Chapter 44: “My Partner is a Man.”

The two of them walked to the entrance of Lin Zhi’s school, maintaining a two-step distance between them. There were many people returning to school at this hour, so it wasn’t the best time to discuss who was pursuing whom.

“I’m here,” Lin Zhi stopped and said when Lu Liu caught up to him and walked beside him. “You… should head back now.”

Lu Liu said “Okay,” but his body didn’t move an inch. Lin Zhi didn’t rush him, instead shifting slightly to the side, signaling Lu Liu to follow so he wouldn’t block the way.

“Has your roommate come back?” Lu Liu suddenly asked.

“One hasn’t come back when I left,” Lin Zhi didn’t know why Lu Liu was asking this, but he still answered honestly. “He should have come back by now.”

“Oh,” Lu Liu said, “All of my roommates came back this morning.”

“Mm,” Lin Zhi nodded, “And then?”

“Then they asked me to treat them to a meal,” Lu Liu finally revealed his intention after going in circles. “When do you think I’ll be able to treat them?”

Lin Zhi remembered the phone call with Lu Liu earlier, where his roommate said, “When you’re single, you should treat us to a meal.”

Since he had already chosen to be honest, it would be too pretentious to pretend otherwise, so Lin Zhi forced himself to remain calm and said, “It’s fine, just a meal. There’s no need to wait for an auspicious day.”

“That makes sense,” Lu Liu agreed, looking at him with a smile hiding at the corner of his mouth. “Only weddings require an auspicious date.”

The dim streetlights filtered through the gaps in the branches of the plane trees, casting shadows onto the sidewalk. Lin Zhi’s face turned red as he walked in the mottled light, including his ears.

He concealed his emotions as he entered the dormitory, hiding them well without revealing a hint, but it was clear to everyone that he was pleased.

When Yuan and Song returned last, they placed the hometown specialties they got for Lin Zhi on his desk and said, “Tsk, what are you thinking? Your smile’s about to reach the sky.”

Lin Zhi instinctively touched his lips, realizing he had been caught and felt guilty, rubbing his face and saying, “Just bored, spaced out a bit.”

“You just got back and you’re bored?” Yuan and Song casually said. “Only dates aren’t boring, huh?”

Before Lin Zhi could respond, Zhao Shaochuan from the bed across from him jumped in, “That’s true, I feel uncomfortable just thinking about not being able to cuddle with my soft girlfriend tonight.”

The conversation took off from there and was hard to control. Zhao Shaochuan and Yuan and Song talked without feeling satisfied, turning to Lin Zhi and grinning, “Have you not been staying in the dorm the past few days?”

Lin Zhi didn’t want to join them: “…Where else would I stay if not in the dorm?”

Zhao Shaochuan and Yuan and Song exchanged looks of “you know exactly what we’re asking,” even Tang Yuan, who usually spoke the least in the dorm, glanced at him.

Lin Zhi said, “We’ve only been together for a few…”

“A few days?” Zhao Shaochuan shook his head regretfully. “That’s still a bit too early.”

Actually, it had only been a few minutes, Lin Zhi thought, but it sounded more impressive to say “a few days,” so he didn’t correct them.

Amid their teasing, Lin Zhi’s phone buzzed with a message from Lu Liu’s name.

Lin Zhi quickly drank some water to keep his throat moist before answering the call with a gentle, “Hello.”

He didn’t ask what Lu Liu wanted this time since they were now officially in a relationship where they could talk to each other even without a reason. Moreover, before they parted, he was the one who encouraged Lu Liu to message him to check in. With this in mind, Lin Zhi added, “Have you arrived?”

“Just got off the bus,” Lu Liu’s voice carried the sound of wind, “I’ll be at the school soon.”

“Oh,” Lin Zhi was a bit at a loss for words and, like he was talking to a child, said, “Be careful when crossing the street.”

Lu Liu chuckled at the public display. In his memory, after third grade, his parents never worried about him crossing the street. He hadn’t expected, after more than ten years, to feel that kind of care again, but…

“I don’t need to cross the street to get back to school. Didn’t you come here before? Have you forgotten?”

“Uh…” Lin Zhi naturally hadn’t forgotten, but he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want Lu Liu to see his nervousness and awkwardness, so he casually replied, “I got your school mixed up with Yao Wenjing’s.”

After saying this, Lin Zhi regretted it. Before, Lu Liu had half-jokingly been jealous of Yao Wenjing, so what he just said was practically asking for trouble.

Sure enough, there was a pause on the other end of the phone for a few seconds before Lu Liu hummed, “Then you should come over more often, so you won’t mix up the schools again.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Lin Zhi quickly agreed, changing the topic.

At some point, his roommates had all quieted down. Lin Zhi’s voice felt a bit out of place, but he wasn’t ready to hang up, so he just kept lowering his voice, and everything that reached Lu Liu’s ears turned into warmth.

He stayed on the phone chatting with Lu Liu until Lu Liu entered his dorm, and Lin Zhi’s now-warm phone was finally free from his grip.

Beside him, Yuan and Song made a series of exaggerated “tsk tsk tsk” sounds. After a while, Lin Zhi, unable to stand it anymore, flushed and tossed a small packet of tissues at them, saying, “Are you composing a song or what, with all that tone and rhythm?”

“Tsk tsk tsk,” Yuan and Song continued, unfazed. “You were so gentle just now, but now you’re being so violent.”

“I was just trying not to disturb you guys,” Lin Zhi explained honestly.

“Pfft,” Yuan and Song didn’t believe it. “Lin Zhi, I’ve realized you’re better at love than Shaochuan. Every time he makes a call, his voice is so loud. No wonder he’s always fighting with his girlfriend.”

“Damn, we don’t always argue,” Zhao Shaochuan protested. “A little argument spices things up, you know? Lin Zhi, you’ve just gotten together with your girlfriend. After some time, it won’t be like this anymore.”

Lin Zhi smiled, watching as they planned out his future relationship in great detail.

After another round of argument, Zhao Shaochuan asked with doubt, “Is my voice really that loud when I call?”

Yuan, Song, and Tang Yuan all silently nodded, saying, “Only after comparing did we realize it’s actually loud.”

“No, it’s normal,” Lin Zhi explained again. “You guys were just too quiet. I really was worried about disturbing you.”

“Oh,” Zhao Shaochuan ignored Lin Zhi’s explanation and said, “Then next time, I’ll be a little gentler, just like Lin Zhi.”

Lin Zhi: “…”

At the same time, the atmosphere in Lu Liu’s dorm was much more harmonious than in Lin Zhi’s. With classes starting tomorrow, two of his roommates had begun discussing what they’d learned before the National Day holiday.

The conversation later turned less serious. Lu Liu stood up to wash his hands at the balcony. After returning, he casually said, “By the way, I’ll treat you guys to a meal next week. Let me know what you want to eat.”

The dorm quieted for a few seconds before Gao Zhenghong tentatively asked, “Did it work?”

Lu Liu smiled and nodded.

“You guys decide, but is your girlfriend coming too?”

Lu Liu wasn’t sure if a “treat to eat” after becoming single always meant bringing along your partner, so he said, “I’ll ask him if he’s coming.”

“We, the guys, can eat anything,” one of the roommates said. “Let your girlfriend decide. What if she wants to bring along some friends or something?”

“No friends,” Lu Liu didn’t want to hide it anymore and said clearly, “My partner is a man.”