OAS 17

That meal the next day never happened.

Around 4 p.m., Tang Zhou was out on the dorm balcony doing laundry when the phone he had tossed on the desk suddenly rang. He Ziwei called out to him. The eleven-digit number on the screen was unfamiliar, but the moment Tang Zhou picked up, a muffled voice came through the receiver. It was Song Shiyue.

He Ziwei couldn’t hear what she said exactly, but right before Tang Zhou turned the volume down, he vaguely caught the word “cinema.”

“I’m not going,” Tang Zhou said, face already showing a flicker of impatience. But after listening a bit more, whatever the other side said made him change his mind. He frowned and muttered, “Wait there.”

“I’m heading out,” Tang Zhou said, throwing on fresh clothes in a hurry. Right before leaving, he added casually, “If I’m not back by five-thirty, remember to eat.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with you?” He Ziwei shot him a sideways glance. “You’re off living your best life and still trying to micromanage me?”

Tang Zhou reached over and ruffled his hair like he was petting a sulking dog. “I’m going. Be good.”

“Get lost!” He Ziwei barked, pissed off enough to swear. He tried to swat the hand off his head, but his reaction was just a second too slow. The movement only stirred the soft air beside him, raising a small puff that brushed past his cheek.

Once Tang Zhou left, the dorm was finally quiet. The still air was thick with the scent of freedom. He leaned against the headboard and soaked in the rare peace.

But the longer he sat there, the worse he felt. His whole body was restless.

Trash? Taken out. Floor? Mopped. Desk? Wiped down. He even scrubbed the fucking toilet. But for some reason, none of that cleared out the weird mood clinging to him.

Eventually, he went to tidy up the sink too. Tang Zhou had left without finishing the laundry. A few thin tees and two pairs of pants sat soaking in a bucket. Black and white all tangled together like a mess. He Ziwei stared at it in disgust, but after a long pause, couldn’t help it. He reached in, pulled one out, and started scrubbing.

What does it feel like to do laundry for your ex-rival-in-love?

If he had seen that question online before, He Ziwei would’ve assumed the poster’s brain was filled with shit. He’d have gone full keyboard warrior, flaming them for their pathetic self-worth and telling them to wake the hell up. But now, hand on his heart, he could answer it honestly. It felt kind of sour. Kind of hollow. But weirdly solid at the same time.

Tang Zhou was turning him into a fucking masochist. As he scrubbed, he muttered to himself, I am so goddamn pathetic.

By the time Tang Zhou made it to the movie theater, forty minutes had already passed.

Downstairs at a café, Song Shiyue and Yuan Xiao sat face to face in awkward silence. When she saw Tang Zhou walk in, her eyes lit up and she stood up to wave him over.

Song Shiyue had run into Yuan Xiao by accident. He latched on and wouldn’t let go. To get out of it, she blurted that she had a new boyfriend. Yuan Xiao didn’t believe her, so he pressured her to call the guy and have him come pick her up. With no other options, she dialed Tang Zhou.

Tang Zhou absolutely fucking hated this kind of messy, soap-opera bullshit. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, but what he hated even more was getting dragged into the same crap over and over again. So he figured he might as well deal with it once and for all and be done with it.

Yuan Xiao’s face immediately darkened when he saw Tang Zhou really show up. But Tang Zhou didn’t give him a chance to start anything. He opened his mouth first.

“If you’re breaking up, then break up. If you’re getting back together, then do it already. Just stop dragging it out. I don’t have time to get caught in your messy shit.”

Then he turned to Song Shiyue. “Last time I helped you, it was because we’re alumni. I already have someone I like. Don’t call me again.”

The man who had blown in with the wind left the same way. With a flick of his sleeve, he disappeared without leaving a trace.
The whole thing happened so fast it felt like a hallucination. Song Shiyue’s look of joy hadn’t even faded yet, and Tang Zhou was already gone. Yuan Xiao stared at her, eyes dark, pulling out a cold, twisted smile. “You lied to me.”

Whatever lingering feelings or fantasy Song Shiyue had about Tang Zhou completely shattered that day.

Tang Zhou didn’t give a single shit about her situation. He had no interest in other people’s love lives. As far as he was concerned, once you broke up, the other person became a complete stranger.

On the way back, there was a traffic accident up ahead, and the road jammed hard. By the time Tang Zhou got off the bus, it was already close to seven. He stopped at a small restaurant and grabbed a quick meal. After eating, he pulled out a pack of gum he had bought earlier for change and popped one in. He took a shortcut toward the dorm, and as he rounded a corner, he spotted someone walking in front of him.

It was He Ziwei.

He Ziwei had gone out for a walk to digest his food. After scrubbing the whole room and even finishing Tang Zhou’s laundry, it was already near six. He finally sat down, but all that nagging frustration he had tried to ignore earlier came rushing back up.

Fuck it. A man could eat a feast all by himself.

He opened his food app and ordered a spicy crab pot, nearly fifty yuan’s worth and big enough to feed two. He didn’t even know what kind of mood he was in as he shoved it all into his stomach. By the time he stood up, he was so full he could barely walk.

Serves me right, he thought. Dig your own grave, lie in it.

He changed clothes and went for a walk around campus to walk it off. On the way, he even bought some digestion tablets and chewed through most of a sheet.

The main road was filled with couples walking side by side, holding hands. Alone and bitter, He Ziwei gradually drifted onto a smaller path. He had barely taken a few steps when someone grabbed his arm, covered his mouth, and dragged him off to the side.

This path ran close to the edge of campus. Trees lined both sides, and there weren’t any proper streetlights. A few scattered lamps were half-hidden in thick leaves, making it feel even darker. No one really walked this way after dark. He Ziwei’s brain lit up like a news ticker, flashing through all those college horror stories about male students getting attacked in remote woods. His heart dropped. Am I gonna die today?

He started struggling like hell. Threw his elbow back hard, but the guy behind him caught it mid-swing and twisted it away. The grip was terrifyingly strong. After dragging him a few steps, the man shoved him up against a tree, body pressing close. He Ziwei couldn’t move an inch.

It was already pitch black. The grove was too dim to see clearly. He turned his head, trying to get a look, but could only make out a tall silhouette behind him.

“Bro, look, we can talk this out. I’ve only got twenty-seven yuan and thirty cents on me. You can have all of it, okay?” He Ziwei tried to negotiate.

The guy behind him said nothing. His breathing was steady, weirdly calm for someone committing a mugging. This had to be a pro.

He Ziwei tried again, pulling out every ounce of logic and pity he had. “If that’s not enough, we can go to the ATM. I swear I won’t call the cops. Just let me go, alright?”

Panic surged through his bloodstream. His legs were going soft. He was already wondering how many people would show up to his funeral.

Then he heard it. A low laugh, deep and familiar, rumbling through his back. It grew louder, each breath shaking his chest with the vibration.

He Ziwei lost it. “Tang Zhou! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

His voice cracked with fear and rage, and he sounded weak as hell. It completely ruined what should have been a righteous, furious outburst.

Tang Zhou grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, grinning as he pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips. “Not robbing your money,” he said. “Just here to steal your ass.”