TVDC 74: Daily Life

Qiu Xuning denied it. “Impossible, do you think everyone likes boys?”

He Zhiyuan countered. “If you like them, does that mean no one else can like them?”

Qiu Xuning was speechless, and after a moment, he finally said, “You must be mistaken, there’s no way everyone likes boys.”

He Zhiyuan looked into Qiu Xuning’s eyes and calmly said, “You like it, I like it, so why can’t that Qin like it?”

Qiu Xuning suddenly remembered that he was reading a BL novel. In it, it was normal for anyone to like the same sex. After all, it was a BL novel.

He Zhiyuan noticed he didn’t speak and said in a deep voice, “Keep your distance from him from now on.”

Qiu Xuning looked up at him. He suddenly smiled, his sharp little tiger teeth showing. “Even if you don’t say anything, I know. Look, I don’t even talk to him.”

The way he said it had a bit of a tone seeking praise, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

He Zhiyuan lowered his eyes, looked at him, and suddenly said, “There’s a bug on your shoulder.”

Qiu Xuning heard this and quickly turned his head to look at his shoulder. He then reached behind and felt around, but didn’t see any bugs.

“Where?” He turned back to ask He Zhiyuan.

As the words left his mouth, a light kiss, as soft as a feather, landed on his smooth forehead.

Qiu Xuning’s eyes widened, watching as He Zhiyuan’s chin moved away from him.

“Ran off, huh?” He Zhiyuan said nonchalantly.

Qiu Xuning: “…”

It was only now that he realized how mean He Zhiyuan was. He would act serious and wouldn’t do anything, only to launch a sneak attack.

Qiu Xuning pressed his lips together, his cheeks puffing up.

“Eat,” He Zhiyuan said.

Qiu Xuning’s tailbone was injured, and he couldn’t sit properly. To be more comfortable, he leaned forward on the table. He glanced at the dishes, which were a bit light. There were three dishes, two of them being vegetables. There was also a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a bowl of bone broth.

He Zhiyuan scooped a bowl of bone broth for him and said, “Finish it.”

Qiu Xuning took a sip and thought the taste was a bit odd. He asked, “Did you put too much salt in it? Or did you add too much MSG?”

He Zhiyuan glanced at him. “No.”

Qiu Xuning took a few more sips of the soup and said tactfully, “It doesn’t taste as good as before.”

He Zhiyuan calmly said, “I added some calcium tablets to promote calcium absorption.”

Qiu Xuning’s gaze fell on the soup in his hand. He was touched, swallowed it, and said, “I’ll finish it.”

Although it didn’t taste good, it wasn’t exactly bad either, and it was his thoughtfulness. No matter what, Qiu Xuning would finish it!

When dinner ended, Qiu Xuning was so full he could only slump in his chair. His stomach was filled with liquid.

“The cultural performance next Tuesday, do you really want to participate?” Qiu Xuning rested his chin on his arm and looked at He Zhiyuan, asking softly.

He Zhiyuan softly responded with a “Hmm.”

The program He Zhiyuan was involved in was a play—Romeo and Juliet.

Qiu Xuning’s eyes shifted. “How many times have you rehearsed?”

He Zhiyuan was wiping the table. Hearing the question, he glanced at him and said, “Once.”

Qiu Xuning’s voice became a little lighter. “Is the Juliet pretty?”

He Zhiyuan furrowed his brow and looked at him. “You’ve seen her.”

Qiu Xuning’s heart skipped a beat. “Is it that senior? The one we saw while walking the dog last time?”

“Mm.”

Qiu Xuning said, “Your class is definitely going to win first place.”

He Zhiyuan glanced at him, the corner of his lips curled, and smiled.

Qiu Xuning saw the smile on his face and shyly lowered his gaze. His slender pinky traced the wood grain on the dining table. He whispered, “I’ll go see it. You guys probably won’t have any kissing scenes, right?”

He Zhiyuan smiled silently. “No.”

Qiu Xuning looked up and met He Zhiyuan’s eyes. He said, “I’ll go see it.”

The tailbone injury wasn’t too serious. After resting for the night, it didn’t hurt much anymore. It didn’t reach the point where Qiu Xuning had to take a sick leave, so he still went to school with He Zhiyuan, but he had to take sick leave for P.E. class.

The cultural performance on Tuesday arrived quickly.

This was a big event at the school. In the morning, they only had one reading class, and then it began.

The class was lively. Those participating in the performance went to rehearse, while those not participating were playing games, reading novels, and doing all sorts of things. Qiu Xuning wanted to read, but he couldn’t focus.

“We’re missing one for Chicken Dinner, who else wants to join? Get in, hurry up and get in!” The boy behind Qiu Xuning yelled loudly.

Qiu Xuning turned around and took a look. The boy was indeed playing that shooting game, and they were so familiar with it that they casually referred to it as “Chicken Dinner.”

The boy locked eyes with Qiu Xuning and asked, “Qiu Xuning, do you want to play?”

Qiu Xuning quickly shook his head. “I’m not playing.”

Someone beside them nudged the boy. “Don’t lead him astray.”

There was no malice in what they said. It was warm and gentle, more like friendly teasing.

Qiu Xuning pressed his lips together and suddenly said, “I’ll play.”

The boy was somewhat surprised and said, “You really want to play?”

Qiu Xuning nodded. “I will.”

The boy became excited. “So, have you downloaded the game?”

Qiu Xuning fumbled and took out his phone. He whispered, “I–I haven’t downloaded it yet.”

The boy said, “Alright, download it first.” He paused, then asked, “Do you have data? I have unlimited data, I can hotspot for you.”

Qiu Xuning quickly waved his hand. “I have enough.”

He opened the app store on his phone and found the game. When he saw it required 1GB of data, he widened his eyes and froze.

The boy had been looking at Qiu Xuning’s face. Seeing his expression, he held back a laugh and said, “I’ll give you unlimited hotspot.”

Qiu Xuning’s face turned red. He said quietly, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, hurry up, download it, and we can play together. If you don’t know how to play, I’ll carry you. Just lie back and shout ‘666.’” The boy said with a cheerful smile.

Qiu Xuning used his hotspot data and quickly downloaded the game. The group of boys was quite patient and really waited until Qiu Xuning had finished downloading the game.

After logging into the game, Qiu Xuning joined the boy’s team. The boy glanced at his phone and said, “I added you as a friend, just click to accept.”

The friend request was clearly highlighted, and Qiu Xuning couldn’t possibly miss it. He opened the request, and apart from the friend requests from the boys, there was also a familiar profile picture. Qiu Xuning had a good memory and immediately recognized it as Yi Yang’s profile picture.

The male lead added him as a friend.

Qiu Xuning hesitated for a moment, but didn’t have time to think much and clicked to accept all the friend requests.

Three people became four, and they successfully started the game.

The boy was clearly the leader of the three, and also the commander. Everyone listened to him. They followed him in skydiving, and Qiu Xuning also jumped with him.

At first, a few people thought Qiu Xuning was a beginner and wouldn’t be able to play. However, it turned out his basic skills were fine, and he wasn’t bad at it—certainly not a complete noob—quickly meeting their initial expectations.

The boy who had been chatting with Qiu Xuning was named Gao Le, an active member of the class. By now, he was talking a lot and started yapping to Qiu Xuning. “How long have you been playing this game? You’re actually playing quite well. Do you play on a computer? The difficulty on a computer is higher, the controls are harder, and recoil control is tough. You see, mobile games are simpler…”

Qiu Xuning didn’t even need to answer. Gao Le could steer the conversation on his own.

He was chatting away while playing, multitasking by shooting enemies. Occasionally, he would insert some commands. He was so skilled that it seemed like even a clever mind wasn’t enough for him.

A moment later, he gently kicked the boy next to him and laughed, scolding, “Put your shoes on properly, the whole classroom smells like salted fish!”

Everyone burst into laughter, and the topic quickly shifted from Qiu Xuning and the game to smelly feet.

Qiu Xuning listened to them talk about the smell of their feet and could almost smell it. He couldn’t help but hold his breath.

However, he glanced up a few times at their lively, smiling faces and felt a sensation in his heart that he couldn’t quite describe.

He had always known that the boys in his class were lively and cute, but he didn’t expect them to be this lively and cute. Listening to them talk made him happy, and it felt completely different from before.

After playing a few rounds of the game, the performance in the auditorium had already started. The broadcast started playing soothing music, and then the sweet voice of the female host came through.

Gao Le said, “Come on, come on, let’s finish this round and then go watch the performance.”

As the words left his mouth, he immediately changed his mind. “I won’t play anymore, let’s go watch the performance now.”

Hu Xinyi walked past them and said, “We’re number eleven in line, it’s still early—you guys can keep playing.”

Even though she said that, most of the class still went to watch the performance.

Qiu Xuning also went along.

The auditorium was large with many seats. The first and second rows were occupied by teachers and judges, and the rest were mostly students. Almost every seat was filled, and there was a sea of people. Qiu Xuning arrived late and couldn’t find a seat, so he had to stand in the corner. He was with the few boys who had been playing games with him.

The first performance was a guzheng performance by a senior from the third year.

The boys at the back murmured, “It sounds pretty good, mainly because the senior is pretty, she’s a feast for the eyes.”

The second performance was also a Latin dance performance by a senior from the third year. The boys sighed, “The senior is really beautiful.”

The third performance was a skit from Class 3 of the first year. The boys remained silent.

The fourth performance was a water-sleeve dance by a senior from the third year. The boys chattered, “The senior is beautiful!”

…

Qiu Xuning listened all the way and realized that these boys only knew how to say ‘xx is beautiful’ over and over.

Ah, adolescent boys… Tsk.

Before he knew it, it was already the twelfth performance, which was exactly the play performed by He Zhiyuan’s Class 9 from the second year.

In the background music of “This year’s Juliet is excellent” from the boys, he finally saw He Zhiyuan step onto the stage.

He was wearing medieval clothing, and as soon as he took the stage, the whole auditorium erupted.

Qiu Xuning listened to the lively cheers and, for the first time, felt the extent of He Zhiyuan’s popularity.

Gao Le poked his shoulder and asked, “Is that your ge?”

Qiu Xuning softly let out a “Hmm”  in agreement, but in his heart, he secretly thought, he’s not my ge.

He Zhiyuan’s skin wasn’t pale, it was somewhat dark. However, he was tall with long legs, exuding a certain presence. He wasn’t shy when he took the stage. The stage lights seemed to focus entirely on him, making him look radiant—so captivating that no one could look away. Qiu Xuning occasionally heard the audience gasping with “So handsome!”

The Romeo he played wasn’t actually very good. His lines were delivered coldly with no trace of affection for Juliet. It was entirely supported by Liu Yulu. Yet, he still managed to finish performing Romeo and Juliet smoothly. When the curtain fell, it received the most enthusiastic applause of all the performances.

The boys sighed. “This year’s Romeo isn’t great. Besides looking good, he’s just a useless bronze.”

Then, remembering Qiu Xuning was there, they quickly tried to make amends, saying, “We didn’t mean to say anything bad about your ge.”

Qiu Xuning pressed his lips together and smiled. He gently waved his hand, signaling that he didn’t mind.