Chapter 21
As soon as Jiang Zhong sent out the message, he received a private message from Xi Qin:
【Xi Qin: All cleaned up?】
【Jiang Zhong: Mm】
Deng Letian followed up with a string of question marks in the group chat, so Jiang Zhong switched to the group messages.
【Deng Letian: Did you guys make plans?】
【Deng Letian: Usually quiet, and suddenly, one after another, you’re all no longer single?】
Jiang Zhong grinned.
【Jiang Zhong: When fate comes, you can’t stop it】
【Deng Letian: Who’s your girlfriend? Did you pursue her or did she pursue you?】
Jiang Zhong downplayed it:
【Jiang Zhong: I guess you could say she pursued me】
【Deng Letian: It’s truly an era where looks matter!】
【Jiang Zhong: With looks, you can be willful】
【Deng Letian: @Xiao Yuan, don’t tell me you’re also ahead of me?】
【Xiao Yuan: Don’t worry, I still don’t have a girlfriend】
【Deng Letian: Then I’m the third】
Jiang Zhong smiled and thought, actually Deng Letian should be the second, and he and Xi Qin are tied for first!
What’s it like to start a romance during the final exams?
For Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin, it’s a question with an easy answer.
Of course, Deng Letian would also score high on this question.
Not long after returning from the New Year’s holiday, it’s the dreaded final exam week for many college students.
During this time, the library and study rooms are almost always full.
Many couples have turned their dating routines into study sessions together, which is quite inspiring.
‘Mom, you don’t have to worry about my relationship affecting my studies anymore!’
Deng Letian, who just got a girlfriend, is particularly diligent.
Every morning at 6:30, Deng Letian would wake up, quickly wash up, head to the cafeteria to buy breakfast, and then go to the girls’ dorm to pick up his girlfriend before heading to the library.
He’s truly a commendable boyfriend, as acknowledged by everyone in Room 412.
In contrast, Jiang Zhong, who had just started dating, was much lazier.
He would sleep until 7:00 and only wake up in a daze thanks to his boyfriend Xi Qin’s gentle wake-up service.
After washing up, he would go to the cafeteria with Xi Qin, eat the breakfast Xi Qin had queued up to buy, and then go to the library together.
He’s such a lovely boyfriend, as Xi Qin sees him.
As for Xiao Yuan, who neither had a girlfriend nor a boyfriend, well… that’s hard to explain.
“This winter is so cold,” Xiao Yuan thought to himself.
Jiang Zhong had subtly invited Xiao Yuan to join them, since he and Xi Qin actually studied together at the library and didn’t behave like some couples who would start flirting while studying.
But Xiao Yuan firmly declined: “You all go to the library, and I’m left alone in the dorm. It’s quite peaceful here, so I’ll just review here.”
Jiang Zhong thought it made sense and didn’t press the issue.
It was just as well, as he and Xi Qin now had some time alone together.
“I think Xiao Yuan might have noticed our relationship,” Jiang Zhong said softly, burying his chin in his scarf.
He and Xi Qin had just finished a day of studying and were walking out of the library side by side.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too,” Xi Qin said.
Jiang Zhong tilted his head to look at Xi Qin: “Do you think we’re being too obvious?”
“Maybe,” Xi Qin said with a smile and a wink at Jiang Zhong, “Perhaps I’m just looking at you too passionately.”
“……Damn it,” Jiang Zhong muttered.
Actually, Xi Qin had long noticed that Xiao Yuan sometimes looked at him and Jiang Zhong with a strange expression.
Moreover, recently, Xi Qin had been waking Jiang Zhong up every morning with a soft and gentle voice, and once even stole a kiss on Jiang Zhong’s face while he was still asleep… cough cough.
Deng Letian, who left early, hadn’t heard it, but Xiao Yuan might have heard Xi Qin waking Jiang Zhong up from his bed.
Feelings like that are hard to hide.
Jiang Zhong was a bit worried: “If he hasn’t mentioned it, he probably doesn’t mind too much, right?”
“It’s fine,” Xi Qin reassured him, then added with a teasing tone, “If he does mind, you can move out and live with me.”
“You’re unbelievable!” Jiang Zhong nudged him with his elbow, “Can you talk normally? You always bring up… that stuff!”
Xi Qin chuckled softly, pulled his hand from his pocket, and gently placed it on Jiang Zhong’s shoulder, sighing, “What can I do? I see my boyfriend in front of me every day and can’t touch him.”
Jiang Zhong’s ears grew a bit warm as he shrugged his shoulders.
Xi Qin took the opportunity to slide his hand under the hood of Jiang Zhong’s down jacket and started pinching the back of his neck through the fabric.
Jiang Zhong’s face began to flush as well. He shrank his neck and pleaded, “Stop it, there are people everywhere.”
“They can’t see through the hood,” Xi Qin pinched twice more and asked, “Do you want to take a walk on the playground?”
H University has two football fields, known as the East Playground and the West Playground.
The East Playground, also called the Floodlit Football Field, is brightly lit at night, as the name suggests.
Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin went to the West Playground.
The outermost ring of the track is further out. Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin walked shoulder to shoulder, chatting as they went.
Jiang Zhong’s left hand hung down, held by Xi Qin’s right hand. When the cold wind blew, Xi Qin slipped both hands into his coat pockets.
“…We start with R being reflexive,” Xi Qin explained a discrete math proof to Jiang Zhong, “Then take an arbitrary element… and show R is symmetric. Next, take another arbitrary element… and show R is transitive.”
“So,” Jiang Zhong nodded in realization, “R is an equivalence relation.”
“Yes,” Xi Qin seamlessly picked up Jiang Zhong’s conclusion, “So, do you want to kiss?”
Jiang Zhong stared blankly for a moment: “Huh?”
“Do you want to?” Xi Qin asked seductively.
Jiang Zhong instinctively swallowed, his palm sweating, and his heart racing.
Is it happening?
Damn it, what kind of question is that? How am I supposed to answer?
“…No,” Jiang Zhong said stubbornly.
“Oh,” Xi Qin continued to hold Jiang Zhong’s hand and walk without showing any change in expression.
Is he upset?
Jiang Zhong thought, it’s not my fault, he asked that way. If I had said “yes,” it would have made me seem… eager.
Should I say something to make it right?
Jiang Zhong furrowed his brow. Xi Qin asking this was showing respect for my opinion, we’re adults, a kiss wouldn’t be a big deal, and actually, I really do want it…
“Uh.” Jiang Zhong cleared his throat, preparing to speak.
Jiang Zhong snapped back to reality and realized that Xi Qin was leading him further and further off track, moving more and more off course…
They had now reached the very edge of the northwest corner of the playground.
Jiang Zhong: “!!!!”
The next moment, Xi Qin turned around, grabbed Jiang Zhong’s shoulders, pushed him backward, and gently pressed him against the fence at the edge of the playground.
Then one hand slid down to wrap around Jiang Zhong’s waist, while the other hand supported the back of his head.
“But I want to,” Xi Qin lowered his head, his mouth almost touching Jiang Zhong’s ear, and asked in a hushed voice, “What should we do?”
Jiang Zhong’s chin was forced up into Xi Qin’s shoulder due to their position, and his eyes blinked rapidly with nervousness.
He could see the faint streetlights in the distance and the people running and walking on the track, while also being sure that he and Xi Qin were enveloped in darkness, with no one able to see their actions.
But he still trembled with anxiety, his mouth dry and his throat parched.
“What should we do?” Jiang Zhong licked his lips with his tongue, “I don’t know… ah!”
Xi Qin gently bit Jiang Zhong’s earlobe, then his lips slid along Jiang Zhong’s jawbone, finally resting at the corner of his mouth.
The spot where he had kissed last time.
Jiang Zhong shut his eyes tightly, feeling Xi Qin stop and then slightly open his already moist eyes.
“Do you really not want to?” Xi Qin’s eyes flickered.
Jiang Zhong was fuming internally, his voice barely audible, “…I do.”
Xi Qin seemed to smile, but Jiang Zhong didn’t get a clear look.
Because the next moment, Xi Qin’s lips were already pressing against his, and Jiang Zhong quickly closed his eyes.
Otherwise, he’d end up cross-eyed!