Shen Yi watched Xia Yehang come out of the closet with fluid ease, not a second of hesitation. While his respect for the guy shot up, he stated calmly, “Xia Yehang, you’re dead meat.”
Xia Yehang looked like a man who had seen through the illusions of life. He tilted his head back, sighed at the ceiling, and said, “Everyone dies someday.”
Xia’s father didn’t call back. It was unclear whether Xia Yehang’s blunt declaration of “I’m gay” had fried his father’s mental CPU, or if the man was already on his way to beat him up.
Either way, Xia Yehang tossed and turned in bed that night, completely unable to sleep. The vague notion he might get a beating was one thing, but opening his eyes to find the two beds across from him empty was the main reason for his insomnia.
“Do you think Su Wenyu and Zhou Xu will still live together after going home?” Xia Yehang asked, genuinely unable to sleep. He finally threw off his covers and sat up, wanting to chat with Shen Yi.
Shen Yi had his eyes closed. He wasn’t asleep, but he really wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.
Xia Yehang shook the bed frame. “Hey, pay attention to me.”
Shen Yi opened his eyes, his patience worn thin. “How should I know? Am I sleeping under their beds?”
Xia Yehang: “…”
A fair point.
Xia Yehang checked the time. It was only 10 PM. He wondered if Su Wenyu was asleep yet.
Hesitantly, Xia Yehang asked Shen Yi, “Would it be too presumptuous if I messaged him now to ask if he’s sleeping?”
Shen Yi replied, “Xia Yehang, aren’t you forgetting something?”
Xia Yehang was puzzled. “What thing?”
Shen Yi said coolly, “We’re love rivals.”
Xia Yehang: “…Oh.”
“But tonight, your threat level isn’t as high as Zhou Xu’s.”
After all, Su Wenyu had secretly crawled into Zhou Xu’s bed before. The guy even loved sharing a bed with Zhou Xu in the dormitory. If they went home, wouldn’t that be even worse?
“What if they go home, confess their feelings, and get together?” Xia Yehang felt a touch of despair. “Then I’ll really be heartbroken.”
Shen Yi turned on his side, grabbed the earplugs from his nightstand, and put them in, blocking out Xia Yehang’s rambling.
If he listened any longer, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either.
Xia Yehang noticed his action but didn’t mind. He just suddenly thought of something, let out a “Hahaha” laugh, and said, “Then you’ll be heartbroken too! Hahaha.”
His own heartbreak was bitter, but a friend’s heartbreak was a comfort.
After fussing for a good while that night, Xia Yehang finally quieted down and fell asleep. Meanwhile, Su Wenyu, back at the Su family home, was using the spare house key to secretly unlock Zhou Xu’s door at midnight because of a task issued by 520.
When Su Wenyu had returned to the Su family home with Zhou Xu that afternoon, Shi Pei and Su Duanhong happened to be home. Perhaps knowing the boys were coming back today, they had left work early to wait for them.
They arrived right at dinner time. The kitchen staff pulled out all the stops, making a table full of excellent dishes that made Su Wenyu’s mouth water uncontrollably.
During the meal, Shi Pei personally served Su Wenyu a large bowl of seafood congee and asked if he was getting used to living at school.
Su Wenyu, who had been gulping down the congee with his head lowered, nodded smugly. “I’m used to it! I can even wash and fold my own clothes now.”
Shi Pei immediately looked astonished. “By hand?”
Su Wenyu made sounds of affirmation, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, “My brother taught me. He knows everything.”
Shi Pei felt a mix of heartache and delight. It pained her that her son had to wash his own clothes while living on campus, but she was also happy that Su Wenyu could learn so much from Zhou Xu.
“Will you still live on campus after this?” Shi Pei asked.
“Of course,” Su Wenyu said. “I have two other roommates, and they’re also really good to me.”
“Really?” Shi Pei shifted her gaze to Zhou Xu, hoping her biological son would add a few words.
Zhou Xu really didn’t want to acknowledge the existence of those two roommates, but he had to nod. “They’re alright.”
Aside from being gay, as roommates, there really wasn’t anything to criticize about them.
“Then you can invite them over to play at home sometime later,” Shi Pei said, her face full of anticipation since she’d never seen Su Wenyu bring friends home. “Get along well, and if you need anything while living on campus, just tell Mom.”
Su Duanhong ate a scallop and snorted. “Who knows how busy you are at school, you don’t even know to call home.”
Shi Pei translated Su Duanhong’s words: “Your dad says he misses you and wants you to take time every week to call home and let us know you’re safe.”
Su Duanhong glared. “I didn’t mean that at all!”
Su Wenyu hurriedly said, “Got it. I’ll remember to call you from now on.”
Only then was Su Duanhong appeased, and he lowered his head to continue eating.
Shi Pei asked Zhou Xu if he had any trouble adjusting to the new school or keeping up with his studies. Seeing Zhou Xu nod and say everything was “fine,” she felt a pang of sympathy.
She actually wished Zhou Xu could rely more on his family, but she also knew a twenty-year gap wasn’t easily bridged. It could only be mended slowly, step by step.
Su Wenyu, gnawing on a shrimp, remembered something.
“Mom, I want to buy a bicycle,” Su Wenyu said.
At this, the gazes of Su Duanhong, Shi Pei, and Zhou Xu simultaneously fell on his face. Shi Pei asked, a little surprised, “Why do you suddenly want a bicycle?”
Su Wenyu grumbled, “The school is too big. From the dormitory to the academic buildings, I have to walk so far every time. I lose at least half an hour of sleep in the mornings.”
“Oh~” Shi Pei understood, but…
“Can you even ride a bicycle?” Su Duanhong voiced the question directly. “It won’t be like those luxury cars of yours, sitting in the garage collecting dust without being driven, right?”
Su Wenyu said with confidence, “I can’t, but I can learn!”
Su Wenyu felt he had quite a talent for learning and would certainly be able to ride a bike well in no time.
Zhou Xu had a somewhat bad feeling. “And what if you can’t learn?”
Su Wenyu’s dark, glossy eyes fixed on him, lips parting slightly. “What do you think?”
Zhou Xu didn’t really want to say it.
But he could guess. The gist was, if he couldn’t learn, he’d make Zhou Xu bike him around. It was exactly the kind of thing Su Wenyu would do.
“Then who will you learn from?” Su Duanhong asked casually. But his eyes were actually full of anticipation. He had participated in mountain bike cross-country races in his youth; learning from him would definitely be the right choice.
The result was that Su Wenyu immediately hugged Zhou Xu’s arm and said, “I’ll learn from my brother. If he can’t teach me, he has to take responsibility for me.”
Shi Pei laughed. “Why should your brother take responsibility if you can’t learn?”
Su Wenyu said matter-of-factly, “Then he can bike me to class.”
Su Duanhong immediately looked disappointed, then frowned. “That’s absurd. Does your brother not need to go to class himself?”
Su Wenyu fibbed with his eyes wide open. “It’s on the way.”
Zhou Xu didn’t expose him directly. Instead, he lowered his head and asked softly, “On what way?”
Su Wenyu used his thumb and forefinger to make a tiny heart. “The way in my heart.”
Zhou Xu: “…”
What kind of cheesy pickup line was that? Zhou Xu felt a chill run down his spine, goosebumps nearly rising.
Su Wenyu habitually farmed a wave of Villain Value, shaking Zhou Xu’s arm as he acted cute in front of their parents. “Ple~ease~, bro~ther~~”
The last “brother” had so many twists and turns it could navigate a mountain road, making the rims of Zhou Xu’s ears flush slightly.
“I didn’t say no.” Facing their parents, Zhou Xu couldn’t easily refuse Su Wenyu. He could only put a sea cucumber into his bowl and urge him, “Finish your meal first. It’ll get cold.”
Su Wenyu gave Shi Pei a smug smile. “See? My brother said yes, so can I buy one?”
Shi Pei watched their interaction, a smile she couldn’t stop spreading across her face. She hadn’t expected Su Wenyu and Zhou Xu to have such a good relationship. Of course, she wouldn’t refuse.
“Buy one. Tomorrow, I’ll have someone drive you to pick out a bike. Whichever one you like, we’ll buy,” Shi Pei said cheerfully.
Su Wenyu was so delighted he ate an extra bowl of seafood congee. When they headed back to his small villa that night, because he’d eaten too much, he didn’t take the shuttle cart. Instead, he pulled Zhou Xu along to walk back.
On the way, Zhou Xu hesitated to speak several times, deeply wanting to ask Su Wenyu exactly what he was trying to do.
He had clearly warned him so many times that he was his brother. Yet today, in front of their parents, he had hugged his arm and done so many ambiguous things. Was it to prep their parents in advance, laying the groundwork for coming out as gay later?
As Zhou Xu watched Su Wenyu tug at the hem of his shirt and hum a song, he felt very annoyed in his heart, but he didn’t even know exactly what he was annoyed about.
Zhou Xu rarely encountered unsolvable problems. The issue with Su Wenyu wasn’t like a math problem where he could see the solution method at a glance, nor did it have a standard answer like a math problem.
He found Su Wenyu completely baffling, with no strategy to deal with him.
After returning to the small villa, Zhou Xu went back to his own room. Su Wenyu cheerfully went back too, flopping onto his sofa, and called out 520. “How’s the Villain Value for today?”
The moment 520 brought this up, it got excited. [It went up a lot in the evening! Especially when you hugged his arm. He really minds that you’re gay!]
Su Wenyu corrected its words: “Minds that I’m pretending to be gay.”
520 agreed with several [mm] sounds and said, [Once you’ve washed up later, I’ll issue a task guaranteed to let you complete it while earning even more Villain Value!]
Su Wenyu tried to probe for information. “Can you give a hint about what the task is?”
Late at night, besides crawling into bed, he really couldn’t imagine anything else.
But when he crawled into bed in the dorm, Zhou Xu could still have some reservations and let him do as he pleased. At home, Zhou Xu would probably directly pick him up and throw him out of the room.
Su Wenyu didn’t feel he could put up a fight against Zhou Xu’s rock-hard, muscular arms.
[Don’t worry, I’ve already considered everything you’re worried about. The task I’m giving you is guaranteed to be completable before you get thrown out,] 520 reassured him.
But no matter how Su Wenyu asked, 520 wouldn’t reveal a single bit of information about the task, only urging him to hurry and take a bath.
As Su Wenyu bathed, he racked his brain, unable to figure out what kind of task absolutely required him to bathe first.
It wasn’t until Su Wenyu finished his bath, wrapped in a bath towel and smelling fragrant all over while sitting on the edge of his bed, that 520 finally issued the task.
【Mission Issued: Host Su Wenyu, please play a male ghost to scare Zhou Xu.】
【Additional Condition: Wear only underwear beneath the costume.】
A question mark slowly popped up above Su Wenyu’s head: ?
Playing a male ghost to scare Zhou Xu, he understood that part. But, “What do you mean, ‘additional condition’? And only wearing underwear?”
520 explained: [The System has judged that this will earn more Villain Value when you are discovered. If you want, not wearing anything at all could earn even more points.]
[The points for this task, due to a certain degree of danger, are 50 points. The additional condition adds 20 points. If you go completely bare, the additional points can be changed to 30.]
Su Wenyu was silent for a very long time before he finally voiced his doubt in a small voice: “Is this System of yours… really reliable?”
He understood the logic.
But why did it have to involve selling his looks!
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