Chapter 1 "Lin Yi, I like you."...
"Lin Yi, I like you."
The steaming hot pot filled the air, and Zhao Qing's words instantly silenced everyone at the table.
Several pairs of chopsticks hung in mid-air, and a slice of beef that someone had just picked up slid back into the hot pot of red oil. Everyone's eyes darted back and forth between Zhao Qing and Lin Yi.
Lin Yi paused slightly while chewing, then put down his chopsticks, gently wiped his mouth with a tissue, and looked up at Zhao Qing, a gentle yet distant smile playing on his lips:
"Zhao Qing, we've known each other for so many years, don't you understand me?"
"I'm really not suited for dating."
The person across the table couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I agree with that."
Ignoring the joke that was trying to defuse the awkwardness, Zhao Qing leaned forward, rested her chin on her hands, and continued, "Lin Yi, I'm serious. Can we be together?"
Lin Yi lowered his voice: "I don't want to lie to you, I like men."
"But……"
Zhao Qing's voice suddenly rose, "Your dad is also... your mom divorced your dad because of this? You don't mean to..."
"cough!"
"cough!"
Before he could finish speaking, several clear coughs rang out.
The atmosphere suddenly became eerie, and even the bubbling sound of the hot pot boiling was particularly jarring.
Everyone knows this is the most sensitive topic in Lin Yi's mind, and also a taboo subject between friends.
Lin Yi's eyes dimmed for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
He didn't immediately refute the topic about his family; he just smiled slightly, as if laughing at a joke that had nothing to do with him.
He picked up the serving chopsticks and casually added a plate of shrimp paste to the bubbling hot pot of red oil, calmly stirring up the awkward atmosphere once again with this gesture.
"So what do you like about me?"
"Because you're handsome," Zhao Qing answered without hesitation, with a touch of girlish stubbornness. "There's no one more handsome than you around me! Is it wrong to like handsome guys?"
This straightforward praise caught Lin Yi off guard.
“Zhao Qing,” he raised his eyes, his gaze honest, “we’ve known each other for over ten years. You see, I’ll mess up your games, and I always steal your favorite meat when we eat… If you take away this appearance, I’m not only very ordinary, but I even have quite a few flaws.”
"So, don't be fooled by a man's face."
After he made this clear rejection, Zhao Qing stared intently at him and said firmly, "But I just can't get rid of your face!"
Lin Yi looked at her slightly trembling lips, his heart softened, and he sighed silently.
He took out his phone, unlocked it, and quickly swiped his finger across the screen.
It eventually stopped on the avatar of a game friend.
ID name: "Marco Bobo Tea"
“Look,” he said, turning the screen toward Zhao Qing, his tone as casual as if he were introducing a dish, “my new boyfriend.”
"A scumbag like me changes men faster than he changes clothes, I'm really not worth your affection."
Zhao Qing suddenly stood up, grabbed the untouched glass of iced lemonade on the table, and splashed it hard at Lin Yi.
"Lin Yi, you bastard! Die! You dead gay!"
The cool liquid dripped down the ends of her hair, spreading dark water stains on her white T-shirt, the coolness seeping into her skin.
Lin Yi didn't dodge, nor did he even blink. His face maintained that gentle, almost numb smile, as if he had long been used to such a scene.
"Sister Qing, it can't be that bad!"
Someone immediately stood up to smooth things over.
While handing Lin Yi a tissue, Li Rui said to Zhao Qing, "Zhao Qing, calm down. You two are too familiar with each other, which makes you unsuitable as lovers. You know Lin Yi's personality. He... is indeed not ready to settle down yet."
Zhao Qing: "Li Rui, whose side are you on? We're neighbors, how can you be siding with outsiders?!"
"……I don't."
Zhang Zexuan, on the other side, quickly chimed in: "Sister Qing, calm down! I'll introduce you to someone even more handsome and devoted sometime, the kind of guy who likes your fiery wild horse!"
"Hmph! Lin Yi! You'll regret it if you look down on me!"
Zhao Qing glared at Lin Yi, grabbed her bag, and turned to leave.
Zhang Zexuan nudged Zhou Ziyang, who was still stuffing meat into his mouth: "Stop eating. You're close to her, go see her off..."
After Zhou Ziyang jogged out, the remaining people sat down again, and the atmosphere became somewhat subdued.
Li Rui patted Lin Yi's wet shoulder: "Are you alright?"
Lin Yi pulled out a few tissues and slowly wiped his hair and cheeks, saying calmly, "It's okay, she's vented her anger."
"We can't embarrass her," Lin Yi said, crumpling the wet wipe into a ball and throwing it into the trash can. "It's already quite admirable for a girl to have the courage to confess her feelings; we can't undermine her confidence any further."
Zhang Zexuan plopped down and waved his hand: "Don't worry, with Sister Qing's mental fortitude... you can rest assured, it won't affect her in the slightest!"
I bet she's already starting to think about her next boyfriend.
Li Rui's gaze was fixed on Lin Yi as he tentatively asked, "You really changed...boyfriends again?"
Lin Yi picked up his beer and took a sip: "I did find a pretty good teammate in the game."
Li Rui: "..."
Lin Yi simply stared silently at the doorway, recalling what Zhao Qing had just said:
Your dad was the same... Your mom got divorced because your dad tricked her into marriage... Do you want to end up like your dad...?
Although Zhao Qing didn't finish speaking, everyone present understood.
Zhang Zexuan, however, was quite carefree. While eating tripe, he interjected, "Li Rui, look at that aloof expression on his face. Does he look like he's fallen in love?"
He swallowed his food, wiped his greasy fingers haphazardly with a tissue, unlocked his phone, and opened Lin Yi's WeChat Moments:
"Come on, let me count for you... count our Brother Yi's great achievements!"
"On May 4th, I posted on my WeChat Moments to announce my breakup, saying goodbye to my 60th boyfriend... Then last week, on August 20th, I announced my new relationship, welcoming my 65th boyfriend."
Li Rui nudged him: "Say less..."
Zhang Zexuan skillfully dodged the attack, picked up another piece of meat, put it in his mouth, and continued scrolling through the chat history:
"Look at the reasons he gave us for breaking up. I'll read them aloud, listen carefully—"
"Reason for the breakup #1: Because Lin Yi was born in the Year of the Dragon and his partner was born in the Year of the Monkey, their zodiac signs clashed—it's like being choked, so breaking up is auspicious!"
"No way, buddy, why are you even dating? With a breakup excuse like that, you should just go straight to a stand-up comedy competition, skip the auditions and go straight to the semi-finals. Believe me, all the judges would give you a standing ovation!"
"But what happened? They immediately posted you on the school forum. For a while, everyone at your school was calling you a scumbag who was refreshingly unconventional. Have you forgotten all that?"
"And last month, a female student photoshopped a picture of you two holding hands, and what did you reply to on her forum—'We're both blood type B, I'm afraid our child will be a moron in the future, let's break up.'"
"No, you're not in a relationship, why are you claiming to have a girlfriend..."
Even now, people on the forum are still criticizing you for having a face that looks like a modeler, and for being rude and lacking manners...
If you keep going like this, you'll soon be compiled into a "Scumbag Boy Confirmation PDF" and spread like wildfire!
"Since it's photoshopped, no one will believe it no matter how much you explain."
Lin Yi's voice was somewhat low, "She's very professional at photoshopping. If she can Photoshop a picture of holding hands, she can also Photoshop chat logs. Explaining will only lead to a self-proving trap. It's the cleanest and most efficient way to end this, and it can also persuade her not to waste her time on me."
"As for those comments, they don't affect me if I don't read them."
Zhang Zexuan clapped repeatedly: "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! You're a living saint, a true master of breakups!"
Seeing Lin Yi's increasingly somber expression, Li Rui interrupted Zhang Zexuan: "Alright, Lin Yi hasn't gotten over it because of Chen Zhinan's matter... changing partners is just... a way to heal his wounds."
Lin Yi stood up and interrupted him, saying, "It's my treat today. Please comfort Zhao Qing and take her shopping. I'll reimburse you for the expenses."
"Lin Yi..." Li Rui hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Don't keep it to yourself, you must tell us."
"What could possibly happen to me?" Lin Yi forced a smile, trying to lighten his tone. "If Zhao Qing tries to come to school and beat me up anytime soon, remember to stop her. I don't want to end up on the bulletin board as a victim who was beaten up and ended up in the hospital."
"Lin Yi, wait a moment..."
Li Rui wanted to say something, but stopped when he saw Lin Yi frown. He simply said, "It's nothing. School starts tomorrow. Come to my school for dinner when you're free."
Lin Yi nodded. "See you later."
Stepping out of the restaurant, a humid and sultry evening breeze hit me. As September approached, the weather not only failed to cool down but became even more humid.
The weather in Jiangzhou has always been like this, just as bad as his mood right now.
Lin Yi felt the T-shirt sticking to his skin on his shoulders, a mixture of the slightly sour lemon juice and the sweet syrup.
He turned into the convenience store next door, bought a pack of tissues, sat down on the bench by the door, and began wiping.
The phone screen lights up.
My gaming friend "Marco Bobo Tea" sent me a message:
[Brother, what did you mean by asking me to send that message just now?]
Scrolling up, you'll see what he just had the other party send on short notice:
[Honey, I miss you, kisses.jpg]
And his own reply:
[Kissing emoji]
These are the records I just showed Zhao Qing.
He crossed out the game notification.
I opened WeChat and my eyes lingered for a moment on the pinned contact, "Mom".
Clicking on it, the last conversation was three months ago.
Several video links sent by my mother:
"Video 1:12 [If your child is gay, you will definitely regret it when you are old]"
"Video 5:20 [This is the right way to view love! Share this with your children]"
"Video 2:08 [Do gay men have the right to choose their partners? Actually, it's due to a serious lack of paternal guidance in family education!]"
...
He silently exited the chat interface, returned to the game, and began typing:
[No Rabbit Morality]: I like men, I'm gay, sorry for earlier.
【Marco Boba Tea】: Typing...
[Not a Rabbit]: Shall we meet?
He glanced at the top right corner; the distance was 19km.
[Unethical about rabbits]: Typing...
[If you feel it's inappropriate, you can refuse...]
[Marco Boba Tea]: So, are you a 1 or a 0? [shy.jpg]
Lin Yi looked at the screen and raised an eyebrow.
Delete the text in the text box, then reply:
[Not adhering to rabbit ethics]: 1.
【Marco Bobo Tea】: What does this "." mean? Are you 1.5?
[Not adhering to rabbit ethics]: A period indicates affirmation. Pure 1.
[Marco Boba Tea]: Where to meet? Looking forward to it.jpg
[No Rabbit Morality]: You decide the location.
【Marco Boba Tea】: Send location [Kashima Coffee (Jiangzhou University Store)]
【Marco Boba Tea】: Send voice message: "See you after class tomorrow, around 7 pm, okay, bro~"
Lin Yi opened the voice chat, and a clear, slightly soft and coquettish voice came from the other party.
A faint smile unconsciously curved his lips.
He has a nice voice, is terrible at games, and is extremely clingy, which perfectly suits his current need to "change his mood".
[Not adhering to rabbit ethics]: OK.
"A student from Jiangzhou University?"
He muttered to himself, opened the map to check, and took a taxi there, which took about 27 minutes.
If you're the same age as someone else, maybe... you really should give it a try.
The National Academy of Fine Arts, where Lin Yi studies, postponed the start of the semester by a week because an art exhibition on campus occupied classrooms.
He is a junior this year. The courses in visual communication design are relatively relaxed, and the school encourages internships, so he can still free up three days a week even with a full schedule of classes.
...
So, the following evening.
He went to the location sent by the other party as agreed.
The evening rush hour traffic was more congested than expected, and by the time I got to my destination, it was almost time to leave.
Lin Yi hurriedly pushed open the door and got out of the car.
As soon as he stepped into the Kashima Cafe, the strong air conditioning and rich aroma of coffee jolted him awake. He instinctively reached for his pocket, and his heart sank.
I was in a bit of a rush when I got out of the taxi and left my phone there.
He glanced at his watch; there were still five minutes until the appointed time. The store was sparsely populated, with only two couples talking quietly.
"Never mind, I'll borrow his phone to make a call later."
His gaze habitually swept across the entire room, finally settling on the innermost corner by the window.
In the interplay of light and shadow, a man in a black shirt sat, focused on his laptop, his long fingers tapping on the keyboard, unconsciously pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.
The man's slightly furrowed brows were filled with focus, and his black, tousled hair fell across his forehead, exuding a calm and aloof aura.
Lin Yi's heartbeat suddenly became irregular.
He stood still, observing the other person without making a sound.
From his focused expression to his well-defined knuckles as he typed, everything about him was far removed from the image of "Marco Bobo Tea" that he had imagined in the game, a character who was soft, sweet, and affectionate.
The "brother~" that came out last night still seemed to echo in his ears. Compared to the quiet scene in front of him, a strange feeling spread in Lin Yi's heart, making him feel inexplicably thirsty.
The man picked up his phone and put it to his ear, seemingly after a failed call. He frowned slightly and put the phone down.
Her gaze inadvertently lifted, colliding with Lin Yi's gaze, which he hadn't had time to look away from.
Those were extremely calm eyes; even through the lenses, one could still sense the scrutinizing light within them.
Lin Yi: I lost my phone, so was he calling me just now?
Could it really be him?
In just three seconds, Lin Yi accepted the fact that the mature man in front of him was "Marco Bobo Tea".
The stark contrast did not deter him; instead, it instantly ignited the interest in his eyes.
He quickly put on a polite and charming smile, took long strides, and walked straight towards that corner.
"I didn't expect you to arrive even earlier than me." His voice carried just the right amount of familiarity.
The man frowned slightly as he saw him walk straight over, his eyes still filled with doubt and scrutiny, and he exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay.
But he remained silent and did not respond.
Seeing this, Lin Yi's desire to conquer was aroused even stronger.
He walked naturally to the table, casually rested one hand on the edge, and leaned closer.
The next moment, under the other person's slightly surprised gaze, Lin Yi tentatively and quickly gave that handsome profile a light peck.
"Sorry I'm late," Lin Yi said with a smile in his voice. "Have you been waiting long, baby?"
A note from the author:
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May this article be of great fortune!
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