Chapter 42

With Liang Huoqi taking over, Jiang Zhihuo no longer had to stay at the animal hospital.

After a quick shower and changing into clean clothes, Jiang Zhihuo slowly made his way to the door.

— Yan Mu was waiting for him outside.

Before stepping out, Jiang Zhihuo patted his cheeks a few times to adjust his expression and took a deep breath.

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, absolutely don’t laugh!

Stay calm, just stay calm!

Jiang Zhihuo kept reminding himself.

But Yan Mu’s expression kept popping up in his mind…

“Pfft.” In the end, Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t help it and burst out laughing.

That was so cute!!

What’s this supposed to be? Acting all tsundere¹T/N: A tsundere is someone who acts tough or cold on the outside but is actually really sweet and caring underneath.?

Jiang Zhihuo let himself laugh for a bit, then quickly pulled himself together and walked out calmly.

Liang Huoqi had just changed into his work uniform when he saw Jiang Zhihuo come out. He patted him on the shoulder and asked, “Heading out?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “Mhm. How’s Xiao Lin?” Xiao Lin was Liang Huoqi’s sister.

Liang Huoqi: “She’s fine. She’ll be discharged next Monday.” Then, nodding toward Yan Mu waiting outside, he asked, “Who’s that out there waiting for you? He’s really damn handsome.”

“Just a classmate,” Jiang Zhihuo replied.

Leaning casually on Jiang Zhihuo’s shoulder, Liang Huoqi said, “You two seem pretty close. Can I get his WeChat ID?”

Liang Huoqi had figured out his sexual orientation a long time ago and never tried to hide it from anyone.

Jiang Zhihuo teased, “Forget it; he’s an iron straight man.”

Liang Huoqi clicked his tongue twice. “He does look pretty straight; never mind.” Giving up on the idea of getting to know the aloof, handsome guy, he nudged Jiang Zhihuo and said, “Go on, then. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

Jiang Zhihuo waved at him, then opened the door. Yan Mu turned to look at him as he stepped outside.

Their eyes met unexpectedly, and Jiang Zhihuo found himself at a loss for words. He could only walk up to Yan Mu and awkwardly clear his throat.

“Where do you want to go?” Yan Mu asked.

Jiang Zhihuo: “Ah? Are you asking me?”

Yan Mu: “Mhm.”

Jiang Zhihuo blinked.

A moment ago, Yan Mu had only said he’d wait for him at the door, without explaining what he was waiting for. Just as Jiang Zhihuo was about to ask, Yan Mu seemed to suddenly realize something. His lips moved, and he squeezed out two words.

Yan Mu: “Mhm, mhm.”

Jiang Zhihuo froze for a couple of seconds, then couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing right in front of Yan Mu. Covering the lower half of his face with one hand, he used the other to give Yan Mu’s shoulder a firm pat.

Yan Mu let him be and didn’t try to stop him. After Jiang Zhihuo had laughed enough, he finally asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Jiang Zhihuo waved his hand, looked up, and grinned. “I just suddenly think you’re so cute!”

Yan Mu: “…….”

With that simple ‘Mhm, mhm,’ the awkwardness between them vanished instantly.

No matter what had happened before or how intensely people had shipped them as a CP on the forum, Yan Mu truly wanted to make peace with Jiang Zhihuo. The other party was being so straightforward; if he kept avoiding him, it would only make him seem petty and unable to let go.

Jiang Zhihuo smiled and asked, “Where are you going?”

Yan Mu replied, “Nowhere.”

“That’s good,” Jiang Zhihuo said. “I need to eat first; it’s too busy inside, and I haven’t had lunch yet.”

Yan Mu: “Okay.”

Jiang Zhihuo glanced around and asked again, “What about the girl you came with? Is she joining us?”

Yan Mu replied, “She left.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “So soon?”

Yan Mu uttered, “Mhm.” Of course, he wouldn’t tell Jiang Zhihuo that He Miaomiao had mocked him before gleefully leaving with Sundy.

Yan Mu said, “She has a dog; it’s not convenient.”

Jiang Zhihuo thought for a moment. “That makes sense.”

Many restaurants didn’t allow pets, and bringing such a large Golden Retriever could be troublesome.

The commercial street was right next to the animal hospital. Jiang Zhihuo walked into a restaurant at random, while Yan Mu, not feeling hungry, simply ordered a drink.

After placing their orders and picking up their number, the two found a spot by the window to sit down.

There were lots of people on the commercial street, and in the plaza close by, a roller-skating lesson was going on inside some colorful little fences.

Resting his chin on his hand and staring outside, Jiang Zhihuo suddenly asked, “Why did you say that all of a sudden?”

Yan Mu: “What kind?”

Jiang Zhihuo looked back, cleared his throat, became serious, and glanced down. Imitating Yan Mu’s earlier tone, he said, “Can our relationship… ease a bit?”

Yan Mu was slightly taken aback. “…Did I just say that?”

Jiang Zhihuo laughed. “Yes!”

Yan Mu rubbed his temples. “…That was a bit silly.”

Once more, Jiang Zhihuo lowered his head, doing his best not to burst out laughing.

The restaurant served food quickly, and before long, the server brought their orders and took away the menu.

Jiang Zhihuo unwrapped the cutlery.

Since he brought it up, he should be the one to keep the conversation going.

Jiang Zhihuo: “When I was changing just now, I thought about it, and I think you’re actually a good person.”

Yan Mu, after being called a ‘good person.’ “……”

“As for why I didn’t get along with you before, it’s because I thought you were super arrogant and kind of looked down on omegas. You have this distant aura, like you don’t care about anyone, and that really annoyed me. Honestly, with that face of yours, sometimes you seem like some untouchable flower or a cold prince. If your nose were flatter, your eyes smaller, your skin worse, or you were a bit shorter, and you still looked at people that way, I bet someone would’ve complained about you on the forum.”

Yan Mu: “…….”

“But after hanging out with you more, I realized you’re not actually as annoying as I thought,” Jiang Zhihuo went on. “You’re really good-looking and capable, you study late every day, and you are keen. Don’t doubt it. I’m actually complimenting you.”

After rambling for a while, Jiang Zhihuo finally got to the point. “I honestly wanted to be friends with you too; otherwise, that issue wouldn’t have been dug up on the forum.”

Jiang Zhihuo looked up at Yan Mu, his lashes fluttering. “So… things between us were kind of awkward.”

Among boys, things were pretty straightforward; if there was a disagreement, they could just scrap it out, and once the fight was over, the misunderstanding was gone and they were still buddies.

But Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu were different.

Would friends hold hands, kiss, or sleep in the same bed? Would friends even dream about stuff like that?

Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t wrap his head around it, and with those CP posts on the forum, he felt so awkward he just wanted to run away and hide.

He thought Yan Mu felt the same way.

He knew Yan Mu liked someone else, so there was no point in keeping things vague between them.

However, today, when Yan Mu actually brought up smoothing things between them, Jiang Zhihuo finally realized he’d just been feeling awkward and caught up, always trying to avoid the whole situation. He kept saying that as soon as he got better, he’d leave Yan Mu and not let things get messy. He thought he was being clear and not crossing any lines, but he’d never once asked Yan Mu how he really felt about it at all.

Yan Mu still didn’t say much, only looked at him with those deep, thoughtful eyes and said, “Just forget it.”

“?”

Yan Mu said, “If you feel awkward, you can forget everything and we can start over.”

He extended his hand to Jiang Zhihuo. “Yan Mu.”

After He Miaomiao reminded him, Yan Mu sorted out his thoughts.

If it feels weird, let it go. If it’s hard to talk about, start fresh and take the time to get to know each other again.

For ten years, Qin Mu and Yun Zhou were separated by a whole decade.

If the path is uncertain, move forward slowly.

It’s a simple matter; there’s really nothing to be entangled about.

Jiang Zhihuo curled his lips, sensing the frankness in Yan Mu’s eyes.

It became clear to him that he had been overthinking.

He understood that dreaming about those things was only a side effect of the inhibitors, and that being shipped as a CP on the forum was just a way for people to make friends and have fun. If anything actually happened between them, they’d figure it out when the time came.

When their hands touched, he said, “Jiang Zhihuo.”

Now that he’d finally spoken, it felt as if the weight in his heart had instantly lifted. Jiang Zhihuo felt lighter, his appetite returned, and he even found himself talking more than usual.

The two walked toward the bus station.

In the evening, the cream-like clouds were tinted by the sunset with a gentle hue, immersed in the ink-like blue sky.

Jiang Zhihuo sighed. “The last time we walked together like this was back at the hospital, wasn’t it?”

“Mhm.” Yan Mu paused for a moment, then echoed, “Mhm, mhm.”

Jiang Zhihuo smiled. “We haven’t really had a good conversation since then.”

Yan Mu asked him, “How’s the secondary differentiation?”

There was nothing wrong with talking about it, so Jiang Zhihuo left out the part about the side effects and said, “No problem. I had a follow-up at the hospital last week; they said my mark concentration has dropped to 40%. The special inhibitors remain effective for twenty hours, so I only need to take them four hours in advance. By the way, who was that girl you came with?”

“He Miaomiao,” Yan Mu introduced, “She’s the one who provided the trajectory report about Feng Zhi.”

“Awesome.” Jiang Zhihuo was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected Yan Mu’s friend, someone who could investigate and even hack computers, to be such a young girl. He couldn’t help asking, “She doesn’t look much older than us, right? Still in university? How did she investigate? Did she hack into something?”

Yan Mu: “……”

Actually, she is quite a bit older; she is nearly thirty.

Even though he sometimes mentioned it in passing, it wasn’t polite to reveal a woman’s age without her permission, so Yan Mu didn’t answer directly. He only said, “Not in university. She did it through formal channels.”

Jiang Zhihuo nodded and didn’t press the issue, but then Yan Mu asked him, “Why do you seem different today?”

“Hahaha,” Jiang Zhihuo laughed, “I just thought animals might prefer a gentler approach.”

Yan Mu turned his gaze.

Jiang Zhihuo was looking at him too, the sunset reflected in his eyes, making them seem as if they were adorned with light.

“Tell me, what kind of persona do you want? I can be anything you like,” Jiang Zhihuo said.

Even he didn’t realize it, but a small smile tugged at Yan Mu’s lips. “This is just fine.”

Original Poster: Is… is anyone here…? (super low voice)

563rd comment: Here, just finished reading through!! (super loud)

564th comment: OP’s here? Are we getting an update today?

565th comment: Camping, camping, camping.

566th comment: This is exactly what it means when the sisters come to camp.

Original Poster: This thread is for shipping the CP only; no real people are involved. I have to make it clear [it’s all merely imaginations, purely for fun, so don’t bring reality into it.]

568th comment: Alright! The OP definitely has something to say again!

569th comment: Looking forward to it!! Ready to camp!!

Original Poster: Today, I went shopping with my best friend, and then I…

Original Poster: Ahhh, I don’t know how to put it into words. I’ll just post the pictures, okay?! (Sorry, God of Learning and the school bully, if this offends you guys, I’ll delete it right away. I just can’t help myself!)

Original Poster: Let me figure out how to post pictures.

Original Poster: Please, sisters, join me! Ahhh! Wuwuwu!!

Five minutes later.

Original Poster: [Image][Image][Image][Image].

The original poster uploaded four high-quality photos in a row.

The first three were taken at a restaurant.

In the first image, Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu were dining together. Jiang Zhihuo had a meal in front of him, while Yan Mu only had a drink. The two appeared to be deep in conversation.

In the second image, Jiang Zhihuo was speaking while Yan Mu wore a slight frown, as if deep in thought, but he kept his eyes fixed on Jiang Zhihuo the whole time.

In the third image, the two were smiling at each other, as if a topic had finally opened up.

The fourth image was taken at the bus station near the commercial street.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians, and the sunset was beautiful. In front of the bus stop, Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu locked eyes, Yan Mu’s lips curving into a slight smile.

580th comment: Ahhhh, the God of Learning Yan and the school bully Jiang actually went out for a meal together today!!

581st comment: No way, no way! Look, only the school bully has food in front of him! The god of learning only ordered a drink! So the god of learning is accompanying the school bully for a meal!!

582nd comment: Oh my god! This! Are they finally in the same frame?! The school bully’s smile is so sunny and handsome!!

583rd comment: Even the god of learning has an expression! Oh my god! This is the first time I’ve seen his photos with such an expression! If this isn’t doting, then what is it? This is way too much doting!!

584th comment: Oh my god, this is so shippable; they’re such a good match! Now I’m starting to get curious about who that omega is. Are you really going to break up such a perfect couple (just kidding)?

585th comment: Oh my god, I just saw the photos! I was at this same commercial street today, and I didn’t even run into them! The person upstairs shouldn’t say that. If the God of Learning Yan and the omega are truly in love, we should still offer our blessings. It’s just, it’s just that I really want to know the truth now, ahhh!

Xiang Yao Bar.

Yan Mu had a cup of warm water in front of him and was looking seriously at the two people across from him.

Wen Da and Qu Xiao couldn’t help but straighten up.

After finishing dinner, Wen Da was getting ready to play games with a few buddies.

While waiting for the others, he browsed the forum and saw that the thread owner had actually posted photos of Young Master Yan and Shin dining alone together.

After all the speculation, this was the first time someone has actually posted photos!

Solid evidence!!

Just as he was about to message for more details, a message popped up in a small group that included Yan Mu.

Wen Da was delighted and thought he would contact them later. After a whole week, Young Master Yan finally remembered to reach out to them!

Young Master Yan: I’ve figured it out.

Wen Da instantly ditched his game, jumped in his car, and rushed to find Qu Xiao. The two dropped everything and headed straight to the bar. After all… gaming isn’t as important as a good brother’s lifelong big event!!

“…….”

“………………”

They sat like that for a long time, but Yan Mu didn’t say a word.

In the end, it was Wen Da who noticed. “Young Master Yan, want me to give you a hand to get started?”

Yan Mu: “Mhm.”

Wen Da was about to speak when Qu Xiao cut in, asking, “Have you figured it out?”

Yan Mu gave them an unexpected answer consisting of just two words.

— “I’m bent.”

Wen Da: “??”

Qu Xiao: “?????”

Whether someone was gay or not, joking around and shipping people was one thing, but actually asking Shin or the person involved was a whole different story.

Wen Da: “What did you say?! I didn’t hear that wrong, did I?!”

Yan Mu looked at him, eyes sharp as a knife, and said seriously, “I want to chase him.”

*

Jiang Zhihuo finally had a good night’s sleep for the first time in a week.

Maybe it was because his heart was at ease and he wasn’t tied up in knots anymore, but the side effects of the special inhibitors never showed up. He slept soundly and dreamless, woke up refreshed the next day, and even happily carried a new bag.

A new week.

Jiang Zhihuo opened the classroom door.

“Huo-ge? So early?”

To keep up his school bully image, Jiang Zhihuo usually showed up right as the morning bell rang or sometimes skipped the early class altogether. This was the first time he’d ever arrived so early.

A few people were already in the classroom, gathered around, eating breakfast.

Sun Liyu immediately spotted the bag on Jiang Zhihuo’s shoulder. “Huo-ge, when did you get this bag? I have one too! It’s a limited edition, so hard to get!”

“Ah?” Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t noticed whether it was limited edition; he wasn’t someone who paid attention to such things. “I didn’t buy it; it was a gift from Li-ge.”

Li Muhe had come back to the school before as an outstanding graduate and chatted with some of the students. Everyone still remembered this senior with the gentle smile.

“Wow, you guys have such a good relationship,” Sun Liyu said rather enviously. “I had to put in a lot of effort to get this bag! I don’t even want to use it.”

Jiang Zhihuo smiled.

Li-ge always bought him things, and whenever Jiang Zhihuo got his salary, he would return the favor; it was all mutual kindness.

“Of course, he’s my brother,” Jiang Zhihuo said as he put down his bag. “What are you guys talking about?”

“We were talking about the sports meet,” Sun Liyu said.

Sun Liyu was the sports representative in their last year of high school and was pretty tall, about 1.8 meters. He wasn’t really good at sports; the PE teacher simply picked him randomly to be the sports representative.

Sun Liyu stuffed the last bite of his bun into his mouth and said, “Heard the sports meet this year’s going to be with two other schools. They’re picking representatives from each year group. Great, we don’t have to force ourselves to join anymore. Huo-ge, you’ll handle it, right?”

When Jiang Zhihuo heard that, he laughed. “Isn’t that what a sports representative should say?!”

Sun Liyu shrugged, quite helplessly. “I can’t help it; our class isn’t good at sports.”

The students in Class 1 were all top students, but none of them were athletic. They only played basketball in PE, and the rest of the time, they’d rather sit and study at their desks. It was already a miracle their backs hadn’t given out, let alone thinking about exercising or staying fit.

In previous years, they used to force people to sign up to fill the spots. Besides a few events where Jiang Zhihuo competed, their results were pretty lousy.

Fortunately, Class 4 was in a similar situation to theirs. The two classes consistently competed for first and second place in terms of academic performance, and during the sports meet, they would fiercely contend for last place, even if it meant getting bruised and battered.

They had been talking about the joint sports meet with the other two schools, and two days later, during the class meeting on Wednesday, Ding Jianhui brought it up again.

“Everyone, our sports meet is coming!”

He gave the registration form to Sun Liyu and said, “This sports meet is being held together with Qixing High School and Huanglun Qiao School. It’ll take place at our school.”

“This is the first time our school is holding a sports meet with two other schools, and every student will represent their school! I hope everyone signs up and helps bring glory to us!”

---

The author has something to say:

Transition chapters are such a pain to write QAQ

Yesterday I was blazing through 10k words. Today? Totally stuck… Time to sort out the outline again…

It’s the sports meet! If nothing dramatic happens during the sports meet, can it even be called a sports meet?!!

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  T/N: A tsundere is someone who acts tough or cold on the outside but is actually really sweet and caring underneath.