Chapter 12: Pure Prejudice

On the first day of the investigation, each group reported to the courtyard that needed to be measured. Cheng Che's group was assigned to the ancestral hall, an ancient building with five bays from the Ming and Qing dynasties. There were five people in the group: Li Zimai, Cheng Che, Wu Ze, Lin Lin and another girl from Class 3, Jiang Xiaoqing.

Jiang Xiaoqing is shy, small in stature, speaks softly, and has little presence. When she has no tasks, she always stands quietly in the corner, secretly looking at Cheng Che.

"Li Shen, does this bracket also need to be modeled?"

Li Zimai found an excuse to interrupt Cheng Che and Wei Xiaoqing's academic exchange, "Let me ask you, Brother Che, do you want to model the bracket arch?"

Cheng Che didn't even look up, staring at the dimensions on the drawing board, and replied, "Sure, I can do it."

Jiang Xiaoqing asked quietly: "Can I work with you on this part? I want to learn how to make brackets. Is that okay?"

Cheng Che still answered: "Yes."

Having been rejected countless times, Li Zimai's face fell, and she wondered: Is it really impossible for straight men to refuse this kind of petite girl?

Li Zimai pouted and said, "Brother Che, I want to do this with you too, but I don't know how to do it either."

Cheng Che looked at the column head and brackets, "I don't understand this structure, you know."

Li Zimai said casually: "Five-legged double copy single down Ang?"

"You understand it very well, Li Shen, so go and help the squad leader."

Li Zimai, who was tricked again: "......"

Cheng Che and Jiang Xiaoqing spent the entire day together, completely ignoring Li Zimai. An upset Li Zimai called Wu Ze to the field to smoke. While smoking, he stared at a man and a woman in the yard and asked, "Which type do you guys like?"

Wu Ze was choked, "Huh?"

"Okay, let's get back to work after smoking."

After standing in the field for just the time it took to smoke a cigarette, Li Zimai's neck and the back of his hands were covered with bites. He returned to the yard with the bites all over his neck and poked the sulfuric acid paper, making a rustling sound.

Lin Lin pulled Wu Ze over and asked quietly, "Why does Li Shen seem a little irritable? What were you talking about just now?"

Wu Ze looked helpless and said, "We didn't talk about anything."

Lin Lin glanced in Cheng Che's direction. He was standing on the escalator measuring the size. Jiang Xiaoqing was holding the foot of the ladder steadily. The two were still chatting. A woman's sixth sense told Lin Lin that Li·The Emperor's Pride·Noble and Cold·Shen was jealous, and his jealousy was quite strong.

Wu Ze tapped her little head and said helplessly, "Can you think a little healthier?"

Lin Lin made a face, not wanting to discuss boyish matters with him, so she asked Cheng Che directly, "Brother Che, do you have some Fengyoujing (Chinese medicinal oil)? Li Shen has a lot of insect bites."

Cheng Che finally found the time to look at Li Zimai, who immediately turned his head away and ignored him, the back of his head revealing: I'm very unhappy.

Cheng Che fished out some Fengyoujing from his trouser pocket, handed it to Lin Lin, and continued with his work. The surveying work was not finished until evening. Cheng Che came down from the ladder and was about to carry it back to its original position when Li Zimai stopped him, took the ladder from him, and said sarcastically, "Brother Che, you've worked hard all day. I won't bother you with this little hard work."

Cheng Che didn't argue with him and shoved the ladder in his direction. "Thank you, Li Shen."

Jiang Xiaoqing on the side whispered: "Let me get some too."

Cheng Che said politely, "No need, I'll do it."

Li Zimai pushed the ladder back to Cheng Che, his hands in his pockets, "Brother Che, you should carry it yourself. I can't do it."

Jiang Xiaoqing didn't dare to talk to Li Zimai. Although this great man had a good temper and greeted her with a smile from time to time, Jiang Xiaoqing inexplicably didn't dare to provoke him.

The way back was a muddy and bumpy road along the ridge of a field. It was already half dark, so it was extremely difficult to walk on. Lin Lin was being held by Wu Ze, and Jiang Xiaoqing could only hold Lin Lin. Naturally, the three of them would fall as they squeezed together.

When Jiang Xiaoqing fell into the field, it was Cheng Che who pulled her up, using his usual straight-man arm-pinching method. She was immersed in this not-quite-ambiguous physical contact when a pleasant, bass-like voice cut in, "Do you need my help?"

Jiang Xiaoqing quickly said: "No, no need... I can walk by myself."

Li Zimai smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes at all. He put his arm on Cheng Che's shoulder, letting it hang down casually as he kindly advised, "Be careful when you walk."

Jiang Xiaoqing: “…”

Cheng Che pushed him away, turned on the flashlight on his phone, and said to Jiang Xiaoqing, "You walk in front, I'll shine the light on you."

Li Zimai rubbed his head and joked, "Brother Che is good at taking care of people. Please take care of me when you are able. I have night blindness and I can't see clearly."

Cheng Che said casually: "Then you go ahead too."

Another twenty minutes passed like this. When they returned to the main road, Jiang Xiaoqing looked back and saw that the two of them were gone. "Linlin, Cheng Che and the others are gone!"

Wu Zeyang checked his phone. "They went back and said they hadn't taken all the things. Li Shen sent me a message."

Jiang Xiaoqing responded sullenly.

Cheng Che was dragged by Li Zimai to the woods to see fireflies. It was almost winter and even though Cheng Che had explained for a long time that there would be no fireflies in this season, Li Zimai refused to believe it and insisted on catching one to show him.

Half an hour later, Li Zimai's head was covered with bites.

Normally there would be no mosquitoes at this time of year, but Master Li's skin was too delicate, so there were always insects that risked their lives to kiss him.

"Have fun by yourself, I'm going back."

Li Zimai held him back and said, "Don't go. There's a moon. Let's enjoy it for a while."

Cheng Che likes the countryside. He has lived in the countryside with his grandmother since he was a child. Such a quiet environment makes him miss his grandmother very much. At that time, his grandmother was often busy in the fields until very late. Cheng Che would go to find her after school. Sometimes he would do farm work with her, and sometimes he would catch loaches and frogs in the fields. When it got dark, he would use a flashlight to urge his grandmother to go home. Accompanying his grandmother in the fields was Cheng Che's favorite time.

"what's on your mind?"

"I wonder why you are so annoying."

"Just remove the last six words."

Li Zimai took advantage of the hazy moonlight to get closer and admire his beloved, "Cheche is so beautiful."

Cheng Che turned his face away and said stiffly, "Don't you have night blindness?"

Li Zimai smiled and said, "I can only see you."

It felt like a small insect was suddenly tickling Cheng Che's heart. He reached out to scratch it, but it was air. He just felt annoyed by the small insect, making him panic. Cheng Che stood up suddenly and said, "There are mosquitoes. I'm going back."

Li Zimai chased after him and said with a smile, "Why are you still shy? Has no one ever told you that Brother Che is good-looking?"

Cheng Che frowned, "I'm a boy, don't tell me I'm pretty."

Li Zimai disagreed, "You are a boy, why can't I praise you for your good looks? Our brother Che is just good-looking."

"Can you please stop being cheesy?"

Li Zimai feigned surprise, "Is this corny? Doesn't Brother Che ever praise others, and not his girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend."

Cheng Che paused, then changed his words, "I don't talk about dating."

Li Zimai got the answer he expected and said seriously, "What if you want it? Don't you even fight the plane?"

Cheng Che wanted to slap Li Zimai to death and said angrily, "Why do you care about me?"

Li Zimai leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I haven't seen you masturbating or watching movies in such a long time. Yang Mingxi is watching Japanese celebrities in the dormitory all day, why don't you react?"

At the edge of the pitch-black field, Li Zimai became interested and insisted on discussing men's problems with Cheng Che. Cheng Che got goosebumps and pushed Li Zimai away. He rubbed his red and hot ears hard, which seemed to still have the scent of the culprit.

Li Zimai laughed, "How can Cheche be so innocent?"

"Do you think everyone is you?"

He didn't think that someone like Li Zimai could be that pure. After all, during the few months they had shared a dormitory together, he had met many of Li Zimai's ardent admirers at the door of the dormitory.

"What's wrong with me? I'm innocent."

Cheng Che sneered and said nothing.

"Brother Che, you are prejudiced against me. Although I am handsome, it doesn't mean that I am a promiscuous person."

Cheng Che said "Oh", he was not interested in Li Shen's romantic history.

"What do you mean, you look down on me."

"No."

"Then what are you doing?"

"nothing."

"Are you prejudiced against me?"

"I don't."

"You have!"

"I don't."

"You must have!"

"Are you annoying?!"