Chapter 38

"All right."

Following Song Ruichi's words, Xu Er pulled his hand back from the sunlight.

Song Ruichi said, "He is very happy that you can come."

Xu Er asked, "How happy?"

Song Ruichi clearly hadn't expected Xu Er to ask such a question and couldn't respond immediately. Of course, Xu Er himself hadn't expected the words to just slip out; he was essentially just making conversation.

Song Ruichi said, "Let me ask him."

Xu Er immediately replied, "No, no, no."

Even though Xu Er protested, Song Ruichi went ahead and asked anyway. He tagged Shi Ziyi in their group chat.

Song Ruichi: "@Stone, Xu Er is asking how happy you are."

Shi Ziyi: "???"

Shi Ziyi: "What the hell?"

Shi Ziyi: "Did you actually get him to come?"

Song Ruichi: "Yes."

Shi Ziyi: "Am I part of you two making up?"

Shi Ziyi: "You have made up, right?"

Song Ruichi: "Maybe."

Shi Ziyi: "Sigh."

Shi Ziyi: "Finally."

Shi Ziyi: "You're not sad anymore, right?"

Song Ruichi: "Was I sad?"

Shi Ziyi: "Don't be stubborn."

Song Ruichi: "Okay."

Ying Jing: "Hahaha."

Ying Jing: "Straight men are truly impossible to figure out."

Shi Ziyi: "No matter how difficult, our Song-Song has to figure it out."

Shi Ziyi: "Right, Song-Song? @s"

Song Ruichi: "He's busy with work."

Ying Jing: "Tell that to yourself."

[s retracted a message]

Shi Ziyi: "I'm dying of laughter. Song Ruichi, how did I never notice you were this cute before?"

Song Ruichi: "Get lost."

Ying Jing: "What do you know? A man nourished by love is bound to be different."

Ying Jing: "Being cute is the baseline."

Song Ruichi: "You get lost too."

Shi Ziyi: "Hahahahaha."

Ying Jing: "Hahahahaha."

Shi Ziyi: "It's settled then, you pay for that meal tomorrow night as usual."

Shi Ziyi: "I'll give you top-tier ingredients and a ten-fold discount."

Song Ruichi: "Fine."

Shi Ziyi: "So straightforward? Then I'll give you a twenty-fold discount."

Song Ruichi: "Do whatever you want."

Shi Ziyi: "You almost made me want to have a grand opening all over again."

Ying Jing: "By the way."

Ying Jing: "@Stone, what were you saying last time?"

Ying Jing: "About being an assist?"

Shi Ziyi: "Oh, right, right, right!"

Shi Ziyi: "Let's set it up for our Song-Song."

Song Ruichi suddenly had a bad premonition: "Forget it."

Song Ruichi: "No need."

Shi Ziyi: "What's the matter? Don't you trust us?"

Song Ruichi: "Yes."

"What are you doing?"

Seeing that Song Ruichi hadn't moved for a long while, Xu Er asked, "You didn't actually go and ask, did you?"

Song Ruichi smiled: "They said they are very much looking forward to meeting Mr. Xu."

Mr. Xu, on this end of the line, slowly curled the corners of his lips. Admit it, Xu Er, you really like chatting with Song Ruichi.

For the rest of the time, the two talked about their first-birthday "Zhuazhou" ceremonies. Coincidentally, they both had grabbed a calligraphy brush.

"So for a long time," Xu Er said, "my mother thought I would work in literature, like an editor or something. But by elementary school, my mom gave up on that idea; my essays were just too terrible."

Still, thinking about it, his current work isn't entirely unrelated; design requires a pen to some extent, after all. Of course, the Zhuazhou ceremony is generally just for fun and celebration; no one takes it all that seriously.

As they chatted, Xu Er grew sleepy. After hanging up the call, he fell straight asleep. He slept until dark, completely unaware of his mother knocking, pushing the door open, and closing it again. It was as if he were sleeping off all the gloom of the past few days. When he woke up, it was already nine in the evening.

Xu Er felt groggy, but the first thing he did upon waking was to reply to Song Ruichi's message. He told him he had just woken up after a long sleep.

Song Ruichi sent a "piggy" sticker.

Xu Er replied with a "beat you up" sticker.

It felt so good to not have to struggle with his phone anymore, to be able to say whatever he wanted to Song Ruichi, to feel so open and unburdened.

Xu Er thought that since he had slept for so long, he would surely be unable to fall asleep at night, but to his surprise, drowsiness hit him again in the early hours. His sleep quality had suddenly returned to how it used to be. He slept for a full eight hours that night, and the next day, after breakfast, he set off for his grandmother's house with his parents.

Ever since he started college, it seemed that every time Xu Er went home, his schedule was packed—visiting grandparents on both sides, meeting up with middle and high school classmates during public holidays—and then the vacation would be over. Of course, this was all normal; what was less pleasant was that sometimes, parents would start nagging.

For instance, right now at his grandmother's, the conversation barely lasted two sentences before the topic shifted to Xu Er. They asked if he was busy, told him not to focus only on work, and said he should spend more time meeting new girls... Even if not new girls, old classmates would do; after all, that person who got married last month was with a high school classmate...

Xu Er just said, "Uh-huh," "Yeah," "Mmhmm..."

Ze County was a bit of a drive from City A. After dinner at his grandmother's, at the very last moment, Xu Er slipped a red envelope to his grandmother and left with his backpack on his shoulders. He slept again in the car, and just before they were about to get off, Song Ruichi called to wake him up.

The high-speed train arrived, and Xu Er followed the crowd out of the station. He suddenly remembered that the last time he came to this exit, it was to pick up Song Ruichi. This time, it was the other way around; Song Ruichi had come to pick him up.

With that, Xu Er naturally thought of the two boys he had met here. Xu Er’s late-blooming "gaydar" suddenly went off, and he realized that those two might not have been friends, but a couple.

As he thought about it, he had another realization regarding Song Ruichi’s friend, Little Xia.

His gaydar pinged again!

So, Little Xia and that boy in the pink sweater! Were they a couple too?

Song Ruichi was already at the exit. As soon as Xu Er scanned his ID and walked out, he waved at him. Xu Er’s sharp eyes noticed that Song Ruichi had brought him ice cream.

Xu Er happily bounced over to Song Ruichi's side and, before Song Ruichi could even lift it, snatched it away.

"Mr. Song is such a kind person." That was Xu Er's first sentence.

Then his second: "Was the person we met in the supermarket last time Little Xia's boyfriend?"

The topic was a bit abrupt. Song Ruichi was clearly stunned for a moment before saying, "Yes."

Xu Er shook his head triumphantly: "I guessed right."

Song Ruichi: "What's wrong? Why ask suddenly?"

Xu Er: "Nothing, just curious."

Xu Er asked: "Where are we going now? It's still early for dinner, right?"

Song Ruichi: "They are playing mahjong at Ying Jing's company."

Xu Er: "Why at Ying Jing's company?"

"His office is close to the restaurant," Song Ruichi added, "If you don't want to go, we can go to my place first."

Xu Er thought about it: "Let's go to Ying Jing's company, but I want to buy a housewarming gift for Shi Ziyi first."

Song Ruichi: "No need, I already sent one."

"It's not the same," Xu Er said, "I can't go empty-handed."

Song Ruichi: "What do you want to buy?"

Xu Er: "I haven't decided, what do you think?"

Song Ruichi thought for a moment: "Maybe a small potted plant, a money tree."

Xu Er nodded: "Okay, that's good."

Xu Er's mood was better than it had been in a long time. Or rather, it wasn't just this moment; ever since he saw Song Ruichi’s figure from afar in the crowd before even leaving the station, his mood had jumped up a level.

Song Ruichi always asked why he was so happy. He was often happy, but perhaps things were different since meeting Song Ruichi. Before, it was because of Song Ruichi. Now, it was also because of Song Ruichi.

Since it was Song Ruichi who suggested the small gift, Xu Er felt even more at ease. Before heading to Ying Jing's company, they found a nearby flower shop, bought a small money tree, and had it simply wrapped. Song Ruichi said the plant could be placed on the restaurant's cash register, which made Xu Er even more satisfied.

They had returned to the way things were so naturally, as if nothing had happened that week. Xu Er didn't really know what Song Ruichi was thinking; on one hand, he felt Song Ruichi couldn't possibly be unaware of his strange behavior, but on the other, he held onto the hope that perhaps Song Ruichi hadn't noticed or didn't care.

Look, Song Ruichi hadn't said anything and still treated him as a friend.

Leaving the flower shop, there was a short distance to where they had parked. As they walked, they saw someone coming toward them.

That person called out, "Teacher Song."

Xu Er didn't think his memory for faces was that great, but even though this person had changed his style, Xu Er recognized him as the contestant who had asked for Song Ruichi’s WeChat at the competition last week.

"What a coincidence," this student said with a beaming smile.

Song Ruichi gave a polite smile. The other person was alone, carrying a bag; he must have been shopping on this street.

He walked closer and added, "Teacher Song, it seems you don't remember me. We met at the competition in City C last week."

Only then did Song Ruichi nod and say, "Hello."

At this point, it was obvious to anyone that the interaction should end. But the person continued, "The WeChat you gave me last time was for your studio. I don't know if it would be convenient for you to give me your private WeChat."

Xu Er froze.

Was he really that bold and direct?

Xu Er turned to look at Song Ruichi and heard him say, "It's not convenient."

Xu Er froze again and thought, *Wow* inside.

The person gave a dry laugh: "Haha, it's just that sometimes I’d like to ask you some questions, Teacher Song."

Song Ruichi: "You can find me through that WeChat as well."

The person wanted to say something else, but Song Ruichi interrupted directly: "I have things to do, excuse me."

The person was choked up: "Okay, goodbye, Teacher Song."

Song Ruichi walked away with long strides, and Xu Er quickly followed. Although he was definitely on Song Ruichi's side, he had to admit he empathized with that person—it was incredibly awkward. He was even curious enough to...

"Don't look back."

Right, Song Ruichi stopped him.

Xu Er: "Oh."

Fair enough, let's maintain our Teacher Song's cool persona.

They soon got into the car and fastened their seatbelts. Xu Er muttered, "He really likes you."

Song Ruichi replied with an indifferent "I don't know."

Xu Er pursed his lips, suddenly feeling a surge of nervous tension. Because he had something to ask. Now was the perfect time to ask it.

"And you? What kind of guys do you like?"

After asking, Xu Er naturally thought of that person.