Because of Lan An’s sudden appearance, Qi Ran and Zhang Dong stopped their snide remarks and stopped looking for trouble. Qi Zhi spent some time revising his novel under the covers and soon drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up, the dormitory was empty, and a heavy rain was lashing against the window outside.
Gurgle, His stomach let out a loud growl.
He was hungry.
Rubbing his belly, he looked at the pitch-black dormitory, then at his injured leg and the difficult climb down from the upper bunk. Qi Zhi felt a heavy lump in his chest; for a moment, the distress was overwhelming.
The taste of being abandoned was truly difficult to get used to.
“What is there to be upset about? It’s not like you’re dying,” Qi Zhi muttered, slapping his own cheeks to force himself to cheer up. Just as he was trying to figure out a way to get down from the bed, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the door.
He immediately lay back down, pulled the blanket over his head, and pretended to still be asleep.
The door pushed open, the lights flickered on, and Zhuang Yuexiang walked in.
“Qi Zhi,” Zhuang Yuexiang said, walking over to the bedside and giving him a gentle nudge. “Wake up. I brought you some food; it’ll get cold soon.”
Could he really be this kindhearted?
Qi Zhi pretended to have just woken up. He sat up dizzily and saw that Zhuang Yuexiang was indeed holding a takeout bag.
“Come down and eat. I got the Sweet and Sour Pork you like,” Zhuang Yuexiang said, placing the food containers on the desk and extending a hand. “Here, let me help you down.”
“…” Qi Zhi was suspicious. Why had this person suddenly changed his tune?
But he truly did need help getting down right now. If there was a free human crutch available, he might as well use it.
“Thanks.” Following Zhuang Yuexiang’s support, he cautiously climbed down. To prevent the other from suddenly letting go and causing him to fall, Qi Zhi kept one hand tightly gripped on the bed railing.
Fortunately, Zhuang Yuexiang still had a shred of conscience and didn’t try to drop him on purpose.
“You eat first; I’m going to shower.” After helping Qi Zhi settle into his chair, Zhuang Yuexiang turned and headed into the bathroom.
“…”
With an uncertain heart, Qi Zhi tentatively opened the food containers. It really was his favorite Sweet and Sour Pork, along with a side of vegetables and a bowl of Tomato and Egg Soup.
What was going on? Was Zhuang Yuexiang possessed? Or had someone transmigrated into his body?
Gurgle. His stomach growled again. Qi Zhi couldn’t help himself; he picked up the disposable chopsticks, grabbed a piece of pork, and put it in his mouth.
It was sweet, sour, and delicious. The only downside was that since it was takeout, it wasn’t as crispy as it would have been in the shop.
Since the pork wasn’t great on its own, Qi Zhi prepared to pour the Tomato and Egg Soup over his rice. But as the liquid poured out, several dead cockroaches that had been submerged at the bottom revealed their true forms.
Qi Zhi froze. He frantically dug through the Sweet and Sour Pork and the vegetables; there were more at the very bottom of those containers too.
“URP—!”
His stomach did a violent somersault. Qi Zhi leaned over the desk and began to retch.
He hadn’t eaten anything all day, so he couldn’t actually bring anything up; it was nothing but bitter stomach acid.
“Qi Zhi, what’s wrong?”
Zhuang Yuexiang had just finished his shower. Seeing Qi Zhi vomiting, he rushed forward to pat his back, only to see the dead cockroaches that had been unearthed.
This.
Qi Zhi looked up, his eyes bloodshot from retching. “Zhuang Yuexiang, how exactly did I offend you that you’d use such a method to get back at me?”
“Aren’t we supposed to be best friends?”
Qi Zhi questioned him, his voice thick with tears. “Why? Just because my identity changed, you have to play these kinds of tricks on me?”
“Fine, I’m the ‘fake’ Young Master Qi. I can no longer give you expensive gifts or share my pocket money with you. But even if you raised a dog for all these years, you’d still have some feelings for it, wouldn’t you? Why would you treat me like this?”