WAYCAV Chapter 07

At noon on Saturday, Su Zhiyan picked up his shoulder bag, ready to head out.

Wen Bei, who had just finished lunch and was lying in bed scrolling through his phone, noticed movement below and peeked down.

“You’re going out now? Weren’t we supposed to meet at the plaza at 3?” he asked in surprise.

“Just buying some stuff,” Su Zhiyan replied casually.

“Why not buy it after the meeting? Wouldn’t that be more convenient?” Wen Bei pressed on curiously.

Su Zhiyan: “…”

He turned back, somewhat speechless.

Do you really have to ask? If I tell you the truth, you might die from shock!

“I’m also going to meet someone,” he said, then casually put on his hat and left, closing the door behind him.

“Oh.” Wen Bei realized belatedly, feeling like he’d missed something.

What friend did Su Zhiyan need to meet before their group project?

Saturday afternoon, at this time… isn’t this when Shen Nianjing works his part-time job at the dessert shop?

A terrifying thought suddenly struck him.

“Did he go to see Shen Nianjing both yesterday and today?” Wen Bei panicked.

–

“Ding-a-ling~” The wind chimes at the door made a pleasant sound.

The guy at the counter had just tied on his apron and was wiping the counter when he heard the sound. He turned around, his voice clear and gentle, “Welcome, what would you like to order?”

His movements froze, and his smile stiffened.

Su Zhiyan stood at the entrance with his shoulder bag, his narrow eyes beneath the cap brim scanning the person standing before him from top to bottom.

A pink cartoon apron with white lace trim?

He pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling the urge to laugh.

“…” Shen Nianjing’s pupils constricted slightly as he glanced down at his outfit.

He hadn’t thought much about wearing it normally since it matched the store’s style, but now with Su Zhiyan staring at him, it felt incredibly awkward. He wished he could tear it off right away.

He quickly ducked behind the bar counter with his cloth, maintaining a safe distance of at least five meters from the “uninvited guest.”

Just buy something and leave quickly, just buy something and leave quickly, just buy something and leave quickly…

Shen Nianjing prayed silently while inching further behind the counter.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one with long legs. Su Zhiyan strode to the counter in a few steps, sat on the high stool, and casually tossed his shoulder bag aside. His lazy voice followed, “Hey, have you seen me before or not?”

That day in Film Appreciation class, no matter how he asked, Shen Nianjing maintained his silence and ignored him completely. After class, he disappeared like a slippery loach.

In the end, Su Zhiyan didn’t get any answers.

But he wasn’t angry at all.

After all, there was plenty of time.

When his words fell, Shen Nianjing didn’t respond, but his movements became somewhat flustered.

Su Zhiyan propped his face in his hands, watching the person bustling about aimlessly before him without blinking, waiting for a response.

The person in front of him kept wiping the counter, arranging cutlery, and pretending to write in the order book…

Why isn’t he leaving… Under Su Zhiyan’s steady gaze, Shen Nianjing wished he could shut down his five senses, or better yet, just hide himself away completely.

Being more realistic, he’d settle for some customers showing up right now!

“Thud—” The person behind him knocked on the counter.

“Stop pretending to be busy. I know this shop has very few customers in the afternoon. That’s why they only hire one part-timer to manage it.”

Shen Nianjing still didn’t stop his movements; instead, he wiped faster and faster, as if he could somehow spark a fire from the damp surface.

Poor counter, Su Zhiyan clicked his tongue.

He looked at the array of desserts in the display case and interrupted the other’s movements, “Get me a strawberry mousse.”

After the strawberry mousse was served, he lowered his head and ate in silence. Shen Nianjing stood with his back to him, organizing receipts. Anyone could see his resistance and awkwardness.

Su Zhiyan scooped up some cake and said indifferently, “If you keep avoiding me like this, I’ll come find you every day.”

He looked up at Shen Nianjing’s stiff back.

Annoying, isn’t it? I’ll annoy you to death!

Hmph.

He figured it out now. Since the gentle approach wouldn’t work, he might as well resort to shameless persistence.

After all, this scumbag had already done those things to him in his dreams, so what’s wrong with just a little touching every day?!

Besides, compared to being seen as a pervert by Shen Nianjing, having a dreamless night was more important.

Long live peaceful sleep.

After those words, the “cleaning robot” that had been wound up like a clock finally stopped.

“Classmate Su,” Shen Nianjing turned around, smiling with utmost sincerity, like a golden retriever showing its teeth, “I shouldn’t have offended you before, right?”

Wow, the dog can talk!

Su Zhiyan elegantly put down his spoon. “Why say ‘shouldn’t have’?”

“Why don’t you think about it some more?” He returned with a smile.

Who knows if you cast some evil spell that’s causing these dreams? And why is it that only contact with you stops them?

If it weren’t for good sleep and a normal life.

You think I want this?

Playing innocent now…

Su Zhiyan stared at Shen Nianjing, not missing a single micro-expression.

He noticed that whenever he questioned Shen Nianjing, the other couldn’t hide his nervousness. Although he seemed more used to the questioning now, he still showed cracks sometimes.

If his face can’t hide anything, why is he so stubborn with his words?

Shen Nianjing didn’t take the bait, his expression serious, as if he was genuinely considering the question. Finally, his eyes suddenly widened, his tone shocked, “It couldn’t be a grudge from a past life…”

“You can communicate with spirits?” His voice trembled.

No wonder Su Zhiyan could always find and follow him.

Su Zhiyan: “…” Damn, what kind of logic was this, how did we end up in “Exploring Science”?

He looked deeply at Shen Nianjing, this guy always played dumb in front of him while knowing exactly what was going on.

“Have you had any dreams?”

He suddenly asked.

Shen Nianjing’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean? Who hasn’t had dreams?”

Shen Nianjing stood calmly at the counter, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly under Su Zhiyan’s gaze.

Su Zhiyan smiled slightly, “Never mind, help me pack some cakes.”

Su Zhiyan watched as Shen Nianjing packed several strawberry mousses with practiced efficiency. When taking the cake bag, his fingers brushed against Shen Nianjing’s fingertips.

“Thanks, see you tomorrow.” Su Zhiyan took the cakes, grabbed his bag, and left without another word.

Shen Nianjing watched Su Zhiyan’s back disappear through the glass door, finally letting out the breath he’d been holding.

That was so scary.

After standing there lost in thought, he slipped into the storage room at the back of the kitchen.

A male student from the same major was sitting in a small corner playing games, with an apron identical to Shen Nianjing’s carelessly tossed on a cardboard box beside him.

“Hey…” Shen Nianjing crept in, silently appearing before him.

“Holy crap, you scared me!” The guy fumbled, nearly dropping his phone.

“Help me think.” Shen Nianjing stroked his chin, his expression serious. “If you knew in advance that someone would harm you, and that person not only keeps showing up in your life but also threatens to find you every day, would you avoid them or just let it be?”

“…Harm?” The boy picked up his phone again, his fingers rapidly tapping on the screen. “How bad?”

Shen Nianjing paused for a moment. “The kind that could kill you.”

“Whaaaaat??” The guy screamed, but it wasn’t clear if he was distressed about being killed in the game or shocked by Shen Nianjing’s words.

“Avoid them, of course! You have to avoid them!” He yelled, frantically tapping his screen. “You’ll die!!”

“…” Shen Nianjing frowned. “Are you even talking to me?”

“Of course! Who else? I’m not even on voice chat.” The guy said in surprise. “But what’s going on with you?”

“Awakened powers? Sudden mutation? Genetic evolution?” He rattled off a string of possibilities.

“Whatever it is, you definitely need to avoid them! Do you really want to charge headfirst into a brick wall?” The guy grew more excited but still managed to multitask between the game and talking to Shen Nianjing. “Let me analyze this for you.”

“You said you knew in advance.”

“Why would heaven let you know all this beforehand?”

“Isn’t it just to help you avoid this disaster?”

“So why won’t you accept heaven’s kindness and instead do the opposite?”

“Aren’t you just asking for trouble?”

Shen Nianjing nodded, thoroughly convinced.

“Find a good place to hide yourself, and don’t get caught, hehehehehe!” The guy cackled maniacally at his game character.

Hide? Shen Nianjing caught the key word, suddenly enlightened.

Right, he could just go away and hide for a few days!

In this game of cat and mouse, if the mouse hides well enough, the cat won’t find it.

—

Wen Bei stared blankly at the mousse cake in his hand.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve lost your soul.” Zhuang Qiyu elbowed him.

“…Nothing.” Wen Bei, after taking the hit, slowly looked up, staring blankly at Su Zhiyan who had just sat down.

The group project was completed quickly; they just needed one more review before class for a perfect presentation.

“Done!” Zhuang Qiyu clicked save with a wild laugh, finalizing the PowerPoint.

“Hell yeah!” He roared.

“Hahahahaha!” Zhuang Qiyu, who was overcome with excitement, slapped Wen Bei’s shoulder hard, grinning from ear to ear. “This is the first time I’ve finished a group project so quickly and efficiently.”

“Did you really do it though?” Chen Shuyu gave him a side-eye. “Wasn’t it Xiao Zhiyan who handled half of it?”

“Even though the big boss did most of it, I still contributed to the other half!” Zhuang Qiyu looked up at the sky, completely satisfied. “This feels so good!”

Wen Bei remained silent after being “hit” repeatedly, focused only on his phone messages.

“Xiao Zhiyan, are you joining the upcoming modeling[mfn]It’s not fashion modeling lol. 建模 (jiàn mó) – to construct a model (an abstract model, as in applied mathematics or machine learning etc)[/mfn] competition?” He suddenly turned and asked.

Su Zhiyan, eyes fixed on his computer, shook his head.

He’d won awards at nationals with seniors in his freshman year, then led his own team to victory in sophomore year. Now he wasn’t as interested in modeling competitions as before.

Besides, apparently the school insisted on joint training with other universities for nationals this time, claiming it would strengthen competitor exchange and mutual growth.

Su Zhiyan thought: What a ridiculous reason…

Wasn’t this just making things unnecessarily complicated?

He hated pointless complications the most.

“I’m working on Professor Yang’s project now. I can’t spare the time,” he explained.

“I see.” Wen Bei nodded, glancing at his phone, casually mentioning, “Looks like Shen Nianjing signed up though.”

“?” Su Zhiyan jolted, looking up to question Wen Bei. “How do you know he signed up?”

Wen Bei gave him an odd look. “Shen Nianjing just posted in the basketball group chat, saying he’s busy with programming these days and won’t be playing.”

He showed Su Zhiyan his phone screen.

Su Zhiyan repeatedly read the message in the chat, his eyes passing over the profile picture of a “fierce dog.”

Very well.

Su Zhiyan let out a cold laugh.

Such a “dog” indeed.

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