Chapter 23 Outbreak

Li Zimai's childhood friend Gu Wei returned to China. Gu Wei himself was studying physics at a university abroad. He took advantage of the Christmas holiday to go home and meet up with friends he hadn't seen for a long time.

A group of people met at a hotel outside the Third Ring Road. Zhou Xumao took advantage of the fact that no one showed up to talk to Li Zimai about her crush. "I've been pursuing his roommate for almost half a year. We've been living in the dormitory and working in the countryside."

Gu Wei said: "Will he still chase people?"

"The last time I went to school to look for him, he was so obsessed with my roommate that he almost stripped her clothes in broad daylight."

Someone laughed and said, "You're putting Young Master Li down too much."

Zhou Xumao chuckled, "Don't disbelieve me, that little roommate is now Li Zimai's sweetheart. He doesn't like anyone else except him."

Zhuang Kaiyue rolled her eyes at him and said, "You're such a gossip."

Zhou Xumao became more and more excited as he spoke. "I'm curious too, isn't it? This is the first time Li Zimai is seriously pursuing a young boyfriend, and the key is that he's ignoring her. Isn't that strange?"

Someone asked Zhou Xumao for a photo of his "boyfriend," and Zhou Xumao showed off the page he had searched on his phone. "I went to their school forum and checked it out. This little roommate is quite a celebrity. He hit the instructor at the beginning of the school year and even dared to hit Li Shen. He's got a wild temper. The key is that he has good grades and looks but doesn't mess around. I even think that scumbag Li Zimai is not good enough for her."

Gu Wei didn't take it seriously, "Yes, she's pretty, but not to the point of..."

"Not to what?"

When Li Zi entered the private room, a group of people were gathered together, reading gossip posts with great interest. Gu Wei made room for him and said bluntly, "Maomao said you were pursuing your roommate."

Li Zimai frowned, glanced in Zhou Xumao's direction, and said, "Ignore him, he's just a gossip."

"It seems to be true," Gu Wei concluded, "Are you really pursuing someone else?"

Zhou Xumao answered for him: "That's right, I saw my roommate coming out of his house last time. They haven't gotten together yet, so how come they're sleeping together?"

Sleeping together is bullshit.

Li Zimai thought to himself, there has been no progress for so long, and he gets beaten from time to time. The most important thing is that his childhood sweetheart comes out and causes trouble at any time.

Gu Wei asked the key question: "Is he straight?"

Li Zimai was silent for a moment and said, "I don't know."

Li Zimai really didn't know. At first, he thought Cheng Che was a straight man and that he liked Jiang Xiaoqing's type. Later, he found out that he was not. Then he thought he was a little bit gay, and now he thinks he is straight. Otherwise, why didn't he react at all after she had been in front of him for several months?

Gu Wei advised: "If it really doesn't work, just change it. Are you worried about not being able to find one you like?"

Li Zimai didn't say anything and didn't want to continue this topic.

At the dinner table, everyone was chatting about interesting things that had happened recently, such as what school someone got into, what master's and doctoral degrees they studied for, and what emerging industries their family had started. Li Zimai was not interested at all and took out his phone to send a message to the person who had pinned the topic.

【Li】: What are you doing? I have to go back to the dormitory at night. Please leave a light on for me.

[Cheche]: You go look for Yang Mingxi, I'll be back later.

【Ｌｉ】：Where are you going?

[Cheche]: At Ruige’s house, he asked me to help him move.

Li Zimai had just sat down and was about to leave before the dishes were even served. Zhou Xumao held him back and whispered, "What's wrong? Gu Wei finally came back, don't be so rude."

Under everyone's surprised gaze, Li Zimai had no choice but to sit back and poke at the phone screen with a frown.

[Li]: What's the point of you helping him move? You're not a moving company. Isn't the research report due? How can you find the time to help him move?

He tried his best to control his tone, implying that he must not confront Cheng Che head-on.

[Cheche]: I have finished writing it. Don’t forget to hand it in to the monitor before 12 o’clock tomorrow.

[Li]: You don’t have time to help me clean the robot at home, but you have time to help your brother Rui move.

[Cheche]: I’ll come and wipe it tomorrow.

[Li]: No, you have to wipe it off now. It was stained by your paint. You are responsible for it. Go to my place and wipe it off now.

[Cheche]: I bought cleaning agent online and will help you clean it.

【Li】: I don’t care. I want to see its original appearance when I go back later.

[Cheche]: Don’t be unreasonable.

[Li]: What do you mean I'm being unreasonable? It was you who made it dirty. You go, go quickly. I'm rushing home now, you must go too.

【Ｌｉ】：Did you hear that?

[Li]: Have you already arrived at his house?

[Li]: Okay, anyway, your brother Rui is more important than me.

......

The other end didn't reply to the message. Li Zimai got up and went outside to make a voice call. It rang for a long time before the other party answered. The tone was very helpless: "What's wrong again?"

Li Zimai was about to speak when a male voice came from the other side, "Xiao Che, there's more here."

Less than a week had passed since Cheng Che nearly got hit while protecting other girls in front of Li Zimai. Li Zimai's suppressed anger hadn't completely subsided, and now it completely exploded.

Cheng Che was still a little confused when the call was hung up. This was the first time Li Zimai hung up on him without saying anything. Li Zimai was always angry for no reason recently.

Duan Rui was moving things. Seeing Cheng Che's bad face, he stopped and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Cheng Che came back to his senses, took the paper box from him, and said muffledly, "It's okay."

Li Zimai didn't even eat the food at the dinner table. He just drank from the bottle. Zhou Xumao had never seen him like this before and quickly tried to grab his glass. "Hey, what's wrong? Why are you so angry just because you answered a phone call?"

Li Zimai has been holding it in for too long. He has been pursuing Cheng Che for so long but still can't figure out whether he is gay or not. Apart from the girl who is always around Cheng Che, Duan Rui also makes him angry from time to time.

Gu Wei shook his head at him and picked up some food for Li Zimai, "Don't just drink, eat something."

After drinking a lot of wine, Li Zimai's mind became much clearer. He shouldn't have hung up on Cheche just now, especially since the man named Duan was still with Cheche.

Li Zimai took out his cell phone and wanted to call again, but when he saw that the chat interface was still on him, he suddenly lost the courage.

I'm angry and you don't even try to comfort me.

Li Zimai felt extremely aggrieved and drank gulps of wine.

Everyone then realized something was wrong. Li Zimai always drank in moderation, believing that wine was for tasting and that drinking to drown one's sorrows was something only an idiot would do. But now, he was the one who was guzzling wine like it was water.

Gu Wei sat next to him and saw a message pop up on his phone interface - [Cheche: I'll go back and clean the robot for you, okay?]

Just for a broken robot? Gu Wei thought, what kind of elementary school love is this, getting drunk just for a robot?

Zhou Xumao looked at Li Zimai sleeping on the sofa and asked Gu Wei, "Is this a broken heart?"

Gu Wei took Li Zimai's phone, turned on the screen, held it out to him, and deduced, "Maybe they were arguing over a robot."

Zhou Xumao laughed so hard he fell backwards. When he finally caught his breath, an idea popped into his head: "How about we call his roommate and ask him to pick him up?"

Gu Wei disagreed. Without Li Zimai's permission, they would not disturb Cheng Che.

"Hey, it's okay. We're not doing anything. Someone has to take him back anyway."

"Ask his driver to pick him up."

"No! If his brother finds out, I'll be in the same boat again."

When Cheng Che received another call from Li Zimai, he was buying cleaning agent in the supermarket. He used his limited remaining balance to buy imported special cleaning agent. Although he didn't quite understand why Li Zimai was always entangled in some inexplicable points, he respected the other's personality flaws and believed that this was a trait that an artist should have.

When everyone heard that Li Zimai's sweetheart was coming to pick him up, the midnight show was cancelled and everyone stared at the door.

When Gu Wei saw the real person, he felt that Zhou Xumao's words were not exaggerated at all. The little roommate really looked according to Li Zimai's aesthetic standards.

He wore a black cotton jacket over his hooded sweatshirt, the collar of which was pilling, his pants had traces of dirt rubbing against them, and he was holding a plastic bag from the supermarket in his hand. Judging from his clothes, he looked like an ordinary college student, but what was unique was his face.

He had thin lips, a high nose bridge, and eyes as clear as a stream, but the end of his eyebrow was broken, which made him look a bit wild, as if he was frightened by the unfamiliar environment. His body was stiff, and he exuded a coldness that kept strangers away.

The boy is clean and resolute, both worldly and otherworldly.

Zhou Xumao, who saw Cheng Che up close again, had to admit that Li Shen had very high standards.

Gu Wei greeted Cheng Che, "Hello, I'm Li Zimai's friend, Gu Wei."

Cheng Che pulled the plastic bag he had brought from the supermarket back a little and said, "Hello, Cheng Che."

Everyone agreed: This is truly clear.

Zhou Xumao led Cheng Che to the lounge next to the private room where the sofa was and asked tentatively, "Did you two have a fight? He didn't drink like this before."

Cheng Che thought about it and felt that this was not a quarrel, so he replied: "No."

"Don't be fooled by his usual elegant demeanor. He actually has a terrible temper and no one can stop him."

Cheng Che had experienced Li Zimai's temper several times, and he rarely nodded and acknowledged this.

Zhou Xumao found it very interesting. Few outsiders knew that Li Zimai had a bad temper. Everyone thought he was a nobleman, but they didn't know that a nobleman could be so angry that he could make people die.

Li Zimai woke up in a daze and seemed to see Cheche talking to Zhou Xumao. He immediately became even more annoyed. Why did Zhou Xumao come to snatch Cheche from him? He said he would get up from the sofa and deal with Zhou Xumao no matter what.

Cheng Che stopped him, his brows furrowed tightly.

The last time Cheng Che was dissatisfied with Li Zimai was when he saw him smoking. Later, when he learned that Li Zimai had more and more bad habits, he didn't think it was a big deal. However, Cheng Che hated people who drank the most, and he thought Li Zimai would not drink like this.

“Clear…Clear…”

Li Zimai was lying on his shoulder, his breath reeking of alcohol, and Cheng Che wanted to kick him.