DCISBS chapter 71

Xie Quan was the one treating, but Lu Nanyang was the one doing all the ordering.

None of the guys had any intention of being polite to the “Prince of the Med School”—they all swarmed in and started chattering while pointing at the menu. If Lu Nanyang hadn’t held them back, they probably would’ve ordered everything on it.

As the meat grilled, hot oil sizzled along the grain of the lean cuts, sending up a rich aroma in clouds of white smoke. The few teenage boys were practically drooling, eyes glued to the grill, and soon no one even remembered the awkward topic they had just been discussing.

The table was lively—Wen Fei and Jia Rong were talking about a movie coming out next month, while Da Ze was passionately telling Lu Nanyang all about his grand post-graduation plans.

But Lu Nanyang wasn’t really listening. He responded with a half-hearted “yeah” every couple of minutes, but it didn’t stop Da Ze’s enthusiastic monologue.

Xie Quan stayed quiet, calmly dividing the grilled meat into small pieces with his chopsticks and putting them in his mouth.

Lu Nanyang subtly shifted closer to him, lowering his center of gravity so that their shoulders just barely touched—not too far, not too close.

“How is it? Can you taste anything?” Lu Nanyang asked softly.

Xie Quan paused mid-chew. “Yeah.”

“What does it taste like?” Lu Nanyang asked, eyes full of expectation. “Is it fragrant? Delicious?”

Xie Quan slowly swallowed the bite in his mouth. “It’s sour.”

“No way…” Lu Nanyang said, clearly disappointed.

Xie Quan was amused by his reaction and chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint. It’s not going away that fast. The taste disorder will probably stick around for a while.”

Sour grilled meat wasn’t exactly delicious, but it was still better than tasting nothing at all.

Still, Lu Nanyang frowned and raised his hand to call the waiter. “Do you guys have anything spicier?”

The waiter nodded. “Yes, the beef brisket and fatty lamb both come in spicy versions.”

“Then we’ll have the brisket. Make it extra spicy—the spicier, the better, like absurdly spicy.”

Everyone at the table, including the waiter, gave Lu Nanyang a weird look. He pointed at the composed Xie Quan and said, “It’s for him.”

“O-okay…” The waiter quickly took note and walked off.

That topic—the one sealed away by grilled meat—resurfaced again in the minds of the guys from Dorm 402.

The spicy brisket arrived, sizzling furiously on the hotplate, sending up a cloud of terrifying chili fumes that made everyone cough uncontrollably.

But Xie Quan didn’t even blink. He grilled the meat, plated it, and even thoughtfully asked the waiter to bring a clean grill pan for the others to use.

Several pairs of eyes were glued to him as he calmly tore the insanely spicy meat into smaller pieces and popped them into his mouth without even flinching.

Even the usually oblivious Lu Nanyang started getting annoyed by the probing looks from his dormmates and tapped the grill plate with his chopsticks.

“What are you staring at? You full already?”

Everyone quickly looked away and started eating again like nothing had happened.

When the meal was over, Xie Quan got up to pay the bill. Lu Nanyang said, “I’ll go with you,” and naturally followed him out.

As soon as the two left, the remaining three guys immediately huddled together and lowered their voices like they were discussing top-secret academic research.

Wen Fei: “What did I say? What did I say?! These two are arch enemies! The only difference is that they’re fighting in secret now instead of openly. Why else would Lu Nanyang suddenly order something that spicy for Xie Quan? If that’s not sabotage, what is?”

Da Ze: “But Xie Quan actually ate it. And he didn’t even flinch.”

“Exactly! That just proves they’re secretly competing! The first one to crack loses, so even if it blows up his stomach by morning, he has to act like it’s no big deal.”

Jia Rong was speechless.

“Maybe you guys are overthinking it?” Jia Rong said. “What if Xie Quan just likes spicy food, and Lu Nanyang was just being considerate by ordering for him?”

“No way…” Da Ze’s eyes widened, struggling to picture the scene.

Other couples drink wine and eat steak under candlelight before confessing their love. These two? They eat spicy barbecue till their lips swell like sausages, then kiss, and gaze at each other deeply saying—‘You’re so spicy.’

Da Ze shuddered at the image. Yeah, he was starting to believe Wen Fei might be right after all.

……

At the front counter, Xie Quan stood with his eyes lowered as the cashier tallied the bill and printed the receipt. Lu Nanyang stood beside him, his shoulder just brushing against Xie Quan’s, arm casually resting behind him on the table’s edge—seemingly a careless gesture, but looking suspiciously like a subtle embrace.

“You’re really paying for this?” he reached for Xie Quan’s phone, but Xie Quan nimbly dodged him.

“I said I’m paying, so I’m paying.”

“They ordered a lot, plus several bottles of beer…”

“If you really care, save your money,” Xie Quan said. “You’ll need it later—for rent, utilities, heating, appliances, daily necessities… Stop wasting it trying to treat people all the time.”

Lu Nanyang let out a muffled chuckle, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curling up.

The way Xie Quan said that really sounded like a thrifty, responsible housewife…

Xie Quan seemed to catch onto Lu Nanyang’s thoughts and shot him a glare from the corner of his eye, then used his phone to scan and pay the bill.

The little puppy who’d just been glared at sneakily hooked his finger around Xie Quan’s from behind. His neatly trimmed fingernail gently brushed against the pad of Xie Quan’s pinky, and with big watery eyes full of pitiful innocence, he lowered his voice and asked, “Going home after this?”

The soft, tingling sensation of his fingertip was like a feather teasing Xie Quan’s heart, tickling and electric.

Paired with that kind of action and tone, it was hard not to overthink it.

“…You sure your fever’s over?” Xie Quan also lowered his voice.

They were standing very close together—so close that Xie Quan’s deep voice seemed to echo directly in Lu Nanyang’s ear, sending a faint shiver down his spine.

They’d confirmed their relationship over half a month ago, but so many things had happened since. Xie Quan had just escaped the hell of thesis deadlines when Lu Nanyang got a high fever. Throughout all that time, they hadn’t even properly done it once.

Lu Nanyang never thought of himself as someone with a particularly strong libido, but when it came to Xie Quan, his self-control was always hanging by a thread.

A single word, a single smile, even a tiny squint from him could easily spark his desire. He’d been holding it in for so long, he was on the verge of snapping.

If Wen Fei and the others hadn’t shown up in the stairwell earlier, he would’ve already dragged Xie Quan home and pinned him to the bed by now.

He wanted to hug him, kiss him, press every inch of their skin together, drown in an overwhelming intimacy that made everything else disappear. He wanted time to stop—like the stars themselves would freeze—and for them to stay locked in that moment of madness forever.

“Do I look like I’m still sick?” Lu Nanyang pinched Xie Quan’s finger and gave it a squeeze. “Your husband’s strong, full of energy, bursting with yang qi—I could go all night and—”

Before Lu Nanyang could finish his sentence, a sudden commotion cut him off.

At some point, a crowd had gathered at the entrance of the restaurant, all noisily talking over each other. The once-peaceful customers, who’d been calmly grilling meat, were now craning their necks to look out the window with curious expressions.

Xie Quan slipped the receipt into his pocket and looked toward the chaos. “What’s going on?”

“No idea,” Lu Nanyang squinted toward the crowd, but could only see more and more people gathering.

Honestly, he didn’t care about whatever was going on outside. All he wanted was to hurry up and send his dormmates away so he could take Xie Quan home.

“Wen Fei!” Lu Nanyang called toward their table. “You guys done eating? If so, time to go!”

But the others were also staring outside, eyes all fixed in the same direction. Only Wen Fei turned back and said, “Lu-ge, I think someone on the building across the street is…”

Before he could finish, a loud voice shouted, “Holy shit, someone’s trying to jump!”

Lu Nanyang and Xie Quan froze.

The second those words were said, the crowd surged toward the scene.

Xie Quan instinctively reached for Lu Nanyang’s hand, but the latter was even faster—without hesitation, he began squeezing through the crowd.

…Of course.

With Lu Nanyang’s personality, there was no way he’d sit back and do nothing after hearing something like that.

“Make way! Move aside!” Lu Nanyang pushed past some kids who were hopping around trying to get a look. “Has anyone called the cops?”

“We did!” someone replied. “Police are on their way!”

Lu Nanyang let out a small breath of relief, then looked up at the building across the street.

The BBQ restaurant was opposite an old office building. Its rooftop had been left open and unattended for years.

Looking up, they could clearly see someone standing on the roof. But unlike typical jumpers who hovered hesitantly at the edge, this person was pacing back and forth, waving both arms in the air like he wanted people to notice him.

And… from this angle, the person’s clothes looked very familiar.

More and more people gathered below. Someone even brought out binoculars from the nearby department store and took a look—then cried out in shock, “Oh my god, isn’t that Lu Hongzhen’s youngest son?!”

…What?

Lu Nanyang felt a sharp buzzing in his head. He grabbed the binoculars from that person and looked up.

Lu Zhanlei had one foot planted on the railing at the rooftop’s edge. He raised both hands high, drawing everyone’s attention to himself, then screamed at the top of his lungs:

“I swear to god I’m done with this! I’d rather die than share the Lu name with some fucking idiot!”