“We found Brother Qi and Brother Shiyu!”

Shen Ziyi shouted, and the group from Class 7 rushed to a small stall selling cold jelly on the riverside. They surrounded Zhong Qi and Lin Shiyu who were standing in front of the stall, like a group of followers surrounding their leader and his spouse.

“Brother Qi, how could you take Brother Shiyu to eat alone?”

“What about the promised milk tea? What about trust?”

“What were you two doing holding hands? Tell us! Do you two have a secret?”

Zhong Qi pulled out two red bills and handed them to Gao Jie, “Old Gao, go buy milk tea for everyone.”

Gao Jie, thrilled with the money, quickly turned and led the eager crowd away.

This left only the two of them in front of the stall.

Zhong Qi bought the cold jelly, held it in one hand, and led Lin Shiyu to a bench by the riverside to sit down. The fireworks show had ended, and the crowd on the riverside had dispersed, leaving only a few people strolling and chatting.

Zhong Qi handed the cold jelly to Lin Shiyu. “Eat.”

Lin Shiyu opened the plastic bag, held the bowl, and ate quietly without saying a word. After a few bites, he put down the bowl.

“Do you want some?” Lin Shiyu asked, his voice low and slightly nervous.

“I bought it for you.” Zhong Qi said. He turned to look at Lin Shiyu, his gaze falling on Lin Shiyu’s lips. After a moment, he raised his hand to gently touch the corner of Lin Shiyu’s mouth and said softly, “Your lips seem a bit chapped.”

Lin Shiyu quickly pursed his lips and turned his head away, feeling half annoyed and half embarrassed, thinking it was because of Zhong Qi’s roughness.

A belated, troubling question came to Lin Shiyu’s mind. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “How are your parents?”

Zhong Qi, leaning nonchalantly against the backrest with one arm draped behind Lin Shiyu, replied, “My dad wants a divorce. My mom doesn’t agree, and both sides are in a deadlock. It’s hard to say how long it will drag on.”

“And you?” Zhong Qi turned to Lin Shiyu. “What about you?”

Lin Shiyu naturally asked, “How do you feel about it?”

The two sat quietly on the bench, looking at each other. Zhong Qi lowered his head and smiled.

“Living together reluctantly makes everyone miserable.”

Lin Shiyu nodded, showing he understood. Then he asked, “So… will you move out?”

He cared more about this question and looked anxiously at Zhong Qi after asking. Zhong Qi moved closer to Lin Shiyu, looking confused, “Why ask that? I won’t move.”

Lin Shiyu finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his heart.

“Today, I saw you guys coming out of Mr. Li’s office and heard you saying you were going to live somewhere else.”

Zhong Qi was slightly stunned, then he laughed.

“Does it matter to you?” Zhong Qi teased Lin Shiyu.

Lin Shiyu glared at him, picked up the cold jelly, and continued eating, ignoring him.

Zhong Qi had to explain. “After my mom threw away my backpack, they continued arguing about the divorce at home. My mom even brought my grandparents over. It was too noisy at home, so I discussed with my dad about renting a teacher’s room at school.”

A teacher’s room was a house on campus bought by the staff, mainly provided as a benefit for teachers. They were few in number and cheap internally, but most teachers didn’t choose to live in the teacher’s rooms. These houses, in excellent locations within the school, were highly sought after by parents of high school seniors. Near the end of sophomore year, parents would fight to rent these houses at high prices to allow their children, sometimes with a parent, to stay there, earning the nickname “boarding houses.”

For a sophomore like Zhong Qi to rent a teacher’s room, he needed Mr. Li’s help to pull some strings, otherwise, it was impossible to get one.

Lin Shiyu finally understood that he had overthought it again. He was too embarrassed to tell Zhong Qi he almost had a breakdown, so he changed the topic. “So… will your family stay with you?”

“No, I’ll stay alone.”

How extravagant, Lin Shiyu thought. It’s better to stay in the dorm. Just as he was thinking this, Zhong Qi put his arm around his shoulders and lowered his voice. “But if you come to wash my clothes and cook for me, I don’t mind saving a pillow for you.”

Lin Shiyu, holding the bowl of cold jelly he hadn’t finished for a long time, blushed furiously.
“Shameless!” Lin Shiyu’s angry shout echoed along the riverside. “Who wants your pillow?!”

“Alright, you don’t care.”

Lin Shiyu finished eating the cold jelly and then asked, “So what did you mean when you said you wouldn’t take the final exam?”

Zhong Qi calmly replied, “I was just angry.”

Lin Shiyu thought he should have known that this seemingly mature yet actually capricious and childish person was just venting. He had foolishly over thought it.

However, Zhong Qi seemed to know what he was thinking and said, “If you don’t like it, I won’t say such things again.”

Lin Shiyu was stunned and deeply moved.

It was as if a magical spell had once again filled Lin Shiyu’s mind with the intense heat and panting from the dark bamboo shadows. He stiffened completely, like a stone, on the bench.

Were he and Zhong Qi starting a relationship? Lin Shiyu felt a rush of blood to his head, wondering, how does one date? He had no experience. How would he date Zhong Qi? He didn’t know. Could two guys even date? It was crazy.

It was too unreal, Lin Shiyu concluded.

Even if it was fake, he didn’t care, Lin Shiyu decided.

The group that Zhong Qi had sent off happily drinking milk tea wandered around and finally encountered Zhong Qi and Lin Shiyu again behind a row of shops by the riverbank. Zhong Qi was buying hotpot skewers, with Lin Shiyu standing close by, watching.

Lin Shiyu’s voice floated over with the aroma of the skewers, “Stop eating.”

Then Zhong Qi said, “Eat more, gain some weight.”

Mao Silu and Shen Ziyi, with no sense of timing, immediately ran over, demanding Zhong Qi buy them some too. Zhong Qi seemed to be in a good mood and bought some for them as well.

Tao Chen stood quietly not too far away, watching the two of them.

Previously, Shen Ziyi noticed her lack of enthusiasm and repeatedly urged Zhong Qi to join them at the riverside. Zhong Qi hadn’t responded. Tao Chen had given up hope, but then Zhong Qi showed up. However, her joy faded as Zhong Qi went straight to Lin Shiyu.

They disappeared together and reappeared together, always inseparable, just like every day at school. Since the start of high school, Tao Chen’s gaze had uncontrollably followed Zhong Qi, watching him smile and tease Lin Shiyu into a fury, then casually coax him.

She knew Zhong Qi wasn’t someone who smiled often or liked to tease others for fun.

He was acting unique just to Lin Shiyu.

She watched the group noisily crowd around the hotpot skewer stall. Mao Silu, talking excitedly, reached out to put his arm around Lin Shiyu’s shoulder. Zhong Qi naturally raised his hand, pulling Lin Shiyu aside.

Tao Chen thought, was it what she had imagined? The seemingly distant and cold Zhong Qi also wanted to monopolize someone?

Suddenly, Shen Ziyi remembered something and looked around. “Where’s Tao? Where’s my Tao Chen?”

Tao Chen took a deep breath, trying to muster a smile, waved, and called out, “Here!” and ran over to join them. Shen Ziyi pulled her close, eagerly offering her a skewer of fish slices. Watching her eat slowly, Shen Ziyi patted her face gently and whispered, “Don’t worry, there will be better ones in the future. Our Tao is so excellent, many people will like you, right?”

Tao Chen held back a tearful reply, nodding with a soft “Mm.”

As the night wore on, the crowd dispersed and stars filled the sky. Lin Shiyu, having been fed various snacks by Zhong Qi all the way home, felt stuffed. The neighborhood was quiet and dark, only the occasional chirping of cicadas breaking the silence. Zhong Qi walked Lin Shiyu all the way to his building. The old residential building had few residents, with only a few lit windows.

Alone with Zhong Qi in the dim and deserted environment, Lin Shiyu felt nervous, his palms sweaty. He told Zhong Qi, “I’m home, you should go back.”

“Kiss me before I go.”

Lin Shiyu nearly exploded. “Didn’t we just kiss?”

Zhong Qi grabbed his wrist, pulling him closer. Lin Shiyu quickly placed his hand on Zhong Qi’s chest, glancing anxiously towards the building entrance, worried his mother might come down to take out the trash or buy something. “Not in front of my house…”

Zhong Qi held his chin and turned his face back, half warning, “Lin Shiyu, don’t look elsewhere when I’m about to kiss you.”

Their breath intertwined as Zhong Qi pressed his lips to Lin Shiyu’s, forcefully prying open his teeth, kissing him with a possessiveness completely at odds with his usual aloof demeanor. Lin Shiyu had to tilt his head back under the pressure, a thin, trembling line stretching from his jaw to his neck.

Lin Shiyu closed his eyes, struggling to breathe. His tongue went numb from the bite, and the grip on his waist gradually loosened. Zhong Qi wiped the corner of Lin Shiyu’s mouth with his thumb, pressed their foreheads together, and softly said, “Go inside.”

Lin Shiyu lowered his head, taking steady breaths, barely managing to swallow his saliva, and mumbled a response.

“Don’t let your mom see your mouth,” Zhong Qi added with a hint of teasing.

Lin Shiyu turned and fled.

On the first night of his first relationship, Lin Shiyu had a severe bout of insomnia, staring at the ceiling until dawn.

At 6:30 in the morning, his alarm went off, accompanied by a vibration—it was a message from Zhong Qi.

[Meet you at the gate of the neighborhood.]

Lin Shiyu picked up his phone and looked at the message. Three seconds later, he rolled out of bed and hurt his knee. He hurriedly washed his face, brushed his teeth, and changed clothes. Under the confused gazes of his mother and sister, he grabbed his backpack and ran out of the house.

Like many ordinary people who had a boyfriend for the first time, Lin Shiyu couldn’t help but wonder what their first day together would be like. Would Zhong Qi treat him differently? He felt both unreal and nervously expectant.

“Lin Shiyu, why did you get so many questions wrong?”

Zhong Qi took his homework book and flipped through it. “You got seven out of ten multiple-choice questions wrong? You left three biology questions blank and got two wrong. Didn’t I teach you the key points of this unit before?”

Lin Shiyu sat at his desk, speechless.

“You got all the words wrong in this English fill-in-the-blanks exercise. Didn’t I teach you how to judge prepositions last week? Didn’t you memorize them?”

Lin Shiyu remained silent.

After checking his homework, Zhong Qi picked up his Chinese composition book. “You forgot to write the short essay assigned last night.”

Chen Xiaoxin commented, “Forgetting to write the essay, how could that be?”

Zuo Xiang added, “Stop talking, the kid’s about to cry.”

Under Zhong Qi’s supervision, Lin Shiyu spent the entire morning study period finishing his essay, completing his biology homework, and correcting his English assignments. Mao Silu and the others brought him breakfast, almost calming him down.

What was he even worried about?

Soon, Old Teacher Li helped Zhong Qi find a teacher’s apartment that was about to be rented out. They were lucky, the apartment had originally been reserved for a soon-to-be senior high school student who had decided to transfer to another school, leaving the place available.

Zhong Qi’s father quickly paid the rent, had someone drive Zhong Qi’s luggage to the school, and even hired a housekeeper to come once a week to clean. Whether he was finally starting to care for his son or trying to improve his image before the divorce, Zhong Qi didn’t mind.

After moving out, he felt much lighter. He no longer had to endure his grandparents’ persistent advice or his parents’ endless arguments over who contributed more to the family and who deserved more of the property.

On the day Zhong Qi moved into the rental apartment, Mao Silu and the others came over to help. Though their presence was more about having fun, the hired housekeeper took care of everything, making their efforts more of a hindrance than help.

Mao Silu and Gao Jie wandered around the 120-square-meter apartment, enviously noting how Zhong Qi, still in his first year of high school, could live in such a spacious place without parents nagging him, enjoying unbounded freedom.

Ruan Zhikai asked, “Are your parents really okay with you living alone?”

Zhong Qi replied, “The apartment is on school grounds. What’s there to worry about?”

“They’re not afraid you’ll have too much fun and your grades will drop?”

“They never supervised my studies even when I lived at home.”

After a tour, Gao Jie approached with a sly grin, nudging Zhong Qi. “Brother Qi, you’re free now, huh? So, if you want to go on a date with a girl, you won’t have to worry about a place, right?”

Zhong Qi met his gaze for a few seconds, then smiled.

“Oh! Brother Qi? You’ve got something going on, don’t you?”

Zhong Qi neither confirmed nor denied it, turning away and leaving the excited Gao Jie behind. He went to find his “something.”

In the kitchen, Lin Shiyu was putting the milk and frozen dumplings he had bought into the refrigerator. He had just closed a drawer when suddenly, a hand wrapped around his waist and pressed him against the wall, the fridge door slamming shut with a bang.

Lin Shiyu was almost stunned. He quickly pushed Zhong Qi away, glancing nervously toward the kitchen door. “There are still people outside!”

“Mm.” Zhong Qi didn’t let go, and continued to press him against the wall, leaning in closer with a low voice. “Will you sleep here tonight?”

Lin Shiyu blushed furiously, lowering his eyes to hide his racing heartbeat. “How… how could that be possible?”

Outside, the sounds of the housekeeper mopping and the loud voices of Gao Jie, Mao Silu, and Ruan Zhikai were getting closer, as if they would enter at any moment. Zhong Qi seemed unfazed, holding onto Lin Shiyu, whose eyelashes trembled with tension, not letting him escape his sight.

“It’s my first day in a new place,” Zhong Qi whispered in Lin Shiyu’s ear. “Would you really let me sleep alone?”

Lin Shiyu couldn’t stand him speaking so close. Lowering his head to avoid his breath, his voice weakening. “I need to go back and be with Wanyue.”

Zhong Qi tilted his chin. “So you only care about your sister and not your boyfriend?”

Lin Shiyu was at a loss for words. Just as he was about to speak, Gao Jie’s loud voice approached the door. “Brother Qi, Brother Shiyu! Where are you? I’m starving, is there any food—”

Gao Jie barged into the kitchen, just in time to see Lin Shiyu brush past him, muttering, “There’s food in the fridge,” before running out. Zhong Qi was standing in the kitchen, facing the wall, seemingly doing nothing.

Gao Jie asked in confusion, “Brother Qi, are you facing the wall?”

Zhong Qi gave him a subtle look and walked away.

That evening, the group took advantage of Zhong Qi’s hospitality for a meal. After eating and drinking to their hearts’ content, they each went home satisfied. Zhong Qi escorted them to the entrance of the snack street, saying he needed to get something from home and would walk back with Lin Shiyu. Once the others had left, Zhong Qi grabbed Lin Shiyu’s wrist.

“Wait… where are we going?” Lin Shiyu, carrying his backpack, was dragged in the opposite direction, unable to break free. “My house isn’t that way!”

“To the supermarket.”

“For what?”

“To buy you toiletries.”

“Toil…” Lin Shiyu nearly bit his tongue. “I never said I was going to your house or spending the night.”

Zhong Qi stopped, turned around, and looked at him.

On a weekend night, there were few pedestrians near the school. Between the snack street and the school fence was a winding path lined with trees. The summer breeze flowed through the leaves, the road was empty, and the lights were dim.

Holding Lin Shiyu’s hand, Zhong Qi softly said, “Two days a week, is that okay?”

The usually indifferent and uncaring Zhong Qi now wore a rare expression of vulnerability, like a wild predator lowering its head and ears, inviting trust and a gentle touch.

Lin Shiyu looked at Zhong Qi and forgot everything he wanted to say.

“If two days is too much, even one day is fine.” Zhong Qi’s fingers hooked onto Lin Shiyu’s, not letting go, his voice low. “Is that okay?”

Lin Shiyu had never seen Zhong Qi like this. His heart pounded fiercely, then raced.

“Then… still…” Lin Shiyu stammered. “Two days… okay.”

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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