Chapter 22
Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin stayed in the dark little corner for more than twenty minutes before coming out.
During those twenty minutes, Jiang Zhong came up with a slogan: ‘Raising the flag takes two minutes, lowering it relies on endurance.’
Maybe it was because Xi Qin’s “net kiss” was too dominant, or perhaps Xi Qin’s body pressed too closely against his, or maybe Xi Qin’s lips had an irresistible effect.
In any case, as soon as Xi Qin kissed him, Jiang Zhong felt a noticeable reaction.
Then, when Xi Qin’s tongue licked between his lips, Jiang Zhong could feel that Xi Qin noticed it.
Because Xi Qin paused for a moment and let out a muffled chuckle from his throat.
It was the middle of winter, and Jiang Zhong was wearing fleece-lined jeans. Xi Qin’s pants, whether fleece-lined or not, looked thick enough.
And Xi Qin could feel it!
Jiang Zhong could only think: it seems I’m indeed young and vigorous, Xiao Zhongzhong is so strong.
Being kissed hard by his own boyfriend wasn’t a big deal, but Jiang Zhong was speechless about the fact that he had repeatedly gotten aroused several times.
After kissing for a few minutes, Xi Qin finally released Jiang Zhong, who was almost out of breath, and buried his head in Jiang Zhong’s neck, breathing heavily.
Jiang Zhong took the chance to take a few deep breaths, hoping to calm down.
Just as he started to see some effect, Xi Qin came back for more.
After several rounds of this, Jiang Zhong feared he might make himself worse with the ups and downs, and, unable to tolerate it any longer, pushed Xi Qin away. He blew some cold air to completely suppress his restless feelings.
Back at the dimly lit edge of the track, Jiang Zhong buried his chin and lips into the scarf he had just re-tied.
If he could breathe properly, Jiang Zhong actually wanted to bury his nose as well.
Every person who passed by him and Xi Qin, Jiang Zhong would subconsciously glance at them.
He kept feeling that they had seen him and Xi Qin coming out from the small corner and could infer that he had been kissed against the fence for a long time.
Or maybe they saw the expressions on their faces and could deduce that he had been kissed against the fence for a long time.
“Who are you looking for?” Xi Qin asked as he watched Jiang Zhong glance this way and that, his head almost spinning in circles.
“No one.” Jiang Zhong scanned everyone within ten meters but found no “suspects.”
Xi Qin lifted his hand to smooth the hair at the back of Jiang Zhong’s head, which had been messed up during the kiss: “So, what were you looking at?”
Jiang Zhong shook off Xi Qin’s hand and lifted his face towards him: “Can you tell if there’s something different about me?”
“Hmm…” Xi Qin studied him seriously for a long moment. “Still as handsome as ever. If anything, you look a bit more…ripe.”
“What do you mean, ‘a bit more ripe’?” Jiang Zhong asked, confused.
Xi Qin smiled and lowered his voice. “When you’re fully ripe, I can eat you.”
Jiang Zhong glared at him. “You’re… disgusting!”
“That’s disgusting?” Xi Qin leaned closer. “I was thinking about doing more things to help you ripen faster.”
Jiang Zhong gritted his teeth. “Shameless!”
Xi Qin couldn’t help but mess up Jiang Zhong’s hair again, which he had just neatly fixed, laughing non-stop. “Why are you so cute?”
By the time they returned to the dorm, Deng Letian, who had already dropped off his girlfriend, was back.
“Why are you guys so late?” Deng Letian asked as soon as Jiang Zhong entered. “The library’s been closed for a while.”
“We grabbed something to eat,” Jiang Zhong replied vaguely.
“Yeah, thinking too hard burns calories.” Deng Letian didn’t question it. “I was just telling Xiao Yuan that maybe you two were out on a date and didn’t want to come back.”
Jiang Zhong stayed quiet, thinking Deng Letian wasn’t too far off.
“By the way, how come I’ve never heard you mention your new girlfriends?”
“Uh,” Jiang Zhong scrambled to think of an excuse. After a long pause, he finally said sadly, “Actually, my girlfriend is a high school classmate of mine…”
Xi Qin chimed in, “Mine is too.”
“Oh, long-distance, huh? Yeah, that must be tough,” Deng Letian assumed, finding the explanation for them.
Jiang Zhong remained silent, and Xi Qin, who was usually quiet in the dorm, didn’t say anything either.
Thinking he had accidentally brought up a “sensitive topic,” Deng Letian quickly changed the subject. “I’m a little hungry too. I think I’ll make some instant noodles.”
“Go ahead,” Jiang Zhong responded, trying to ease the awkwardness.
Suddenly, Deng Letian started eyeing both Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin closely. “Wait, did you guys just eat spicy hotpot or something? Your lips are all red.”
Jiang Zhong choked and nervously glanced at Xi Qin’s… lips.
They were indeed a bit red.
In a panic, Jiang Zhong turned his back to them and quickly took out his phone, switching on the front camera.
Oh crap, his own lips were even redder, and they looked a bit swollen too.
How embarrassing.
Is this what they call social death?
“Suddenly, these instant noodles don’t seem appealing anymore. I want to eat spicy hot pot too,” Deng Letian wailed.
Enough already!
Jiang Zhong felt like he would never be able to look at spicy hot pot the same way again.
“How about we go for a hotpot after the exams?” Deng Letian suggested.
“Sure.” Jiang Zhong just wanted to quickly move past the topic of malatang. “Aren’t you going to spend time with your girlfriend after the exams?”
“She’s going out with her friends for the day too, so we can have a little celebration,” Deng Letian said. “I’ll treat you guys to celebrate me finally getting into a relationship.”
After thinking for a moment, Deng Letian added, “As for you two with your long-distance relationships, you can treat us when you have the chance later.”
“Okay.” Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin exchanged a glance.
Xi Qin’s gaze dropped, fixing on Jiang Zhong’s lips, as he responded, “Mm.”
Jiang Zhong rolled his eyes slightly and turned to tidy up his desk, which had been left messy in his rush that morning.
The dorm room conversation settled down, and for a while, the only sounds in Dorm 412 were the quiet clinking of Jiang Zhong arranging his things, Deng Letian slurping his noodles, and Xiao Yuan occasionally flipping through a book.
Xi Qin had been silently looking at his phone without making any noise, but after a while, he stood up, the sound of his chair scraping the floor breaking the quiet.
Taking advantage of the moment when Deng Letian was focused on his noodles and Xiao Yuan was absorbed in his book, and no one was paying attention to them, Xi Qin stood up and swiftly pinched the back of Jiang Zhong’s neck before nonchalantly heading to the bathroom, acting as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Zhong shrank his neck in response, gritting his teeth in frustration.
Fortunately, he’d been alert enough to notice Xi Qin standing up, or else he would have definitely yelped from the pinch.
On the morning of January 15th, the final exam for the sophomore year Computer Science major was finished.
Jiang Zhong handed in his paper half an hour early, and after waiting in the hallway outside the exam room for less than two minutes, sure enough, Xi Qin followed and handed in his paper as well.
Throughout the exam period, it had been the same every time—Xi Qin never submitted his paper first, always waiting for Jiang Zhong to hand his in before following suit.
At first, when Jiang Zhong finished and was about to submit his paper, he thought Xi Qin hadn’t finished yet, so he took extra time to double-check his answers and wait for him.
At H University, dorms were assigned by student ID number, and Xi Qin’s student ID was just one number after Jiang Zhong’s, so they were seated right behind one another during exams.
After Jiang Zhong finished double-checking and changing one answer, he noticed that Xi Qin still hadn’t moved.
Pretending to stretch his neck, Jiang Zhong subtly glanced behind him and caught Xi Qin looking right at him.
Jiang Zhong quickly turned his head back, sitting up straight and staring ahead.
Suddenly, a strange tension arose—his newly-official boyfriend was sitting right behind him, noticing every little move he made.
Had he scratched his head while doing the exam? Did he slouch?
Jiang Zhong couldn’t remember and frowned, locking eyes with the invigilator standing at the front of the room.
Jiang Zhong felt like he could hear the invigilator’s inner monologue: Sigh, this kid clearly never pays attention in class and didn’t study properly either. Look how stressed he is! But I still have to keep an eye on him. Don’t even think about cheating to pass! He needs to fail once to learn his lesson.
After a moment, Jiang Zhong submitted his paper and left.
For the rest of his exams, once Jiang Zhong finished checking his answers and found no mistakes, he would submit the paper immediately. He couldn’t sit still when he had nothing to do, and if he turned his head around too much, not only would it attract extra attention from his boyfriend, but also suspicious looks from the invigilator.
Every time Jiang Zhong submitted his paper, Xi Qin would follow within two minutes, clearly having already finished before him.
“Finally, the exams are over!” Jiang Zhong exclaimed as he walked out of the academic building.
“Yeah,” Xi Qin replied, “When are you planning to head home?”
“Probably in the evening,” Jiang Zhong thought for a moment. “Didn’t Letian say he’s treating us to hotpot this afternoon? We might go somewhere afterward too. If it’s too late, I’ll head home tomorrow instead.”
Xi Qin: “…Oh.”
Jiang Zhong teased him, “What’s wrong? You don’t sound very happy.”
Xi Qin glanced at him, hesitant to speak.
Jiang Zhong urged, “Hmm?”
“Are you really just going home like that?” Xi Qin asked, sounding hurt.