KMYB | Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Zhou Zeqi went to brush his teeth.

After a cold shower, with water still dripping from the ends of his hair, he stepped out of the bathroom, glanced at Xi Shui already seated at the dining table, and only after taking a deep breath did he walk over and sit down.

Xi Shui held his chopsticks and picked a slice of beef into Zhou Zeqi’s bowl. In a small voice, he said, “Actually, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what?”

Xi Shui pointed at Zhou Zeqi’s mouth. “Use your mouth.”

Zhou Zeqi lifted his thin eyelids and answered Xi Shui in a slow, unhurried tone, “I want to.”

“…”

Why wouldn’t he want to? This was his little swan.

Xi Shui ate half a bowl more than usual today, because kissing Zhou Zeqi too often was too physically draining, and he needed to replenish more energy.

When Zhou Zeqi saw Xi Shui burping after eating, he tapped the table. “Aren’t you afraid of getting fat?”

“I’ve gotten thinner lately.”

Zhou Zeqi frowned.

Xi Shui went on, “Because I keep kissing you.”

“…”

“Can you explain the connection between those two things?”

Xi Shui put down his chopsticks, took a sip of water, and explained to Zhou Zeqi with complete seriousness, “Kissing burns calories.”

Zhou Zeqi also set down his chopsticks. “Anything burns calories. Breathing burns calories too.”

Xi Shui blinked.

“So why do you think you lost weight because you kissed me?” Zhou Zeqi picked up a peanut and tossed it into his mouth. When his eyes lowered, he still couldn’t catch Xi Shui’s dodging gaze.

“Then why is it?”

Xi Shui had forgotten Lin Xiaojin’s words again.

Zhou Zeqi looked at Xi Shui with a very serious, appraising gaze.

His eyes were pitch-black, completely different from Xi Shui’s amber pupils. Xi Shui’s gaze was pure and soft, while when Zhou Zeqi looked at someone seriously, it was hard to hold his stare for long.

Xi Shui swallowed, lowered his head, and picked up his chopsticks. He stacked the remaining half of the broccoli piece by piece and said slowly, “You know, I don’t have any friends, aside from Xiaojin now, so when I was unhappy before, I would eat…”

This was like peeling open his own bloody growing pains. A lot of people simply couldn’t understand it. Would eating one more slice of cake kill you? Would eating one more piece of candy kill you?

It had nothing to do with food. When indulgence collided with years of self-denial, the only thing that suffered was his own mind and body.

“We had a senior who developed anorexia because of stress, and later dropped out,” Xi Shui said, as the stack of broccoli collapsed. He piled it up again. “When I was in high school, I almost became like that too. I could finish an eight-inch cake in one go, even more.”

“I wasn’t hungry. I just…”

High-intensity training, but no proper outlet for emotions and pressure, with parents able to give only so much, and he himself never finding a suitable way.

Actually, whether it was dance students or athletes, or students in those majors at Jing University, once the load exceeded their own limit, they always had to find some way to relax.

But for dance students, eating freely was never really an option.

For Xi Shui, this method only made him more miserable.

Zhou Zeqi listened carefully until he finished. “Then how did you become stable now?”

Xi Shui thought about it just as seriously. “I think it’s because of you.”

“I’m really happy when I’m with you, so I don’t feel like eating tasty things as much.” Xi Shui bit his chopsticks, his eyes sparkling, and let out a burp. “But being too happy isn’t good either. If I get too skinny, I won’t have any muscle left.”

“I have worries too.” Xi Shui’s voice grew softer and softer. He was afraid Zhou Zeqi would be like some people, thinking he was complaining over nothing, thinking he didn’t know how lucky he was.

Zhou Zeqi poured Xi Shui a glass of water. “I’m honored that I can make you happy.”

Of course it was an honor. That was the highest kind of praise. Being able to give the person you liked positive emotional value was part of a lover’s duty too.

“Then stay by my side for the rest of your life.” Zhou Zeqi looked at Xi Shui as he hugged the glass and gulped down water, his beautiful Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

Xi Shui didn’t catch what he said.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Zhou Zeqi said.

“Oh.”

“Then go wash the dishes.”

“…”

–

The competition time was changed to Sunday, both the swimming meet between sports schools and the carnival between Jing Dance and the nearby music conservatory.

The swimming meet started at three in the afternoon, while the carnival ran from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. There was some overlap in timing, but it wasn’t a big issue.

Hai Tinghua had gone to the Jing Dance campus supermarket to borrow performance costumes. Jing Dance had performances all the time, so the supermarket had spotted a huge business opportunity and brought in new gorgeous performance outfits every quarter, for both male and female students.

The costumes were all hung neatly on racks in the back of the main auditorium.

The hosts had started rehearsing the flow as early as six in the morning.

Xi Shui dragged Zhou Zeqi out of the elevator. Both of their faces had pink peach blossom stickers on them, with glitter sprinkled across the petals, placed there by the people at the entrance.

No one at Jing Dance didn’t know Xi Shui, and everyone there knew Zhou Zeqi too. But people at Jing Music might not, since it was already a different university.

It was still early. The event didn’t start until eight.

But a lot of people were already here, and Xi Shui was greeted by people all along the way.

Zhou Zeqi’s face kept changing colors, until by the time they reached backstage, it had gone as dark as the bottom of a pot.

“Hey, you’re here?” Lin Xiaojin had flowers on his face too, but not peach blossoms. He was a cactus.

After handing Xi Shui and Zhou Zeqi a box of milk each, Lin Xiaojin finally noticed the difference and asked curiously, “Why am I a cactus?”

A boy from Jing Music next to him leaned over and said, “Two people together are peach blossoms, one person alone is a cactus, and a group is a bunch of daisies.”

A petal on Xi Shui’s face had curled up. Zhou Zeqi pressed it back down with a finger. “Single dogs are cacti.”

The boy grinned. “As expected of Brother Zhou, so straightforward.”

Lin Xiaojin: “…”

“How do you know Zhou Zeqi?” Lin Xiaojin asked curiously.

“I sometimes go lurk on your school’s forum. Your forum is more fun.”

Zhou Zeqi tore open the straw wrapper for the milk, inserted it properly, and held it to Xi Shui’s mouth. Xi Shui had the bad habit of biting straws and chopsticks. Even before drinking, he would already start chewing on it if it was brought to his mouth, but when Zhou Zeqi handed it to him, he didn’t dare. After obediently taking a big gulp, he turned his head away.

Lin Xiaojin had already seen too many scenes like this. When he saw the Jing Music boy looking like, “Is this the Zhou Zeqi I know?” he figured that boy clearly wasn’t lurking on the forum long enough. After all, even Xi Shui’s former “solo stans” had started turning into CP fans. Of course, that shift was thanks in no small part to Zhou Zeqi spoiling Xi Shui without restraint.

“We’re going to change clothes.” Xi Shui pulled Zhou Zeqi along and didn’t forget to bring Lin Xiaojin too.

Lin Xiaojin followed behind them like a sour pickle. “I thought you’d forgotten me.”

“Of course not.”

This was the largest, most luxuriously decorated auditorium on campus, with the best lighting and sound system and the biggest capacity. The backstage had more than a dozen separate dressing rooms, while the makeup tables were set outside, with no distinction between private and non-private.

The clothes Hai Tinghua borrowed had even been ironed beforehand, and the hangers were labeled: Jing Dance Ballet Department, Year Two, Class 1.

Xi Shui picked out two sets of tailcoats. “This biggest one has to be yours.”

Zhou Zeqi put a hand on Xi Shui’s neck and led him into the dressing room.

It was hot in summer, and Xi Shui was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so he stripped faster than Zhou Zeqi did.

He had competed too many times, so his movements were quick and practiced.

He bent over to put on his pants, his butt sticking up. When he pulled his pants up and turned around, he saw Zhou Zeqi looking down at him. Not understanding why, he urged him, “Why aren’t you changing?”

Zhou Zeqi answered with some difficulty, “Changing.”

The tailcoat had a kind of classical elegance and dignity to it, like a gentle, old-fashioned gentleman from the Middle Ages, as if in the next second he might tip his hat or take a cigar from his pocket.

The main auditorium had the central air-conditioning turned very low, so even after putting on the jacket, it still didn’t feel hot.

Zhou Zeqi was only wearing a shirt underneath. He draped his jacket over the crook of his arm and looked down at Xi Shui, who was sitting in a chair playing on his phone.

“I want to write a diary,” he said.

“Write what?”

“Write about my first performance with the person I like.”

Xi Shui typed word by word, not forgetting to say, “My notes app has all my diaries from the past few years, plus some professional ballet tips. Where should I put my phone later?”

Xi Shui hadn’t brought his big shoulder bag with him today.

“I’ll hold it for you,” Zhou Zeqi said after taking a sip of water.

“Mm, okay!”

–

For the carnival, the schools’ own performances were secondary. Since it was an event, there had to be interaction.

The opening would be Jing Music improvising background music, while Jing Dance would improvise a joint performance with Jing Music. That required strong on-the-spot adaptability, strong creative ability, and a huge reserve of knowledge from everyone involved.

Last year, Jing Dance had embarrassed themselves badly at the opening.

Jing Music had put on a jazz number, and it was a fusion piece too, with piano, bass, guitar, flute, and one of their school’s famous low-voiced singers performing in English.

Jing Dance didn’t have a jazz major. At first, no one went on stage. Later, the students from classical dance bit the bullet and took on the challenge, but unexpectedly, the other side suddenly changed the rhythm into a rousing piano piece, and the people from Jing Dance were thrown off immediately. Everything descended into chaos.

Xi Shui could handle it. Although he wasn’t very good at jazz, he had only taken a few classes with his cousin, but he still knew some of the more classic moves. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been at school then. He was in Shencheng competing.

But Jing Music probably wasn’t that stupid either, to use the same trick two years in a row.

Xi Shui bit the straw in his milk and watched the hosts outside already trading opening remarks back and forth.

It was a very professional hosting team from Jing Music, and Xi Shui listened while bobbing his head along.

“Excuse me, let me through.” A boy carrying a guitar squeezed past Xi Shui.

Then came an electronic keyboard, a pipa…

That mixed arrangement was very similar to what Lin Xiaojin had told Xi Shui about last year.

Lin Xiaojin had noticed it too, and his face immediately fell.

Li Weiwei was sitting on a table in a dress. She saw it too, and her gaze stayed fixed all the way. When they stood behind the curtain, she jumped off the table, stripped off her dress in front of everyone, revealing a camisole and safety shorts underneath, and casually took a black shirt from a row of hangers. “I’m ready.”

Hai Tinghua said, “You know how to do it, do you, to be ready?”

“I watched videos specifically. No problem.”

The hosts’ voices disappeared, and the curtain was drawn open to both sides. The electronic keyboard was carried out, and the first thing that landed was the heavy strike of a drumstick on the drum kit, followed by the lead singer’s low “shit.”

Lin Xiaojin crossed his arms and snorted. “Shi~ft.”

Li Weiwei should have discussed things with Jing Dance beforehand. If they repeated last year’s routine, then she would be the one to go up.

But even if a ballet dancer learned it temporarily, they still couldn’t change their habitual movements.

She was very nervous.

Zhou Zeqi could tell Xi Shui was nervous too. The little swan had even gone expressionless.

Just as he was about to speak and comfort him, he saw Xi Shui raise a hand to unfasten the tailcoat buttons. He took off the jacket, tugged half the hem back out from where it had been tucked into his waistband, slipped off his shoes and socks, then looked up at Zhou Zeqi. “I’m going to help out. Will you be jealous?”

Zhou Zeqi paused, then said quietly, “No.”

Xi Shui was very clear-headed at moments like this. He stood up and kissed Zhou Zeqi on the face with a loud smack, his eyes shining with firm determination. “Yes, you can’t be jealous, because I’m fighting for Jing Dance’s honor.”

Before Xi Shui ran over to Li Weiwei’s side, he stuffed his phone into Zhou Zeqi’s hand.

Qiqi had said so. Hold the phone for him.

Zhou Zeqi slowly withdrew his gaze from Xi Shui’s back and lowered it to the phone in his hand, whose screen Xi Shui hadn’t had time to turn off yet.

He hadn’t even finished writing the diary.

-Being with Qiqi makes me so happy, I really want to stay with him forever…

Looking at someone else’s diary was an immoral thing to do. Zhou Zeqi tried to lock the phone, but his finger slipped and swiped the page to the next file.

The black text was very eye-catching, and Zhou Zeqi had 5.0 vision.

-5.35 Kissing for ten seconds, calories burned: 0

-5.24 Kissing for five minutes, calories burned: 30

-5.25 Kissing for ten minutes, calories burned: 50

…

– Xi Xiaoxi’s worry: What do I do? Zhou Zeqi wants to go out and get a room with me, wuwuwuwu

After reading it, Zhou Zeqi laughed once, then looked at the memo title at the top of the screen: The Great Plan to Lose Weight by Kissing!

The records and the title gave Zhou Zeqi a strange feeling.

He recalled Xi Shui’s sudden confession, how主动 he had been about kissing, and how he had sighed a few days ago that kissing had made him lose weight to death, then combined that with the last sentence…

A not very likely but still the most fitting guess for Xi Shui’s way of thinking surfaced in Zhou Zeqi’s mind.

Xi Shui had confessed to him with the purpose of losing weight.

Zhou Zeqi turned off the phone with a blank expression. A few seconds later, he laughed again. It wasn’t the first time Xi Shui had made him laugh out of anger, but this was the most furious he’d ever been.