A cold jasmine milk tea with green tea was placed before Xin Hexue. Unlike the cheap milk tea in plastic cups from street-side stalls, this tea restaurant outside the west gate was quite particular. A refreshing mint leaf was clipped beside the straw. The glass cup was dripping wet, condensed water droplets flowing onto the table.
[What did my brother say to you this afternoon?]
Xin Hexue took a sip of the milk tea, head lowered as he sent the message to Lu Yang with his right hand.
Zhuang Tongguang had no particular preference for these drinks, so he just ordered a signature milk tea. The taste felt excessively sweet. He wanted to talk to his younger brother but didn’t know where to start. Two sips of milk tea and the draft that came to his lips was swallowed back down, the cloying sweetness making him feel bitter.
Xin Hexue was still staring at his phone. Was he texting Lu Yang?
Zhuang Tongguang frowned for a moment, took a tissue, and wiped the water stain from under Xin Hexue’s cup. His gaze swept around and noticed the promotional picture posted on the wall, which featured a dessert that was highly praised around here.
It was three-color ice cream of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate, a banana was cut in half and topped with a cherry. Perhaps it was coated in syrup, the cherry was bright red and sparkling.
When he was little, Xin Hexue loved eating the three-color ice cream from the factory store. Zhuang Tongguang’s heart trembled, and he asked, “That thing, do you want to eat it?”
“Huh?” Xin Hexue swallowed the milk tea and looked where Zhuang Tongguang pointed. “Banana split?”
It was quite a visual product name.
Zhuang Tongguang nodded. “Do you want to try?”
Xin Hexue: “We can give it a taste.”
So Zhuang Tongguang left his seat again.
The banana split at the neighboring table was already finished. Encouraged by her companion, a girl walked over somewhat shyly.
A shadow fell into Xin Hexue’s field of vision as he browsed messages. Sensing something, he looked up and smiled. “Is there something you need?”
The girl with the single ponytail in front him was elbowed by her companion behind her before she shyly asked, “Are you also a student at Peking University? Can I have your contact information?”
Zhuang Tongguang stood by the front counter, his gaze gloomy, so much so that when the server beside him asked if he wanted a large or small banana split, he didn’t react.
The server had to repeat the question.
Zhuang Tongguang suddenly came back to his senses, took out some change, and said, “…Large, thank you.”
When he looked over again, the two girls were already leaving. The wind chimes jingled as they pushed open the door, like the sound of a mountain stream hitting small stones.
But another boy got up and came to Xin Hexue’s table, with the same intention as the earlier people. Zhuang Tongguang’s expression tightened, and he strode over, asking Xin Hexue, “How about showing me around later?”
With an extra person suddenly appearing, the boy who had come to strike up a conversation looked somewhat awkward. Whether he misunderstood the situation or not, he withdrew.
Zhuang Tongguang sat down as if nothing happened, and the banana split was soon placed between them by the server’s hands.
The cherry coated in a shell of sugar syrup was bright red. Zhuang Tongguang watched as the fork pierced it, the silver handle stained with overflowing juice, and Xin Hexue’s lips were also stained with the bright color.
Food and sex are human nature.
The love for food and the appreciation of beautiful things are inherent human instincts. Perhaps it is for this reason that, as a setting capable of uniting both, restaurants are imbued with a romantic significance.
Zhuang Tongguang subconsciously held a tissue to the lips of the person opposite himself.
Xin Hexue was slightly taken aback, but he still spat out the fruit seed accordingly.
He said, “Big Brother, can we do the stroll next week? I have something to do tonight.”
Zhuang Tongguang paused for a moment, then asked, “Is it because of Lu Yang?”
Xin Hexue didn’t hide it. “Mm, I promised to go stroll the night market with him tonight.”
Zhuang Tongguang said, “I have time too. Our dorm doesn’t check in at night.”
“Aren’t you the one who doesn’t like street food?” Xin Hexue curved his eyes, declining. “You’d be very bored going with us.”
Zhuang Tongguang’s lips moved slightly, “I… am not at ease.”
“What’s there to be not at ease about?” Xin Hexue’s tone was dismissive.
Zhuang Tongguang leaned forward subconsciously. “I’m not at ease… things outside aren’t healthy. You’ll upset your stomach if you eat too much.”
What he received in return was Xin Hexue’s amused, smiling gaze, as if what Zhuang Tongguang just said amused him. “Big Brother, worrying so much all the time will make you age prematurely. I’m a grown-up. I know my own body. Don’t worry, I have a sense of proportion.”
At this point, it sounded like there was no room for negotiation.
Zhuang Tongguang could only shift the topic. “Did those two girls ask for your contact information?”
“Mm, I declined politely.” Xin Hexue scooped a spoonful of ice cream, responding absentmindedly.
Then he heard Zhuang Tongguang guiding the conversation step by step. “University is different from high school. Time and management are much looser. If you like a girl, you can try dating. Mom and Dad are very open-minded. They won’t oppose it.”
‘Is he still playing dumb?’
Xin Hexue countered. “Big Brother, are you in a relationship?”
Zhuang Tongguang frowned. “No.”
Xin Hexue propped his chin, leading the other by the nose. “Don’t worry, I’m also open-minded. I won’t oppose it. When should we meet up and have a meal together?”
Zhuang Tongguang’s brows furrowed like an unsolvable lock. “I am not in a relationship.”
Xin Hexue sat up straight, his tone subtly changing. “Then why are you urging me to date?”
Zhuang Tongguang: “I’m not urging you.”
Zhuang Tongguang: “I’m just saying you can date a girl you have a good impression of without any worries.”
Xin Hexue lazily lifted his eyelids, asking softly. “What about boys?”
Zhuang Tongguang’s expression abruptly changed, his tone clearly sinking. “Don’t joke like that.”
As if realizing his lapse in composure, he adjusted his expression and tone. “Xiao Xue, it’s just because you grew up surrounded by boys, so you’re confusing friendship and romantic feelings.”
“Saying that makes it sound like you’ve been in a relationship, Big Brother. And there were actually many girls among our friends at the power plant affiliated school too. Your logic doesn’t add up.” Xin Hexue pursed his lips, his expression seeming somewhat hurt. “Earlier, it made me very uncomfortable when you said you weren’t at ease about me going out to the night market. Why do you always treat me like an un-independent child? Have you ever really treated me seriously and respected me?”
A series of questions and the final accusation completely disrupted Zhuang Tongguang’s rhythm. His gaze behind his glasses was flustered. “I don’t mean that.”
“Really?” Xin Hexue asked lightly. “Then why are you avoiding the facts? I believe Lu Yang should have told you today.”
Zhuang Tongguang: “Have you been texting him the entire time since entering the shop?”
Pretending not to notice Zhuang Tongguang’s gathering stormy expression, Xin Hexue sighed. “I just think you’re too targeted against him.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Zhuang Tongguang pressed his hands on the table and suddenly stood up, the chair making a grating sound. He lowered his voice, grinding out the words. “Watch with open eyes as my younger brother, who got into a prestigious university and is about to have a bright life and future, gets bewitched by him, led astray, and sinks into a quagmire where there is no light at the end of the tunnel?”
Fortunately, there were few customers around at this time. Xin Hexue glanced around and saw that although some were drawn by Zhuang Tongguang’s sudden movements, they could not hear what they were saying because of the distance.
So he said to Zhuang Tongguang in an even lighter tone. “You’re thinking too seriously. Also, Lu Yang didn’t bewitch me. The decisions I make are my own and after careful consideration.”
The phone by his hand suddenly rang. Zhuang Tongguang snatched it at a speed an ordinary person could hardly react to, hanging up on the “Lu Yang” displayed on the screen.
The veins bulged distinctly on the backs of his hands resting on the table. He was using great force to suppress his emotions. “He didn’t bewitch you? What do you understand? Have you thought about how Mom and Dad would react if they knew? Have you thought about how the relatives and friends who watched us grow up would view you two? Even more, how those who love to gossip would chatter behind your backs?”
He had watched Xin Hexue grow up day by day, becoming more and more outstanding and beautiful. He regarded Xin Hexue as his own pride, so he had never been able to bear others saying a single negative word about Xin Hexue.
Question after question came out, each thundering loudly in his own ears.
In the end, it was his own worries over so many years.
He tested Xin Hexue’s attitude and encouraged Xin Hexue to date, as if Xin Hexue were heterosexual, he could return to the normal track, and that could erase the guilt Zhuang Tongguang felt in his heart for the emotions sprouting towards his younger brother. It could also prove that, from beginning to end, he lacked nothing…except for that despicable courage that Lu Yang possessed.
[Clearly, I realized I liked you first.]
[If I had been one step earlier, I wouldn’t…]
“Zhuang Tongguang, do you know what you’re saying?”
A clear, crisp voice rang out.
Zhuang Tongguang raised his gaze in a daze, crashing into a pair of clear, black and white eyes.
“Have you gone mad?”
“No, I…”
Seeing the disbelief and disgust in Xin Hexue’s eyes, he instantly felt as if his burning head had been struck with a club, his body rapidly cooling as if from massive blood loss. His ears were ringing, his consciousness blurred, and cold sweat soaked his back.
[Zhuang Tongguang Heartbreak Value +15]
[Zhuang Tongguang Heartbreak Value is full.]
…………
The ice cream on the banana split had all melted, turning into cloyingly sticky water that had completely lost its original flavor.
Xin Hexue looked out the window at the trees whose leaves had started turning withered and yellow since entering autumn, anticipating the withered vegetation scenery of winter.
From another’s perspective, the solitary figure sitting by the window looked somewhat lonely.
[This is quite bad.]
K suddenly spoke.
It was a secret Zhuang Tongguang had hidden for so long, prepared to take to his grave. Yet, tricked by Xin Hexue, Zhuang Tongguang thought he had blurted out his innermost thoughts.
[Otherwise, when would we ever fill the Heartbreak Value?] Xin Hexue asked. [As a system, you don’t properly assist the host’s tasks, collect data to formulate strategies, or even question the host’s decisions… How would you rate such a system if it were you?]
K fell silent.
Probably because he was very worried about adding a failing grade to the incompetent label.
Though the former was humiliating enough on its own.
The wind chimes at the door jingled as Xin Hexue pushed the door open and left.
A leaf from a distant maple tree fell, drifting and fluttering as it traveled all the way to Xin Hexue’s hand. The leaf veins were distinct, and the shape was perfect. K even drew an apologetic smiling face on it.
Xin Hexue gave a soft snort.
Once fallen, this maple leaf of early autumn marked the passage of half a month.
……
Colored spotlights flowed and spilled everywhere. The singing was noisy and deafening. The private room door opened for a moment, letting out wolf-howling-like singing that rushed into the corridor, only to be quickly slammed back by the door.
“Di Kuang, you’re here?” The singing boy greeted, his tone noticeably tipsy. “Look at you, just coming is fine, why did you bring someone else?”
“From your major? A junior?”
Di Kuang smiled and nodded, exchanging a glance with a boy on the sofa. “Brother Meng.”
Meng Wenzhuo put down his drink. His gaze was staring fixedly from the moment the person entered.
Xin Hexue, who followed Di Kuang in, frowned at the noise inside the private room. He then saw Di Kuang feigning an apology: “I’m so sorry. If I didn’t use the excuse of asking for your help, you probably wouldn’t have agreed to come if you knew it was a social gathering, right?”
Di Kuang, a senior from the same major, led Xin Hexue in and sat on the sofa. The private room was large enough, with both boys and girls.
“We’re all classmates. Many people wanted to get to know you.” Di Kuang said, persuading. “Just think of it as making more friends. Don’t be too closed off in university.”
The smell of leather and alcohol lingered in the surroundings. Almost all the faces in sight were unfamiliar. Xin Hexue caught sight of Meng Wenzhuo, whom he had met “coincidentally” several times in the past half-month. He smiled slightly at Di Kuang. “It’s okay, Senior.”
It seems someone had sent a pillow just when he was sleepy.
