The atmosphere in the dorm fell into a bizarre silence at that moment.
Cheng Xinyu and He Wennan stopped playing their game, their eyes secretly darting over.
Xi Yang was also somewhat dazed by Shu Xing’s sudden gesture of goodwill. He shifted his gaze to the cake on the desk. It was not large, about four inches in size. The green frosting was covered in crushed pistachios, and the aroma of the nuts could be smelled even through the packaging.
“Thank you.”
Shu Xing swung his hands awkwardly. “You’re welcome.”
Cheng Xinyu and He Wennan watched the entire process of Shu Xing giving the cake. The game was no longer fun for them. They silently opened their private chat interface and began clattering away on their keyboards across their screens.
Type 1 to Get Sent to Hell Ice: What is the situation with those two? Since when did Xing-mei’s attitude toward Xi-ge get so good?
Is 11 Really Giving It Away Bro: How should I know? Did you not say Xing-mei got sick last night and Xi-ge took him to the hospital? They probably made up last night!
Type 1 to Get Sent to Hell Ice: But why do I feel like the atmosphere in the dorm is so weird? Xing-mei looks a bit awkward. Why did he give him a cake and tell Xi-ge to cheer up?
Is 11 Really Giving It Away Bro: Oh, come on. They have been at odds for so long, and Xing-mei is not the type to back down easily, so it is normal for it to feel awkward. Besides, did Xi-ge not just fail his online-to-offline meetup? He is probably telling him to cheer up about that. Anyway, as long as they are not fighting or giving each other the cold shoulder, is our dorm not just one big happy family?
Type 1 to Get Sent to Hell Ice: Oh, true, true.
Type 1 to Get Sent to Hell Ice: By the way, why did Xing-mei not bring me a cake too? I even helped him request sick leave!
Is 11 Really Giving It Away Bro: ……
“Oh, right, Xinyu.” Having delivered the cake, Shu Xing felt too awkward to just stand there, so he quickly found an excuse to walk away. “Did the professor assign any new tasks in our major class today?”
“Ah?” Cheng Xinyu had spent the entire major class reading web novels. He glanced at He Wennan behind him. This guy seemed just like him, not taking in a single shred of useful knowledge.
“The professor said,” Cheng Xinyu tried hard to recall, “Ruan Yi said,”
“What did he say?”
“Uh,” Cheng Xinyu racked his brain for a long time, finally compromising with his slacking-off classroom self, “Actually, I do not know either.”
Shu Xing’s eyelids twitched. As the other group leader, he had an obligation to motivate the group members. Even if they were not proactive, he still had to direct his people to finish their assigned tasks on time.
Shu Xing had taken leave today and missed class. Unluckily, he had missed two major specialized lectures. Although Ruan Yi would definitely help complete his part of the work, if tasks assigned to people like Cheng Xinyu were not finished on time, it would drag the whole group down.
Beside them, Xi Yang suddenly spoke up. “Ruan Yi said we need to gather all the market research reports within a week.” He pointed at He Wennan and Cheng Xinyu, continuing, “He wants the two of you to handle the mobile population research for several large markets, while we go to the nearby schools to do student surveys.”
The “we” Xi Yang spoke of naturally included Shu Xing.
This grouping had actually been deliberately arranged by Shu Xing back then just to make things difficult for Xi Yang. Come to think of it, when Yu Hui mentioned that he had spoken harshly to his roommate, that “roommate” must have been himself, right? Did speaking harshly refer to the time he called him out for being late?
Oh boy, back then he had even added fuel to the fire and complained about him for so long. If Xi Yang ever found out that he had given him a car because of this, he would probably spit blood from anger.
“Oh, okay, Ruan Yi’s division is pretty good.” Shu Xing’s eyes rolled around after hearing this, his mind entirely consumed by how he should return the car to Xi Yang.
In the evening, Cheng Xinyu and He Wennan were called away by the guys next door to play board games. Shu Xing was not close to them, so he did not go. When he came out from taking a shower, he saw Xi Yang sitting in front of his desk in a daze. The computer screen was still displaying the idle screen of that xianxia game.
Shu Xing noticed that the cake he bought for Xi Yang had been completely eaten, and the guilt in his heart lessened slightly.
It was not that he did not know what flavors Xi Yang liked. Having been together with Yu Hui for two years, they basically knew what each other liked and hated.
Shu Xing remembered Yu Hui mentioning that he liked to eat pistachios, so Xi Yang definitely would not reject a pistachio-flavored cake. As for whether eating it made him any happier, looking at Xi Yang’s soul-absent state, it probably did not have much of a boosting effect.
When Shu Xing passed behind Xi Yang, he wanted to make small talk and chat with him out of courtesy. But his mouth opened and closed, and after thinking for a long time, he still did not know what to say. He could only sigh softly and climb onto his bed.
Shu Xing’s bed was directly opposite Xi Yang’s desk. From his angle, he could clearly see Xi Yang repeatedly opening the companion profile card on the screen.
Logically speaking, having someone you dislike dumped by you online should be a hilarious matter. He could even go blow his cover and mock Xi Yang to his face while Xi Yang was unhappy.
But Shu Xing did not dare to do it, nor did he want to do it.
No matter how much he disliked Xi Yang, it had not reached the malicious level of intentionally throwing someone’s self-esteem on the ground to trample it. Not to mention, the guy had taken him to the hospital yesterday and watched over him the entire night without a single complaint.
Now, things had developed to a point where it was difficult to turn back. It was no solution for Xi Yang to keep waiting for him to log on. Hardening his heart, Shu Xing downloaded the xianxia game onto his phone.
After downloading the game, Shu Xing entered his account information to log in while cautiously spying on Xi Yang’s every move.
The moment Shu Xing entered the game’s loading screen, a notification instantly popped up on Xi Yang’s screen indicating that his companion had logged online.
Xi Yang, who had been somewhat despondent, instantly sat up straight upon seeing this system notification. He clicked open his private chat interface with Xing Shu and sent a flurry of messages over.
Fearing that the game sounds would be heard by Xi Yang, Shu Xing deliberately muted his phone.
Looking at the nearly one hundred messages sent by Yu Hui in the chat interface, he glanced guiltily at Xi Yang’s back.
There were no furious interrogations in the messages, nor were there any asterisk-filled insults. Every message sent by Yu Hui was completely outside Shu Xing’s expectations.
Among these messages, there were patient inquiries asking what had happened, questions about what he had been busy with lately, and asks about when he would be free to schedule another meetup next time.
The only thing missing was the sentence, “Why did you stand me up?”
Nor did he ask, “What do you mean by thinking we are not compatible?”
And he certainly didn’t mention, “Do you want to break up?”
Yu Hui had sent a lot of messages. Shu Xing was not used to typing on a mobile interface, so he could only slowly tap on the virtual keyboard to send out his purpose for logging on this time.
Xing Shu: Stop changing numbers to call me. It is causing me trouble.
Xing Shu: Bao, I made it very clear. I think we are not compatible.
After Shu Xing sent the messages, Xi Yang’s typing hand below noticeably froze for a long time.
A few minutes later, Shu Xing received a reply from Yu Hui.
Yu Hui: Why?
Yu Hui: Give me a reason.
Shu Xing could not think of a reason. As a lover, Yu Hui was exceptionally good. The only bad thing was that, in reality, he was Xi Yang. What was even worse was that Xi Yang had also made it clear that he could not accept the fact that his online dating partner was himself.
Since neither of them could accept the other as their online partner, forced love would not be sweet.
Shu Xing thought about it and replied: There is no reason. You are very good, and I cannot find a reason, but I really do not want to be with you anymore.
After replying, Shu Xing reluctantly clicked on his and Yu Hui’s companion profile card. His thumb hovered over the “Dissolve Companion” button for a long time, but ultimately, he closed his eyes and chose “Confirm Dissolution.”
Dissolving a companion status required mutual consent. After the system sent out the dissolution alert, Yu Hui’s message arrived swiftly.
Yu Hui: You mean, you want to break up?
The corners of Shu Xing’s lips pressed down slightly as he replied: Yeah.
Typing on the landscape screen of his phone was very slow. Shu Xing was still typing “I will return the car and the money to you,” but the screen suddenly popped up with the receipt notification for the companion unbinding.
Along with the final sentence sent by Yu Hui.
Yu Hui: Okay, I respect your choice.
Shu Xing looked at the message that popped up, spacing out slightly.
His two-year online relationship with Yu Hui had completely ended today.
Because he knew the other party was Xi Yang, Shu Xing did not produce the feeling that he had completely lost the other person. The sad emotions were not as overwhelming as he had imagined, but a bitter helplessness felt like a hollow cave residing in Shu Xing’s heart.
At this moment, the cave was slowly expanding outward, eating away bit by bit at Shu Xing’s chest, which had originally been filled with love.
Xi Yang suddenly snapped his laptop shut, and the sharp sound startled Shu Xing.
Shu Xing, who was still immersed in the sadness of completely severing this online relationship, was instantly pulled back to reality by this abrupt noise. His hand lost its grip on his phone, and in the panic, it fell straight into the gap between the bed guardrail and the mattress. As Shu Xing reached out to grab it, the phone disobediently slipped through the crack, followed by the crisp sound of it colliding with the floor tiles.
It was over!
At this moment, Shu Xing felt no heartache over whether his phone would shatter; he only felt the sheer guilt that his game interface absolutely could not be seen by Xi Yang.
He quickly gripped the guardrail and leaned out. Upon seeing that the phone had landed face down on the ground, he let out a sigh of relief, feeling unprecedentedly relaxed.
A phone was just like a cat. No matter how high a cat fell from, it would land on all fours, and a phone, no matter how high, would ultimately hit the ground screen-first.
In front of the desk, Xi Yang heard the sound of Shu Xing’s phone dropping. He first looked over in confusion, and then Shu Xing watched as he very kindly stood up and walked toward the phone.
Holy crap, it really is over this time. I did not have time to lock the screen when the phone fell!
“Don’t pick it up! I will do it myself!”
Shu Xing practically blurted it out. He extended his hand, trying to stop Xi Yang from approaching below.
However, his arms were too short to reach Xi Yang’s body at all, and the guy had already bent down.
Watching Xi Yang pick up his fallen phone from the ground, Shu Xing’s blood rushed to his brain in an instant. Intense anxiety was stamped directly onto his face, and the surging blood was like a wildfire, instantly flushing his face red.
After picking up the phone, Xi Yang glanced at the screen, his dark brows knitting slightly.
“That,” In an instant, Shu Xing imagined ten thousand scenarios of how he would suffer a social death.
However, social death did not arrive.
After Xi Yang saw Shu Xing’s phone screen, he slowly turned the phone over. A long crack ran across the screen, which had already gone completely black.
Holding the phone, Xi Yang lifted his gaze and said flatly, “The screen is broken.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Thank goodness it broke.
Shu Xing rejoiced that he did not have the habit of putting a screen protector on his phone. If the phone had not broken just now, he could not imagine what kind of twisted and astonished expression would have appeared on Xi Yang’s face when he saw the character “Xing Shu” on the game interface.
When Shu Xing got anxious, it was hard to hide his emotions. Even though he tried his best to act as if nothing had happened, his tense expression and fully flushed face had long been thoroughly observed by Xi Yang.
“What are you nervous about?”
Xi Yang’s voice always carried a detached chill, which made Shu Xing even more nervous.
Shu Xing forced a smile. “Me, nervous? Am I? No, why would I be nervous?”
Hearing Shu Xing’s reply, a trace of scrutinizing amusement gradually surfaced in Xi Yang’s eyes as he looked at Shu Xing.
He flipped the phone in his hand, a meaningful smile playing on the corners of his lips as he raised his hand to return it to Shu Xing.
After Shu Xing swiftly snatched the phone back, Xi Yang asked unhurriedly, “Shu Xing, were you just, watching porn?”