Does Fu Zhiheng want to sleep with him?
Shu Ci lowered his eyes and once again checked the latest message in the chat box.
[Yunzhi Hotel 1309. Coming or not?]
No matter how he looked at it, it sounded suggestive.
Shu Ci was pursuing Fu Zhiheng.
After adding him on WeChat, he took the initiative to say good morning and good night every single day without fail. He worked hard to find topics to talk about, but Fu Zhiheng was cold. He only ever contacted him about work matters, and even his replies were indifferent—just “Mm” or “Got it.”
Shu Ci felt troubled by this. He had never been in a relationship before. After graduation, he stayed at home drawing comics. Not only had he never chased someone, he barely communicated with people at all.
Afraid that Fu Zhiheng would find him boring, he even looked up guides online.
After studying for a while, he snapped a screenshot.
Zhou Mingran was the kind of person who livened up the atmosphere at dinner parties. Shu Ci wondered if the message had been sent because Fu Zhiheng had lost a truth-or-dare game. It seemed like something obvious at a glance.
After all, Fu Zhiheng was the “white moonlight” he had searched for since childhood. Shu Ci didn’t want him to be a jerk. After thinking for a moment, he sent the screenshot to Zhou Mingran.
Two seconds later—
Zhou Mingran: [—!!!!]
Aside from swearing, Zhou Mingran sent a flood of messages and even called him directly.
But Shu Ci didn’t have time to respond.
The editor in charge of adapting his comic into print called at the same time, carefully explaining several revisions that needed to be made. Shu Ci listened while taking notes. By the time he hung up, twenty minutes had passed.
Zhou Mingran’s messages had exploded.
There were over ten missed calls.
The sight startled Shu Ci. Afraid the other might even call the police, he immediately called back. No answer. He had no choice but to send a voice message saying he was still at home and hadn’t gone out, telling him not to worry.
Less than half a minute later, Zhou Mingran called him.
“Thank god you’re home. I’m heading back now.”
The background on the other end was noisy, with the sound of a car door closing.
Shu Ci was surprised. “You were on the way to my place?”
“I went to the hotel.”
“Huh?”
“Lu Xianyan went to your place.”
Hearing that name, Shu Ci froze.
A cold face immediately surfaced in his mind.
How did this involve Lu Xianyan?
“You weren’t answering your phone, and I thought you weren’t listening to advice. Lu Xianyan happened to be beside me, so I told him to go to your place while I went to the hotel to intercept you. Dividing up the work seemed more reliable.”
Reliable, my foot.
Shu Ci finally processed what was happening, his ears burning with embarrassment. “How could I possibly go?”
After snapping a little, he awkwardly asked, “Lu Xianyan… knows about this too?”
Zhou Mingran replied, “When you sent the message, he accidentally saw it. He was sitting right next to me.”
Shu Ci took a sharp breath, mortified.
Counting it up, he had known both Zhou Mingran and Lu Xianyan since their first year of middle school. The three of them had attended the same school.
Lu Xianyan had always been the coldest of the three.
Taciturn. Distant from everyone.
After transferring schools in his third year, Shu Ci lost contact with most of his former classmates—including Lu Xianyan.
He wasn’t outgoing to begin with. If Zhou Mingran hadn’t frequently reached out, this friendship might not have lasted either.
However, over the past six months, he had actually met Lu Xianyan quite a few times.
It started when, during their senior year of college, Zhou Mingran suddenly said Lu Xianyan had secured a postgraduate recommendation and would be coming to Fog University’s research institute for a two-year project. He asked whether Shu Ci wanted to have dinner with an old friend, joking that Lu Xianyan could hardly be called just an old friend anymore—he practically counted as a childhood companion.
Hearing that term, Shu Ci felt it would be heartless to refuse.
The three of them soon met up for dinner.
Lu Xianyan had grown even taller—transforming from a boy straight into a striking young man.
His features were sharper and more mature. His expression remained indifferent. His entire presence carried a cold aura, making him seem even harder to approach than in their school days.
No one really understood Lu Xianyan.
Shu Ci had been his deskmate for five years and still hadn’t figured out his temperament.
The only things he knew were that Lu Xianyan had excellent grades, a good build, and great physical strength.