Throughout the morning, Ning Guiqu was noticeably distracted. Even during lunch, he ate absent-mindedly. After finishing his meal, he told Lu Yuan to go ahead without him, saying he needed to find a place to think things through.
Lu Yuan, being perceptive, gave Ning Guiqu the space he needed.
Ning Guiqu indeed spent time alone in the library, contemplating. He sent a message to Lu Yuan.
[Want to take a bath together?]
However, Lu Yuan rejected his offer.
Lu Yuan wasn’t a fool. He saw through Ning Guiqu’s intentions immediately.
Ning Guiqu sighed. If that was the case, he’d have to give up. A romantic relationship was out of the question because he couldn’t reveal his alt account, and he wasn’t ready to abandon it just yet.
After some consideration, Ning Guiqu came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea: [I have a huge secret. Once you know it, you’ll despise me! So, can we wait four years before dating? For now, can I have five minutes of being in a relationship with you?]
Five minutes would be enough for him to look and touch to his heart’s content!
To his surprise, Lu Yuan sent him a string of ellipses, followed by: [Ten years from now is still four years later, and so is a hundred years from now. Without a specific time, you could have these five-minute relationships with countless people, couldn’t you? Ning Guiqu, how many people have you tricked with this line?]
???
Ning Guiqu swore he had only ever said such things to Lu Yuan!
Before Ning Guiqu could defend himself, another message from Lu Yuan arrived: [Forget it. A leopard can’t change its spots. I won’t agree. Even if I knew your secret, I wouldn’t despise you. You’re the one who thinks it’s too embarrassing to share, aren’t you?]
Ning Guiqu felt completely wronged.
What kind of image did Lu Yuan have of him?
Ning Guiqu angrily replied: [Don’t try to use reverse psychology on me. I won’t reveal my secret. I’m done talking. I need to think.]
Lu Yuan didn’t respond after that.
Ning Guiqu rested his chin on his hand, thinking for a long time without coming up with a good solution.
He could either stop looking at Lu Yuan’s pecs, but now that his perverted Genius Xiao Qiu knew about them, Ning Guiqu was dying to poke them!
Or he could accept Lu Yuan’s confession, but they’d likely break up the next day. Lu Yuan already wanted to steal his phone; if they were together, he’d definitely want to look through it. Was he stupid enough to start a relationship just to expose his alt account and then break up?
But deleting his alt account just to date Lu Yuan seemed like too big a sacrifice. That was his outlet! Without it, where would he vent when he felt frustrated?
Ning Guiqu felt there was no solution.
Just then, Ning Guiqu received a message from Xu Zhi, saying the protagonist gong was on his way to the gym. Ning Guiqu stopped pondering his relationship troubles and immediately headed to the gym with his backpack.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan continued to think about the issue of Ning Guiqu’s alt account. Once that was resolved, the perverted Ning Guiqu would undoubtedly be his. However, deleting Ning Guiqu’s account seemed impossible at the moment since Ning Guiqu was extremely guarded against him.
So, should he admit it? Tell Ning Guiqu that he already knew about his alt account and discovered it when he was drunk? He found the content of Ning Guiqu’s alt account very cute.
However, if he exposed it rashly, he was not sure whether Ning Guiqu would be so angry that he wanted to die.
After contemplating how to handle the alt account situation for quite some time, Lu Yuan decided to check if Ning Guiqu had posted any new rants. He discovered a message from Xu Zhi sent twenty minutes ago.
[Why did you delete Song Huai?]
Lu Yuan vaguely replied: [A friend of mine doesn’t like him.]
Xu Zhi responded instantly: [You’re not talking about your roommate Ning Guiqu, are you?]
Surprised, Lu Yuan immediately replied “No.”
He couldn’t let Ning Guiqu be associated with Song Huai again. But Xu Zhi’s next reply made Lu Yuan’s face darken instantly.
[I didn’t think so either. He’s right here next to me, chatting away. If he disliked Song Huai, how could he be talking to me?]
Lu Yuan stared intently at Xu Zhi’s message.
For three seconds.
After those three seconds, Lu Yuan typed: [Is Song Huai with you guys?]
Xu Zhi glanced at Ning Guiqu, who was sitting beside him. Ning Guiqu instantly caught Xu Zhi’s look and flashed a perfectly timed smile. “Xu Zhi, I’m fine by myself. Why don’t you go back first?”
Xu Zhi politely declined, “I’ve got nothing else to do. I might as well keep you company.”
Ning Guiqu: “……” He forced a smile.
When he arrived at the gym, the protagonist gong was already playing basketball. Ning Guiqu had planned to casually say “hi” after the game. But then he spotted Xu Zhi, the protagonist shou, sitting on steps not far away!
Xu Zhi was smiling and waving at him.
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu reluctantly walked over. He wanted to leave. Who would say “hi” to the protagonist gong in front of his shou? But this was a rare opportunity! It was his first time seeing the protagonist gong in person! And doing this once would be enough!
So Ning Guiqu stayed.
And because Ning Guiqu stayed, Xu Zhi ended up messaging Lu Yuan.
After arranging for Song Huai to play basketball in the afternoon, Xu Zhi asked Song Huai at lunch to invite Lu Yuan to play to create an opportunity for Ning Guiqu. Although Ning Guiqu said he liked the “surprise” of waiting, Xu Zhi still hoped Ning Guiqu could meet Lu Yuan right away.
He could secretly tell Song Huai to invite Lu Yuan and tell Song Huai not to mention it was Xu Zhi’s idea. Song Huai could just say he felt like playing and invited Lu Yuan. Naturally, Ning Guiqu wouldn’t know.
Ning Guiqu would think he succeeded in spotting Lu Yuan on his first try, which was another surprise.
Song Huai was confused by his boyfriend’s scheming. “You suddenly tell me to play basketball this afternoon, then ask me to invite Lu Yuan, but not to tell Lu Yuan’s roommate that you asked me to invite him, and pretend I just felt like playing and invited Lu Yuan. Xiao Zhi, what exactly are you up to with Lu Yuan’s roommate?”
Xu Zhi pinched Song Huai’s cheek, smiling sweetly, “It’s a secret. Just do as I say. Invite Lu Yuan.”
Song Huai: “But I don’t want to play basketball this afternoon. We finally have no classes. I want to spend time with you.”
“No can do. Do as I say.”
Song Huai pouted, “…Fine.”
Song Huai didn’t understand but complied. However, when he sent the message, he got an exclamation mark!
“Xiao Zhi! Lu Yuan deleted me!”
Xu Zhi was also surprised. He looked at Song Huai, bewildered, “What did you do? Why did he delete you?”
Song Huai was completely innocent: “I didn’t do anything!”
Xu Zhi pondered.
“Never mind, you go to the gym first. I’ll ask him.”
It took twenty minutes for Lu Yuan to respond to his message. He didn’t explain why, but instead asked if Song Huai was with them. Xu Zhi really didn’t understand, but his instincts told him that Lu Yuan deleting Song Huai had something to do with Ning Guiqu.
But Ning Guiqu and Song Huai barely knew each other, so how could it be related to Ning Guiqu? Soon, Xu Zhi made a bold guess: Ning Guiqu was jealous.
It was undeniable that Ning Guiqu liked Lu Yuan. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be planning surprises. So, seeing Lu Yuan often hanging out with Song Huai made him jealous, prompting him to ask Lu Yuan to delete Song Huai. And Lu Yuan actually did it.
This was the perfect explanation. Otherwise, Lu Yuan had no reason to delete Song Huai.
What did this mean? They were in love with each other.
Lu Yuan had really turned gay.
Xu Zhi glanced at Ning Guiqu. With his delicate features and gentle personality, he was exactly the type that pseudo-straight guys would fall for.
Xu Zhi lowered his head and replied to Lu Yuan: [We’re together at the gym. But if you come, don’t say I told you to. I have a deal with Ning Guiqu. He’s planning to surprise you]
Lu Yuan sent a skeptical message: [Surprise? He’s watching Song Huai play basketball to surprise me?]
Xu Zhi thought for a moment, then instantly sold Ning Guiqu out, telling Lu Yuan everything about the “wait-and-see surprise.” He ended with: [He loves you so much!]
“Xu Zhi, who are you chatting with?”
Just after Xu Zhi sent “loves you so much,” Ning Guiqu cautiously asked.
Xu Zhi calmly replied, “My roommate. He asked me to bring him sushi when I go back.”
Ning Guiqu made a sound of understanding, then added kindly, “You’re such a good roommate.” Meanwhile, he secretly sighed in relief. Phew! He thought it was Lu Yuan.
Xu Zhi felt a bit guilty but also felt he was playing wingman. So he sent another message to Lu Yuan: [Ning Guiqu is really, really gentle. He’s so nice]
After a while, Lu Yuan finally replied.
[Keep an eye on Ning Guiqu, don’t let him run away. I’ll be there soon.]
??
“Keep an eye on,” “run away.”
Xu Zhi thought, he’s still acting like a straight guy.
Ning Guiqu anxiously waited for a while longer, thinking why this stupid protagonist gong wasn’t coming off the court to find Xu Zhi. But instead of the protagonist gong, someone he didn’t really want to see right now showed up.
Ning Guiqu instantly looked at Xu Zhi, questioning again: “Xu Zhi, who were you chatting with earlier?”
Before Xu Zhi could respond, Ning Guiqu heard an extremely cold voice.
“You’re worried about who others are chatting with now?”
Ning Guiqu felt a chill down his spine. He slowly turned his head and saw… saw… an incredibly cold and scary Lu Yuan, radiating an icy aura!
Ning Guiqu’s smile froze. He silently stood up, reflexively lowering his gaze, and said, “Just asking. Why are you here?”
Xu Zhi slightly shook his head at Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan could only see Ning Guiqu now, his voice still cold, “I just felt like coming over to play. Didn’t expect to find an unexpected harvest.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
The unexpected harvest must be him. It had nothing to do with the protagonist shou. How could he suspect that the angelic protagonist shou from the book secretly contacted Lu Yuan!
But now, wouldn’t Lu Yuan think he was madly in love with the protagonist gong again!
However, Lu Yuan was pursuing him! If Lu Yuan, who was pursuing him, acted like this, he would absolutely not accept Lu Yuan!
Thinking this, Ning Guiqu became righteous again. He poked Lu Yuan’s arm, slightly raising his chin, “Let’s talk outside.”
Lu Yuan emanated even more coldness.
The righteous Ning Guiqu became a little less righteous. But Lu Yuan still followed him outside.
Song Huai naturally noticed Lu Yuan’s arrival. After Lu Yuan and Ning Guiqu left, Song Huai dropped the ball and ran to ask Xu Zhi, “What’s going on?”
Xu Zhi wiped the sweat from Song Huai’s face, “I’m not sure, but I feel like I messed something up. Should I not have asked Lu Yuan to come?”
Xu Zhi’s voice was somewhat guilty.
Song Huai quickly said, “Who says that? Didn’t you say Ning Guiqu wanted to surprise Lu Yuan? How could he surprise him if Lu Yuan didn’t come? But why did Lu Yuan delete me? Did you find out?”
Xu Zhi blinked, revealing a sly smile, “I didn’t ask, but I’ve guessed it.”
Song Huai hugged Xu Zhi’s arm, his face full of curiosity, “It smells like gossip. Tell me!”
While the two of them chatted about the juicy details, the atmosphere was tense between the other two.
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