KMYB | Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Xi Shui had no mind to think about what Zhou Zeqi wanted him to wait for. He ran over and opened the door for Lin Xiaojin.

Lin Xiaojin, Zhao Mengzi, and Li Bei stood in a row at the door, looking at Xi Shui inside the house with blank faces.

"We bought beef."

"Lamb."

"Cartilage."

"Orleans chicken wings and soda."

"And a lot of vegetables."

Lin Xiaojin lifted a hand and pointed at Xi Shui in accusation. "But you actually locked us out!!!"

How was he supposed to explain this?

Xi Shui looked at Lin Xiaojin and asked back dryly, "Really? I locked you out?"

He couldn’t lie. The moment he did, even his neck would turn red. When Lin Xiaojin saw his reddened eyes, he walked inside while asking, "What’s wrong with you?"

Xi Shui handed the three of them disposable slippers and told them what had happened at home.

Lin Xiaojin said, "Too much!"

Zhao Mengzi said, "Unreasonable!"

Li Bei said, "Too far!"

Xi Shui sighed. "I’ve met that student from the affiliated middle school before."

Lin Xiaojin was crouched on the floor taking out the ingredients to grill, one box at a time. Hearing this, he looked surprised. "You’ve met him?"

"Mm." Xi Shui nodded. "My dad probably forgot. He even came to my house for dinner before."

"What’s wrong with your dad?"

Xi Shui said, "He’s, pretty stubborn."

Most of the time, Xi Shui was very easy to talk to. But the more easygoing he seemed, the more unreasonably stubborn he became about certain things.

Xi Buyao thought going abroad was best. Xi Shui also knew overseas ballet companies had bigger reputations and were more professional. Who didn’t know that? But they couldn’t all just go abroad. Someone had to stay. Their family wasn’t short on money, and there were relatives overseas too, so there was no need for the whole family to run abroad.

Of course, as a father, he wanted his children to go to more promising places. But being threatened like that still made Xi Shui feel hurt.

Zhao Mengzi and Li Bei carried all the vegetables into the kitchen and started working with practiced ease.

Lin Xiaojin patted Xi Shui. "Aiya, my mom’s like that too. She even says if I don’t listen to her, she might as well die. Then the next day she’s back to figuring out which background music fits the new square dance she learned better."

Xi Shui understood.

"Did you eat breakfast?" Lin Xiaojin glanced at the trash still sitting on the coffee table and walked over to take a look. "You went downstairs to buy it yourself?"

Xi Shui froze. It was hard to say it had been bought by Zhou Zeqi, so he just nodded.

The moment he did, Lin Xiaojin turned around, eyes shining, and pointed at the blue plastic basin on the floor. "Is this yours?"

Xi Shui looked over.

It wasn’t his. It was Zhou Zeqi’s. Probably because everything had happened too fast, the two of them had both forgotten it.

The basin held Zhou Zeqi’s toiletries. Lin Xiaojin crouched down and casually picked up the face wash inside, muttering, "CPB? I remember you’re allergic to this brand’s face wash. You bought it again?"

"This towel, you don’t hate black towels the most? You said white ones look better."

Xi Shui’s hair was practically standing on end next to him.

Lin Xiaojin had his back to Xi Shui. If he stood up and turned around now, he’d see that Xi Shui’s face was as red as the tomatoes he’d bought at the market that morning.

Xi Shui forced himself to explain, "I’m not allergic to it anymore now. The towel… black is fine too."

Lin Xiaojin reluctantly believed that explanation and threw out the next question. "Why did you put all these things in the living room?"

That really could not be explained.

If other people couldn’t explain it, Xi Shui certainly couldn’t either.

He met Lin Xiaojin’s gaze and pointed at the basin. "Give it to me. I’ll take it to the bathroom."

Lin Xiaojin didn’t keep dwelling on it. He only wanted to eat barbecue now.

–

Zhou Zeqi had made plans with Wu Fengyi and the others to play ball on Saturday. Not long after leaving Xi Shui’s place, he changed clothes and went out.

It was only in the elevator that he remembered he’d left his basin at Xi Shui’s house.

He opened WeChat.

The chat with Xi Shui was spotless, still stopped at the system-generated greeting from when they first became friends.

[Leave it there for now. I’ll come get it tonight.]

It wasn’t until he was close to school that Zhou Zeqi got Xi Shui’s reply.

[Okay, remember to pay the water bill.]

"…"

Summer came early in the capital. Once May Day passed, summer immediately rolled in with drums and gongs.

The sky over Jing University was clean and bright like a mirror. You couldn’t see the sun, but the glare was so sharp it hurt to open your eyes. The school’s landscaping loved using firs and pagoda trees. At this time of year, the pagoda trees were in bloom, their crystal-white flowers hanging amid dense green leaves like clouds.

The Jing Sports ground was packed with students early in the morning. Some were running laps on the track, some were practicing swords or martial arts, some were playing volleyball and badminton, and there was even a cheer squad in training.

Zhou Zeqi tilted his head to avoid a flying volleyball, not even bothering to stop his steps as he headed straight for the smaller field behind.

The small field wasn’t big, and it was pretty shabby too. It was surrounded by weeds and wildly overgrown shrubs, but it was quiet, with few people coming here.

Wu Fengyi and the others weren’t even playing basketball. They were huddled together with a ball, talking heatedly, almost ready to start a fight.

"Me! Pick me!"

"Eight-pack abs, look. I’m gonna go pressure my dad later and make him work harder to earn money."

"You’re really ridiculous!"

"I can do it too, I’m just a bit shorter, 850, about the same height as Xi Shui."

"But you’re not very good-looking…"

"Meng Kewen, what are you showing off for here? If you could, your childhood friend would’ve introduced you to Xi Shui directly. Why would they let you stand here picking and choosing?"

Zhou Zeqi patted Wu Fengyi on the shoulder. Wu Fengyi turned around. "Yo, Old Zhou is here?"

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh," Meng Kewen replied, "my childhood friend asked me to help Xi Shui find a boyfriend. I recommended him my junior from high school, and these guys are not convinced."

Meng Kewen answered very casually. Anyway, Old Zhou had never cared about this kind of thing.

"Your junior from high school?"

"Yeah." Meng Kewen pulled up the boy’s photo and showed it to Zhou Zeqi, trying to win the boss’s approval. "What do you think? He matches Xi Shui pretty well, right?"

Zhou Zeqi’s eyelids hung low, his emotions unreadable.

In the photo, the boy wore a white shirt and black trousers. His bangs were above his eyebrows. He really was fair-featured and handsome, smiling at the camera with a clean, harmless look.

"Not that great," Zhou Zeqi said slowly. "For him, it’s still a little lacking."

Meng Kewen exaggerated, "Still a little lacking?? Old Zhou, your taste is pretty weird."

Wu Fengyi was holding a basketball nearby, listening as Meng Kewen kept boasting about how handsome and outstanding this junior was, then looking at Zhou Zeqi’s expressionless face as he snickered. He’d long since figured out that Old Zhou had a bit of interest in the little swan from Jing Dance. Only Meng Kewen was still out here recommending a love rival to Old Zhou.

"You already sent him over?" Zhou Zeqi lifted his eyes and asked.

"Yeah." Meng Kewen nodded.

"You’re pretty fast," Zhou Zeqi said, curling the corner of his mouth in a false smile. Then he reached out, snatched the basketball from Wu Fengyi’s arm, and tipped his chin toward Meng Kewen. "It’s been a while since I played with you. Come on, let’s have a solo round."

Meng Kewen hadn’t played with Zhou Zeqi in a long time either. Hearing this, he immediately put down his phone and followed him, not forgetting to tell Wu Fengyi, "Wings, remember to take a picture of my handsome stance. I’m posting it to my Moments tonight."

Wu Fengyi said, "Got it!!!"

–

Xi Shui ate barbecue with Lin Xiaojin and the others until one in the afternoon. Then Lin Xiaojin and the rest ran into the bedroom for their nap, while Xi Shui was still staring at the new friend on WeChat, worrying.

[Y: Hello, my name is Yun Chu / smiling face]

Xi Shui shouted at the top of his lungs toward Lin Xiaojin, "Is this the person your childhood friend found for me? I don’t want him!"

He already had Zhou Zeqi. He didn’t want anyone else.

Lin Xiaojin was sleepy to the point of collapse. "Then just tell him. It’s fine. Later I’ll have Meng Kewen go kneel and apologize to the guy."

The last few words were said in such a muddled, backward mess that Xi Shui didn’t really catch them.

Carefully, he typed back.

[Sorry, I already have someone I want to pursue. This was a misunderstanding. I’m really sorry. If I have time, I can treat you to a meal.]

The other side kept showing that they were typing.

After a while, Xi Shui got a reply.

[It’s okay.]

Xi Shui let out a breath.

He sent the other person a kitten smiling emoji.

The other side still didn’t reply to Xi Shui.

Xi Shui thought that probably the other person wasn’t very satisfied with him either.

He put down his phone and let out a burp.

Cumin-flavored.

!

Xi Shui lifted his shirt and was horrified to find that his waistline was gone.

Because of his body type, Xi Shui didn’t have abs, no matter how hard he trained, but he did have two very pretty lines along his waist, and they were now gone.

He went to the practice room and weighed himself.

Stepping onto the scale gently.

Very gently.

54.

!!!

It was over. It was over.

Xi Shui walked from the practice room to the living room, thinking as he went, he couldn’t wait any longer.

He picked up his phone and sent Zhou Zeqi a WeChat message.

[Where are you?]

[School.]

[Be more specific.]

[Jing Sports small field, why, are you coming?]

Xi Shui pressed his lips together, his expression serious.

[Yes.]

When Zhou Zeqi looked at that single word, he could almost see Xi Shui’s full-voiced energy through the screen. He laughed, and the gloom hanging over his heart scattered with it.

[Okay, come. I’ll wait for you.]

Xi Shui was the same. Through the screen, he could also seem to see Zhou Zeqi’s smiling, focused black eyes.

His ears burned. He threw down his phone and ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

He even washed his hair.

In the end, he ran to the bedroom and rummaged through everything looking for a handsome outfit.

Lin Xiaojin was woken by the noise. With his eyes still closed, he said, "Xiao Xi, are you raiding the house?"

Without turning back, Xi Shui said, "Go back to sleep. I’m going out for a bit, I’ll be back soon."

"Oh…" Lin Xiaojin fell back into dreamland.

Xi Shui had quite a lot of clothes, but they were all focused on comfort rather than the latest trendy styles.

He dug out a blue-and-white striped shirt, wore a white tank underneath, and paired it with a very simple pair of black suit trousers.

Crouching down, he found a double-pearl necklace in the drawer, a silver fine chain with a white pearl pendant. A boy could wear it too. It was a gift from his cousin.

And then there was the watch. Between the Patek Philippe his mother had given him and the Casio sports watch he’d bought himself, he chose the latter.

Before leaving, he stood in front of the full-length mirror, eyes lowered in deep thought.

He was going to kill Zhou Zeqi with how handsome he looked.

He left holding his phone. The moment he walked out of the neighborhood gate, Xi Shui’s heartbeat sped up, faster and faster.

There were gardenia bouquets for sale at the school gate, with all kinds of packaging. The flower seller’s older brother saw Xi Shui and called out to him, "Dressed up this handsome, you’re going to see your girlfriend, right? Buy a bouquet to bring with you!"

Xi Shui looked left and right, then walked over. "She’s not my girlfriend."

"Oh, oh, then your boyfriend, boyfriend."

"He’s not yet," Xi Shui thought that he really couldn’t go empty-handed. He bent down and picked the best-looking bouquet of gardenias from the stall. "How much?"

"30."

Xi Shui hugged the flowers and ran toward Jing Sports with great satisfaction.

He was too eye-catching. Even without deliberately dressing up, he could attract a lot of attention wherever he appeared.

His frame was slender and tall, his temperament cool and distant, but if you met his eyes, you’d find them unbelievably soft. His peach-blossom eyes gave him an inborn sense of flirtatious ease.

So Zhou Zeqi could spot him at a glance too.

The moment he appeared behind the shrubs by the small field.

Xi Shui had changed bags today. It was a canvas backpack with two straps. He stood at the small field and looked around before accurately catching sight of Zhou Zeqi.

Zhou Zeqi was wearing a black sports uniform. He didn’t look like he’d been sweating buckets as imagined. He was sitting on a long bench, arms folded, his back against the shrubs.

Xi Shui met his gaze, black as night, and it was like seeing a can of ice soda in summer. It nearly made Xi Shui turn and run.

But thinking of his plan, Xi Shui gathered his courage again.

He walked toward Zhou Zeqi with apparent calm.

Meng Kewen and Wu Fengyi were lying on the grass nearby, basking in the sun. Meng Kewen’s confidence had already been shattered by Zhou Zeqi, and Wu Fengyi patted him. "Look, the little swan from Jing Dance is here."

Xi Shui really wanted everyone around them not to look, not to look. Why was there always so many people around Zhou Zeqi?

The gardenia petals were white and soft, white in a thick, deep way, and the rich fragrance made him dizzy.

The noon sun was so bright Xi Shui could barely keep his eyes open, but he couldn’t squint. He had to look at Zhou Zeqi while he spoke.

Xi Shui stopped in front of Zhou Zeqi. Zhou Zeqi spread his knees open, and Xi Shui very proactively took one step forward, standing between his knees.

Xi Shui’s hands were shaking so badly the gardenia petals were almost falling.

"I’ve been waiting for you for a long time." Zhou Zeqi straightened up and looked at the clean, refreshing boy in front of him.

Xi Shui no longer had time to exchange pleasantries with Zhou Zeqi. He was already down to 54 kg!

He shoved the gardenias into Zhou Zeqi’s hands, and when he opened his mouth, his voice was trembling so badly it barely sounded like his own, his face flushing red along with it. "I came, I wanted to tell you, I want to date you…"

——————–

Author’s Note:

Xiao Xi: I don’t have time anymore!!! (very loud)