Chapter 16 – Roses
Translator: Xena
Proofreader: Wint8
“Nothing, I just feel like I don’t call you very often.” Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment. “Am I disturbing you? Are you getting ready to go to bed?”
After receiving Cheng Yinian’s photos, Chen Xiangsui specifically searched online for ways to compliment a girlfriend’s appearance the right way, but the results were not satisfactory. When he scrolled to the bottom of the page, he noticed a push notification article at the very bottom: How to be a good boyfriend?
He couldn’t resist his curiosity and clicked on it. The first thing he saw was “deepen connections and maintain relationships.” As Age, he didn’t chat with Nian Gao often, and it was also because he could chat well with Cheng Yinian offline that it was always easy to overlook this point.
Since he accepted this identity, he must take responsibility for it. With that thought in mind, Chen Xiangsui made the call—even if it was just to say good night.
“It’s okay, I’m free right now and not planning on sleeping yet.” Cheng Yinian curved the corners of his mouth into a smile. “How about Gege? It’s so late, why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“I just picked up the phone and called without thinking about it. I don’t need to be early because I don’t have class tomorrow morning.”
Cheng Yinian’s gaze fell on the window. Although it was late at night, there were still many young people chatting and enjoying the breeze outside. Some were even playing basketball on the court. “Then I can talk to Gege a little longer. It’s already past eleven o’clock, but it’s still very lively downstairs.”
“Where are you right now?” Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help asking. He knew that Cheng Yinian’s family lived out of town, yet he was hardly ever in his dormitory on weekends.
Cheng Yinian hesitated for a moment before telling the truth about his situation. “Since it’s not very convenient to live stream from my dorm, I rented a place near the school specifically for this purpose. I usually stay here on weekends.”
He added, “Seems like a lot of people don’t like going to bed early. There are even people playing basketball on the court. Last time I heard Gege say you’re practicing for a basketball game, did you practice until this late?”
“No, it’s not that tough.”
“That’s good. Although I’m happy to talk with Gege, it would be better for you to go to bed early.” Cheng Yinian occasionally stayed up late to stream, so his schedule was occasionally irregular. But based on his observations of Chen Xiangsui in the dormitory, Chen Xiangsui always went to bed and woke up earlier than everyone else. He had only seen him stay up late a few times.
“It’s okay.” Although he said this, Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help yawning. He forced himself to hold it back, continuing to talk to Cheng Yinian while glancing at the post that had caught his attention earlier: Express your love to your girlfriend often, tell her that you like her or love her.
Chen Xiangsui thought for a moment. As a close friend, he had a favorable impression of Cheng Yinian and appreciated his candor. He could totally say that he liked him, but he felt that he didn’t know how to grasp the timing.
When the conversation was at its end, Chen Xiangsui thought that the moment was right, so after Cheng Yinian said good night, he replied, “Good night, I like you.”
This sentence hit Cheng Yinian like a bomb. The scorching fragments spread through his eardrums, and it was as if his entire body temperature had risen in an instant. Compared to a text message, hearing those words come out of Chen Xiangsui’s mouth made him feel even more embarrassed.
Even if this sentence only belonged to Nian Gao.
“I like you too, Gege.”
Cheng Yinian smiled helplessly.
“I’ve always liked you.”
……
Although he didn’t have class, Chen Xiangsui still got up early as usual. He estimated that Cheng Yinian would return to the dormitory this morning, so he left a message for Cheng Yinian, asking him what time he would arrive. He received a reply shortly after, saying that he had woken up late and would arrive at the dormitory around 10 o’clock, and that he hadn’t had time to eat breakfast yet.
Thus, when Cheng Yinian returned to his bunk, he found two steaming hot meat buns on his desk, accompanied by a cup of warm soy milk.
He turned around and happened to see Chen Xiangsui sitting in front of his laptop doing his homework. “Xiangsui, did you buy this for me?”
“Hmm.” Chen Xiangsui heard him and looked at Cheng Yinian. “We’ll clean up later. Let’s eat while it’s still hot.”
Cheng Yinian nodded, shoveling all the food on the table into his mouth. The hunger he had felt on the way there was instantly gone. He took off his sneakers and was about to change into his slippers when he remembered that his slippers were cracked and couldn’t be worn anymore. He also hadn’t bought new ones yet.
He had no choice but to walk barefoot on the tile flooring of the dormitory. As soon as his feet touched the ground, a chill enveloped him. He frowned but continued what he was doing anyway.
Chen Xiangsui had just stood up from his seat facing his laptop when he quickly noticed. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
“My slippers are broken and I forgot to buy new ones,” Cheng Yinian replied nonchalantly. Just as he was about to push his suitcase to the corner of the dormitory, he was stopped by Chen Xiangsui. The other person directly grabbed his suitcase and placed it aside, then grabbed him by the waist and lifted him up, finally placing him on a chair. “Your feet are frozen red.”
Chen Xiangsui’s gaze lingered for a moment on his white, smooth feet, which were slightly red from the cold, then quickly looked away and returned to his seat to fetch a small blanket to cover Cheng Yinian’s feet. “It’s a bit warmer like this. I’ll put your luggage away for you. Is there anything else I can do for you? I’ll tidy up for you, then go to the supermarket to buy you some new slippers.”
“You’ve helped me so much, I’m a little…”
Chen Xiangsui wrinkled his brows. He wondered why Cheng Yinian would still say such things at this point. They had been friends for over a year in real life, and he had assumed that after everything they had been through, they would be close, but he still acted so distant. “Yinian, I think it’s only natural for me to help you.”
And he could even be considered a boyfriend—though Cheng Yinian in real life didn’t know that.
“Can you rely on me?” Chen Xiangsui met Cheng Yinian’s gaze. When you wanted me to accompany you during your live stream online, you would always tell me even though I’m just an online friend you had never met before, he thought.
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but look into the other person’s eyes. He hesitated for a moment before speaking. “…Then put away my suitcase quickly and go buy me new slippers.”
What a hopelessly stupid straight man. Cheng Yinian sighed silently to himself.
Chen Xiangsui smiled brightly. “Okay, wait for me.”
The supermarket was right downstairs in the dormitory building. Chen Xiangsui didn’t take long and soon returned with a new pair of black slippers for Cheng Yinian.
Cheng Yinian was just about to put it on when Chen Xiangsui gently held his foot through the blanket. “Your feet are still cold. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I’m going to the restroom.” Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but curve his lips upward, revealing the dimple on his left cheek.
Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help but chuckle a few times as he helped pick up the blanket, about to put Cheng Yinian’s shoes on for him. “Hold on to the blanket, and cover yourself with it later.”
Cheng Yinian hurriedly broke free from Chen Xiangsui’s grip on his ankle and said helplessly, “No, thanks. I’ll do it myself.”
……
Cheng Yinian went to the restroom, while Chen Xiangsui sat at his desk and checked his class schedule. There was a tax law class in the afternoon. He woke up fifteen minutes early, just enough time to stroll leisurely to the teaching building with Cheng Yinian.
He remembered what the push notification article said about giving his girlfriend little surprises often, so on the way, he held Cheng Yinian’s hand in his pocket as usual, then asked, “Do you like flowers?”
Chen Xiangsui knew that girls liked flowers, but he wasn’t sure about Cheng Yinian’s preferences.
“Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?” Cheng Yinian paused for a moment. “I wouldn’t go out of my way to grow flowers myself, but if someone gave them to me, I think I’d really like them.”
Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment, thinking that asking directly, coupled with the coincidence of sending flowers later, might give him away. So he covered himself by saying, “I just… wanted to give it to someone else. I was thinking that if you know a lot about flowers, I could ask you for some advice. If you like, I can bring you some next time.”
“……That’s not necessary.” Cheng Yinian smiled awkwardly. “Is it for your… girlfriend?”
Chen Xiangsui gave an affirmative answer. Cheng Yinian’s lips moved a few times before he spoke. “I don’t know much about flowers, so I may not be able to give you useful advice.”
Cheng Yinian said this out of selfish motives. He wanted to preserve Chen Xiangsui’s surprise.
Chen Xiangshui said it was okay and that he would think about it some more. Two minutes before class started, the two entered the classroom and sat down in the middle row.
During the ten-minute break between classes, Chen Xiangsui sent a message to Nian Gao while covering his screen with his textbook so that no one would accidentally see it, [Are you free tomorrow afternoon? I have something to give you.]
Cheng Yinian’s phone vibrated. Seeing that it was a message from Age, he quickly tucked his phone between his textbook and covered it up. [Thanks, Gege~ But isn’t it a delivery? So it doesn’t matter if I’m free or not]
After replying, he subconsciously glanced at Chen Xiangsui’s side. Even when sending a messages during class, he would take the opportunity to look at his textbook. He was really studying hard.
Chen Xiangsui watched his phone screen light up and couldn’t help but glance over at Cheng Yinian. He used a textbook to cover his phone when replying to the message, looking very protective of his privacy. [This time, I must hand this over to you immediately. Could you let me know your address if possible? I placed an order on the app.]
[OWO… I’m at school right now. Just fill in the address as the south campus gate of Xunxi’s School of Finance and Economics la] Cheng Yinian carefully checked on a navigation app and found that the south campus gate of the School of Finance and Economics was the closest to Xunxi University’s main campus, but even so, it was still quite a distance away.
Therefore, when Chen Xiangsui saw this reply, he couldn’t help but frown.
[Okay.] Chen Xiangsui replied briefly. When class ended, he and Cheng Yinian walked side by side to the cafeteria. Halfway there, he asked, “Yinian, are you free tomorrow afternoon?”
“When exactly? I’m going out tomorrow afternoon.”
Sure enough, Cheng Yinian was planning to go out of his way to pick up the flowers, Chen Xiangsui thought to himself. He then threw out the invitation he had carefully worded during class earlier. “I want to go see a friend at the South Campus of the School of Finance and Economics, can you accompany me? Maybe after lunch.”
Cheng Yinian was so startled that he nearly choked on his breath. The location was strikingly similar to the address he had just provided, leading him to suspect that Chen Xiangsui had prepared another surprise for him—an unexpected meeting. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. I might not have enough time.”
“I’ll drive you there. It won’t take long.” Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help but wonder why Cheng Yinian reacted so strongly. It was just a coincidence of location; it shouldn’t have been enough for the other party to connect his itinerary with Age. He thought that since it was a rare opportunity and they were going in the same direction, Cheng Yinian would be happy to agree.
Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help but pause for a moment. “It won’t be too late. What happened in the dorm this morning doesn’t count anymore?”
“…” Cheng Yinian had no idea what to do with Chen Xiangsui. “Then I’ll accompany you.”
I’ll just have to think of another plan, Cheng Yinian thought.
It wasn’t until he returned to the dormitory that Cheng Yinian received a new message from Age, saying that the items would be delivered around 1:00 PM. Cheng Yinian calculated that it would be about the time they drive to the college gate after lunch. He pondered for a moment, then hinted, [It’s not Gege who will personally send it, right? T^T I’m not ready to see Gege yet huhu]
Chen Xiangsui: [No. I placed an order on the app, I can’t come by.]
He and Chen Xiangsui had no classes tomorrow afternoon, but Chen Xiangsui lied and said he was busy to assure him. His heart couldn’t help but stir a little.
……
So the next day after lunch, Cheng Yinian sat comfortably in the passenger seat next to Chen Xiangsui. Perhaps Chen Xiangsui really did happen to have a friend at the School of Finance and Economics, he thought.
Chen Xiangsui drove fast and steady, arriving earlier than the estimated time on the navigation app. As soon as he got out of the car, Chen Xiangsui called Cheng Yinian and entered the gate of the School of Finance and Economics, while the latter waited alone at the school gate.
Cheng Yinian glanced at the time on his phone. It was almost one o’clock. The weather was perfect today, with a little sunshine falling on people’s faces, making this winter day not so bone-chillingly cold.
He specifically gave the other party his campus card number, which he only used for internet access, so that Chen Xiangsui wouldn’t be able to recognize him from his cell phone number. The delivery rider arrived earlier than expected. Before the other party could call, Cheng Yinian stepped forward and reported his own campus card number. “Good day, here are your flowers.”
Cheng Yinian received the large bouquet of red roses. Although they were not rare and perhaps every couple had exchanged these red roses at some point, he still clutched the bouquet tightly to his chest, as if embracing his unattainable love.
All he could see was the hot red before him, so much so that he never noticed the gaze fixed on him from behind.
After Chen Xiangsui entered the school gate, he just took advantage of Cheng Yinian’s inattention to sneak behind a towering tree nearby. He watched as the bouquet of roses was handed to Cheng Yinian and saw the look on his face as if he had just received a precious treasure. He suddenly curved the corners of his mouth into a smile, though this smile contained a certain inexplicable impurity.
If someone like Age can make Cheng Yinian happy, then there’s nothing wrong with that, he thought.
