In the mere two-minute walk from the classroom to the office, Qiao Muyu mentally rehearsed a hundred different ways to kneel, admit his faults, and beg for mercy. His brain was working faster than a poet under a deadline.
Walking ahead of Lu Zhen, he cautiously pushed open the office door and offered Wan Qianghai a somewhat stiff smile. “Teacher, you wanted to see us?”
“Yes, you two, come over here.” Wan Qianghai waved them over amiably. “I have something to discuss with you.”
Qiao Muyu was exceptionally respectful. “Please, go ahead.”
“It’s like this.” Wan Qianghai took a slow sip of tea before speaking. “The Publicity Department of the Municipal Education Bureau does a special report every year on high school seniors, focusing on their preparation for the Gaokao. Since you two did so well on this midterm—ranking top two in the entire city—you’ve really brought glory to No. 3 High. A reporter from the department wants to do a brief interview and gather some material for an article. Director Huang thinks it’s a great opportunity. First, it promotes our school, and second, it sets an example for seniors across the city to encourage them. Are you willing?”
Hearing this, Qiao Muyu’s heart, which had been dangling in his throat, finally settled back into his chest.
So that was it. I was just scaring myself.
Once he understood the situation, Qiao Muyu couldn’t help but feel excited about the chance to show off. He nodded immediately. “I… I’m willing!”
Finished, he turned excitedly to Lu Zhen, his eyes sparkling as he tugged on Lu Zhen’s sleeve, urging him on.
Lu Zhen followed suit: “Yes, I’m willing too.”
“Good, then it’s settled.” Wan Qianghai smiled with satisfaction. “The reporter, Mr. Chen, said he’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. Don’t forget.”
Qiao Muyu understood and asked, “Teacher, do we need to prepare anything?”
“No need for preparation. Just answer the questions as they come. Oh, and one more thing,” Wan Qianghai reminded them, “pay attention to your appearance. You’re appearing as representatives of No. 3 High; don’t lose face for us.”
A female teacher at the neighboring desk joked, “Teacher Wan, do these two handsome boys in your class even need to worry about that? People might think our school gives out grades based on looks!”
The rest of the office laughed, creating a pleasant atmosphere. Qiao Muyu felt a bit embarrassed and hurriedly pushed Lu Zhen out of the room.
…
Once outside, Qiao Muyu leaned against the wall and let out a long breath.
Lu Zhen noticed his strange expression while talking to Wan Qianghai and asked, “What were you so nervous about?”
With people walking back and forth in the hallway, Qiao Muyu whispered, “I thought our business had been exposed.”
Lu Zhen played dumb. “What business?”
“You know,” Qiao Muyu shot him a look, “the… early romance.”
Lu Zhen corrected him: “I’m eighteen. I’m an adult, so it’s not ‘early romance.'”
Qiao Muyu clicked his tongue. “I’m not eighteen yet.”
“Oh.”
“But that’s not the point.” Qiao Muyu nearly let the conversation drift. He regained his focus and said with rare seriousness, “I think we should try our best to avoid suspicion at school. We don’t want Old Wan catching onto anything.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhen’s brows dipped in dissatisfaction. He looked down at him, his voice sounding innocent: “But I want to talk to you more.”
Looking into his eyes, Qiao Muyu felt a momentary softening of his heart.
Is it an illusion? Does it actually feel like Lu Zhen is acting spoiled?
He was startled by this weird thought and swallowed hard to suppress it, shifting back to rational analysis. “The teachers are cracking down on romance lately. If you’re caught, it’s a forced breakup. Do you want to celebrate a breakup after only two days of dating?”
“No,” Lu Zhen replied instantly.
“Then you—” Qiao Muyu made a zipping motion across his mouth. “Zip it.”
Lu Zhen nodded and mimicked the exact same gesture, indicating he understood.
Just then, a boy ran past them, saw a friend leaning against the railing, and playfully smacked his friend’s backside before laughing and running off. Naturally, he was immediately chased down the hallway. Passersby didn’t even blink; it was a common sight.
Watching this, Lu Zhen asked deeply, “Don’t they need to avoid suspicion?”
Qiao Muyu’s face was a mask of exasperation. “No, because they’re straight.”
Lu Zhen: “…”
Fine.
…
For the rest of the afternoon, the two behaved perfectly, with no boundary-crossing behavior. Qiao Muyu immersed himself in study, barely speaking two words to Lu Zhen sitting behind him.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the evening bell rang. Qiao Muyu had just closed his book when he felt a light tap on his back. He turned to meet Lu Zhen’s gentle gaze. “Let’s go—”
“Yu-er! Let’s go eat!”
Du Jingfei’s loud shout cut Lu Zhen off. Before Qiao Muyu could react, Du Jingfei and Xu Rongcan rushed over, grabbing him by the arms and pulling him toward the door. “Quick, quick! If we’re late, we won’t get a seat!”
“Oh, okay.”
Qiao Muyu glanced back at Lu Zhen through the gap. He saw him frowning slightly, looking as if he wanted to say something, but they were quickly separated by the crowd.
…
The cafeteria was a roar of voices and the smell of food. After queuing, the three found a spot. Still thinking about Lu Zhen, Qiao Muyu put down his chopsticks and sent a message.
[Qiao Muyu]: What were you going to say earlier?
A few seconds later, the reply came.
[Lu Zhen]: I wanted to eat with you. [Qiao Muyu]: Why? [Lu Zhen]: There’s no ‘why.’ It’s because we’re dating.
Qiao Muyu: “…”
Okay. Having been someone’s boyfriend for less than 24 hours, he really hadn’t developed the habit of wanting to be glued together at all times. While it was normal for couples to eat together, he couldn’t just ditch his friends to be lovey-dovey with Lu Zhen, right? He didn’t want to be the talk of the cafeteria.
Tsk, dating is such a hassle.
Du Jingfei, sitting beside him, saw him staring at the screen in conflict and leaned in curiously. “Who are you texting?”
Qiao Muyu hurriedly turned the screen off and flipped the phone face down. “No one.”
Xu Rongcan noticed something else. “Xiao Yu, didn’t you say your dad took your phone two days ago? You bought a new one already?”
Qiao Muyu paused. He couldn’t say his new boyfriend gave it to him, so he lied with a straight face. “It was inconvenient without a phone. I was going to have to get a new one eventually, so I figured I’d just buy it now.”
“True. What brand did you get?”
Du Jingfei glanced at the phone on the corner of the table. When he saw the logo, he almost choked on his rice. “Holy crap! Did you strike it rich behind our backs?”
Qiao Muyu didn’t expect him to be so eagle-eyed. He muttered, “It’s not new. It’s a second-hand one I found online.”
Du Jingfei was suspicious. “Even second-hand, this model isn’t cheap. This is the latest version.”
“Just got lucky. Met a seller with more money than sense. I told him I was a student, so he let it go for a low price.” Qiao Muyu didn’t even believe himself, let alone Du Jingfei.
“Damn, why don’t I have that luck?”
Qiao Muyu buried his head in his food, not daring to say more.
Xu Rongcan picked up the phone to look closer. The more she looked, the more suspicious she became. “Xiao Yu, this phone looks so familiar. I saw Brother Lu using one just like this at dinner the other day.”
Cough!
Qiao Muyu choked on his soup. “You saw wrong. He is black; mine is white.”
“Oh, one black, one white,” Xu Rongcan said airily. “Someone might think you guys are using a couple’s set.”
“Stop… stop talking nonsense!” Qiao Muyu was terrified by her intuition. “That guy is loaded; it’s not weird for him to have an expensive phone.”
Du Jingfei’s interest was piqued. “Yu-er, can I play a game on it? I heard the performance on this model is incredibly smooth. Let me try.”
Qiao Muyu didn’t mind, but he was worried a message from Lu Zhen might pop up. He set Lu Zhen’s chat to “Do Not Disturb” before handing it over. “Here. Just don’t look through my chats.”
“Thanks, bro!” Du Jingfei took the phone and swiped through the screens, but then he made an unexpected discovery. “When did you start playing this?”
“What?”
Qiao Muyu leaned over. It was a popular game from Qingyan Company—clearly something Lu Zhen had been playing and hadn’t uninstalled. He quickly made up an excuse: “Oh, that. I saw you were so addicted to it that I got curious and made an account to try.”
“How is it? Fun, right?” Du Jingfei didn’t suspect a thing. “But you’re a newbie; the controls must be hard, right? If you don’t understand something, just ask me. Big Brother Du will carry you.”
He tapped the icon. Seconds later, the interface loaded. Du Jingfei habitually clicked the player info in the top left, but was nearly blinded by the rows of golden stats. “CRAP!”
Qiao Muyu looked at him blankly. “What’s wrong?”
Du Jingfei pointed at the profile. “This is your account?”
Qiao Muyu froze. He realized Lu Zhen hadn’t logged out. He bit his chopstick nervously. “I guess… yeah.”
“The skins, the gear, the level… This account is worth thousands at least! You actually spent that much on a game?” Du Jingfei was in disbelief. “And this win rate? It’s insane. Don’t tell me you just got lucky every time!”
Qiao Muyu knew nothing about this, so he bluffed. “Actually, it’s my cousin’s account. I’m just borrowing it.”
Du Jingfei pressed further. “I didn’t know you had a rich cousin. Didn’t you say you only had a cousin?”
Qiao Muyu: “I met him online.”
Du Jingfei: “You found the phone online, and now you found a rich cousin online?”
Qiao Muyu gave up. “The internet is a vast and mysterious place.”
Du Jingfei was questioning his reality. He was about to say more when Xu Rongcan smacked his head. “Quiet down! People are staring. You’re embarrassing us.”
Du Jingfei went quiet. Qiao Muyu, feeling the eyes of the room on them, ducked his head and glanced to the side. At that moment, he realized Lu Zhen was sitting at the very next table, watching him with dark, unreadable eyes.
Qiao Muyu whipped his head back. Wait, when did he sit there?
He had a bad feeling. Once Du Jingfei finished the game, Qiao Muyu snatched the phone back. He opened WeChat and saw a message from the pinned chat sent three minutes ago.
[Lu Zhen]: Come to the convenience store after you’re done eating. “Cousin” will buy you some candy.
Qiao Muyu sprayed a mouthful of soup.
He heard everything!