All of a sudden, no longer needing to go to Bai Yue’s house for tutoring, Ye Xi felt a bit out of sorts. On the weekend, the sky was gray and overcast, with a brief drizzle. He looked outside, instinctively stuffed an umbrella into his backpack, though he felt it was unnecessary—after all, he could just stay over at Bai Yue’s house that night.
But Li Rui quickly snapped him out of it: “Let’s go, I’ve already called a ride.”
Only then did Ye Xi come back to his senses.
Right, of course.
He didn’t need to go to Bai Yue’s for tutoring that day. It was a rare free weekend that he could spend however he wanted, so he had agreed to go out for coffee with Li Rui and check out an exhibition.
His grip on his bag unconsciously tightened, but he quickly raised his voice and said, “Coming.”
After seeing the exhibition, there was still plenty of time left, so Li Rui dragged Ye Xi back to his house.
Unlike the cold and quiet atmosphere of Ye Xi’s home, Li Rui’s place actually felt warm and cozy—at least, when all the family members were home.
And that day was just like that. When they arrived, both Li Rui’s older brother and mother were there. But Li Rui’s mom was just about to head out. She wore a sapphire-blue business outfit, radiant and dazzlingly beautiful. She was already quite familiar with Ye Xi, since he’d come over with Li Rui many times before.
So she very warmly gave Ye Xi a kiss on the forehead.
She had grown up abroad and had always been very open in terms of etiquette.
Li Rui shouted, “Mom, don’t embarrass Ye Xi like that!”
But his just mom raised her eyebrows, completely unconcerned, and even pinched Ye Xi’s cheek again.
Ye Xi didn’t say anything; he just smiled shyly at Li Rui’s mom.
Actually, he didn’t dislike it.
After Zhu Yunzhi walked out the door with her briefcase, still reminding them to have fun, Ye Xi followed Li Rui upstairs, his gaze lingering on Zhu Yunzhi’s back.
He had always liked Li Rui’s mom.
So cheerful, full of joy, passionate about her career, decisive and efficient at work, yet gentle enough to hug Li Rui and still call him “baby.”
Every time he came over, he couldn’t help but envy Li Rui.
If he could choose, he wouldn’t care about the wealth and power of the Zheng family—he’d rather be born into a more ordinary family, just to exchange for a single hug from his mom.
Ye Xi glanced out the door a few more times, only withdrawing his gaze once Zhu Yunzhi’s figure disappeared.
Li Rui was still chattering, saying he’d bought new ski gear and that they should go skiing during winter break.
As he said this, Li Rui’s older brother came out of the study.
Hearing that, his brother laughed and mocked, “You? With your clumsy body trying to ski? Don’t end up falling on your butt.”
Li Rui flew into a rage and made faces at his brother. “Mind your own business! You’re the clumsy one!”
His brother just shrugged, clearly not taking it seriously.
He also spotted Ye Xi and greeted him with a friendly smile. “Ye Xi’s here too. I’ll have the housekeeper bring you guys some mango pomelo sago in a bit.”
Only once they entered Li Rui’s room did things quiet down.
Ye Xi lay on the heated floor with a fluffy blanket under him. Across from him was Li Rui.
The two of them buried their heads in their homework.
Li Rui looked pained as he wrote. “I never thought, even in my dreams, that we’d actually be this motivated.”
God knows he used to do homework randomly, like throwing dice and praying to the gods.
But now?
Ye Xi was under Bai Yue’s watch for tutoring.
And he himself had been baited by Sheng Yuhe—if he advanced 30 spots, they’d go on a date.
They were like donkeys chasing carrots hanging in front of their noses, no one whipping them from behind, yet they kept charging forward.
“We’re so tragically hardworking,” Li Rui groaned.
But he waited and waited, yet Ye Xi never responded.
He couldn’t help looking over at Ye Xi’s paper and was shocked to find he had already finished a whole math worksheet and was now working on political science.
“Damn,” Li Rui gasped. “How are you so fast?”
He snatched Ye Xi’s paper for a look—amazing. Ye Xi barely left any blanks, three-quarters of the questions were already answered.
“Babe, are you turning into a top student?” Li Rui exclaimed.
Ye Xi finally looked up from his political science sheet, his eyes smiling. “It’s not that dramatic.”
Li Rui cradled his face. “Yes it is! I almost don’t recognize you. The moment you came in, you started doing homework without even looking up. You weren’t like this before.”
He shook his head, convinced Bai Yue had brainwashed Ye Xi.
Now Ye Xi was so self-disciplined. He was no longer his partner in crime skipping class to go shopping.
Li Rui rolled around on the rug, feeling a little deflated.
He was nothing like Ye Xi. Even when he swore to study hard, he’d lose focus within 30 minutes.
But he didn’t push himself too hard. After ten more minutes of writing, he opened a bag of chips.
Crunching away, he poked Ye Xi. “Hey, did you hear? After the cultural festival, they’re making all the seniors stay late. Apparently, they’re holding some pep rally to get everyone hyped about aiming for their target universities.”
With chip crumbs on his mouth, he asked, “Have you decided where you want to apply?”
He wasn’t planning to go abroad.
At their private school, lots of students got accepted to overseas universities before the college entrance exams even started.
But his family pampered him. When he said he didn’t want to suffer in a foreign land with a language barrier, they let him be.
Ye Xi, on the other hand, had a family that didn’t care. He could go wherever he wanted.
He finished the last true/false question, paused, and absentmindedly clicked his pen.
He looked at Li Rui. “What about you? Where do you want to apply?”
Li Rui shrugged. “I’m not sure. My brother gave me a list of eight schools, from top to bottom. He said if I get into any one of them, he’ll be thanking the heavens.”
He made a face. “He also tried to bribe me—if I get in, he’ll buy me a car right after graduation.”
Ye Xi couldn’t help but laugh.
He thought, how nice. Li Rui’s family always had his back.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “You know how things are with my family. They’ll probably send a teacher to help me fill out my application.”
Or maybe they’d want him to study abroad at some random community college.
He was basically invisible at home—just don’t cause trouble, that was enough.
His father’s biggest expectation was for him to stay out of scandals. Don’t embarrass the Zheng family.
But when you think about it, that expectation was pretty ironic. A trace of mockery appeared in Ye Xi’s eyes.
Whose scandals were more humiliating than his father’s?
Cheating on his pregnant wife, divorcing her, and moving the mistress and illegitimate child into their home without even giving them proper status.
God knows how long the whole family had been the talk of the town.
No wonder Zheng Yang had gone completely mad.
Thinking about all this made Ye Xi feel irritated, but he quickly adjusted his mood and smiled at Li Rui again.
Li Rui didn’t want to dwell on Ye Xi’s family either.
It was just depressing.
He thought maybe Ye Xi should just live with them. His family wouldn’t mind raising one more kid.
Lying on the carpet, he started to play with the ends of Ye Xi’s hair.
“Why not let Bai Yue help you plan? Your senior Bai Yue is so smart and knows your progress well—he might do a better job than Old Wang.”
Ye Xi froze, briefly tempted.
But he quickly shook his head. “I shouldn’t bother him. It’s my responsibility. And… he’s been pretty busy lately.”
As Ye Xi spoke, he glanced at his phone.
Just two days ago, Bai Yue had sent him a message. Nothing big—just a photo from a discussion panel he was attending.
Bai Yue had joked, “Sitting next to my senior—can’t slack off for even one second. Good thing my senior’s nice, she sneaks us snacks.”
Ye Xi smiled at the memory.
Normally, Bai Yue was mature, serious, and calm beyond his years. Only at times like this did Ye Xi feel like he was just another stressed-out college student dealing with pressure.
Across from him, Li Rui watched Ye Xi go from blank-faced to smiling gently…
Okay, got it.
This guy was daydreaming about his crush again.
Crunch.
Li Rui bit into another chip.
Expressionless, he thought, My poor eyes must be cursed.
…..
Time passed quickly, and soon it was time for final exams.
Thanks to some improvement last time, Ye Xi finally escaped the bottom-ranked exam room and moved up to second-to-last.
But Li Rui was still in the very last room, so the two buddies had to painfully part ways.
During exams, Ye Xi wasn’t too nervous.
That was the benefit of being at the bottom—he’d already been there, so he had nothing to lose and stayed calm.
After finishing, he sent Bai Yue a WeChat message showing his dinner—a sandwich and milk tea.
[Bai-ge, I’m done with exams~]
His messaging tone was totally different from usual—playful and soft.
Bai Yue replied quickly.
[You worked hard.]
[Just a sandwich? Is that enough?]
[It’s enough, it’s enough~ kitty-rolling.jpg]
Ye Xi stared blankly at the screen. He stood under a streetlight waiting for Li Rui, the cold wind whipping around him. Yet he didn’t feel cold.
Wearing a black overcoat, tall and slender, poised like a pine tree, his features under the light looked cool and elegant—distant and unapproachable.
But his fingers were flying across the screen:
[I had a bit of cake before the politics exam—now I’m actually kind of full QUQ]
Bai Yue chuckled.
He sent Ye Xi a picture of his own takeout, which was way fancier—a group of students had ordered spicy crawfish.
They chatted about random daily stuff.
Ye Xi sucked on his milk tea straw, hesitated a bit, then asked what had been on his mind all evening.
[Bai-ge… are you free on the day of the cultural festival? It’s the day after tomorrow.]
Ding.
Bai Yue’s phone buzzed.
He didn’t even glance at the crawfish. His entire focus was on the screen.
Reading Ye Xi’s message, he could almost picture the hesitant little expression on his face.
Truthfully, he was definitely going to be there.
But as he looked at the tumbling cat GIF on the screen, he smirked a little mischievously.
[I think I’ll be free,] he replied.
Bai Yue lowered his gaze.
He thought, sometimes, you can’t hand the treat to the kitten right away.
You have to dangle it just out of reach.
That way, when Ye Xi finally sees him that day—
Maybe his heart will really skip a beat.
A flash of disappointment passed through Ye Xi’s eyes.
But he bit his lip and obediently replied, [Okay.]
Then, after thinking for a moment, he added, [Then I’ll wait for you.]
Upon seeing this message, Bai Yue’s smile almost couldn’t be hidden.
He lowered his eyelashes, but his eyes were full of tenderness.
For a brief moment, he really wanted to reach out through the screen and pinch Ye Xi’s cheek.
Nearby, a few classmates and upperclassmen were peeling crayfish while frequently glancing at Bai Yue.
“It must be his girlfriend, definitely,” the senior said with certainty. “Look at that silly grin on his face.”
“But I haven’t heard of Bai Yue being in a relationship,” a senior girl mumbled with a rice cake stick in her mouth. “I remember a few months ago, some underclassman asked about it, and Bai Yue said he was single.”
“Then he must’ve started dating in the past few months.”
The others were also curious. After all, Bai Yue caused quite a stir in their department when he first arrived at the school because of his looks.
But Bai Yue had always kept to himself, only close with his roommates.
He was never seen being close to any girl.
A male student craned his neck to peek at Bai Yue, who was still messaging and hadn’t touched a single crayfish, his lips curling up unconsciously.
The student firmly backed the senior’s claim.
“No mistake,” he declared. “I looked just like that when I first started dating my girlfriend—like a total lovesick fool.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Bai Yue looked up, distracted by the noise, confused.
But the others all gave him the same knowing smile and waved their hands without explaining a thing.
Bai Yue didn’t think much of it and went back to listening to Ye Xi complain about how hard the history question had been earlier.
“Ah, youth is wonderful,” the senior girl placed her hands on her hips, lowered her voice, and smiled. “It’s winter, but there’s such a spring-like vibe.”
Another round of kind laughter followed.
