Guan Baiyu rested at home for two days before going back to school to fill out college applications.
As soon as Lu Mingqi saw Guan Baiyu, he couldn't help but ask, "Guan Baiyu, why do you look so pale?"
"It's nothing." Guan Baiyu smiled, but the smile seemed forced. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked listless.
Lu Mingqi looked at him suspiciously.
"I've been watching TV and playing games at home every day these past few days, and I didn't sleep well last night, that's why I'm like this," Guan Baiyu offered an excuse.
"Oh, I see... I'm different from you, I've been sleeping these past two days!" Lu Mingqi asked about something else: "By the way, what was your estimated score? Have you decided which university to apply to?"
"I'll probably go to study in the provincial capital," Guan Baiyu said.
"Aren't you going to report somewhere else?" Lu Mingqi asked, somewhat surprised.
"Hmm," Guan Baiyu said.
Changxi City is not far from the provincial capital, making it convenient to travel back and forth. Even if he wants to come back on the weekend, he can.
Other places... are too far away.
Even knowing it was impossible, he didn't want to go too far away from Shi Zhen.
"Is it for your older sister?" Lu Mingqi asked.
"I suppose so," Guan Baiyu said.
Shi Zhen hasn't been as busy these past few days, at least he doesn't go out at night.
But after testing the waters, he discovered that Shi Zhen was avoiding close contact with him.
Many things are not noticeable if you don't think about them much before, but once you think about them more deeply... all sorts of signs will surface.
Shi Zhen was undoubtedly avoiding him.
As for why I'm avoiding him...
Shi Zhen still cared about him a lot. For example, he attached great importance to his college entrance examination.
Sometimes he felt that Shi Zhen valued him more than he valued Shi Ting.
When he took the high school entrance exam, Shi Zhen cared about him in every detail, but when Shi Ting took the high school entrance exam... Shi Zhen didn't care at all.
If that's the case, Shi Zhen avoiding him certainly isn't because he has a problem with him, nor does he dislike him.
If you really have a problem with him or dislike him... there's only one air conditioner in the house, how could Shi Zhen possibly install another one in his room?
He tested the waters.
Last night, Shi Zhen was at home, and it was especially hot, so he let Shi Zhen sleep in the same room as him... after all, his room had air conditioning.
However, Shi Zhen refused without even thinking about it.
He shamelessly begged and pleaded with Shi Zhen to sleep with him, but Shi Zhen kept refusing, saying he wasn't used to sleeping with others.
But it's not like they've never slept together before!
Shi Zhen refused to come over before, saying he didn't want to disturb his sleep and wanted him to maintain a good state for the college entrance examination. Now he has done well on the exam!
Shi Zhen was avoiding him, and as for why he was avoiding him... Shi Zhen should have been able to see through his feelings.
Shi Zhen must have figured it out!
Guan Baiyu's eyes welled up with tears as he thought about this.
Shi Zhen is actually very perceptive. Although he tried his best to hide it, feelings are something that he can't hide just because he wants to.
He likes Shi Zhen very much.
He had done a lot of little tricks beforehand, just to hold hands with Shi Zhen or something.
It's not surprising that Shi Zhenhui could see it.
I wonder what Shi Zhen thought of him after discovering his feelings... Did he find him disgusting?
Was Shi Zhen tolerating him all year?
For Guan Baiyu, this was even more painful than Shi Zhen disliking him.
He didn't sleep at all last night.
In the morning, he could still put on a smile in front of Shi Zhen so that Shi Zhen wouldn't notice anything amiss, but now that Shi Zhen wasn't around, he didn't have the energy to pretend anymore.
He felt a tightness in his chest, so asking him to smile and greet people was asking too much.
“Guan Baiyu, if you fill out your college application like this, we might be able to study at the same school in the future,” Lu Mingqi said. He was a student in Class 1 and had good grades, consistently ranking in the top 20 of his grade.
Moreover, he always performs exceptionally well in major exams, and he felt that he did very well in this college entrance examination.
"That's good." Guan Baiyu forced a smile again, looking rather listless.
They stayed at school all morning, filling out college applications and writing in each other's yearbooks.
This yearbook is a new product launched by Huaguang. They have made more than ten different styles, with the cheapest costing only one yuan and the most expensive costing ten yuan. Almost every student in their class has one.
Guan Baiyu also prepared a copy, but forgot to bring it...
He simply stopped asking others to write for him. When others asked him to write, he would write a brief answer, but he didn't fill in his phone number or address.
"Guan Baiyu, don't you have a telephone at home?" someone asked.
"Mm," Guan Baiyu replied.
There are still quite a few households without telephones, so no one suspected anything. However, Lu Mingqi asked in a low voice, "You really don't have a telephone at home?"
"No, I'll give you my uncle's phone number." Guan Baiyu wrote down Shi Dalin's phone number for Lu Mingqi: "If you want to contact me, you can call this number."
“Okay!” Lu Mingqi put the phone number away.
At 11 a.m., everyone left the school and went to a restaurant for lunch.
The guy who treated the whole class to dinner was a boy who hadn't really stood out in class before. He was tall, fair-skinned, and a bit chubby, with a soft personality. If it weren't for this graduation incident, no one would have known that one of the biggest restaurants in the county was actually owned by his family!
There weren't many people in the restaurant unless it was a holiday. Their class of forty-odd people, plus the teacher, ended up occupying five round tables in the hall, where they ate and talked.
The meal was plentiful; most of the students in their class were adults, and there was even some beer, though most people were drinking soft drinks.
Guan Baiyu took a moment to give the gifts to the student who had treated him, then returned to his seat, ate the food haphazardly, and then drank some wine.
His behavior was so unusual that the teacher called him out: "Guan Baiyu, you don't look well today, and your college application...did you not do well on the exam?"
"No, teacher, I did very well on the test," Guan Baiyu said.
But the teacher clearly didn't believe it.
Guan Baiyu could only say, "Really, teacher, I have something else to do." He had previously thought that Shi Zhen was unaware of his feelings, so he dared to cling to Shi Zhen, acting coquettishly and taking the opportunity to be intimate with him.
But now Shi Zhen knows about his feelings.
She might even find his closeness disgusting.
Is there no future for him and Shi Zhen?
"You...you haven't broken up with your boyfriend, have you?" The homeroom teacher frowned.
Guan Baiyu remained silent.
Even the homeroom teacher was surprised: "You really hid it well! Who is it with? I basically know who in the class is secretly dating, but I really didn't notice you before!"
Later on, the homeroom teacher even had a hint of gossip on her face.
Guan Baiyu: "..." Several students in their class were secretly dating, and everyone thought the teacher didn't know. Turns out the teacher did know?
Think about it carefully... those who were called in by the teacher and criticized for dating in school were all those whose grades had dropped... so if your grades haven't dropped, the teacher doesn't care?
"Is the person you're dating from Class 5?" the teacher asked again.
Sun Qiqi and Qiu Yunxin are in Class 5.
Guan Baiyu immediately said, "Teacher, no."
Fortunately, although the homeroom teacher gossiped a bit, she didn't press the matter further. Guan Baiyu returned to her seat and poured herself another glass of wine.
Today was the first time he had ever drunk alcohol.
Shi Zhen doesn't drink alcohol. His family only has cooking wine for cooking, and he has no interest in it, so he has never drunk any.
Now that he's drunk it... he finds it really doesn't taste good. At best, it's just... cold, so it's refreshing to drink.
Not only that, Guan Baiyu also discovered that... he had a pretty good alcohol tolerance.
He's already drunk two bottles of beer and doesn't feel anything at all.
After staring at his wine glass for a while, Guan Baiyu poured himself another glass of wine.
Shi Zhen will come to pick him up later.
"Guan Baiyu, you have a really good alcohol tolerance." The people at the same table looked at Guan Baiyu with admiration.
"Guan Baiyu, stop drinking, or how will you get home later?" Some people were worried about Guan Baiyu.
Guan Baiyu said, "It's okay, my brother will come to pick me up."
"That's good!"
"I didn't expect you to be a drunkard, Guan Baiyu, hahaha."
"I'll give you this bottle."
...
There aren't many people drinking in Changxi City, and most of these students are drinking for the first time.
Young people who drink alcohol for the first time often don't have much of a passion for it and will only drink a little before stopping.
In contrast, beverages like cola are more popular among them.
Especially since these cans of cola were frozen!
Guan Baiyu was the only one who drank four bottles of beer.
If it were anyone else drinking like that, everyone would have stopped them long ago, but Guan Baiyu looked like... he seemed very sad, and drinking seemed like he was trying to drown his sorrows.
No one around could stop him.
Of course, everyone also thought...did he fail the exam?
They couldn't persuade him, so they could only watch helplessly as Guan Baiyu drank.
This morning when Guan Baiyu left home, Shi Zhen told him that he would pick him up at noon.
Shi Zhen isn't going to Anshan Town this morning; picking up people is just a convenient thing to do.
After having lunch at the construction site, Shi Zhen drove to the restaurant entrance.
After starting business, it's easy to get to know a lot of people, including the owner of this restaurant, Shi Zhen.
They had invested in real estate together in their past life, but they're not very close in this one.
The students were eating in the hall. Shi Zhen stood at the door and glanced at them. Seeing that they were still eating, he didn't go over and found a shady spot to stand.
He had only been standing there for a short while when he met the restaurant owner.
Upon seeing Shi Zhen, the boss immediately approached with a smile: "Mr. Shi!"
"President Zhou," Shi Zhen greeted with a smile.
Mr. Zhou took out a pack of cigarettes and was about to offer it to Shi Zhen, but Shi Zhen refused: "I don't smoke."
"Then you'll have to learn," Mr. Zhou laughed, then asked, "How did you end up here?"
"My younger brother is in the same class as your son."
"What a coincidence? What's your brother's name?" Mr. Zhou asked curiously.
Shi Zhen laughed, a smug look on his face: "His name is Guan Baiyu."
"Your younger brother is Guan Baiyu!" President Zhou exclaimed with admiration. "His grades are exceptionally good!"
The two chatted for a while, and then the teachers came out.
Upon seeing Shi Zhen, the homeroom teacher breathed a sigh of relief: "Guan Baiyu's brother, I was just about to call you. It's good that you're here... Guan Baiyu drank quite a bit, I'm afraid he won't be able to go home alone."
Guan Baiyu has been drinking? Shi Zhen was stunned for a moment and wanted to stop him, but Guan Baiyu was an adult and he couldn't be too strict with him.
Following the teacher, some students also came out. Many of them were from the surrounding countryside, and it would take them two or three hours to get home, so they couldn't linger here.
Guan Baiyu didn't come out. Shi Zhen waited for a while, then couldn't help but go in. He saw Guan Baiyu lying on the table, sobbing. The people around him looked at him helplessly.
"Xiaoyu, what's wrong?" Shi Zhen asked anxiously. Guan Baiyu wasn't one to cry easily!
Guan Baiyu suddenly raised his head, his tearful eyes staring straight at Shi Zhen, but he didn't say a word.
He looks a lot like he did when he had a fever.
Of course... he probably didn't have a fever, he was just drunk.
The first time they were together in their past life was after they got drunk...
Back then, even before he got drunk, he would always steal glances at Guan Baiyu. After Guan Baiyu drank, he looked like this, especially alluring.
“Guan Baiyu’s brother! Guan Baiyu is drunk!” Lu Mingqi said.
"How much did he drink?" Shi Zhen asked Lu Mingqi. He had met Guan Baiyu's classmate before.
“He drank four bottles of beer!” Lu Mingqi glanced at Guan Baiyu, speechless.
Guan Baiyu's behavior today clearly indicates that he's drowning his sorrows in alcohol!
As for what grudge he was settling down with... Lu Mingqi pondered, he must have just broken up with his girlfriend.
Could it be that his older sister didn't reject him before so that he could focus on the college entrance exam, but now that the exam is over, she's just rejecting him outright?
That's too cruel!
Lu Mingqi looked at Guan Baiyu with sympathy.
At this moment, Guan Baiyu suddenly slammed his hand on the table: "I'm not drunk! I'm perfectly fine!"
His voice had changed; he was clearly very drunk.
"How did you drink so much?" Shi Zhen was surprised. One reason he didn't drink was that he couldn't hold his liquor.
He'd definitely pass out after two bottles of beer.
Of course, with more practice, his alcohol tolerance can be improved. In his past life, he often attended dinner parties with people, and his alcohol tolerance was already quite good.
But he has no interest in these things in his life, so he doesn't drink anymore. He's never practiced drinking, and he'd probably be a two-bottle wonder.
As for Guan Baiyu… he remembered that Guan Baiyu's alcohol tolerance was even worse than his own; he would get dizzy after just one bottle, but he was incredibly bold. This time, he actually drank four bottles…
One classmate remarked, "Guan Baiyu seems to be in a bad mood."
"Why are you suddenly in a bad mood... Sigh!" Shi Zhen frowned. Guan Baiyu had seemed perfectly normal these past two days...
"We don't know either..." Lu Mingqi didn't dare tell Shi Zhen about Guan Baiyu's relationship.
Shi Zhen asked him, "Did you not do well on the exam?"
Lu Mingqi didn't say anything. He had compared answers with Guan Baiyu earlier, and Guan Baiyu had clearly done very well on the test.
“It’s okay if you didn’t do well on the exam… there’s no need to make such a fuss…” Seeing that he couldn’t get any information out of him, Shi Zhen looked at Guan Baiyu again.
After Guan Baiyu slammed his fist on the table and shouted that he wasn't drunk, he stared straight at Shi Zhen without blinking.
"Xiaoyu, let's go home," Shi Zhen said to Guan Baiyu.
Guan Baiyu remained motionless like a wooden statue, so Shi Zhen half-carried him and pulled him up.
After being pulled up, Guan Baiyu behaved himself, leaning against Shi Zhen and following him outside.
He felt weak all over, as if he couldn't stand up... Fortunately, Shi Zhen was strong. He put one of his arms around his neck and easily helped him out.
"I never expected that the only one in our class to get drunk would be Guan Baiyu."
"Guan Baiyu's brother is so handsome!"
"Guan Baiyu is handsome too! He's just a bit aloof. I tried to talk to him earlier, but he ignored me completely."
...
At the No. 1 High School in the city, the number of science classes far exceeds the number of humanities classes; all of them, from Class 1 to Class 7, are science classes.
In the humanities classes, there are only a handful of boys in each class, but in the science classes... there are over forty students, but only thirteen girls.
Today, a girl actually wanted to confess her feelings to Guan Baiyu, but Guan Baiyu was in a bad mood. He didn't prepare his own yearbook, and when he wrote in other people's yearbooks, he did it perfunctorily. He also ignored her and kept drinking.
This girl looks quite down right now.
However, they will most likely go their separate ways in the future, and there was no future for them anyway... Thinking about it this way, she felt a little better.
On the other side, Shi Zhen helped Guan Baiyu into the driver's seat and then bent down to fasten Guan Baiyu's seatbelt.
Guan Baiyu leaned forward, burying his face in his neck, pressing it tightly against him, as if... he had kissed his neck and wouldn't let go.
Shi Zhen froze, a tingling sensation spreading throughout his body.
In his past life, when he was with Guan Baiyu, he had just bought a motorcycle.
Back then, whenever he had free time in the evenings, he would take Guan Baiyu out for fun.
Guan Baiyu sat behind him and would sometimes kiss his neck.
Although it didn't happen often, he always remembered that feeling.
At this moment, Guan Baiyu's breath, reeking of alcohol, landed on his neck, and he could barely fasten his seatbelt. It took him a while to finally manage to buckle it.
Shi Zhen breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the car.
He sat on the other side of the car, started the engine, and turned on the air conditioning before the heat on his body finally dissipated.
After thinking for a moment, he adjusted the air conditioner vents to prevent the air from blowing directly on Guan Baiyu and making him sick.
During this time, Guan Baiyu remained silent, staring at him with moist eyes.
Shi Zhen felt a surge of heat under Guan Baiyu's gaze and couldn't resist the urge to touch him, but he ultimately restrained himself.
It's really wrong to take advantage of Guan Baiyu while he's drunk.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Zhen drove Guan Baiyu back to their residence.
Their home was on the fifth floor. Shi Zhen helped Guan Baiyu out of the car and led him upstairs.
Guan Baiyu was drunk, and he was afraid that Guan Baiyu would not cooperate, so he was thinking about whether to carry Guan Baiyu up. As a result, Guan Baiyu cooperated very well and walked up step by step.
She leaned on him the whole time, and only took one step at a time, walking very slowly.
Also, Guan Baiyu kept looking at him.
His eyes were so direct, full of affection, without any pretense, that Shi Zhen's heart trembled.
Guan Baiyu liked him very much.
I like it very, very much.
But was this just a momentary impulse on a young man's part, or... was he really sure?
Does he know how difficult this road is?
Shi Zhen helped the man upstairs, opened the door, and then escorted Guan Baiyu to his bedroom.
Guan Baiyu reeked of alcohol, but he didn't find the smell unpleasant... Shi Zhen helped him sit down on the bed, wanting him to lie down and sleep for a while.
After a good night's sleep, Guan Baiyu sobered up.
Guan Baiyu was completely numb. After sitting down on the edge of the bed, he remained motionless. Seeing this, Shi Zhen squatted down and took off his shoes.
Then he felt... Guan Baiyu stroking his head, in that... petting a puppy motion?
So I gently stroked his head from front to back, one stroke at a time.
Guan Baiyu would never have done this before; this is truly... incredibly impressive.
Shi Zhen took off Guan Baiyu's shoes and was about to let him lie down when Guan Baiyu suddenly hugged his neck.
"Xiaoyu?" Shi Zhen called out.
Guan Baiyu's eyes were still moist. He hugged Shi Zhen tightly and rested his head on Shi Zhen's shoulder.
His voice was very soft, but Shi Zhen still heard it: "Brother, I like you."
Shi Zhen took a deep breath before asking, "Xiao Yu, are you awake?"
Guan Baiyu was, of course, sober.
He only realized he had a good alcohol tolerance after drinking the alcohol.
He's definitely under the influence of alcohol right now, but he knows what he's doing.
But he dared not admit it.
If he doesn't say anything, we can pretend we know nothing about it later.
"Brother, I like you. I've liked you for a long time." Guan Baiyu's voice was a little louder, and he hugged her tighter.
If it were in his past life, Shi Zhen definitely wouldn't have been able to hold back.
He met Guan Baiyu in his previous life, in the coming year.
He was 22 years old at the time, and Guan Baiyu was 19.
He had almost no self-control in front of Guan Baiyu.
But now... he actually feels that he's getting old.
He no longer has the passion he had when he was young.
Does Guan Baiyu really like him like this?
Will I find him boring and uninteresting after we get together?
Shi Zhen didn't move. When he came to his senses, he found that Guan Baiyu was also not moving and had loosened her grip on him.
Shi Zhen gently hugged him and put him down from his shoulder. He then realized that the man had his eyes closed and was asleep, his head still burrowing into his body. As soon as he hugged Shi Zhen's arm, the man buried his face in the arm and wouldn't let go.
Shi Zhen put him on the bed, used a little force to pull his arm out, and then turned on the air conditioner for Guan Baiyu.
Only after he had done all this did he open the door and go out.
After Shi Zhen left, Guan Baiyu, who was lying on the bed, opened his eyes.
He had almost fully unleashed his acting skills by pretending to be asleep.
Shi Zhen remained silent. He didn't know what to do and didn't want to put Shi Zhen in a difficult position, so this was the only option.
He had a crush on Shi Zhen for about three years. In those three years, although he sometimes struggled with his feelings, overall it was a bittersweet experience, and he was actually very happy.
That year, he even described a relationship with Shi Zhen in his own words.
But barring any unforeseen circumstances... all of this is about to come to an end.
Shi Zhen's reaction was not unexpected.
Shi Zhen had always treated him very well, but he had never crossed any lines.
And... they are cousins.
Even if they are not two men, but a man and a woman, they cannot get married.
So what exactly is he hoping for?
Guan Baiyu lay still, closed his eyes again, but tears still welled up.
He didn't know what to do next, and just then, the door opened again.
Guan Baiyu remained motionless, feeling Shi Zhen place something on his bedside table, then adjust the air conditioner temperature, and finally cover him with the towel blanket from his bed.
Guan Baiyu's heart, which had been pounding, suddenly sank, leaving him feeling both amused and exasperated.
More tears fell.
Shi Zhen really treats him very well, but... there's no chance for them.
Does his affection for Shi Zhen cause trouble for Shi Zhen?
The house fell silent, and soon after... Guan Baiyu heard the front door open and close again.
If nothing unexpected happens, Shi Zhen should have left home.
He finally moved, opened his eyes and looked at the bedside table, where he saw a glass of water and a bag of milk.
Shi Zhenlao bought him milk so he could take it to school and drink it at home.
Even at this time, they never forget to give him a drink.
Guan Baiyu rolled over and lay face up, feeling somewhat relieved that he had pretended to be drunk.
Tomorrow he can pretend he knows nothing and casually approach Shi Zhen to talk to him.
I just don't know what Shi Zhen will think of him.
Guan Baiyu covered his face with his hands, thought for a moment, and then got out of bed.
He had drunk several bottles of beer and needed to use the restroom.
When he got home, he wanted to pretend to be drunk and ask Shi Zhen to take him to the toilet, but he was too embarrassed to do it.
As for now... even though he's so sad, he still has to get up crying to go to the toilet.
It's really... just thinking about it makes me feel a little pathetic.
But Shi Zhen was also pitiful, as he fell in love with him.
It's hard to know how conflicted Shi Zhen was that year.
Tears streamed down Guan Baiyu's face. After using the restroom and washing his hands and face, he returned to his room and collapsed onto the bed.
He was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to look at his face tomorrow, but he couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
He didn't sleep all night and drank some alcohol. Although he was sad, he slowly fell asleep.
I just can't sleep very soundly.
He seemed to have arrived in a completely unfamiliar place.
It was a construction site. He was wearing old clothes and sitting on a pile of bricks.
He sensed something, turned around, and saw someone watching him from not far away.
He was a tall, handsome young man with a slightly tanned face. When they met his gaze, the girl smiled shyly and turned her head to talk to someone else.
A moment later, when he turned his head again, the man was looking at him again.
He would actually look at that person too, after all, that person was the most handsome one on the construction site.
He likes men, so of course he'd like to look at handsome guys.
Sometimes... he would feel that this person's attire was so unbearable to look at.
Not only did she wear tattered clothes, but her hair was also very long, and she didn't care about it.
That person told everyone every day that they had to wear safety helmets while working, and he wore one himself.
So, when the man finally stopped and took off his helmet... his hair was flattened, and the hair around his head stood up, leaving a mark of the helmet, which looked particularly strange.
The man was still oblivious, and when he saw him looking over, he smiled at him.
He couldn't help but laugh every time.
He was very thin and small, and he tried to act pitiful so that his master would be willing to teach him and take him around to do chores.
This also led to some people on the construction site disliking him.
He is clean-loving, and because he likes men, he doesn't like to put his arm around others, which makes some people say he's pretentious.
He used to read books on the construction site, and some people would deliberately damage his books or throw away his water bottle.
This construction site is actually no different from those other construction sites.
Most people didn't have any ill intentions towards him, and some older people would even take extra care of him, but there were always some people who didn't like him.
Seeing him reading, someone jokingly reached out to snatch the book from him...
Before the filthy hand could even touch his book, it was blocked by the person who kept staring at him. That person scolded the person who wanted to take his book: "He's reading a book. What are you doing taking his book? And look at your dirty hands. If you damage his book, you'll have to pay for it."
After saying that, the man smiled sheepishly at him and then pulled away the person who had tried to snatch his book.
He worked slowly, and that person appeared out of nowhere and finished the job for him in no time.
The person even stood behind him while he was reading, secretly peeking at his book.
He also heard the man scolding those around him, telling them not to disturb him while he was reading...
Although this person doesn't talk to him much, he's certain that this person likes him.
Four years ago, he was admitted to high school and finally lived on campus. There, he accidentally discovered something—he liked men.
He dropped out of high school after only a short time, not even completing a full semester.
After that, while doing odd jobs, he would also find some books to read.
Because of his own circumstances, he naturally paid particular attention to men and men's affairs.
What ultimately gave him some understanding of this matter was... "Dream of the Red Chamber"?
He knew he liked men, but he had never liked any man before. In fact, he loathed the construction site men who always swore.
Until this person appeared.
He liked the person's appearance from the beginning, but after spending more time with him, he began to like everything about him.
It was clear, however, that the person was still oblivious and hadn't realized anything.
Seeing another bottle of frozen cola placed next to his book, he didn't want to let go of this person.
No one had ever been kind to him before, but now that someone liked him, that person was his.
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