Chapter 54 Part 2

Liang Zhizhia was surprised to see Sang Ruite too. After exchanging greetings, he fell silent.

Bumping into the guy who’d confessed to him last night in a place like this was a little awkward.

He unconsciously edged closer to Lu Quan, his fingertips tugging at the hem of Lu Quan’s shirt. The balloon floating above swayed with the movement.

Lu Quan sensed Zhizhi’s action, and the heavy atmosphere around him lightened a bit.

Sang Ruite reached out and touched the balloon in front of him, flashing a toothy grin. “That looks super cute on you.”

Liang Zhixia replied, “Thanks.”

The path was narrow, and they couldn’t block it forever.

So their two-person date turned into a trio.

Sang Ruite was nothing like Liang Zhixia had imagined. He’d thought the guy was some cool, aloof type, but he turned out to be a total chatterbox.

All the way along, his nonstop chatter filled their ears.

Especially since it was his first time seeing giant pandas. As he watched them, his mouth never stopped moving.

The panda cub in front of them had just finished eating and was rolling around lazily. Sang Ruite let out an excited “whoa” and pointed at the adorably chubby little thing. “Zhizhi, you’re as cute as this baby.”

Then he shook his head. “No, wait—you’re way cuter than it.”

Lu Quan trailed a step behind, his face darkening as he listened to Sang Ruite use his exclusive nickname.

Xia Nian’s voice blared intensely through his Bluetooth earpiece. “Don’t do anything rash! They’re just talking!”

Lu Quan’s expression remained grim. The low pressure radiating from him unconsciously made people steer clear. He tugged at the corner of his mouth. “That’s my exclusive nickname for him.”

Xia Nian now had a headache. Young Master Lu came from a wealthy family, had the looks and the money, and apart from that one incident when he was a kid, his life had been smooth sailing for over twenty years. But now he’d turned into a lovestruck fool—a seriously deranged one at that.

Whoever he fell for was either lucky or cursed.

Rubbing his furrowed brow, Xia Nian said, “About this Zhizhi—”

“Ahem, the guy you like clearly isn’t into that foreigner. What you need right now is a distraction.”

So Lu Quan exhaled and turned toward the convenience store.

He really did need to distract himself.

Otherwise, Zhizhi might not even show up at school tomorrow.

Meanwhile.

Liang Zhixia caught sight of Lu Quan leaving without a word out of the corner of his eye. He froze for a moment, but the crowd quickly swallowed Lu Quan’s figure. Pursing his lips, he sent him a message.

【Zhizhi】: Brother Lu, where are you going?

【Lu Quan】: Grabbing some water.

【Lu Quan】: You guys chat first.

Liang Zhixia stared at Lu Quan’s replies, full of confusion. These weren’t the kinds of things Lu Quan would say.

Sang Ruite was still chattering away beside him.

Liang Zhixia looked up and cut him off. “Um… you should probably call me Little Xia instead.”

Sang Ruite paused, looking puzzled. “Why? He calls you Zhizhi.”

Liang Zhixia explained, “He’s my roommate. We’ve known each other a long time.”

Sang Ruite’s eyes lit up in realization. He shook the wolf tail ponytail at the back of his head. “So if we hang out long enough, can I call you Zhizhi too? A month work?”

Maybe it was a cultural difference, but Liang Zhixia decided to spell it out more clearly.

“Only he gets to call me Zhizhi. Get what I mean?”

Sang Ruite tilted his head, frowning. “It’s just a nickname.”

Liang Zhixia smiled faintly, lips pressed together. “Not for us. It’s more than that.”

Sang Ruite hadn’t been in China long and didn’t quite get it. Blinking his deep, soulful eyes, he asked, “Are you really a straight guy?”

The question caught Liang Zhixia off guard. He immediately thought of Lu Quan’s warning from last night and smiled. “Yeah, I am.”

Sang Ruite’s bangs drooped over his forehead at the answer. “I thought you’d say you’re not. You don’t seem that straight—like with a little effort, you could be turned.”

He straightened up, his deep blue eyes brimming with an alluring gentleness. “So, can I give it a shot?”

A shot at what?

Turning him gay?

Liang Zhixia, who wasn’t exactly straight to begin with: …

He shook his head, his tone firm. “Sorry, no.”

Sang Ruite let out a soft sigh and leaned against the railing, facing him. “Is it because of your roommate?”

Liang Zhixia pressed his lips together. “Yeah.”

Sang Ruite rubbed the wolf tail ponytail at the back of his head, sounding regretful. “Alright then.”

Liang Zhixia stood on his tiptoes and glanced toward the convenience store. Then he tugged at the balloon on his wrist.

His light tea-colored eyes sparkled in the sunlight as he looked at Sang Ruite. “Today is just me and my roommate hanging out alone. Could you maybe split off from us later? You might find your true love here.”

Sang Ruite blinked, then broke into a grin. “So that’s your real take? And it’s still because of him?”

Lu Quan wasn’t around anyway, so Liang Zhixia nodded without much care.

Sang Ruite was taller than Liang Zhixia. Lifting his gaze, he spotted Lu Quan approaching with a cold expression. He chuckled lowly. “I’m a little jealous of him now. Guess I’ll head out. You’re right—maybe I’ll meet my destined one.”

Once Sang Ruite left, Liang Zhixia touched his ear and let out a quiet breath. This was the first time he’d ever voiced his true feelings like that.

But for Lu Quan, it felt pretty good.

“Zhizhi.”

He’d just been thinking of Lu Quan when he heard the man’s voice from behind.

“You’re back.”

He turned to face Lu Quan, his voice bright with joy. He didn’t even realize his eyes were full of anticipation.

Lu Quan asked casually, “Where’s Sang Ruite?”

“He had something come up and left.”

The heavy air around Lu Quan vanished in an instant. His brows relaxed, a smile tugging at his lips as he handed over the milk tea in his hand.

It was Liang Zhixia’s favorite—Mango Pomelo Sago.

“Thanks, Brother Lu.”

Without Sang Ruite’s constant chatter, the atmosphere between the two of them felt much better.

Liang Zhixia watched the sleepy panda cub in front of them and turned to say, “Brother Lu, could you take a photo of me with the panda baby?”

Lu Quan pulled out his camera from his bag and snapped several shots of Zhizhi and the cub. Every one had perfect composition and lighting. Liang Zhixia’s eyes lit up as he watched Lu Quan. “Brother Lu, that certificate was real after all.”

He was referring to the Advanced Photographer Certificate Lu Quan had shown him last time.

Right then, Lu Quan was extremely grateful to his bored self from last year.

After they’d toured the entire Panda Base, they left with Lu Quan walking behind, head down as he typed.

Liang Zhixia suddenly spoke up. “Brother Lu.”

Lu Quan looked up, and the moment was perfectly captured by Liang Zhixia’s phone camera.

He raised a brow. “Sneaking a pic of me?”

Liang Zhixia dodged Lu Quan’s reaching arm, a curve to his lips. “Not sneaking—boldly candid.”

Lu Quan remarked, “Zhizhi’s gotten sly now.”

Liang Zhixia shook the balloon on his wrist and shook his head. “Nope. Learned it from you.”

Xiao Ji’s driver had been waiting outside for a while. The two returned to the hotel, packed their bags in a rush, and hurried to the airport.

By the time they reached A City, it was already eight at night.

Liang Zhixia had planned to grab dinner out before heading back to the dorm, but Lu Quan said, “Head to the dorm first. I asked Senior Xu Cheng to pick it up early.”

Sure enough, Xu Cheng was waiting outside the door, holding food containers. He scowled at the two dawdlers. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting here?”

Liang Zhixia asked, puzzled, “Doesn’t Senior Xu Cheng know the code?”

Xu Cheng glanced at his buddy and muttered, “I do, but I didn’t dare go in. You know how fussy he is.”

Lu Quan unlocked the door and said lowly, “I can hear you.”

Xu Cheng shrugged at Liang Zhixia. “See? Such a pain to deal with.”

Only after getting Lu Quan’s okay did Xu Cheng slip on clean shoe covers and enter the dorm.

He plopped down on the bare chair, tapping his foot. “Where’d you two go for the weekend? Here I thought we were best friends, and you ditched me to have fun without me!”

Liang Zhixia paused for a moment before saying, “Brother Lu and I went to see the giant pandas. We bought these panda pendants there. Here’s one for you.”

Xu Cheng’s eyes lit up. He leaned in close, studied them for a long while, and picked one out.

“I’ll take this one.”

Gazing at the adorable panda pendant, Xu Cheng said, “Next time you go out, you have to take me with you. Lu Quan doesn’t know the first thing about planning trips, but I can handle the itinerary perfectly.”

“Sure,” Liang Zhixia replied.

Lu Quan’s voice came cold and flat. “You can go now.”

Xu Cheng tsked twice, slipped the giant panda pendant into his pocket, and sauntered toward the door. “Fine, since I’m not welcome here, I’ll be on my way.”

Liang Zhixia opened his mouth to speak, but Lu Quan cut in. “He has training tonight.”

Xu Cheng let out a light tsk. “Can’t you give me a little face in front of the junior?”

Their bickering was usually a one-sided affair from Xu Cheng, but whenever Lu Quan opened his mouth, he shut Xu Cheng down cold.

After Xu Cheng left, the two of them had dinner and took their showers.

Lying on his bed, Liang Zhixia transferred the five thousand yuan he’d just received to Aunt Wang. He typed out a message.

【lzx】: Aunt Wang, this is the last five thousand. Please accept it.

A moment later, a message from Aunt Wang popped up.

【Aunt Wang】: You’ve worked hard, Xia Xia. If it weren’t for our family emergency, I never would have asked you to pay it back so suddenly.

【Aunt Wang】: Do you… have enough for your living expenses?

Liang Zhixia happened to be checking his balance right then. Only a few hundred yuan remained.

He typed back.

【lzx】: Plenty. When is Uncle’s surgery?

Standing outside the hospital ward, Aunt Wang turned to glance at her husband, who had just come out of surgery. After a moment’s hesitation, she replied.

【Aunt Wang】: In the next few days.

【lzx】: Don’t worry, Aunt Wang. Good people are blessed with good fortune—everything will turn out fine.

Aunt Wang had already forwarded the five thousand yuan to the account of that boy from before. She felt she ought to let Xia Xia know.

【Aunt Wang】: Is Xia Xia free to take a call right now?

Liang Zhixia had just pulled back his bed curtain when he heard the sound of running water from the bathroom stop.

【lzx】: Not a good time right now.

Seeing his reply, Aunt Wang hesitated again. It would be better to discuss this in person.

【Aunt Wang】: When does Xia Xia have time to come back? Your uncle and I will make your favorite chicken stew with mushrooms.

【lzx】: Sure~