Confirmed in his belief that Qi Zhi still cared about him, Qi Zhennan felt a wave of relief. He kept his expression neutral, even snatching the umbrella back from Zhang Dong’s hand as he said tonelessly, “Why give it to him? If he was capable of tripping, you yesterday, he’s capable of standing in the rain today.”
“Don’t talk about him like that; he didn’t do it on purpose.”
Qi Ran was secretly delighted, yet he continued to put on an act of kindness. “Then let’s give him the jacket. He’s dressed lightly and he’s already injured; it wouldn’t be good if he caught a cold.”
As he spoke, he moved to take off the jacket Qi Zhennan had given him.
Qi Zhennan hurried to stop him, “accidentally” grabbing Qi Ran’s hand in the process. “He’s not cold. You’re the one who needs to wear it.”
“But…”
Qi Ran looked over “hesitantly,” though his eyes were filled with uncontrollable mockery.
So, what if Qi Zhennan had once felt that he couldn’t live without Qi Zhi? Now, he had abandoned him and wouldn’t even spare him a second glance.
“Are you two performing an idol drama right here?”
Qi Zhi couldn’t stand it any longer. He rolled his eyes and mimicked Qi Ran’s voice in a snide, high-pitched tone: “‘You wear it,’ ‘No, I won’t wear it,’ ‘Then I won’t wear it either,’ ‘No, really, you wear it’ honestly, anyone watching would think you only had one piece of clothing to cover yourselves while streaking. It’s twenty degrees out; what the hell are you acting for?”
“…”
“Pfft—”
Among the other students waiting for the rain to stop, someone couldn’t help but laugh out loud, followed by a chorus of snickering from the rest of the crowd.
“You…” Qi Ran felt humiliated. He wanted to snap back but had to maintain his persona, eventually settling for a low-voiced protest. “Qi Zhi, how can you be like this? I was only being well-intentioned.”
As he spoke, he leaned a bit closer to Qi Zhennan.
Qi Zhi pouted and continued his sarcasm: “If I recall correctly, someone didn’t brush their teeth this morning, right? I wouldn’t stand so close if I were you unless you want to knock people out with your breath.”
“…”
Qi Ran immediately backed away from Qi Zhennan, secretly breathing into his palm to check his scent. He had rushed to class this morning and hadn’t had time to buy a new toothbrush or toothpaste, nor any chewing gum.
“You have the nerve to say that? It’s all your fault anyway,” Qi Ran fumed, terrified that Qi Zhennan would find him slovenly.
“Hah?”
Qi Zhi turned around, bracing himself on his crutches. “If your lackey hadn’t intentionally scalded me, would I be in this situation?”
Qi Zhennan hadn’t noticed the burn; all he heard was Qi Zhi sniping at Qi Ran. He thought to himself that the jealousy was certainly intense. To drive Qi Ran away from him, Qi Zhi had bared his sharp little claws for the first time since the identity swap incident.
In that case, he must surely understand my own forced, helpless circumstances, right?
He decided he had to find an opportunity to talk things through, lest he truly drive the boy to madness.
“Don’t you go framing people, I—”
Qi Ran was anxious and angry, terrified that Qi Zhennan would think he was malicious. Just as he was about to say more, he saw Lan An approaching through the curtain of rain, holding a large black umbrella. There was a logo on the canopy a double-lined capital ‘R’. Qi Ran recognized it; that was a Rolls-Royce umbrella.
Is Lan An really that rich?
Qi Ran wasn’t the only one who noticed Lan An; all the other students waiting for the rain noticed him too. Aside from the umbrella, everyone was more interested in Lan An’s face and physique.
He’s way too handsome!
Quite a few girls began covering their mouths in fan-girl fits, secretly snapping photos.
Lan An ignored them all, walking straight toward Qi Zhi. At a glance, he spotted the abnormal redness hidden beneath the collar of the youth’s shirt. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “What happened?”
“What?” Qi Zhi didn’t react in time.
Lan An handed the umbrella to Li Jian and, with one swift movement, yanked open Qi Zhi’s collar.
Gasp—
A collective intake of breath echoed from the surrounding crowd.