Lin Hai stared at the message from his brother Qin Yu for a long time before finally tearing his gaze away from his phone.
A few days ago, someone who had always claimed to dislike posting on WeChat Moments, saying that it was a spy on his life, suddenly shared several official announcement photos late one night. The caption read simply:
[First Snow]
The image showed a slender hand with distinct knuckles, thumb, and forefinger pinching a ball of snow. Lin Hai had to strain his eyes, practically pressing them against the screen, to make out that the snowball vaguely resembled a lazy cat.
However, compared to the cat-like snowball, Lin Hai instantly recognized the hand as belonging to that kid Qin Yu. The guy’s hands were unique, as if from another dimension. It was extraordinary. Talk about being blessed by the heavens!
Lin Hai silently wept in his heart.
After feeling sorry for himself for three seconds, he swiped to the next photo.
It showed the silhouette of an unfamiliar man on a snowy night, his face mysteriously hidden by a black hood. The dim streetlight illuminated him, yet no trace of loneliness could be seen in his figure.
From just this single photo, one could tell this was a man with good proportions who loved sports. He was definitely not Qin Yu—he and Lin Hai were the same, focused solely on making money with exercise as an afterthought.
Knowing the truth, Lin Hai felt like a spectator watching drama unfold. He could instantly tell what was going on between those two just from these photos – they must have gotten together. Yet he still vividly recalled the awkward scene when he and Qin Yu first met Xie Cen.
So awkward he’d wanted to curl his toes into the ground.
This was likely something only Lin Hai knew about. Their mutual friends, upon seeing Qin Yu’s social media post, didn’t dare ask him directly and instead came to Lin Hai for answers.
No joke—back then, Qin Yu incredibly hit the low odds of running into a fellow top whenever he dated. This had been the talk of their friend group for all four years of university. At almost every gathering, the guys would drag out this embarrassing story about Qin Yu and rehash it. Qin Yu himself would just laugh it off before playfully kicking whoever was teasing him.
What could be more exciting than the brother who’d provided their biggest laughs finally finding a partner?
The key point was that judging by the other person’s figure in the photo, the guy didn’t look like a bottom at all. Could he be the muscular yet submissive type Qin Yu had always dreamed of? Indeed, that guy’s tastes had remained consistent over the years since graduation. He could be considered the most innocent among them.
A joke is just a joke.
In the dead of night, Lin Hai’s eyes were half-closed and he was about to drift off when his phone suddenly buzzed with incoming messages, jolting him awake.
Fighting his drowsiness, Lin Hai opened his phone to find Qin Yu’s message among a flood of inquiries sent minutes ago.
[Hai? You there?]
[It’s your bro’s birthday this Sunday. Come over and I’ll treat you to a feast.]
Followed by a sunglasses-wearing, cool-guy emoji.
Damn, it was past 1 a.m. What time zone was this guy on? How could he have so much energy?
And wait, something about that message seemed off. The more Lin Hai looked at it, the more annoying it became. He wanted to reach through the screen and smack Qin Yu.
[I’ll be there!]
In the end, Lin Hai gave an honest reply.
Having received Lin Hai’s confirmation, Qin Yu quickly sent over an address.
It was an unfamiliar location to Lin Hai. Surely not Qin Yu’s old shared apartment?
Looking at the address, it was still in C City.
Hold on, what was that guy doing in C City?
[Qin bro, did you rent a place in C City?]
[Haha, you figured it out]
Qin Yu played dumb.
[……]
Lin Hai was speechless.
[Staying at Xie Cen’s for a few days. Gave up the shared apartment ’cause it was a hassle. Still looking for a new place.]
[But once I find one, Xie Cen says he’s pretty free and wants to move in with me. You’re in luck, bro – we’ll be close by so you can come mooch meals off us.]
Oh no, he’d fallen for the couple’s trick. What was with all this dog food being shoved in his face? And why was the screen overflowing with lovey-dovey vibes?
Watching his good friend progressing further and further down the path of romance while he remained single… someone wasn’t going to sleep well tonight.
But that Qin Yu kid sure was lucky to have found the one he’d been dreaming of.
Treasure Qin Yu well. The poor guy had always been busy paying off debts for his estranged gambling-addict father.
Unable to sleep, Lin Hai, who rarely smoked, suddenly dug out a pack of cigarettes from his drawer and walked over to the window.
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