Chapter 22 – Busy?
Translator: Xena
Chen Xiangsui continued flipping through the pages. At the end of the article was the line: “Between lovers, a kiss and a heartbeat will provide the answer.” With that, the entire article concluded. It seemed like there might be more to come. So, after pondering for a moment, he tapped the follow button next to the author’s profile picture.
He glanced at the time on his phone and saw that it was almost time to head to class. Seeing that Cheng Yinian hadn’t gotten out of bed yet, he turned back and called out, “Yinian, time to get up for class.”
“Alright, let me change first.” Cheng Yinian replied, and Chen Xiangsui’s gaze naturally drifted toward the source of the sound. Only then did he notice the other’s bed curtain hadn’t been fully drawn, leaving a small gap. He vaguely caught a glimpse of Cheng Yinian’s figure before quickly averting his eyes. Chen Xiangsui paused briefly at the doorway with his backpack on his back. Cheng Yinian followed behind him. “Let’s go.”
Cheng Yinian’s gaze shifted toward Chen Xiangsui. He sensed something off about the other man today. For instance, instead of slipping his hand into his own coat pocket as usual, Chen Xiangsui gripped his hand tightly through the sleeve fabric.
Regardless, Cheng Yinian felt that the two actions were equally ambiguous.
He just placed an order for a keyboard last night, listing Chen Xiangsui as the recipient. A few days earlier, he received a gift from Chen Xiangsui. Upon opening it, he discovered it was accounting materials. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Who gives their girlfriend something like this?
However, after flipping through a few pages, Cheng Yinian found that the materials were indeed better organized and summarized than the textbooks. It was quite practical.
On Saturday, while at his rented place, he specifically mentioned the gift to Age: [The stuff Gege gave me is super practical~ Feels like I’ll really buckle down and study my major courses from now on O3O]
Chen Xiangsui: [That’s good.]
[The keyboard you gave me is also very practical.] I still remember the video I promised you last time. I used a tripod to find the angle myself, so it might not be perfect. Cheng Yinian: [It’s okay~ I’m just happy to see you, Gege~]
The video arrived quickly. Cheng Yinian clicked to view it. Though the angle was far from ideal, wherein the face was conveniently obscured, at least it showed Chen Xiangsui practicing on the court. His movements were polished, and the light fell at just the right angle.
Cheng Yinian silently downloaded it and sent a video back to the other person: [Gege looks so cool when he plays basketball~ I feel like I look kinda clumsy in my own video QAQ]
Before filming this video, Cheng Yinian specifically went to watch the streams Chen Xiangsui usually enjoyed on a certain platform; of girls performing cute poses or dancing to upbeat music.
Am I going to do this? Cheng Yinian earnestly questioned himself repeatedly. Dancing was out of the question, but putting on a few poses might just be manageable if he could set aside his shame.
Cheng Yinian tried to convince himself it was just an online persona. He changed into a dress, donned cat ears, and struck a kitten pose, as if he truly were a little black cat, waving his paws at the person on the other side of the screen.
Though he once considered smashing his head against the mirror throughout the whole ordeal, he managed to restrain himself from a series of seemingly desperate actions and sent the video instead. He simply couldn’t bear to watch, so he didn’t verify the video’s effectiveness.
Chen Xiangsui opened the video. Within seconds of starting it, a wave of embarrassment rose in his chest, tugging at his gaze. He felt an urge to look away, yet couldn’t help but keep watching Cheng Yinian mimic the movements of a kitten.
How could Cheng Yinian be so adorable? He thought. The video finished playing, and Chen Xiangsui downloaded it to his phone.
But he quickly snapped out of it. He couldn’t let these things affect his view of Cheng Yinian. How could he feel embarrassed watching his bro’s video?
He wanted to carefully figure out all the steps and answers to that question. [I’ve been really busy these past few days, so I might not be able to chat with you much for a while.]
Cheng Yinian: [What’s keeping you so busy? I’m curious~ I’ll miss you, Gege]
Chen Xiangsui had always believed that Cheng Yinian cared so deeply for him because Age held some special significance for him, just as he always felt Cheng Yinian was like a little rabbit that needed to be looked after.
But Chen Xiangsui couldn’t quite figure out just how special Cheng Yinian was to him.
Chen Xiangsui: [I’m busy with certification exams. It’s all academic matters.]
[If you really need to reach me, feel free to call. I may hang up if I’m in places like the library where it’s inconvenient to answer, but I’ll call you back later.]
Cheng Yinian: [Sure! Let’s play games together after Gege finishes up.]
Cheng Yinian frowned at the dialog box. Chen Xiangsui had passed the Basic Accounting Exam and CET-4 and CET-6 tests during his freshman year. So, what else could he possibly be applying for at this stage? He didn’t think much of it, simply assuming that Chen Xiangsui truly had urgent matters to attend to, and that the reason might be inconvenient to share with him.
Yet in reality, Chen Xiangsui carried on as usual, attending classes daily, hanging out with his roommates during free time, and even gaming together. It was impossible to tell where he found the time to be so busy.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Xiangsui had just finished a duo queue game of TT with Cheng Yinian. After the match ended, he noticed his partner seemingly deep in thought. “Still moping about that old account you couldn’t recover?”
Before, Cheng Yinian had simply been changing his nickname. Only after the frequency of dormitory online gaming sessions increased recently did he deliberately create a new secondary account, falsely claiming he had lost the password to his main account. “No, I’m thinking about something else.”
“Are you unhappy?” Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment before reaching out to pull Cheng Yinian into his embrace. The top of the other’s head brushed against the hollow of his neck, tickling him slightly, not unpleasantly, though.
Cheng Yinian let out an almost imperceptible sigh. “Is that the only way you know how to comfort someone?”
“I’ll get you beef bowl with beef meatballs.” Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help but feel secretly puzzled. How could Cheng Yinian ask such a question? He had clearly spent the entire week trying his best to cheer the him up.
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but curve his lips. It was indeed the kind of solution Chen Xiangsui would come up with. “Alright, I was just thinking about things. I’m not upset.”
“That means you’ve got something on your mind.” Chen Xiangsui withdrew his hand from Cheng Yinian’s shoulder. “I’ll go get you something to eat.”
Chen Xiangsui descended the stairs while pulling out his phone to text Nian Gao: [You lost to me, so you have to tell me about anything that’s bothering you.]
Cheng Yinian: [QWQ?] [Why did you suddenly say that, Gege? I’m not upset at all～]
[But aren’t you busy today? Why did you suddenly come looking for me?]
Chen Xiangsui: [I’m worried about you.] [You promised me, so you can’t go back on your word.]
Cheng Yinian: [T_T… If I absolutely have to say something, it’s that I haven’t been chatting with Gege much lately.]
Chen Xiangsui couldn’t help but frown. After just a day and a half without chatting, he was already this moody. Age was just a man who only knew how to send gifts and make phone calls, so why did Cheng Yinian cling to him like this?
Can’t he accompany the other instead?
Chen Xiangsui immediately switched accounts to message Cheng Yinian, saying he was on his way and asking if there was anything else he wanted to eat. The other person replied, “nope,” so he bought the food and returned to the dormitory, gently placing the lunchbox on Cheng Yinian’s desk. “Would you like to take a walk with me this afternoon?”
Cheng Yinian accepted Chen Xiangsui’s unexpected invitation. The main campus of Xun City University was vast, and it was easy to get lost if it was someone’s first time visiting. When Cheng Yinian first enrolled as a freshman, he deliberately spent an entire afternoon familiarizing himself with the layout. He was quick to navigate not only in games but also in real life. After that day, he could reach any destination swiftly, even without a map.
As he walked past the court with Chen Xiangsui, several boys playing basketball were taking a break during halftime. Their eyes happened to fall in their direction, and they waved a greeting to Chen Xiangsui.
“Do you wanna play with them for a while?” Cheng Yinian asked.
“No.” Chen Xiangsui’s gaze clearly shifted toward Cheng Yinian. “I’ll stay with you.”
Cheng Yinian waved his hand. “It’s okay, I’ll go buy some drinks. You go ahead.”
“Then I’ll wait for you to come back.” Chen Xiangsui finished speaking and headed toward the court. Cheng Yinian stepped away temporarily, went to a nearby supermarket to buy drinks, and invited Chen Xiangsui’s teammates to have a drink with him.
When he returned with a plastic bag full of groceries, he noticed Chen Xiangsui had already left the court. He seemed to be talking to a girl by the aisle. Moments later, he pulled out his phone and appeared to be scanning a QR code.
Cheng Yinian’s drink fell to the floor as he couldn’t help but connect the scene before him with Age’s lies to him.
Aren’t I supposed to be your girlfriend? Cheng Yinian gritted his teeth. Did it not count because it was just online?
“Yinian?” After the girl left, Chen Xiangsui immediately dashed toward Cheng Yinian, picking up the plastic bag that had fallen to the ground. “Why is everything on the floor? Is it too heavy?”
“Just a slip of the finger.” Cheng Yinian reached out to snatch the item from Chen Xiangsui’s hand, but the other deliberately dodged his grasp. “I’ll take it. I’m afraid you might drop it again.”
Cheng Yinian tried to grab it several times, but Chen Xiangsui stopped him each time. It wasn’t until evening, when they’ve returned to the dormitory, that Chen Xiangsui finally placed the bag full of drinks on Cheng Yinian’s desk. “You buy this much all at once?”
“Mm.” Cheng Yinian casually agreed before passing a bottle to Lu Yan and Xu Zitang’s table and then turning back to keep pouring one down his throat. Chen Xiangsui couldn’t stand by any longer and reached out to stop him, snatching the drink bottle right out of his hand. “You can’t live off this.”
“Leave me alone.” Cheng Yinian opened a new bottle, but no matter how many bottles he brought, Chen Xiangsui snatched them all away. “I’m really worried about you. Is it… because your friends have been neglecting you that you’re feeling down?”
Cheng Yinian was quite surprised that Chen Xiangsui could guess so accurately. “My boyfriend dumped me.”
Chen Xiangsui’s fingers trembled involuntarily. He tossed his drink aside and wrapped his arms around Cheng Yinian’s waist from behind. “You’re so adorable, no one would ever turn you down.”
“But he lied to me just to avoid talking to me.” Cheng Yinian tried to break free from Chen Xiangsui’s embrace, but the other man only tightened his hold. He couldn’t turn back to see the expression on the man’s face.
“Perhaps he has his reasons. Or maybe he’ll explain it to you later. Don’t be angry with him.” Chen Xiangsui buried his face directly in Cheng Yinian’s neck, like a small animal begging for forgiveness.
Cheng Yinian stared silently at the empty beverage can on the table, while Chen Xiangsui continued his persuasion from behind. “Do you want to ask him now? Don’t brood over it.” After speaking, he even freed up a hand to help bring Cheng Yinian’s phone, which had been set aside, closer to him.
“I’ll go get you some food first. How about a beef rice bowl with extra beef meatballs?” Chen Xiangsui slowly released Cheng Yinian, then tidied up all the drinks on the table. Not drowning sorrows in alcohol but in sparkling water, Chen Xiangsui thought, like a child.
Cheng Yinian switched accounts and sent Age a message: [Gege, you lied to me. You’re not really busy at all, right?]
Chen Xiangsui: [Sorry, I’ve just been feeling a bit off lately. I was afraid I might affect you.”
[You mean a lot to me and I wouldn’t ignore you on purpose. I like you.]
Cheng Yinian: [Oh? You didn’t go out of your way to meet other girls, did you?]
Chen Xiangsui: [I have never. [Image]]
He sent his account chat list. Cheng Yinian knew that Chen Xiangsui had another account, so this image held no persuasive power. But upon calming down and reflecting, he realized he had no grounds to question Chen Xiangsui. After all, even his gender was a lie.
Besides, it was just exchanging contact info. Chen Xiangsui didn’t actually do anything with the girl. He was just being way too sensitive.
Cheng Yinian: [Forgive me, Gege~ Don’t lie to me anymore.]
[I like you.]
……
No sooner had he sent the message than Chen Xiangsui returned from the cafeteria with their lunch. Opening the disposable container, he noticed Cheng Yinian struggling to pick up the beef balls with his chopsticks. Taking the utensils from him, he plucked one and held it to his lips. “Careful, it’s hot.”
“…Hmm.” Cheng Yinian had intended to swallow the meatball whole, but somehow, today’s beef meatball was unusually large. As he forced it into his mouth and began chewing, his cheeks puffed out so much that Chen Xiangsui couldn’t resist poking one of them.
Cheng Yinian instinctively stepped back. “Don’t tease me.”
“Is this teasing?” Chen Xiangsui put on a puzzled expression. “I find this very cute.”
Cheng Yinian looked utterly helpless. “You really do love using the word ‘cute.’”
“I’ve only told you this.” Chen Xiangsui’s tone seemed like he was describing some kind of scientific common knowledge.
Cheng Yinian awkwardly scooped a mouthful of rice into his lunchbox with his spoon. “…Okay.”
Today’s beef balls were wonderfully chewy, with a juicy center. Having learned his lesson from downing it in one gulp last time, Cheng Yinian carefully took a bite first, only to accidentally splash soup all over Chen Xiangsui. Cheng Yinian immediately reached for the tissues, but Chen Xiangsui stopped him. “No need. I’ll just go to the restroom to rinse off.”
Chen Xiangsui set down his chopsticks and headed straight for the restroom. Cheng Yinian was quietly shoveling food into his mouth when his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of Chen Xiangsui’s phone screen still lit up with a message that had just come in.
[Did you see the message I sent?]
Cheng Yinian recalled the girl and couldn’t resist swiping his finger across the screen a few times before opening the chat window. Only after swiping up did he realize the message sender was the girl who’d joined him on the basketball court that afternoon. Her and Chen Xiangsui were in the same department, and all their interactions had been purely work-related.
Cheng Yinian thought to himself, “I really am being overly sensitive.” He also saw his own nickname in the chat list. The words “Yiniannian” caught his eye. He couldn’t help but frown. Didn’t I say not to call me that? He just wouldn’t listen.
He couldn’t resist his curiosity. Once he started, he wanted to explore it to the end. He switched his phone screen back to the home screen and only then noticed another WeChat clone. Tapping it revealed it was indeed the account Chen Xiangsui usually used to chat with him.
And on the note accompanying Nian Gao, Chen Xiang’s inscription boldly read: Yiniannian.
Author’s Note:
Before I knew it, we’ve reached this part of the story. (rubbing hands)
Sure enough, class roll call is the best alarm clock—meaning I slept through today’s online class in a daze (…)
