“What?”
Jiang Yu did not understand at first. After a two-second delay, the realization hit him. His eyes flared with anger as he held up Li Xiaohua, demanding the kitten ask Chen Zhiyan for milk. After all, Chen Zhiyan exercised every day to the point where he practically needed to buy a sports vest for his chest.
Li Heng walked to the door with a cup of warm water to prepare the kitten’s formula. Seeing Jiang Yu pressing the kitten’s head against Chen Zhiyan’s chest, he rushed forward to rescue the animal.
“Holy shit, Brother Jiang! Are you trying to let Li Xiaohua drown in Brother Chen’s burning embrace?”
Chen Zhiyan remained silent.
Jiang Yu felt he would eventually develop stress nodules from anger. He glared at Chen Zhiyan. “You have really annoyed me lately. From now on, if I say another word to you, I am your father.”
Having delivered his ultimatum, Jiang Yu returned to his seat.
Li Heng ignored the outside world and focused on feeding the kitten. Seeing its tiny paws holding the bottle, his heart melted at the cuteness.
Xu Zhile held up a mirror, reflecting Jiang Yu on the left and Chen Zhiyan on the right, before setting it down.
At noon, when they went to the cafeteria, the same girl was still beside Chen Zhiyan. As Jiang Yu passed by with his tray, he dropped a remark. “I guess spring has arrived for you, too.”
Xu Zhile, walking behind Jiang Yu, thought he sounded incredibly jealous.
Li Heng, following behind Xu Zhile, asked, “Brother Chen, who is this?”
“My cousin.”
“Ha. First she is a sister, then she is a cousin, and eventually, she is someone you can hold hands with. Chen Zhiyan, you are a real scumbag.” Jiang Yu looked at the girl, but before he could offer a word of warning, she called out.
“Brother Xiao Bao.”
“Chen Shuang?”
“Uh, it is me.” Chen Shuang gave an awkward smile.
“Did you not go abroad? How did you get so pale? And you have double eyelids now, plus a high bridge on your nose. Did you get plastic surgery?”
Jiang Yu did not say those last words out loud. He knew better than to embarrass someone in public; he was not as socially inept as Chen Zhiyan.
Li Heng, with clear and innocent eyes, smiled at Chen Shuang. “So you are Sister Chen Shuang. Brother Jiang always told us you used to be so dark, like a little donkey egg.”
Evidently, he was the one who lacked social awareness.
Smack!
Jiang Yu barked, “Do not slander me.”
Chen Shuang was speechless.
The group sat together for lunch. After leaving the cafeteria, Jiang Yu escorted Chen Shuang back. Along the way, he told her, “Study hard. You are not allowed to date. No man is any good.”
Chen Shuang nodded. She knew no man was any good, especially Jiang Yu.
At the classroom door, Chen Shuang gave the bag of snacks Chen Zhiyan had bought to Jiang Yu. She was on a diet and could not eat junk food, or she would break out. Jiang Yu leaned against the doorframe and peered inside; they were all his favorites.
Chen Zhiyan had bought a bunch of things he liked only to give them to someone else. It was another provocation. It was absolutely loathsome.
Jiang Yu brought the snacks back to the classroom. Right in front of Chen Zhiyan, he tore open a bag of potato chips. With a loud crunch, he said, “Shuang-er hates the things you buy, but she was too embarrassed to refuse. You are a grown man forcing stuff on her. How shameless.”
Chen Zhiyan thought, He takes the advantage and still acts aggrieved. He really needs a beating to learn how to behave.
“Brother Jiang, maybe you should eat facing the other way. Xiaohua is drooling from watching you.”
Jiang Yu flicked the kitten’s chin with his knuckle. “No backbone.”
He continued eating and added, “This is a test for you.”
Li Heng was at a loss for words.
Perhaps because these snacks were originally bought for someone else and then handed over to him, Jiang Yu ate them without any burden of guilt. He even made childish noises to annoy Chen Zhiyan. When Chen Zhiyan looked over, Jiang Yu just bobbed his head mockingly.
“Eat less, or you will get indigestion.”
“I will not.”
The consequences of his indulgence were exactly as Chen Zhiyan predicted. Jiang Yu felt terrible, but fearing Chen Zhiyan would mock him, he pretended nothing was wrong.
During the break, Jiang Yu saw Chen Zhiyan leave. He slumped over and rubbed his stomach. About five or six minutes later, he opened his eyes to find a box of digestive tablets on his desk.
A familiar voice reached his ears. “Take three at a time.”
Jiang Yu awkwardly buried his face in the crook of his arm, his voice muffled. “Do not think this means I will forgive you.”
“Mm.” Chen Zhiyan pursed his lips and added, “The snacks were originally bought for you.”
Jiang Yu looked up sharply. “If they were for me, why did you not give them to me? God, you are so annoying!”
Chen Zhiyan was silent.
Great. He had made him angry again.
He only hoped there would not be another alarm clock under the bed tonight.
Indeed, there was no alarm clock under the bed that night, but Jiang Yu appeared on the bed.
That afternoon, Jiang Yu went out to flirt. He actually opened a love letter and added the contact information of one of the girls. However, before he could say a word, he was deleted. The other person left only one sentence.
“Sorry, Brother Jiang. I wish you both happiness.”
Jiang Yu was confused. Wish who happiness? What kind of happiness? Is it him and Chen Zhiyan again? Everyone is damn well blind!
At eight o’clock in the evening, Jiang Yu was squatting in the bathroom scrubbing his underwear. A familiar sensation washed over him, making his legs go weak. He knelt directly on the floor and tumbled face-first into the basin, choking on a few mouthfuls of soapy underwear water.
“Chen Zhiyan, you bastard!”
He was already angry with Chen Zhiyan and had no outlet for it. Now, this was fuel on the fire. Jiang Yu stopped washing his clothes. With his hair covered in soap suds, he wrapped himself in a bathrobe and charged into Chen Zhiyan’s room.
Inside the room, the desire in Chen Zhiyan’s eyes dissipated slightly at the sudden noise.
“I stood up for you! What right do you have to lecture me!”
Chen Zhiyan frowned. “I told you I was sorry.”
Jiang Yu said, “Come out first!”
Chen Zhiyan looked down. Wearing only a bathrobe around his waist, he opened the door and crossed his arms. “I am busy right now.”
“What could you possibly… holy shit! Shameless!” Jiang Yu covered his eyes.
“And you? Coming here to find me in this state, is that not also shameless?”
Hearing this, Jiang Yu’s hands dropped. His face turned as red as if it had been painted. He stammered, unable to speak. To save face, he took a step forward and sniffed Chen Zhiyan, using it as an excuse to curse him for being “aroused” again.
Chen Zhiyan recalled the last time Jiang Yu appeared suddenly and called him “aroused.” He looked back and asked, “Did you install a camera in my bathroom?”
“Am I that much of a pervert?”
“So, did you come over because you wanted to join me?”
“My God, what kind of thunderous statement is that? So, disgusting!”
Before the sound of his gagging could leave his mouth, he was yanked inside by Chen Zhiyan. His back hit the tiles hard. The bathrobe on Jiang Yu’s body was pulled to the floor, becoming soaked by the water. Both his wrists were grabbed and pinned above his head.
“What are you doing!”
There was not much emotion in Chen Zhiyan’s eyes. He asked, sounding genuinely perplexed, “I already said I was sorry. Why are you still angry?”