Chapter 21, Delivery
The plot in the movie had reached its climax, with gasps and screams intertwining.
Outside the screen, a deathly silence fell.
Shen Shaoyan's fingers rested on his zipper, trembling slightly, but he still didn't dare to pull it down.
The other three hadn't moved, making him feel very desperate.
At this moment, Lu Yu suddenly sighed faintly, "How vulgar, utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal."
Shen Shaoyan, "???" What aesthetic appeal do you want at a time like this? How vulgar can you get, okay!
He lowered his head and glanced. Only he was reacting, the other three were like dead men.
Could it be that his aesthetic taste was really that bad?
Shen Shaoyan began to doubt himself.
The movie wasn't long and ended shortly. The heat on Shen Shaoyan's body gradually cooled, feeling somewhat defeated, "I even specifically picked one that was considered relatively good, yet none of you reacted."
Hearing this, Lu Yu glanced at the two opposite him.
Ji Linxue rubbed his eyes, giving a perfectly valid reason, "I'm very sleepy and can't get myself energized."
Gu Hengzhi opened his clear eyes and lied, "Mm, me too."
Shen Shaoyan no longer dwelled on such trivial matters. It was already late, and the few of them were sleepy. After turning off the lights, they each went to bed.
Ji Linxue fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the bed. But Gu Hengzhi, on the adjacent bed, was slow to fall asleep.
He felt very strange about himself.
When he was watching just now, his mind kept wandering. The images on the screen not only left him utterly uninterested but also made him feel a bit nauseous.
For a moment, he even thought that Ji Linxue's skin seemed even whiter than the female lead in the movie, and his legs too, much prettier than that woman's.
Ji Linxue had no feminine characteristics whatsoever, so why would he compare him to a woman?
He must be going a little insane.
Gu Hengzhi refused to think about other possibilities, forcing himself to close his eyes. Half an hour later, he reluctantly opened his eyelids, sat up, and drank a glass of cold water.
The dorm room was quiet. Silvery moonlight poured in from the window. Gu Hengzhi opened the balcony door and leaned on the railing. The night breeze gradually carried away the heat from his body.
He took a cigarette pack from his pocket, tapped it, and a slender cigarette emerged from the opening.
Gu Hengzhi brought the cigarette to his lips, gently biting it, not intending to light it.
The restlessness in his body gradually subsided. Just as he was about to go back to sleep, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
"It's so late, why are you still standing here?"
Gu Hengzhi turned his head. Ji Linxue, wearing sky-blue pure cotton long-sleeved pajamas, stood behind him, his eyes still heavy with sleep.
However, upon seeing what he was holding in his hand, his gaze instantly froze, and his brow furrowed into a beautiful arch, "You're smoking again?"
Gu Hengzhi pressed his fingers, slightly turning his hand to hide the cigarette in his palm, "You saw wrong."
Ji Linxue tightened his face, walked up to him, his voice chilling, "Take it out."
Gu Hengzhi looked helpless, handing the cigarette in his palm to him, "I really wasn't smoking, look, it's not even lit."
Ji Linxue confiscated the cigarette, whether he believed him or not, he only said, "You stand here, wait for me for one minute."
Gu Hengzhi obediently stood still. Not long after, Ji Linxue returned, holding a tin box in his hand.
He opened the lid, revealing colorful candies inside.
Ji Linxue rummaged through the candies, "What flavor do you want?"
"You pick one for me."
He ultimately chose mint flavor. Ji Linxue tore open the wrapper and offered it. The light blue candy made his fingertips appear even whiter and softer, looking very appetizing.
Gu Hengzhi didn't take it. He bent down slightly, his lips gently pursed, and took the candy from Ji Linxue's fingertips with his mouth.
The warm sensation was fleeting. Ji Linxue was briefly stunned for a second, then quickly recovered his natural composure.
He rubbed his fingertips, thinking that Gu Hengzhi was truly lazy, afraid that sugar powder would stick to his hands and he'd be too lazy to wash them, so he used this method.
"In the future, if you want to smoke, come to me for candy," Ji Linxue closed the box. "Don't let me catch you smoking again."
Looking at his serious little face, Gu Hengzhi used his tongue to roll the candy, feeling an increasing itch between his teeth.
There it was again, that feeling.
It must be spring, and his heart was starting to stir.
"Okay," he answered with a smile.
-
The next day, Shen Shaoyan, uncharacteristically, got up early. When Ji Linxue and Gu Hengzhi went for their morning exercise, he had just come out of the bathroom, his face slightly flushed, hanging his freshly washed underwear out to dry on the balcony.
If Lu Yu had been there, he would have teased him endlessly.
Ji Linxue and Gu Hengzhi exchanged glances, both tacitly remaining silent.
They thought they had given Shen Shaoyan enough face, but during the morning break, Shen Shaoyan felt more and more uneasy. He poked Lu Yu, whispering, "Last night, you guys didn't feel anything?"
He had even shamelessly asked other friends, suspecting his taste was bad.
But their replies were all what he had expected, they thought the film was good, and some even had indescribable dreams last night.
"What feeling?" Lu Yu recalled, then sighed, "The human body's structure is truly ingenious. There's still so much I need to learn."
Shen Shaoyan, "..." He left him with a "bullshit" and silently turned his head away.
Lu Yu, being someone who didn't follow conventional thinking, wasn't within his consideration. And he didn't dare bother Gu Hengzhi with such matters. Finally, only Ji Linxue remained.
Hearing his question, Ji Linxue's pen didn't stop, "I'm not interested in such things."
He wasn't lying. Perhaps he just didn't have that "wire" in his brain, from childhood to adulthood, he had never had any extra thoughts about the opposite sex.
Girls had confessed to him since elementary school. At that age, he didn't understand what it meant. Later, in junior and senior high, he finally understood, but he couldn't muster any interest.
However, the colder he was, the more excited those girls seemed to become. It got even worse in college, where his presence could be seen on the confession wall almost daily, and the number of times he was stopped by junior students asking for his WeChat was countless.
Shen Shaoyan's mouth twitched. He should have expected this outcome.
It seemed it wasn't that he had a problem, but that his roommates were too abstinent.
From then on, Shen Shaoyan never brought up the matter again.
Days repeated themselves like this. Without the interference of the original plot, Ji Linxue relaxed a lot. He no longer had to constantly watch Gu Hengzhi, fearing he would get into trouble.
But Gu Hengzhi became unusually clingy.
At first, it was just pulling him to eat and returning to the dorm together. Eventually, he even wanted to follow him to the restroom.
Ji Linxue had a few good friends in his previous life and knew that normal interactions weren't like this. And he could tell from Shen Shaoyan and Lu Yu's constant bickering that something was different.
The only possibility was that Gu Hengzhi had developed psychological trauma from the accident.
He didn't directly tell Gu Hengzhi to see a psychologist, only hinted at it subtly.
Gu Hengzhi's reaction was minimal. He just looked at him with a feigned smile, "You think there's something wrong with my brain?"
Ji Linxue, "...That's not what I meant."
After saying that, he realized how rude he had been and wanted to make amends, but Gu Hengzhi wasn't going to let him off so easily,
"You're starting to dislike me?"
"Found new friends?"
"Used me and then discarded me?"
The series of three rapid-fire questions forced Ji Linxue into silence.
Compared to the temperamental male lead in the original novel, Gu Hengzhi's current state was already quite normal.
For the sake of the plot, Ji Linxue decided to silently endure this small flaw.
Although Gu Hengzhi clung tightly to him, there were always times when he couldn't cling, like during swimming class.
Ji Linxue felt uncomfortable just looking at the swimming pool and didn't even plan on going.
The swimming complex was far from the teaching building. Everyone else left the classroom early. Ji Linxue, having nothing else to do, went to the school library. He read there for a long time until the class bell rang, and on his way back, he was suddenly stopped.
The girl blushed, "Can you do something for me?"
Ji Linxue had no impression of her, she shouldn't be a student from their class, "What is it?"
"Could you please hand this over to Gu Hengzhi for me?" The girl handed over a gift bag. Along with it was a cup of milk tea. "The milk tea is for you, thank you!"
After saying that, she ran off, not giving Ji Linxue any room to refuse.
The milk tea was iced, and it felt comfortable in his hand on the hot summer day. Ji Linxue held the bag properly and quickened his pace.
Gu Hengzhi was very popular at school. After all, he had good grades, a good family background, and was handsome. His desk was piled high with countless gifts every day.
However, it was usually Shen Shaoyan who delivered things, and this was the first time Ji Linxue had been stopped.
It was because he had been very close to Gu Hengzhi lately.
Ji Linxue entered the classroom in the last second before the class bell rang. He noticed that Gu Hengzhi's hair tips were still a bit damp, probably not completely dry after swimming class.
Under the scrutinizing gaze of the trio, he placed the items on Gu Hengzhi's desk. Gu Hengzhi's eyes almost instantly lit up, his brows softened with a smile, and his lips curled slightly.
Ji Linxue knew he had misunderstood. Just as he was about to speak, Teacher Chen walked in.
"Class is starting, please be quiet everyone."
Under Teacher Chen's serious gaze, he had no choice but to swallow his words, planning to explain clearly to Gu Hengzhi after class.
Just then, a rustling sound came from behind him. A moment later, a paper ball accurately landed on Ji Linxue's desk.
He opened the paper ball, and the flowing handwriting caught his eye—
[When did you learn to curry favor?]
Ji Linxue put the paper ball away and didn't reply.
Another paper ball.
[The milk tea is delicious. I want more next time.]
Another one.
[Why are you ignoring me?]
Another one.
[Xiaoxue?]
Unable to bear it anymore, Ji Linxue threw the paper ball back while Teacher Chen turned to write on the blackboard.
[Someone else gave it to you.]
The paper ball attack stopped. Time behind him seemed to freeze. For the rest of the half-class, Ji Linxue heard no further movement.
He started to feel a little uneasy, but class was not a good time to talk. He almost counted the seconds, looking forward to it, and finally, the dismissal bell rang.
After the teacher left, Ji Linxue turned his head and glanced.
Gu Hengzhi rested his chin in his hand, idly playing with a piece of paper. It looked like a greeting card, densely covered with writing.
In Ji Linxue's experience, this should be a love letter.
Seeing him not speak, Gu Hengzhi initiated the conversation, "You're getting bold now, even helping others deliver love letters."
His gaze was deep, and Ji Linxue couldn't decipher what was in it, but from his understanding of Gu Hengzhi, the other party must be in a very bad mood.
"I met her on the way, and she asked me to help deliver it," Ji Linxue stated the facts. "I wanted to refuse, but she just ran off."
Gu Hengzhi felt a little better, but his tone was still somewhat displeased, mumbling, "I got happy for nothing."
In the end, Gu Hengzhi threw the gift the girl gave him to Shen Shaoyan. He did finish the milk tea, because Ji Linxue said it was a thank-you gift from the girl to him.
Gu Hengzhi drank every last drop, not leaving a single sip for Ji Linxue.
It was just a cup of milk tea, Ji Linxue didn't care. But he remembered Gu Hengzhi's gaze. One day, passing by a milk tea shop, he suddenly had a whim and placed an order.
Back in the dorm, he gave everyone a cup. Everyone was surprised, especially Gu Hengzhi. He held the milk tea, looking at it left and right, as if it were a rare treasure, reluctant to drink it.
Yet his bag, if picked out casually, could buy hundreds of cups of milk tea.
"How did you know I liked this?"
Gu Hengzhi didn't like sweets or soft, chewy textures. Having been with him for almost a year, plus paying deliberate attention, it was hard for Ji Linxue not to remember.
But he didn't want to say it out loud, "I guessed."
Gu Hengzhi chuckled softly.
Shen Shaoyan took a large gulp of boba, letting out a satisfied sigh, "Ah! Drinking an iced milk tea on a hot summer day is the best, Xiaoxue, I love you to death!"
Lu Yu also smiled, "Thank you, Xiaoxue."
With Shen Shaoyan starting it, everyone gradually got used to the nickname and started calling him that.
Ji Linxue smiled and shook his head.
They really were a group of easy-to-please kids.
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