Ning Guiqu really didn’t go to class the next day. He asked his advisor for two days off to nurse his leg injury in the dorm. Although Ning Guiqu bought bread, he wasn’t used to eating in bed. Besides, he hadn’t brushed his teeth or washed his face yet.
So when Lu Yuan and the others got up early, Ning Guiqu also got up, letting Lu Yuan help him get down. After washing up, he quickly ate the bread. Once finished, he was pushed back to bed to rest.
Then, he thought about how to repay Lu Yuan!
Truth be told, Ning Guiqu rarely troubled others, so naturally, he’d never thought about “repaying” someone. Usually, treating them to a meal was enough. But lately, he’d been causing Lu Yuan a lot of trouble. Just yesterday, Lu Yuan had carried him to and from school, all for the sake of cultivating his love brain.
How to repay him?
Help Lu Yuan’s game account reach diamond rank? But Lu Yuan hardly played games, so ranking up or not didn’t really matter.
Lu Yuan was typically without wants or needs. Ning Guiqu had no idea what Lu Yuan lacked or needed. No, wait—Lu Yuan liked cats. He even fed some before.
Ning Guiqu pondered for a while, then opened Taobao.
That morning, as Lu Yuan listened to lectures in the classroom, he would precisely receive Ning Guiqu’s pointless messages the moment class ended.
At first, the pointless messages were:
[I want to eat rice balls for lunch, thank you \^O^/]
[Never mind, let’s have beef noodles instead]
[Lu Yuan, how about I help you rank up?]
[If you start a business empire in the future, can you add me? There’s strength in numbers. I can help you expand]
[If you’re straight, would you allow gay people in your company? But don’t worry, I can pretend to be straight!]
Lu Yuan: “……”
Lu Yuan didn’t reply to a single one, and the other WeChat was silent, too. He probably used up all his energy sending those messages.
Soon, Lu Yuan received another harassing message.
[Do our classmates suspect anything about our relationship? We were on the forum together last night!]
Lu Yuan’s lips twitched slightly. Now he asks?
Lu Yuan replied: [No.]
When Ning Guiqu received the message, he couldn’t quite believe it. Were their classmates really not gossipy?
Ning Guiqu quietly inquired with Jiang Xu. Shi Wen only cared about games, so he probably wouldn’t know anything.
Jiang Xu replied: [They probably do, but who dares to ask Lu Yuan? They’re all waiting for you to come back to class to ask you.]
Ning Guiqu fell silent.
He turned on his camera and put on a stern face. From today on, he would be the aloof Xiao Qu!
At noon, Lu Yuan brought Ning Guiqu a portion of beef noodles. When Lu Yuan returned, Ning Guiqu said to him, “I’ll give you a surprise in a few days. Thank you for helping me so much lately.”
Lu Yuan placed Ning Guiqu’s noodles on his desk. “I’m not helping you for your surprise.”
With Lu Yuan’s support, Ning Guiqu came down again to eat lunch.
Ning Guiqu’s eyes curved into crescents. “I know that! You don’t need anything from me. But I want to give you a surprise!”
Lu Yuan awkwardly averted his gaze. His heart began to look forward to it.
There were no classes in the afternoon, and Lu Yuan didn’t stay in the dorm. Ning Guiqu had slept through the morning, so naturally, he didn’t nap at noon. Seeing Lu Yuan changing his shoes, he raised his head and waved his phone at Lu Yuan, gesturing for him to check his phone.
Shi Wen was still napping. Ning Guiqu naturally didn’t chat with Lu Yuan directly.
Lu Yuan glanced at his phone.
[Are you going out this afternoon?]
Lu Yuan replied with a simple “Mm.”
Ning Guiqu’s message came lightning-fast.
[Then what about me?]
?
Lu Yuan looked up. Ning Guiqu, who had been staring at his phone, seemed to notice his gaze. He looked down, his innocent eyes meeting Lu Yuan’s in a shared glance.
Lu Yuan lowered his head, typing a message: [You stay in the dorm]
Ning Guiqu: [Then what should I do if I miss you?]
When Lu Yuan saw this, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest!
The next moment, Ning Guiqu’s message came again: [It’s your roommate’s thoughts, don’t overthink it.]
Lu Yuan: “……”
He had already overthought it!
Lu Yuan replied: [You’re gay. Is it okay to talk like this to a straight man?]
Ning Guiqu responded: [If you were gay, it definitely wouldn’t be okay for me to say this. But you’re not, so I’m interacting with you in a straight man’s way.]
Lu Yuan quickly left.
Moreover, after sending him those messages, Ning Guiqu sent another on his “alt account.”
[Straight men are such a hassle.]
Lu Yuan: “……”
Lu Yuan took a deep breath.
It was him. It was his problem! It was he who, having decided that Ning Guiqu liked him, was overthinking everything Ning Guiqu said to him. He couldn’t go on like this. Forget it! Forget that Ning Guiqu liked him.
He couldn’t forget.
Lu Yuan’s expression darkened.
Then he would stay away from Ning Guiqu!
Around 5 p.m. in the evening, Shi Wen, who had been lying in bed, got up. After getting up, he went out and brought back two portions of food.
Ning Guiqu looked at the door, and only after Shi Wen placed his dinner on his desk did he face reality, “Lu Yuan didn’t come back?”
Lu Yuan had asked him what he wanted for dinner at noon.
Shi Wen: “He asked me to bring it for you. I was going to ask what you wanted to eat, but saw you were sleeping so I didn’t. He probably had something to do. I’ll help you down.”
Ning Guiqu was a bit unhappy!
He didn’t even tell him.
But Ning Guiqu also knew that Lu Yuan didn’t need to tell him. He even asked Xiao Shi to bring him dinner. But still! He was upset!
After Shi Wen helped Ning Guiqu down, he poked at his alt account again.
[Damn it!! Damn it!!]
[I’ll lock you in the fridge!]
Ning Guiqu still felt a bit gloomy. While eating, he poked Lu Yuan again, asking what he was doing.
Lu Yuan replied at this point.
[Eating with a friend. Has Shi Wen returned to the dorm?]
Ning Guiqu suddenly wasn’t gloomy anymore. He still cared about him!
Ning Guiqu: [He’s back, eating now. Let me see what you’re eating?]
Lu Yuan didn’t reply.
Ning Guiqu had now become that super annoying kind of friend, poking Lu Yuan several more times. Lu Yuan sent a photo over. There were several dishes on the table, with fish and meat.
Ning Guiqu felt it was nothing special. Just because of this dinner with a friend, he wouldn’t come back tonight? When his leg healed, he would also treat Lu Yuan to a meal, the most luxurious one! Ning Guiqu was about to reply with an emoji when suddenly, he noticed a wrist barely visible in the corner of the image.
The wrist wasn’t the focus.
The focus was the watch on that wrist.
Ning Guiqu’s expression turned serious. He exited the chat and skillfully found the school forum, locating the thread about the protagonist gong. There were photos of the protagonist gong in the post.
Ning Guiqu zoomed straight in on the wrist area.
Sure enough!
It was exactly the same!
Ning Guiqu’s face turned pale. Could Lu Yuan’s friend possibly be the protagonist gong?
Impossible!
If it was the protagonist gong, how could the book not have mentioned Lu Yuan??
Ning Guiqu tentatively messaged Lu Yuan again: [Who are you eating with?]
Lu Yuan: [? Are you being too nosy?]
Lu Yuan didn’t answer.
Ning Guiqu had no choice but to ask directly: [Is it Song Huai?]
Ning Guiqu waited for a long time, listlessly taking a bite of food in the meantime. After a while, his phone finally lit up.
It was from Lu Yuan!
Ning Guiqu nervously opened it.
It was still a picture of the dining table. But this time, that section of wrist in the corner was circled.
Ning Guiqu was puzzled.
Lu Yuan’s text message arrived: [You recognized him just by his exposed hand? You even know his hands?]
Ning Guiqu: ??
It wasn’t that. He had recognized him by his watch, but Lu Yuan’s question was rather odd.
Wait!
Ning Guiqu’s pupils filled with terror.
The friend dining with Lu Yuan was really the protagonist gong! Lu Yuan and the protagonist gong were friends!!!
Ning Guiqu instantly lost his appetite.
If Lu Yuan was friends with the protagonist gong, what was the point of all his efforts to nurture a love brain? Lu Yuan was part of the protagonist’s circle! Villains and protagonists had always been incompatible; he would surely still end up in trouble if he got involved with Lu Yuan.
But in the book, Ning Guiqu thought, the protagonist gong mentioned cooperating with Lu Yuan’s company four years later. If they were friends, would the tone in the book have been so distant? Could it be that they were friends now but would fall out later?
After all, fiction was fiction. The short span of a novel couldn’t possibly detail every nuance and background. Just like how the book never explained why the original cannon fodder villain was so fond of the protagonist gong.
Lu Yuan, a novel character, Ning Guiqu boldly guessed, was probably just an unimportant background figure in the author’s eyes. So, outside the book, Lu Yuan and the protagonist gong were friends. They had a falling out over something along the way, which was why the protagonist gong mentioned Lu Yuan so coldly four years later.
But that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Perhaps they were still friends four years later?
Ning Guiqu hadn’t eaten a bite when his phone lit up again. He opened it to find another message from Lu Yuan: [Ning Guiqu, do you know that he has a partner?]
He was addressing him by his full name in the WeChat message.
Of course, Ning Guiqu knew! But why was Lu Yuan asking him this? Surely, he didn’t think Ning Guiqu wanted to interfere?
Ning Guiqu thought that was unlikely.
In Lu Yuan’s eyes, he should be seen as a person with strong moral principles.
However, Lu Yuan’s inquiry suddenly gave Ning Guiqu an idea. Xu Zhi was the protagonist shou; he had met him before. He was kind and good-looking and likely to have many admirers.
Could it be that Lu Yuan also liked the protagonist shou?
Perhaps Lu Yuan would fall for the protagonist shou someday in the future. But given Lu Yuan’s personality, since the protagonist shou was his friend’s partner, Lu Yuan would keep those feelings to himself, never voicing them. He might gradually distance himself from the protagonist gong because of the protagonist shou.
As a result, four years later, their relationship would have become estranged.
The more Ning Guiqu thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. He truly was a genius! But as he thought about it, he felt a twinge in his heart.
Ning Guiqu ignored his unusual reaction and casually asked Lu Yuan: [I know, it’s Xu Zhi. Is Xu Zhi there, too?]
At the restaurant, Lu Yuan lowered his gaze to the phone on the table, his entire body radiating cold energy, his face as frigid as an iceberg.
Lu Yuan looked up.
Song Huai was putting food into Xu Zhi’s bowl, which was already piled high with dishes.
Xu Zhi’s chopsticks intercepted Song Huai’s. “Stop adding more. Can’t you sit still for a moment?”
Song Huai replied, “No can do, baby.”
Lu Yuan, unfazed by their behavior, responded to the message.
[Yes. They’re a couple. Are you trying to be a xiao san1小三 (xiǎo sān) – a slang term for a mistress or a third party, the other woman?]
Ning Guiqu’s reply came swiftly: [?? How can you say that about me? Do I seem like that kind of person? I was just asking.]
Lu Yuan: [Why are you asking about this?]
After sending that, Lu Yuan received no further response from Ning Guiqu.
Xu Zhi coughed lightly and nudged Song Huai’s shoulder, whispering, “Look at Lu Yuan. Doesn’t he seem upset?”
Song Huai glanced over.
He couldn’t tell if Lu Yuan looked upset or not, but despite being at a meal, Lu Yuan’s gaze remained fixed on his phone.
Song Huai asked curiously, “Whose message are you waiting for?”
The phone still didn’t light up. Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze, his eyes dark and his voice gloomy. “Someone without morals.”
As he spoke, Lu Yuan raised his eyes, staring at the couple opposite him with a lifeless gaze.
Even the incredibly dense Song Huai finally noticed something was off with Lu Yuan and looked towards Xu Zhi.
Xu Zhi broke the eerie atmosphere, “How is he immoral?”
Lu Yuan didn’t answer. He put down his chopsticks, his voice noticeably calmer, “When are you two getting married?”
Xu Zhi: ???
Xu Zhi’s breath caught. Since when did Lu Yuan become such a gossip?
Before Xu Zhi could speak, Song Huai quickly said, “Anytime! As long as Xiao Zhi agrees, even tomorrow works!”
Lu Yuan shifted his gaze to Xu Zhi.
Xu Zhi: “….”
Suppressing his embarrassment, Xu Zhi said, “Tomorrow’s definitely not possible. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
“When?”
Song Huai also looked at Xu Zhi expectantly.
Xu Zhi felt his scalp tingle under their stares. But Lu Yuan wasn’t usually this nosy, nor was he interested in his and Song Huai’s relationship. So, Xu Zhi suspected Song Huai had put Lu Yuan up to asking.
Xu Zhi said, “At least after college graduation, right?”
Lu Yuan’s brows furrowed.
College graduation was too far away.
Lu Yuan asked, “You’re definitely getting married?”
Song Huai responded quickly, “Of course!”
That would do. Having gotten his answer, Lu Yuan’s expression relaxed, no longer concerned about the two. Ning Guiqu had no chance now; he needed to make Ning Guiqu give up. After all, Ning Guiqu was his roommate, and he felt obligated to guide him onto the right path. Lu Yuan thought, feeling justified.
At the same time, Lu Yuan became more certain of one thing. Gays were so fickle after all, liking him while still eyeing others. There was no excuse for such behavior.
TL Notes
- 1小三 (xiǎo sān) – a slang term for a mistress or a third party, the other woman
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