Tao Zhi honestly shared his true feelings: “A little. That’s why I thought of you. With work, driving to school every day during work hours, and taking me to the hospital to see Fu Zheng…”
“Baby,” Fu Si Heng interrupted.
The familiar term of endearment, unheard for so long, came through the phone’s speaker.
The deep, low voice made Tao Zhi’s ears tingle: “Wh-what are you calling me that for?”
“How are you so kind?” Fu Si Heng couldn’t hold back anymore.
He wanted to go find Tao Zhi right now, to confirm their relationship.
From desperately wanting Tao Zhi at first, to deciding to take it slow, learn more about him, pursue him gradually, and now, urgently wanting to make it official.
Because once they were official, he’d have the standing to openly take charge, handle all of Tao Zhi’s matters, make him happy and carefree.
Fu Si Heng had never wanted a title so badly.
The urge was even stronger than his desire to fuck Tao Zhi.
……
But Tao Zhi refused.
For many reasons.
He knew Fu Si Heng wanted to help, but he didn’t want his help.
It wasn’t stubbornness.
He just felt that things had been fine before; he hadn’t felt tired or wronged. Why was he being so delicate now?
It wasn’t right.
Plus, he was too busy lately. If Fu Si Heng came, he couldn’t entertain him, take him around to play. If his parents or Tao Tao saw him, how would he introduce him? It’d be weird.
He couldn’t say he was his friend’s older brother.
It was too strange.
Better not to come—it was less hassle.
Fu Si Heng: “…”
Reasoning with Tao Zhi didn’t work; he just wouldn’t let him come.
He told Fu Si Heng to rest well at home.
He had to rest well and make up for all the hardship from before!
Fu Si Heng: “.”
Headache.
But he was helpless against Tao Zhi.
The silly kid was quite happy about it himself.
He felt it was nice, like… umm, secretly badmouthing others with Fu Si Heng.
Tao Zhi complained about his cousin being disobedient and hard to manage, ranting for over half an hour until drowsiness hit. Then, yawning, he went upstairs to sleep.
The next morning, he got up a little after seven and arrived at the hospital by eight.
With his mother’s discharge approaching, she could handle most things herself. Tao Zhi’s caregiving mostly involved sitting in the ward chatting with her, washing and drying her changed clothes, monitoring IV drips, giving meds, calling the doctor, and such.
It wasn’t really busy; he even had time to text Fu Si Heng for fun during downtime.
But heading back around five for homework tutoring was less relaxing.
Just thinking about three hours of intense focus, with the high schooler being uncooperative—not writing when he should, fiddling with pens or erasers instead—gave Tao Zhi a headache.
But he had to do it.
After dinner, Tao Zhi went to Shang Xuan’s room to check his homework first. But as soon as he picked it up, Shang Xuan snatched it back.
Shang Xuan glared at him sullenly.
“…What’s wrong?” Tao Zhi asked blankly.
“Did you tell my mom yesterday that I write homework super slow?” Shang Xuan had waited all day for a chance to confront him, looking fierce.
“Huh?” Tao Zhi blinked. “No.”
He wouldn’t tattle.
But Shang Xuan’s expression said otherwise.
Tao Zhi took it seriously and thought back carefully.
He remembered.
“I didn’t say it like that,” Tao Zhi told him. “Auntie asked about your homework progress—whether you could finish it in the first couple days so the last two could be for reviewing key high school first-year topics.”
Since Tao Zhi was taking the high-speed train back on the afternoon of the 5th, one-on-one tutoring only went until the evening of the 4th.
It’d be a waste if it was all spent on homework.
For homework, he could teach via WeChat later; the main goal was review and preview.
“I just told her the truth,” Tao Zhi said. “I said you wrote too slowly during the day. By the time I got back, you hadn’t even finished one worksheet.”
“At this rate, you won’t finish in two days.”
“Because of what you said, my mom listened to you and took my phone,” Shang Xuan grumbled, face sour.
Tao Zhi: “…”
That wasn’t his fault.
“You have to take responsibility,” Shang Xuan stressed.
Tao Zhi stayed silent.
“Hey, Tao Zhi?” Shang Xuan called his name.
Tao Zhi had a baby face, and Shang Xuan refused to call him “bro,” always using his full name. “Give me your phone to play with.”
“If you don’t, I won’t write.”
Tao Zhi: “…”
What kind of blackmail was this?
Tao Zhi still didn’t speak.
“I’ve studied all day today!” Shang Xuan was getting agitated.
He hadn’t actually studied all day, but he had gone a whole day without his phone, which irritated him.
“What do you want to play?” Seeing his state, Tao Zhi sighed. “I don’t have games on my phone.”
“I don’t play games,” Shang Xuan said. “I just want to scroll Douyin and Kuaishou.”
Fine.
“Fifteen minutes,” Tao Zhi said. “Then you have to do homework—at least finish the workbook today.”
“After finishing, I want another hour,” Shang Xuan bargained.
“An hour’s too long,” Tao Zhi refused. “Half an hour max.”
“Deal.” Shang Xuan agreed instantly and reached out for the phone.
Tao Zhi pulled it out but didn’t hand it over right away. He first hid his chat threads with Fu Si Heng and Fu Zheng, set it to Do Not Disturb to prevent notifications, and then gave it to Shang Xuan.
Shang Xuan’s sour face finally relaxed.
Kids these days were way too addicted to phones. Good thing Tao Tao wasn’t like that.
Tao Zhi sighed softly, got up, and left Shang Xuan’s room, planning to step out to the balcony for some air, then wash his face or something.
After he left, Shang Xuan glanced back at the closed door, then at the phone in his hand.
A brand-new white iPhone—not the base model, but the fully specced Pro Max.
…Damn, he’s loaded.
Could tutoring really pay this much?
Shang Xuan stared at it for a while before opening Douyin.
Tao Zhi’s Douyin wasn’t interesting.
He had no videos posted, and the algorithm recommended stuff like humanities, social sciences, Animal Planet, and cute pets. Shang Xuan wasn’t into it. After a few scrolls, bored, he searched for his favorite blogger.
ID: Huai Xu.
Shang Xuan tapped in.
The first thing that hit him: “Mutual Follows.” He froze.
