After the message was sent, Wei Qinan replied after a short while: [Alright, then call me when you are almost done. I will come pick you up.]
Shi Jing: [We will see. I do not know when it will end.]
Zhou Yongzhi drove over to pick up Shi Jing a little after three o’clock in the afternoon. Today he was driving a sports car, his hair was a bit messy, and he still looked reasonably energetic.
Shi Jing glanced at him. “Did not sleep?”
“Nah. Went back to my old man’s place to grab some things, so I just ended up not sleeping.” Zhou Yongzhi rubbed his hair. “Actually, I just wanted to find someone to talk to today. Had a fight with my dad last night.”
He had originally agreed to come see Bai Mengqiu, but he blew it off at the last minute and never called afterward to make up for it with a belated happy birthday.
Zhou Yongzhi was genuinely furious. When he got home and found out that his father had brought home a newcomer, he flew into a rage, got into a huge argument with his old man, packed his things, and walked right out the door.
Shi Jing fell silent for a moment and comforted him. “Out of sight, out of mind.”
“You said it. Anyway, I moved out so I do not have to see it. He can do whatever he wants.”
Zhou Yongzhi drove the person to a familiar shopping mall and pointed at a familiar storefront. “This place just dropped a new pair of basketball sneakers. They look really cool.”
Shi Jing rarely went out to buy things, but upon hearing this, he nodded. “Then go try them on.”
“Wait, let us go get some milk tea first.” Zhou Yongzhi was full of enthusiasm, ordered a seasonal new release, and turned around to ask, “What about you? What are you drinking?”
Shi Jing had no interest in milk tea. “Drink it yourself.”
“Come on, this place is super good.” The two of them had known each other for a while now, and through getting along, Zhou Yongzhi had gradually figured out Shi Jing’s speaking logic. Generally, things he did not explicitly refuse meant he was open to them.
So he held up his fingers. “Two signature milk teas, please!”
The store clerk was hugging a cup and shaking it vigorously. Hearing this, he turned around and said, “Sorry about that, the shop is getting slammed with orders right now. It might take about twenty minutes.”
“Oh, no worries. Then we will come back to pick it up later.”
Zhou Yongzhi paid the bill and called Shi Jing into the storefront first.
Both of them were Alphas, very tall, and coupled with looks where each one was better-looking than the last, passersby could not help turning their heads to look repeatedly.
Zhou Yongzhi was clearly a regular customer here. The sales associate hurried forward and enthusiastically shouted, “Brother Zhou!”
“I heard you guys dropped new items. Hurry up and show me. Shi Jing, go browse on your own for a bit.”
Shi Jing’s eyes were calm as he nodded.
The familiar sales associate led Zhou Yongzhi toward the other side. Shi Jing stood in front of the display rack by himself, and another sales associate quickly hurried over.
He nonchalantly maintained a bit of distance from the person and spoke before the other could say anything. “I am just looking around by myself. Thank you.”
He did not like having people follow him around.
The newcomer was slightly startled, but quickly reacted. “Alright. Then just call me anytime if you need anything.”
This brand was quite popular, and many people in Shi Jing’s circle bought from it.
Zhou Yongzhi was trying on the shoes. After walking a few steps and feeling quite satisfied, he walked over to Shi Jing. “Shi Jing, how do these look?”
“They suit you very well.”
“Hey, I think so too.” Zhou Yongzhi pointed a finger. “I want that entire row. You know my size, right? Have them delivered to my place later. I will text you a new address.”
Remembering something, Zhou Yongzhi asked, “Shi Jing, aren’t you going to buy some clothes? The seasons are changing soon.”
Shi Jing already had so many clothes that the walk-in closets in every single house of his were packed to the brim. Brand representatives would also routinely send the season’s newest items straight to his home.
Shi Jing gave a perfunctory reply. “I have too many clothes.”
“Oh.” Zhou Yongzhi nodded. “Then aren’t you going to buy some gifts for your partner? Since you are already out having fun, you should bring something back to coax him and make him happy. Tonight you were supposed to be with your partner, but you got intercepted by me instead. Hehe.”
Shi Jing did not even think about it. “He does not need to be coaxed.”
Zhou Yongzhi teased, “Why are you lacking in romance entirely? Don’t you guys have even a tiny bit of little surprises when you are dating?”
Shi Jing: “What?”
He remembered his persona and hesitated. “What you said makes sense.”
The clothes he got for Wei Qinan at the pet hospital last time were a 2XL, but they were obviously still a bit small.
Shi Jing asked about the sizes and looked seriously at the display rack.
He called over a sales associate who was standing by on standby and pointed at an entire wall.
“Just wrap these up. Charge it to the card.”
The sales associate asked, “All the styles on the entire wall?”
“En.”
Zhou Yongzhi: “Damn. Boss is generous.”
Since he had bought clothes and shoes for Wei Qinan, he would need to take away a portion of his own clothes to make room for the new ones.
Shi Jing also did not want to hand the clothes to Wei Qinan in person because it felt weird, so he said, “Pack them up first. Whenever you deliver them later, we will talk about it then.”
The sales associate replied, “Alright, sir.”
Zhou Yongzhi still needed to try on clothes. Seeing that the time was about right, Shi Jing got up and went to the milk tea shop on the other side to pick up the drinks.
Shi Jing was carrying the two cups of milk tea on his way back when he was stopped midway by a voice.
“Brother Shi Jing!”
“No way, did you see wrong?”
“How is that possible? It definitely is. Why is Lao Wei spacing out? It is your partner!”
Shi Jing looked back and realized it was indeed Wei Qinan and his roommates.
He immediately remembered that this place was also very close to their university.
Wei Qinan was pushed along by his roommates, and his face also wore an astonished expression, as if he had not expected to run into him here.
What a coincidence.
A roommate said, “Our afternoon classes are over, so we were planning to eat outside. We never expected to run into you here.”
“Yeah, yeah. Why don’t we have a meal together later? Hehe.”
Shi Jing answered, “I need to ask my friend.”
The roommate was startled for a second before reacting. “Oh, oh, oh. You came out with a friend, right? Look at my brain. We will talk about it another time then.”
Shi Jing raised his gaze to look at the quiet Wei Qinan.
Wei Qinan’s gaze was lowered. Following his line of sight, it was clear he was looking at the milk tea in Shi Jing’s hands.
There were two cups.
When college students saw other people drinking milk tea, they could not help craving it themselves and started shouting that they wanted some too. They temporarily entrusted Wei Qinan to Shi Jing and turned around to head toward the milk tea shop.
As the surrounding chattering noises faded into the distance, Shi Jing tightened his grip on the plastic bag handles and asked, “Why are you here? What a coincidence.”
“You were not having dinner with me tonight, and my roommates happened to invite me, so I agreed.” Wei Qinan pointed at his phone. “I texted you on WeChat.”
Shi Jing had been looking at clothes for Wei Qinan earlier and had not checked his phone.
He simply explained, “I was busy just now and didn’t look.”
Wei Qinan nodded and asked again, “What about you? Out having fun with a friend?”
Shi Jing had not reported his whereabouts to the other person and, for some reason, felt that Wei Qinan’s mood wasn’t very good, making him feel inexplicably guilty. “Out with Zhou Yongzhi. He needed to buy clothes.”
He turned his head to look at the roommates who had already walked far away. “Are you going to go find them, or stay with me?”
When Shi Jing went to pick up the milk tea, that shop was still getting slammed with orders, and several delivery drivers were standing around anxiously waiting. The store clerk shook his cup so fast it left afterimages, having no choice but to tell the delivery drivers to wait a little longer.
Wei Qinan answered, “I will stay with you.”
The two of them walked side by side back into the store. Shi Jing suddenly froze, thinking to himself that this was bad. The sales associate from earlier was already hurrying over with brisk steps, holding his black card in her hand.
Shi Jing blurted out, “Don’t.”
The payment had already gone through, cementing the matter.
The sales associate was overjoyed in her heart. Having been lucky enough to land such a massive order, her voice was a bit louder than usual. “Mr. Shi, your card, please keep it safe. The 3XL sizes for some of the clothes you requested are currently out of stock in the store. It will take about two days for us to transfer stock from elsewhere. Once everything is gathered, I will notify you on WeChat so we can schedule the home delivery time. Is that alright?”
Shi Jing: “What?”
3XL was Wei Qinan’s clothing size, which would be way too big for Shi Jing. Wei Qinan’s gloomy mood from earlier was swept away completely as he asked, “Were these bought for me?”
“En. I just bought them casually. You can pick through them later and wear whatever you like.” Shi Jing felt a slight dizziness in his head and told the sales associate, “Got it.”
The sales associate nodded repeatedly. Hearing their conversation and taking a glance at Wei Qinan, she very smoothly offered a compliment: “The clothes you selected are all extremely suitable for this gentleman. The two of you have such a wonderful relationship.”
Wei Qinan smiled. “Thank you.”
He very naturally took hold of Shi Jing’s hand, used a bit of clever leverage to pry open Shi Jing’s stiff fingers, and forced him into an interlocked-finger grip.
Shi Jing’s brain went buzzing: “What?”