Chapter 14 – Like
Translator: Xena
Editor: Vinny
Proofreader: Wint8
Girlfriend? Was he referring to him?
Cheng Yinian thought to himself, feeling a bit uneasy as he tidied up the stray strands of hair on his forehead. After the girl left and before he could approach, Lu Yan rushed over and asked, “Is that true? Chen Xiangsui, you have a girlfriend? And you didn’t even tell us?”
Chen Xiangsui looked somewhat embarrassed. “Let’s talk about it back at the dorm.”
The school competition ended with the victory of the School of Business. As the biggest contributor, Chen Xiangsui was surrounded by his teammates. It took a while to make his way out of the crowd and stand in front of Cheng Yinian. “Are you waiting for me?”
“……Hmm.” Cheng Yinian nodded. “Lu Yan and the others went back to the dorm first. They said they bought some delicious food to cook and celebrate.”
Chen Xiangsui replied with an okay and walked alongside Cheng Yinian as they talked. Cheng Yinian chatted with him about the basketball game earlier, asking Chen Xiangsui how long he had been practicing, about how intense the game was, and finally complimenting how cool his three-point shot was.
“I’ll go with you to the next class.” Chen Xiangsui noticed the banner in Cheng Yinian’s hand and tentatively reached out to take it. Seeing that the other party did not stop him, he unfolded it and looked at it. “Did you make this yourself?”
“……Hmm.” Cheng Yinian nodded a little shyly. He watched Chen Xiangsui’s gaze linger on each word before finally saying, “The writing is cute. Can I take a photo as a remembrance?”
When Cheng Yinian heard the praise, his heart felt like it was moved back and forth. “Then… I’ll just give it to you. I’ll make one for you again next time. If you like this, you can have it.”
“Won’t you get tired?”
Cheng Yinian smiled helplessly. “How could that be?”
Chen Xiangsui silently rolled up the handwritten banner. When they returned to the dormitory, he carefully placed it in a drawer and even locked it.
Lu Yan and Xu Zitang stood around a pot, putting in fish from a plate. The former noticed Chen Xiangsui’s figure enter the door and immediately greeted him, “Xiangsui, quick quick, come here, what’s this about a girlfriend?”
“Your excuse for rejecting girls?” Xu Zitang asked from beside him.
Chen Xiangsui shook his head, and even the usually calm Xu Zitang showed a surprised expression. Cheng Yinian sat directly across from Chen Xiangsui, his gaze instinctively evasive.
“I didn’t see any signs of you dating before. Where did this person come from?” Lu Yan scooped a piece of fish from the pot and placed it in Chen Xiangsui’s bowl, saying, “Tell me all about it.”
Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment, as if trying to organize his thoughts. “I met her online, and we often play games together.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed you’d be into online dating.” Lu Yan looked stunned. “The one you were chatting with in the dorm on the weekend?”
“He’s very cute.”1The pronoun for both male and female is pronounced the same, so the roommates would assume he’s talking about a girl here. Seeing Chen Xiangsui’s gaze fall on him for no apparent reason, Cheng Yinian felt uneasy and lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the food in his bowl while his ears continued to pick up on Chen Xiangsui’s words. “Not only is he cute, but he also has a good and gentle personality. It’s very relaxing and enjoyable to be with him.”
Lu Yan smiled like an aunt. “Alright, alright, I can see that you like her.” After saying this, his gaze inadvertently swept over Cheng Yinian beside him. “Why are you spacing out, Yinian? Your bowl is empty. Grab something to eat. What do you like?”
Cheng Yinian felt his ears grow slightly warm. Although Chen Xiangsui’s words were only referring to Nian Gao, he couldn’t help but feel slightly touched.
Before Cheng Yinian could respond, Chen Xiangsui scooped a large spoonful of meat from the pot and placed it all into his bowl. “Eat more.”
“Ah, mn.” Cheng Yinian wanted to bury his face in his bowl.
……
After lunch, Cheng Yinian opened the app store to look for new games as he had no more classes that afternoon. Before long, he couldn’t resist his curiosity and turned his head, only to find Chen Xiangsui watching a replay of his Sunday live stream.
Last Sunday, he played Maid Cafe, a game that tested hand speed. Cheng Yinian played the role of a maid in the game and had to prepare and serve food before the customers got angry and left. Given his hand speed, the game was a piece of cake for him. That night, he set a new record in the game rankings, and countless comments like “witnessing history” flooded the screen.
As the live replayed, a comment appeared on the screen: [Maid Nian Gao is ultimately the one holding the entire store together]
[Is this a maid? This is an octopus!]
[Thanks, Nian Gao, for reminding me that this is a game that requires fast reflexes. I log in every day just to change the maid’s clothes. Doesn’t anyone else think the maid outfits in the shop are super cute?!]
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but curl his lips slightly then refocused his gaze on his computer screen. Not long after, he noticed his phone vibrate. Someone had sent him a message. It was Chen Xiangsui. [Sorry, I couldn’t watch your live stream last Sunday.]
For convenience sake, Cheng Yinian set up a WeChat clone on his phone so he could log in to two accounts at the same time and receive messages from both sides.
Cheng Yinian was worried that the vibration of his message notification would attract Chen Xiangsui’s attention, so he hurriedly climbed onto the bed and replied: [It’s okay, Gege~ You can watch the replay]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, I’m watching it. I just can’t send gifts.]
Cheng Yinian: [Gege gave me enough already TUT]
Chen Xiangsui: [I’ll be happy to give you a bit more.]
[The maid character design in this game is very cute.]
Cheng Yinian: [Yeah, there’s a lot of fan art online! There are many more maid outfits available for exchange in the game mall, and they’re very popular!]
Chen Xiangsui: [Can I see what you’re wearing?]
[You’re also very cute.]
Cheng Yinian: [O///O If Gege wants to see it, I won’t refuse]
Chen Xiangsui: [You’re so obedient.]
[But I’m happy.]
Cheng Yinian felt that since the time they had confirmed their relationship online, Chen Xiangsui had become increasingly forward in this regard. He recalled what Chen Xiangsui had said during the hot pot dinner in the dormitory: ‘It was normal to like seeing someone you liked dressed up nicely.’ Thinking of this, Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of Nian Gao.
Cheng Yinian: [! What do you mean, “obedient”2乖: meaning obedient/well-behaved. This is usually used to coax children.? I’m not a child, you know~]
Chen Xiangsui: [You’re adorable like a child.]
[I placed an order for you.]
Cheng Yinian: [Q///Q! How can I let Gege treat me again?]
Chen Xiangsui: [It’s only natural to buy things for one’s girlfriend.]
Cheng Yinian: […Gege, I like you]
When Cheng Yinian typed these words, his fingers trembled slightly. He thought that since his relationship with Age had developed to such an unexpected extent, he might as well let himself go a little further and pour the emotions he had carefully hidden away in a corner of his heart into Nian Gao.
Chen Xiangsui: [I like you too.]
Cheng Yinian silently took a screenshot of these two sentences and saved them. Perhaps this would be his only response.
Before he could type his next reply in the input box, another message notification popped up at the top. He clicked on it and saw that it was of Lu Yan who had just changed his profile picture. Lu Yan had previously been a member of the gaming club and the vice president of the drama club, but because he took on more work than he could deal with, he soon quit the gaming club to focus on his work in the drama club.
Lu Yan: [Yinian! Are you free lately? Would you like to join the drama club?]
Cheng Yinian: [Um… out of the blue?]
He had little to do with Lu Yan’s work in the club, so when this invitation came so suddenly, he couldn’t help but feel confused.
Lu Yan: [Alright… To be honest, we’ve been rehearsing a new play recently and are a little short-handed. If you don’t mind, could you come and help?]
Cheng Yinian had been relatively free lately, with several courses coming to an end as the end of the semester approached. So he replied: [What exactly is it?]
Lu Yan: [According to the director, it seems like they need an extra. I’m not sure of the details yet, but basically, you just change into a costume and walk around on stage. There’s no lines, so it’s pretty easy.]
[I’ll treat you to a meal. Just tell me what you want. Even an all-inclusive hotpot in the dormitory is fine.]
Cheng Yinian: [Alright, I’ll go take a look.]
……
When Cheng Yinian arrived at the drama club’s activity room, he happened to catch the cast rehearsing. He found a seat in a corner and sat down. Although most of them were not professional actors, their performance created an atmosphere that drew Cheng Yinian into the play.
Lu Yan suddenly sat down next to Cheng Yinian. “How is it? Under my wise leadership, things are going pretty well, aren’t they?”
“It’s pretty good for non-professionals. I can tell you’ve been practicing a lot.”
“Indeed, although I spend most of my time with another production team, I am also very concerned about this one. The initial screening for the school anniversary program is coming up soon, and there are still many issues to be resolved.” Lu Yan sighed imperceptibly, “It’s almost over. I’ll take you to the director to ask.”
Lu Yan led Cheng Yinian backstage, and the director shook his head. “I said we’re short of a female actress. Did you get it wrong?”
“Really?” Lu Yan looked incredulous and hurriedly opened his phone to check his chat history. “Maybe I was too busy.”
Seeing that he couldn’t help, Cheng Yinian was about to say goodbye and leave, but Lu Yan still looked determined. “Yinian, would you like to…”
Before the other person could finish speaking, Cheng Yinian replied decisively, “…..I don’t think I can do it.”
He didn’t mind wearing women’s clothes in front of Chen Xiangsui, but asking him to stand on the stage wearing girls’ clothes would be worse than jumping off the roof.
“Why don’t you think of another way?” Lu Yan had no choice but to turn back and ask the director.
The director remained silent for a moment before speaking, “I asked them all, but they were either too busy or unwilling to get on stage, even when I told them they wouldn’t have many lines.”
He looked Cheng Yinian up and down for a moment, then tried to persuade him. “This character wears a mask throughout the entire performance. I can ask the makeup artist to put in some extra effort to ensure that no one will recognize you off stage. How does that sound?”
Lu Yan continued beside him, “Wanna try on some makeup? If you feel like you can’t get past that mental hurdle, you can always say no. Don’t feel embarrassed to say it out loud. You know I’m easy to talk to.”
After listening to Lu Yan’s words, Cheng Yinian reluctantly nodded his head. The vice president led him backstage just as Cheng Yinian received a message from Chen Xiangsui: [Where are you? I just got back and found you weren’t in the dorm.]
Cheng Yinian replied honestly: [I’m in the drama club activity room]
Chen Xiangsui: [I’m coming over to see you now.]
