“A little.”
Yan Congyu caught a glimpse of the faint sweat on Gu Ji’s neck and suddenly felt his self-control was as fragile as paper, utterly useless in the other’s presence.
Just then, Cheng Zhou and Song Jinzhen appeared at the entrance of the sports field and walked toward them.
“We’re back.”
Cheng Zhou, holding a scratch-off lottery ticket in his hand, said cheerfully, “I won some money today. My treat.”
Xu Jingyin asked in surprise, “How much did you win?”
“Three hundred yuan!” Cheng Zhou replied.
Xu Jingyin eyed the thick stack of scratch-off tickets and asked uncertainly, “How much did you spend on those?”
Cheng Zhou fell silent and quietly put the tickets away.
Seeing this, even if Xu Jingyin hadn’t understood before, he did now. He chuckled and didn’t press further.
The group headed toward the school gate. Xu Jingyin asked, “Where are we eating?”
“How about barbecue?” Cheng Zhou suggested. “Let’s go to the one on Back Street. Is that okay with you, Zhenzi?”
Song Jinzhen had a slight case of mysophobia, and the barbecue place on Back Street had less smoke and a cleaner environment.
Song Jinzhen had been there once before. “Sure.”
“What about you?” Gu Ji turned to ask Yan Congyu for his opinion.
Yan Congyu paused. He noticed that Gu Ji liked to look into the other person’s eyes when speaking, but every time their gazes met unexpectedly, it shattered his self-control all over again.
“Sure,” Yan Congyu nodded.
The barbecue restaurant was located on Back Street, very close by. They reached the place after just a few words.
The welcoming server said, “The seats in the courtyard are all taken, but there’s a small private room on the second floor. Will that work for you?”
“Fine.”
One of the standout features of this barbecue restaurant was its lovely courtyard, with twinkling lights in the evening. However, since they had decided on the spur of the moment and hadn’t reserved a table in advance, they weren’t picky.
Xu Jingyin said, “The indoor seating is nice too. The air conditioning is strong, so it won’t be hot.”
After ordering, it was their usual practice to get alcohol, mainly for Gu Ji and Cheng Zhou, but this time, neither of them suggested it.
Cheng Zhou trusted his alcohol tolerance but couldn’t vouch for his behavior after drinking. If he got drunk again and started spouting nonsense in front of Yan Congyu, he would be too embarrassed to show his face.
Song Jinzhen had a peculiar habit when eating barbecue: he would wrap the grilled meat in lettuce leaves, neatly folding them into perfect squares and arranging them on his plate. He would only start eating once the plate was full.
Cheng Zhou, sitting next to him, couldn’t resist messing with him.
Song Jinzhen could ignore it once or twice, but after several times, he’d had enough. “Get away from me.”
“This is so weird,” Cheng Zhou said, his curiosity piqued. “I want to see if you really won’t eat until the plate is full.”
Song Jinzhen replied expressionlessly, “Is that why you’re eating the meat from my plate?”
Cheng Zhou asked, puzzled, “And why do you have to fold them into squares? Doesn’t it all taste the same once it’s in your mouth?”
Song Jinzhen explained, “It’s not the same. This way, it won’t spill.”
Cheng Zhou offered advice: “You could just open your mouth wider, like this—ah.”
Song Jinzhen: “…”
Seeing how slow Song Jinzhen was, taking forever to eat just one bite, Cheng Zhou found it too tedious. He quickly wrapped a whole plate of lettuce rolls for him and added, “I wore gloves.”
Song Jinzhen looked down at the unevenly shaped lettuce wraps and fell into speechless silence.
Gu Ji watched his friends bickering and laughing, a faint smile playing on his lips, feeling a quiet contentment in his heart at that moment.
It turned out that after leaving behind the wrong people, happiness could be found so easily in life.
As Cheng Zhou and Song Jinzhen’s playful tussle finally came to an end, Gu Ji turned his head to Yan Congyu and asked, “Is it to your taste?”
Compared to his familiar and easygoing roommates, Gu Ji was worried that Yan Congyu might feel out of place, so he made an effort to strike up a conversation with him from time to time.
“Mhm.”
Yan Congyu could naturally sense Gu Ji’s extra attention, and a mix of complicated emotions swirled within him. Of course, he was happy, but he could also tell that Gu Ji saw him purely as a friend, with no other intentions.
In the past, Yan Congyu wouldn’t have dared to take such a thing seriously, but now he found himself wanting to take things further. Yet, every time he met Gu Ji’s clear, unguarded gaze, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as if he were somehow defiling the other.
—As if he were tainting something pure.
Yan Congyu sighed inwardly, thinking that, well, it was true.
Gu Ji used a pair of tongs to place some grilled meat onto Yan Congyu’s plate. “Then eat a bit more.”
Yan Congyu pushed down his turbulent thoughts. “Thank you.”
“Oh, right, Xiao Yan,” Gu Ji suddenly remembered what Lu Chi had asked him the other day and relayed the question, “…My younger brother wanted to know, when you were preparing for competitions before, what materials did you use?”
Yan Congyu thought back. “I used the materials the school provided.”
Gu Ji was surprised. “You didn’t buy anything else?”
He remembered Lu Chi’s bookshelf at home was completely filled with competition-related textbooks and reference books.
“I only studied for competitions for a little over a year, so I didn’t use any other materials,” Yan Congyu explained. “If your brother needs them, I can give him my notes from back then.”
Gu Ji knew full well that notes were even more valuable than books. “Would that be too much trouble?”
Yan Congyu smiled. “Not at all. They’re just sitting around anyway. But my high school notes are all at home, so it’ll be a while before I can bring them to you.”
“Thank you.”
Gu Ji refilled Yan Congyu’s glass with juice.
Having been given a second chance at life, Gu Ji’s original wish was simple: to first distance himself from Lin Qingran, to not let down his friends and family, and to have no regrets if he could accomplish that. Anything beyond that was just an added bonus.
Of course, some grudges needed to be resolved, but Gu Ji wasn’t willing to risk everything for them. His top priority was stability.
He had carefully thought through all these things, but meeting Yan Congyu during his university years and becoming friends with him was completely unplanned.
Yan Congyu, this new friend, was an unexpected surprise for Gu Ji.
Halfway through the meal, Gu Ji casually brought up, “There’s a ball game at school next week. Are you coming to watch?”
Yan Congyu asked, “Will you be there too?”
Gu Ji nodded. “I’ll be playing.”
Yan Congyu’s interest was immediately piqued. He wasn’t particularly fond of ball games themselves, but watching Gu Ji play was another matter entirely.
Gu Ji grinned. “Then I’ll save you a front-row seat. Make sure you come—”
Szzzt—
Suddenly, everything went dark without any warning. The lights flickered out all at once, and even the hum of the air conditioning vanished. Moments later, the sound of noisy chatter erupted.
“Power outage?” Cheng Zhou complained. “This street always has blackouts. When are they going to fix it for good?”
Xu Jingyin picked up some food with his chopsticks. Even with the power out, it didn’t affect his appetite in the slightest. “It’s normal. Just wait a bit.”
It was common knowledge among Rongda University students that the street behind the campus frequently experienced power outages due to aging electrical lines.
Yan Congyu lowered his head to search for his phone when he suddenly felt someone touching his right leg. It didn’t seem accidental; it felt more like the person beside him was groping for something.
The sensation carried a faint, tingling itch. If it weren’t for the fact that the person sitting to his right was Gu Ji, Yan Congyu would have suspected some ulterior motive.
“What are you looking for?” Yan Congyu asked softly.
The power was out.
The world plunged into darkness. The charcoal grill on the table emitted a dim red glow in the dark.
It reminded him of the fire in his past life. He and Cheng Zhou had been eating out when the power suddenly went out, followed by crimson flames engulfing everything.
Gu Ji knew none of that would happen again. In this life, he had made changes, and those terrible events would not repeat themselves.
But he had lost almost everything in that fire, and even years later, the memory remained a terrifying nightmare. Gu Ji had always avoided thinking about the past, but at that moment, the memories surged uncontrollably into his mind.
His hand trembled slightly, as if seeking something to hold onto. Hearing Yan Congyu’s voice, he instinctively reached out to grasp him.
In the pitch-black darkness, where nothing was visible, the sense of touch became exceptionally acute.
A muffled groan escaped Yan Congyu’s throat as he caught Gu Ji’s hand, which was wandering restlessly on his leg. Though he didn’t know what Gu Ji was trying to do, indulgence had its limits. He didn’t want to cause a scene in public.
The moment Gu Ji touched Yan Congyu’s hand, he unconsciously tightened his grip, so hard it almost hurt.
All of this happened within seconds. Only when Yan Congyu felt Gu Ji’s hand did he realize it was trembling, the fingertips cold as ice.
Outside, the commotion continued. A waiter’s voice drifted into the private room, “Please remain calm. We’ve already sent someone to fetch the generator. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. The owner has offered a 20% discount on today’s bill as compensation…”
Yan Congyu gently squeezed Gu Ji’s hand and leaned closer to reassure him, “It’s just a power outage.”
Gu Ji’s voice was hoarse. “…Yeah.”
After the initial moment of panic when the lights went out, Gu Ji had mostly calmed down, though his body still retained a subconscious tension, making him reluctant to let go.
Yan Congyu didn’t understand what was wrong with Gu Ji, but he could tell he wasn’t in a good state. Even though his fingers were starting to ache from the tight grip, he let Gu Ji hold on.
He could hear Cheng Zhou and the others still discussing the power outage, seemingly unaware of Gu Ji’s condition.
Yan Congyu never doubted the concern Gu Ji’s roommates had for him. But if even they didn’t know about this, did it mean this was the first time Gu Ji had experienced something like this?
Listening to the chatter of his friends around him, Gu Ji’s breathing gradually steadied, and his emotions settled. Yet, he felt a pang of self-reproach.
Why did he keep letting things from the past affect him over and over again?
The more he tried not to dwell on certain things, the more they resurfaced, disrupting his thoughts and dragging him back into the extreme emotions of that time.
Slowly, Gu Ji released his grip and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.”
Yan Congyu had a vague sense that Gu Ji carried some secrets. But thinking of how frightened he had seemed earlier, his heart softened with concern. Gently changing the subject, he asked, “The power won’t be back for a while. Do you want to go back?”