Chapter 20: He Qinglan: Pei He doesn’t seem to be lying—He Qinglan really…

Zhou Zhuoyuan said helplessly, “I’ve only told you about this, and you’re still asking if I consider you a friend?”

Ji He couldn’t resist such sweet talk. Joy flooded his heart. “Alright then. Let me know if you need any help.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan repeatedly warned him not to breathe a word to the Zhou Family, and Ji He promised over and over that he wouldn’t.

~~~

The first rain after the winter solstice poured down for several days straight. The icy downpour carried a bone-chilling cold that pierced straight through to the skin.

Zhou Zhuoyuan could be willful at times, but for the most part, he took good care of himself. He wrapped a scarf around his neck early and dressed a little thicker than his classmates.

In his previous life, when he’d first arrived up north, he hadn’t understood just how brutal the winters could be. He’d ended up with frostbite in several places that would flare up whenever he got cold. These days, he bundled himself up from head to toe, wishing he could just drape a quilt over his shoulders for class.

Because of the rain, they had to play basketball in the gym. The sports hall was a bit crowded on the weekend, but luckily Sun Yuqing had come early to reserve the court.

He Qinglan didn’t have a match this weekend, so he tagged along with Zhou Zhuoyuan as usual. Pei He went without saying—he was practically He Qinglan’s conjoined twin. And Guan Qi insisted on sticking to Zhou Zhuoyuan every week; there was no shaking him off.

With these human sticky candies in tow, Zhou Zhuoyuan drew a ton of eyes. It was mostly thanks to He Qinglan’s popularity. Teenage boys and girls sometimes went for the bad-boy type, sometimes the aloof ice prince, sometimes the brooding pretty boy—but someone gentle like him was always a hit, no matter the era.

They used to play on the outdoor court, where the crowd was spread out. Now crammed into the gym, the attention was impossible to avoid.

Zhou Zhuoyuan shrugged off his jacket and unwound the scarf glued to his neck. He went through a proper warmup routine with focus.

It just went to show—you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too. God might open one door for you, but he’d shut another. He Qinglan had a great personality, a sharp mind, and good looks, but his limbs were hopelessly uncoordinated. More often than not, he’d knee the basketball flying several meters away.

By comparison, even Sun Yuqing looked professional after his training. The onlookers had mostly come for He Qinglan at first, cheering themselves hoarse. But once they realized even a blockhead couldn’t be carved into a master, they switched to rooting for Zhou Zhuoyuan and Pei He.

Zhou Zhuoyuan always got fired up against Pei He—he had to crush the guy completely. Sun Yuqing didn’t even dare get close to them anymore. Guan Qi was on Zhou Zhuoyuan’s team and itched to jump in and help, but he held back, afraid of throwing off his rhythm.

Pei He found himself boxed in by Zhou Zhuoyuan. In a panic, he lobbed the ball to He Qinglan. He really should have passed to Sun Yuqing, but deep down, he trusted his childhood friend more—which turned out to be the wrong call.

He Qinglan caught the ball and froze, at a total loss. He started dribbling in place. Zhou Zhuoyuan jogged over with a grin to intercept, but He Qinglan smacked the ball right onto his own shoe. It went skittering off. He stumbled after it, left foot tangling with right—and bowled straight into Zhou Zhuoyuan, sending them both crashing to the floor.

For all his awkward limbs, He Qinglan’s reactions were quick. Just before impact, he threw one hand behind Zhou Zhuoyuan’s head and the other around his waist, pulling him into a full embrace.

A chorus of shrieks erupted from the court.

Zhou Zhuoyuan had no idea what they were screaming about. The pain he’d braced for never came—he was just a little dazed.

He Qinglan scrambled up off him and reached down to help. His voice was thick with worry. “Did you hit anything? You okay?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan borrowed his strength to stand. “Nah, I’m good.”

He didn’t sound entirely convinced, though. He suspected he’d bumped his head after all—but it didn’t hurt at all. So where were those cries of “So sweet! So sweet!” coming from?

Zhou Zhuoyuan mumbled, “Why am I always the one getting knocked over?”

He Qinglan started to ask who’d bumped him before, but Pei He grabbed his wrist. “Forget him. Don’t you realize your hand’s all bruised?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan glanced over and saw the knuckles were indeed turning blue. As the team leader, he spoke up. “It’s getting late anyway. Let’s take a break and head back.”

They yielded the court and settled into the rest area. Zhou Zhuoyuan layered his clothes, scarf, and hat back on, one by one. He looked so obedient and adorable, a stark contrast to his fierce intensity on the court. The girls sneaking peeks melted on the spot. Finally, one mustered her courage, dashed over, and offered him a bottle of water.

Zhou Zhuoyuan stammered, “F-for me?”

The girl’s face flushed bright red. “Yeah. You’re so cute. Can I have your name?”

Cute? That didn’t seem right…

But Zhou Zhuoyuan didn’t overthink it. He spilled his name, WeChat, and phone number without a second thought.

He Qinglan sat right beside him, seething with jealousy.

Moments later, Zhou Zhuoyuan suddenly slammed his phone shut with a dramatic flourish.

Had that girl confessed already? So fast? He Qinglan’s mind raced. He blurted out, “What’s going on?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan’s face was blank. “She asked if I’m a top or a bottom.”

“Pfft!” He Qinglan couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Zhou Zhuoyuan turned his head with a gloomy look. “Is it what I think it is?”

He Qinglan didn’t want to come off as taking pleasure in his misfortune, so he clamped his lips shut tight.

Just moments ago, Zhou Zhuoyuan had been mulling over whether a relationship would hurt his studies and how to gently turn down this girl. Well, that dilemma was solved now.

~~~

With New Year’s approaching, the school decided to ease the pressure on the third-year seniors by holding a piggyback relay race next Wednesday. Each team consisted of six people, with one acting as the “baton.” Classes could enter as many teams as they wanted, but they’d only get the prize for their highest placing.

First prize was five thousand yuan—enough to treat the whole class to a feast.

The class’s organization committee head, He Tiaosheng, was thrilled. She propped herself up on Zhou Zhuoyuan’s desk and pulled out every trick in the book to convince him to join.

Zhou Zhuoyuan felt like she was asking the impossible. “Where am I supposed to find five other people to sign up with?”

Ji He had been listening in with rapt attention and immediately chimed in. “Count me in! Me and you!”

Zhou Zhuoyuan shoved his face away. “Yeah, right. The last thing I want is to carry you.”

Ji He mumbled through squished cheeks, “Don’t wanna carry me? Then don’t.”

He Tiaosheng clapped her hands. “Perfect! Add in your dormmates and Sun Yuqing, and no matter where we place, our team wins hands-down on looks alone!”

Zhou Zhuoyuan felt his scalp tingle. “Have you even asked them? Are they cool with it?”

He Tiaosheng just winked at him mysteriously in response.

Zhou Zhuoyuan: “…”

What a bunch of shameless cheapskates.

In pursuit of that first prize, they created a group chat and planned to meet up at school that Sunday afternoon for practice.

Zhou Zhuoyuan had no idea where they got the nerve to think they could actually win first place, but he didn’t want to rain on their parade, so he agreed. If he’d known the end result of their discussion would be him playing baton, he never would’ve been so accommodating.

No such luck in hindsight. Right now, Zhou Zhuoyuan sat on a bench with his legs spread wide, black lines practically crawling down his face. “Why me? No way I’m the baton.”

Sun Yuqing rubbed his chin, putting on a show of deep thought. “But Master, you’re the lightest. Carrying you is the most efficient option.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan wasn’t buying it. “Says who?”

He regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. These high schoolers, brimming with energy, dragged him all the way to the pharmacy by the school gate and lined up one by one to weigh themselves on the scale.

Zhou Zhuoyuan had no choice but to believe it, but he still wasn’t giving up. “Ji He isn’t much heavier than me, but he’s weaker than I am. He can’t run as fast, either.”

Ji He blinked in confusion, having been dragged into this mess. “But didn’t you say you didn’t want to carry me?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan snapped, “Shut up.”

Ji He finally remembered to defend himself. “Who said I’m weaker than you? And your stamina’s not as good as mine!”

He couldn’t argue with the last part. After just a few minutes of running around, Zhou Zhuoyuan was drenched in sweat, his breathing still ragged.

He Qinglan, the class monitor, saw their argument going nowhere and stepped in to settle it. “Let’s draw lots, then.”

He opened a random drawing app and tossed the link into the group chat.

The result? Sun Yuqing.

Guan Qi suggested, “Want to redraw?”

The second draw? Sun Yuqing again.

No one wanted to carry a 1.9-meter hunk of muscle, so they went for a third round. Finally, it landed on Zhou Zhuoyuan. He wasn’t sure why he’d bothered fighting it—maybe so there’d be no regrets after giving it their all.

They headed back to the small sports field to start training. Ji He went first. He hoisted Zhou Zhuoyuan onto his back and, to prove his point, bounced him up and down a couple times. With a cheeky grin, he said, “You want me to carry you that bad? So tsundere~”

Zhou Zhuoyuan pinched his cheeks hard, making him yelp.

Sun Yuqing was up second. With his broad shoulders and solid back, riding him was way more comfortable. He handed Zhou Zhuoyuan off to Guan Qi nice and steady, without breaking a sweat or missing a breath. Smugly, he said, “See, Master? Baton duty’s not so bad, right?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan shot him a glare and swiftly hopped onto Guan Qi’s back for the third leg.

It had been a long time since Guan Qi had any physical contact with Zhou Zhuoyuan. Honestly, this was better than the worst-case scenario he’d imagined. At least Zhou Zhuoyuan wasn’t deliberately ignoring him anymore, and he didn’t mind teaming up for events.

Guan Qi tightened his grip under Zhou Zhuoyuan’s thighs, tempted to take it slow. Then he heard Zhou Zhuoyuan murmur in his ear, “If you can’t hack it, go be the baton. Don’t hold us back.”

A soft chuckle escaped Guan Qi’s throat. “Hold on tight, then. Let’s see if I can hack it.”

The sudden burst of speed made Zhou Zhuoyuan’s body go rigid in surprise, leaving him a half-beat slow when he reached He Qinglan, who was crouched waiting. He Qinglan didn’t rush him, though. He waited patiently until Zhou Zhuoyuan had steadied himself before standing up.

Pei He didn’t seem to be lying—He Qinglan really was on their team.

At their current pace, clinching first prize wasn’t out of the question.

To move more freely, they’d all shed their jackets. Zhou Zhuoyuan’s body heat seeped through their sweaters into He Qinglan’s back. His hands had been cradling Zhou Zhuoyuan’s thighs but jerked forward a few inches, as if shocked by electricity.

Zhou Zhuoyuan sensed his unease. “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Losing just means skipping one group meal.”

He Qinglan tilted his head slightly. Zhou Zhuoyuan’s breath drew even closer—an ambiguously intimate distance. “Do you want to win?” he asked.

“It’s not a big deal. Kind of.” Perhaps realizing He Qinglan could keep up the blistering speed, meaning they had a solid shot at victory, Zhou Zhuoyuan was surprisingly candid. A note of longing colored his voice, tinged with faint shyness. “I’ve never had a meal out with classmates.”

When chatting with his coworkers, the topic of school life sometimes came up. They reminisced about the pure friendships of their student days, but years after graduation, class reunions could never recapture that innocence.

Some nights before bed, Zhou Zhuoyuan would think back on those stories and wonder what a simple classmate gathering felt like.

He’d skipped his middle school graduation party—Lin Decai had refused to pay, and he didn’t have any friends worth keeping in touch with anyway. Studying extra hours at home had seemed like a better deal. High school graduation probably featured a Teacher Appreciation Banquet, but by then Zhou Zhuoyuan had slunk away to the Northern Small City. No chance he’d come back for it.

He Qinglan hadn’t expected the group meal to be what Zhou Zhuoyuan cared about. He knew Zhou had been unpopular and reclusive back then, so he’d assumed he wouldn’t enjoy team-building stuff like this.

“Zhuoyuan,” he promised, “we’re getting first place.”

When He Qinglan finished his leg, he was panting harder than anyone—like he’d run for his life. Ji He checked the stopwatch and saw he’d shaved 0.1 seconds off Sun Yuqing’s time.

Ji He breathed a silent sigh of relief that he’d run first. No one had timed him, or he’d have been dead last and never heard the end of it from Zhou Zhuoyuan.

The anchor leg was Pei He.

Zhou Zhuoyuan approached him with a stiff expression. This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to be carried—he couldn’t picture this guy, who’d always resented him, hoisting him on his back.

Would he fake a stumble midway and dump him on the ground? After a whirlwind of grim speculations, Zhou Zhuoyuan found himself lifted onto Pei He’s back anyway.

Pei He sounded exasperated. “What’s got you so tense?”

“I’m not tense,” Zhou Zhuoyuan said stubbornly.

Pei He scoffed. “What, scared I’ll drop you and kill you?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan bristled. “Is that what you want?”

Pei He glanced at the others, some distance away, and his gaze hardened. “I dislike you, sure. But I’m not an idiot. Quit with the persecution complex.”

Only then did Zhou Zhuoyuan’s rigid posture ease. “How was I supposed to know you weren’t?”

A vein throbbed in Pei He’s temple.

“Hiss—don’t squeeze so tight,” Zhou Zhuoyuan complained as the grip suddenly tightened, making it hard to breathe. He reached back to grab at him.

Pei He’s hand flinched at the cool touch of Zhou Zhuoyuan’s fingertips. He hissed in a low voice, “Keep squirming and I’ll drop you.”

“Who asked you to squeeze me in the first place?” Zhou Zhuoyuan shot back.

Pei He, caught out, muttered, “It wasn’t on purpose. Just say something next time instead of groping around.”

The words sounded a touch defensive, so he tacked on, “God, you’re delicate.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan had never been called delicate before. He exploded in outrage. “You’re the delicate one! Want to trade? Let me squeeze you like that and see how you like it. What are you, some paragon of male virtue? One touch and your chastity’s ruined? And why do you hate me anyway? I’ve never even cursed you out!”

Pei He tsked. “Because Qinglan likes you. That reason good enough?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan gaped, utterly baffled. “Are you nuts? Whoever He Qinglan likes, you just hate on principle?”

Pei He gave a wry, self-mocking smile. “Classic straight guy.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan froze. “What the hell does that mean?”

But the finish line was in sight, and Pei He didn’t answer. As soon as they crossed, everyone crowded around.

Ji He thrust out his hand for a high-five. “Zhuoyuan! That’s it—we’ve won!”

Zhou Zhuoyuan shoved Pei He’s words aside for the moment and slapped palms with him.

Afterward, He Qinglan draped his jacket over Zhou Zhuoyuan’s shoulders and took his hands, rubbing them briskly between his own. “I told you not to take it off. I’ll brew some ginger tea for you when we get back. No shedding layers during the race next time—or stick some hand warmers on.”

Sun Yuqing chimed in from the side, teasing, “Class Monitor’s such a good little wife. He wouldn’t have fallen for my master, would he?”

Guan Qi lifted his foot and kicked him. “Cut the nonsense!”

Ji He, for once in full agreement with Guan Qi, chimed in. “Exactly, exactly! Who doesn’t know the class monitor is a good guy?”

He Qinglan just smiled.

Zhou Zhuoyuan stared into He Qinglan’s eyes.

Under the sunlight, the color of He Qinglan’s pupils seemed even lighter. He clearly knew Zhou Zhuoyuan was looking at him, yet he didn’t dare look back.

Pei He probably wasn’t lying.

He Qinglan really liked him.