Chapter 10
Jiang Zhong rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, “Why do you think I’m homophobic?”
“That night after I told you, you seemed a bit shocked,” Xi Qin said.
Jiang Zhong thought, ‘Was I shocked? I was clearly both surprised and delighted!’
“Well…” Jiang Zhong hesitated before speaking, “Sexual orientation isn’t something you can control. I respect every orientation.”
“That’s good,” Xi Qin said, smiling in relief, “I was thinking, if you minded, I’ll plan not to return to the dorm in the future.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhong suddenly thought of a question: ‘If Deng Letian or Xiao Yuan minded having two gays in the dorm, should he move out too?’
“Actually…” Jiang Zhong poured himself a drink to muster courage, took a deep breath, and slowly began, “Actually, I…”
“Next, this song is dedicated to today’s birthday star—” Deng Letian’s voice suddenly filled the room from the microphone, “Jiang Zhong!”
“Yo—” Everyone turned and looked at Jiang Zhong, cheering.
At the same time, the big screen displayed the song Deng Letian had chosen, and the familiar intro began playing. Deng Letian looked at Jiang Zhong with a cheerful expression, raising his eyebrows.
Jiang Zhong: “…”
Thanks a lot!
The mood Jiang Zhong had finally built up was disrupted by Deng Letian. With everyone paying attention to him, Jiang Zhong felt embarrassed to finish what he had started to say.
Jiang Zhong raised the drink he had just poured, made a toasting gesture toward Deng Letian, and drank it all in one go.
This earned him a round of applause.
By midnight, the group finally settled down. If not for the dorm curfew, Jiang Zhong suspected they could have sung for several more hours.
Later, Deng Letian had managed to get him drunk on several glasses of alcohol. With his head throbbing, Jiang Zhong only felt somewhat sober when the cold air hit him after leaving the KTV.
Xi Qin stayed beside him, supporting him gently, and said, “You have such a low tolerance for alcohol. You should avoid drinking too much when you go out in the future.”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Zhong squinted, looking around, “Isn’t this close to where you live?”
“Yeah,” Xi Qin said, “Just turn left, and it’s less than 500 meters away.”
“Ah, we need to turn right to get back to school,” Jiang Zhong said, distressed, “Then you should go back. I’ll see you another day. Don’t avoid me anymore. I don’t mind whether you like men or women.”
Xi Qin glanced at him and said, “But I want to stay in the dorm tonight.”
“Is that so?” Jiang Zhong’s eyes brightened, “Then let’s go back together.”
Xi Qin chuckled at his reaction, “Alright, let’s go.”
“Come to think of it,” Jiang Zhong’s steps were a bit unsteady, and he spoke with a slight nasal tone, “We haven’t been to your place yet.”
“I’ll take you there next time,” Xi Qin said.
Jiang Zhong was actually a bit drunk. He rarely drank, usually only having one or two drinks. The cold wind outside kept him somewhat awake, but once he returned to the warm dorm, his head felt like it was glued with paste, and he didn’t want to move at all.
Deng Letian was even more drunk than he was. On the way back, he had to be supported by Xiao Yuan to avoid falling into Lotus Lake and had already fallen asleep in bed.
Xiao Yuan was in better shape, managing to wash up before going to bed despite his drowsiness.
Seeing Jiang Zhong sitting motionless in the chair for a while, Xi Qin went out to fetch hot water with a kettle. He returned, wrung out a towel, and handed it to Jiang Zhong, saying softly, “Wash your face and go to sleep.”
Jiang Zhong turned his head and stared blankly at him.
“Shall I help you wash?” Xi Qin asked.
As Xi Qin was about to place the towel on Jiang Zhong’s face, Jiang Zhong suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.
“…”
After a moment of silence, Jiang Zhong still didn’t speak. Xi Qin continued, “After playing outside all day, it’s best to wash up. Don’t move. I’ll help you.”
Jiang Zhong tightened his grip on Xi Qin’s hand, swallowed nervously, and said, “Xi Qin, actually, I…”
“Happy Birthday, Jiang Zhong—” Deng Letian, who was already asleep, suddenly shouted in his sleep and then turned over and fell back asleep.
Jiang Zhong: “…”
Xi Qin: “…”
Jiang Zhong was startled awake and snatched the towel from Xi Qin’s hand, feeling guilty, “I’ll do it myself.”
With Deng Letian interrupting his attempts to come out of the closet twice, Jiang Zhong felt too embarrassed to try again.
He even wondered if it was fate’s arrangement. With Deng Letian conveniently interrupting his attempts, did it mean the timing wasn’t right yet?
Sigh, maybe he should choose a more auspicious day next time.
The next day, all members of Dorm 412 woke up late, only getting out of bed after the sun had risen high.
When Deng Letian rubbed his head and got up, he saw Xi Qin sitting in a chair and was surprised, “Huh? Xi Qin, you’re back? Why so early? It feels like you haven’t been back to the dorm for a long time.”
It seemed he had completely forgotten last night.
In fact, Xi Qin hadn’t been away from the dorm for too long this time. During the first semester of the freshman year, he hadn’t returned for nearly a month at one point.
But this semester, as his relationship with Jiang Zhong had grown closer, he stayed at the dorm more often. He had gotten used to seeing Jiang Zhong two or three days a week, so when he didn’t see him for over a week, it felt quite long.
“Yeah, I’ve been a bit busy lately,” Xi Qin said politely.
“Busy with live streaming?” Deng Letian said excitedly, “You’re quite popular, with so many fans.”
Xi Qin was a bit surprised and instinctively glanced toward Jiang Zhong’s side.
Jiang Zhong found it quite novel to see Xi Qin’s shocked expression.
Before Deng Letian could continue, he changed his tone, “But you’re not very considerate. It’s been so long, and you’ve kept it from us. We’re roommates, after all.”
Jiang Zhong couldn’t help but speak up for Xi Qin, “It’s not Xi Qin’s fault. We didn’t ask him about it. He can’t just suddenly come back and say, ‘I’m a streamer with many fans.’”
Jiang Zhong put on a serious face and mimicked Xi Qin’s tone, sounding quite… annoying.
“Pfft.” Xi Qin was the first to laugh.
Deng Letian was just joking and joined in the laughter.
Xi Qin finished laughing, cleared his throat, and returned to his cool, aloof image, “I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight, as a celebration of having so many fans.”
“Don’t,” Xiao Yuan immediately said, “Let’s do it another day. Jiang Zhong’s treat last night is still stuck in my throat.”
“Alright, then let’s do it next Saturday,” Xi Qin said.
—
After returning, Xi Qin stayed at the dorm more often each week, only going back to his rented apartment for live streaming three or four days a week, spending the rest of the time coming and going with Jiang Zhong.
Later, he fixed his live streaming schedule to daytime on weekends and would return to the dorm afterward.
Jiang Zhong found it exhausting to see him coming and going all the time. As the weather grew colder, Jiang Zhong just wanted to stay in the dorm, read books, and play games when he didn’t have classes.
One Saturday evening, when Xi Qin returned and asked Jiang Zhong to come downstairs for dinner, Jiang Zhong couldn’t help but ask, “Why don’t you just stay outside on weekends? Although your place isn’t far from the school, it still takes quite a while to walk to the dorm. It’s so cold at night, so be careful not to catch a cold.”
“I’m fine. I’m not cold,” Xi Qin said, picking cilantro out of Jiang Zhong’s bowl, “And the heating in my apartment is a bit problematic—sometimes good, sometimes bad. The dorm is warmer.”
“Is that so? Then it’s more comfortable to sleep back here,” Jiang Zhong nodded.
Halfway through the meal, Jiang Zhong’s phone on the table lit up with a new message notification.
Xi Qin and Jiang Zhong were sitting opposite each other. Xi Qin accidentally glanced at Jiang Zhong’s phone screen and saw the message was from Xu Shanshan. Jiang Zhong then took his phone and started replying.
As Jiang Zhong ate and replied to Xu Shanshan’s messages, the phone kept buzzing.
Each buzz made Xi Qin’s feelings sour.
After finishing his meal and seeing Jiang Zhong still chatting away, Xi Qin took a tissue to wipe his mouth and casually asked, “Who are you chatting with for so long? The food is getting cold.”
Jiang Zhong swallowed his food and casually replied, “Xu Shanshan.”
“Xu Shanshan has a boyfriend, right?” Xi Qin asked, pretending not to know.
“Yeah,” Jiang Zhong glanced at Xi Qin and explained, “We’re just discussing her boyfriend. She wanted to buy a gift for him and asked me what guys like.”
“Oh,” Xi Qin’s feelings of sourness faded, but he still felt a bit strange, “Why is your relationship with her still so good?”
Good enough to help pick out a gift for Xu Shanshan’s boyfriend.
“I’ve known her for many years. We trained at the same dance studio when we were young. Isn’t it normal to have a good relationship?”
“Not that,” Xi Qin said, “I mean… didn’t she like you in high school?”
Jiang Zhong widened his eyes at Xi Qin, “How do you know?”
Xi Qin confessed, “I accidentally overheard her confessing to you in high school.”
Jiang Zhong suddenly laughed, “I see, so that’s why you always mistakenly thought she was my girlfriend before?”
Xi Qin smiled awkwardly.
Jiang Zhong seemed to suddenly remember something, put down his phone, and looked at Xi Qin seriously, “Did you not hear how I rejected her afterward?”
“No,” Xi Qin said, “I just overheard her saying she liked you and left.”
“That’s a shame…” Jiang Zhong said regretfully.
If Xi Qin had listened further back then, he would have found out that Jiang Zhong was already out of the closet at that time.
Xi Qin: “Hmm?”
Jiang Zhong: “… Nothing.”
Jiang Zhong went back to replying to Xu Shanshan’s messages.
Xi Qin realized Jiang Zhong hadn’t answered his question or understood it, so he changed his words, “If I were her, and I liked you and was rejected by you, I wouldn’t be able to calmly chat with you about the person I currently like.”
Jiang Zhong was taken aback when he heard Xi Qin say ‘I liked you.’
After carefully processing the conversation, Jiang Zhong realized what Xi Qin meant and first looked around to see if Deng Letian was around.
Xi Qin, puzzled, followed Jiang Zhong’s gaze, and just as he was about to ask what he was looking for, Jiang Zhong spoke in a mysterious tone:
“Perhaps Xu Shanshan later realized that I’m not suitable as her boyfriend but more suitable as her ‘best friend.’”