For two consecutive days, Ning Guiqu didn’t actively seek out Lu Yuan. Ning Guiqu also discovered a heartbreaking truth: in their friendship, he had always been the one to initiate. Once he stopped reaching out, Lu Yuan never asked about him.
Occasionally, Lu Yuan would stare at him with a piercing, dark gaze. Ning Guiqu could only timidly avoid Lu Yuan’s eyes. Lu Yuan was nice, but it was rather scary when he stared like that.
During these two days, Ning Guiqu slept alone, constantly on edge, afraid that Li Mu might suddenly appear in the middle of the night. If Li Mu ambushed him, his peaceful days would be over. That bastard Li Mu had even thicker skin than him! Ning Guiqu felt he really needed to find a way to stop Li Mu from pestering him.
He planned to remain single for life.
Ning Guiqu spent two anxious days. Li Mu showed no intention of ambushing him but instead played games with Xiao Shi every day. Once, when Shi Wen’s game mic was on, he overheard Li Mu say, “You’re way better than Xiao Qu. Xiao Qu just loves to play that crappy jungler, always diving into the jungle. You can’t even call him out. Tell him to go east, and he goes west. How can we win like that?”
Lying in bed with his eyes closed, Ning Guiqu clenched his fists.
The mic went silent, and he heard Shi Wen whisper, “My mic is on.”
“Xiao Qu’s asleep, he didn’t hear. Don’t insult him. Xiao Qu is very good at his rank.”
Ning Guiqu continued to pretend to be asleep, but inwardly, he was crying.
His rank…
Shi Wen’s rank was already higher than his now. And he, Genius Xiao Qu, secretly tried to rank up every day, but just couldn’t advance.
On Friday, Ning Guiqu’s leg had completely recovered, and the package he had ordered for Lu Yuan also arrived. Ning Guiqu went to the delivery station alone to pick it up.
That evening, after returning, neither Lu Yuan nor Shi Wen were in the dorm. Ning Guiqu opened the package and arranged the items on Lu Yuan’s bed one by one.
He hoped Lu Yuan would like them.
If Lu Yuan liked them, he would send gifts every day!
Although Genius Xiao Qu had distanced himself from Lu Yuan, he could still do this small gesture.
Lu Yuan was still at the basketball court. Exhausted, Song Huai, who had been playing with him, was resting nearby. After a while, Lu Yuan walked over.
Song Huai waved his hand. “I’m done. Aren’t you tired?”
Lu Yuan stared expressionlessly at the panting Song Huai, making him uncomfortable. Song Huai hesitated, “I haven’t offended you recently, have I?”
Lu Yuan looked away, sat down nearby, and said coldly, “No.”
He bounced the basketball and glanced at Song Huai again.
Song Huai’s face was flushed from playing, resembling a strange dragon fruit. Lu Yuan couldn’t fathom how Ning Guiqu could still like Song Huai after meeting him.
“What’s so appealing about you?” Lu Yuan’s voice carried a hint of irritation.
The previously relaxed Song Huai instantly became alert. “What do you mean?” Want to snatch Xiao Zhi from him?
Lu Yuan set the ball aside. Frustrated by Ning Guiqu’s deliberate distancing, he didn’t hold back, “One of my former pursuers now has their eye on you.”
???
It had nothing to do with Xiao Zhi. Song Huai stumbled upon juicy gossip.
“Who?”
Lu Yuan fell silent, his face gloomy in the dim light of the basketball court.
Song Huai raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued, “Shouldn’t you be happy? There’s one less person clinging to you.”
Lu Yuan couldn’t muster any joy.
“Are you pleased?”
Song Huai shrugged, “No! Why would I be? I’m taken. Don’t tell Xiao Zhi. He thinks you asking about marriage the other day was me conspiring with you. I’m innocent. You were just curious. Wait,”
Song Huai’s intelligence kicked in as he thought about it, “You’re not one for gossip, and you don’t care about my relationship with Xu Zhi. You’ve been off since we had dinner that day. I remember you mentioned chatting with someone ‘immoral,’”
As Lu Yuan’s expression darkened, Song Huai had an epiphany. “This pursuer you mentioned, it couldn’t be that ‘immoral’ person, could it?”
Lu Yuan squeezed his unopened water bottle hard, denying, “He’s not! He’s nothing!”
Just an ugly rabbit!
Song Huai: “…?”
Something was wrong.
Song Huai cautiously probed, “Male or female?”
Lu Yuan remained silent.
Song Huai speculated, “Are you…?”
Lu Yuan cut him off instantly, “No!”
His voice was ice-cold.
Song Huai: “I hadn’t finished.”
Lu Yuan stood up, leaving with a parting shot, “What you say doesn’t matter.”
Then he left.
Song Huai: “…” Was he just a tool man?
After leaving, Lu Yuan opened his phone again.
He hadn’t received any messages from Ning Guiqu on his current WeChat for three days, but his old high school account was constantly pinging. It wasn’t surprising.
He hadn’t checked for a while, and there were already over a dozen unread messages.
Lu Yuan opened them without hesitation.
[My braised pork! Auntie, you dropped a piece of my braised pork!]
[The more I think about it, the angrier I get! I’m going to confront that auntie!]
[Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Genius Xiao Qu can’t cause a scene in the cafeteria over a piece of braised pork.]
Lu Yuan’s face darkened.
Ning Guiqu actually sent three messages about a piece of braised pork!
[Aww, so sweet! Kisses to the screenwriter, kisses to the director!]
[Stupid second male lead, his brain’s in his ass. Can’t he see the main couple is already together? Still causing trouble.]
[The stupid second male lead is just like Li Mu. Aloof penguin, sigh.]
Lu Yuan’s brow furrowed.
Why the sigh when it came to him?
But that was the end of the messages. Ning Guiqu didn’t rant anymore. Lu Yuan reread them, unable to deny that Ning Guiqu’s complaints were quite adorable.
Lu Yuan: “……”
He closed his phone, expression gloomy.
Back at the dorm, Lu Yuan saw Ning Guiqu still watching dramas in bed. He was really heartless.
When pursuing him, Ning Guiqu clung to him constantly, even wanting to sleep together at night. Now, because of Song Huai, he kicked Lu Yuan aside. If he hadn’t warned Ning Guiqu, would he have continued to stick to him?
So much for pretending to be boyfriends.
Now, it was clear Ning Guiqu didn’t need him to pretend.
He didn’t care at all.
He just felt Ning Guiqu was too much, ignoring him so easily. When he was worried about Ning Guiqu confessing and ruining their roommate relationship, he didn’t just cut him off. He’d even helped Ning Guiqu when needed.
But Ning Guiqu, for Song Huai’s sake, completely ignored him.
What a cold, ugly rabbit.
Lu Yuan quickly retracted his gaze from Ning Guiqu and went to wash up alone. He was covered in unpleasant sweat. On the balcony, he noticed Ning Guiqu’s water bottle next to his own.
Lu Yuan bent down to lift Ning Guiqu’s water bottle. It was full, likely filled that evening. He then lifted his own, half-empty and unfilled.
Hah.
When trying to please him, Ning Guiqu would fill his bottle every time. Now, for Song Huai’s sake, he completely stopped associating with him.
Was he giving up on the company, too?
No longer planning to work at his future company?
Lu Yuan brushed his teeth.
The company was probably just an excuse Ning Guiqu used to get close to him. Now that he wasn’t associating with Lu Yuan, he didn’t need the excuse anymore.
Lu Yuan finished brushing and went to shower.
When he came out, Lu Yuan casually glanced up and noticed something odd on his bed.
A bunch of small stuffed animals were arranged on his bed.
There were rabbits, cats, dogs, and more, lined up from head to foot. Lu Yuan doubted his eyes. Where did these toys come from? Only Ning Guiqu was in the dorm.
Lu Yuan looked at Ning Guiqu.
Ning Guiqu’s ears were red. His face seemed flushed, too. He sneakily glanced down, making direct eye contact with Lu Yuan.
Ning Guiqu quickly returned his gaze to his tablet, lowering his head.
Lu Yuan: “……”
No need to guess, they were from Ning Guiqu.
Lu Yuan asked directly, “Did you buy these dolls?”
This was the first thing Lu Yuan had said to Ning Guiqu in days.
Ning Guiqu openly looked up from his tablet this time, gazing at Lu Yuan below, and said softly, “Yes, it’s me. This is the gift I planned to give you earlier, to thank you for all your help lately. I only knew you liked cats, but we can’t keep cats in the dorm, so I bought a bunch of fluffy dolls online for you. Do you like them?”
Lu Yuan’s lips tightened, not saying whether he liked them or not.
Ning Guiqu nervously and secretly watched Lu Yuan’s reaction.
He wasn’t sure if Lu Yuan liked these dolls. If he did, Ning Guiqu could buy more. He hadn’t bought the little tiger and lion toys yet.
Lu Yuan didn’t return to his bed.
Shi Wen came back, too, and did not notice the toys on Lu Yuan’s bed at first. It wasn’t until he got to his own bed that he noticed and exclaimed in shock, “Lu Yuan, what’s that on your bed? Still a kid at heart, huh!”
Lu Yuan, who was sitting below typing on his computer, paused and denied, “I didn’t buy them.”
Shi Wen puzzled, “If not you, could it be Xiao Qu? Aren’t you two having a quarrel lately? So Xiao Qu, did you offend Lu Yuan?”
Ning Guiqu: !!!!
Ning Guiqu hurriedly looked at Shi Wen, shaking his head.
Noticing this, Shi Wen advised earnestly, “Stop hiding it from me, I’ve noticed. You were so close before, always eating together. Now, you don’t speak at all. I meant to bring it up yesterday but forgot. Xiao Qu, Lu Yuan, we’re roommates. If there’s any conflict, just talk it out.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
He had unilaterally stopped clinging to Lu Yuan. It wasn’t a conflict! Shi Wen’s words made Ning Guiqu cringe with embarrassment. Lu Yuan was listening, too!
Couldn’t Shi Wen have messaged him privately??
“Just play your game, Xiao Shi,” Ning Guiqu smiled bitterly.
Shi Wen put on his headphones, “You two talk it out. Roommates shouldn’t hold grudges overnight.”
Ning Guiqu could only nod at Shi Wen with a bitter smile.
It was nearly midnight when Lu Yuan finally returned to his bed to rest.
Ning Guiqu began stealthily observing Lu Yuan’s every move.
He noticed that after getting into bed, Lu Yuan singled out the rabbit plush from the middle, tied its long ears in a knot, then tossed it alone to the foot of the bed.
Ning Guiqu noted mentally: Lu Yuan doesn’t like rabbits.
Then, a penguin plush was also thrown to the foot of the bed.
Ning Guiqu noted again: Lu Yuan doesn’t like his own kind, penguins, either.
Ning Guiqu continued spying, but this time, Lu Yuan caught him red-handed. Ning Guiqu nervously dove under his covers, pretending to sleep.
However, moments later, he heard Lu Yuan getting out of bed, then a knock on his bed frame.
Ning Guiqu turned his head to see Lu Yuan with a gloomy expression.
“Come here, let’s talk.”
Ning Guiqu didn’t want to talk. Lu Yuan looked so scary right now!
Shi Wen overheard and said, “Go on, Xiao Qu. You two really should talk. We’re all roommates, what conflict could there be?”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu had no choice but to get out of bed.
Shi Wen then frantically added, “No! Xiao Qu and Lu Yuan get along great, I didn’t mean them! I meant Xiao Qu and Xiao Jiang!”
“I’m not lying! Xiao Qu and Lu Yuan really get along very well!”
Ning Guiqu was startled.
Shi Wen must be explaining to Li Mu, right? So that idiot Li Mu wasn’t planning to come tonight, was he?
Ning Guiqu felt uneasy.
Once on the balcony, while still worrying about whether Li Mu would show up tonight, Ning Guiqu heard Lu Yuan’s accusatory tone, “What exactly do you mean?”
Ning Guiqu snapped back to reality.
He looked up, confused and hesitant, “What do you mean, what do I mean?”
Lu Yuan was extremely frustrated. He didn’t beat around the bush with Ning Guiqu.
Lu Yuan stared into Ning Guiqu’s eyes, enunciating each word, “If you’ve chosen to avoid me, why are you insisting on giving me those things now? Shouldn’t you be giving them to Song Huai instead?”
Ning Guiqu froze. The temperature in his face rapidly rose.
What… what was this?!
How did it suddenly involve the protagonist gong again?? And Lu Yuan, wasn’t he being way too straightforward??!
Ning Guiqu’s face instantly turned crimson, his head practically steaming.
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