TT Chapter 22. Liquor-Filled Chocolate

Yang Shulin’s gossip radar had come under collective scorn from the Winner Takes All group chat. Stung by the shame, he vowed to redeem his reputation with a big scoop.

But after several days of digging, he realized that the average college student’s life was, in fact, pretty dull most of the time. There was only one thing that kept bugging him.

“Ting Ting, why is Pei Yiyao always the one walking you back these days? Did he do something to hurt you?” It was another Monday morning computer lab session. Yang Shulin poked his head out from the ocean of listening exercises, sprawled half-alive across the desk as he spoke to Chen Ting.

Chen Ting was caught between panic and disbelief. Even someone as dense as Yang Shulin had noticed what was going on between him and Pei Yiyao. “How did you even come to that conclusion?” he asked.

Yang Shulin blinked at him. “What do you mean? The guy’s been acting all attentive. Isn’t that him begging for your forgiveness? Or maybe… he’s got something to hide, and you’re holding it over him?”

By the time he got to that last part, his eyes were practically sparkling.

Chen Ting replied with a perfectly serious expression, “I do know a few embarrassing stories from when he was a kid, but I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone. So I can’t tell you.”

Then, still dead serious, he opened WeChat and sent Pei Yiyao a message.

Donghu Crab King: Not going to the library today. Yang Shulin’s got me studying in the dorm.

It was not that Chen Ting cared all that much about what people thought of them. But ever since the confession, the way Pei Yiyao looked at him had gotten harder and harder to handle. He could not focus on his review sessions at all.

Pei Yiyao never said sweet things. He was still as stingy with his words as ever and barely messaged, even on WeChat. What he liked was looking at people directly. When he looked at someone, it was always steady and unflinching, as if he wanted them to see everything at a glance. The hunger in his eyes was impossible to miss.

It was the kind of gaze that seemed to ask, Can I hold you?

No, man. Absolutely not.

Chen Ting had to turn him down every day, and it was exhausting. He kept asking himself why he could not just harden his heart and cut things off completely. He really had tried. Just last night, on the way back to the dorm with Pei Yiyao, he had pulled him aside to a quiet spot and solemnly proposed that they have a serious talk.

He was the older one, and he felt it was his duty to have a man-to-man conversation.

But Pei Yiyao had only furrowed his brow and said one sentence that completely disarmed him.

“I can’t stop myself from thinking about you.”

Even now, when Chen Ting thought about those words, his face still burned. He remembered how he had snapped back in embarrassment with a flustered “whatever,” then turned and ran straight back to the dorm. He had been afraid that if he lingered a second longer, Pei Yiyao would say something even more unbearable.

He could not see Pei Yiyao today.

He really could not. If he saw him, something would happen. He was sure of it.

That evening, just as he had promised, Chen Ting did not go to the library. Yang Shulin also stayed in instead of heading out to any events. The two of them hardly ever had a chance to hang out like this, so they settled in together to watch shows, play games, and drink cola. It was indulgent, and it felt good.

But the happiness barely lasted an hour before Yang Shulin suddenly pointed at his phone screen and burst out laughing. “Ting Ting, come look at this. Someone just confessed to Pei Yiyao at the library! This is huge!”

Chen Ting tightened his grip on the cola can and leaned over for a look. Someone had posted a photo of the confession, and the girl in the picture was quite pretty. They stood side by side, and for a second, he thought they really did look good together.

“Tsk tsk,” Yang Shulin muttered with admiration. “Why does stuff like this never happen to me? Look at those legs, that figure… wait, what? Pei Yiyao said he already likes someone? What the hell, how did I miss that? I missed it again?!”

Yang Shulin looked like he was about to lose his mind. Then, he suddenly turned and stared at Chen Ting. “Ting Ting, do you know who he meant?”

Chen Ting froze. “That… I have no idea, haha…”

For a split second, he thought Yang Shulin had figured it out. But just as quickly, Yang Shulin turned back to his phone, too caught up in his own confusion to show any sign of suspicion.

Chen Ting let out a quiet breath. His heart was pounding a little too fast.

Not even three minutes later, Yang Shulin jumped up again like he had been jolted. “What the hell? Why would that upperclassman say he knows who it is? Are they close or something?”

Chen Ting was genuinely scared to death by the way he kept reacting. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Did you get his WeChat ID?”

“Heh, of course. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Even an iron rod can be ground down into a needle.” Yang Shulin grinned smugly for a moment, then quickly came back to his senses and waved a hand. “But that’s not the point. The point is, how the hell does he know who Pei Yiyao likes? When did the two of them even get close?”

Chen Ting rubbed his nose. “I have no idea.”

Not long after, a message came in from Pei Yiyao.

Pei Yiyao: Someone confessed to me. I turned her down.
Pei Yiyao: I like you.

Chen Ting’s fingers flew across the screen as he typed back at lightning speed.

Donghu Crab King: I know!!!

Pei Yiyao: Oh.
Pei Yiyao: So when are you willing to see me?

Donghu Crab King: It’s not like I’m refusing to see you.

Pei Yiyao: I’m downstairs at your dorm.

Donghu Crab King: …

After being confessed to at the library, the more Pei Yiyao thought about it, the more he wanted to see Chen Ting. So he followed that urge and came over directly. Whether Chen Ting would come down or not, he had decided he was going to be there.

But would Chen Ting come down?

Pei Yiyao furrowed his brows, deep in thought. This felt harder to figure out than any physics problem.

Ten minutes later, Chen Ting appeared outside the dorm, panting, his curls a messy halo around his head as he looked around anxiously.

Donghu Crab King: Where are you?

There was no reply. Chen Ting could not help but wonder if Pei Yiyao had already left. He stood on his toes and looked out into the distance, and a trace of regret began to creep in.

He had acted on impulse. The moment he saw that message, he had run straight out, not even stopping to change shoes.

He looked down at his feet. He was still wearing his slippers. A bright red crab with an arrogant face stretched across the top of each one.

Hmph. I’m going back.

He turned around and took a step toward the dorm building. But before he could go any farther, a large hand caught the hood of his sweatshirt from behind.

“Pei Yiyao?” Chen Ting turned his head. The cold night wind brushed past his cheeks, and just then, a warm cup of milk pressed against his face.

“Take it,” Pei Yiyao said.

Chen Ting stared blankly as he accepted the milk. His large, dark eyes stayed fixed on Pei Yiyao, and something stirred in Pei Yiyao’s chest. The next second, he reached out and gently tousled Chen Ting’s hair, once, then again.

They were standing under the trees just outside the dorm building, not too close but not too far from the streetlamp. The light cast a soft glow around them, their outlines faint and indistinct. In Chen Ting’s mind, he had seen this scene plenty of times at the entrance of the girls’ dorm.

It was the kind of parting moment that happened when a boyfriend walked his girlfriend home.

He quickly grabbed Pei Yiyao by the sleeve and tugged him a little deeper into the shadows. It was only one step, but it brought them out of the light and into a space dim enough to feel ambiguous.

Almost immediately, Chen Ting realized how easily the gesture could be misinterpreted. He hurried to explain, “I… I was just…”

“I know,” Pei Yiyao cut him off.

His gaze swept across the hair he had just ruffled, then drifted down to the round toes peeking out from Chen Ting’s red slippers. Even though he knew Chen Ting was not ready to accept him yet, he still could not stop himself from wanting to get closer.

“No one can see us here. Can I hold you?”

Tonight, the cool guy was playing the gentleman.

Chen Ting was losing his mind. Who even confessed like this? How could anyone say something like that out loud?

But Pei Yiyao took his silence as a refusal. He lowered the hand he had just raised and instead reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of liquor-filled chocolates. Taking Chen Ting’s hand, he placed the chocolates gently in his palm.

“Don’t eat too many.”

After a pause, Pei Yiyao added, “Only one piece per day. And you’re not allowed to eat it in front of Gao Duo or Yang Shulin.”

He thought for a second, then corrected himself. “Actually, don’t eat it in front of anyone.”

He suddenly remembered that night when everyone had been asking about Ting Ting, and when he recalled Chen Ting’s absurd alcohol tolerance, he decided he needed to be more careful.

Chen Ting was no longer clueless like he used to be. He understood exactly what Pei Yiyao meant. He handed the chocolate back to him, feeling like it was burning his hand.
“If I can’t eat it around anyone, then how am I supposed to eat it at all? I’m not eating it.”

Pei Yiyao had not expected to fail at both holding him and giving him chocolate. He fell silent for a long moment, simply staring at Chen Ting, as if in another second even looking might no longer be allowed.

“What are you staring at?” Chen Ting was always unnerved when he acted like this.

“I’m looking at you,” Pei Yiyao said honestly.

“What’s there to look at?”

“You look good.”

Chen Ting felt like his whole face was about to catch fire. His brain stalled, his thoughts short-circuited, and before he could stop himself, he did something he would instantly regret. He reached out and snatched the chocolate right back from Pei Yiyao’s hand.

“Fine, fine, I’ll take it, all right?”

Pei Yiyao had no idea why he suddenly changed his mind, but as he watched Chen Ting’s face turn redder and redder, he figured it did not really matter.

“I’m leaving if there’s nothing else,” Chen Ting muttered. With the chocolate in hand, he turned to make his escape. This time, Pei Yiyao did not stop him. He simply watched as Chen Ting padded back into the dorm with his slippers flapping against the ground, not looking back even once.

That night, Pei Yiyao slept soundly.

Chen Ting, on the other hand, was wide awake.

During class the next day, Chen Ting kept nodding off like a chick pecking at rice, drifting in and out of sleep. By noon, it took Yang Shulin grabbing his arm and dragging him into the cafeteria to finally wake him up. The smell of sizzling beef with gravy did the rest.

They each picked up a tray and found an empty seat. On the steaming iron plate, the fried egg was still crackling and hissing. Chen Ting took a deep breath. The scent was comforting. He pressed his spoon into the rice and flattened it across the hot plate. The slightly charred grains, now coated with beef and egg, tasted even better that way.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” A sweet voice suddenly spoke up beside him.

Chen Ting turned and met a pretty face that looked vaguely familiar, though he could not remember where he had seen her before.

The girl was still smiling politely at him, so he shook his head and went back to eating. It was a cafeteria, after all, a public space where anyone could sit where they liked. Why she chose the seat right next to him when plenty of others were open was not something he cared about.

Seeing how indifferent he was, the girl looked a little awkward at first. But she quickly recovered and took the seat beside him with her friend, acting completely at ease.

She ate quietly for a while. When it became clear that Chen Ting really had no intention of acknowledging her, she finally decided to speak up.

“Hi, I’m Tang Yin. I’m a sophomore in the Chinese department.”

Chen Ting glance up at her. “Hi.”

Tang Yin smiled. “Sorry for the sudden interruption. I actually wanted to ask you something. I promise it’ll just take a moment, and once I’ve asked, I won’t bother you again. Is that all right?”

As she spoke, she brought her index and middle fingers together and made a little vow gesture.

She was being clear, and her tone was cheerful and direct. There was no real reason for Chen Ting to say no, so he gave a slight nod. Yang Shulin leaned in, curious. “Classmate, what exactly do you want to ask? You look really familiar to me.”

Tang Yin flushed with embarrassment. “Um… you two seem to know Pei Yiyao pretty well. I just wanted to ask if it’s true that he said he likes someone. And if it is true, do you know who it is? Can you tell me?”

Chen Ting choked slightly on a grain of rice.

Yang Shulin, on the other hand, looked like he had just been struck by divine insight. “It’s you! I remember now!”

This was the same girl who had confessed to Pei Yiyao yesterday. No doubt about it.