Chapter 11
“Mmm.”
He slept until daylight.
Why didn’t his alarm go off today?
Yan Weiqiu groggily felt around his pillow. His phone screen was black and unresponsive. It took him a while to remember that he had been on a call with Jiang Yuebai last night and had fallen asleep mid-conversation. His phone must have died.
He opened the window, and the morning breeze blew in, carrying the scent of grass, brushing against his face, refreshing him.
“Xiaoqiu?”
Yan Weiqiu followed the sound and saw Jiang Yuebai, dressed in sportswear, standing downstairs, waving at him.
“Come down for a morning run?”
Yan Weiqiu: “…”
He had the urge to slam the window shut.
“I’ll wait for you here.” Jiang Yuebai called out to him.
“No.” Yan Weiqiu refused without hesitation.
“The weather is nice today, breezy and not too hot.” While Jiang Yuebai was still thinking of how to persuade Yan Weiqiu, Fang Xiu happened to return from buying breakfast. Seeing him standing downstairs, she called out, “Xiaobai, what are you doing?”
Jiang Yuebai’s eyes flickered, staring at Yan Weiqiu for a few seconds before turning to Fang Xiu with a smile. “I’m waiting for Xiaoqiu to go for a morning run with me. The weather is so nice today, perfect for some exercise.”
Fang Xiu smiled. “Our little lazybones does need some exercise.”
Jiang Yuebai said helplessly, “But Xiaoqiu doesn’t seem to want to come down.”
Yan Weiqiu’s face darkened at these words. He glared at Jiang Yuebai murderously, wanting to tear him apart.
Fang Xiu: “Then I’ll help you call him down. Wait a minute.”
“Thank you, Auntie Xiu.” Jiang Yuebai smiled triumphantly.
“Sure.” Fang Xiu responded with a smile. “Come back for breakfast after your run.”
The figure by the window disappeared. A while later, Yan Weiqiu, dressed in sportswear, came downstairs impatiently, pounced on Jiang Yuebai, grabbed his neck, and yelled angrily, “Jiang Yuebai, I’m going to kill you!”
Fang Xiu peeked out from the balcony, looking at the two of them, and sighed. “Their relationship is so good.”
Yan Weiqiu froze at these words, then spat, “Who has a good relationship with him?”
“Auntie Xiu is right, we have a great relationship.” Jiang Yuebai put his arm around his waist to prevent him from falling.
Yan Weiqiu kicked him and said resentfully, “Are you crazy? Such nice weather, and you want to go for a run? I should be sleeping in!”
“It’s cooler in the morning, the perfect time for a run. You’re in such bad shape; you should exercise more.” Jiang Yuebai took his hand and started running.
“I shouldn’t have even gone to the window, let alone given you the chance to talk.” Yan Weiqiu shook off his hand and ran ahead.
…
…
“I can’t run anymore.” Yan Weiqiu collapsed onto a bench in the park, gasping for air.
Jiang Yuebai pulled him up from the bench, frowning slightly. “Don’t sit down immediately after running. Walk around a bit to cool down.”
Yan Weiqiu leaned against him like a boneless doll, letting Jiang Yuebai lead him for a few steps before collapsing back onto the bench. “You go ahead and run.”
Jiang Yuebai: “Okay, then you rest for a while.”
The result was that Jiang Yuebai ran five laps and returned, and Yan Weiqiu was still lying on the bench playing with his phone. Seeing him approach, he quickly said, “Let’s go home, breakfast is getting cold.”
Jiang Yuebai: “.”
Fine, at least he ran one lap.
Breakfast was soup dumplings and soy milk.
Fang Xiu saw Yan Weiqiu’s cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel and couldn’t help but laugh. “Why are you back alone? Where’s Xiaobai?”
Yan Weiqiu took a large gulp of soy milk, swallowed the dumpling, cleared his throat, and said, “Xiaobai loves being clean; he went home to take a shower.”
“What about you? Why aren’t you sweating at all?” Fang Xiu looked at him suspiciously.
Yan Weiqiu almost choked and said guiltily, “You know I don’t sweat easily.”
He glanced at the clock on the wall and changed the subject before Fang Xiu could say anything. “Mom, didn’t you say you had to go out? It’s almost 9:30. You’ll be late if you don’t leave now.”
“Oh dear! I forgot to check the time.” As Fang Xiu left, she transferred some money to Yan Weiqiu and instructed, “I won’t be back for lunch. Order takeout or eat out. If Xiaobai eats with you, treat him, okay?”
“Okay.” Yan Weiqiu responded perfunctorily.
If Jiang Yuebai dared to come over for lunch, he would definitely make him pay again.
Treat Jiang Yuebai to a meal?
No way!
By the time Jiang Yuebai arrived, only the dumpling wrappers were left.
Yan Weiqiu blinked and explained seriously, “This is a new product from the dim sum shop, called ‘dumpling skins.'”
Jiang Yuebai raised an eyebrow, staring at him with a smirk for a few seconds. “Mm, I just wonder if the owner of the dim sum shop’s last name is Yan. This familiar taste, this familiar recipe… I’ve been eating this for over ten years.”
When Yan Weiqiu was sulking with him as a child, he would eat the meat and leave him with the wrappers.
After breakfast, Yan Weiqiu started reviewing.
Jiang Yuebai took his notebook from his desk and looked at the problems he had copied down.
“‘Xiaobai doesn’t like cilantro. Next time you order takeout, remember to ask the owner to add extra cilantro.'”
Jiang Yuebai’s voice rang out in the otherwise quiet room. After hearing what he said, Yan Weiqiu quickly looked at him and saw the notebook in his hand. He panicked.
“‘Owe Xiaobai 43 yuan. Teletubbies will pay.'”
“‘Xiaobai’s birthday present. 9.9 yuan special offer from Yiwu Mall.'”
“‘Want to eat crab casserole. What excuse should I use to trick Xiaobai into treating me?'”
“…”
Jiang Yuebai laughed as he read.
He had never noticed that Yan Weiqiu had hidden such amusing things.
So the spicy shrimp he had last time, with more cilantro than shrimp, was because he had asked for extra cilantro?
He himself didn’t remember Yan Weiqiu owing him money. Besides, with their relationship, the word “borrow” didn’t really apply.
The pendant he received last time was from Yiwu, huh? Good taste.
As for the crab casserole, he seemed to recall Yan Weiqiu posting about it on his social media, then mentioning it casually in front of him, and they went to eat it that day.
It turned out there were so many little things between them that he had overlooked.
Taking advantage of his height, Jiang Yuebai held Yan Weiqiu’s notebook high and flipped through it page by page.
“Jiang Yuebai!”
“Give it back!”
Yan Weiqiu jumped up, but with the height difference between them, he couldn’t reach it.
He felt a sense of shame at having his little secrets discovered.
He couldn’t let Jiang Yuebai continue reading. The closer to the end, the more secrets were hidden within.
“Give it back.” There was a hint of a sob in Yan Weiqiu’s voice.
Jiang Yuebai immediately closed the notebook and obediently handed it back to Yan Weiqiu.
He looked even more panicked than Yan Weiqiu.
Oh no.
He seemed to have made Xiaoqiu cry.
