheng frowned. He remembered that Zhou Shirui wasn’t a germaphobe.
“Zhou Shirui.” Le Cheng walked over and sat down in the beanbag chair nearby. “What are you doing? Why are you taking another shower?”
He hadn’t expected anyone to answer, but after a moment, a low voice came from inside the bathroom. “Didn’t wash clean.”
So particular, Le Cheng thought. He didn’t notice anything strange. His head was already completely filled with the excitement of his new idea, so he immediately asked, “How much longer until you can come out? I want to tell you right away.”
Perhaps because of the sound of the water, Zhou Shirui’s voice sounded muffled. “…Not sure.”
“Okay.” Le Cheng thought for a moment. “Is ten minutes enough? Can you come out in ten minutes?”
Zhou Shirui was silent for a moment before saying hoarsely, “No.”
Le Cheng couldn’t wait any longer and simply said, “Then I’ll just tell you from here. I can see that you can hear me. Is that okay?”
“Le Cheng.” Zhou Shirui’s voice sounded somewhat urgent. After a pause, he said in a deep voice, “…You go outside first.”
Le Cheng didn’t understand why Zhou Shirui couldn’t even listen to someone while taking a shower. He really, really wanted to tell him about it, but in the end, he left reluctantly.
Just before walking out, he still clung to the doorframe and said, “…Then hurry up, okay?”
Zhou Shirui didn’t respond.
Le Cheng returned to his room and lay on the bed for a while, organizing his thoughts. He also used his phone to roughly sketch out the direction he wanted to change the drawing. By the time he was almost falling asleep from waiting, he finally heard the sound of a door closing.
He abruptly opened his eyes, so sleepy that he nearly fell off the bed. He got up and walked outside, holding his phone and rubbing his eyes as he asked, “Zhou Shirui… did you finish showering? You take so long…”
This time, the door wasn’t even half-open. Steam swirled through the air. Le Cheng walked straight in and caught the faint scent of body wash.
It was a cool mint scent with woody notes, but there was also a faint, strange smell mixed in.
The scent was inexplicably familiar, but Le Cheng was so sleepy that his brain was practically fogged over. He plopped down in the beanbag chair and yawned as he said, “I drew it out. Take a look. I want to change the drawing like this, just adjusting the overall structure. The lighting effect will also be more eye-catching.”
Zhou Shirui took it from him. “Okay.”
A watery sheen covered Le Cheng’s eyes. He sniffed the air and casually asked, “What body wash do you use?”
“Why?”
“It’s pretty distinctive.” Le Cheng closed his eyes and took another breath. “This smell.”
Zhou Shirui paused slightly, then lowered his eyes without revealing anything. “It’s a very ordinary brand.”
Le Cheng had only asked casually. After hearing that, he didn’t say anything else. He rested his chin against the back of the sofa, his long eyelashes covering his eyelids as though he were about to fall asleep.
The position was rather awkward, and he was only half-dazed for a short while before Zhou Shirui had already finished looking at it. He told him, “It works. This version of the composition is more eye-catching.”
Hearing that his suggestion had been accepted, Le Cheng immediately became more energetic. He stood up and walked over to Zhou Shirui’s side, leaning over slightly to look at the screen. “Right? I think so too!”
“Then that’s good.” Le Cheng yawned and took his phone back. “I’m going to sleep. Good night.”
Sleep.
Zhou Shirui frowned slightly. Le Cheng wasn’t going to sleep with him?
As he walked away, Le Cheng said, “I’ve realized that I’ve kind of gotten used to my bed lately. I can’t really sleep if I’m not in the same bed. Do you think I’m getting old?”
He was even a year younger than Zhou Shirui. Zhou Shirui looked up at him, staring at that fair, tender face that looked almost as if you could pinch water from it, and unusually made a joke. “Hm? Are you saying that to me?”
Le Cheng froze. “What do you mean, saying it to you…” He realized what Zhou Shirui meant and couldn’t help laughing. “Aiya—”
He deliberately dragged out his voice. “Senior Zhou~ You’re still very young!”
“Am I?” Zhou Shirui looked at him.
“Of course.” Le Cheng blinked. “Though, you’re only a tiny little bit older than me!”
After saying that slyly, he darted away like a little fish, leaving Zhou Shirui standing there stunned for quite a while before helplessly tugging up the corners of his lips.
***
The next morning.
They got up early and took a taxi to school. Le Cheng had slept pretty well, but because they had gotten up so early, he didn’t have much energy.
They had classes in different classrooms. After saying goodbye to Zhou Shirui, Le Cheng went to the academic building by himself.
After finishing one large lecture, Zhou Shirui still hadn’t gotten out of class. Unable to wait any longer, Le Cheng headed back toward the dormitory. He wanted to go back and draw.
When he pushed the door open, Tan Xiaobai wasn’t there. He Ziqing was sitting with his head lowered, crocheting yarn.
Le Cheng greeted him, opened his computer, and took out his drawing tablet.
He found the piece that was almost finished and immediately put all his concentration into modifying it.
During a break, Le Cheng chatted with He Ziqing for a bit.
“Ziqing, you’re crocheting again.” Le Cheng leaned over to look. “But you crochet really well, way better than I knit.”
“Isn’t the cultural festival coming up soon?” He Ziqing smiled. “Our club president agreed to knit them a special set of prizes. I happen to be pretty fast at making things, so I thought I’d help out whenever I have free time.”
Le Cheng nodded. Thinking that he was also a member of the club, he couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. “Then I’ll help too, after I finish this drawing.”
“It’s fine. We still have our club president. We actually don’t need that many people.” He Ziqing said, “And I’m pretty fast.”
That was true. Le Cheng was practically hopeless when it came to knitting. After conquering pottery, he had returned to weaving and was still a beginner.
Le Cheng was quick at revising the drawing. Partway through, he turned down Zhou Shirui’s invitation to go out for a meal and simply grabbed something to eat. After six hours of working himself to the bone, he finally finished revising the details.
He sent the drawing to Zhou Shirui. After receiving his approval, Le Cheng opened his account and finally got the real feeling of actually possessing 100,000 yuan.
During this period, he hadn’t only been drawing the CG Zhou Shirui had commissioned. He had also squeezed in a few illustrations worth 2,000+ yuan each. After calculating everything, he was less than 10,000 yuan away from completely paying off his debt.
Le Cheng happily rubbed his face.
Great! He was about to break free from debt and head toward a brand-new life!
“Bzzzz—”
The phone on the desk vibrated. Le Cheng looked down and saw that it was a delivery call. “Hello? Hi.”
“Hello, I’m from Shunshui Express. You have a delivery that’s arrived for doorstep delivery. I’m downstairs right now. Is it convenient for you to come down and pick it up?”
“A delivery?” Le Cheng frowned. He didn’t think he had bought anything.
“Oh, okay.” Le Cheng said, “Wait a moment. I’ll come down right away.”
He slipped on his slippers and pattered downstairs.
The deliveryman was waiting for him. He asked, “You’re Mr. Le Cheng, right?”
“Mm, that’s me.” Le Cheng gave him the last string of digits of his phone number.
“Okay.” The deliveryman took a box nearly as tall as a person down from the truck. “This is your delivery. Here you go.”
Le Cheng froze for a second, but his hands had already reflexively taken it. “Okay, thank you.”
The box was large, but not so heavy that it was unbearable. Le Cheng carried it upstairs. When He Ziqing saw it, his eyes widened slightly. “Le Cheng, did you buy a refrigerator?”
“…………” Le Cheng shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t buy this.”
He Ziqing squatted down with him and helped unpack the delivery. After peeling away all the foam padding, they discovered a chair inside.
A… an ergonomic chair?
It was black and white, with a simple, elegant appearance. Le Cheng lifted it up and couldn’t resist sitting down to try it.
It was a little high, but it could be adjusted. Le Cheng fiddled with it, adjusting everything he could, until a perfectly fitting ergonomic chair was born.
“Wow.” Le Cheng sighed in comfort. “This chair is so comfortable to sit in.”
He Ziqing picked up the instruction manual. “What brand is this? I can’t understand it.”
Le Cheng couldn’t understand it either. After enjoying the chair for a while, he and He Ziqing stared at each other, both looking completely bewildered.
This chair was definitely a gift for him, but he wasn’t sure who had sent it.
As he was thinking about it, his phone rang again. Le Cheng answered. “Zhou Shirui?”
“Mm.” Zhou Shirui’s voice came through the receiver. “Did you get the delivery?”
“The delivery?” Le Cheng blinked. “You bought this chair for me?”
“Yes.” Zhou Shirui asked, “Have you tried it?”
Le Cheng was a little flustered. “I have. Why did you suddenly buy me a chair? Was it expensive?”
“Not expensive.” Zhou Shirui said it casually. “Last time you came to the studio, didn’t you like that chair?”
Le Cheng looked down at it, wondering. This one didn’t look like the chair at the studio.
“This one was custom-made. It should be more comfortable.” Zhou Shirui’s voice was steady. “Is it okay?”
Le Cheng felt both touched and happy. He said, “It’s really not expensive? Are you lying to me?” But the corners of his lips had already curled upward, and he couldn’t help laughing twice. “This chair is so comfortable! Zhou Shirui… you’re so nice.”
Zhou Shirui casually fiddled with his phone, his heart seemingly pierced by something soft.
Le Cheng was like a flower facing the sun, always openly blooming, openly accepting the kindness of others, openly expressing his happiness. No matter from what angle one looked at it, he made people feel that their kindness was completely worth it.
“Mm.” Zhou Shirui said, “As long as you like it.”
“I really like it!” Le Cheng probably hadn’t sat in such a comfortable chair since coming here. He blinked and asked, “Senior Zhou, does this count as an ‘employee benefit’?”
Zhou Shirui: “Hm?” He paused, then gave a short laugh. “It… counts.”
Le Cheng swung his little legs. “My exclusive benefit?”
Zhou Shirui said quietly, “Mm.”
After hanging up, Le Cheng sat there enjoying the chair for a while longer. Thinking that one should be frugal, he searched through the school’s secondhand group and simply posted his old beanbag chair for sale.
He also casually used an image-search function to search for the chair, but perhaps because it had been custom-made, he couldn’t find the same model.
That afternoon, He Ziqing invited him to go to the club together.
Le Cheng happily agreed.
Several other members of the club were there as well. When Chu Yue saw the two of them, she waved.
“Not bad, Ziqing.” Chu Yue was pleased. “You brought us another poor soul to work, huh?”
He Ziqing hurriedly waved his hands, while Le Cheng chimed in, “That’s right, I voluntarily joined this family!”
Chu Yue was amused by him. Le Cheng took the opportunity to sit down nearby and worked with everyone on making knitted cup sleeves.
“Our school’s cultural festival is about to start,” Chu Yue said. “Have you all signed up to participate?”
Jiang Zhijie shook his head. “I don’t have any talents.”
He Ziqing: “Same here.”
“If you don’t have a talent, you have to create one!” Chu Yue said. “I signed up for the choir. I’m planning to show off my singing skills when the time comes.”
“By the way, Le Cheng, what about you? You have such a good image. Are you planning to participate in anything?”
Le Cheng was busy struggling with a stubborn knot, but when he heard this, he lifted his head. “Huh? Me? I’m not participating. I’ll just cheer everyone on from below when the time comes.”
“Really not participating?” Jiang Zhijie asked. “I thought you’d participate in something like singing too.”
Singing? Le Cheng couldn’t sing, but he did have a talent, he could do sand painting.
When he was in high school, he had even participated in a city-level competition because of this talent.
Le Cheng answered vaguely, “I can’t sing.”
“Bang—”
As they were talking, the club president, Xu Yuan, pushed the door open and walked in.
Le Cheng was just about to greet him when another person walked in behind Xu Yuan.
Lin He.
Lin He glanced over and seemed a little surprised to see Le Cheng. Le Cheng nodded at him, while Xu Yuan said with a beaming smile, “Oh, this is great. Everyone’s working hard?”
“Who’s like you?” Chu Yue raised an eyebrow. “You’re always looking for things for us to do but never doing anything yourself.”
“Ahem.” Xu Yuan scratched his hair. “It’s part of a club president’s responsibilities.”
“Then the club president should treat us to a meal!”
“Fine, fine, fine.” Xu Yuan spread his hands. “I’ll definitely treat everyone to a meal next week.”
Le Cheng half-listened to everyone chatting while scrolling on his screen. Suddenly, a message popped up.
[Client Senior Zhou: Where are you?]
Le Cheng replied,
[Orange: I’m at the club.]
After quite a while, Zhou Shirui still hadn’t replied.
Le Cheng lazily sent another message.
[Orange: I’m so thirsty. I want a drink. There isn’t even a water dispenser on our club’s floor!]
[Orange: Puppy crying.jpg]
Only then did Zhou Shirui reply.
[Client Senior Zhou: Why did you go to the club?]
[Orange: The cultural festival is coming up, so I came to help out too.]
[Client Senior Zhou: Mm.]
[Client Senior Zhou: Who are you with?]
That sounded an awful lot like he was checking up on him. Le Cheng poked at the screen and replied.
[Orange: Everyone from our club. Xu Yuan, Chu Yue, Jiang Zhijie, and He Ziqing.]
He tapped send.
Zhou Shirui’s message popped up almost immediately.
[Client Senior Zhou: No one else?]
Le Cheng felt a pang of guilt.
[Orange: No one else!]
Maybe he was just being overly sensitive, but he always felt that Zhou Shirui didn’t seem to like Lin He very much.
Exactly what he disliked about him, Le Cheng couldn’t say.
It was just a strong intuition.
So he simply decided not to mention that name. Better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Besides, he hadn’t even said more than a few words to Lin He.
But the very next second after he sent the message, for some reason, Lin He suddenly walked over to him and bent down, looking at the ugly little cup sleeve in his hands as though he was about to say something.
“Clang—”
The door was pushed open at that moment.
Le Cheng jumped in surprise. He immediately turned his head and met Zhou Shirui’s dark, unreadable eyes.
Before he had time to say anything, Zhou Shirui was already walking toward him, getting very close. With a soft “tap,” he placed a bottle of drink on the table.
His long fingers remained on the cold metal can, which was misting with condensation.
Zhou Shirui stared at him, not sparing anyone else a glance, and asked in an indifferent tone, “Le Cheng. Are you having dinner with them?”
Le Cheng’s heart suddenly jolted. “No.”
“Mm.” Zhou Shirui acknowledged it without much expression, yet his actions were completely different from his words. He slowly released the can, his gaze fixed straight on Le Cheng’s face, then turned and walked away.
This felt very bad.
Le Cheng felt a sudden sense of panic, probably because he had lied. He instinctively wanted to grab him, but only managed to catch the hem of his clothes.
The others didn’t notice anything. Zhou Shirui had acted far too normally. One of them even asked Le Cheng, “Huh? Why did your boyfriend leave?”
Le Cheng felt incredibly guilty. He didn’t know why, but he inexplicably felt like he had just been caught cheating by the rightful partner.
“Ah… no!” Le Cheng hurriedly said. “I’m going to eat with him. Ziqing, can you help me take the materials back?”
“Of course.” He Ziqing said. “You go ahead.”
Le Cheng took a breath and pretended to remain calm as he left. The moment he stepped outside, he looked around frantically. Zhou Shirui wasn’t walking very fast this time, and Le Cheng could actually still see his back.
Le Cheng jogged after him and tugged at him. “Why, why are you walking so fast? You didn’t even wait for me?”
“Wait for you?” Zhou Shirui stopped and looked down at him, asking with almost complete calmness, “Weren’t you the one who didn’t want me?”
Le Cheng felt as though he had been struck. “Who, who said I didn’t want…” Le Cheng actually didn’t understand why he was so angry.
Zhou Shirui directly turned into another empty classroom. Le Cheng didn’t know what it was used for; it was filled entirely with long benches.
Zhou Shirui walked straight over and sat down, lowering his head to glance at his phone.
He didn’t say anything, but Le Cheng somehow understood what he meant.
So he blinked and sat down too.
“Are you angry?” Le Cheng leaned over. “Really angry?”
Zhou Shirui pressed his lips together and said nothing.
“Don’t be angry. I didn’t mean to lie. I barely even talked to him.” Le Cheng scooted closer. Zhou Shirui didn’t move, so Le Cheng gently bumped him again. “Don’t be angry.”
Zhou Shirui held himself back again and again before finally saying bluntly, “I don’t want to see you meet with him again.”
Who? Lin He?
Le Cheng blinked.
Why was his possessiveness so strong?
He never would have guessed Zhou Shirui had this side to him.
“But…” Le Cheng was a little troubled. “He hasn’t done anything to me.”
Zhou Shirui said nothing.
“You’re so petty, Zhou Shirui.” Le Cheng deliberately dragged out his voice.
“Such a petty person. Aren’t you?” Le Cheng reached out and poked him with his finger. “Petty person.”
Zhou Shirui didn’t move an inch.
Le Cheng started rubbing against him, nudging him until his body swayed.
Zhou Shirui braced himself and couldn’t help turning his head to glance at Le Cheng.
He really loved acting spoiled.
Even though he was angry, even though Le Cheng had done something wrong, he seemed completely unafraid, like an aggrieved puppy, nudging you with his body, whining softly, rubbing his fluffy head against you. The moment you showed even the slightest sign of giving in, he would happily pounce straight into your arms.
“Zhou Shirui~”
Le Cheng drew out his voice as he called him. There was no one else here besides the two of them, so he didn’t care about his dignity at all. He simply rubbed against him and nudged him.
Zhou Shirui seemed to be breathing unevenly. He glanced sideways at him. Le Cheng’s black hair had become completely messy from all the rubbing, his fair cheeks were flushed with a faint pink, and his watery eyes were looking at him. He looked like someone who never learned his lesson, yet was so cute and so easy to tease, as if he could be kneaded and molded however one pleased.
Was apologizing like this really an apology?
He had been holding himself back for a very long time, afraid of frightening Le Cheng. But Le Cheng was always provoking him like this. Did he really think he could hold himself back every time?
Le Cheng nudged him for a long time without getting any response. He himself was getting a little tired. While softly muttering, “So petty,” he couldn’t help reaching out to shake him, only for Zhou Shirui to suddenly seize his wrist.
Le Cheng froze slightly. He saw that Zhou Shirui’s eyes were cold and his expression dark, his chest rising and falling slightly.
For some reason, Le Cheng felt a little frightened. He wanted to pull his hand back, but in the next instant, Zhou Shirui was already holding his slender, fair wrist, bringing it to his lips and giving it a decisive bite.
!!!
Le Cheng’s eyes instantly widened.
It didn’t hurt. It just felt numb and tingly.
Looking at his easily-bullied little expression, Zhou Shirui only found himself even more unable to bear it. In a hoarse voice, he called, “Le Cheng.”
Zhou Shirui’s threat had absolutely no intimidation behind it. “No acting spoiled.”
