300,000 yuan deposited into Alipay.
The notification sound echoed around the empty room. Xie Qing raised his eyes, looking at Xie Wang with unconcealed impatience.
“Did you give him my phone number?”
Clutching his phone with both hands, Xie Wang pressed his lips together and nodded mutely.
Immediately following that came a WeChat message.
Chen Yunfeng: The livestream will have to wait until next month. I don’t have that much cash on hand right now, so stop transferring it back to me.
Xie Qing couldn’t figure out what game he was playing this time. He had clearly told him no refund was necessary.
Yet the guy was so stubborn.
Chen Yunfeng: You were right, I am indeed quite terrified of other people’s evaluations. Just pretend I wanted to leave a good impression on you.
After sending the message, Chen Yunfeng felt a lot lighter at heart.
Over the past few days, he kept recalling what Teacher Chen had told him.
He was free to strive for what he liked, but the moment he realized things were incompatible, he should stop immediately.
Besides, money lost could always be earned back; he shouldn’t become too obsessed.
The lights inside the room were dazzlingly bright. With the livestream cancelled, the sound of the wind blowing outside the window could be heard with absolute clarity.
Chen Yunfeng lay flat on his chair, half his face obscured by his ashy-green hair, his eyes closed. In the stark, pale light, he looked completely motionless.
The lights in the building opposite gradually went out until the entire structure plunged into darkness.
Amidst the brightness filling his own room, half of Chen Yunfeng’s figure was cast in shadow.
“Ugh. My neck feels like it broke.”
When Chen Yunfeng woke up, he was still sitting in the chair, half his body completely numb.
A dull ache throbbed at the back of his neck, still lingering with soreness.
He immediately reached up to press the nape of his neck, grabbed his phone to check the time, and headed off to wash up.
His entire body felt thoroughly uncomfortable.
Perhaps misfortunes never came singly, because when he arrived at the campus cafeteria, his phone happened to run out of battery and shut down.
Chen Yunfeng’s student ID card hadn’t been activated yet, leaving him temporarily with no way to pay for food.
He figured he would just borrow a card from a passing student and add them on WeChat later to transfer the money back.
However, the rush hour for meals had already passed, and there weren’t many people around.
Suddenly, scattered laughter drifted from the second-floor stairwell.
The person walking at the very front had an upright posture and long legs.
Though dressed casually, there wasn’t a single logo on his entire outfit; it was clearly custom-tailored.
The crucial point was that Chen Yunfeng knew this person.
Not only did he know him, but they also shared some rather discordant financial transactions.
“Junior.”
Acting as if nothing had happened, Xie Qing actually took the initiative to greet Chen Yunfeng.
This caused the few people walking beside him to turn and look over simultaneously.
Feeling a bit self-conscious under their scrutiny, Chen Yunfeng nodded. “Morning, Senior.”
Thinking Xie Qing would leave after greeting him, Chen Yunfeng watched in surprise as Xie Qing said a few words to the people next to him.
Those individuals simply walked away, while Xie Qing walked straight toward his direction.
Just as Chen Yunfeng was racking his brain for an excuse to slip away, the voice of the cafeteria server rang out from behind him.
“Hey, aren’t you two acquaintances? Why don’t you have him swipe his card for you?”
Her voice was quite loud, and Xie Qing heard every single word.
As he walked over, he pulled out his phone. “Scan the code. I forgot my card. Sorry for the trouble.”
Chen Yunfeng looked at the rice at the serving window, unsure whether to take the plate or leave it.
Beep.
Xie Qing put away his phone and casually picked up the tray right next to it. “Where do you want to sit?”
“Huh?”
“I asked where you want to sit,” Xie Qing repeated. “A night passes and your reactions are sluggish again.”
Completely thrown off-balance by his sudden indulgence, Chen Yunfeng didn’t even know what to say, so he just kept his head down and walked forward.
He chose a corner far away from everyone else and accepted the tray from Xie Qing’s hands.
“Afraid of being watched, prone to tension, so you deliberately scouted out a refuge in advance?” Observing the quiet way he ate, Xie Qing continued, “You eat so silently. Just how terrified are you of being noticed by others?”
Chen Yunfeng paused his chewing for a moment, then resumed until he had swallowed everything in his mouth.
Only then did he speak up. “Does Senior enjoy analyzing me this much?”
Chen Yunfeng set down his chopsticks and leaned back. “Or is Senior just like this with everyone?”
Seeing him put up his claws like a cornered cat, Xie Qing was tickled straight into laughter.
He stood up, moved to sit beside Chen Yunfeng, and placed one hand on his shoulder.
“Regardless of anything, Xie Wang and I are both very grateful for your help these past two times. When you transferred that money to me, were you trying to draw a clear line between us, or a clear line between you and Xie Wang?”
“And what exactly are you nervous about?” Xie Qing tightened his grip slightly on his left hand. “Did you realize just how foolish that persona you put on really is?”
The shoulder pinned beneath Xie Qing’s hand grew tense. For the very first time, Chen Yunfeng found someone who understood psychology terrifying.
Ever since he was a child, he got along well with everyone, and anyone who interacted with him felt compelled to offer a word of praise or two.
Yet, in reality, it was merely because he adopted different modes of interaction for different people.
He didn’t have any true friends; the moment they were no longer at the same school, they would lose touch before long.
He was close to everyone, yet he let no one ever truly get close to him.
“I didn’t,” Chen Yunfeng stubbornly deflected.
Xie Qing watched him quietly for a long moment before speaking. “Were you ever abandoned?”
It was as if he had been jabbed by a needle. Chen Yunfeng immediately shrugged off the hand resting on his shoulder, turned his face away with a cold sneer, and said, “What business is it of yours? Does the big boss have so much free time on his hands that he feels compelled to do charity work on a pauper like me?”
Though his physical reaction was quite large, Xie Qing maintained his air of absolute certainty, remaining utterly calm.
He tugged at Chen Yunfeng’s rolled-up sleeve. “We psychology majors have a common occupational trait, which is strong empathy.”
“Your behavior contains a lot of contradictions. You make a very fascinating case study.” Xie Qing picked up the chopsticks and handed them back to him. “Eat. Let me do some research on you.”
Chen Yunfeng was about to flare up, but suddenly had no idea where to direct his anger.
He took the chopsticks and aggressively shoveled a huge mouthful of rice into his mouth, leaving no room even for a side dish.
“Don’t rush, eat slowly. Why punish yourself just because you’re angry? I’m sitting right next to you. Next time, you can just shove it straight into my mouth.” Xie Qing said this with a completely straight face.
Chen Yunfeng suffered a violent fit of coughing.
Fortunately, the moment he realized he couldn’t hold it in, he grabbed a napkin, otherwise grains of rice would have sprayed everywhere.
He couldn’t help rolling his eyes several times before managing to swallow the food. “What on earth is wrong with you today? Did your alternate personality awaken?”
Xie Qing straightened up, looking thoroughly satisfied with his handiwork.
“Do you also find it awkward?” Xie Qing remarked. “How is this any different from the things you deliberately said to me earlier? Do you know what it feels like now?”
Chen Yunfeng took a couple of deep breaths, telling himself not to get angry.
He nodded heavily. “I know, really. Can we please let this matter go? When will this endless cycle of tit-for-tat ever end?”
“I’m starving, I’m exhausted, and my neck hurts like hell! Will you please let me finish eating and crawl back to my dorm to sleep?”
“Fine, eat up.” Xie Qing readily agreed.
Chen Yunfeng wasn’t lying. He had spent the entire previous night in a half-asleep haze, sleeping in a chair.
If he didn’t go get some rest soon, during the freshman assembly speech in the afternoon, he might just become the first-ever student representative to fall asleep right in the middle of his address.
After the meal, along a shaded pathway.
Chen Yunfeng was currently weaving through the dappled tree shadows.
“Hold on, why are you still following me?” Chen Yunfeng abruptly spun around, crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl. “Didn’t your younger brother say your company has tons of work? Why are you so idle right now?”
Ignoring him, Xie Qing simply brushed past his shoulder.
Chen Yunfeng: ???
All the way back at the dorm, Xie Wang was waiting expectantly, his gaze fixed on Xie Qing’s hands.
“Bro, where’s my delivery?” Xie Wang circled around him. “Didn’t you say you were heading to the east gate and would pick it up for me along the way?”
Xie Qing pressed a hand on the hyperactive kid to keep him still. “Forgot. I need to bring you your inhibitor tomorrow anyway, so we’ll grab it together then.”
Xie Wang let out an “ah” and, right as he was about to grumble a complaint, caught sight of Chen Yunfeng just walking through the door.
“Brother Feng!” He whipped out his phone and pulled up a picture. “Look, I bought this for you, but my big boss of a brother forgot to pick it up earlier. I’ll get it to you tomorrow.”
Walking past Xie Qing without a sideways glance, Chen Yunfeng leaned over to take a look.
“Cerevo Dominator.”
“What on earth is this? A gun?” Looking at the image, he wore a bewildered expression. “A transforming toy gun?”
“The real kicker is that it costs 12,999?”
The other two roommates, who had been busy tidying up their respective beds, flew down the moment they heard that price tag.
Four heads huddled closely together, purely for the sake of inspecting a transforming toy gun.
Chen Yunfeng thought to himself: I still don’t understand the world of rich young masters.