Song Huai planned to invite Ning Guiqu and Lu Yuan for dinner on Saturday. When Lu Yuan asked Ning Guiqu if he was willing to go, Ning Guiqu agreed without hesitation.
“You’re so quick to agree. Aren’t you worried about the impact anymore?” Lu Yuan asked Ning Guiqu while replying to Song Huai.
If Ning Guiqu had paid more attention to the details, he would have noticed a hint of jealousy in Lu Yuan’s voice. However, he was lying comfortably on Lu Yuan’s lap, his phone held high, and he was too content to notice such subtleties.
Ning Guiqu replied lazily, “I was never afraid of such things. I just didn’t understand why I had so many thoughts after hitting my head. I guess I’m really a person with a wild imagination, right?”
Lu Yuan moved Ning Guiqu’s phone, which was almost blocking his view, and said pointedly, “If you didn’t have so many thoughts, you’d have simply lost your memory at most, instead of damaging your brain.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu quickly sat up from Lu Yuan’s lap and crossed his legs on the sofa. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Penguin slave, you’ve made me unhappy!”
Ning Guiqu even made him jealous.
However, considering that Ning Guiqu had completely forgotten about Song Huai’s dinner invitation, Lu Yuan decided to let it go for now.
“Master Rabbit, how will you punish me?” Lu Yuan played along.
Ning Guiqu raised an eyebrow, “Write an IOU first.”
Lu Yuan had already written many IOUs. Ning Guiqu wrote the content, and he signed them. The content usually described what he had done wrong, and since Ning Guiqu couldn’t think of a punishment at the moment, it would be delayed. Or sometimes, the punishment would be exchanged for a wish.
Lu Yuan could roughly guess what Ning Guiqu was trying to do. He might be afraid that Lu Yuan would do something bad to him when he wasn’t in control. Ning Guiqu was surprisingly innocent in this regard and wouldn’t let him bring it up. Lu Yuan thought that if he really wanted to do something bad, an IOU would be useless. Such IOUs could only constrain those with morals, and he could choose to be without morals.
Lu Yuan didn’t tell Ning Guiqu this because he believed he could be a moral person.
After Ning Guiqu finished writing, he had Lu Yuan sign it.
The content read: [Today, slave Lu Yuan talked back to master Ning Guiqu. He should be punished by the master, but the kind-hearted master has delayed the punishment. In the future, the punishment may be exchanged for a wish.]
Lu Yuan signed it casually.
After signing, he pressed Ning Guiqu down for a kiss. Ning Guiqu was displeased but felt there was nothing to be displeased about. Just then, Shi Wen mentioned them in the group chat.
[It’s 9 p.m., where are you two? @Ning Guiqu @Lu Yuan]
It was Xiao Shi caring about them!
Ning Guiqu suddenly remembered that he and Lu Yuan had come to Lu Yuan’s house to hang out this week without informing Shi Wen.
Ning Guiqu quickly replied: [I’m at Lu Yuan’s place.]
After replying, he received a private message from Shi Wen: [Aren’t you two getting too close?]
Ning Guiqu felt it was necessary to gradually let Shi Wen know that he and Lu Yuan were a gay couple, but he couldn’t tell him directly. Although Shi Wen’s opinion of Li Mu had improved slightly recently, the gay community was still tarnished by Li Mu. So Ning Guiqu carefully replied: [We are really quite close. Does it make you feel uncomfortable to see us so intimate? Do you think we’re too close, closer than friends should be?]
Shi Wen: [As long as you two don’t fight, why would I feel uncomfortable? Xiao Qu, I’m a bit homophobic, but you and Lu Yuan aren’t like that. I don’t assume everyone is gay. In high school, guys used to sit on each other’s laps all the time.]
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu glanced at Lu Yuan, who was peeking at his messages.
“Keep replying?” Lu Yuan urged, seemingly enjoying the situation.
Damn it!
Ning Guiqu continued: [What if Lu Yuan and I really were gay?]
Ning Guiqu felt nervous after sending the message. Shi Wen didn’t seem nervous, as the reply came quickly.
[How is that possible? You’re nothing like Li Mu. Have fun, I won’t bother you anymore!]
Ning Guiqu: “……”
At this point, it seemed Shi Wen would only believe them if they kissed in front of him.
Ning Guiqu sincerely said to Lu Yuan, “Why don’t we just keep it a secret from him? It’s easy to hide.”
Lu Yuan refused, “Hide it for a lifetime? Ning Guiqu, I’ll only have a secret affair with you for a year at most.”
Ning Guiqu’s face slowly reddened.
In this situation, it really was a secret affair!
Wait, shouldn’t the protagonist know something was off between him and Lu Yuan? That “surprise” from before was quite suggestive!
Lu Yuan seemed to guess what Ning Guiqu was thinking and added, “Song Huai and Xu Zhi probably know about us. They think I deleted Song Huai’s WeChat because you were jealous of my close relationship with him.”
Ning Guiqu’s vision went dark.
“Did you explain?” Ning Guiqu still held onto hope.
Lu Yuan chuckled softly, “How could I explain? If I had explained, wouldn’t that make you even more embarrassed?”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu lay stiffly on the bed, mumbling, “Let’s refuse tomorrow’s dinner!”
Lu Yuan went over and poked Ning Guiqu’s cheek, whispering devilishly, “I’m afraid that’s not possible. The restaurant has already been booked. They said it’s the first time inviting you for dinner, so it needs to be formal.”
Ning Guiqu closed his eyes peacefully.
On Saturday, Ning Guiqu and Lu Yuan went to the place Song Huai mentioned. Xu Zhi was also there. However, the dynamic between the two of them seemed a bit strange.
Although Ning Guiqu disliked the protagonist gong, he never disliked the protagonist shou and even felt a bit guilty. In the book, the protagonist shou hadn’t done anything when Ning Guiqu, just passing by, kicked him.
Moreover, the protagonist shou had a great personality! He even adopted that stray cat and gave it an adorable name! But now, Xu Zhi was clearly sulking, only managing a smile when facing him and Lu Yuan. Meanwhile, the protagonist gong kept sneaking glances at Xu Zhi.
So, they must have had a fight, right?
After ordering, Ning Guiqu took the initiative to break the slightly awkward atmosphere, “Classmate Xu Zhi, are you not in a good mood?”
“You can call me Xiao Zhi. May I call you Xiao Qu?”
Ning Guiqu nodded, “Of course, that’s what everyone close to me calls me.”
He then pointed at Lu Yuan, complaining, “But he calls me Ning Guiqu.”
Lu Yuan: “……”
Ever since his suggestion of “Ningning” was rejected by Ning Guiqu, Lu Yuan had given up on finding a special nickname and simply called him “Ning Guiqu.”
Xu Zhi shook his head knowingly, “Lu Yuan, you’re too cold.”
Lu Yuan smiled helplessly.
He actually called him “Master Rabbit” too. If he said that, wouldn’t Ning Guiqu be angry with him later?
Song Huai seized the opportunity, “I call him Xiao Zhi, and he calls me Xiao Song!”
Xu Zhi instantly turned cold, “Who asked you?”
Song Huai: “……”
Song Huai deflated.
Xu Zhi returned to the initial topic, “Because of him, I’m in a bad mood now. But it’s limited to Song Huai.” He glared at Song Huai, “You tell them yourself!”
Song Huai explained, “I wanted to give Xiao Zhi a surprise, so I got him his favorite GG Bond1
.”
Ning Guiqu still knew about GG Bond at his age.
Ning Guiqu asked, puzzled, “A figurine?”
“If it were a figurine, I’d be quite happy. He actually wore a GG Bond costume and ran to my residential area. I was at the basketball court with people around, and a GG Bond ran over to hug me, saying it was a gift for me! But there are many people in my residential area who know me,” Xu Zhi said, becoming more depressed as he spoke.
Song Huai, feeling guilty, explained from the side, “I just wanted you to see your favorite GG Bond. I didn’t think it through.”
“Thanks to you, my mom asked if I was being harassed by someone with a pig’s nose.”
Song Huai: “……”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Lu Yuan: “……”
Ning Guiqu bumped Lu Yuan’s arm and whispered, “I think I’m smarter than Song Huai.”
Lu Yuan responded quietly, “Being smarter than him isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
Song Huai quickly slapped the table, displeased, “Hey! I can hear you!”
Ning Guiqu looked innocent.
Ning Guiqu comforted Xu Zhi, “You should just make Song Huai equally embarrassed.”
Xu Zhi didn’t speak, but Lu Yuan did.
“So far, there’s nothing that can embarrass him.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Xu Zhi: “……”
Song Huai grumbled, “I invited you to dinner, not to badmouth me!”
Xu Zhi sighed and threatened, “Shut up.”
The noisy Song Huai quieted down.
Soon, the food was served. Because of this interlude, Xu Zhi was no longer as angry with Song Huai. He even accidentally bumped Song Huai’s elbow and gave him a meaningful look.
Song Huai caught the hint and cleared his throat, “I want to ask you something. Ning Guiqu, did you make Lu Yuan delete me because you were jealous?”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
He knew it! This wasn’t just a simple dinner invitation! But it seemed he could only admit it now. If he didn’t, there would be two possible outcomes. One was to directly say he disliked Song Huai, but in this situation, saying that would make him seem ungrateful!
The second was to talk about his brain damage, which was impossible. He would never mention that!
So, Ning Guiqu pretended to be calm and gave a slight “Mm.”
After this “Mm,” his mind was buzzing, afraid that Song Huai and Xu Zhi might say something suggestive about him and Lu Yuan. He, Genius Xiao Qu, was very low-key when it came to romance!
“Look at them. One gets a bit jealous, and the other can delete me just like that. What about you! You won’t even let me look at your phone.”
Ning Guiqu: ?
This envious voice from the protagonist gong didn’t seem to be directed at him.
Ning Guiqu looked up.
Song Huai was staring expectantly at Xu Zhi.
Xu Zhi didn’t even look at Song Huai. He raised an eyebrow, sighed, and pushed away Song Huai, who was leaning towards him. He sincerely said to Ning Guiqu, “Whenever he sees me on my phone, he has to lean over and look. It’s annoying. But you’re different from Song Huai. Lu Yuan probably likes someone like you.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu’s face instantly turned red.
“I’m not like that.”
Xu Zhi spoke like an experienced person, “Song Huai wasn’t like this at first either. Lu Yuan even deleted a friend for you. Xiao Qu, you’ll be like this sooner or later.”
Ning Guiqu turned his head and whispered extremely softly, “Help me explain.”
Lu Yuan rubbed his ear, his eyes slightly curved, “It’s fine, look all you want. I don’t mind.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Stupid protagonist gong!! Ning Guiqu directly aimed his frustration at Song Huai.
He would never become someone like the protagonist gong! Besides, he didn’t make Lu Yuan delete Song Huai out of jealousy. He absolutely wouldn’t become a clingy, jealous Ning Guiqu!
Even after parting with Xu Zhi and Song Huai, Ning Guiqu was still gloomy. He darkly muttered, “No wonder the book is called ‘My Childhood Friend is an Idiot.’ Xiao Zhi is really suffering! So, the reason I liked Song Huai in the original book was because of his protagonist halo and the author not treating side characters as real people!”
Lu Yuan agreed from the side, “Indeed, you can only like me.”
The heat on Ning Guiqu’s face wouldn’t subside. He furiously snapped again, “Penguin slave, don’t interrupt when the master is speaking.”
Lu Yuan directly grabbed Ning Guiqu’s hand, forcefully interlocking their fingers, “Okay, Master Rabbit.”
Ning Guiqu turned his head away.
He said “Okay,” but his actions still showed he was a rebellious penguin who wouldn’t submit to the master’s discipline!
Damn it!
TL Notes
- 1
Leave a Reply