Chapter 40

On the first night Song Mian tried making a midnight snack, the ruined carrot was eaten by Lin Zhi, and the spinach was reluctantly finished off. Lin Zhi left the rest of the messy stuff alone.

There were two rooms in the house. Lin Zhi’s room already had fresh bedding laid out. He gave Song Mian a strange look, wanting to call him out for pretending, but then remembered what he’d done on the forum and decided against it.

Lin Zhi returned to his bedroom, grabbed his blanket, and went to Song Mian’s room. They drew a clear line dividing their sides of the bed again. Song Mian even reached out to straighten Lin Zhi’s blanket. “You made it yourself. Don’t roll over to my side tonight.”

Lin Zhi felt oddly conflicted.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

Song Mian raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply.

After the lights went out, Lin Zhi couldn’t sleep. He really had something on his mind! What was he going to do tomorrow?

“Song Mian, are you asleep?” Lin Zhi whispered.

“Not yet.” Song Mian mimicked his whisper on purpose.

Lin Zhi sighed.

Song Mian: “Sigh”

Lin Zhi noticed something off. “Are you copying me?”

Song Mian: “Yeah.”

Too much!

Lin Zhi scooted over along his blanket toward Song Mian. “I have something on my mind.”

Song Mian: “You’re gay.”

“Not that! I… I want to ask if you’re mad at me?” Lin Zhi’s voice was tense.

Song Mian turned his head, surprised. “You won’t even tell me what it is, but you want me not to be mad?”

Lin Zhi sat up like a penguin, bumping his head against Song Mian’s chest. He whispered coquettishly, “Is that okay?”

Song Mian was easygoing. “Sure.”

Lin Zhi started to leave.

But Song Mian added, “With one condition.”

Lin Zhi burrowed back toward the edge of the bed. “No deal!”

Song Mian continued anyway. “Get out of your blanket and come over here. Then hug me.”

That was doable.

Lin Zhi crawled out of his blanket and snuggled into Song Mian’s side, hugging his arm obediently. “You’re not mad at me.”

“Mm.” After hugging Lin Zhi, Song Mian said wickedly, “How’d Zhizhi end up in my blanket? Did you do it willingly?”

Lin Zhi felt aggrieved like a little wife. “Willingly.”

Song Mian chuckled softly.

Lin Zhi couldn’t hold back and elbowed him.

Monday.

Lin Zhi dawdled through his morning routine, even planning to take the bus to school. He earnestly explained to Song Mian, “If someone sees us, they’ll suspect two guys living together. In college, if you’re gay like this, you gotta keep a low profile.”

Song Mian corrected him. “You too.”

“I’m not yet.”

Song Mian replied, “If you’re not, then come to school with me.”

To protect his straight-guy image, Lin Zhi grudgingly went with Song Mian.

After reaching the school gate, Lin Zhi acted sneaky for a while. Seeing no one paying attention to them, he let out a breath and openly patted his belly. No matter how big the online storm got, it wouldn’t affect real life.

In class, Lin Zhi was always sensitive to others’ stares, but this time, he felt none on him. His heart finally settled. Sure enough, niche posts only attracted niche fans.

Lin Zhi comfortably sprawled on his desk, listening to the lecture for a bit before dozing off.

As the class neared its end, Lin Zhi picked up his phone. There was a message from his arch-rival Jiang Chaohua, sent three minutes ago.

Jiang Chaohua: [Is it true what they’re saying?]

Lin Zhi replied under the desk, puzzled: [What’s true or false?]

Jiang Chaohua: [Check the class group.]

Lin Zhi had a bad feeling. The moment he opened the class group, his vision went black. Some anonymous person had shared last night’s forum post, complete with a screenshot of Lin Zhi commenting from Song Mian’s “Radish Caretaker” account.

Anonymous: [Radish Caretaker is Song Mian. Who wants to ask him what’s up?]

Anonymous: [What’s his deal with Lin Zhi? Aren’t they both guys?]

Anonymous: [Or ask Lin Zhi. Class prez?]

Class Prez: [You’re anonymous, I’m not. Just @ Lin Zhi yourself.]

No reply from anonymous.

Jiang Chaohua: [I’ll go ask Lin Zhi.]

After that, a bunch of: [Tell the group after!]

Lin Zhi’s eyes trembled, his hands shook, his legs shook. He jerked his head up and caught a female classmate sneaking a peek at Song Mian. No one was looking at him for once—they were staring at Song Mian!

Lin Zhi glanced at Song Mian, who was calmly turning pages, oblivious to the world.

Lin Zhi ducked his head and replied to Jiang Chaohua: [Account got hacked.]

Jiang Chaohua: [Who’d hack Song Mian’s account? Are you hooking up with him? Did your parents send you to college to mess around with guys?]

Lin Zhi: ???

Lin Zhi scratched his face and replied: [Hear me out]

Knowing his rival’s style, any explanation would end up in the group. He couldn’t let himself die socially, but he couldn’t drag Song Mian down either. While pondering, he didn’t see Song Mian’s phone, so he rummaged through books and his bag for blank paper to write him a note. Song Mian leaned over. “What are you looking for?”

Lin Zhi stopped searching, avoiding his eyes, and whispered, “Check your phone. Don’t look at me!”

Lin Zhi quickly found Song Mian’s contact and messaged: [I used your forum account and caused trouble. Can you just claim you posted it?]

Song Mian replied quickly: [Sure.]

Lin Zhi peeked at him; Song Mian was looking back. Lin Zhi messaged frantically: [Don’t look at me right now!!]

Song Mian stopped looking and typed under the desk: [Can’t look at hubby?]

Lin Zhi’s face turned beet red. He scooted his chair away, thoughtfully reminding: [Aren’t you gonna ask what trouble?]

Song Mian: [You used my account to say you’re not the wifey? Zhizhi, you’re not the wifey—you’re my hubby.]

Holy crap!

Lin Zhi was about to explode.

Song Mian kept typing. Soon: [Don’t worry about me. I own that account—everything was me. I loved those @ mentions last night, the ones blessing us for a hundred years together. Zhizhi, can I post myself?]

Lin Zhi jabbed the screen: [NO!!]

Song Mian, why didn’t he care about outsiders’ opinions?!

Lin Zhi sneaked another glance and found Song Mian sneaking one too. Lin Zhi glared fiercely; Song Mian regretfully looked away.

But anyway!

Lin Zhi replied to Jiang Chaohua: [Song Mian posted it. How should I know? He’s aloof and doesn’t explain. If you’re curious, ask him yourself.]

Jiang Chaohua: [Were you just discussing with Song Mian how to reply?]

Lin Zhi guiltily sent: [No.]

Jiang Chaohua: [Fuck, acting like a steel straight guy in high school, now with a guy. Fuck, Lin Zhi, you’re something else!]

Holy crap!!

Lin Zhi: [Did your account get hacked??]

Jiang Chaohua: [Fuck.]

Lin Zhi… didn’t reply. His rival was a rival for a reason—randomly cursing him out!

After messaging, Lin Zhi worryingly sent Song Mian another, but he wasn’t checking his phone. No scrap paper left, Lin Zhi wrote on his textbook’s inside cover: [I blamed it all on you. See it and don’t look at me!!]

He cleared his throat lightly. Song Mian glanced over. His lips curved; instead of saying “mm,” he drew a checkmark on his book’s margin and coughed softly.

Lin Zhi saw it and was satisfied!

One issue resolved easily!

After blaming it on Song Mian, once class ended, Lin Zhi thought of him and slammed the desk, standing up. He scanned around and yelled, “Who’s staring at Song Mian?”

The professor jumped.

No one dared look at Song Mian after that. But his rival Jiang Chaohua was glaring at Lin Zhi, who was baffled. He scratched his face, squeezed next to Song Mian with a flushed face. “That’s all I could do.”

Song Mian: “……”

Embarrassing.

After class, Jiang Chaohua stopped Lin Zhi. “Wait, gotta talk.”

Jiang Chaohua looked awful, blocking Lin Zhi’s seat. Lin Zhi hesitated. “You’re not gonna curse me out, right?”

Jiang Chaohua pursed his lips, silent.

Seeing only Song Mian left, Lin Zhi stood and whispered, “Even if I really am with a guy, what’s it to you?”

Jiang Chaohua’s face turned ashen.

Song Mian lifted his eyelids slightly, voice flat. “Let me talk to you.”

Jiang Chaohua looked at Song Mian.

Song Mian pinched Lin Zhi’s cheek, his voice softening. “Wait outside for me.”

Jiang Chaohua’s face darkened further.

Lin Zhi suspiciously left the classroom.

After a short wait in the breeze, he felt uneasy. Song Mian called him hubby—how could a hubby let his wife handle his stuff?

“Little System, what do you think?”

The Romance Survival System didn’t respond. Little System must be offline.

Soon, Jiang Chaohua came out. He stood before Lin Zhi, face less hostile but full of worry. “Anyway, I’ve been brooding alone. Lin Zhi, if I’d said something sooner… whatever, friends can’t even be friends now. I’ve always seen you as a friend.”

Lin Zhi: “I…”

Jiang Chaohua irritably cut him off. “Don’t be fake. You hate me, right?”

Lin Zhi awkwardly: “Not hate.”

Song Mian walked out with their bags. Jiang Chaohua glanced and said, “Forget it, annoying as fuck. Fuck.” He cursed and left.

Lin Zhi hurried to Song Mian.

“What happened?”

He took his bag from Song Mian.

“You weren’t paying attention in class—why’s your stuff everywhere with books and pens?” Song Mian had struggled just packing Lin Zhi’s.

“Don’t change the subject!”

Song Mian bent slightly, pinching Lin Zhi’s face with a dangerous tone. “You sure have a way with guys?”

Lin Zhi blinked blankly.

“You mean I have good people skills?”

Song Mian hugged him over the bag in Lin Zhi’s arms.

“This is school! People!” Lin Zhi panicked.

Song Mian didn’t let go, voice thick with possessiveness. “I gotta watch you closely. One slip, and there’s another rival—lurking this long. Lin Zhi, let me kiss you a few times tonight as compensation.”

Lin Zhi went from blank to not!

He wasn’t dumb.

Was this… right?