Zhu Xing struggled with his wrist, but failed to break free. Qu Qingyu’s palm was still just as scalding hot, warming Zhu Xing’s entire hand until it took on a rosy flush.
“President Qu, do you even know what you are saying?” Zhu Xing looked at the man, whose expression was as grave and serious as if he were discussing some company-shattering strategic plan.
He didn’t seem to realize that saying something like this made him sound precisely like a homewrecking third party.
“I know. Break off your engagement with him and be with me.”
“Be with you? But I don’t even like you.”
Zhu Xing deliberately teased him. He had long since made up his mind about breaking off the engagement with Shen Zhiqian, and had already followed through with it, though he didn’t mention it just yet.
Hearing Zhu Xing say he didn’t like him, Qu Qingyu’s expression darkened with slight displeasure, though he reasoned that they had known each other for less than two hours at this point. Rejection was to be expected.
While rejection was normal, Qu Qingyu’s train of thought was anything but conventional. He figured that if Zhu Xing didn’t agree, he would just find another angle to approach it; after all, there was no fortress wall that couldn’t be chipped away.
“Alright, I’ll send you back, or we could go grab a bite to eat.”
He had clearly just been rejected, yet he acted as though he hadn’t heard it at all, a style of behavior that completely mirrored his past self.
Qu Qingyu had no idea what he had said wrong this time, earning himself an eye-roll from Zhu Xing.
In reality, no matter what Zhu Xing said, it always boiled down to either heading back to campus or grabbing a bite before getting dropped off at campus.
Zhu Xing had intended to take care of a mountain of pending matters, but the entire schedule had been thrown completely off by Qu Qingyu.
Without missing a beat, Zhu Xing said, “Back to campus.”
Though he looked somewhat disappointed, Qu Qingyu still obediently drove Zhu Xing back to the university.
Along the way, Qu Qingyu tried striking up a conversation, but seemed utterly clueless about how to open a topic, appearing rather constrained and entirely unlike the sharp-tongued man he usually was. Zhu Xing laughed inwardly at how amusing it felt to completely block a man’s words with a single sentence.
“What do you like to do?” The tone sounded precisely like an interviewer questioning a job applicant.
“I like sleeping.”
“What do you like to eat?”
“Whatever you hate eating.”
The initiative in the conversation had completely shifted to Zhu Xing’s side, while the man beside him conversed like an NPC. Though dry, Zhu Xing found it immensely entertaining.
Realizing that Zhu Xing wasn’t particularly keen on talking to him, Qu Qingyu plunged into a brief spell of emo gloom.
After a moment, he pulled out his phone and opened a messaging app. Zhu Xing originally thought he was going back to work, but watched as the man tapped straight onto the add-friend option.
He then extended his phone, gesturing for Zhu Xing to take out his as well.
Zhu Xing was amused by this sequential string of actions. Why did he find Qu Qingyu this adorable at age twenty-five? He was way cuter than he had been at eighteen.
After adding each other on the chat app, Zhu Xing looked at his profile picture: a sparkling star, strikingly similar to the one they had used after confirming their relationship in the previous world.
“Why did you use this as your profile picture?”
The question seemed to stump Qu Qingyu. He fell silent for a long while before answering, still sounding somewhat self-conscious.
“Because stars are very bright.”
Zhu Xing’s heart gave a sudden flutter, because the eighteen-year-old version of him had once said the exact same thing.
Watching Zhu Xing’s sudden, gentle smile, Qu Qingyu couldn’t quite fathom what was going on in his head.
Yet seeing him smile so happily made warmth bloom uncontrollably in his chest.
Observing the smiling man, Zhu Xing thought he looked a bit slow on the uptake, which only made him want to tease him more. Amidst those occasional moments of teasing Qu Qingyu, the university gates arrived in a flash.
Qu Qingyu got out of the car, looking silently at Zhu Xing before speaking up again. “Break off your engagement with him. I’m stronger than he is.”
Zhu Xing nodded. “Oh. I’ll think about it.” Hearing this reply, Qu Qingyu’s normally expressionless eyes brightened by several degrees.
Zhu Xing waited for him to say something more, but it was abundantly clear that Qu Qingyu had no clue what topic of conversation he could pick that wouldn’t provoke or annoy him.
“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?”
Zhu Xing couldn’t help a dry laugh. “No need, I won’t eat. It’s so late, eating too much will make me gain weight, and I still have dance practice.”
Realizing that he was only capable of asking these kinds of questions, Qu Qingyu felt a rare trace of awkwardness.
After waiting for half a day and realizing that this Qu Qingyu was indeed genuinely clueless, Zhu Xing took the initiative to step forward and give him a hug.
Qu Qingyu’s frame stiffened, though his body heat remained scaldingly hot. Zhu Xing found himself deeply missing this embrace.
After holding him for half a minute, Zhu Xing pulled back, intending to head into the dorms, only for Qu Qingyu to suddenly pull him back into a tight hug.
The two of them stood locked in an embrace right at the campus entrance, where students constantly drifted in and out, for several minutes.
No matter how reluctant, they still had to part.
“Alright, I’m heading back to the dorms now. You should head back too.”
Zhu Xing walked through the school gates, strolling for a few minutes until he reached a corner, where he turned back to find the figure at the entrance still standing right there.
Zhu Xing’s mood was reasonably good; although the mission still lacked a clear direction, at least he had found his husband.
Lida University’s dorm rooms housed four people each. Two of his roommates had previously grown unable to tolerate Zhu Xing’s explosive temper and habits, resulting in constant friction until they eventually moved out. The remaining roommate had a much milder disposition, though his schedule differed vastly from Zhu Xing’s. When Zhu Xing returned to the room, it was completely empty.
Meanwhile, over in a different dormitory building:
Shen Zhiqian had returned to his room before the show even finished, his mind replaying Zhu Xing’s parting words over and over.
He clicked open his chat history with Zhu Xing.
Aside from a rare, sporadic reply from himself, the rest of the chat logs were filled with Zhu Xing talking about random trivialities, though the recent history contained an abundance of arguments.
The most severe incident had occurred the previous week: Xu Luo had come down with a bad flu, and because Shen Zhiqian was resting in his own dorm with a mild headache, Xu Luo had called him in a high fever, prompting Shen Zhiqian to rush him to the hospital.
Originally, Zhu Xing had planned to celebrate their 5,000th day of knowing each other on that exact day. Zhu Xing always had a penchant for keeping track of all sorts of bizarre anniversaries, but because Shen Zhiqian felt unwell, he had told him to just rest properly in his dorm.
To his surprise, Zhu Xing found out about it and rushed straight to the hospital to tear into Xu Luo.
“Why are you so shameless, trying to seduce someone else’s fiancé?”
“If you feel miserable, can’t you call your own friends?”
“Why are you so cheap?”
Watching Zhu Xing’s words grow increasingly vicious, Shen Zhiqian had forcefully dragged him outside.
Zhu Xing had struggled frantically, even attempting to throw hands at Xu Luo, causing Shen Zhiqian to lose his temper and shove Zhu Xing away.
He had watched Zhu Xing collapse to the floor, stunned into silence for a long time; he never expected that he would suddenly push him.
He had intended to help him up, but his hand was batted away, and Zhu Xing had sprinted out of the hospital without uttering a single sound.
They hadn’t seen each other for a full week during the interim. When Shen Zhiqian had messaged him a few times asking if he was hurt, Zhu Xing had merely replied with a single sentence: We will never get to have another 5,000th day.
After that, there was no reply whatsoever. Zhu Xing had lost both parents at a young age, and because the Zhu and Shen families had been close for years, out of pity for his situation, Zhu Xing had essentially been raised under the care of the Shen family. Shen Zhiqian knew he had no immediate relatives and no particularly close friends, and he had wanted to tell Zhu Xing that if they were going to stay together, Zhu Xing needed to learn to be a bit more obedient, after all, Shen Zhiqian was the only person he had left to depend on.
And then came this encounter today. He originally hadn’t arranged to meet Xu Luo; it just happened that Xu Luo needed to borrow a costume piece while playing a minor role in a classmate’s play, so he tagged along on the way.
When he opened the door, Shen Zhiqian’s immediate reflex had been to check if Zhu Xing had done anything.
Fortunately, Zhu Xing wasn’t holding anything in his hands, but fragments of glass had still gotten into his shoes.
He had questioned him yet again, and this time, Zhu Xing had readily agreed to call off the engagement.
Shen Zhiqian hesitated for a long time. Did you make it back to the dorm? I’m coming to find you.
The moment he hit send, a massive exclamation mark pierced his eyes, prompting him to instantly grab his phone and stride out of the dormitory.