The next day brought beautiful weather. Early in the morning, Li Jian was already waiting at the dormitory door, carrying a brand-new set of toiletries.
Normally, as a non-student, he wouldn’t be allowed to come up to the rooms after all, even delivery drivers weren’t permitted upstairs at this school but Lan An must have cleared it with the administration.
“Qi Zhi, can I use your toothpaste?”
Last night, Qi Zhi had poured everyone’s toiletries into the toilet, squeezed out all the toothpaste, and even smeared it around the rim. Now, none of them had anything to use. Qi Ran’s status was different now; he certainly couldn’t leave the room without brushing his teeth.
“No. If you want to use some, tell your lackey to go buy it,” Qi Zhi said as he carried his own toiletries into the bathroom. After finishing, he brought them back out and locked them inside his private cabinet.
“If anyone dares to touch my cabinet, I’ll call the police and say I’ve lost a large amount of cash. No one will look good if things get that serious,” he added, brandishing his key with a light snort. He then hobbled out on his crutches, swaying slightly.
Li Jian waited at the door and, to save time, carried him downstairs on his back.
The three roommates left behind: “…”
They had no choice but to head out smelling less than fresh.
The first period of the day was a public course, so all four roommates were present. It started raining halfway through the lecture, and by the time class was dismissed, it had turned into a torrential downpour.
Many students hadn’t brought umbrellas and were crowded under the corridors waiting for the rain to stop, unwilling to dash through the storm. Qi Zhi and his roommates were no exception.
“Qi Zhi,” Li Jian said, standing beside him. “How about I go grab an umbrella? You wait here for me.”
“The rain is too heavy,” Qi Zhi replied. He wasn’t a heartless boss. “Let’s just wait a bit. We still have time before the next class anyway.”
“Brother Zhennan, why are you here?” Just then, Qi Zhennan who had originally taken a leave of absence and skipped this class approached with an umbrella. Qi Ran hurriedly went to meet him.
“I came to bring you an umbrella,” Qi Zhennan said as he folded his own. He handed another unopened umbrella to Zhuang Yuexiang. “You and Zhang Dong can share this one later.”
Zhuang Yuexiang took the umbrella and instinctively glanced at Qi Zhi.
Qi Zhennan also looked over. His gaze fell on Qi Zhi’s crutches and then moved to Li Jian, who stood out like a sore thumb among the crowd of students. Zhuang Yuexiang had already told him that Li Jian was a caregiver hired by Lan An.
“Achoo!”
Qi Ran suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose. “I forgot to check the weather forecast this morning. I should have worn a jacket.”
The sound of the sneeze pulled Qi Zhennan’s gaze back. He handed his wet umbrella to Zhang Dong to hold, took off his jacket, and gently draped it over Qi Ran’s shoulders.
“Wear this, don’t catch a cold,” he said, his voice incredibly tender.
“Then what about you?” Qi Ran naturally demurred, pulling the jacket off to return it to him.
“I’m not cold. You keep it on.” As he spoke, Qi Zhennan stole a glance at Qi Zhi, carefully trying to read his micro-expressions.
Lan An’s appearance had been too sudden, and his inexplicable closeness to Qi Zhi gave Qi Zhennan a bad feeling.
Qi Zhi was looking down, fiddling with his phone, paying no attention to them whatsoever as if the people beside him were completely irrelevant. Qi Zhennan’s heart tightened. Could it be.
“Qi Zhi,” Qi Ran suddenly called out. “How about I give this umbrella to you? It’s inconvenient for you to use the crutches.”
“…Sure.”
Qi Zhi looked up and reached out his hand without a hint of politeness. For the first time since the “identity swap” incident, he confronted Qi Ran head-on. “Give it to me then. The other one is for Zhuang Yuexiang and Zhang Dong. You and Qi Zhennan can just stay here and wait for the rain to stop. Watching the rain from under the eaves. I suppose that’s a special kind of romance.”
Qi Ran: “…”
Qi Ran was caught completely off guard. Since when did Qi Zhi become so thick-skinned? He didn’t know how to respond.
The tense string in Qi Zhennan’s heart, however, instantly relaxed. Qi Zhi is jealous; he still cares about me.