Chapter 26
“Hmm?” Xu Hengzhi was confused. “What do you mean? What’s with the ‘might think you like him?’”
Jiang Chaochao’s phone was still on the picture in Xiang Ye’s Moments post, the raindrops on the window, and some vague, indistinct reflections.
“Literally,” Jiang Chaochao said.
Xu Hengzhi asked, “Then do you like him?”
This question rendered Jiang Chaochao speechless.
Even though all evidence, whether physical, verbal, or mental, pointed to one answer, he still stammered.
How interesting Xu Hengzhi was. He just kept quiet. Usually impatient, he suddenly became very patient, waiting for Jiang Chaochao to speak.
Jiang Chaochao swallowed, then pursed his lips, and finally said, “What do you want?”
As soon as he finished speaking, laughter came from the other end.
Jiang Chaochao closed his eyes.
He knew it.
“Stop laughing, Uncle, I’m scared,” Jiang Chaochao said flatly.
Xu Hengzhi: “Okay, okay, I won’t laugh,” but he was still laughing, “Jiang Chaochao, why are you so cute recently?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Open your eyes, I’ve always been cute.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Hahaha, okay, okay, okay.”
“Where were we?” Xu Hengzhi stopped laughing and asked, “So what happened?”
Jiang Chaochao tried to sound calm as he told Xu Hengzhi, “Xiang Ye just posted on Moments.”
Xu Hengzhi made a confused sound, perhaps checking his phone, then said “oh”: “He posted something only visible to you?”
Jiang Chaochao smiled: “I don’t know.”
Xu Hengzhi became interested: “What is it? Show me, show me.”
Jiang Chaochao smiled again, then said to Xu Hengzhi, “I also posted on Moments before his post.”
Xu Hengzhi,as expected of an expert in relationships, immediately understood: “Oh~ You posted something only visible to him, and he replied with something only visible to you.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Mm-hmm.”
Xu Hengzhi laughed: “Not bad, bro, not bad, you even know how to do this.”
Jiang Chaochao felt a little proud: “It’s nothing.”
Xu Hengzhi asked: “So? What did you post? Can you show me?”
Jiang Chaochao thought for a moment: “Sure.”
It wasn’t anything he couldn’t show.
Screenshot, send, all in one go.
“Ah…” Xu Hengzhi, after reading it, made a long, ambiguous sound, then he asked, “Was Xiang Ye’s post only visible to you?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Can’t you see it?”
Xu Hengzhi: “What if he blocked me?”
Silence hung in the air for two seconds.
Jiang Chaochao: “I’m hanging up.”
“Hahaha, wait, wait, wait,” Xu Hengzhi burst out laughing, “I was just kidding, of course he didn’t! Of course not!”
Jiang Chaochao didn’t speak.
Xu Hengzhi continued, “Why do you think he accepted my friend request in the first place? It was for you! In this situation, how could he possibly block me? Right?”
Jiang Chaochao: “…Only you would say that.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Then tell me, does it make sense or not?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Doesn’t make sense.”
Xu Hengzhi laughed: “Okay, okay, doesn’t make sense.”
But speaking of which…
Jiang Chaochao said: “But he could have blocked you.”
Xu Hengzhi instantly fell silent.
Now it was Jiang Chaochao’s turn to laugh.
Xu Hengzhi let out a “ha”: “Indeed, yes, of course it’s possible. Who am I? It’s normal for me not to be in his visibility groups, unlike our Jiang Chaochao.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Hmm? What’s wrong with our Jiang Chaochao?”
Xu Hengzhi: “Who is our Jiang Chaochao? He’s the person Xiang Ye thinks about day and night, the love of his life.”
Jiang Chaochao made a gagging sound: “I’m going to throw up.”
Xu Hengzhi asked: “So was it only visible to you?”
Jiang Chaochao: “I don’t know.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Go ask him.”
Jiang Chaochao: “I’m not asking.”
Xu Hengzhi said again: “You even posted something so simple and only visible to him.”
Jiang Chaochao gave an “oh”: “I’ll post a love confession next.”
Xu Hengzhi laughed again: “Go on, post it now.”
Jiang Chaochao pretended to pause for a few seconds: “Okay, posted.”
Xu Hengzhi sounded skeptical: “Really?”
Then Jiang Chaochao also sounded skeptical: “Really.”
Jiang Chaochao naturally didn’t post anything, and Xu Hengzhi naturally didn’t believe him.
Next, Xu Hengzhi, this crazy guy, started rambling again, saying what did Xiang Ye mean, why did he post the same thing on Moments as you, why did he reply to you, did you tell him you posted it for him to see, how did he just “same” you, what did “same” even mean.
“Hmm? Tell me, Jiang Chaochao, what did his ‘same’ mean?”
Xu Hengzhi’s tone was incredibly suggestive, making Jiang Chaochao’s heart flutter and his cheekbones rise to the heavens.
As Jiang Chaochao’s lips curved into a smile, Xu Hengzhi said again, “Did he also miss you?”
Jiang Chaochao immediately said, “Hey, don’t say nonsense.”
Xu Hengzhi continued in his suggestive tone, “Isn’t that the case? Xiang Ye gege, I miss you,” he then switched personas, “Chaochao didi, me too.”
“Crazy,” Jiang Chaochao stopped Xu Hengzhi. “Stop it, that’s disgusting.”
Xu Hengzhi, having amused himself, burst out laughing.
So, back to the topic.
Jiang Chaochao asked: “How did you find out if Xiang Ye was gay?”
Xu Hengzhi thought for a moment, “I have a decent connection in his company,” he then said, “No, wait, I have to go ask him.”
Jiang Chaochao asked helplessly, “Did you mention me?”
Xu Hengzhi gave his full assurance: “Of course not.”
Jiang Chaochao made a thoughtful sound.
Xu Hengzhi: “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Chaochao: “When Xiang Ye told me about this, he sounded like he wanted me to know.”
“No, what’s really going on between you two? Going to a barbecue together, and all that,” Xu Hengzhi was very curious. “How did he confess to you?”
Jiang Chaochao made a thoughtful sound again.
Xu Hengzhi: “Can’t say it, or don’t want to say it?”
Thinking of his conversation with Xiang Ye at the time, Jiang Chaochao suddenly laughed.
Thankfully he didn’t laugh out loud, otherwise Xu Hengzhi would die of laughter.
He composed himself and said calmly, “He said to me…”
Jiang Chaochao paused slightly, and Xu Hengzhi responded cooperatively: “Mm-hmm.”
Jiang Chaochao continued: “You’re asking around if I’m straight or gay.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Mm-hmm.”
Jiang Chaochao continued again, “Then he said…”
Xu Hengzhi: “Mm-hmm.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Then tell him for me that I’m gay.”
Xu Hengzhi didn’t “mm-hmm” this time. He was silent for two seconds, then said, “He likes you.”
Jiang Chaochao was also silent for two seconds, then said, “If not, I’ll kill you.”
Xu Hengzhi immediately said: “Forget I said anything.”
Jiang Chaochao: “…”
Xu Hengzhi said again: “But I still think he likes you.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Why?”
Xu Hengzhi: “Damn, he’s flirting so hard! And your Moments posts…”
Jiang Chaochao didn’t respond.
Xu Hengzhi became smug: “You think so too, don’t you?”
Jiang Chaochao’s lips curved into a smile: “I guess so.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Just ‘I guess so’? Zhang Fei and Guan Yu wouldn’t post like that on Moments.” (Referring to two sworn brothers in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, implying they wouldn’t be so subtly flirty)
Jiang Chaochao burst out laughing: “You even know this.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Of course.”
Xu Hengzhi asked again: “Does he know about your sexual orientation?”
Jiang Chaochao: “I don’t know.”
After saying that, Jiang Chaochao suddenly thought of his exposed Teacher Bianbian identity, so he added, “Maybe.”
Xu Hengzhi snapped his fingers: “See?”
“I don’t see anything,” Jiang Chaochao still maintained some rationality. “It’s not like he’ll like just anyone who’s gay.”
Xu Hengzhi did what he did best: “Whatever, it’s a done deal anyway.”
Jiang Chaochao chuckled: “A done deal my ass.”
Whether it was a done deal or not they didn’t know, but the car came to a stop.
Jiang Chaochao was home.
It was still raining outside, and Jiang Chaochao didn’t have an umbrella, so he naturally couldn’t continue the call.
But they had already talked about everything they wanted to talk about.
After hanging up, Jiang Chaochao dashed into the complex, rested for a few seconds under the security guard’s eave, then continued running home.
The rain wasn’t heavy, but he was still quite wet. And Jiang Chaochao, whose head was still filled with Xu Hengzhi’s words, did the first thing he thought of when he reached his building: took a picture of his wet and disheveled self, added a puppy dog emoji to cover his face, and sent it to Xiang Ye.
Then he entered the elevator, then he exited the elevator, then he went home, then he went up to the second floor, then he returned to his room.
No response from his phone.
It had been, more than two minutes…
Jiang Chaochao started feeling like he was being delusional. The wait became agonizing.
He tried to relax while seemingly busying himself by opening his computer and refreshing the desktop.
Finally, at the tenth minute, his phone buzzed. Jiang Chaochao quickly opened it.
Then quickly felt disappointed.
It was Zhang Lingzhi, he messaged: “Look where this is.”
Zhang Lingzhi: [Picture]
It was their high school alma mater.
Jiang Chaochao: “You went to Fuzhong?”
Zhang Lingzhi: “Yes, came for a visit.”
Zhang Lingzhi: “It’s changed a lot. There wasn’t this fountain when we were there.”
Zhang Lingzhi: [Picture]
Jiang Chaochao actually knew about this fountain. He had visited Fuzhong with his high school deskmate last year, it had just been built then.
But he didn’t want to continue this topic with Zhang Lingzhi, it felt like it would require a lot of typing, quite tiring.
So he only replied with three words: “Looks good.”
Zhang Lingzhi: “Yes.”
Zhang Lingzhi: “So cool.”
Zhang Lingzhi: “Are you still busy?”
As they chatted, a small notification popped up. Before Jiang Chaochao could finish typing, seeing who it was, he immediately clicked on it.
Xiang Ye said: “How did you get so wet?”
He also said: “I was in a meeting just now.”
Jiang Chaochao’s slight sulkiness instantly vanished because of these two sentences.
Not to mention, Xiang Ye sent another message.
XY: “You’re home, right? Take a shower first.”
XY: “Don’t catch a cold.”
The corners of Jiang Chaochao’s eyes curved upwards: “How did you know I was home?”
XY: Quoted picture
—“The background is the area downstairs from your place.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Impressive.”
XY asked again: “So, can you remove the puppy dog now?”
Jiang Chaochao’s smile deepened, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Who knew, under the puppy dog emoji was a wronged expression.
Xiang Ye had asked for it himself.
Jiang Chaochao: “I guess so.”
Jiang Chaochao: [Picture]
More than a hundred kilometers away, the person who wasn’t actually done with his meeting yet, the person secretly looking at his phone with his head lowered, smiled.
XY: “So cute.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Going to shower.”
The other person started frantically typing again.
But after a long time, only one word was sent.
XY: “Okay.”
The rain lasted for a long time, making Jiang Chaochao feel very comfortable.
The second floor of his house had gradually become his own territory as he grew up.
He had his own room, his own bathroom, his own piano room, and a small balcony outside the piano room, which he had also decorated beautifully.
So tonight, he turned on a light on the balcony, turned on some music, and, accompanied by the sound of rain, finished the drawing he had planned.
Perhaps he was a bit muddleheaded yesterday. Opening the drawing again today, rereading the character settings written by the original author, the characters he drew now had nothing to do with him or Xiang Ye, they had their own souls.
Jiang Chaochao was always immersed when he drew, often feeling like he was outside of this world during the process.
By the time he finished the planned portion, it was already 10:30 PM.
He turned off the music and picked up his phone.
The moment he picked up his phone, a message popped up on the screen: XY requesting a voice call…
No messages, no calls all night, but the moment Jiang Chaochao picked up his phone, he came looking for him.
Jiang Chaochao’s heart, which had been wandering and at peace all night, became restless again.
He stared at the screen for a while before putting on his earphones and answering the call.
“What are you doing?” This was his opening line.
“I’m…” Jiang Chaochao decided not to lie, “Drawing.”
Xiang Ye seemed to make a confused sound because of this answer, then quickly called, “Laoshi.”
Jiang Chaochao was amused: “Hmm?”
Xiang Ye also surprisingly: “Hmm?”
Even though he was prepared, at this moment, Jiang Chaochao still felt a strange sensation of breaking through dimensions.
He was both Jiang Chaochao and Bianbian, but not entirely Bianbian, he was entirely Jiang Chaochao.
“Not drawing anymore,” Teacher Bianbian put away his tablet and pen. “Today’s task is complete.”
Xiang Ye said: “Laoshi is so awesome.”
Jiang Chaochao chuckled: “Stop talking.”
Xiang Ye: “What’s wrong, laoshi?”
Jiang Chaochao gritted his teeth.
This person’s tone wasn’t even exaggerated, it didn’t even have much of a tone, not like Xu Hengzhi at all.
But why did it sound even more seductive?
“What are you doing?” Jiang Chaochao could only throw the question back.
Xiang Ye said: “Just got home.”
Jiang Chaochao’s mind raced: “Mr. Xiang is so awesome.”
Xiang Ye immediately laughed: “Awesome in what way?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Awesome here, awesome there.”
Xiang Ye: “Thank you, Jiang laoshi.”
Jiang Chaochao: “You’re welcome.”
Silence hung in the air for half a second, then both of them laughed.
After laughing, Jiang Chaochao looked up at the sky.
There wasn’t actually much to see after the rain, no stars, no moon, just darkness.
But he just stared for a long time.
What were they even talking about?
What kind of magic did Xiang Ye have?
Why was he, in such a good mood?
“You’re back, right?” Jiang Chaochao looked away and asked Xiang Ye.
Xiang Ye: “Mm-hmm, just got home.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Calling me as soon as you got home.”
These words slipped out. After saying them, he was stunned, they seemed a bit ambiguous.
But ambiguous in what way?
If at this moment, Xiang Ye could say, I miss you.
“Were you drawing all night?” Xiang Ye asked.
Haha, what missing or not missing, there was no such thing.
Jiang Chaochao was almost amused by himself.
Whatever, it was too late to explain.
It was all Xu Hengzhi’s fault!
“Yes,” Jiang Chaochao replied to Xiang Ye.
Xiang Ye said: “Okay.”
Jiang Chaochao didn’t know how Xiang Ye defined “just got home.”
Was it “just put down my luggage” just, or “already tidied myself up” just?
Rainy days were suitable for quietly drawing, and also suitable for quietly talking on the phone.
Neither of them spoke. It seemed fine, just quiet, the left ear filled with the air on Jiang Chaochao’s side, the right ear filled with the sound of wind on Xiang Ye’s side.
After an unknown amount of time, suddenly, without any context, Xiang Ye said, “It’s almost eleven o’clock.”
Jiang Chaochao also looked at the time: “Yes.”
Xiang Ye asked: “Can I go back on my word?”
Jiang Chaochao: “Go back on what?”
Xiang Ye said: “Someone asked me yesterday if I was free today.”
Jiang Chaochao seemed to understand, he continued Xiang Ye’s sentence, “Didn’t someone say he wasn’t free, and rejected me outright?”
Xiang Ye chuckled: “Was I like that?”
Jiang Chaochao: “I don’t know, who knows?”
“Then I,” Xiang Ye’s voice was gentle, “request to go back on my word, laoshi.”
Jiang Chaochao couldn’t help but lift his chin and hummed softly: “So? How are you free now?”
Xiang Ye was silent for a moment, then his tone lowered, “It’s all your fault.”
Jiang Chaochao blinked: “What did I do?”
Xiang Ye seemed to sigh: “Yes, what did you do?”
