Chapter 3 – Meet

Chapter 3: Meet
Translator:Xena
Editor: Wint8

“Be careful.” Seeing Cheng Yinian stumble, Chen Xiangsui hurried over to help him up. 

The name Chen Xiangsui called out struck Cheng Yinian like a hammer blow. Although Lu Yan and Xu Zitang also called him Yinian, this was the first time Chen Xiangsui had addressed him directly by his first name.

Cheng Yinian had just climbed down the bed ladder when Chen Xiangsui opened the lid of the wonton package. “Just sit here and eat, Yinian.” 

“Yes, thank you.” Cheng Yinian nodded awkwardly, sat down at Chen Xiangsui’s desk, picked up the plastic spoon, scooped up a wonton, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in his mouth. It was from his favorite restaurant. 

“You can also call me Xiangsui.”

Cheng Yinian almost choked to death on a wonton.

Chen Xiangsui hurriedly unscrewed the lid of his water bottle and handed it to Cheng Yinian. Isn’t this too soon? he thought. He still remembered when Cheng Yinian first arrived at the dormitory and he cautiously asked if he could call him by his first name. At that time, he felt a little uncomfortable as none of his friends had ever called him that before.  

For some reason, hearing Lu Yan and Xu Zitang call him that, he also wanted to call the person in front of him Yinian.

Cheng Yinian didn’t think much of it and gulped down a large mouthful of water. When he put down the water bottle, he realized that he had drunk from Chen Xiangsui’s bottle and felt a little embarrassed.

“Are you feeling any better?” Chen Xiangsui unconsciously touched Cheng Yinian’s back. 

“I’m fine.” Cheng Yinian paused for a moment before answering, “…Xiangsui.” 

Chen Xiangsui hesitated slightly. “I’m glad nothing happened. We have class soon. Take your time eating, there’s no rush. I’ll walk you there.”  

Cheng Yinian asked Chen Xiangsui if he wanted to eat and the other replied that he had already eaten. So he quietly finished his meal alone, put his textbooks in his bag, and changed into his usual canvas shoes.

“Let’s go.” Chen Xiangsui pushed open the dormitory door. 

……

Chen Xiangsui had a secondhand bicycle he had bought from a senior. It looked brand new, and it was obvious that the previous owner had maintained it very well. Chen Xiangsui has been using it since his freshman year and he obviously takes good care of it, as there were no scratches on the bike. 

Cheng Yinian watched Chen Xiangsui push his bicycle out from under the bike shed and mount it with practiced ease. “Come on up.” 

The person standing next to him froze for a moment, then sat down on the back of the bicycle, both hands tightly gripping Chen Xiangsui’s shirt collar. However, the next second, Cheng Yinian’s wrist was grabbed and forcibly pulled to the waist of the person in front of him. “This way, you can hold on more securely.”  

“It’s okay, I won’t fall,” Cheng Yinian spoke awkwardly, wishing he could bury his face. 

“If you hold it steady, you won’t.”

After saying this, Chen Xiangsui rode his bicycle toward the school building. It seemed like there wasn’t much time left before class started. There were few students walking on the road. Chen Xiangsui pedaled his bicycle quickly and arrived at the classroom just as the bell rang. 

Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but smile, revealing a small dimple on his left cheek. “The teacher just saw us biking here.” 

“It’s okay, he doesn’t know us.” Chen Xiangsui’s gaze suddenly froze on Cheng Yinian’s face. “You smile beautifully.” 

Cheng Yinian couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed, “Yeah, is that so…” 

“Hmm. Let’s go to class first.” 

After saying that, Chen Xiangsui took his textbook out of his bag. This class was Introduction to Maoism, which Cheng Yinian found very boring, so he usually doesn’t pay much attention. He turned his head to look at Chen Xiangsui next to him, who was carefully comparing the PowerPoint slides with his textbook and making notes.  

“What’s wrong?” Chen Xiangsui noticed his gaze. 

He turned away sheepishly and said, “Nothing.” Then he saw Chen Xiangsui take his textbook, patiently flip to the page the teacher was lecturing on, and underline a few lines of text. “It’s here.” 

“……Thank you.” Faced with Chen Xiangsui’s solemn demeanor, Cheng Yinian felt somewhat ashamed. 

Cheng Yinian spent half of the class daydreaming and the other half watching what Chen Xiangsui was doing. He watched Chen Xiangsui write annotations in his textbook, his cursive writing very beautiful. 

When class ended, Chen Xiangsui invited him to walk back to the dormitory together. Cheng Yinian felt small branches twinge in excitement inside his heart. He had never walked side by side with Chen Xiangsui before.

Chen Xiangsui spoke very little along the way, so Cheng Yinian tried to find some topics to talk about, such as how Chen Xiangsui listened to Introduction to Maoism and whether he thought the teacher would give him a passing grade. Chen Xiangsui basically only answered whatever he was asked, making it easy for the conversation to die. 

Cheng Yinian felt that Chen Xiangsui wasn’t cold, he just wasn’t very good with words. In order to keep the conversation going, Cheng Yinian talked nonstop the entire way, while Chen Xiangsui only replied occasionally, making him feel a bit embarrassed. “I’m sorry, am I being too loud?”

“No.” Chen Xiangsui looked at Cheng Yinian and said, “It’s nice to hear you talk.” 

The small branches swayed even more violently.

……

There were no classes until lunchtime, so Cheng Yinian wanted to try and speedrun a 2D level-breaking game. Before he could turn on his laptop, his phone on the desk vibrated. 

Cheng Yinian subconsciously picked up the phone and saw that Chen Xiangsui had sent a message to the WeChat account of the game streamer Nian Gao: [When is your next live stream?]

Cheng Yinian checked his class schedule and replied: [Probably on the weekend. I have classes every day this week and don’t have any free time, you know~]

[Does Gege want to play? QUQ]

Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, a little.]

[Are you still a college student? What school?] 

Cheng Yinian: [O///O Why did Gege suddenly ask me that? I’m in Xunxi~]

Chen Xiangsui: [I’m in Xunxi too.]

[Can we meet up?]

Cheng Yinian almost dropped his phone on the floor. He hesitated for a while before typing again in the input box: [Q///Q! Why so sudden ya? I’ll be shy~ I have classes and live streams coming up, so I might not be available oh~]  

Chen Xiangsui: [It’s okay, let’s do it later.]

Cheng Yinian was afraid that Chen Xiangsui would be disappointed and think that he didn’t trust him: [I’m sorry, Gege~ I really want to see you too, but I really can’t QAQ]

Chen Xiangsui: [Would you like to exchange photos with me?]

Cheng Yinian was thinking of an excuse to refuse when Chen Xiangsui sent a photo of himself. However, the lighting was dim, and it was almost impossible to see his face clearly. Only his silhouette could be vaguely discerned, and it was obvious that someone else had taken the photo.

Chen Xiangsui: […My hand slipped, I’m sorry.]

Cheng Yinian: [It’s okayaa~ This photo of you looks great, O///O. Since that’s the case, I’ll send one too~ But I don’t have any particularly good photos right now. I’ll send you one later ya]

Chen Xiangsui: [Okay.]

[It’s also okay if you don’t.]

Cheng Yinian was a bit embarrassed to refuse: [How could that be?~ I’d be happy to send one to Gege]

Chen Xiangsui: [Thank you.]

……

After sending the message, Chen Xiangsui glanced at Cheng Yinian sitting in front of the laptop. The other person didn’t seem to react much, just sighing lightly. 

He didn’t recognize me, Chen Xiangsui thought. Today, Cheng Yinian smiled at him, revealing his adorable dimples, and chatted with him along the way. Chen Xiangsui thought that Cheng Yinian must not be afraid of him anymore, and that they could get closer without relying on their relationship as a live streamer and a fan. That was why he was so eager to reveal his true identity. 

Chen Xiangsui felt that it was inappropriate to say it directly so he thought of this roundabout method of meeting in person, but it was clearly unsuccessful. Then he thought of sending photos. 

He flipped through the entire album, but there were only a few photos he could see. He enlarged the only photo his friend had taken for him and looked at it closely, but he couldn’t see his own face clearly.  He wanted to close it, but somehow it was sent out.

These days, Chen Xiangsui has been hanging out with Cheng Yinian as usual. Occasionally, they bump into each other, and when they do, they would go to class together and eat together in the cafeteria. Lu Yan was surprised by how quickly their relationship progressed. “It seems like you made rapid progress after a night’s sleep.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Cheng Yinian replied sheepishly. 

“It is appropriate to be talkative at this age.” Chen Xiangsui curved the corners of his mouth slightly. 

Lu Yan directly grabbed his rice bowl and stuck it between the two people. “This is perfect, next time the four of us can play games together. I know that Yinian mostly plays single-player games, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t play multiplayer games, right?”  

“Sure sure, but I haven’t played MOBA¹MOBA: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena much, so I’ll probably slow everyone down.”

“Then we won’t play it. We don’t mind letting you win. I bought a new online horror game with Xu Zitang. This one is definitely perfect for you.”  Lu Yan finished speaking and glanced at Chen Xiangsui. “Xiangsui, you’re not afraid, are you?”

When Cheng Yinian heard the name Xiangsui, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He waited over a year before he could finally say it, but Lu Yan could just blurt it out so casually. 

“No, I play it all the time,” Chen Xiangsui replied. 

“Perfect. Let’s play together when we have time.” 

 Cheng Yinian said he had to pick up a package and told Chen Xiangsui he would go back to the dormitory first.

“I can go with you.”

Cheng Yinian hesitated for a moment. “…No, it’s fine. It’s nothing much. I can carry it myself. You still have things to do in the department.”

Chen Xiangsui remembered that he did indeed have a meeting to attend, so he said goodbye and headed to the meeting location. In the end, the group suddenly notified him that the person who was supposed to convene the meeting was not available, so he had to change direction and return to the dormitory. 

When he was back in his seat, he subconsciously cast his gaze toward the area where Cheng Yinian was across from him. Instead of sitting in front of his laptop practicing a game, he had climbed onto the bed and pulled the curtains tightly shut. 

Just then, Chen Xiangsui’s phone vibrated. He opened WeChat and found that Cheng Yinian’s live stream account had sent him a message: [Gege~ I promised you a photo. I don’t know if you’ll like it. My skin hasn’t been in great condition lately, so I’m wearing a mask. Let’s meet up sometime.] 

Chen Xiangsui opened the photo and saw Cheng Yinian wearing white knee-high socks with a small section of bare leg exposed above them. The skirt tied with bows didn’t look out of place on the boy. His slender, fair arms extended from lace cuffs, exuding a delicate beauty. Long hair covered Cheng Yinian’s facial features, and a mask hid the lower half of his face.  

He raised his head and glanced at Cheng Yinian’s tightly closed bed curtains.

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  MOBA: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena ↩︎