Telephone Crisis
Zhou Qingchi emphasized the word "friend" in his words with a light, airy tone, and coupled with his sudden upward gaze, it gave Bai Yixia the illusion that she had been "caught in the act."
But her mind, still clouded by his good looks, couldn't quite process what was happening, and she asked in confusion, "Friends? What friends?"
"I'll call you Xia Xia," Zhou Qingchi said.
“Oh! You mean Qi Wang?” Bai Yixia said. “He asked me to take cosplay photos. I mentioned it to you before, I don’t know if you remember.”
Zhou Qingchi wasn't very knowledgeable about games, and would only occasionally play some two-player games with Bai Yixia that could ruin their friendship. But Zhou Qingchi remembered Bai Yixia's favorite character very clearly. "I know, Selgov?"
Bai Yixia gave him an approving look and praised, "Great! As expected of Brother Qingchi, I only mentioned it once and you remembered our Xiao Sai's name." She pouted, "Unlike Jiajia, who can't remember even after saying it a hundred times."
Compared to Bai Yixia, Nie Jiayuan was completely unrelated to the world of anime and manga. Even Bai Yixia was once curious about how the two of them got along so well, and finally concluded that no matter what Bai Yixia said, Nie Jiayuan would mechanically nod, as if the words were just going into her head or not.
Zhou Qingchi chuckled. "Now you're being unreasonable again? Wasn't it when you were wailing and pleading over the Selgovian merchandise that Nie Jiayuan gave you?"
Bai Yixia was forced to recall her embarrassing moment and let out a soft wail, "Zhou Qingchi!"
When called by his full name, Zhou Qingchi didn't react much. He just stared at the screen in silence for a few seconds, then whispered, "Xia Xia. I haven't seen you lately. Why is it always so dark over there?"
He could only see the constantly shaking camera and the occasional glimpse of what appeared to be Bai Yixia's chin. He clearly had something else to say, but he forced himself to swallow it back, lest he scare the person away.
Bai Yixia snorted unhappily, "Because I've been in the classroom lately, and every time you call, I'm back in the dorm. You just pick the wrong time." She paused, then said with a hint of resentment, "Besides, you're all dark today, I can't see anything."
Actually, I was just kidding. I saw your abs and pecs.
Hehe :D
While secretly harboring wicked thoughts, Bai Yixia wore an unhappy expression, but in reality, she had already set off several rounds of fireworks in her mind.
"sorry."
Upon hearing the apology out of the blue, Bai Yixia froze on the spot like a cat with its fur standing on end, her eyes wide with shock.
Bai Yixia's tone softened immediately, "Brother Zhou? I was just joking with you, I'm not blaming you."
Zhou Qingchi shook his head. "Am I contacting you too often? I feel like I'm always bothering you."
Bai Yixia was speechless; her heart was breaking.
Previously worried about contacting Zhou Qingchi too much by phone or video, Bai Yixia had become much more restrained, only calling him when she really missed him.
After Zhou Qingyan nearly fainted from the fever at home, Bai Yixia used the excuse of reporting her younger brother to Zhou Qingchi to visit him every few days.
Perhaps she got used to it, and after a while, Bai Yixia no longer needed to call; Zhou Qingchi would call whenever she was struggling with her decision.
The two seem to have made up their minds to keep in touch every day, and they have continued to do so until now.
Bai Yixia was heartbroken, but she was the one who spoke first, so she couldn't blame the other person. Like a stubborn mule, she didn't utter a single word for the rest of the journey, trying her best to hold back her tears.
Only when he arrived at the dormitory building did he manage to squeeze out a dry "I'm here."
Although Zhou Qingchi had been ignored the whole way, he still maintained the good temper that Bai Yixia knew. As expected, he hummed in agreement, his voice as gentle as ever, "Are you angry?"
I'm so angry I want to block you temporarily!! Bai Yixia puffed out her cheeks while hiding in the blind spot of the camera, and then replied calmly, "No, why would I be angry?"
"Really? Then who is the pufferfish I was video chatting with?" Zhou Qingchi asked doubtfully.
Bai Yixia thought she was holding the phone upside down, so she tentatively showed half of her face, only to see her brows furrowed into a tight knot. She muttered under her breath, "What! Zhou Qingchi, you lied to me!"
“You seem to have a lot of things planned out lately, and I feel like I’m always bothering you.” Seeing her face, Zhou Qingchi seemed relieved and spoke slowly.
Hearing him say that, Bai Yixia was at a loss for words. She had been busy drawing lately, so she didn't have much free time, but for her, Zhou Qingchi's phone calls were the best source of inspiration.
But what kind of friends are so clingy?
She scratched the mosquito bite on her leg with her hand hanging by her side, her momentum instantly weakening as she lied through her teeth, "No way, I'm just really bored." She pursed her lips, "I didn't find you annoying at all."
Bai Yixia thought about how she and Zhou Qingchi would talk on the phone, chatting about all sorts of things, and it felt like she was back in high school, with no emptiness around her. She was good at making friends and never lacked people to talk to, but none of them were Zhou Qingchi.
Recalling the phone call that was abruptly ended earlier, Bai Yixia suddenly felt a surge of resentment. "You're the one who's annoying me, aren't you?"
"How could that be?" Zhou Qingchi hurriedly tried to explain, "I just—"
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. Bai Yixia waited for two seconds but didn't hear anything. Puzzled, she looked down and saw that the call had ended.
Bai Yixia was incredulous. She stared blankly at her phone, her eyes silently reddening after a long while. A surge of anger rose in her heart at first, but it was quickly replaced by grievance and confusion. Helplessly, she repeatedly tapped the chat box with Zhou Qingchi, but after a long while, she couldn't send a single word.
Did I really cause Zhou Qingchi a lot of trouble? Bai Yixia lowered his head in frustration, thinking sadly whether his unspoken affection was putting a lot of pressure on him, but he was too embarrassed to say it because of their friendship.
Bai Yixia looked up and around her. Four or five couples on campus were huddled together intimately, heads close together, whispering to each other.
Bai Yixia silently moved away, squatted down with a sullen mood, her finger hovering over the glass film, and after a few seconds it landed on Nie Jiayuan's portrait.
Ding ding ding.
The call interface suddenly popped up; it was an unfamiliar number.
Bai Yixia had no intention of answering the unknown call. Just as she was about to hang up, a drop of water fell onto the receiver.
"Xia!"
As soon as the voice on the other end came through, Bai Yixia couldn't help but choke up. She tried her best to hold back her emotions and asked vaguely, "Why did you hang up the phone?"
"I'm sorry, Xia." Zhou Qingchi apologized for the second time today, his voice no longer as gentle as before, but somewhat hoarse. "It was my roommate earlier. He hurt his leg playing basketball, and I went to pick him up. As for just now, there was a power outage in the area tonight, and I didn't pay attention to my phone's battery level this afternoon. It suddenly died just now."
Bai Yixia was taken aback. "Really?"
Zhou Qingchi breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course it's true. I would never lie to you."
That was the truth, and Bai Yixia felt much better. She stammered, "Is your roommate... alright?"
Zhou Qingchi waited for a long time before finally hearing this. He smiled helplessly and glanced at his roommate in the corner who was hopping on one leg to listen to his phone call. "It's okay, but he might lose his other leg soon."
Bai Yixia tilted her head, puzzled. "Why?"
Zhou Qingchi sneered, "Because he used my phone to run a live stream this afternoon, and the battery ran out before he could charge it."
Bai Yixia clicked her tongue and stammered, "Then you...you should be a little gentler, otherwise I'll have to bring him food."
After he finished speaking, both people on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, and then burst into laughter after a couple of seconds.
Hearing Bai Yixia's laughter, Zhou Qingchi's heart, which had been pounding in his chest, finally settled back down. "You're not angry anymore?"
"I'll forgive you for doing a good deed," Bai Yixia said kindly, forgiving him. "Then you'll just have to get some rest early tonight."
"Yes, but I'll text you first thing tomorrow morning when I get a call, okay?"
"That would be great!" Bai Yixia nodded subconsciously, but then remembered that it wasn't a video call and Zhou Qingchi wouldn't be able to see her gesture, so she could only hum in agreement. "Goodnight, Little Zhou. Give your phone back to your poor crippled roommate."
Zhou Qingchi seemed to mutter to himself, "He's not pitiful at all," before replying, "I know. Goodnight, Xia, see you tomorrow."
We won't actually see each other tomorrow, but Bai Yixia likes this way of saying goodbye. Her eyes crinkled into a smile, and she was in a good mood. "See you tomorrow!"
After hanging up the phone, Bai Yixia slowly walked back to her dormitory, her heart heavy.
Zhou Qingchi, far away at Peking University, gripped his phone, stared down at the ground, and sighed heavily. His roommate, who had finally hopped over to him on his crutches, grinned gossipyly, nudged Zhou Qingchi with his shoulder, and teased, "Hey, what's got our Zhou-ge so anxious about something?"
He glanced at his phone with a sly grin. "I knew it! Why are you suddenly so homesick? All that 'brother' thing was just a pretext. Something's up, isn't it?"
Zhou Qingchi looked up at him, then suddenly raised his chin and said coldly, "Stand against the wall."
He usually has a good temper, although he can be a bit sharp-tongued, he always has a smile on his face. His roommate was stunned for a moment when he saw him with a cold face for the first time. When he came to his senses, he was already standing against the wall as he had said.
"W-what's wrong? What are you going to do?" My roommate was a little confused and stammered as he asked.
Zhou Qingchi looked at him, suddenly smiled, and then took his cane.
His roommate thought Zhou Qingchi was going to help him up and was about to reach out when Zhou Qingchi took a step back to avoid his hand and said gently, "I don't know what you're doing out here. Maybe you're looking at the night view. Take your time looking around. I'm going back now."
After saying that, he really did walk back to the dormitory, carrying his cane in one hand and his roommate's phone in the other.
The power went out shortly after 10 o'clock.
The fact that these two words are used here indicates that the large balcony is completely ignored.
My roommate's face went blank. He turned to look at the pitch-black corridor, took a deep breath, and exclaimed, "Zhou Qingchi, you son of a bitch!!"
Zhou Qingchi turned a deaf ear.
He bumped into another roommate who had just returned. He looked at the cane in Zhou Qingchi's hand, paused for a moment, and looked down, asking suspiciously, "Qingchi, are you injured?"
Zhou Qingchi shook his head. "It wasn't me, it was Feng Li'an."
"That kid... why are you the one carrying the cane?"
"He inexplicably wanted to go to the big balcony to see the view, and insisted on hopping back by himself." Zhou Qingchi shrugged, spouting nonsense without hesitation.
My roommate sighed helplessly and turned to the large balcony. "I'm really fed up. Jumping around at this hour, are you afraid no one will complain?"
Zhou Qingchi scoffed, "Who knows? By the way, Brother Qin, do you have a power bank?"
Brother Qin said, "Yes, it's on the table. Take it if you want."
After thanking him, Zhou Qingchi plugged his phone in to charge, and it finally turned on two minutes later. He unlocked the screen, and the girl on the wallpaper was smiling at him, which temporarily calmed his inexplicable anger.
The ticketing app popped up a message reminding him of tomorrow's train schedule.
Zhou Qingchi leaned on the table, his fingertips tracing the girl's face, "Xia..."
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