Chi Lanyi dreamed again that he was at the entrance to that psychology center.
He held his health insurance card, pacing repeatedly before the flower bed. Years of anxiety and depression made his fingertips tremble. He bit his lip, looking at the thin, neat version of himself in the glass.
Ultimately, he turned and left, just like the dozen or so times before, never stepping inside.
He didn’t want people to think he was an anxious, depressed mental patient, a fragile, chaotic help-seeker, and on top of that, a dirty, shameful homosexual.
The next moment, those nightmares happened again. He was in the room on the fourth floor of the bar, his chin being hooked playfully by Zou Jun.
Zou Jun’s shoes had dirty marks, as unclean as his desires. Chi Lanyi dodged his hand with disgust, but turning around, he saw several teachers in the school office arrogantly confronting him, while Gao Yuanzhou was grinning cheekily, begging for his forgiveness…
Amidst endless chaos, Chi Lanyi was just fleeing. The clamoring noise was about to pierce his eardrums, about to shatter him entirely.
Suddenly, the world went silent.
Chi Lanyi looked up in a daze and saw a pair of cold, sharp eyes. The handsome, older man watched him silently, as if admiring a beautiful piece of art.
All the streetlights were extinguished. Only he and Gao Rong remained, forced together in the cramped space created by the oppressive rain curtain. Finally freed from those annoying people, Chi Lanyi almost wanted to cry.
And besides, he found this rainy street very romantic. The falling rain was so clean and cool, like angels Gao Rong had sent to wash away the mundane dust for him.
Chi Lanyi stood there, infatuated. Even though the smoke from the Short Liqun was suffocating him, he stared directly into Gao Rong’s cold, stern eyes.
Gao Rong’s fingers, calloused and slightly rough, touched his lips again. Chi Lanyi thought Gao Rong was going to snatch the cigarette from his mouth again and wanted to proactively hand the cigarette to Gao Rong.
But suddenly, Gao Rong roughly pried open his lips and shoved his fingers inside.
“Mmph…”
Chi Lanyi was pressed by Gao Rong between Gao Rong’s tall body and the wall. Terrified and shocked, he had nowhere to escape and could only endure the pressure and invasion of Gao Rong on his lips.
Chi Lanyi grew more and more frightened, struggling continuously, but was held firmly by Gao Rong. When Gao Rong’s hand grabbed his waist, Chi Lanyi screamed and woke up in a bed.
He was in his apartment. The apartment was dim, messy, damp from the rain.
And he was curled up under the covers, his head buzzing, his whole body flushed, utterly disheveled.
—All of this, just because he had a dream related to Gao Rong.
…
Chi Lanyi began to numbly shower again.
He used hot water to suppress his discomfiture. He couldn’t believe he had dreamed of such a thing.
He hated himself, and hated Gao Rong even more.
Yet the smell of tobacco on his skin seemed impossible to remove. Chi Lanyi had to use perfume to cover the scent on his body. Only when he felt no one would discover he had been in contact with Gao Rong did he go to class.
Today, the teacher asked them to use a coaster to express “Memory.”
All the students took this course very seriously. The teacher for this course was not only a professor at F University but also highly respected in the fashion industry, with many industry resources under her control.
Moreover, all the assignments for this course would have a final presentation. Many industry insiders would come to watch.
Nobody wanted to miss this chance to make a name for themselves.
Chi Lanyi, however, sat in the corner, staring blankly at the base fabric he had cut. His mind was full of things unrelated to the course.
Someone noticed Chi Lanyi’s silence and leaned closer to him in the corner: “Chi Lanyi, class is almost over, and you’ve only cut a piece of base fabric? What’s your theme?”
The person leaned over, wanting to see Chi Lanyi’s work. Chi Lanyi smelled the scent of clothes that hadn’t been properly dried before being worn out, like a faintly moldy smell.
Suddenly, Chi Lanyi thought again of the person who had sent the anonymous accusation letter—he still didn’t know who that bad actor hiding in the crowd was. He immediately crumpled the base fabric in his hands into a ball and grabbed it back: “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Haven’t decided? The day after tomorrow is the deadline to submit the assignment. Do you plan to do it after class? Don’t you also have to prepare for the competition?”
“Tch.” A male student named Frederick said sarcastically, “Sacha, Chi Lanyi can obviously do whatever he wants. Anyway, that old hag will only say Chi Lanyi’s stuff is the best.”
Chi Lanyi was suddenly provoked.
He stared at Frederick, the never-before-seen coldness in his eyes causing even Frederick to be momentarily speechless.
Soon, Frederick said indignantly, “Did I say anything wrong? What are you glaring at me for?”
Sacha, who had initially leaned close to Chi Lanyi, smiled awkwardly and added: “Chi Lanyi, besides making the coaster, the teacher also said we need to make a website to introduce our coasters. To save time, how about we combine our websites… what do you think? Like the origami and exoskeleton projects before…”
The phone in his pocket vibrated. Chi Lanyi lowered his eyes and shoved the base fabric into his backpack.
“Class is about to end, I have to go.” He said in a drifting voice, “We’ll talk about it later.”
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the classroom. Behind him, Frederick complained discontentedly: “See, he doesn’t take us seriously at all…”
The call was from the Vice-Chancellor.
“This year, in the Future Creative Incubator Project co-organized by ANI Group and F University, the school has recommended you and three other students. There is a project briefing this afternoon; please attend on time.”
ANI was one of the few luxury goods conglomerates renowned throughout Europe. The incubator project it collaborated on with F University was an opportunity all students dreamed of.
Chi Lanyi had also seen the recruitment flyer for this project back in January. But in principle, this project was only open to junior students. Chi Lanyi was far less interested in it than the competition he was preparing for himself.
In the past, he hadn’t even submitted the application materials, yet now he was suddenly informed to attend the project briefing. It went without saying, this must be the “compensation” the Vice-Chancellor had promised earlier, now taking effect.
Chi Lanyi watched the fine drizzle under the eaves, his mood gloomy.
What made him gloomy wasn’t just this rain and the ubiquitous behind-the-scenes maneuvering. It was also because he knew clearly that he could receive such compensation only due to Gao Rong’s past pressure on the school administration.
He was once again basking in grace due to Gao Rong’s power to control.
Gao Rong had come looking for him again. And Chi Lanyi felt that Gao Rong had never even considered letting him go.
