Chapter 15#

Chapter 15#

In the front passenger seat, Jiaxin was nodding off. One nod was so sharp that she instantly woke up. Out of professional instinct, she immediately checked what her boss was doing through the rearview mirror.

Zhang Xingchuan maintained the same posture as before, looking at the financial news, but his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

The CEO didn’t frown often; he loved to laugh. When he first started leading Jiaxin, he had encouraged her to learn to face the world with a relaxed manner—difficulties would never vanish, but there’s always a way to solve things.

Now he had this expression. What happened to that “relaxed manner”? Had he encountered some problem that was temporarily difficult to solve?

Could it be that the Cyberspace Administration was going to introduce new regulations again? Jiaxin couldn’t think of anything else lately that could make the CEO frown.

The CEO himself was much more imaginative than Jiaxin.

In his mind, he was filling in the missing parts between the two “Lover’s Slope” snapshots. The more he filled in, the more annoyed he became.

Tan Xiao himself didn’t care much about this “Lover’s Slope” mix-up.

He replied to the classmates who had kindly forwarded the post to him, clarifying one by one: Chen Shu was a junior undergraduate friend he had recently met; they were just playing around together, and the photos were a misinterpretation caused by the camera angle. He told his friends there was no need to message the blogger to delete the post, as it didn’t affect him, and asked everyone not to take it to heart.

He usually got along with everyone; he could plant a row of “friendship trees” with a casual wave, but when it came to romance, there wasn’t even a seedling.

Most of these classmates had just come across the post and were joking with him; few truly thought he suddenly had a “boyfriend.” They all knew he was a very smart person, but he just hadn’t “awakened” when it came to dating.

There were too many messages. After finishing replying to a dozen-plus dialog boxes, and with some friends chatting about random things on the side, it finally ended. Having spent over an hour, Tan Xiao’s social battery was temporarily exhausted. He slumped onto his desk, his mind blank, resting.

At this point, the other party involved, Chen Shu, finally received word a bit late and looked for Tan Xiao on WeChat.

Chen Shu: Who said there were no gay guys? Turns out you and I are both gay!

Tan Xiao was still slumped on the desk; a smile would suffice.

He was too lazy to seriously chat with Chen Shu about this boring topic and only replied with a weary dog emoji.

Chen Shu: My wife just said you and I are a perfect match.

Tan Xiao was speechless. This little couple was truly a perfect match; their brain circuits were similar. He could truly wish them “99” (forever).

He sincerely sent his blessings and put his phone face down on the desk.

The phone rang twice more.

Tan Xiao thought Chen Shu was still talking nonsense, so he didn’t pick it up, not wanting to receive any more mental pollution.

The angle at which he was slumped was facing the coat rack in the corner, where the jacket Zhang Xingchuan gave him was hanging.

Looking at that piece of clothing, Tan Xiao drifted off into thought unconsciously.

He didn’t have any other specific thoughts, just missed Zhang Xingchuan a bit.

As he thought, he felt a bit sad, but he couldn’t say what this sadness was or what it was for.

The phone rang once more.

It wasn’t good to keep ignoring the “King Chen Shu,” so Tan Xiao turned the screen over to take a look, intending to cooperate and say a few nonsense things back.

But it wasn’t the King. Tan Xiao bounced up and sat straight.

Zhang Xingchuan, who hadn’t taken the initiative to contact him these past few days, had sent three messages in a row.

The first two were from a few minutes ago, sent consecutively.

Zhang Xingchuan: [Screenshot]

Zhang Xingchuan: Who is this you’re playing with?

The screenshot was the first of the “Lover’s Slope” snapshots from that Xiaohongshu post.

The latest notification just now was the third message he sent.

Zhang Xingchuan: I asked too much, sorry.

A few minutes ago, Jiaxin arrived home first. When getting out of the car, she asked the CEO worriedly, “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Zhang Xingchuan said. “Go back and rest well. See you tomorrow.”

The driver put the business car back on the road. Zhang Xingchuan absent-mindedly refreshed his WeChat page.

Just because he didn’t get an immediate reply from Tan Xiao, he started to self-doubt, wondering if the question was inappropriate.

Was it his place to ask? Did it concern him? Was it his business to ask?

Tan Xiao not replying to him meant he either defaulted to the blogger’s description or didn’t want to explain to an outsider like him.

It was possible both were true.

Zhang Xingchuan recalled that snap of fingers from Tan Xiao that night.

Tan Xiao said to act as if nothing had happened; he had truly decided to turn the page. Whoever Tan Xiao developed an intimate relationship with later, what did it have to do with an “obsolete brother”?

He sent an apology message over. Forget it. If Tan Xiao didn’t want to answer, then forget it. He shouldn’t have asked.

He had just placed his phone on the wireless charging pad in the center armrest.

Ding, ding, ding… consecutive notification sounds rang out.

Zhang Xingchuan almost thought the charging pad was malfunctioning.

A flood of messages from Tan Xiao was attacking the CEO.

Tan Xiao: That’s just an ordinary classmate, a junior in architecture.

Tan Xiao: He was on a date with his girlfriend on Lover’s Slope; the girlfriend had just left.

Tan Xiao: I was just passing by and chatted with him for a bit.

Tan Xiao: Because the way he talks is too “abstract,” I suspected his brain wasn’t even the size of a broad bean.

Tan Xiao: I jokingly questioned how he got into Tsinghua.

Tan Xiao: Turns out this “broad bean boy” was recommended for admission, which gave me a huge shock!

Tan Xiao: So I “fainted” on the spot.

Tan Xiao: He was just playing around with me.

Tan Xiao: The first photo in the post was him teasingly wanting to give me artificial respiration.

Tan Xiao: The second one was me finding him disgusting and I had already kicked him to the ground.

Tan Xiao: Then we exchanged a few words of trash talk and I left. I didn’t notice anyone taking photos at all.

Tan Xiao: If that tourist took a candid photo, fine, but why take it out of context?

Tan Xiao: How could that “abstract master” of architecture and I possibly be a couple?

Tan Xiao: His true CP (partner) is studying Computer Science next door.

Tan Xiao: Brother, I’m so wronged.

Tan Xiao: I’m going to tattoo the word “wronged” on my face.

His messages were jumping so fast that Zhang Xingchuan could hardly keep up; he couldn’t read as fast as the other could send.

After Tan Xiao finished explaining the incident, he added: I didn’t see the messages just now; it wasn’t that I intentionally didn’t reply to you.

Zhang Xingchuan finally caught up.

The amount of information was so large that he only had the strength to ask one question.

Zhang Xingchuan: How do you type so fast on your phone?

Tan Xiao: Brother, because I’m a young person.

Zhang Xingchuan was at a loss; he couldn’t follow up on that.

Tan Xiao could imagine Zhang Xingchuan’s expression over there—it must be both wanting to laugh and feeling helpless. That was one of Tan Xiao’s favorites among Zhang Xingchuan’s many expressions.

Tan Xiao: Where are you? Busy?

Zhang Xingchuan: Just back from Tianjin, haven’t arrived home yet.

That should mean he was free, right?

Tan Xiao: I’m not busy now either, just lying in the dorm playing with my phone.

As long as Zhang Xingchuan said he wasn’t busy, he was prepared to set out immediately to find him.

Zhang Xingchuan: Then you should rest well.

Tan Xiao had been full of anticipation, but these words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head. He didn’t want to talk to “CEO-bro” anymore. In his heart, he silently pulled out the evaluation sheet and started deducting points.

Tan Xiao: Bye.

He tossed his phone aside and took the tracksuit he had changed out of after running in the afternoon to wash.

In the laundry room, he met someone he knew. The person was in a different major but was also in the third year of their PhD, looking sallow and even starting to lose hair because of graduation worries.

Tan Xiao didn’t have such a serious problem yet. Empathy turned into sympathy—caring for balding PhDs is everyone’s responsibility.

They chatted for quite a while. The washing machine had finished a quick wash cycle. Tan Xiao took out the washed clothes and said goodbye to the prospective PhD.

Because his role in today’s chat was too emotional, that older brother’s eyes were red from the talk. He even hugged him hard and shook his shoulders like a “chuunibyou” character: “Tan Xiao! We will definitely graduate smoothly! We must graduate smoothly!”

Tan Xiao was shaken into a daze. Carrying the washed clothes upstairs, he thought to himself that next time he gave someone “chicken soup” (encouragement), he must stop at a moderate point and definitely not use so much force again.

Usually, you don’t have to wait while the clothes are being washed. Set an alarm, and go down to pick them up when the time is up. So generally, going to do laundry only takes a short while, and you can come back quickly. Moreover, everyone living in this building is a classmate he knows, so Tan Xiao didn’t lock his dorm room when he went out.

But he remembered he had turned off the lights and closed the door when he left. As he approached the door, he found it open and the lights on.

Did someone come to find him?

He walked to the door. Sure enough, someone was standing in the room, leaning slightly over the low bookshelf, looking at what books were on it.

Tan Xiao looked left and right, confirming he was in the hallway of the PhD building, then looked into the room, confirming it was his own dorm.

So, why was Zhang Xingchuan here?

“Hey,” Tan Xiao actually really wanted to laugh, but he forced a straight face and demanded, “Who are you? Just because you’re handsome, you think you can break into my home?”

Zhang Xingchuan turned around and stood up straight.

Once their eyes met, Tan Xiao almost couldn’t keep up the act. He wanted to give Zhang Xingchuan a bear hug and even wanted to cheer.

But doing that would be too impolite.

Zhang Xingchuan said, “First of all, I’m not called ‘Hey’.”

Tan Xiao couldn’t help it anymore and laughed out loud immediately.

Zhang Xingchuan also looked at him and laughed. Then he saw the laundry basket in his hand and said, “So you went to do laundry. I knocked for ten minutes. I thought you were wearing headphones and couldn’t hear. Standing in the hallway was a bit conspicuous, so I took the initiative to push the door and come in first.”

Tan Xiao casually placed the laundry basket on the empty miscellaneous cabinet by the door and scanned his room, urgently checking for any scattered trash or dirty things. Fortunately, there were none.

His room was very clean, much cleaner than common male dorms. It didn’t have that “male dorm smell” either; there was a faint fragrance, a citrusy scent. There were no diffusers anywhere; it might be the body wash he frequently used.

Zhang Xingchuan hadn’t touched anything in the room, but his eyes had already swept over everything that could be seen.

“How on earth did you get in?” Tan Xiao was still curious and said, “Can you still book a temporary visit to the campus in the evening?”

Zhang Xingchuan said amusedly, “Did you forget? This is also my alma mater. I have an alumni card; I’m not a tourist.”

Tan Xiao had indeed forgotten that part. He added, “Then how did you know which building and which room I live in?”

Zhang Xingchuan said, “Consider the possibility that I actually have a mouth.”

So he had asked around all the way to find this place?

Tan Xiao started laughing again. In his imagination, a “chibi” version of Zhang Xingchuan was holding his photo and asking everyone he met on campus: “Do you know this person? Have you seen this person?”

Crossing mountains and rivers, enduring hardships, “little man” Zhang Xingchuan finally found his dorm.

Actually, Zhang Xingchuan had just called a teacher he knew and asked which building the third-year PhD students in the Finance Department lived in.

Once inside this PhD building, it was quite simple for “Zhang Xingchuan of Wencheng” to randomly find a student and use his “face” to ask for someone.

“Sit, sit,” Tan Xiao said. “I’ll hang up the clothes first.”

He took the laundry basket to hang the clothes on the balcony. Just as he stepped out the balcony door, he wanted to come back to get hangers. Zhang Xingchuan had already gone over to help get them for him and handed them to him by the balcony door.

As Tan Xiao hung the clothes, Zhang Xingchuan observed him. He looked like he had already showered, and seeing only one tracksuit in the laundry basket, he asked, “Did you participate in some sports activity again today?”

“Went for a run on the main track,” Tan Xiao said.

Zhang Xingchuan thought about it and deduced the facts: “So you were on your way back from running, passed by Lover’s Slope, and were photographed?”

“I just found an empty spot to sit; I truly didn’t notice it was Lover’s Slope.” Tan Xiao said, “Why are you still bringing that up?”

“Are you that unfamiliar with the campus environment?” Zhang Xingchuan wasn’t trying to bring that matter up but wanted to ask what he wanted to know. “You’ve been in this school for almost eight years. Haven’t you ever had a date with someone on Lover’s Slope before?”

Tan Xiao found the question strange and said, “No. I’m a ‘solitary king’ PhD. Why?”

He had finished hanging those few items of clothing and stood where he was. Zhang Xingchuan was still standing by the balcony door.

The two were suddenly and tacitly silent for a while.