KMYB | Chapter 47

The competition was still going on, only the staff who had been fighting were pulled off the floor.

The Jingxue and Jingwu students who had competed and placed would still keep their rankings, but Yun Chu would report this incident truthfully.

Zhou Zeqi had listened to Wu Fengyi and the others cursing beside his ear for nearly an hour. His ears hurt, and since he couldn’t drive them away, he grabbed a magazine from the table, flipped it open, and covered his face with it.

The restlessness in his body still hadn’t gone away when someone snatched the magazine right off him.

"You f…" Zhou Zeqi was about to curse, but the words died in his throat the moment he saw Xi Shui. Looking at the sweat all over Xi Shui’s face, he frowned and pulled him into the tent. "Why are you here?"

Xi Shui was breathing hard. He’d run himself nearly to death. "The forum said you were fighting."

He looked at Zhou Zeqi for a while before turning to Wu Fengyi and Meng Kewen. Wu Fengyi was fine, about the same as Zhou Zeqi, while Meng Kewen looked worse than both of them. Somehow, probably because someone had a ring on, a cut had been dragged under his eye, though it had already scabbed over by now.

"I came to see you." Xi Shui couldn’t see a smile on Zhou Zeqi’s face, and that made him uneasy.

Zhou Zeqi took a bottle of water from a cardboard box by his feet and handed it to Xi Shui. "Drink some water."

Wu Fengyi had already shut up.

Meng Kewen was still holding his face and groaning beside them. Zhou Zeqi wasn’t the type to go snitching, but if he complained to his boyfriend that someone had taken advantage of the chaos to scratch him twice, then Meng Kewen would have to rely on his own mouth right now.

He rattled off the whole story in one breath. "No one knows who had something on their hand. Lao Zhou and I both got cut. Mine’s under the eye, his is by the mouth, but it’s fine, not too deep."

"Where’s Lin Xiaojin?" Meng Kewen asked after finishing.

"He’s napping."

"Napping? What a joke. He must think we’re winning so easily that he doesn’t need to worry."

Xi Shui: "…"

As expected of childhood friends, Meng Kewen really did know Lin Xiaojin well.

Wu Fengyi leaned back in his chair, thought it over, then said to Xi Shui, "At first, Lao Zhou wasn’t going to make a move. It was only after that guy said you danced ballet like some sissy that Lao Zhou broke the rule and fought him."

That was the truth. Wu Fengyi had played with Zhou Zeqi for so many years, and ever since high school, Zhou Zeqi had basically stopped getting into fights. Just his presence alone scared off most people from trying him, and he himself wasn’t someone who liked picking trouble.

Today was purely because that bastard was asking for it. Zhou Zeqi was terrifying when it came to protecting his own. Not to mention, today had been the other side’s fault to begin with. Even if it hadn’t been, even if the one at fault had been one of his own, Zhou Zeqi would still have backed them first and asked questions later.

Xi Shui bent down, reached out, and peeled the Band-Aid off the corner of Zhou Zeqi’s mouth. After checking it, he stuck it back on.

The wound looked a little deeper than Meng Kewen’s.

"Will it leave a scar?" he asked softly.

Zhou Zeqi had wanted to laugh, but smiling would tug at the cut, so he just shifted his posture and looked at Xi Shui. "You dislike me?"

"No, I feel bad for you." Xi Shui shook his head with perfect seriousness.

Wu Fengyi and Meng Kewen immediately put on pained expressions beside them. "So sour, so sour. Call the school doctor, call the school doctor!"

Zhou Zeqi was obviously pleased by the teasing. He grabbed Xi Shui’s hand and pulled him between his legs. "They’re jealous."

But Xi Shui didn’t seem all that happy. His eyelids lowered. "You don’t need to stand up for me. It’s nothing."

When Xi Shui was little, he rarely heard those ugly words. His whole family danced, and even if it wasn’t ballet, it would be something else. It wasn’t until middle school, when some people at school and some people online, that Xi Shui realized ballet could be looked down on so badly in those people’s eyes.

He crouched in front of Zhou Zeqi. "Don’t mind what they said. Even if they can accept men dancing ballet, they might still think women dance ballet to please them."

Zhou Zeqi rubbed Xi Shui’s hair. "Don’t lecture me. I’ll hit first and talk later. If he’s unconvinced, he can try to conquer me with his brain, but that chance is pretty low."

Zhou Zeqi’s jawline was sharp and clean-cut, the late-afternoon glare falling across the bridge of his straight nose. In his eyes, his wildness and defiance were laid bare.

Wu Fengyi egged him on from the side. "They just can’t stand Lao Zhou. Xi Shui, don’t take it too hard."

A capable person didn’t really invite jealousy all that much. An exceptional person constrained by family could even make others feel a strange sense of relief and superiority, like, look, so what if he’s rich? He still isn’t free, and he’s not happy either.

But Zhou Zeqi was not that kind of person. So what those people envied most was his courage to do whatever he wanted. Money and looks weren’t enough to make them feel inferior, but courage, freedom, and fearlessness… those were the things that truly set people apart.

Zhou Zeqi said, "What did you have for lunch?"

"Lin Xiaojin and I made salmon salad ourselves."

"Where did the salmon come from?"

"Delivery. It came with the takeout."

Zhou Zeqi reached out and touched Xi Shui’s stomach. It was flat. "Didn’t eat enough?"

"It wasn’t good," Xi Shui answered honestly. "Lin Xiaojin dumped a lot of mustard in it. I washed it down with water."

Zhou Zeqi paused, then picked up his phone from the table and stuffed it in his pocket. "I’m taking Xi Shui to eat first. You handle things here, Shiji. If anyone from Jingxue comes to cause trouble again, report it to the coach."

"Got it."

–

The wind on Huaiyin Avenue carried a wave of heat that brushed across their faces, and Xi Shui was curious where Zhou Zeqi was taking him to eat.

"What are we eating?"

Zhou Zeqi squeezed Xi Shui’s fingers. "We’ll grab a taxi outside. My mom said a Western restaurant opened in the west side of the city, and the food is really good."

"Then I want ribeye steak. But can I ask if they have passion fruit sauce? I like sour things," Xi Shui said very seriously. "I want blue mussels, lemon tart, and I don’t want alcohol. I’ll drink water."

"…"

"You already ordered off the menu?"

"Mm." Xi Shui nodded and took his phone out of his pocket. "I’m going to tell Xiaojin he can sleep over at my place tonight. I’ll bring him something to eat."

"We’re not going back tonight," Zhou Zeqi said as he stopped a taxi. "I’ll order takeout for Lin Xiaojin."

"Not going back? Why?"

"Didn’t you write it in your memo? 'What if Zhou Zeqi takes me to get a room, wuwu'? I’m helping you make it happen today."

!

Xi Shui’s face went red, but they were already in the car, and with the driver in front, he could only whisper, "That won’t work. I didn’t bring anything."

"No need. The hotel next to that restaurant belongs to my second uncle. We can just stay there." Zhou Zeqi said it casually. His second uncle’s hotel was in a good location, close to the city center, so whenever the younger generation in the family stayed out too late, they’d just go crash there for the night. The hotel even had a presidential suite specially prepared for family members.

"I didn’t bring clothes."

"We’ll buy some."

"I only have two hundred yuan."

"I’ll buy them."

If not for the sports meet holiday, neither of them would have had time to run out like this.

From Jingda to the west side of the city, they hit rush hour, and a drive that should have taken just over an hour ended up taking nearly three.

The restaurant was on an upper floor of a building by the river. As the elevator rose, the river outside gradually narrowed, the surrounding scenery came fully into view, and the faint light of dusk settled on the water, rippling into a thin shimmer of broken silver.

Zhou Zeqi had called the restaurant owner ahead of time and reserved a seat by the window.

Boss Wu Fengshuo was waiting at the entrance. He looked to be in his early thirties, and the moment he saw Zhou Zeqi, he started sighing, "You fought again?"

"It was an accident. Is the food ready?" Zhou Zeqi pulled Xi Shui along. "This is Wu Fengyi’s cousin."

Xi Shui obediently greeted him, "Hello."

"You’re Zhou Zeqi’s boyfriend?" Wu Fengshuo didn’t stare at Xi Shui for too long, which would have been rude. He looked at Zhou Zeqi and led them inside. "Not long after you brought him home, your mom started seizing every opportunity to spread the news. She praised your partner like he was one and only in all heaven and earth. My mom played mahjong with your mom, and when she got back, she started nagging me, saying that all of us put together still weren’t as promising as you alone."

"This is the seat. It’s in the corner, but the view is the best." Wu Fengshuo pressed Xi Shui’s shoulder and had him sit down, then called over a waiter to bring the menu. "From here you can see the tower across the river. Once it gets dark, the boats on the water should start coming out. It’s pretty nice to look at."

The menu was handed over. "Order whatever you want. I’m heading out first. I have plans. If you need anything, find the manager. If you can’t find him, he’s probably in the kitchen playing match-three."

Xi Shui ordered the ribeye, and everything else he picked was something he’d never tried before. "Sprinkle some foie gras crumbs on top of the salmon. I want to try it."

Zhou Zeqi rested his chin on one hand and twirled a fork in his fingers. "Order whatever you want."

"What if I can’t finish it?" Xi Shui glanced at the prices. So expensive. A single ribeye cost more than two thousand yuan. Was it made of gold? Ever since he’d spent all his allowance, Xi Shui had gradually started to understand money.

"I’ll eat it," Zhou Zeqi said.

After Xi Shui finished ordering, Zhou Zeqi only ordered a plate of pasta and a bottle of chilled white wine.

"Could I have a glass of water, with ice?" Xi Shui mainly wanted the ice. There was water on the table, but it was warm.

The waiter had been looking at Xi Shui the whole time, but since the other party was ordering so seriously, he hadn’t noticed. When Xi Shui suddenly looked up, it startled him.

"O-okay."

The waiter’s face turned red all the way to his neck.

The restaurant had opened for less than a month, and there weren’t many customers. The prices were set very high, and only the finest, freshest ingredients were used, so it wasn’t easy to come across a university couple like this.

What’s more, they were both so good-looking and dressed so student-like, not at all particular, in sneakers and running shoes, with one of them even sporting a bruise on his face, like they’d come to eat hotpot skewers instead.

The dishes were brought to the table one after another. There was no passion fruit sauce that Xi Shui wanted, but there was cherry sauce, domestic, slightly sour, not too sweet, just enough to cut through the richness.

Xi Shui ate very seriously and didn’t talk. He kept his head down and stuffed his mouth nonstop.

Once he was full, his pace slowed noticeably. After he let out a burp, Zhou Zeqi lifted his eyes. "If you can’t finish it, give it to me."

Xi Shui held his fork and looked at the remaining third of the steak on his plate, thinking it over before asking suspiciously, "You’re not the one who wants to eat it yourself, are you?"

"…Then eat it yourself."

Xi Shui hurriedly pushed the plate over.

Sitting there, he grew curious about the white wine beside Zhou Zeqi. "Can I try some?"

"It’s a lot stronger than beer," Zhou Zeqi said lazily, his gaze landing on Xi Shui’s eager face. "You sure?"

"I just want to try it."

Zhou Zeqi poured him half a glass.

The wine had been chilled, so it tasted sweet and smooth. The alcohol wasn’t very sharp. After Xi Shui finished that half glass, he asked for another half. When he asked for a third, Zhou Zeqi took the bottle away. "You’re drunk."

Xi Shui’s empty glass hung in midair. Slowly, he drew it back and lifted it to his mouth, tilting his head back hard to try and pour out the last drops.

Zhou Zeqi: "…"

After making sure it was empty, Xi Shui set the glass down and fixed his gaze on Zhou Zeqi. His eyes were watery, but his expression was serious and solemn. "The high jump is tomorrow, so can I still be on top tonight?"