Chapter 77: Wouldn’t That Be a Bit Too Grand?

A few days after Zhang Chi mentioned the matter, Wang Zekai dropped out of school.

The impact of this incident was severe. The police suppressed the matter, and the school’s official story was that Wang Zekai had voluntarily withdrawn.

The already small number of boys in Jiang Shi’s class suddenly became even smaller. The girls in the class jokingly called them the “three golden flowers.”

With only three boys in the class, and Jiang Shi being so strikingly handsome, he didn’t dare skip his major-related courses. He was annoyed from memorizing tour guide scripts every day, unable to figure out why a science student like him had been transferred to this major.

After Wang Zekai dropped out, Huang Xuyou contacted him. This man was a very busy person, even making the call during the gap while waiting for a flight.

At that time, Jiang Shi was in the cafeteria getting food. He had a full morning of classes, and even though he rushed to the cafeteria right after, he still ended up in a long line. Seeing the call, he decided to give up on the line and walked out of the cafeteria with his phone.

“Have you eaten?”

Jiang Shi, slinging his bag over his shoulder, was planning to go to the supermarket to buy instant noodles.

“Thanks to you. If it weren’t for your call, I would have been eating by now.”

Huang Xuyou chuckled. “I’ll treat you to a meal next time I’m in Jiangcheng.”

He said this every time but never actually followed through. “Did you call me just to say that?”

“Can’t I just connect with you?”

Jiang Shi didn’t think there was much to connect about between them. Sure enough, in the next second, Huang Xuyou spoke, “That friend of yours, Cheng Ye, are you two close?”

He answered cautiously, “…Just a normal classmate relationship.”

“The classmate part is debatable, but as for the relationship, I don’t think it’s normal, is it?”

“What on earth are you trying to say?”

Huang Xuyou’s voice finally became serious. “Didn’t I tell you before to stay away from him?”

He continued, “To this day, I still hold that view. Jiang Shi, it’s not good for you to get too close to him. This person is ambitious, and his mind is deep, yet he’s unwilling to be subservient. Getting too close to him will bring you no good.”

Jiang Shi found a bench and sat down. After thinking for a moment, he said something shocking, “I won’t hide it from you anymore. We’re actually in that kind of relationship.”

Huang Xuyou was stunned.

It took him a while to react. “You two are…”

He wanted to ask what “that kind of relationship” was, but what other relationship could be described in such a way? Now, many of his previous doubts suddenly made sense. No wonder Cheng Ye was willing to beg him for Jiang Shi’s sake.

The world is a big place with all sorts of people; Huang Xuyou had seen homosexuals before. Although he didn’t know Jiang Shi’s sexual orientation, hearing that he was with a man didn’t surprise him much.

Considering it from an elder’s perspective, he still wanted to persuade Jiang Shi. But he also knew that people in love are all the same; excessive dissuasion would only strengthen their determination to be together.

He swallowed the words he was about to say and said with a smile, “Your little boyfriend is not simple.”

Jiang Shi asked him, “What’s wrong with him?”

But Huang Xuyou didn’t elaborate, changing the subject. “He doesn’t know that we know each other, right?”

“Not for the time being.”

“Is that so…” Huang Xuyou smiled again. “Then I’m very much looking forward to the day the truth comes out. I want to see his expression.”

He hung up the phone and looked at the proposal resting quietly on his lap, unable to resist flipping through it again. His assistant handed him an airport meal box. Seeing him constantly looking at the document, the assistant couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Huang, is there a problem with this?”

“There’s no problem. On the contrary, this proposal is very insightful. I always thought he was just a poor kid who only knew how to make games. Now it seems his goal isn’t games at all, but to create a new era of intelligence. I underestimated him before.”

Cheng Ye was ambitious, but what supported his ambition was his unique vision and the courage to do what he dared to dream. But he also had a fatal flaw: insufficient funds.

This was also the reason why he had sought to cooperate with Huang Xuyou in the first place.

The assistant said, “Then, on Jiang Shi’s side…”

He knew that Huang Xuyou and Jiang Shi knew each other, but when Cheng Ye approached him, he had used Jiang Shi to force Cheng Ye to concede a percentage point.

Huang Xuyou opened the meal box. Under the exquisite packaging was a tasteless meal. He frowned as he ate. “What about Jiang Shi?”

The assistant couldn’t figure out his thoughts and could only speak honestly, “If Cheng Ye hadn’t agreed back then, would we not have helped him?”

“It wouldn’t have gone that far…” Huang Xuyou said with a smile. “I’m a businessman, not a philanthropist. How could he ask for my help without shedding some blood? My relationship with Jiang Shi is my business with Jiang Shi. That doesn’t conflict with Cheng Ye asking me for a favor. I just didn’t expect that with Cheng Ye’s personality, he would agree so readily.”

Thinking back now, everything had an explanation.

“By the way…” he said, “aren’t those victims still looking for a lawyer? Lawyer Li is idle anyway, let him do some work.”

Listening to his words, the assistant went to make the call.

On the other side, after hanging up, Jiang Shi felt that something was not quite right. Before he could figure it out, Cheng Ye’s call came through.

“Have you eaten?”

Jiang Shi said, “I’ve eaten.”

Cheng Ye was silent for two seconds. “Great. Haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve already learned to lie.”

“…”

It was almost one o’clock, and he still had a full afternoon of classes. Jiang Shi wanted to go back and sleep. He felt that missing one meal was no big deal, but Cheng Ye was like a nagging mother, busy reading documents until two in the morning himself, yet still needing to manage whether he had his three meals a day.

Cheng Ye said, “I ordered takeout for you. It should be arriving soon. Eat before you sleep.”

Food delivery had only become popular in the last two years, and not many people used it. The delivery guy even brought it to the dormitory door.

Jiang Shi carried the takeout back. Zuo Hui was eating instant noodles. He watched as Jiang Shi sat down, untied the bag, and before the lid was even lifted, a fragrant aroma wafted out.

The instant noodles in his hands immediately lost their flavor.

“What did you order? How does it smell so good?”

Jiang Shi took a look. There were three dishes with a box of rice. The dishes were all his favorites, the rice was packed firmly with plump grains, and the dishes inside looked appetizing just by looking at them. It didn’t look like ordinary takeout at all.

The portion was large. Jiang Shi asked Zuo Hui, “Do you want some?”

Zuo Hui came over, holding his instant noodle bowl piously. “You are my savior.”

Jiang Shi gave him some meat and glanced to the side. “Is Qu An not here?”

Qu An was the extremely socially anxious roommate.

“Him?” Zuo Hui said, “He hasn’t been here at noon for several days. No idea what he’s been up to.”

Since the person wasn’t there, Jiang Shi didn’t bother and went to class after eating.

The first class in the afternoon was a public lecture. Jiang Shi hadn’t rested well at noon and was listless when he arrived in the classroom. The seats in the back were all taken, so he randomly chose a seat in the middle.

Zuo Hui arrived a little later than him. As soon as he put down his book, he leaned over to Jiang Shi secretively. “I just saw it, a lot of people were secretly looking at you.”

Jiang Shi yawned, only wanting to sleep.

Zuo Hui continued, “It’s been so long, and I haven’t seen you in a relationship. What’s up? Is there no one you like?”

Jiang Shi glanced at him. “How do you know I’m not in one?”

Zuo Hui was stunned, then cursed, “You have a partner!”

“No, how come I’ve never heard you mention it?”

Jiang Shi said, “You never asked.”

Zuo Hui: “…”

“Wait… really? I’ve never seen you with any girl. If it’s long-distance, I haven’t seen you make calls either. With your aloof personality, who else but Cheng Ye would look for you all the time?”

He joked, “You can’t possibly be dating Cheng Ye, can you?”

It had to be said, unintentionally, he had hit upon the truth.

Zuo Hui didn’t take it seriously, nor did he believe Jiang Shi could actually be dating Cheng Ye. He was extremely curious and couldn’t help but ask, “When did you two get together?”

“High school, I guess…”

“Then who pursued whom?”

“Of course, he pursued me.”

“That makes sense. You’re good-looking, it’s normal for him to pursue you.”

“Then…”

Jiang Shi interrupted him, “The professor is here.”

Zuo Hui scurried back to his seat.

The professor stood at the podium adjusting the microphone, surrounded by the rustling whispers of students. Jiang Shi was so sleepy his eyelids were drooping.

He rested his head on his hand and dazedly closed his eyes when a low voice suddenly sounded beside him. “Excuse me, please let me through.”

Jiang Shi froze for two seconds, thinking he was hallucinating, until a shadow fell over him.

He turned his head. The tall boy raised an eyebrow at him, revealing a somewhat roguish smile.

“Classmate, do you mind if I sit next to you?”

Jiang Shi took two seconds to process. “Why are you here?”

Cheng Ye said, “Someone has a full schedule of classes every day and doesn’t come to find me, so I can only come to find him.”

The weather was getting colder. Jiang Shi had on a new black hoodie he’d bought, which made his skin look as white as jade. Cheng Ye was also dressed in black, but it was the same jacket he had been wearing in high school. The cuffs were worn white, but he never changed it.

He took a box out of his bag and placed it in front of Jiang Shi. “Didn’t you say you accidentally lost your fountain pen? I bought you a new one.”

Jiang Shi opened the box and saw a brand-new fountain pen lying inside, identical to the one he had broken.

In fact, after he had broken it, he had secretly looked it up. The pen was handmade by an old craftsman, and one pen cost at least several thousand yuan. The price was one thing, but the main issue was the long production cycle; one had to wait a long time for a single pen.

He thought Cheng Ye had long forgotten, but he hadn’t expected him to remember all along.

The professor was on the podium, droning through the PowerPoint presentation. Below, Jiang Shi kicked Cheng Ye. “Didn’t I say I don’t want it?”

“It’s not expensive, just a little money.”

Jiang Shi gritted his teeth. “Do you really think I don’t know anything?”

His current monthly living allowance was only 1,500 yuan. One pen cost almost half a year’s living expenses.

“I told you I don’t use fountain pens anymore. Why did you waste that money?”

“It’s not a waste of money,” Cheng Ye said. “You like it.”

If he didn’t like it, Jiang Shi wouldn’t have carried it with him during military training.

He took the several-thousand-yuan pen out and casually clipped it onto Jiang Shi’s book page. “It looks good. Keep it for showing off.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

He was truly exasperated by Cheng Ye’s consumer habits. He reached out and tugged at his old jacket. “What about you, then? Are you out of money? Why do you wear this every day?”

Cheng Ye looked down. “What’s wrong with it? I think it looks fine.”

“Where is it fine? Look at it yourself, how old does it look?”

The person in question was very nonchalant. “It’s just old, not broken.”

Jiang Shi said, “Didn’t I give you a jacket during the National Day holiday?”

Cheng Ye hummed in agreement. “You gave it to me. I’m treasuring it in my wardrobe.”

“…”

Jiang Shi had to laugh.

“Why don’t I just get you a frame so you can mount it?”

Cheng Ye: “…”

After a pause, he said, “Wouldn’t that be a bit too grand?”