Chapter 4
After sending that so-called “love at first sight” message, Jiang Chaochao immediately regretted it. What was he even doing?
But retracting it would seem suspicious, like there was really something to it.
Well, he could also pretend it was someone else’s story, the legendary “I have a friend,” right?
Bianbian’s words carried weight in this group. Basically, in the next second, everyone online replied.
Some said they had experienced love at first sight, some said they hadn’t. But these were the minority. Most were asking Bianbian, Great Master, who did you fall for at first sight?!
This sentence was then copied all over the screen.
Group member 1: “Great Master, who did you fall for at first sight?”
Group member 2: “Great Master, who did you fall for at first sight?”
…
Bianbian: “…”
Shouldn’t have said anything.
Bianbian: “Uh”
How in sync his group members were.
Bianbian only typed this one word, and everyone instantly fell silent.
No urging, no fuss, no talking, just waiting.
Bianbian: “Why is everyone assuming it’s me?”
Group member 1: “Eh? Not Great Master?”
Group member 2: “Then who is it?”
Group member 3: “Is it your friend?”
Jiang Chaochao, in all his life, feared sincere people the most. His group members were all sweethearts raised on sincerity. It was difficult for him not to continue.
So he had no choice.
Bianbian: “Yes, it’s me.”
Group member 1: “HAHAHAHA okay”
Group member 2: “Oh my god, Teacher, you actually fell in love at first sight!”
Group member 3: “What kind of person is he? Curious!”
Jiang Chaochao didn’t think it was love at first sight; he just wanted to explain the matter simply.
But he didn’t explain further. The more he explained, the more he’d have to explain.
Bianbian: “I went to a party tonight”
Bianbian: “And met someone”
This group was mostly female, and everyone was very gentle and kind. Plus, Xiuxiu, the group admin, was very strict about screening members, so since the group’s creation, it had always been very peaceful, without any unpleasant incidents.
Everyone knew that Bianbian liked men. Bianbian never felt there was anything to hide, he would say it if someone asked, very open about it.
In addition, Bianbian’s fondness for handsome men was also well known. During the initial stages of the group, when Bianbian was still very active, the group members would share all sorts of handsome men with Bianbian as soon as they woke up, under the guise of giving Teacher Bianbian inspiration.
Things had calmed down a lot now.
So after he finished these two sentences, everyone immediately assumed he had met a man. Xiuxiu, who knew Bianbian well, immediately jumped in.
Xiuxiu: “Is he super handsome?”
Bianbian hesitated for a moment.
Forget it, no more hesitation.
Bianbian: “Holy shit”
Bianbian: “Super handsome”
So handsome that Jiang Chaochao couldn’t help but look for him several times.
Wanting to see him, but also afraid their eyes would meet.
Even after returning home, he was still reminiscing about the brooch, still regretting the potential interaction that was interrupted by Xu Hengzhi’s sudden appearance.
Hearing this, the group members naturally became excited again.
“Any pictures?”
“What type of handsome is he?”
“Did Bianbian make a move?”
“Did you add him? Did you add him?”
…
Bianbian poured cold water on their excitement: “No, none of that.”
Bianbian poured another bucket of cold water: “We didn’t even talk.”
Bianbian thought for a moment, then added: “Not really talking. I dropped my brooch, he picked it up for me, I said thank you.”
Bianbian: “That’s it.”
…
“Love at first sight, holy shit!”
At this moment, in another part of the city, a young woman in the passenger seat secretly covered her mouth.
First, she covered her mouth because she was surprised by what she saw on her phone.
Second, she covered it because what she blurted out was a curse word.
Xiang Shici turned to look at her uncle who was driving, only to see her uncle tilting his head slightly, as if glancing at her with his peripheral vision.
So before she could finish reading the group chat, Xiang Shici put away her phone, smiling apologetically at her uncle: “Don’t tell my mom.”
Her uncle made a noncommittal sound: “Heh.”
Xiang Shici gave an awkward laugh: “You won’t, right, Uncle?”
Uncle: “Do I look like that kind of person?”
Xiang Shici: “Of course not, Uncle, you’re the best.”
Her uncle didn’t speak again, so Xiang Shici continued looking at her phone, first reading through the chat history, then frantically typing, joining the group members in their “Ahhhhh!” frenzy.
Then, a minute later.
“Holy shit!”
Unable to stop herself from cursing again, Xiang Shici’s smile instantly froze on her face.
She slowly lowered her phone, then slowly turned to smile at the person beside her: “Haha.”
Oh no, why isn’t Uncle talking.
“It’s just my group chat,” Xiang Shici thought for a moment and explained, “There’s a very talented artist in there, and he said he fell in love at first sight with a handsome guy today.”
Her uncle didn’t react, only giving a slow “mm-hmm.”
Xiang Shici felt even more awkward. In order to explain her surprise, she added: “This artist is usually very calm, so everyone is surprised by him today.”
After listening, her uncle only asked: “Calm?”
Xiang Shici said “ah,” then thought for a moment: “Calm means, he’s always been calm, a very emotionally stable person, ah…” Xiang Shici suddenly knew how to explain: “Like you, Uncle, you’re also a calm person, so he fell in love at first sight with someone today, we are all surprised.”
Her uncle gave another: “Mm-hmm.”
Clearly not interested.
See! How calm!
But whether he was calm or not didn’t stop Xiang Shici from getting more and more excited.
“And,” Xiang Shici continued, “Although I haven’t met this artist, I think he must be a super handsome guy.”
This time, her uncle reacted a little: “A man?”
Xiang Shici only then realized what she had said, and she slowly covered her mouth again, secretly glancing at her uncle.
The cursing incident hadn’t even blown over, and now she’d almost revealed her interest in BL!
“Uh…” Xiang Shici’s mind raced.
Before she could come up with any explanation, her uncle gave her an out, calmly summarizing: “A handsome guy fell for another handsome guy at first sight.”
Xiang Shici went along with it: “Yes, yes, yes, he said that the handsome guy even picked up his brooch for him.” Thinking of this scene, Shici got excited again, giggling: “Hee hee hee.”
After laughing, she immediately became embarrassed again: “Haha.”
“Brooch.”
Her uncle repeated the word after hearing it.
Xiang Shici nodded: “Yes.”
Then her uncle stopped talking.
Of course, Xiang Shici dared to say these things because she was confident that her uncle wasn’t prejudiced against homosexuality. Because Xiang Shici strongly suspected that her uncle had a friend who was gay.
She even dared to further speculate that the male friend her uncle was inseparable from last year was his boyfriend.
Further deduction, since that friend was alone this year, they must have broken up.
The topic ended there.
Seeing that they were almost there, Xiang Shici put away her phone: “Uncle, are you coming to see my performance the day after tomorrow?”
Her uncle turned the car: “It depends.”
Xiang Shici: “Depends on what?”
Uncle: “If I’m not busy, I’ll come.”
Xiang Shici pouted: “Are you busy the day after tomorrow?”
Uncle: “Very busy.”
Xiang Shici: “…”
Xiang Shici: “Okay then.”
Xiang Shici glanced at her uncle again.
It seemed okay. Cursing was okay, and revealing her fondness for BL was okay too.
And Xiang Shici was even more certain that her uncle’s friend was gay.
Xiang Shici happily lowered her head, rejoining the group chat.
Ahhhhhh
“Ahhhh so sweet!”
“Ahhh you must have made eye contactAhhh”
“Ahhh when he handed you back the brooch, your hands must have touched ahhh”
“Ahhhh practically holding hands ahhhh!”
“Ahhhh he’s into you ahhh”
“Ahhhh it’s mutual, it’s mutual ahhh”
Ahhhhhh
On the other side, Jiang Chaochao stared at the screen full of “ahh.”
ahhh, huh?
It could be interpreted that way?
Jiang Chaochao really didn’t understand the train of thought of these people.
Was it really that sweet?
They did make eye contact.
When Xiang Ye said “little duck.”
Their hands did touch.
When he took the brooch back from Xiang Ye’s hand, it was unavoidable.
Jiang Chaochao was a little stunned by all the “ah”s. The group members even helped Jiang Chaochao expand on the event.
The unspoken emotions in their exchanged glances, the restrained hidden affection of not daring to move forward, the tacit understanding of smiling at each other after returning the brooch, turning away was just suppressing and restraining themselves.
Damn it, it made Jiang Chaochao’s heart flutter. If Xu Hengzhi hadn’t called, Jiang Chaochao wouldn’t have realized he couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face.
So he calmed down for a few seconds before answering the phone.
“Hello,” Xu Hengzhi’s voice came from the other end, “I’m home.”
Jiang Chaochao glanced at the time: “Why are you only getting home now?”
“Good question,” Xu Hengzhi sounded helpless. “I just went for supper with Zhenzhen.”
Zhenzhen was the female executive.
Jiang Chaochao slowly uttered an: “Ah?”
Xu Hengzhi laughed: “It’s nothing, we just talked, shared our thoughts. We’re adults. I don’t need to avoid her anymore.”
Jiang Chaochao slowly uttered an: “Ah.”
Xu Hengzhi sighed.
Jiang Chaochao asked: “Are you okay?”
Xu Hengzhi sounded relaxed: “I’m fine.”
Jiang Chaochao thought for a moment: “Should I come over?”
Xu Hengzhi: “No need, no need, it’s not a big deal. I have to get up early tomorrow, can’t drink tonight.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Did I say I wanted to drink with you?”
Xu Hengzhi laughed: “You’re so annoying sometimes.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Fine, you can scold me all you want today.”
Xu Hengzhi: “Really?”
Jiang Chaochao: “No, try scolding me and see.”
Xu Hengzhi laughed loudly on the other end: “Alright, alright, I’m fine. I’m going to take a shower.”
Jiang Chaochao: “Go ahead.”
After hanging up, he returned to the group chat. The excitement had already died down.
Perhaps because Jiang Chaochao wasn’t there, and they didn’t get the response they wanted, the excitement was somewhat short-lived.
Bianbian: “Sorry, I just took a phone call.”
Group member 1: “Ahhh Teacher Bianbian, you’re back!”
Group member 2: “We were so lonely without you!”
Group member 3: “Wuwuwu, Teacher Bianbian!”
Group member 1: “So?”
Group member 2: “So?”
Group member 3: “So?”
Bianbian still understood them very well: “No ‘so,’ I just happened to meet a very eye-catching handsome guy, that’s all.”
Bianbian: “I’ll probably forget about him tomorrow.”
Group member: “Then, will you meet again in the future?”
Bianbian thought for a moment: “Unlikely.”
Bianbian: “We don’t really have anything in common.”
Group member: “Okay.”
Bianbian: “Okay.”
Xiuxiu, who understood Bianbian, chimed in again: “Ah, it’s fine, there are handsome guys everywhere.”
Xiuxiu: “The next one will be even more handsome! Teacher Bianbian”
Group member 1: “The next one will be even more handsome!”
Group member 2: “The next one will be even more handsome!”
Group member 3: “The next one will be even more handsome!”
…
Next, the topic returned to Bianbian’s drawing for the day.
Then, as usual, the conversation gradually died down.
While showering, Jiang Chaochao thought about what they had talked about in the group and his own inexplicable reaction, and chuckled in amusement.
The guy didn’t even know him, and he was already imagining a relationship.
Truly absurd.
