Chapter 38: Not Honest at All

Darkness covered his vision. Jiang Shi blinked, his eyelashes brushing against a rough palm.

His breath hitched. Feeling the warmth on his face, he didn’t dare to speak for a moment.

Suddenly, a weaker voice came from the other side, “Have… have you two finished talking? I… I’m about to not be able to hold it in anymore.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Cheng Ye turned his head. The guy behind him was hugging his quilt, revealing a pair of eyes that stared at them resentfully.

Sob sob… I really need to use the bathroom…

The boy’s name was Qiu Maolin.

There were six people in the dorm room. The other three were from different classes; only he, Jiang Shi, and Cheng Ye were in the same class. At first, Jiang Shi would eat with him, but as soon as Cheng Ye arrived, he whisked Jiang Shi away.

Cheng Ye was so fierce, it looked like one punch from him could take down three of Qiu Maolin. Qiu Maolin didn’t dare to say anything.

The other roommates weren’t in their class and had little contact with Jiang Shi and Cheng Ye, but Qiu Maolin was different. Not only did he sit in front of Jiang Shi, but he also slept in the bunk below Cheng Ye.

According to his observations, the relationship between these two seemed very unusual. As for what was unusual about it, the straight-laced Qiu Maolin couldn’t quite figure it out yet, but he could feel a barrier between the two that no one else could enter.

He couldn’t help it; he was too close. Plus, he was a light sleeper, so he often heard what Cheng Ye and Jiang Shi were saying.

The conversations themselves sounded normal enough, but for some reason, they sounded strange coming from their mouths.

Qiu Maolin didn’t want to ask, and he didn’t dare to ask. Most of the time, he pretended to be the sleeping husband in an adult film, until tonight when he drank too much water.

He really couldn’t understand. It was just two pieces of clothing. Wear them if you want, don’t if you don’t. Was it worth Cheng Ye kneeling by Jiang Shi’s bed and begging for half the day?

A man’s knees are worth gold, but Cheng Ye threw away a thousand gold pieces in front of Jiang Shi.

His bladder was about to explode, and the two by the bed still hadn’t finished talking. Qiu Maolin could only weakly state his plea under Cheng Ye’s seemingly murderous gaze.

Ignoring Cheng Ye’s icy aura, he grabbed his pants and rushed towards the bathroom. Compared to being beaten up by Cheng Ye, Qiu Maolin was more afraid of wetting his pants on the spot.

When he returned from the bathroom, the dorm was already quiet. Cheng Ye wasn’t on the lower bunk, and Jiang Shi was asleep. The clothes that had been at the foot of Jiang Shi’s bed were gone.

Qiu Maolin didn’t dare to look too much and quickly climbed onto his own bed.

He thought the two had already made up, but the next day he realized he had been too naive.

Jiang Shi didn’t speak a word to Cheng Ye all morning.

Qiu Maolin frequently looked back. Jiang Shi didn’t notice, but Li Caiying keenly caught his gaze. Hugging her notebook, she stood on the front line of defending their love and glared at Qiu Maolin, “What are you looking at?”

Jiang Shi had slept late last night and was catching up on sleep. Cheng Ye had gone to the convenience store during the break, so his seat was empty.

Li Caiying had a round face, round eyes, and straight bangs, looking like someone with a very good temper.

Qiu Maolin pulled his chair closer to her. “Have Jiang Shi and Cheng Ye not made up from their fight yet?”

Li Caiying scrutinized him. “How do you know they were fighting?”

“Uh…”

Seeing him hesitate, Li Caiying’s expression grew even more serious. “And you keep sneaking glances at Jiang Shi. Speak! Do you have some kind of ulterior motive towards him?”

Qiu Maolin felt wronged. “No matter how good-looking Jiang Shi is, he’s still a guy. What kind of thoughts could I have about him? Can you be reasonable?”

“Then why were you sneaking looks at Jiang Shi?”

Qiu Maolin stammered. He didn’t know yet that this sentence was the beginning of all evil. He just said, “I’ll tell you quietly, don’t tell anyone else.”

Li Caiying narrowed her eyes and agreed with a smile. Looking at the still-sleeping Jiang Shi, she casually grabbed a workbook from the desk and sat next to Qiu Maolin. “I won’t tell anyone. Tell me what happened.”

So Qiu Maolin told Li Caiying what he had seen yesterday. He had been suffering because of Cheng Ye and Jiang Shi for months. Seeing that he had finally found someone to confide in, he couldn’t help but pour out all the bitterness he had accumulated these past days.

“Don’t you think there’s something wrong with Cheng Ye? Jiang Shi’s attitude towards him is so bad, but not only is he not angry, he’s eagerly waiting on him hand and foot every day.”

“He’s the one who fetches Jiang Shi’s hot water, and he’s the one who washes his clothes. When they eat, he has to stand in line for him. If Jiang Shi doesn’t like the cafeteria food, he has to climb over the wall to buy him something else. He himself is so poor he wears three-for-ten-yuan t-shirts on rotation, but he buys Jiang Shi clothes that cost several hundred…”

Li Caiying buried her head in her notebook, taking notes. Qiu Maolin paused when he saw this. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m writing some study materials. What else did they do? Keep talking.”

After talking for a while, Qiu Maolin couldn’t help but whisper, “I just feel like there’s something strange about them.”

Li Caiying said with a straight face, “What’s strange? Don’t talk nonsense. They just have a normal classmate friendship.”

Qiu Maolin scratched his head. “Is that really it? Anyway, I wouldn’t fetch washing water for my bro’s feet.”

Just as he finished speaking, Cheng Ye, who had slipped out during the long break, returned.

He had climbed over the wall to bring back the small crispy pork that Jiang Shi loved. He didn’t wake him up but placed the bag on the desk.

Jiang Shi smelled the crispy pork in his sleep. He groggily lifted his head and saw the steaming bag next to him. He didn’t have to think to know who brought it.

The young man lazily moved his arms. Without looking back or saying a word, he just picked up the crispy pork and took a bite with drowsy eyes.

Qiu Maolin was even more confused. “Isn’t he still fighting with Cheng Ye? Why is he still eating his food?”

Li Caiying huffed twice. “Are you stupid? They made up a long time ago.”

Qiu Maolin started scratching his head again. “Huh?? When did that happen?”

Of course, he didn’t know. Some reconciliations don’t require someone to say “I forgive you” on the spot to count. The thin-skinned young master couldn’t bring himself to say such words. Deigning to eat the food you gave him was the signal he sent.

He had his pride, but someone understood his pride.

And that someone never let the snail’s tentative feelers come back empty.

Cheng Ye had changed into the new t-shirt Jiang Shi bought for him. The thickness of the shirt was the same, but when the fabric wrapped around his body, the blood under his skin couldn’t help but stir.

During lunch, Liu Man gave Cheng Ye a call. He was so happy he didn’t even send a text, just called him directly at noon.

Jiang Shi had his number saved. Seeing the caller ID, he handed the phone directly to Cheng Ye.

“Brother Cheng, the city management contacted me. Our goods have been released, we can get them back!”

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Jiang Shi.

The latter was picking through his food tray, tossing everything he didn’t like onto Cheng Ye’s tray. Noticing his gaze, Jiang Shi glared back. “What? Not happy that I’m sharing some food with you?”

Cheng Ye took leave from school. The May sunlight fell on his face, making his eyelids sting.

Seeing him, Liu Man and Xiao Liu immediately rushed over. “Brother Cheng!”

Compared to their excitement, Cheng Ye was much calmer. “What did they say to you?”

Liu Man rubbed his hands. “They didn’t say much, just that they saw we were young and decided to let us off the hook. We don’t have to pay the fine, just write a self-criticism letter and we can take our stuff.”

The office was the same office, and the one who received them was still the same middle-aged man from last time. He poured tea for all three of them, the smile on his face looking much more sincere this time. “Although you can take your things, don’t set up an illegal stall next time. You all write a self-criticism letter according to the template, and you can go after you’ve written and signed it.”

Liu Man was still in disbelief. “Just like that?”

The man chuckled. “What else? What do you want? Do you have to give some money to be satisfied?”

Liu Man chuckled foolishly, completely unable to imagine that things could take such a turn. He immediately took out a pen, his posture more serious than when he was studying. “We’ll write! We’ll write it right away!”

The man went out, leaving them some space.

Liu Man copied from the template for a few minutes, then turned his head and saw that Cheng Ye was still sitting there, staring at the blank paper in front of him without moving.

“Brother Cheng? Why aren’t you writing? It’s fine, if you don’t want to write, I’ll write it for you after I’m done.”

Cheng Ye twirled the pen in his hand. “Tell me, why would they suddenly release it for no reason?”

Xiao Liu sniffled and grinned. “Didn’t he say? They saw we were young, probably felt sorry for us.”

Liu Man thought a little more than Xiao Liu. “Do you think… maybe that person you offended before has let you go?”

Cheng Ye laughed. “Then he’s truly merciful.”

Could it be such a coincidence? Jiang Shi had just returned from Jiangcheng, and the next thing he knew, his goods were released.

Cheng Ye never believed in coincidences.

…

The man casually glanced at their three self-criticism letters, then took the keys and led them to unlock the door and get their things.

After so many days, the snakeskin bag in the corner had collected a thin layer of dust. Liu Man patted the dust off, unzipped it, and looked at the sparkling little trinkets inside. He suddenly felt like crying.

The afternoon sun slipped in through the narrow window, dust motes flying in the light. In a daze, Cheng Ye seemed to see the butterfly that had fluttered towards him in February.

At first, he just wanted to catch the butterfly.

Later, he wanted to keep the butterfly.

And now, he wanted the butterfly to stay for him of its own accord.

Cheng Ye came back during the second physics class in the afternoon.

The teacher was giving an impassioned lecture on the stage. Jiang Shi’s propped-open eyelids slowly closed again amidst his flying spittle.

With a creak, the sound of a chair dragging behind him jolted Jiang Shi awake. He turned his head to look back. Cheng Ye was bending down to sit, taking something out from his clothes and placing it in his desk.

The physics teacher dragged out his voice, “Let’s look at this problem. When pendulum C reaches its lowest point, mechanical energy is conserved, MgL…”

Jiang Shi’s propped-open eyelids finally fell shut.

He didn’t know how long he slept. In a daze, he seemed to hear the bell for the end of class. The surroundings suddenly became noisy, and then, his face felt a sudden chill.

Jiang Shi was woken by the cold.

He opened his eyes. Cheng Ye had sat down next to him at some point, holding a cup of fruit salad with ice cubes against his face.

“Brought this for you.”

Jiang Shi’s body was sore from sleeping. He rubbed his neck and sat up, took the spoon and stirred it, eating a piece of watermelon first.

There was clearly so much space, but Cheng Ye insisted on squeezing next to Jiang Shi. The weather was getting hotter, and his body temperature was high, making it feel hot to be near him. It even made Jiang Shi feel like his own little corner was filled with Cheng Ye’s scent.

Suddenly, he felt Cheng Ye shift even closer, thigh against thigh, followed by his low voice, “Jiang Shi, I got a call. That batch of goods of ours that was confiscated by the city management has been released.”

Jiang Shi had secretly asked Liu Man about it the day he came back, so he wasn’t surprised that Cheng Ye had a batch of goods.

He just felt that Cheng Ye was too close to him. He uncomfortably reached out and pushed him. “If you’re going to talk, just talk. It’s so hot, why are you so close to me?”

Cheng Ye didn’t budge an inch.

The clean and beautiful young master ate a piece of mango, thinking he was so annoying.

“My luck is so good…” Cheng Ye said faintly. “I thought I’d never get it back in this lifetime, but it was released just like that.”

He looked at Jiang Shi. “Do you think… someone is helping me?”

Jiang Shi bit his spoon and glared at him. “How would I know? Are you annoying or what, Cheng Ye? Always talking about things that have nothing to do with me.”

“Does it really have nothing to do with you?”

Jiang Shi’s gaze flickered. “What could it have to do with me? Can you stop leaning on me?”

Cheng Ye said, “I can’t.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

“Little young master.”

Cheng Ye smiled.

“Not honest at all.”

So cute, you’re gonna get fucked.