As soon as Bai Shijin returned to the dorm, he heard Ye Qinfan on the phone with someone, his voice sounding clingy and sugary. Bai Shijin’s temples throbbed, and he thought Ye Qinfan had become so brazen that he didn’t even bother to avoid others.
With a click, the dorm door closed behind him, and he heard the voice coming from the other end of the phone.
It was Mu Nian.
Mu Nian sounded somewhat helpless as he asked, “Why do you insist on tagging along? Quzhou is not close at all, and with the event lasting three days, you won’t be back for at least a week.”
“I don’t care! I want to go!” Hearing Bai Shijin open the door, Ye Qinfan deliberately turned on the speakerphone. “I’ve never been to Quzhou. Since you’re going on a business trip this time, I want to go play with you.”
“I’ll say it again, I’m going for work, not to play.”
“Then you work, and I’ll go play. That’s fine, right?”
Even across the screen, Bai Shijin could feel Mu Nian’s utter exasperation.
“Qinfan, do you want to fail your final exams again? You’re already failing your major courses, and now you want to take another week off.”
Ye Qinfan had originally wanted to show off Mu Nian’s unconditional indulgence toward him in front of Bai Shijin, but not only did Mu Nian not go along with it, he started lecturing him instead. Losing face, Ye Qinfan snapped angrily, “Then why is Bai Shijin allowed to go?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Shijin signed a contract with the company and is a key figure for this Quzhou project. Besides, he’s also first in his class. If you can get first place, you can go wherever you want, and I won’t stop you.”
Furious, Ye Qinfan hung up the phone.
Looking at Ye Qinfan’s flushed, angry face, Bai Shijin let out a soft laugh.
Even though the sound was very quiet, Ye Qinfan still heard it. He sneered and asked, “Bai Shijin, are you feeling very smug?”
Bai Shijin ignored him.
Ye Qinfan continued, “Three, two, one.”
Bai Shijin was momentarily stunned, not understanding why he was suddenly counting down.
The moment Ye Qinfan’s one fell, his phone rang.
Ye Qinfan purposely let the caller wait for a moment before answering.
He didn’t speak as soon as the call connected. After three seconds of silence from both sides, Mu Nian sighed, “As long as you promise not to go to the internet cafe for a week, I’ll let you come.”
“Okay!” After Mu Nian compromised, Ye Qinfan’s voice became cheerful. “Nian Nian is the best! I promise I won’t go to the internet cafe for a week. No, two weeks is fine!”
“If I catch you sneaking off, you can just stay honestly at school.”
“Don’t worry, Nian Nian. I keep my word.”
“Go tell Su Yi yourself to book the hotel and plane tickets in advance. I’m busy, hanging up.”
Feeling thoroughly satisfied, Ye Qinfan tossed his phone onto the desk and stretched lazily. “Too bad for you, Bai Shijin. So what if you used some underhanded scheme to get the model position? I’m going to this fashion show too, and I won’t give you a single opportunity to drive a wedge between me and Nian Nian’s relationship.”
A flash of icy coldness crossed Bai Shijin’s eyes. He mocked, “You and Mu Nian don’t look like a couple.”
Ye Qinfan asked, “?”
“You look like a father and son.”
“What the hell are you spouting nonsense for?”
Bai Shijin retorted, “Isn’t it true? You act like an emotionally immature child with no independent thinking skills, who only knows how to throw tantrums and act spoiled. When you don’t get what you want, you throw a fit, forcing adults to compromise through sheer annoyance. Ye Qinfan, you are twenty years old, not two.”
“What are you feeling so smug about? Do you think Mu Nian won’t get sick of you over time? Don’t wait until he wants to break up with you for you to realize what you did wrong.”
“Shut up!” Ye Qinfan’s eyes turned fierce and his face flushed red as he yelled, “Someone without a father has no right to lecture me.”
Bai Shijin completely ignored him after that, feeling that arguing with someone like Ye Qinfan was beneath his own dignity.
He loved Mu Nian. If Mu Nian had no feelings for him, he would never be so selfish out of jealousy and possessiveness that he wished Mu Nian wouldn’t date anyone. Of course Mu Nian could date, but the prerequisite for dating should be a normal guy who knew how to care for him and respect him, right?
Ye Qinfan kept calling Mu Nian a pretty vase, but Mu Nian had graduated from a prestigious foreign design academy, owned his own brand and company, was decisive and efficient at work, and possessed professional capabilities that won the deep respect of his staff. His good looks were the least noteworthy among all his many virtues.
Looking at Ye Qinfan in comparison, when asked why he was dating Ye Qinfan, apart from young and handsome, even Mu Nian himself couldn’t name any other redeeming qualities in Ye Qinfan.
Who was the real pretty vase? It was crystal clear.
Bai Shijin paused, feeling as though he had hit upon a crucial point.
Right, why on earth was Mu Nian dating an idiot like Ye Qinfan?
Mu Nian had been out in society for so many years, and male designers were mostly gay. Anyone casually pulled from Mu Nian’s usual social circle was probably a hundred times more competent than Ye Qinfan.
Mu Nian had sharp discernment, so why on earth was he dating a fool like Ye Qinfan?
There had to be a reason behind this.
Ye Qinfan’s older brother, Ye Jing.
Just as Bai Shijin was scratching his head in confusion, Mu Nian sent a message to his alternate account.
“Shijin, are you free?”
Bai Shijin quickly replied that he was.
Long-Distance Years: “Here’s the thing. Qinfan just called me saying he wants to go to next month’s event too. I remember you two were having some friction, so I wanted to ask you, is it alright if I bring him along?”
Quiet Mountain Ridge: “If I don’t want him to go, can he not go?”
Mu Nian typed for quite a while before replying: “Then I’ll try to talk him out of it. I’ll try my best not to put you in a difficult spot.”
Mu Nian had already agreed to Ye Qinfan; if he suddenly barred Ye Qinfan from going because of Bai Shijin, who knew how much of a fuss Ye Qinfan would kick up with Mu Nian.
Mu Nian was unwilling to put him in a difficult spot, and he wouldn’t put Mu Nian in a difficult spot either.
Quiet Mountain Ridge: “I was just joking. Let him come if he wants to. I’m not that petty.”
Mu Nian’s reply came a bit faster this time: “Alright. You two behave yourselves in the dorm. If there’s any conflict, talk to me. No more physical fights.”
Bai Shijin wanted to say a lot of things to Mu Nian. He typed and deleted, but in the end, he only sent an okay over.
When would this absurd relationship between Mu Nian and Ye Qinfan finally end?
Was there anyone who could tell him a way out, a way to let Mu Nian know the truth without hurting him?
Yet he knew that this idea itself was fundamentally flawed.
To make Mu Nian and Ye Qinfan break up, all the disgusting things Ye Qinfan had done would have to be revealed to Mu Nian, but the consequences.
Bai Shijin opened Baidu and searched in the search bar: “What happens when a congenital heart disease patient has an attack?”
The phone screen flickered, and the best answer read:
“At best, difficulty breathing and dizziness. At worst, it can accelerate death. Heart disease patients must maintain a happy state of mind and avoid overexertion, strenuous exercise, improper diet, and adverse emotional stimuli.”
Accelerate death.
Such blindingly harsh words.
He couldn’t gamble. He couldn’t do a single thing that might harm Mu Nian, not even to the slightest degree.
Mu Nian’s health came first.
Now, there was still one available method.
Make Mu Nian fall in love with him.
As long as Mu Nian grew to like him, breaking up with Ye Qinfan would only be a matter of time.
He had to find a way to get closer to Mu Nian.