Chapter 29 – How Could He Resist

After hearing what Jiang Lou said, Li Tang’s mind exploded with thoughts. As a self-proclaimed gay man since junior high, Li Tang wasn’t unfamiliar with such matters. However, even when they shared a room and a bed, Jiang Lou remained calm, leading Li Tang to believe that Jiang Lou was not entirely gay and still had reservations about being with another man.

Although he didn’t resist their kisses, even displaying urgency and intensity… this matter was different from mere lip-locking. They would have to learn and explore before knowing if they could accept it.

Feeling both anxious and nervous, Li Tang feared he might have misunderstood and whispered, “D-do what?”

In response, Jiang Lou’s face drew closer, followed by a kiss on his lips.

Then, kisses on his earlobe, neck.

Lower down, warm breath brushed against the skin at the edge of his shoulder blade, causing a shiver, before landing on the clavicle below his neck.

Only then did Li Tang realize that his shirt was open, but it was too late to button it up now. Jiang Lou’s slightly dry lips pressed against the inner end of his collarbone, closest to his chest, suddenly sucking gently, leaving a slight dampness on his skin, making Li Tang draw a sharp breath.

He heard Jiang Lou’s husky voice say, “Of course, we’re doing this.”

Li Tang felt his throat tighten as his heart raced wildly, as if trying to break free from its restraints and leap out of his chest.

“But we don’t have…” Li Tang stammered, “We don’t have…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Jiang Lou laughed, leaning back, letting the lamplight fall on Li Tang again.

But Jiang Lou stood in the light, so Li Tang couldn’t see his expression clearly.

“You really intended to let me have my way, huh?” Jiang Lou asked calmly, “Here? In this place?”

At that moment, Li Tang’s attention shifted elsewhere. He was looking at the prominent Adam’s apple on Jiang Lou’s neck, half-hidden in the dim light.

Long ago, Li Tang found something unusually sexy about this part of Jiang Lou. When Jiang Lou breathed heavily, swallowed, or spoke, it would move irregularly under his skin.

He wanted to touch it.

Acting on impulse, Li Tang reached out and lightly caressed it.

“What’s wrong with this?” Li Tang said, “This is your home, your bed… there’s no better place than here.”

Sensing the lump under his fingertips roll violently, his wrist was suddenly caught, and Jiang Lou leaned in again, resting his chin on Li Tang’s exposed shoulder.

His breathing was heavy, a restrained endurance. Jiang Lou’s eyes were deep and intense, with turbulent emotions lurking within.

“I’ll give you one more chance,” Jiang Lou whispered in Li Tang’s ear, “I’ll give you one more chance. If you want to run, it’s still not too late.”

In the end, Li Tang ran away.

He fled from the bedroom to the living room outside.

It wasn’t that he regretted “tempting” Jiang Lou; it was just that he lacked experience and didn’t have the necessary tools. Li Tang didn’t want their first time to be a bad memory for both of them. He was accustomed to planning thoroughly before acting, minimizing the possibility of unexpected situations.

As he calmed his racing heart, Li Tang recalled the bold words he had spoken earlier, and the heat that had just left his face returned, making him blush fiercely.

Jiang Lou also came out of the inner room, his face cold, and walked straight to the sink, turning on the faucet and pouring icy water over his head.

Li Tang covered his face in shame, taking a long time to recover.

The winter break during their sophomore year was short to begin with, minus New Year’s Eve and Spring Festival, and considering the winter camp, there were hardly any days left.

At the beginning of the holiday, students were busy catching up on homework at home, hoping to avoid unfinished business later.

Li Tang was no exception. During the day, he wrote homework with everyone else at Tree House, and at night, he burned the midnight oil in his own room. When all his focus was on one thing, time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, the day of the winter camp arrived. Li Tang woke up early, packed his bag with his aunt last night, and said goodbye to his mother before leaving. Zhang Zhaoyue reminded him to be careful and call her if anything happened.

“It’s just three days and two nights,” Li Tang adjusted his backpack, “I’ll be back soon.”

Boarding the bus to the neighboring city, Li Tang sat in the last row by the window according to his habit, placing his backpack beside him to save a seat.

Jiang Lou boarded the bus almost as it was about to depart. Li Tang waved to him, and he walked over to sit down.

“Do you want to sit by the window? I can switch with you,” Li Tang offered.

Jiang Lou declined.

Li Tang opened his backpack and pulled out drinks and chips, handing them to Jiang Lou. “Eat on the way.”

Jiang Lou chuckled.

When asked why he was laughing, Jiang Lou said, “Elementary school spring outing.”

Li Tang blinked, quickly understanding. Jiang Lou was referring to his actions of saving seats and distributing snacks, akin to those of an elementary school child on a spring outing.

Embarrassed, Li Tang turned his face away and stuffed the food between them, saying, “Then eat when you’re hungry.”

Compared to hunger, Jiang Lou seemed more tired. Not long after the car started moving, he crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and his breathing became light and steady, as if he was truly asleep.

Li Tang wasn’t hungry either. After munching on half a bag of chips, he put on his headphones out of boredom, gazing out the window while his mind wandered, occasionally pulled back to reality by the bumps in the road. He couldn’t help but wonder where they would stay tonight and why Jiang Lou wasn’t wearing the jacket he had bought for him.

A classmate distributed snacks halfway through the journey, small packets of candy placed in a paper box, passed from the front row to the back, each student taking one packet.

When it reached Li Tang, the paper box was empty. The student in the row ahead shouted, “Not enough! We’re one pack short!”

The boy sitting at the very front turned around, his gaze sweeping over Li Tang, speaking loudly enough for everyone on the bus to hear. “Isn’t that perfect?”

“But the last student hasn’t gotten one yet.”

“He wasn’t supposed to get one in the first place.”

For a moment, the bus was silent, even the girls who had been chatting since the departure fell quiet.

Everyone’s gaze gathered on the last row, making Li Tang feel like he was under the spotlight, uncomfortable.

He knew why he was targeted.

The boy distributing the snacks was named Zhao Yutao, the PE representative of the neighboring Class 2. Li Tang first met him at a karaoke gathering organized by Zhou Dongze, where Zhao Yutao led the ridicule of Jiang Lou as “Deaf Brother.” His good friend, a classmate named Chen Zhengyang, chimed in agreement.

The problem lay with this good friend. Zhao Yutao could participate in the winter camp because the school basketball team achieved second place in the city’s middle school basketball competition. As a member of the team, he made special contributions to the school. Zhou Dongze also qualified for the winter camp for this reason.

Chen Zhengyang, however, was not a member of the basketball team nor did he perform at the New Year’s Eve party. The only way to enter the winter camp was to rank in the top thirty of the grade, like Jiang Lou and Li Zichu. Unfortunately, he ranked thirty-first on the final exam, just one step away from the threshold of the winter camp.

There was nothing to complain about, as the rules were set by the school. But Chen Zhengyang was very upset, believing that as one of the top students in the entire grade, he was fully qualified to participate in the winter camp. Instead, those who performed programs at the New Year’s Eve party and were called people with special contributions should give up their spots.

This statement directly targeted Li Tang and others.

In fact, Li Tang knew Chen Zhengyang was targeting him. That day backstage, only he saw Chen Zhengyang trying to sneakily take pictures of the girls in the dressing room. Although Li Tang felt that this targeting was unreasonable—after all, he had stopped Chen Zhengyang from doing something bad, how could he be the one getting punished?

But principles were clear. Li Tang didn’t think he did anything wrong and certainly wouldn’t back down. Later, Chen Zhengyang went to the school office, naming specific individuals and saying that those who performed at the New Year’s Eve party didn’t have good enough grades and weren’t eligible for the winter camp, sparking discussion throughout the grade.

The principal had no choice but to tell Chen Zhengyang that there were only so many spots available. If someone was willing to give theirs up, he could participate.

The pressure shifted back onto Li Tang.

At the time, Li Zichu planned to help Li Tang by giving up his spot since he wasn’t interested in mountain climbing and camping anyway. It was Li Tang who told Li Zichu about Chen Zhengyang’s actions backstage at the New Year’s Eve party that changed his mind.

In Li Zichu’s own words, “I thought it would be boring without Huo Xichen around, so I didn’t plan to participate. But once you mentioned keeping the peeping Tom out, I decided I had to claim this spot.”

In the end, Li Tang, despite the pressure, firmly held onto his spot, offending a group of “good students” including Chen Zhengyang, who were among the top fifty in the grade.

Naturally, he also offended Chen Zhengyang’s good buddy, Zhao Yutao.

So Zhao Yutao’s act of not giving Li Tang snacks was a public humiliation, a way to avenge his brother.

An extremely childish tactic, Li Tang knew he shouldn’t care and didn’t need to take it to heart. But under everyone’s watchful eyes, he couldn’t help feeling awkward, as if he was being isolated.

The classmate who had been arguing for Li Tang’s snack also fell silent, whispering with the student next to him. Li Tang didn’t need to guess what they were talking about.

Li Tang took a deep breath, intending to pretend he hadn’t heard and lower his profile, when suddenly, there was a “slap” sound as something dropped to the ground.

Looking closely, he saw that Jiang Lou, who had been sleeping, had somehow woken up and thrown a bag of candy placed on his lap into the aisle.

It landed far away, right at Zhao Yutao’s feet.

Zhao Yutao turned to look at Jiang Lou in disbelief, his expression as if he was about to ignite in anger but was held back by Jiang Lou’s overly fierce gaze.

To be fair, there had been some friction between Zhao Yutao and Jiang Lou. The classmates present at the time only knew that Zhao Yutao and Chen Zhengyang had unilaterally ridiculed Jiang Lou. Even after the incident in the equipment room, which made Zhao Yutao suspicious of Jiang Lou, the lack of evidence meant nothing. Zhao Yutao was still the villain behind malicious slander, and Jiang Lou was still the victim who was labeled with the nickname “Deaf Brother” without knowing.

Therefore, Zhao Yutao inevitably felt intimidated in front of Jiang Lou, and under Jiang Lou’s glare, he didn’t dare make a sound and turned away dejectedly.

An uninformed classmate picked up the bag of candy and asked who had thrown it. Jiang Lou yawned, his brows slightly furrowed, seemingly displeased at being awakened.

“I threw it,” he said, “I never eat things of unknown origin. I’m afraid of getting diarrhea.”

When they arrived in the neighboring city, it was nearly noon. They first ate at a restaurant before heading up the mountain.

They reserved a large private room with six round tables, serving ordinary Chinese meals. Each table had eight dishes and one soup, with unlimited rice.

Due to the little incident on the bus, the students naturally split into two factions upon disembarking, each occupying three tables. Students from other classes squeezed in to find their own groups.

Only Su Qinhan sat capriciously on the side of Class 1, even sitting next to Li Tang, brazenly picking vegetables and eating.

Li Tang worried she would also be ostracized and lowered his voice to advise her, “If you do this, Zhao Yutao will think you’re on my side…”

“So what? Do I have to report to him who I want to sit with?” Su Qinhan was unperturbed, “Besides, I not only made special contributions by participating in the New Year’s Eve party, but I’m also ranked thirtieth in the grade. I’m sitting here with dignity. Let him try to impeach me and kick me out of my spot.”

Hearing the term “impeach,” Li Tang couldn’t hold back a smile.

The longer they spent together, the more he realized that Su Qinhan was not the silly girl who would cling to him relentlessly when they first met, but rather, a wonderful person with both outer beauty and inner depth.

She loved and hated with passion, dared to act on her feelings, bravely pursued who she liked, cried for a whole night after being rejected, and continued to greet the rising sun the next day. If it were Li Tang, regardless of whether he dared to confess, once his sincere feelings were betrayed, he would most likely leave school and move away overnight, never seeing that person again for the rest of his life.

Just as he was thinking about this, the person who Su Qinhan had relentlessly pursued pushed open the door of the private room and walked straight toward Li Tang.

When they got off the bus earlier, Jiang Lou said he was going to buy something at a convenience store. Li Tang entered the restaurant first, and they split up. They didn’t intend to stick together all the time, agreeing to maintain a distance in public, pretending to be ordinary friends, to avoid arousing suspicion.

Thus, watching Jiang Lou approach, Li Tang was startled and subconsciously bit his chopsticks.

Once Jiang Lou sat down, Li Tang was so nervous that his breathing paused.

Su Qinhan was sitting right next to him, and almost everyone in the private room was a familiar student from the key classes. Sharing a seat on the bus could be explained by the limited number of seats available at the time, but the current situation…

His mind was still searching for solutions when Jiang Lou pulled out the chair next to Li Tang and sat down.

“…”

Li Tang felt helpless, thinking, ‘Forget it, I’ll just endure and not look at him.’

But how could he resist.

During the meal, Li Tang appeared focused on eating, but in reality, he was paying close attention to the person beside him.

Jiang Lou picked up a piece of Kung Pao chicken, a piece of leek, and then another piece of Kung Pao chicken… It seemed that the Kung Pao chicken was spicier, to his liking.

Then he scooped a spoonful of soup, tasted it, and put the spoon down.

His hand dropped to under the table, pulling out his phone. Li Tang could catch a glimpse of the screen with his peripheral vision, seemingly opening WeChat.

Who was he chatting with?

Just as he was wondering, his phone on the table vibrated. Li Tang unlocked it to check, finding a new message on WeChat.

From Jiang Lou: Right pocket.

Confused, Li Tang put down his chopsticks and felt his pocket. There were several round balls wrapped in plastic paper in his previously empty pocket.

Pulling them out, they were milk candies, strawberry-flavored, mango-flavored, chocolate-flavored, sweet upon sweet.

His phone vibrated again.

This time, Li Tang wasn’t bold enough. Unlocking it, he covered the screen with his hand, fearing others would see.

It was still from Jiang Lou, a brief sentence that swelled Li Tang’s heart.

– Eating this won’t cause diarrhea.