The alarm rang at 7:30. Pei Xi quickly turned it off, blinking his tired eyes as he stared at the ceiling.
The dorm was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. He peeked outside—his three roommates were still sound asleep, with no intention of getting up.
Pei Xi got out of bed quietly, washed up, and made it to the classroom before eight o’clock.
Seats for the specialized course were arranged according to randomly assigned student numbers. His number was 20261314, and the student next to him, 20261315, turned out to be Lu Li. They were assigned to sit together.
When he first found out about this, he felt uneasy all over. Fortunately, Lu Li didn’t attend this class often.
He had just sat down and taken out his books from his backpack when a familiar voice drifted over from above.
“Excuse me.”
Pei Xi looked up abruptly, stunned for a moment by Lu Li’s cold, handsome face.
Before he left in the morning, he had seen Lu Li still sleeping and assumed he wouldn’t come.
Lu Li looked down at him. The two remained frozen for a while before Pei Xi snapped back to reality, quickly pulling back his feet to make room.
Pei Xi instinctively leaned slightly to the other side, avoiding any accidental contact with Lu Li’s arm.
“Let’s turn to page 23 of the textbook, where it talks about…”
Pei Xi rummaged through his backpack several times, only to realize with dismay that he had accidentally left his textbook in the dorm.
Lu Li seemed to notice his predicament and pushed his own textbook over, placing it in the middle of their two desks. “Let’s share.”
Pei Xi turned to look at him in surprise, flustered as he muttered a “thank you.”
Lu Li responded with a faint “mm,” then fell silent.
Because they were sharing the same book, the two were sitting very close. Pei Xi could even smell the faint, refreshing scent of mint on Lu Li—clean and invigorating.
He held his breath, pretending to listen attentively to the lecture, though he didn’t take in a single word.
Every time he got close to Lu Li, he felt an inexplicable flutter in his heart.
It was a mix of nervous anticipation and cautious apprehension.
His palms grew sweaty, and he felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles, struggling to endure the entire class.
Only when the bell rang did Pei Xi slowly let out a sigh of relief. He pushed the book back and thanked Lu Li once more.
Lu Li gave another “mm,” packed his textbook into his bag, stood up, and left.
“Classmate, hello.”
Pei Xi vaguely heard someone calling Lu Li’s name at the door. He glanced in that direction and was surprised to see a familiar figure.
It was the boy who had cornered him at the restroom entrance during the freshman welcome party. He was back, and this time, he had finally found the person he was looking for.
The boy couldn’t hide his shyness. Holding a bouquet of sunflowers, he stood nervously in front of Lu Li. “My name is Tong Xiao. I’m a freshman from the Foreign Languages Department.”
Lu Li stopped, maintaining a certain distance from the boy, and spoke coolly, “What is it?”
Although Lu Li had his back to Pei Xi, making it impossible to see his expression, Pei Xi could still detect a hint of impatience in his tone.
Tong Xiao wasn’t deterred by his coldness. Instead, he gritted his teeth, mustered his courage, and took a step closer. “I wanted to add you on WeChat, but you’ve set it so no one can add you…”
“So?”
Lu Li took a step back, leaning against the doorframe.
Hearing these two words, Pei Xi couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for the boy.
Anyone with eyes could see the boy’s intention was to get his WeChat, yet Lu Li pretended not to understand.
A wounded expression flickered across Tong Xiao’s face. He held out the bouquet in his hand toward Lu Li, enduring the curious gazes around them, his eyes revealing a hint of vulnerability and embarrassment. “I want to add you on WeChat, is that okay?”
“Sorry, I don’t make a habit of adding strangers.” Lu Li didn’t even spare him another glance, brushing past him.
Tong Xiao froze on the spot, only snapping out of it after a long moment to watch Lu Li’s retreating figure.
The classmates who had been watching withdrew their gazes, forming small groups and leaving the classroom.
Pei Xi looked at Tong Xiao’s despondent expression, feeling an inexplicable pang of bitterness spreading in his heart.
He recalled Lin Shaojun’s words once again: Lu Li doesn’t like guys; he hates it the most when guys confess to him.
Pei Xi slowly packed up his textbooks and headed toward the school cafeteria.
The school cafeteria had three floors, each offering different dishes.
Pei Xi had plenty of living expenses now and could eat freely, but his appetite wasn’t big. Usually, one meat dish and one vegetable were enough to fill him up. He loved eating fruit, and most of his daily pocket money was spent on buying it.
He ordered a portion of scallion beef, a dish of perilla stir-fried long beans, a bowl of rice, and a complimentary soup, then chose a corner seat by the window to sit down.
Coincidentally, a table of his classmates was sitting nearby. He didn’t have a deep impression of his classmates yet and couldn’t recognize their names.
Hearing them greet him and enthusiastically invite him to join them, Pei Xi reluctantly sat down.
With more people, the meal became livelier, and the conversation shifted from the earlier professional class to campus gossip.
“Have you joined any school groups?”
“I wanted to, but the group is full, so I couldn’t get in.”
“What about the confession wall and the forum? Do you browse them often?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’ve noticed our school’s forum is full of juicy stories—love triangles among seniors, cheaters getting dumped, it’s all pretty exciting.”
“Do you remember that xx senior who helped us with the enrollment procedures?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“I heard he’s gay. He dated a junior from the management department for over a year and ended up getting cheated on.”
“I remember he was quite good-looking. How could he still get cheated on?”
As Pei Xi listened, he felt a creeping discomfort. It felt like he had stumbled into a neighborhood gossip circle. Unfortunately, he wasn’t particularly interested in these romantic dramas and scandals, so he sped up his eating, hoping to escape sooner.
“Do you know the guy who cornered Lu Li at the door earlier?”
“I think I saw his post on the confession wall. He asked for Lu Li’s WeChat when he first enrolled.”
“Does he like Lu Li?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Why else would he want Lu Li’s WeChat?”
“This Lu Li didn’t give him any face at all. Rejecting him in front of so many people—isn’t that too harsh?”
“I heard a long time ago that Lu Li is straight. He doesn’t like guys. If I were that guy and knew Lu Li was homophobic, why would I go confess? Isn’t that just asking for it?”
Pei Xi was about to speak up to defend his roommate but felt it was none of his business, so he said nothing.
Suddenly, the boy next to him patted his shoulder and asked, “Does Lu Li really not like guys?”
Pei Xi was taken aback for a moment, then gave an ambiguous answer: “I heard that’s the case, but I’m not sure either.”
The boy shrugged: “Alright, actually, I wanted to add him on WeChat too, but after seeing what happened today, I think I’d better not embarrass myself.”
“What, do you like Lu Li too?”
The boy openly revealed his sexual orientation: “I’m gay, you know.”
“Wow, I never heard you mention that before.”
The boy laughed: “It’s a shame, there are so many handsome guys in our class, but they’re all straight.”
Pei Xi was shocked, not expecting that people nowadays were so accepting of different sexual orientations. A boy could come out so casually, and everyone seemed quite receptive, even curious about their community and wanting to learn more.
He silently ate his meal, listening to the boy talk about his dating history. By the time they finished eating and parted ways, he still felt a bit unsatisfied.
Apart from his livestreams, he had never publicly disclosed his sexual orientation in real life, so he had never been in a relationship. Hearing the boy recount with a hint of regret how he and his ex-boyfriend had to break up due to a long-distance relationship, Pei Xi couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.
He still had no plans to start dating, at least not before moving out of the dormitory. Besides, his livestreaming career was just taking off, and his fans… his top supporter probably wouldn’t want to see something like that happen.
His top supporter was probably a career fan, right…?
That’s why he so generously showered him with money, especially when he connected with some big streamers during livestreams. He would support him heavily, sending lots of votes to help him win PK battles and gain more exposure on the platform.
If he found out Pei Xi was dating, how disappointed would he be?
“Ding dong—”
【You have a new message, please check.】
Just as Pei Xi was about to open Douyin to do some maintenance work, a message from his top supporter arrived.
【User10557880: Received the photo, it’s beautiful.】
【Xixi: Cat lying down.jpg】
【Xixi: I’m glad you like it.】
Pei Xi thought the conversation would end there, but the other person replied almost immediately.
【User10557880: Yes, I really like it.】
Pei Xi looked at this line of text, his ears feeling a little warm.
He couldn’t help but feel that something had changed between him and User Ge.
Although User Ge had always been good to him before, it wasn’t like now—he would actively send messages every day, reminding him to keep their chat streak alive.
In the past, whenever User Ge tipped him, he never asked for any emotional support in return, nor did he actively request sign-holding photos or videos. But these past few days, he had been asking for specific hand-dance fan videos and even requested selfies.
He wasn’t as aloof as before either. He would reply to Pei Xi’s messages almost instantly.
Every time Pei Xi posted a video, he would rush to be among the first to comment.
What’s more, User Ge now updated his homepage videos daily, posting Pei Xi’s old fan videos one by one, carefully editing captions, and interacting with his fans.
These changes were real, and Pei Xi had noticed every one of them.
Faced with this shift, Pei Xi felt a bit at a loss. He wasn’t very good at handling the relationship between a streamer and his top supporter.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but it seemed like User Ge might have a little crush on him.
Maybe more than just a little.
Brother User was willing to spend time, money, and effort to accompany him.
Pei Xi opened his wallet, glanced at his account balance, and felt a bit wistful.
Silently, he opened the search bar and typed: Can a streamer and their top supporter fall in love?