Xu Qiduo could not understand why Zhou Mengxing insisted on locking horns with him instead of living a comfortable life.
The conversation between the two ended because Zhou Mengxing stopped speaking.
The atmosphere gradually grew heavy.
Only the distance of the two walking side by side revealed that they were traveling together.
It was true that Xu Qiduo had gone out at night to get a midnight snack. He had not eaten anything all day, having gone straight to class upon returning to school.
This area was a university town after all, with several snack streets stretching east, west, north, and south.
Earlier, a roommate had mentioned wanting the baked flatbreads from the back street, so Xu Qiduo had walked directly out of the small side gate of the campus. It was very close to the back street from there, practically leading straight from the school gate into the snack street.
Before even stepping out of the campus gate, the lively sounds of the snack street could be heard from afar.
The aromas of various foods drifted over with the wind, making Xu Qiduo’s stomach rumble loudly.
He was eager to grab something to fill his stomach, but noticing a group of students walking in through the small gate, he consciously slowed his pace out of respect for his juniors as an upperclassman.
That group of people was probably a bunch of friends eating together, chatting and laughing, numbering around a dozen or so.
As he brushed past them, Xu Qiduo’s shoulder was lightly bumped. He assumed it was just because there were many people and the passage at the small gate was narrow, causing an accidental collision.
It was not until he swiped his face to exit the campus that a faint sense of oddness belatedly registered in his mind.
Following the strange feeling that suddenly surged from the bottom of his heart, he turned back to look at the group of students who had already entered the campus.
The person who bumped into him was the second-to-last tall youth wearing a black T-shirt and a duckbill cap, who had a ring of cyan tattoo patterns on his exposed forearm.
He looked extremely thuggish.
However, the night was too dark and the distance too far for Xu Qiduo to make out what the tattoo pattern actually was.
Just as he narrowed his eyes to stare at the youth’s back,
Zhou Mengxing, who was walking beside him, suddenly asked, “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. I just felt like I saw a familiar face, but I couldn’t remember who it was for a second,” Xu Qiduo glossed over it.
Although that was indeed the case, the inexplicable sense of oddness in his heart was real.
That group of people quickly disappeared around a campus corner, prompting Xu Qiduo to withdraw his gaze and enter the snack street together with Zhou Mengxing.
Strange was strange, but a person is like steel and food is like iron; how could one think without filling their stomach?
Besides, having gone a whole day without eating, it was normal for his brain to feel sluggish. Maybe once he was full, he would remember what felt off.
Monday brought bright sunshine and early morning classes.
Xu Qiduo, alongside countless early-morning students full of suppressed resentment, sleepwalked into the classroom.
After struggling bitterly in the ocean of sleepiness and knowledge, Xu Qiduo’s self-discipline emerged victorious.
Yet, midway through the second half of the class, his right eyelid began to twitch wildly.
It was not until class ended and he saw Zhou Mengxing waiting for him at the classroom door that it suddenly dawned on him.
The junior’s looks were far too striking; the moment class ended, the corridor outside was blocked so thoroughly that not even a drop of water could leak through.
This ruined Xu Qiduo’s plan to sneak out through the back door.
At that time, he was trapped in the crowd at the back door, trying to squeeze his way out.
Right then, someone at the front door shouted loudly, “Xu Qiduo! This junior is looking for you!”
Xu Qiduo instantly felt as though needles were pricking his back, and he could feel pairs of eyes around him falling upon him.
At that moment, even the previously noisy corridor grew quiet.
Following that, Xu Qiduo heard the clear conversation between those people at the front door and Zhou Mengxing.
Someone asked Zhou Mengxing why he came to look for him.
Zhou Mengxing replied, “He sometimes skips breakfast during early classes just to sleep a few extra minutes, so I came early to take him to eat.”
“Ooh,” someone in the crowd began to hoot and tease.
There was really no need to explain it in such detail!
Desperate to escape the classroom quickly, Xu Qiduo could only manage an awkward smile under the gazes of everyone around him as he said, “Excuse me, please make way, let me out first.”
The path leading outside the classroom was instantly cleared.
Biting the bullet, Xu Qiduo called out to Zhou Mengxing toward the front of the classroom, “Let’s go.”
“Ooh,” Thus, Xu Qiduo, accompanied by Zhou Mengxing and amidst the teasing cheers of the crowd, went downstairs from the teaching building.
This was simply even more humiliating than when he used to fawn over Wang Shuo in front of Wang Shuo’s scumbag friends.
He finally understood what his older brother meant. This was meant to shame him to death!
As soon as they reached downstairs, Xu Qiduo anxiously demanded of Zhou Mengxing, “What will it take for you to stop doing this?”
“What behavior? Is there something wrong with what I am doing?” Zhou Mengxing feigned ignorance.
That clueless expression, paired with his face, made his act utterly convincing.
It was as if Zhou Mengxing truly had a crush on him and had specially come to wait for him so they could go eat together.
If the original body’s love-brained persona were watching this, he might actually have really transferred his affections.
“Stop playing dumb!” Yet Xu Qiduo was wide awake.
No one understood better than him how much inner resistance one feels when forced to do something against one’s own will.
He knew very well how much disgust that person’s heart would harbor toward the action or the person while doing it.
Zhou Mengxing, however, smiled at him, his eyes even curving into crescents: “I asked my roommates, and they all said the stir-fries at Cafeteria Number Four are peerless, though the location is a bit out of the way. Anyway, you don’t have classes this morning, so let’s go eat there together.”
“Zhou Mengxing,” Xu Qiduo adopted a rare, serious tone; he did not want to see Zhou Mengxing keep acting like this.
The other person had even changed his personality.
“Let’s go.” Zhou Mengxing made it clear he intended to play dumb to the end. Furthermore, right after speaking, he reached out wanting to hold Xu Qiduo’s hand.
Xu Qiduo quickly pulled his hand back, tucking it behind his back, and said as if compromising, “Fine, I’ll go with you, just stop pulling stunts like this.”
“Okay.”
With that single “okay” from Zhou Mengxing, it was hard to tell which remark he was agreeing to.
Shock! Massive Revelation! Zhou Mengxing, the freshman who claimed the department hunk title the moment he arrived, is desperately pursuing the affectionate second male lead of the juniors! Pictures and proof included!
Before Xu Qiduo and Zhou Mengxing’s dishes were even served, posts about the two of them had already been pinned to the top of the campus forum.
Looking at it, Xu Qiduo suddenly felt that “affectionate second male lead” sounded much better than “simp.”
Why hadn’t he thought of giving himself such a title?
Why did he always refer to himself as a simp, making himself feel like a dog everywhere he went? The title of affectionate second male lead suited him much better.
Xu Qiduo roughly scanned the post published by the original poster.
The attached picture showed him rejecting Zhou Mengxing’s hand-holding downstairs at the teaching building.
There was also a photo of their backs as they left, with him walking in front and Zhou Mengxing following behind.
He handed his phone to Zhou Mengxing, still trying to dissuade him: “Look, it’s come to this, just call it quits, bro! The campus forum is watching!”
Zhou Mengxing took the phone, read it seriously, and then replied, “The post isn’t wrong, except that I actually didn’t notice someone secretly taking photos of us.”
Great, Zhou Mengxing was even more dedicated to the role than he was. Maybe later he could discuss it with the system and have the system bound to Zhou Mengxing instead.
After reading it, Zhou Mengxing returned the phone to Xu Qiduo.
As Xu Qiduo took the phone back, Zhou Mengxing said to him with profound meaning: “By the way, Wang Shuo sent you a message while I was reading the post.”
Oh mother! These NPCs really knew how to stir things up! Couldn’t they let him finish this meal in peace first?
“I replied for you.” Zhou Mengxing casually tossed another bomb at Xu Qiduo.
Scaring Xu Qiduo into hurriedly checking the chat window with Wang Shuo.
The message Wang Shuo sent him was: [Is what the post says true?]
And the reply Zhou Mengxing sent was: [Yes, we are already together.]
Looking at these characters, Xu Qiduo was so speechless he didn’t even know what expression to make.
“Bro, your possessiveness is too strong. How many days have we even known each other?” The sarcasm in Xu Qiduo’s words was palpable.
Yet Zhou Mengxing acted like nothing was wrong, shrugging indifferently: “I’ll go get our food.”
After Zhou Mengxing left, Xu Qiduo hurriedly long-pressed the chat window, attempting to recall the message. Unfortunately, the system indicated that messages sent over two minutes ago could not be recalled.
To maintain his character setting, Xu Qiduo had no choice but to message Wang Shuo in explanation: [The person who sent that just now wasn’t me, I’m not together with him, we have no relationship at all.]
On second thought, feeling this explanation was too stiff, the affectionate second male lead expressionlessly added another line above it.
[You know it, the only person I’ve ever liked is you.]
Wang Shuo: [You’re together with that guy?]
Wang Shuo: [Where are you?]
At…
The other party’s chat window showed the typing indicator…
Yet Xu Qiduo, in the middle of editing his message, paused his hand movements instead.
Soon, another message came from Wang Shuo: [Did you go eat with him?]
Wang Shuo: [Do you need me to come rescue you?]
Rescue? Rescue from what?
Xu Qiduo looked toward Zhou Mengxing, who was currently getting food for the two of them not far away, thinking to himself that if Wang Shuo actually showed up, Zhou Mengxing would be the one needing rescue.
Troublesome things were already annoying enough day in and day out; if these two characters were allowed to collide, his head would probably explode from a headache.
Wang Shuo’s messages came one after another, numbing his hands with vibrations.
Yet out of a certain selfish impulse, Xu Qiduo’s hovering hand remained still for a long time.
Still, just leaving it hanging there wouldn’t do either.
An affectionate second male lead not replying to the protagonist’s messages violated the rules, let alone the persona of an affectionate second male lead.
Thinking it over, Xu Qiduo edited a message and sent it over: [It’s fine, I’ve already gone back.]
Wang Shuo: [?]
Wang Shuo: [Image]
Soon, Wang Shuo sent over an image.
To be honest, these few conversational replies today were probably the fastest Wang Shuo had ever responded in history.
It was just a pity that the photo showed none other than his back view as he sat in the cafeteria holding his phone. And right in front of him was Zhou Mengxing walking toward him.
Xu Qiduo raised his head, watching a bowl of rice being placed in front of him by Zhou Mengxing.
He raised an eyebrow, thinking things looked bad. The moment he turned his head back, he locked eyes with Wang Shuo, who was sitting just two tables away from him.
Xu Qiduo: Damn, how awkward. Did his face have to get slapped this fast?