KMYB | Chapter 19

Zhou Zeqi clicked on the voice message, switched it to speakerphone, and tossed his phone aside.

"You, um, are you actually still growing?"

Zhou Zeqi was sitting on the edge of the bed, one half of his T-shirt already pulled on. When he heard the voice message, he yanked it back over his head again, shuddering at Xi Shui’s shocking words.

He typed back.

[If you want to know, you can come observe for yourself.]

After he sent it, the other side showed that the other person was typing.

Zhou Zeqi could almost picture Xi Shui’s face turning bright red as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

A few seconds later, Xi Shui replied.

[Maybe not. That’d be kind of awkward. If it really can keep growing, observing myself would be the same thing.]

Zhou Zeqi: "…"

Stupid.

–

Xi Shui continued class. The technique class in the afternoon ended at 3:30, and he stayed in the studio to run through the solo variation in the final scene of the dance of the courtesan one more time.

The stage for the final scene was a slope. He had to circle the stage once, and most of it involved grand leaps. His run-up couldn’t be too long, his landing had to be steady, and while suspended in the air, he had to keep the same level of dance movement and character expression as if he were still on the ground.

In simple terms, a variation was a solo, and it was also the moment for a dancer to show off.

After Xi Shui finished dancing, he was drenched in sweat.

Lin Xiaojin stood up and applauded loudly. "Good!"

Xi Shui smiled shyly. Only then did he notice someone standing at the back door. Yun Chu?

The other person had a book in his arms and a navy canvas bag slung over one shoulder. When he saw Xi Shui notice him, he finally knocked on the door. "Sorry, I saw you dancing so seriously, so I didn’t want to interrupt. Last time you said you’d treat me to a meal. I happen to have time today, so, today, is that okay?"

Lin Xiaojin was still holding the pose from clapping, hands together, bent at the waist, head tilted, looking toward the back door and then at Xi Shui, his expression clearly saying, "Why are you still in contact with Yun Chu?"

"Hi." Lin Xiaojin greeted him. "I’m Meng Kewen’s childhood friend, Lin Xiaojin."

Yun Chu stood at the back door and didn’t come into their classroom. "My name is Yun Chu. You know me."

"Yeah, the last time, that one, right?" Lin Xiaojin didn’t quite know how to say it directly, because when he’d helped Xi Shui look for a boyfriend, he still thought Yun Chu’s conditions were very good. Although Xi Shui later chose to go after Zhou Zeqi himself, that was fine too. As long as Xi Shui was happy.

Xi Shui picked up his water bottle from the chair and took a big gulp. Only then did he have the breath to answer Yun Chu, "Okay, I happen to be going to the mall today."

Lin Xiaojin stared at Xi Shui in surprise. "How come I didn’t know you were going to the mall?"

"I just decided."

"What are you going to the mall for?"

Xi Shui was too embarrassed to say.

When he bent down to get his backpack, he leaned over and whispered in Lin Xiaojin’s ear, "To buy a gift for Zhou Zeqi."

Lin Xiaojin was even more stunned.

Taking your romantic rival out to eat, then going to buy a present for your boyfriend on the side, what amazing time management skills.

But then Lin Xiaojin thought about it and realized Yun Chu didn’t seem to count as a romantic rival yet.

–

Xi Shui was very generous. He didn’t care much about material things, and he didn’t really have any clear sense of prices. He led Lin Xiaojin and Yun Chu straight into a French restaurant with an average spend of two thousand per person.

Lin Xiaojin looked at the elegant, upscale decor inside, then looked down at his canvas shoes that cost two hundred yuan a pair.

"Fuck, I’m not going in."

Yun Chu also said, "Xi Shui, we’re all students. There’s no need to be this extravagant."

Seeing that neither of them wanted to eat there, Xi Shui said a little awkwardly, "Sorry, my mom said that if you’re treating someone to a meal, you have to get something good and expensive, or else it’s disrespectful."

Lin Xiaojin wrapped an arm around Xi Shui and dragged him outward. "Please, disrespect me. I want a nine-compartment hotpot, the extra-spicy kind. The more you disrespect me, the happier I’ll be."

Xi Shui looked at Yun Chu. "Would hotpot be okay?"

"Okay."

Yun Chu was really easygoing.

Anything was fine.

Xi Shui thought that to himself.

In the end, the three of them went to a hotpot place in an alley with a 9.7 rating.

The hotpot restaurant was in an old residential complex. There wasn’t much decoration. The tables and chairs were set up outside, and if it rained, they’d put up a plastic canopy overhead. Since the weather was good today, everyone was eating in the open air.

The thick, lively atmosphere could be felt the moment they entered the complex. The towering cypress trees on both sides had huge, dense crowns. On the mottled walls were all kinds of posters and little advertisements. The apartment buildings looked completely different from the high-rises outside. They were only six or seven stories tall at most. Clothes hung packed full on the balconies, along with dried chili peppers and cured meat. Vines crawled from the ground floor up to the upper floors.

It was still less than five in the afternoon. The sky was bright, but the hotpot place was already packed. They waited a little while before a table opened up and it was their turn to sit down.

The owner was a plump woman in her forties. She moved from one table to another. Just from the way she chatted with customers, you could tell she had plenty of regulars.

The owner looked at the three of them, slapped down the menu, and took out a small notebook from her apron pocket to start writing. But when her eyes landed on Xi Shui, she exclaimed, "Oh, what a pretty kid."

Her accent mixed Beijing dialect with local expressions, and Xi Shui didn’t understand it at first.

Seeing Xi Shui’s blank expression, Yun Chu reminded him, "She’s saying you’re pretty, like handsome."

Xi Shui understood at once and immediately said to the owner, "Hello. You’re very pretty too."

The owner blinked, then burst out laughing. After laughing, she shouted toward the kitchen, "Send three bowls of ice jelly to table twelve!"

"It’s on the house. No charge," she said in a loud, warm voice. She was very much the kind of auntie who instantly put people at ease.

Lin Xiaojin ordered a whole pile of dishes. Yun Chu and Xi Shui didn’t order much, because Lin Xiaojin had practically wiped out an entire menu’s worth on his own.

This kind of hotpot place cared about the original broth and dipping sauce. Xi Shui took the cilantro and chopped bird’s eye chili Yun Chu handed him and put a little into his bowl.

Just as he was about to pick up the spoon to ladle soup, Yun Chu took the bowl from his hand. "I’ll do it."

"Thanks."

Once that had happened, Xi Shui barely reached into the pot with his chopsticks for the rest of the meal. It was all Yun Chu serving him, with Lin Xiaojin occasionally helping too.

"That’s enough, enough. I can’t eat this much."

Xi Shui felt that over the past few days, he hadn’t been like before. He didn’t have such a strong, uncontrollable desire for food anymore. Now he could put down his chopsticks once he was full. Besides, the broth base had been chosen by Lin Xiaojin, and it was insanely spicy.

Xi Shui’s mouth was bright red, and yet he thought the ice jelly tasted best, sweet and cold.

Yun Chu also didn’t eat much. When he saw Xi Shui put down his chopsticks, he followed suit and asked, "Are we heading straight back to school after we finish?"

Xi Shui was holding his ice jelly, taking tiny spoonfuls into his mouth. When he heard Yun Chu, he shook his head. "No, I still need to go buy something for Zhou Zeqi."

Yun Chu paused slightly, lowered his eyes, then suddenly smiled. "If you didn’t say it, I almost forgot."

Xi Shui didn’t understand what Yun Chu meant. It was too noisy around them, so he hadn’t really heard clearly either.

Lin Xiaojin, on the other hand, heard him clearly.

He was much more sensitive to this sort of thing than Xi Shui, and immediately understood that Yun Chu still had feelings for Xi Shui. So this meal… the other person wasn’t thinking about the meal, he was thinking about eating with Xi Shui.

Yun Chu looked a little slender, with the same type of build as Xi Shui, only slightly taller, and he was completely unlike Zhou Zeqi. His features were delicate, so delicate they were like green orchids washed through by rain. Lin Xiaojin studied him for a while, then sighed to himself. Well, there was nothing to be done. Who told Xi Shui to be into Zhou Zeqi’s type?

Around seven, Lin Xiaojin finished eating. Xi Shui went to pay the bill, and the owner even packed up two servings of ice jelly for him. "Take it back and eat it later."

Xi Shui thought the owner was so nice!

"When I have time, I’ll bring my boyfriend back to eat at your hotpot place again!"

He stood at the bottom of the steps, his eyes brighter than the stars at night.

"Aren’t these two your boyfriend?" the owner asked while tallying the bill.

"No, they’re my friends."

"Then your boyfriend is really lucky," the owner said sincerely.

Xi Shui said, "No, I’m the lucky one."

The owner laughed so loudly.

After Xi Shui finished paying, Yun Chu lifted his backpack from the stool and said, "I’m heading back to school first. I still have a special report to do tomorrow, and I haven’t finished writing it yet."

Xi Shui nodded. "Okay. Then should we walk you to a taxi?"

Yun Chu smiled. "No need. Hurry up and go buy your things."

Yun Chu said, "Xiao Xi, be careful."

After Yun Chu left, Xi Shui and Lin Xiaojin were walking down the road when Xi Shui suddenly came to his senses. "How does he know my nickname?"

Lin Xiaojin shrugged. "What’s so weird about that? The whole school knows your nickname. Who told you to have such a casual one?"

"My mom gave it to me. You’re not allowed to say that."

"Okay, okay, I won’t say it." Lin Xiaojin held his stomach. "I think I’ve definitely gained ten pounds!"

As soon as he said that, he reached out and patted Xi Shui’s stomach. He was in disbelief. "Did you not eat anything? Why is it still flat?"

Xi Shui said, "I’m not that hungry."

Lights in the shops on both sides of the street all switched on. The band in the square went from sentimental songs to loud, ear-splitting EDM, and the pale streetlights fell on the road like round jade discs.

–

Zhou Zeqi sat on the sofa in his apartment. The movie *The Revenant* had already started its second automatic replay. It was a two-hour-plus movie, and Zhou Zeqi hadn’t fast-forwarded even a second. Only when dinner was ready and set on the table did the movie finally end.

Xi Shui still hadn’t come home.

No phone call either.

No reply to his messages either.

"Ding~"

Zhou Zeqi thought it was a message from Xi Shui, but when he opened it, it was a photo sent by a member of the basketball team. The picture was extremely blurry.

[Old Zhou, I went out for hotpot with a few of them and it looks like we ran into your boyfriend. Take a look, is this your boyfriend?]

The photo really was blurry. You could tell it had been taken from some distance away.

It showed Xi Shui’s side profile.

Yun Chu’s front view.

Lin Xiaojin’s back.

Whether they could recognize him or not had nothing to do with whether Xi Shui was Zhou Zeqi’s boyfriend. There wasn’t a single person in the entire school who didn’t know Xi Shui.

Zhou Zeqi looked at the photo for a while, then expressionlessly tossed his phone aside. Looking at the now-cold food on the table, he thought about how yesterday Xi Shui had said with great excitement that he wanted to eat with him every day.

After a long while, Zhou Zeqi grabbed a pillow and slammed it hard twice.

Fuck.

–

Almost ten o’clock, Xi Shui came back carrying a large paper bag.

He went straight to knock on the door of Zhou Zeqi’s apartment.

His face was full of anticipation.

He waited for a long time, but no one opened the door.

Xi Shui thought about it, then pressed his face to the peephole and called softly, "Zhou Zeqi, open the door."

"Open the door. Are you home?"

Xi Shui wanted to call Zhou Zeqi, but after struggling to dig his phone out of his bag and press the button, he discovered it had already run out of battery and shut off.

He’d better go home first.

After Xi Shui went home and plugged in his phone, he grabbed the paper bag and ran to the little balcony in the practice room.

He found that Zhou Zeqi’s place didn’t even have the lights on. It was already after ten, so Zhou Zeqi might have fallen asleep.

Xi Shui held the gift in his hands and didn’t know how to give it to Zhou Zeqi.

He stood on the balcony, hesitating, but he still wanted to give it to Zhou Zeqi right now.

Xi Shui moved to the edge of the balcony and looked down. So high!

Frowning, he first set the paper bag down on the balcony, then prepared to climb up himself and jump across. After all, it looked pretty easy watching Zhou Zeqi jump back and forth.

The moment his hands grabbed the railing, the floor-to-ceiling window next door was suddenly yanked open from inside with a loud swish, and Zhou Zeqi walked out with a dark expression. "What are you doing?"

Xi Shui was startled and kept his original posture. "I was just about to take off."

"…"

Zhou Zeqi stood opposite him, one hand on the balcony, and jumped over with ease. He grabbed Xi Shui’s arm, dragged him down, and pressed him into the corner of the wall. "Aren’t you afraid of heights anymore?"

Xi Shui felt that something was off about Zhou Zeqi. He answered in a small voice, "I bought you a gift. I wanted to give it to you now."

Zhou Zeqi wasn’t interested in his gift right now.

His eyes were pitch-black, not a trace of a smile in them. "Why didn’t you answer my call?"

"Why did you go out to eat with someone else and not tell me?"

Xi Shui could feel Zhou Zeqi getting angry. He hurriedly explained, "My phone ran out of battery. I just charged it. Going out to eat was just a side thing. I went out to buy your gift."

Zhou Zeqi stared at Xi Shui without saying a word.

Xi Shui was nervous and scared.

He stammered, "If you’re angry now, then… should we break up?"

Zhou Zeqi thought he had heard wrong.

"That’s how it is in dramas. People fight and fight, and then they break up," Xi Shui said, gripping Zhou Zeqi’s sleeve. "What about you? Do you want to break up with me too?"

"No. I’m not breaking up with you." Zhou Zeqi’s voice was flat.

But Xi Shui had never heard him speak to him so coldly before. His eyes instantly turned red.

"If you’re not breaking up with me, then why are you acting like this?"

Zhou Zeqi let out a disbelieving laugh. He pinched Xi Shui’s chin and forced him to lift his head, then lowered his own to press against Xi Shui’s cool lips as he said slowly, "You did something wrong. What makes you think you can question me now?"

Xi Shui murmured, "I know I was wrong, sorry…"

Seeing how frightened Xi Shui was, Zhou Zeqi’s anger vanished, even if it had been sky-high just moments ago.

He cupped Xi Shui’s face. "You said you’d eat with me every day. I’ve been waiting for you until now."

Xi Shui’s not-very-bright brain started working at high speed. He proposed, "How about starting from tomorrow?"

"…"

Zhou Zeqi, furious, bit Xi Shui’s cheek hard. Xi Shui yelped in pain, clutching his face and looking at Zhou Zeqi with grievance.

"Alright," Zhou Zeqi said, rubbing the top of Xi Shui’s head. "You said you bought me a gift. What did you buy?"

At the mention of that, Xi Shui perked right up again.

He ran to get the paper bag and held it out to Zhou Zeqi like he was presenting a treasure. "I bought you thirty pairs of underwear!"

Zhou Zeqi: "…"

Xi Shui was immersed in the fantasy that Zhou Zeqi would definitely be overjoyed this time. He even leaned close to Zhou Zeqi’s ear and whispered, "They’re all the largest size."

——————–

Author’s note:

Zhou Zeqi: stupid wife