ICSTC CH25: Tidal Warning

Luo Ye rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn’t seeing things and quickly tapped to approve the request.

[Qingqing is not Qing: Hello, A Branch of Spring, I’ve always wanted to thank you.]

[Qingqing is not Qing: Finally waited for you to join the group.]

[A Branch of Spring: Seeing you so happy, I definitely had to come over and congratulate you.]

[Qingqing is not Qing: Thank you, Chunchun. Thank you for your company these past few months; I feel so at ease every time I see you!]

[A Branch of Spring: Hahahaha, you’re too polite. Your newly updated video is also super good, already supported with a triple combo (like, coin, favorite)~]

[Qingqing is not Qing: Thank you so much.]

[Tang Bo Huhu: Qingqing, what setup do you use to film your videos? I want to try shooting this kind of video too hahaha.]

[Qingqing is not Qing: Just a Sony A7M4 plus a DJI mic. No need to chase top-tier specs, a phone plus a microphone that costs a few dozen bucks works too. The interview in the middle was filmed on a phone, and the quality is pretty good.]

…

After sending those few lines, A Branch of Spring didn’t pop up again. The group messages were quickly buried by other fans’ discussions, and the topic gradually shifted to shooting techniques and update schedules.

Luo Ye casually sent a few replies, stuffed his phone into his pocket, and stepped into the elevator to head upstairs.

After an eight-day-long “rebirth,” standing in front of his familiar front door again, Luo Ye felt a surge of excitement, and even a bit of regret.

Had he known, he would have bought a bottle of champagne from the supermarket on the way to celebrate.

Luo Ye knocked lightly on the door, and Luo Peng’s cold voice immediately came from inside: “Who is it?”

Luo Ye cleared his throat and called out: “Me!”

“…”

The room fell into a brief silence, followed immediately by the sound of hurried footsteps.

In less than five seconds, the door was pulled open with a click.

Luo Peng, who opened the door, was wearing only one slipper. His originally dim eyes lit up with radiant joy the moment he saw Luo Ye, his ears and tail popping out unapologetically, his tail standing straight up like a hook.

Just as Luo Ye was about to ask why he came out barefoot, Luo Peng grabbed his arm, his mood uncharacteristically high: “Brother, why are you back now?! Shouldn’t you be in Wuhan?”

“The matter was resolved early, so I hurried back,” Luo Ye smiled and rubbed his head. “How is it? Surprised?”

“Not surprised.” Luo Peng’s voice instantly dropped, his eyelids lowering as his face returned to being expressionless.

This answer caught Luo Ye off guard. Dragging his suitcase into the entryway, he felt a little wronged: “Why? I thought you would be really happy.”

Luo Peng: “Because you didn’t call me to pick you up, which means I saw you for one hour less.”

Luo Ye: “…”

You can calculate it like that??

Luo Ye was helpless. After all, he was keeping a lot of things from Luo Peng and felt somewhat guilty, so he quickly took out the souvenirs to coax him.

Luo Peng was swiftly coaxed back into a good mood. Holding a kitten pottery jar, he helped Luo Ye unpack the suitcase in the living room, his tail lightly brushing against Luo Ye’s arm from time to time.

When the suitcase was almost empty, Luo Ye stood up and said, “Then I’ll go unpack my backpack.”

“Oh.” Luo Peng remained squatting and packing up the luggage. “Have you eaten? Should I heat up some food for you?”

“No need, I ate on the way.” Passing by the dining table, Luo Ye noticed a new rice cooker placed against the wall.

He pointed to it and asked, “Eh? You bought another rice cooker?”

Luo Peng glanced up, his tone flat: “That’s Brother Ju’s.”

Luo Ye tapped the switch on the rice cooker, and the screen instantly lit up; it worked perfectly fine. He was even more puzzled: “Why is Lan Ju’s rice cooker here?”

“Brother Ju said he felt bad eating and drinking here for free. To reduce our grocery expenses, he brings a rice cooker over every day.”

“…”

In a way, Lan Ju really sacrificed a lot for this family.

Luo Ye remembered something else, closed the lid of the rice cooker, and asked, “He didn’t take it back today?”

Luo Peng shrugged, looking completely used to it: “He forgot, but he’ll probably realize it when he gets hungry tonight.”

Luo Ye: “… Do you think Brother Ju eats twenty-four hours a day?”

Luo Peng looked at him: “Doesn’t he?”

Luo Ye: “…” Lan Ju, exactly what kind of image do you have in my brother’s mind?

Luo Peng was clearly not interested in talking about other people. After those few sentences, he focused entirely on folding clothes.

Luo Ye glanced at him one last time, and like a thief, quietly slipped into the bedroom, not even daring to make a sound when closing the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

He placed his bag on the bed, pulled the ring box out of the inner compartment, and opened the lid.

The ring necklace lay safely in the center of the box, the little dog on the ring staring up at him with watery eyes.

Looking at the puppy, Luo Ye immediately thought of the look in Chi Zhiyue’s eyes when he was upset. Plagued by a guilty conscience, he closed the box and sighed: “I really have no choice.”

If Luo Peng discovered this ring, it would pull all the other secrets out into the open at once.

Therefore, he couldn’t wear this ring at any time other than when dating Chi Zhiyue.

Luo Ye turned and walked to the closet, opened the bottom right cabinet, and placed the box inside.

Although this cabinet was very conspicuous, he wasn’t worried at all about Luo Peng rummaging through it. In their house, this cabinet was a designated personal locker. Unless the owner explicitly agreed, the other party was absolutely forbidden from opening it.

They each had one and kept this promise faithfully to this day.

Just as Luo Ye was about to turn around, Luo Peng walked in carrying the folded clothes. His gaze swept right past that personal locker without stopping for a moment as he stuffed the clothes into the closet one by one.

While doing so, he asked: “Was Wuhan fun?”

“It was fun, lots of food, and the scenery was pretty good too.” As Luo Ye spoke, he took out his camera and placed it on the upper right corner of the display cabinet.

His movements and words were entirely natural. Not bad, not bad.

Luo Ye praised himself inwardly. As long as Luo Peng didn’t get suspicious today, he had passed this hurdle.

Fortunately, Luo Peng really didn’t say much else, simply asking if he had encountered anything interesting to make a video about.

He didn’t know about interesting things for videos, but when it came to dating, he was practically an expert now.

For example, you must wear comfortable clothes on a date, otherwise walking is pure torture. Like on the first day, he chose a sweater that was way too thick. He was boiling everywhere he went and almost wanted to grab a handful of ice to stuff down his shirt.

So the second time, he learned his lesson and wore a thin, low-collared sweater.

Of course, he couldn’t tell Luo Peng any of this. He could only force a topic change, his transition stiffer than a frozen water pipe in winter: “Eh, the parent-teacher meeting tomorrow starts at 4:30, right?”

“For the second-year high schoolers, it got changed to 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM,” Luo Peng replied casually, his hands never stopping.

The parent-teacher meetings Luo Ye attended in the past were always after school. This was the first time he had encountered an afternoon one, and he was a bit surprised: “You guys don’t have classes during that time?”

“Probably, I don’t know,” Luo Peng said.

“Right, you wouldn’t attend those two classes anyway.” Luo Ye thought for a moment, “Then I have to bring some snacks tomorrow, you can share some with Xu Menghua.”

Luo Peng gave him a look: “She is the host tomorrow. Even if you give them to her, she won’t be able to eat.”

Luo Ye was slightly taken aback: “She’s that impressive?”

Luo Peng said: “She was the host last year too.”

“Oh yo,” Luo Ye flashed a teasing smile, reaching out to ruffle Luo Peng’s hair, “You pay a lot of attention to her to know such things.”

Luo Peng, enjoying the petting, replied: “Because her nickname in our class group chat is ‘Two-Term Host Xu Menghua’.”

Luo Ye: “…”

This girl really was something, never letting herself stay idle and never holding anything back.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Luo Ye asked curiously: “Who is attending the parent-teacher meeting for her tomorrow? I really want to meet her parents.”

“She said it’s her brother. Anyway, you’ll see him tomorrow.”

Luo Peng replied casually, put away the last piece of clothing, and gently closed the closet door.

Luo Ye opened his wardrobe and picked out a navy blue jacket, a deep black to teal gradient hoodie, and a pair of black floor-length pants, piling them all onto his bed.

He picked up his phone and checked the time.

[January 9, 2:01 PM]

Not bad, still an hour and a half left.

It only took twenty minutes to get from home to school. After changing clothes and heading out, he should still have time to buy some small snacks.

Luo Ye calculated the timing in his head, grabbed a rubber band, tied a low ponytail suitable for riding a motorcycle, and took a pill to suppress his heat cycle.

Lately, his body would inexplicably get hot from time to time. Although his temperature would drop quickly, to ensure the parent-teacher meeting went off perfectly without any accidents, he still had to take precautions.

The effects of this medicine were relatively mild and caused no harm to the body.

Luo Ye had taken it before. After consuming it, his whole body felt refreshed, like drinking a bottle of ice-cold mint water—cool and comfortable.

After taking the medicine, Luo Ye changed into his chosen outfit, found a relatively long teal silk scarf, and tied it around his waist like a belt.

He stood in front of the mirror and did a full check.

He was satisfied overall, but the chest area felt a bit empty.

Luo Ye instinctively reached for the ring necklace. Halfway through opening the drawer, he remembered he couldn’t wear it. He quickly slapped his own hand, muttering in annoyance: “Damn, this stupid hand moves way too fast.”

The parent-teacher meeting almost turned into a parent coming-out session.

In the end, he settled for a simple silver necklace and left for school.

The weather on the 9th was neither fully sunny nor cloudy. The snow had melted a bit, leaving icy slush on the roadside, increasing the risk of a simple walk turning into ice skating.

On the main roads, however, workers had already shoveled the snow and salted the streets, so the surface was quite clear.

Luo Ye slowed down his motorcycle, riding carefully, and arrived at the school gates punctually at 2:45 PM.

There weren’t many parents at the gate yet. They gathered in twos and threes to chat, looking quite familiar with each other, mostly discussing their children’s studies and family affairs.

Standing in the crowd, Luo Ye looked exceptionally young. Paired with his handsome features and tall posture, an auntie came over curiously to ask if he was a student. He quickly clarified that he was a parent.

Among these parents of a similar age, there was an unspoken tacit understanding. When a tall, young, and stably employed adult appeared in the crowd, the ancient matchmaking instincts of these elders immediately awakened.

Fortunately, Luo Ye instantly fabricated an excuse: “I’m currently seeing someone.”

The aunties and uncles regretfully put away their phones.

Luo Ye suddenly thought of Chi Zhiyue. If he knew he was being pitched blind dates, he’d probably pull that pitiful expression again.

He took out his phone and glanced at their chat history. Chi Zhiyue was also busy today. Their last message was from last night, discussing which scenic spot was more fun. They hadn’t spoken at all today.

A few minutes later, the school gates opened on time, and a large crowd of parents streamed into the campus. Luo Ye followed at the back of the line, walking slowly forward.

The No. 2 Middle School that Luo Peng transferred to had a quite large campus. The playground was built to stadium standards, complete with a dedicated football field.

The teaching buildings had also been renovated recently, looking clean and bright.

Luo Ye didn’t really have any strong opinions on facilities; top-tier schools were all pretty much the same.

The reason he chose this school was because the principal had stated, “Trash cans are allowed to have trash in them, the AC can be turned on when it’s hot, and during cleaning time, it’s acceptable to find three flowers on the floor.”

It lacked overbearing, rigid rules and was tolerant enough.

After hearing that, he chose this school.

Luo Peng was in Class 4, Grade 11. Luo Ye followed the parents of the same class up to the fifth floor. To prepare for the parent-teacher meeting, the desks in the classroom had been tidied up well in advance.

Some students were reciting texts out in the corridor. Seeing their parents approaching, the entire hallway instantly grew lively.

Luo Ye pushed through the crowd and arrived at the back door of Class 4. The desks and chairs were neatly arranged, and the words “Welcome Parents” were written neatly on the blackboard.

Two female students came out holding water bottles. They were startled the moment they saw Luo Ye, then stopped and greeted him politely: “Hello, hello.”

Luo Ye leaned down slightly, flashing an amiable smile: “Hello, is Teacher Liu in?”

One of the girls covered her mouth with her sleeve and said earnestly: “Then you came at a bad time. Today happens to be our parent-teacher meeting. Big brother, how about you come back to visit next week?”

Luo Ye froze for a moment. Visit?

Ah.

Luo Ye paused for a few seconds, realizing that these two girls, much like the parents outside, thought he was a student.

He chuckled and said: “I’m not a student, I’m also a parent. I’m Luo Peng’s older brother.”

“Ah! Sorry, seeing you holding snacks and looking so…” The two girls realized their blunder, their ears instantly flushing red as they turned their heads to shout back inside: “Luo Peng! Your brother is here!!”

With her shout, half the students in the class looked over, including Luo Peng himself, who had been sitting by the window reading a book.

Luo Peng abruptly stood up from his seat, a surge of joy instantly filling his eyes. He stared straight at Luo Ye at the door, his ears perking straight up.

The girl was shocked: “Holy crap, Brother Peng actually has this kind of expression?”

Luo Ye lowered his head and asked: “Brother Peng? Isn’t he the youngest in your class?”

The girl shook her head seriously: “Alas, age is not the standard. The sheer influence of his homework is enough to make us call him Brother.”

Luo Ye: “…You mean for copying his homework, right.”

Girl: “Right.”

Luo Ye was amused: “You make it sound like a company going public.”

The two girls laughed as well.

He waved to Luo Peng again: “Pengpeng, come here quickly. I brought some small snacks for you and your classmates to share.”

Luo Peng was originally quite happy, but upon hearing the second half of the sentence, he was clearly reluctant. He walked over slowly and took the plastic bag.

In fact, Luo Peng didn’t even need to say anything. Several boys voluntarily walked over and started praising him straight out of the gate.

“Damn! Brother Peng, your family’s genetics are insane! Why is your brother so handsome?”

“Can I also be a younger brother in your family?”

“If there’s extra room in your household register, I want to sign up too, seriously, I beg you.”

…

With the “cheering” of these boys, more and more classmates gathered around.

Luo Peng stood perfectly still, holding the plastic bag up like someone handing out flyers in front of a store.

However, his patience was thin. After holding it for half a minute, he directly hung it on the door handle.

“Take it yourselves, limit three per person.” Leaving this instruction behind, Luo Peng pulled Luo Ye away from the crowd and brought him to his seat.

Luo Ye had just sat down and hadn’t even had the time to lament that the wooden chair wasn’t as comfortable as a computer chair when Luo Peng was called away by the teacher.

Luo Peng clearly didn’t want to go. Luo Ye patted the back of his hand and said, “Go ahead, it’s fine. I’ll look over your homework for a bit.”

Luo Peng could only walk out of the classroom quickly with a dark expression, while the other classmates ate snacks and welcomed their parents. Before the grades were officially announced, everyone could still talk and laugh.

Looking at these vibrant students with no trace of adult weariness on their faces, Luo Ye couldn’t help but sigh: “It’s so good to be young, so full of vitality.”

Just as he spoke, he heard a hearty greeting: “Hello there, Luo Peng’s brother!”

Luo Ye turned his head, saw it was Xu Menghua, and smiled: “Xu Menghua, long time no see.”

“I heard them say a handsome guy showed up, and I guessed it was you.” Xu Menghua leaned in mysteriously, lowering her voice, “You definitely got pitched blind dates by those aunties and uncles on the way here, didn’t you?”

Hit right on the mark, Luo Ye chuckled: “How did you know?”

“It’s an old tradition. My brother got asked the exact same thing when he came to a parent-teacher meeting,” Xu Menghua said.

“Your brother has it rough too,” Luo Ye shook his head in deep sympathy.

Xu Menghua twirled her hair, smiling: “But not this year. My brother is no longer single. He’s been going on dates with his partner a lot these days, they’re super affectionate.”

Luo Ye’s eyes lit up. He closed the book and congratulated: “That’s great, congratulations.”

Xu Menghua continued: “My brother originally wanted to recommend the WeChat contact of an older sister of mine to you. That sister is really beautiful and super nice, but you said you didn’t want it, so I didn’t mention it to Luo Peng.”

They truly were family. Luo Ye smiled: “Your brother is quite enthusiastic too.”

Xu Menghua glanced at her phone, her expression shifting slightly: “My brother is almost here, I’m going to go pick him up.”

Luo Ye tilted his head in confusion: “Does he not know the way?”

“No, it’s not that,” Xu Menghua explained hastily, opening the inner compartment of her backpack and taking out her campus card to hang around her neck. “He drove here. Parking at our school requires swiping a campus card to waive the fee, so I’m going to go swipe it for him.”

“Oh, go ahead then,” Luo Ye waved.

“I’ll come find you guys to hang out later.” Xu Menghua ran out of the classroom with hurried steps.

She ran all the way to the parking space at the speed of an 800-meter dash, only to see Chi Zhiyue standing in front of the parking meter, looking up slightly at the sky, not knowing what he was staring at.

Chi Zhiyue had been at work all morning and hadn’t dressed up as meticulously as he did for their dates. He was only wearing a simple long brownish-yellow woolen trench coat over a light purple striped fine sweater, with trousers in a deep coffee color.

But he was handsome enough to remain incredibly eye-catching just standing there.

Xu Menghua walked over and swiped the campus card.

Turning around, she found Chi Zhiyue was still looking at the sky. She couldn’t help but jump over and pat his arm: “Brother! What are you looking at?”

Chi Zhiyue pointed at the sky and said: “I’m looking to see if it’s going to rain later.”

Intrigued by his mystical tone, Xu Menghua also looked up at the sky. The clouds were a bit thick, but it didn’t look like it was going to rain.

She asked in confusion: “Is it going to rain or not?”

The next second, she saw Chi Zhiyue open his phone and tap on the weather forecast: “Yeah, I can see it now, it won’t.”

Xu Menghua: “?”

Was this his petty revenge for her playing on her phone until dawn the other night?

“Fine, the world wins,” Xu Menghua clenched her fists, “My brother has gone completely crazy.”

“Hahaha,” Chi Zhiyue smiled, his eyes curving into crescents. He reached out and rubbed Xu Menghua’s head, “Alright, let’s go.”

He knew Xu Menghua would get over her anger in three seconds, so he nudged her toward the stairs first.

On the stairs, sure enough, Xu Menghua’s chatterbox opened right back up. She said excitedly: “My deskmate’s brother is too nice! He even bought stuff for us to eat, oh my god!”

“That’s great,” Chi Zhiyue smiled and nodded, “It shows your deskmate’s family has a good upbringing. But you still haven’t told me, are there any points the teacher is going to criticize you for today?”

Xu Menghua started whistling guiltily: “Just, maybe one or two… two or three.”

Chi Zhiyue then nodded, saying slowly: “Alright, I’ll think about how to sugarcoat it for Mom and Dad later—”

Xu Menghua: “Tsk.”

…This two-faced guy.

Xu Menghua once again profoundly missed Luo Peng’s angelic brother.

As the two walked out of the fifth-floor stairwell and crossed the corridor, a friend from the next class came over to chat with Xu Menghua.

Xu Menghua told Chi Zhiyue to go in first: “You know where I sit, right?”

“I know.” Chi Zhiyue smiled politely at Xu Menghua’s friend and walked toward Class 4.

Xu Menghua chatted with her friend for several minutes, and only after her friend’s mother arrived did she head back toward Class 4. But right as she reached the classroom door, she found her brother still standing at the back door, looking intently at something.

Xu Menghua walked up to him and asked strangely: “Why aren’t you going in?”

Chi Zhiyue didn’t look at her. His eyes were fixed on one spot, a faint smile playing on his lips: “The deskmate’s brother you mentioned, is that him?”

Xu Menghua followed his gaze. Luo Ye was chatting with Luo Peng. She nodded: “Yeah, what’s wrong?”

Chi Zhiyue’s gaze was locked tightly onto Luo Ye’s face. Those two familiar small moles, the slightly parted lips, and his expression while talking—it was exactly the same as the person he had been thinking about day and night.

He was so curious, wondering what Luo Ye’s reaction would be when he saw him. Would he dodge his gaze, or stare in disbelief? Whichever it was, it would definitely be adorable.

The corners of Chi Zhiyue’s mouth gradually rose, a hard-to-conceal joy hidden in his tone: “Nothing.”

After saying that, he added: “I’m heading over then.”

Chi Zhiyue didn’t hide at all and walked straight toward Luo Ye’s seat.

Luo Ye was just chatting with Luo Peng about studies when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a familiar figure from the corner of his eye. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. The moment his gaze officially shifted to that person, he froze completely, his mouth falling slightly open.

Why is Chi Zhiyue here?!

Chi Zhiyue walked right up to him and naturally pulled out Xu Menghua’s chair to sit down.

Luo Ye looked at Xu Menghua, then looked at Chi Zhiyue, and suddenly a massive lightbulb went off. He placed a finger on the tip of his nose, feigning deep thought: “So this is your relationship?”

“You guys know each other?” Xu Menghua asked.

“We know each other, we used to be colleagues.” Chi Zhiyue’s eyes were still glued to Luo Ye, not even lifting his head.

Standing a bit further away, Xu Menghua didn’t notice her brother’s expression. Tugging at Luo Peng’s school uniform, she said, “Oh, then I don’t need to introduce you guys. You two chat. Luo Peng, let’s go get the weekly summaries.”

Their area quieted down a bit. Chi Zhiyue looked at the person deep in thought in front of him, and quietly shifted a little closer, their shoulders almost touching.

He was originally feeling a bit restless, but now he was in an incredible mood. The person he had been thinking about for the past two days was right at hand, dressed nicely, and looking incredibly handsome from head to toe.

Chi Zhiyue reached out and touched the ends of Luo Ye’s hair. It was just as smooth as he imagined.

Luo Ye didn’t resist. He continued to look down, his eyebrows furrowed, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb, looking deep in thought.

Chi Zhiyue laughed, tilted his head, and teased: “What? Very surprised?”

Luo Ye seemed to be thinking about something very serious. After a long silence, he slowly spoke: “Surprise is secondary, I am currently pondering a question.”

Chi Zhiyue figured that Luo Ye was simply pondering where exactly the mix-up happened, or trying to figure out why they had different surnames.

He really liked this Luo Ye who delved deeply into such questions; he found it very cute.

Chi Zhiyue pushed his luck, gently rubbing the back of Luo Ye’s neck, his tone soft: “What is it?”

Luo Ye raised his head and stared directly into his eyes: “So you are Xu Menghua’s brother?”

Chi Zhiyue nodded: “Yes.”

Luo Ye: “So the adoptive brother she said often accompanies her to check-in spots is also you?”

Chi Zhiyue: “That’s right.”

Luo Ye: “So you were also the one who wanted to recommend a girlfriend to me?”

Chi Zhiyue: “Righ… Huh??”

__

Author’s Note:

Luo Ye: My boyfriend wants to introduce a partner to me

Chi Zhiyue: Righ… No!!

Chi Zhiyue, your boomerang has finally come back to hit you!

—

Watch the two little lovers get all lovey-dovey on campus, doing a high school puppy love cosplay, yeah?!

Later on, the campus play will be Chi wearing glasses saying: “Alright Student Luo, we need to study hard.”

Luo taking off his school uniform: “One punishment for every wrong answer.”

Chi Zhiyue then achieves an excellent score of 1 point on a 2nd-grade math test.