Nanqi smiled at her and nodded.

Everyone was eating, and Yu Zhan hesitated before picking up her chopsticks.

He doesn't have time to eat at night. After class, he has to go back to wash all his dirty clothes, tidy up, fill a kettle with water, and then come to work.

Eating pan-fried buns warmed my heart.

Nanqi didn't go back to rest that night. He got tired of sitting at the front desk, so he went to the sofa. Yu Zhan kept an eye on him the whole time.

One night passed.

After get off work, Nanqi took him upstairs to sleep.

The receptionist gave me a knowing look, handed the call over to her colleague, and even thanked Nanqi for the fried buns from last night.

Yu Zhan really didn't want to be misunderstood.

But he craved this warmth.

Nan Qi casually pulled him along, and whether it counted as coercion or not, only he himself knew.

Two weeks later.

Yu Zhan has completely gotten used to him.

Nanqi took him out for delicious food every day, accompanied him to work, and occasionally, when he had some free time, he would take him shopping and tease him. Yu Zhan gradually became more cheerful.

On the 15th, payday, he would even take the initiative to find Nanqi and invite him to dinner.

Nanqi teased him again, "Why are you being so generous today? Feeling bad about eating your brother's food?"

Yu Zhan blushed.

He had never spoken a word to Nan Qi before, either typing or writing. He was smitten. People always unconsciously want to show their best side to the person they like.

He didn't want Nanqi to hear the comical way he spoke.

Typing: I got paid today.

Nan Qi hummed in agreement, then ruffled Yu Zhan's hair like an older brother would a younger brother, and laughed, "That's great! Then I'll have to treat you to a nice meal today, let's go eat spicy hot pot."

Yu Zhan blushed with embarrassment.

With her ears burning red, she dragged someone to eat spicy hot pot.

While picking up food from the bowl, Nanqi teased him, "I'm going to eat a lot today, so don't worry about the money, Xiao Yu."

Yu Zhan nodded, not saying a word, but his eyes shone brightly.

Nanqi can eat as much as he wants; he doesn't mind.

The original plan was to stay for a maximum of twenty days. A month later, he was still here. Although Nan Qi was also a student, he could choose to go or not, but he had to go back for the competition.

Yu Zhan finished his night shift that day.

When Nanqi took him to breakfast, he said, "Xiao Yu, I have to go home."

Yu Zhan's hand holding the porcelain spoon trembled, and the spoon fell back into the bowl with a clatter. His heart skipped a beat. After recovering, he hurriedly picked up the spoon, lowered his head to drink, and dared not look up.

Her eyes were already red.

Nanqi was also quite reluctant to part with him.

However, his teacher has been urging him for several days, and he has to go back to participate in the competition.

It will take about ten days.

Compared to Nan Yu, he was much freer. He only needed to report his whereabouts to his family regularly, and his whereabouts were not controlled at all.

Both of them remained silent.

Yu Zhan couldn't resist and took out a small notebook from her pocket, writing: Where do you live? Are you coming again?

Later, perhaps realizing it wasn't appropriate, they changed the last three words.

If you look closely, you can still make out the words. Nanqi noticed Yuzhan's reddened eyes, went over and hugged him, patting him comfortingly, "Come on, call me if you miss me, or video chat. Eat well, so I don't come back to find you eating rice without any side dishes, okay?"

Yu Zhan felt a lump in his throat.

I couldn't help but shed tears.

Nanqi cupped his face in his hands and wiped away his tears with his fingertips. "I'm just going abroad for a competition. It won't take more than a few days."

Yu Zhan's pair of moist puppy eyes froze.

Nan Qi laughed, forcing a smiley face at the boy, and joked, "So heartbroken, you can't possibly like me, can you?"

A single sentence seemed to strike at the truth the boy was trying so hard to hide. His ears turned red for a moment, then turned deathly pale. He liked boys, but in the small town, especially the village, his family had no concept of this.

Once they find out, it is considered extremely immoral and unethical.

Yu Zhan was perceptive, and he seemed to have sensed from the other person's words that he might be in a one-sided love, which is why his face turned pale instantly.

Nanqi has been giving him the wrong impression.

Make him think that he is unique to him.

Even if I don't really like them, I at least have some good feelings towards them...

Yeah, he stutters, who would like that... Qi-ge probably thinks this is normal friendship between guys... or is he just pitying himself?

But why does my heart hurt so much?

"Smile! Your smile looks uglier than a grimace!"

Yu Zhan had no temper and let others manipulate him. Even if his heart was full of holes, he would force himself to smile if Nan Qi asked him to.

Nanqi sighed and hugged the person to comfort him.

"Alright, stop laughing. Eat up, and I'll take you to your classroom after you finish."

Yu Zhan was much quieter than usual when he ate, drank soup, walked, or sat in the classroom. Nan Qi sighed helplessly, wondering why the kid was being so melancholy.

It made him almost not want to go anymore.

But in the end, he still left.

Withdrawal symptoms are truly terrifying.

While eating, he subconsciously looked up to see that person, forgetting that Qi-ge had left. In class, no one took him to the classroom anymore, and no one helped him sleep in a hotel. Although the card was given to him, the boy never took the initiative to step into the hotel again.

The worst part is working the night shift every day.

Overwhelmed by longing, Yu Zhan often lost her focus and made two mistakes at work. She felt incredibly tired, more tired than ever before, and even time seemed to drag on endlessly.

He didn't know what was wrong with him.

I spent twelve days in a daze.

Qi Ge didn't come, and we haven't even been in touch on WeChat for several days.

Exhausted, I carried a bottle of hot water back to my dorm.

He lay down and leaned back on the bed, wanting to get a good night's sleep. Suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply, and a sharp pain shot through his back. He endured the pain and got up, finding several remaining thin needles in the bedding, along with many others, all of which were stuck in the boy's back.

It hurts so much.

It's impossible to find out who it is right away.

I was helped to the school clinic by the shoulder.

Nan Qi came to find Yu Zhan with a bouquet of flowers.

The trip was delayed by two days.

Because he was thinking about his feelings for Yu Zhan, and why he couldn't wait to see her again after they separated. He wouldn't have thought much about it before, blaming it on the rebellious little gay boy in his family.

Nanqi also began to doubt his own sexual orientation.

After enduring twelve days, I was 'diagnosed'.

I just want to see Yu Zhan, protect him, and do everything with him, whether it's meaningful or meaningless—eating, drinking tea, chatting, accompanying him to and from get off work…

While I was video chatting, Yu Zhan happened to be removing a needle.

I was going to hang up, but the pain made my hand tremble and I accidentally clicked the call button.

Nan Qi pointed the camera at his own face, without looking at the camera, and smiled: "Good afternoon, handsome young man, where are you?"

Yu Zhan's heart pounded wildly, all the fatigue of the past few days vanished, and even the injury on his back seemed to have stopped hurting. Someone had stuck needles into the bed, but the young man didn't want to make a scene, so he shook his head.

Nanqi saw the school doctor in his camera lens.

Q: "Why is there a doctor behind you? Are you at a hospital?"

Yu Zhan didn't even notice, quickly ended the video call to avoid revealing more information, and sent a message to Nan Qi: I have a cold, come to the school hospital to get some medicine.

Nan Qi raised an eyebrow and saw the school hospital only three meters away from him. He strode over, intending to give Yu Zhan a surprise, but she gave him a fright instead.

The school doctor pulled a needle out of his back; it was so deep that it was deep enough to penetrate to the bone. It looked painful to look at when it was removed, and it bled, which the school doctor wiped away.

Nanqi stared at his back, his facial muscles twitching: "What happened? Didn't you say you had a cold?"