Intoxicating Millet Wine (Part 1)
After finishing their hotpot meal, He Yinxin and Lin Yan returned to their dormitory.
As soon as the two pushed open the door, they saw Jia Shugui sitting on a chair in the dormitory hall, munching on potato chips.
"Hey, Lao He, Yanzi, you're back?" Jia Shugui crunched on the bag of potato chips.
Lin Yan put her hand on He Yinxin's shoulder and smiled at Jia Shugui: "Hey, you're back, you're back."
He Yinxin gave a soft "hmm" and turned to walk towards her room.
"Brother He, please wait!" Lin Yan shouted, hooking his arm and pulling him back to the two of them.
He Yinxin frowned, rubbing his aching temples: "Lin Yan, why are you suddenly speaking like an ancient person? Are you possessed by an ancient spirit? It's still a long time until the Ghost Festival, isn't it?"
Lin Yan didn't answer him, but just smiled and looked at his flushed face: "Brother He, I have nothing to hide, but..."
"Are you possessed by a ghost?"
He Yinxin met his gaze and said calmly, "No. If you don't believe me, you can go online and ask a master. If you're really worried that I'll attract unclean things, you can go to a nearby temple this weekend and get a talisman to ward off evil."
"Holy crap, Lao He, Yanzi was just joking with you, and you're actually taking his advice seriously?" Jia Shugui continued chewing on the potato chips in his hand.
He Yinxin's gaze swept over her two roommates, who both had ulterior motives: "He asked, so I answered that it was normal. If there was nothing else, I went back to my room."
Lin Yan sighed, still holding He Yinxin tightly with her hand: "Fine, I won't beat around the bush with you anymore."
"Brother He, do you secretly have feelings for that woman named Xiaochun?"
"I have unintentionally witnessed Brother He and Miss Xiaochun meeting in the canteen and restaurant on several occasions."
He has recently taken a liking to a way of speaking that resembles that of "ancient people," with a tone that is mixed with an eerie, ancient charm.
He Yinxin felt dizzy, unsure if it was from the rice wine. He shook his head, his tone icy:
"I don't understand what it means to secretly harbor feelings for someone, and I don't understand your nonsensical old sayings."
"Tch, so stubborn." Jia Shugui rolled his eyes. "Then let me translate for you what 'secretly falling in love' means—"
Do you like Xiaochun, your junior?
His short but resounding words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the dormitory.
"What?"
The other five boys, who were holed up in their rooms, opened their doors upon hearing the thunder and poked their heads out like Timon.
He Yinxin glanced at the other seven people, pushed up his glasses, and coughed lightly: "It's nothing, Lao Jia was just talking nonsense, you guys go back."
His voice trembled.
But those seven roommates were still like seven gourds on the same vine, unafraid of wind and rain.
He Yinxin froze on the spot: "You guys...did you hear what Lao Jia said?"
The five roommates all nodded.
One of the busybodies blurted out, "Old Jia said you've fallen for a girl, like a rare flower blooming in your heart."
Those pairs of eyes, gleaming with cold light, stared intently at He Yinxin, silently demanding to know his true feelings.
Faced with this pointed question, his usually meticulously functioning brain froze.
Xiaochun...Do I like her?
Is this feeling—the feeling of overthinking because of a jar of mint leaves—something I like?
He Yinxin's temples were throbbing with pain, and the memory of the cup of rice wine he had just drunk came to mind.
It's spicy at first, but quickly develops a sweet aroma.
Along with the rice wine came the girl who had been constantly on his mind.
"Auntie, I've never drunk alcohol before, but I'd like to try it."
Jiang Yichun blinked, strode forward, and downed the glass of wine in one gulp.
He believed he had a decent alcohol tolerance. After becoming an adult, before leaving that "family," he was considered an important "resource" of the family and began learning to drink at college entrance banquets.
But he doesn't like to drink.
For him, drinking and toasting were nothing more than pandering to adults, nothing more than what adults called "social maneuvers."
To achieve social goals and to save face for his family, he was often forced to drink until he was dizzy, and it was during this time that his alcohol tolerance was fully tested.
After leaving "home", he never touched alcohol again.
But when he saw Jiang Yichun's flushed cheeks after drinking that cup of rice wine, the fluttering feeling he had when he first met her surged back into his heart.
Because of the way she ate pig's trotters, because of the way her ponytail flew up, he mustered up the courage for the first time to choose to break out of his own world, which was bound by rules and regulations, and finally came to her side.
He could always see a vitality in her, a vitality that had choices.
So at that moment, he picked up a cup of rice wine and drank it all in one gulp.
Does this kind of behavior indicate liking?
Is this love?
He Yinxin's lips trembled, words were about to spill out, but she stopped herself.
The image of Jiang Yichun rejecting the boy who confessed his love in the cafeteria overshadowed all the previous moments.
He recalled the word "special friend" that had slipped out at the dinner table, and how the atmosphere between him and Jiang Yichun had inexplicably plummeted to freezing point after that word was uttered.
On the way back to school, only the newly-coupled pair were chatting and trying to liven things up, while Xiaochun and I didn't get to say a single word to each other.
Perhaps it's just a projection of her own suppressed self over the years; Xiaochun happens to be a mirror that belongs only to her.
Perhaps it was just a misconception caused by my strict adherence to my promise to her.
Perhaps, this is just my own illusion about love.
He couldn't find the relevant data like he would with empirical studies, and ultimately use a fixed code to determine whether the results were significant.
Love is never cold data, nor is it simply a black-and-white result.
Having reached this conclusion, he said with a sigh of relief, "I don't like her. We're just business partners."
To completely shut "Huluwa" up, he deliberately omitted some details: "I took her money, tutored her, and ate meals just to save money. You should know my situation."
"She... probably doesn't like people making jokes or even egging her on about her relationship problems."
He Yinxin turned her head and stared directly at Lin Yan: "So, I hope that everyone won't think there's anything between us just because they see us walking together."
"At least, we're still friends now."
"Just take it easy."
He forced a smile with a sigh of relief, but his hands were still trembling uncontrollably: "Just do me a favor. Please, brothers."
The Timon creatures stared wide-eyed as the human-machine chattered on, each sentence a clarification. Since they had never seen the girl before, they lost interest.
They all nodded and retreated to their respective dorm rooms.
Seeing that the storm was subsiding, He Yinxin put away her smile and turned to face Lin Yan's grinning face.
He strode up to her and placed his hands on Lin Yan's shoulders:
"Lin Yan, please don't make jokes like this in front of Jiang Yichun again."
"You can say whatever you want in private, but never bring this kind of thing into the public eye."
"She'll be embarrassed; she doesn't like that."
Lin Yan raised her chin, meeting his undisguised gaze.
Those eyes, which were usually devoid of emotion, now held a turbulent and complex intensity.
Lin Yan could only pat him on the shoulder and pretend to be relaxed: "Oh dear, Brother He, why are you so serious? Don't worry, I will certainly not fail to live up to your teachings."
"It's getting late, please..."
"Yanzi, can you speak Cantonese?" Jia Shugui, who was standing to the side, put down the potato chips he had finished eating and sighed.
"You'd better go back to your room quickly, our mentor has assigned you another task."
Lin Yan cast a grateful glance at Jia Shugui, then slipped back to her room, leaving the two of them alone in the dormitory hall.
He Yinxin kept her head down, still rubbing her swollen temples with one hand.
Looking at his flushed face, Jia Shugui sighed and lowered his voice: "Old He, I don't care what you think of Jiang Xuemei, but I still want to say that the biggest problem is with yourself."
"Everyone else is just making a fuss, but your alt account—"
"It was a deception. I've always known." He Yinxin forced a bitter smile, turned and went into her room, leaving Jia Shugui with only her back to her.
Jia Shugui stared at the closed door and muttered to himself, "Old He... he's really changed."
He Yinxin closed the door and slumped into his chair, his head spinning.
Jiang Yichun's dejected face and fearful eyes were right in front of him. He followed her as she swayed, and his own metal shell was shaken off, leaving only a violently beating heart.
Those gentle undertones that had been suppressed for many years finally surfaced.
A mix of emotions—bitterness, relief, and excitement—sweet over like the complex flavors of rice wine, leaving only a lingering fragrance in the end.
Only one thought remained lingering in his mind:
We need to talk to Xiaochun and get things cleared up!
He took out his phone and typed out a long message in the notes app.
He revised and deleted repeatedly before finally opening the chat interface with Jiang Yichun.
He looked up at the little mongrel dog image and murmured, "Xiaochun, don't be angry."
He let go, and he pasted and sent out all the text.
He leaned back, tilted his head back, and looked at the white ceiling.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yichun finally replied: "I'm fine. Thank you for noticing my mood. You are indeed very thoughtful."
His gaze lingered on that message for a long time.
He couldn't tell what tone Jiang Yichun used when replying to that sentence, even though they were on the other end of the internet.
Sincerity, humor, or sarcasm?
His childhood fear of uncertainty overwhelmed him once again, and he could only desperately search for a foothold.
fulcrum...
The steaming hot pig's trotters reappeared in front of him.
Pig's trotters? Yes, pig's trotters!
Wouldn't it make Xiaochun happy if I treated her to a meal of pig's trotters?
By the time He Yinxin realized what was happening, he had already used "Xixi's" alternate account to send Jiang Yichun a "pig's trotter" invitation.
"Deception, you are using Xixi's identity to deceive her."
I……
He hurriedly withdrew the message, but Jiang Yichun happened to see it.
Everything is easy: [?]
She...she saw it?
He Yinxin's hands trembled, and she quickly made up an excuse to get away with it.
Jiang Yichun didn't think much of it and immediately expressed his understanding.
Just when he thought everything was fine, Jiang Yichun sent him a question:
What do you think about when you fall for your boyfriend?
These words made his blood boil, and his heart pounded in his chest.
His phone slipped and fell to the ground with a "thud," causing him to slide off the chair and slump to the floor.
"Xiaochun...why are you asking me this? Do you...have someone you like?"
He suddenly felt a stinging sensation in his nose, and words slipped out of his mouth.
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