“…”
He had never confessed his feelings to anyone, but he had been on the receiving end of confessions—if those even counted as confessions.
A love letter with ugly handwriting, awkward phrasing, and even a few typos.
Wilted little flowers picked haphazardly from the campus lawn.
Paper airplanes folded on the fly, along with blockades at the school gates.
He thought for a moment, then lowered his head to type. His soft hair draped over his smooth nape, trembling slightly with each movement.
【Muxia: If it were me, I’d probably prefer a handwritten love letter.】
【Muxia: The best kind would have no typos, smooth phrasing, and beautiful handwriting.】
A moment later, Q sent a picture.
It was a sheet of white paper with four words written on it in black ink.
【I Like You】
Another message followed right after.
【Q: Do you like handwriting like this?】
The other person’s writing was bold and vigorous, with strokes like iron hooks etched in silver. Every line carried strength, pleasing to the eye and far better than most people’s.
【Muxia: Did you study calligraphy?】
【Q: Yeah. Is it nice?】
He nodded instinctively, then felt a bit embarrassed when he realized the other person couldn’t see it. He typed again.
【Muxia: It’s beautiful. She’ll love it.】
【Q: Got it ^-^】
He guessed that Q came from a family with a strong academic atmosphere, maybe even a scholarly household.
His own handwriting, by contrast, was childish and unattractive.
He wondered what L’s handwriting looked like.
Even with his mind occupied by other things, he kept thinking about the flowers L had sent from time to time.
And about L himself.
His long lashes fluttered faintly. His eyelids, growing heavier by the second, slowly covered his eyes. A wave of exhaustion washed over his body, and his grip on the phone loosened.
With a soft thud, the phone slipped from his hand and landed beside the pillow.
His slender, pale fingers clutched lightly at the pillow. In the quiet dorm room, only the faint sound of his breathing remained. Moonlight cast the shadow of a tree onto the empty bed across from him.
Late at night.
At the Lu Family Villa.
Lu Quan grabbed Lu Manman, who was sitting at his feet, with one hand and hoisted him up. Veins bulged on his arm, his muscles taut and knotted.
Without a hint of mercy, he tossed the boy onto the carpet outside the door. His voice, cold and mocking, rippled through the air, sending chills down anyone who heard it.
“Go find Mom.”
Lu Manman was still clutching his toy excavator. He stared at his brother in a daze, his mouth puckering as if he were about to unleash a magical wail.
Lu Quan growled menacingly, “If you cry, I’ll throw you in the garden to sleep with the bugs all night.”
Lu Manman immediately dropped the excavator he’d been gripping so tightly. His grubby little hands flew to his mouth. He shook his head vigorously and mumbled through them, “I won’t cry! Manman doesn’t wanna sleep with the bugs!”
Lu Quan had no patience for the kid’s antics. He stepped around him and left the study.
Lu Manman’s eyes darted around slyly. He didn’t make a peep until he saw his brother enter the bedroom. Then he slowly climbed to his feet, pushed open the heavy study door, and tiptoed inside.
He’d seen his brother taking a picture earlier!
He had to grab that thing and show Mom. It must be something his brother liked!
Back in his bedroom, Lu Quan rubbed his throbbing temples. Grandpa had recently made Dad hand over a ton of business to him, and there was a mountain of work to handle every day.
He propped his forehead with one hand and checked his phone. To his delight, Zhizhi had accepted his friend request.
The fatigue vanished from his face in an instant. His thumb caressed the screen gently.
He glanced at the time and tamped down his excitement. In a low, husky voice filled with affection, he murmured good night.
Monday mornings always brought the most reluctant awakenings. Liang Zhixia silenced the irritating alarm, buried his head under the covers, and tried to root himself there.
After one five-minute snooze after another, he finally rubbed his bleary eyes and dragged himself out of bed.
After washing up, he felt a bit more awake. He grabbed his bag and books, then headed out.
The eight a.m. class was every college student’s nightmare. He sat in the cafeteria, his long lashes fluttering rapidly. His chin rested on the back of his hand as he let out a slow yawn.
“Didn’t you say you were going to bed early last night?”
Jiang Ling and Fan Li looked full of energy, a stark contrast to his half-asleep state.
Liang Zhixia pushed himself upright, picked up a custard bun, took a bite, and chewed mechanically.
“…Forgot.”
Fan Li wiped his mouth and draped his fingers casually over the table. “Wasn’t School Grass in the dorm last night?”
Liang Zhixia: “Nope.”
Fan Li frowned. “School Grass is a junior this year. He could easily rent—or hell, buy—a place off-campus. Why bother with the dorms?”
Jiang Ling finished sending a message and looked up. “I heard it’s because he doesn’t like living alone. Something from when he was a kid, apparently.”
This was news to Liang Zhixia. He thought about it—aside from a few rare occasions, Lu Quan always stayed in the dorms.
Childhood trauma?
He shook his foggy head. No point dwelling on it. It had nothing to do with him anyway.
The first class was Principles of Education.
Theoretical lectures were the worst when you were drowsy. The professor’s voice on stage sounded like it had traveled from a distant land, over mountains and rivers, before finally reaching his ears.
He fought to stay alert, having Fan Li pinch him whenever he nodded off.
He barely survived the first period. As soon as the bell rang and the professor left, Liang Zhixia collapsed onto his desk.
He didn’t wake until the next class bell.
His eyes still heavy-lidded, he chugged half a bottle of water. They said hydration helped wake you up.
So, over the course of the lesson, he polished off the whole bottle without realizing it.
“…”
On his way back from the bathroom, he looked up and spotted Xu Cheng and Lu Quan approaching from down the hall.
Xu Cheng’s eyes lit up, and he waved.
Busted. No escaping now.
The hallway was packed during the break. Steel ing himself, he walked over and greeted them.
“Senior. Senior Lu.”
Onlookers eyed the three of them curiously. He figured they were wondering what a freshman like him had to do with the campus big shots.
Xu Cheng noticed the guy’s awkwardness and scratched his head.
“Have I put you in a tough spot?”
Liang Zhixia: “No, Senior.”
The bell rang just then. He glanced up and saw Lu Quan holding a pink envelope with a heart on it. Without prying, he smiled. “Gotta head to class. See you, Seniors.”
The two behind him talked as they walked away, their voices fading into the distance.
Back in the classroom, Liang Zhixia propped his chin on his hand, listening—or rather, zoning out—during the lecture.
Was that a confession letter in Lu Quan’s hand earlier?
The way Lu Quan was cradling it so carefully, it had to be from someone he liked.
No way he’d written it for somebody else.
And pink, no less.
Meanwhile, Xu Cheng eyed the love letter in his buddy’s hand with naked envy.
“Lemme see it. Didn’t you mess up a punctuation mark on yours? Let me borrow it for reference. I’ve got my eye on the lit department flower from the rival school. She’d totally dig a handwritten one.”
Lu Quan shot him a cold glance. “Write your own.”
Xu Cheng grinned shamelessly. “I’m a jock, man. Not much for words. Just let me copy.”
Lu Quan refused flatly, face impassive. “No.”
A University’s Sports Institute wasn’t the low-barrier program Xu Cheng made it out to be—the cutoff scores were high. Lu Quan knew he was just lazy.
“Write it yourself, and maybe this one’ll last a week.”
Xu Cheng: “…”
How did such a good-looking guy end up with such a mouth???
Still, he was curious.
“What made you decide to write a love letter? Your online fling ask for it?”
Lu Quan: “She said my handwriting’s nice.”
Xu Cheng: “So you wrote one for her to frame?”
Lu Quan: “Why frame my love letter? I can write her a new one every day.”
Xu Cheng: “You haven’t been love-bombed, have you? Fake-deleting you, stringing you along, mooching off you… Honestly, you’re coming off a bit like a simp right now.”
Saying that to Lu Quan felt kinda satisfying.
Lu Quan carefully sealed the envelope while staring down at his phone. His tone was flat. “You wouldn’t get it. She can’t live without me.”
After getting re-added as a friend last night, he’d seen Zhizhi post a photo of the night sky.
Zhizhi hadn’t posted anything for days before that.
Clearly, it was proof of their reconnection.
Xu Cheng, who burned through girlfriends every couple weeks, would never understand.
At 11:50 a.m., morning classes wrapped up.
Liang Zhixia grabbed lunch with his friends in the cafeteria, then headed back to the dorm for a nap.
Freshman year was packed with classes, and the afternoon was a full slate.
He sat on his bed and first checked the comments on Weibo via his tablet. He’d posted the first panel of his new comic yesterday—wondering if anyone liked it.
The top comments were from his familiar fans.
【I Love Rice Grains: OMG!!! Is this big sis’s new work?! This gloomy guy design is so freaking hot!!!】
【Big Author Don’t Rest: This archetype slays in comics and novels wuwuwu!!!】
【Dead Hand Hurry Draw: Spot on! If you meet one in real life, run! Run fast!!!】
【Slightly Dead Living Person: Why does big sis’s comic feel so alive this time? Where’d you study lately?】
【Slightly Alive Dead Person: Whoa! Hehe, did big sis meet someone like this IRL???】
【Little Cat Run Fast: Big sis is living that life hehehe~】
Last night, while coming up with lines, Liang Zhixia had tweaked some of the originals—and a few were inspired by things L had said.
Who told that guy to go completely out of character toward the end and act even more like a gloomy creep than him?
…He was thinking about L again.
After replying to every comment one by one, he opened another app.
The set of photos from last night had garnered way more likes than before. He tallied up the withdrawable balance in the backend, and his eyes crinkled into a smile without him realizing it.
Ever since he’d started living with his grandparents, he’d known just how important money was.
He’d figured he could pay it back within four years, but life had a way of throwing curveballs. Aunt Wang had helped him out back then out of pity, and no matter what, he had to repay that debt.
If he truly fell short by then, he’d just borrow a bit from Zhuzi.
He just hadn’t expected that day to arrive so soon.
Glancing at the transaction details, he was surprised to see that Q had tipped him another two thousand that morning.
It only hit him belatedly that something was off. He shoved the doubt down and opened the chat window to send a quick thank-you.
But when he backed out and looked at his phone screen, he noticed that after friending L yesterday, the guy had sent only a single goodnight message.
Nothing all day today.
It looked like the gifts were just to erase that bad review—and the roses were probably the same, just a coincidence that they were roses.
He pulled up Taobao and switched the bad review to a good one.
The messages page showed a new notification. He was just about to tap it when his phone buzzed.
He opened the pop-up chat.
It was L.
【L】: Does Zhizhi like the flowers I sent?
His slender fingers hovered, slightly curved, over the screen. What did L mean by that?
【Zhizhi】: Yes.
【L】: Those flowers don’t stay fresh for long, but they’re gorgeous. When we meet, I’ll take you to the Manor to see the Flower Sea.
【Zhizhi】: Flower Sea?
【L】: Yeah. We’ll go see the Flower Sea together, hit up the amusement park together, just play around together.
Liang Zhixia pursed his lips, but a smile tugged at the corners anyway. It sounded so nice.
A nice fantasy.
Fantasies always ended up shattered, though.
There was a tiny pang of disappointment in his heart—really, just a tiny one—but he was still pretty happy. L was still willing to say stuff like that to cheer him up.
He’d thought changing the review would mean radio silence.
【Zhizhi】: Thanks for keeping me company these past few days. I’ve been really happy ^-^
Over on the other end, Lu Quan stared at the message with a sinking feeling in his gut.
Frowning, he fired off a joking reply.
【L】: Zhizhi isn’t gonna delete me again, is he?
【Zhizhi】: “Hmm, it wouldn’t be me deleting you. More like mutual unfollow.”
Lu Quan’s brow twitched violently.
【L】: Why?
【Zhizhi】: Isn’t that the rule in your line of work?
【Zhizhi】: I can’t afford to support you anymore. Hope you find a better sponsor ^-^
【Zhizhi】: L, you’re a good guy (kitten thumbs-up.jpg)
