Chapter 34 Part 2

【L】: You need to actively keep your distance, or he’ll take advantage of your kindness and go even further.

【L】: I’ll always like Zhizhi.

Truth be told, Liang Zhixia had only been a little upset. Reading L’s words of comfort—even if they felt a bit stiff and awkward—still warmed his heart.

【Zhizhi】: You’re the best, L. I’m not upset at all anymore. From now on, I’ll just treat him like a regular friend.

The bell rang outside the classroom, signaling the start of class. He typed quickly.

【Zhizhi】: Class is starting. Gotta go~

Meanwhile, Lu Quan set his phone down and glared coldly at that “he.” His eyes flicked toward Xu Cheng, who was yawning as he strolled in.

“Who are the friends especially close to Xia Xia?” he asked.

Xu Cheng blinked in confusion but answered on reflex anyway.

He rattled off several names. Lu Quan ran through them in his mind, but none matched.

Friends from before?

It suddenly hit him how little he knew about Zhizhi’s past—especially when it came to relationships.

Xu Cheng plopped down beside him, propping his cheek on his hand as he scrolled through his phone.

All of a sudden, he burst out laughing.

Before Lu Quan could shoot him a frosty look, Xu Cheng shoved his phone in his face and pointed excitedly at the hottest post on the school forum. “Check this out! The thread’s saying you’re jealous over Lin Jie, fighting for some underclassman. Isn’t that hilarious? Hahaha!”

Lu Quan scanned the thread, scrolled down to the poll, and voted straight for A.

He tossed the phone back to Xu Cheng and said coolly, “Forward me the link to the post.”

Only people inside the school network could vote on the forum polls—outsiders couldn’t even open the links.

Lu Quan eyed the results. Votes for A were only about ten percent ahead of B.

He glanced at the chuckling Xu Cheng. “Share the link in the group chats. Have them vote A.”

Xu Cheng let out an “Eh?” “Aren’t you usually above this kind of thing? Don’t tell me it’s because the guy’s an underclassman. Men are impossible to figure out!”

Even as he said it, he dutifully forwarded the link to all his group chats.

With his wide circle of contacts, sharing a link and tossing in a red envelope was all it took for some good old-fashioned vote rigging.

Before long, option A pulled far ahead of B.

Lu Quan nodded in satisfaction.

His fingertip rubbed the edge of his phone case as he pondered how to make sure Zhizhi saw the post.

Zhizhi would pick him too, right?

The bell rang, ending class. Liang Zhixia had just packed up his books when Fan Li rushed over. “It’s pouring outside!”

He pulled back the curtain. The two little sparrows from the windowsill were gone, replaced by rain pattering hard against the glass.

Jiang Ling frowned. “Did you guys bring umbrellas?”

Liang Zhixia shook his head. “Nope.”

Who could’ve predicted clear skies at noon turning into a downpour by afternoon?

The three of them stood at the entrance of the teaching building, surrounded by a crowd of classmates who’d also been caught without umbrellas. The rain hammered down fast and furious.

Liang Zhixia checked the weather app on his phone. “Forecast says this one’s not letting up anytime soon. Might even get worse.”

Jiang Ling draped his jacket over his head and shrugged. “Getting drenched can be kinda refreshing, though. You in?”

Liang Zhixia stared out at the rain, his mind flashing back to that storm during his senior year of high school. It had come just as suddenly, the water cold and biting.

Fan Li noticed his hesitation and spoke up. “Xia Xia, you shouldn’t get soaked—you had a fever last time. How about this: I’ll head back to the dorm first and bring you an umbrella.”

Snapping out of his memories, Liang Zhixia smiled at Fan Li. “I’m not that fragile. It really does feel pretty good.”

With that, he held his bag over his head and bolted out first.

Jiang Ling and Fan Li exchanged a glance before chasing after him.

Their laughter echoed through the downpour.

Back at the dorm, Liang Zhixia was soaked to the skin. He stood in the covered walkway on the first floor of the 6th Floor building, shaking off the water first.

A gust of wind hit him, and he sneezed.

A few minutes later, once he wasn’t dripping anymore, he headed for the elevator.

He’d just opened the dorm door when he spotted a young man standing in the middle of the room—the same assistant he’d seen Lu Quan with once before.

The assistant turned at the sound, spotting him. “I’m here to pick up a file for President Lu.”

Liang Zhixia nodded and stayed by the door, planning to wait until the guy left before stripping down and hopping in a hot shower.

The assistant, wearing shoe covers and gloves, rummaged around the desk. He finally found the file tucked in a corner, gave Liang Zhixia a quick greeting on his way out, and left.

Once he was gone, Liang Zhixia peeled off his wet clothes and padded barefoot to the wardrobe for something dry. He didn’t notice the faint red glow that flickered across Lu Quan’s desk.

At the same time, Lu Quan was handling work in his office when his phone let out a sharp beep.

Frowning, he picked it up. The screen lit up with a live feed.

On closer inspection, it was real-time footage from the dorm.

Just then, the assistant called.

“President Lu, I’ve got the file. Be back at the office in about ten minutes.”

Lu Quan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did you touch anything on my desk?”

The assistant sounded puzzled. “I found the file right there on the desk.”

Lu Quan gave a curt hum and hung up.

Mystery solved—the assistant had accidentally reactivated the surveillance he’d turned off.

He hadn’t used the camera since the semester started, and now this.

The feed showed an empty room, but he spotted clothes in the corner.

Zhizhi was back.

He pulled up the surveillance on his computer, his long fingers gripping the mouse as he dragged the timeline back ten minutes.

The assistant appeared first, followed by Zhizhi, drenched head to toe. He looked up at the window with a frown, clearly realizing it was raining.

Lu Quan berated himself inwardly. He should’ve gone to bring Zhizhi an umbrella.

The footage kept playing, drawing his eyes inescapably.

After the assistant left, Zhizhi… glowed white.

The camera was top-of-the-line, crystal clear. Lu Quan could even make out the little red mole at the nape of Zhizhi’s neck.

His gaze drifted lower: the smooth lines of his back, skin like fresh snow, long straight legs, and that perfectly shaped…

Only when Zhizhi stepped into the bathroom did Lu Quan snap out of it.

He glanced down at his body’s insistent reaction, loosened his tie with one hand, and scowled in irritation. His Adam’s apple bobbed as his breathing grew heavier in the silent office.

A knock sounded at the door.

Lu Quan calmly minimized the feed, cleared his throat, and called out, “Come in.”

The assistant entered, damp from the rain, and set the file on the desk. “President Lu, your document.”

Lu Quan flipped through it casually. “Did you run into my roommate in the dorm?”

The assistant paused. “Yeah, he seemed to have gotten caught in the rain. His clothes were soaked.”

Lu Quan inspected the file thoroughly, then closed it and handed it back. “Have it copied. Then take some ginger soup to my dorm.”

The assistant blinked. “Huh?”

Lu Quan frowned. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“I got it! Totally got it! On it right now!”

That look from the boss—he felt like he’d be out the door for good if he hesitated.

Back in the dorm.

Liang Zhixia had just enjoyed a nice hot shower when someone knocked.

He opened the door to find the assistant who’d left not long ago.

“Can I help you?”

The assistant lifted the insulated thermos in his hand. “President Lu sent me with some ginger soup for you.”

Liang Zhixia frowned. “How did he know?”

The assistant let out an “oh” and said, “It was me who mentioned it. President Lu heard you’d gotten caught in the rain, so he asked me to bring you some ginger soup. Remember to finish this bowl. Goodbye, and have a pleasant life.”

Liang Zhixia had no choice but to accept the thermos bucket. After seeing the assistant off, he set it directly on Lu Quan’s desk. As if he was going to drink it.

Meanwhile, Lu Quan stared at the thermos bucket now sitting on his desk, a helpless expression crossing his face.

He promptly cut the half-hour meeting down to fifteen minutes. Once it wrapped up, he hurried out of the conference room, snatched his car keys, and left the company.

The department managers lingering in the conference room exchanged bewildered glances. Their meeting report had been utter garbage this time, yet President Lu hadn’t chewed them out. Had a miracle really occurred?

The assistant, who was packing up the files, couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d stumbled onto some massive secret.

Was President Lu in such a rush… for his roommate?

Having brushed off the nagging from the various department heads as quickly as possible, Lu Quan sped back to the dorm. Outside the door, he shook out his hair, letting the rainwater trail down his refined features and into the collar of his neck.

The moment he pushed the door open, he spotted Zhizhi curled up in his chair, gnawing on a piece of bread.

It was small. It looked unappetizing and hardly filling.

Just as Lu Quan had suspected, the bread was mediocre at best. It was some that Liang Zhixia had brought from home—and there was still a whole big bag of it left.

He set the other thermos lunchbox he was carrying down on Zhizhi’s desk.

“Dinner.”

Liang Zhixia inhaled the tantalizing aroma wafting from the lunchbox. He glanced down at the little piece of bread in his hand and swallowed hard before forcing his gaze away.

“I’m full.”

There was just one last bite left in his bread. As he ducked his head to take it, someone snatched it right out of his grasp.

Lu Quan braced his arms against the desk and leaned down to bite into the bread. His damp bangs brushed against Liang Zhixia’s forehead, carrying the distinctive chill of rainwater.

Liang Zhixia blinked up at him in wide-eyed shock. Lu Quan merely lifted his eyelids coolly to meet his stare before dropping his gaze again and devouring the rest of the bread in one go.

Liang Zhixia could only watch in stunned silence as Lu Quan polished off his bread. He even felt a fleeting brush of soft, damp warmth against his fingertips.

“You… what the hell?”

“You’re not full yet,” Lu Quan said shamelessly.

With that, he nudged the lunchbox even closer.

Liang Zhixia eyed his face intently and ventured cautiously, “Do you feel like throwing up?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than he saw Lu Quan’s throat bob as he swallowed the bread down.

Lu Quan said nothing—apparently too grossed out to speak.

Anxiously, Liang Zhixia pressed, “Then… should you get your stomach pumped?”

“Why would I need that?” Lu Quan shot back.

“Well, obviously because you ate my bread!”

Grinning as he pried open the lunchbox, Lu Quan replied, “Did you poison it for me?”

Liang Zhixia frowned slightly. “Of course not.”

Lu Quan pressed a pair of chopsticks into his hand and murmured, “Even if Xia Xia poisoned it, I’d eat it anyway.”

What a smooth talker.

L was right—he really should keep his distance from Lu Quan.

Lu Quan would only get pushier. He’d already stolen his little bread, and now he was trying to cloud his mind with sweet nothings.

But the food in front of him smelled incredible. Maybe he’d eat this meal first and draw the line afterward.

Lu Quan had eaten his little bread, after all, so he’d devour Lu Quan’s dinner in return.

He didn’t have a germ phobia anyway.

This could be their farewell meal.

It smelled so good. It tasted even better.