To Tao Zhi, his bond with Fu Zheng was far closer than with Fu Si Heng. Even if Fu Si Heng was his nominal boyfriend… that was fake.
The roommate bond was real.
And Fu Zheng was generous.
That was exactly his plan, and he figured Fu Zheng had just been busy today, not replying yet. Once Fu Zheng showed up, it’d be fine.
Fu Si Heng: 【If that’s what you’re thinking, then forget it.】
His phone vibrated in his palm, snapping Tao Zhi back. He looked down at the message and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
But before he could dwell, another message from Fu Si Heng arrived.
Fu Si Heng: 【Owing me is the same as owing Fu Zheng. His money all comes from me.】
Ah?
Tao Zhi was stunned, clutching his phone in bewilderment.
Something felt off, but thinking it over, it seemed… not wrong.
Following Fu Si Heng’s logic, yeah, that was right.
In most normal families, living expenses came from guardians.
Tao Zhi had never heard Fu Zheng talk about his family, but from what he’d seen, Fu Si Heng seemed to be the one handling his discipline.
Tao Zhi hesitated, then typed: 【Oh… like that.】
Fu Si Heng: 【Mm.】
Tao Zhi’s mind was a mess right then; he didn’t notice the flaw in Fu Si Heng’s logic.
He went along completely, believed it, and had no more thoughts of asking Fu Zheng. Instead, he typed solemnly: 【Got it. I’ll pay you back as soon as possible.】
Fu Si Heng: 【No rush.】
Fu Si Heng refunded his transfer.
Tao Zhi pursed his lips, thinking Brother Fu Zheng was really great.
–
That evening, just as Tao Zhi was about to sleep, Fu Zheng finally appeared.
Very abruptly: first a meaningless period, then a transfer of two hundred thousand.
Tao Zhi was yawning, bleary-eyed, and groggily tapped the avatar.
Tao Zhi: “…”
He woke up instantly.
Tao Zhi sent it back.
Fu Zheng: 【?】
Fu Zheng: 【Don’t want it?】
Tao Zhi: 【Yeah… family stuff’s already handled.】
Tao Zhi instinctively wanted to hide his private contact with Fu Si Heng, so he kept it vague and sent some lively emojis: 【All good, all good!】
Fu Zheng: 【Oh.】
Fu Zheng’s mood was chaotic too; he didn’t have the bandwidth to puzzle over Tao Zhi’s situation.
Tao Zhi did the same, steering the topic: 【You video-called me yesterday?】
Tao Zhi: 【It was too noisy then; I didn’t hear. Did you need something?】
Fu Zheng: “…”
Damn.
How did Tao Zhi always step on landmines the second he opened his mouth?
Fu Zheng was already rattled by that; now Tao Zhi brought it up voluntarily, making it worse. His mind buzzed like bees, unable to settle.
Yesterday, Fu Zheng had proactively video-called Tao Zhi, but got busy tone. He was furious.
Not sure if he was competing with Tao Zhi or himself, he called multiple times, each auto-hung up. Fu Zheng nearly exploded.
He went to 178k Bro again, asking if it was normal to fly to Tao Zhi’s hometown right now to confront him.
He wanted to see who Tao Zhi was calling, daring to ignore him.
He’d drag both out.
178k Bro: “…”
Not normal, super not normal, Second Young Master.
178k Bro saw the message but didn’t reply; he was genuinely busy, couldn’t deal with Fu Zheng’s petty drama.
He’d been sprawled on the sofa scrolling shorts when he spotted a familiar figure.
His online fling.
New account, black eye mask, wielding a whip in bunny girl leather, dancing provocatively.
178k Bro wasn’t interested at first, about to scroll past, but the familiar outfit made him pause. Then he saw the red mole on the streamer’s wrist.
Obvious feature; 178k Bro knew it intimately from chats.
The dance’s final shot—finger to camera—nearly made him miss it.
After a few stunned seconds, 178k Bro bolted upright, checked the profile IP first, then got people to investigate the account.
That’s when Fu Zheng started harassing him.
Busy, excited, swamped—and Fu Zheng kept calling.
He blacklisted Fu Zheng; Fu Zheng switched numbers to call anyway, nearly driving 178k Bro mad.
Finally, he picked up and roared first thing: “Go find him!! Go right now!! Buy a ticket and find him! Confess, jump into bed immediately, stop tormenting me!! I’m seriously busy!!”
Fu Zheng was dumbfounded.
Stunned: “What do you mean? Who’s confessing? You’re talking nonsense.”
“Wait, you don’t mean me and Tao Zhi, right?”
“What joke is that? I’m not gay?!”
“How could I be gay?! I don’t even like him! We’re just roommates!”
His voice rose each time; 178k Bro nearly went deaf and hung up.
Fu Zheng didn’t contact him after.
Fu Zheng blue-screened, pondering all day: was he really gay?!
Impossible!
Absolutely not!
…Right?
Damn.
He actually hesitated.
What if he was?
No gay genes in the family.
178k Bro spouting crap.
But was he too fixated on Tao Zhi?
To prove he wasn’t gay and didn’t care about Tao Zhi, he held off contacting him all day, even shut off and locked his phone.
But his mind wouldn’t stop dwelling, mulling for ages.
Finally couldn’t resist; at midnight, he opened the safe, got his phone, and saw Tao Zhi’s loan request.
Now Tao Zhi said no need. He thought it over, pondered more.
No gay friends to ask; only 178k Bro had any gay-adjacent vibes, and he was MIA at this crucial time.
Damn, some brother.
Fu Zheng was about to lose it.
He ruffled his hair, mind in tangles. Inevitably thought: if he really was gay and liked Tao Zhi, what did his past actions mean? Him being an idiot?
Fu Zheng’s face stiffened.
Couldn’t think that way.
Back then, he hadn’t liked him, so he acted that way.
Now that he knew, he could still fix it. Good thing he hadn’t forced Tao Zhi into anything irreversible over New Year’s.
Wait, knew what?
He didn’t know anything; he wasn’t gay!
Fu Zheng got yanked between thoughts, brain a total mess.
But he was still relieved.
Relieved everything could still be salvaged—
That night, Tao Zhi video-called Fu Si Heng again.
Halfway through, he nearly dozed off. Jerking awake, he glanced at Fu Si Heng on camera, about to say something and hang up, when his phone buzzed with a text.
Flight booking confirmation, for three days before school started.
Tao Zhi blinked in slight surprise, sitting up in bed, mouth opening: “You booked the ticket so fast already…”
Agreed an hour ago, ticket booked an hour later—this speed was…
“What’s wrong?” Fu Si Heng said. “Didn’t you agree?”
Tao Zhi: “Yeah…”
Just surprised at Fu Si Heng’s swift action.
That evening, Fu Si Heng had brought up returning to school early again.
Tao Zhi agreed.
Returning two days before school wasn’t early; dorms would be open by then, so he could stay on campus.
Probably.
