Chapter 123 It's Like a Dream

He Li asked sincerely, "Can you forget it?"

"Not really." Lin Yao was originally looking at his chat with Xie Xingchen when pop-up windows started appearing one after another from the top of the screen. He couldn't avoid looking at them; they were crammed into his brain like a duck's nest.

"Brother, I drank too much tonight and I feel dizzy."

"Brother hasn't replied to my message, is he asleep?"

"Okay, goodnight, brother."

When Lin Yao repeated the story expressionlessly, he exuded a sarcastic and ironic aura.

Even though He Li considered himself to have a thick skin, he still felt embarrassed when he heard such a machine-like tone.

He raised his hand and rubbed his burning cheeks, which were almost 40 degrees Celsius: "No, it was nothing at first, but after you said it, it sounds so strange."

"You're a few months older than him, why do you call him 'brother'?" Lin Yao didn't quite understand this behavior.

Anyway, he absolutely could not bring himself to say those two words to Xie Xingchen.

"I lost a bet during my sophomore year." He Li sighed, looking utterly hopeless as he began to recall, "The bet was that I had to call him 'brother' for three years. I didn't want to, but I had to accept the consequences, right? I was forced into it; it was punishment."

“I thought you…” Lin Yao paused, swallowing back the word “come to your senses,” “But the punishment probably didn’t say you had to send a message every night to report, right? I see you’re enjoying it quite a bit.”

"What's wrong with sending a goodnight message? We're already pretty close." He Li said nonchalantly, then suddenly his face turned fierce. "But we're not close anymore. I just want to kill him. Liars, you're all liars, ganging up on me."

Speaking of this, Lin Yao was indeed a little guilty.

At first, I didn't know how to bring it up, and after we broke up, there was no need to bring it up anymore.

"It wasn't that I deliberately hid it from you," Lin Yao said, his lips barely moving. "I just hadn't found the right opportunity."

He Li was extremely dissatisfied with this reason and said indignantly, "For four whole years, the three of you have lied to me for four whole years, and who else knows?"

Lin Yao whispered a list of names: "Boyan, Director Cheng, my elder brother and sister-in-law, godfather, Xie Xingchen's two fathers, that's about it, um, and Xie Dai."

He Li: ? ? ? ? ? ?

He's ranked so low behind so many people, at the very bottom of the food chain!

His emotions, which had just calmed down, began to surge again. He jumped up from his chair: "What right does that stupid bird have to know! What about Xie Dai! I'm going to kill him too!"

"He's with Pei Xiang." Lin Yao was half-sobered up by his sudden outburst and said helplessly, "How can I calm down? Why don't you beat me up and I won't fight back?"

Having finally caught them red-handed, He Li was very assertive: "I don't care, you all have to apologize to me and call Xie Xingchen."

Lin Yao frowned: "He's asleep."

Sleep? How can someone his age possibly sleep?

He Li persisted, taking Lin Yao's phone and swiping it open, saying sarcastically, "Oh, the first contact is your boyfriend's number. You can't even send a message, but you still have his number saved. What a great love."

Lin Yao suppressed the urge to beat him up and reminded him, "Don't use my phone to contact him, use Cheng Boyan's."

He Li coldly switched to another phone and dialed, and the other end answered instantly.

It did sound like he'd been woken up from his sleep. Xie Xingchen's voice was low and a little hoarse: "Yaoyao? Weren't you asleep? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Yaoyao~ You've really grown up, daring to call him by a reduplicated name now! Your Yaoyao has exposed your four-year secret relationship~"

He Li mimicked his voice in a affected tone. Having been kept in the dark for four years, she grew increasingly angry. Her tone shifted, "Sleep my ass! You, and Cheng Boyan, get up and repent!!!"

Xie Xingchen paused for a few seconds, struggling to make out: "He Li?"

"Please turn the speakerphone on, thank you." He Li was very polite, but after hearing the other person say it was on, he suddenly raised his voice, "Cheng Boyan, do you have a death wish?!"

Okay, I won't call you "brother" anymore, and "little sweet pear" isn't sweet anymore either. Now it's Niu Gulu He Li.

Lin Yao explained things to the two people on the other end of the phone in a few words, and they were completely awake. Neither of them could sleep, and they fell into a long silence.

Cheng Boyan tried to speak: "It's mainly them..."

He Li said coldly, "Shut up."

The other side remained silent.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hide it from you." Xie Xingchen had thought about this day four years ago, but he never expected that Lin Yao would spill everything when he was drunk.

With that kind of drinking capacity, he'll tell you anything after a couple of questions. If he were to practice, he'd be a fool.

He Li, holding her phone, stared at Lin Yao, then suddenly felt a chill run down her spine: "So you two... really did French kiss!!!"

Lin Yao: "......."

He raised his hand to cover his burning cheeks. Did he really have to ask for such details?

Xie Xingchen on the other end of the phone: "......Otherwise what?"

He Li raised his hand to cover his mouth, trying to imagine the scene in his mind, and got goosebumps all over his body: "It's really hard to imagine that Brother Yao would do such a thing."

Cheng Boyan recalled the way Lin Yao had stood on the second floor, aloof and haughty, ordering Xie Xingchen upstairs, and added in a low voice, "Your brother Yao can do a lot of things, especially erotic ones."

"Say less," Xie Xingchen clicked his tongue.

"Cheng Boyan, I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, how dare you say that?" He Li immediately shifted the focus, "Why did you hide it from me? You're finished, I'm telling you, I'll hold this grudge against you for at least three years!"

There was a prolonged silence on the other end of the phone.

He Li coldly sneered, "Feeling guilty now? Repenting now, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a knock on the dormitory door. He Li got up and went to open it, where Cheng Boyan, dressed in his pajamas, stood. Their eyes met; one looked helpless, the other's eyes blazing with anger.

"Let me explain."

"I won't listen."

Lin Yao held his phone and whispered to Xie Xingchen on the other end, "It seems like we're the two who made the biggest mistake. Why does Boyan seem to be the most miserable?"

"You should thank him for diverting your anger," Xie Xingchen said with a laugh. "As a friend of ten years, being kept in the dark like this is a huge sin on your part."

Lin Yao tightened his lips, his gaze sweeping towards Cheng Boyan at the door, filled with gratitude.

He decided to wait until this period of time was over, and then use all his strength to help him win over He Li.

"After the training camp ends, I'll take you to meet your idol, and we'll have dinner included. Don't be angry anymore," Cheng Boyan said.

"Hmph." He Li's aloof expression softened slightly.

Cheng Boyan added, "I bought the tickets for that concert you wanted to go to last time. I was planning to give them to you on your birthday."

"That was a birthday present. Don't try to use it to offset this." He Li bared his teeth and brandished his claws.

Cheng Boyan hummed in agreement and said good-naturedly, "Tell me what would make you happy, and I'll do it."

Watching the scene of reconciliation unfold, Lin Yao rested his chin on his hand and muttered to himself, "Do I have to give him all the money in my bank account to calm him down? I finally managed to save up my salary..."

"Is the money-grubber feeling bad?" Xie Xingchen chuckled. "I'll pay for it for you and keep trying to cheer him up."

Lin Yao shifted to a more comfortable position, burying his head in the pillow, feeling drowsy: "Okay."

“You said it.” He Li, who had been listening to everything around him, turned to the two people on the bed having a long phone conversation and said, “You two will have to support me for four years to make up for it.”

Since it wasn't his own money, Lin Yao, still half-asleep, agreed: "Okay, let Xie Xingchen transfer the money to you..."

"Tired?" Xie Xingchen lowered his voice. "I was thinking of going to visit your dorm with him, but it's late and not really appropriate."

"It's not appropriate." Lin Yao yawned. For some reason, hearing his voice gave him a sense of comfort and sleepiness. "I wonder if Boyan can coax him."

"I'm definitely better than you, so go to sleep peacefully," Xie Xingchen said. "Don't drink next time, you always come up with something new."

Lin Yao mumbled a response, still half asleep.

Perhaps because they were finally reunited, Xie Xingchen slept very well that night, without any nightmares or fears for the first time in a long time, until his phone vibrated.

He closed his eyes and opened the recording, which he had been listening to for four years. It became clear, as if it were right next to his ear, tingling and numb, with the drowsiness of early morning, and felt especially soft.

"Yaoyao is so well-behaved today, even cuter than usual. Say it again."

He would often pretend to chat with the alarm clock when it rang, but he never responded.

But today was different; the other party actually stopped the recording program and replied, "Okay."

Xie Xingchen suddenly opened his eyes, feeling so dazed that he thought he was dreaming, but then he saw the video call connected and his heart was pounding.

Lin Yao, still half-asleep, looked at him and spoke softly.

"Xie Xingchen, get up. Lin Yao likes you even more today than yesterday."