Chapter 16

“Alright, alright, I’m not teasing you anymore.” After laughing loudly, Mu Chi became serious and asked, “Does your head hurt a lot? Do you want me to take you to the hospital again?”

“What’s going on?” Qi Ling walked over at this moment, tossing a can of cola to Mu Chi, and looking at Song Wenzhou with concern. “Didn’t you just get out of the hospital? Why are you going again? Is the stomach cancer recurring?”

Song Wenzhou narrowed his eyes. “What did you say?”

“Cough, cough,” Mu Chi suddenly coughed loudly a few times. “I’m so hungry, let’s go eat.”

However, Qi Ling was a kind-hearted person. He ignored Mu Chi and grabbed Song Wenzhou’s hand, saying seriously, “Didn’t I message you that day, telling you to take care of your health? Why didn’t you listen? I know you love studying, and you only stayed in the hospital for three days before coming back to school, but taking care of your health is the most important thing.”

Qi Ling interrupted Song Wenzhou, who was about to speak, and continued, “I looked it up online. Stomach cancer can be cured in its early stages, but you need to actively cooperate with treatment. See, didn’t you feel unwell as soon as you came back to school?”

Song Wenzhou was moved but forced a smile and asked, “Who told you I have stomach cancer?”

“He did,” Qi Ling pointed at Mu Chi. “That night he came back to the dorm, and when we asked why you didn’t come back with him, he said your condition was serious and you needed to be hospitalized.”

Song Wenzhou held back his urge to curse and still smiled as he asked, “Qi Ling, how reliable do you think Mu Chi’s words are?”

Qi Ling thought for a moment, then suddenly turned to blame Mu Chi, saying, “You lied to us!”

Mu Chi quickly shook his head, explaining, “I just said Song Wenzhou’s condition was serious. Stomach cancer or whatever, that’s something you imagined yourself. How can you blame me?”

He then turned to Song Wenzhou and continued, “Zhouzhou, don’t misunderstand. I never thought of cursing you. I was hoping you’d come back to school soon. I was so bored during class when you weren’t here.”

Qi Ling and Song Wenzhou said in unison, “Get lost.”

Qi Ling childishly added, “I’ll never trust you again, big liar.”

Saying this, the two of them walked side by side towards the cafeteria, leaving Mu Chi behind, unable to explain himself.

“Hey, wait for me!” Mu Chi shouted. “Zhouzhou, does your head still hurt?”

Song Wenzhou coldly replied, “No need to trouble yourself.”

“Little unicorn?” Mu Chi shouted again. “You really aren’t going to talk to your older brother?”

Qi Ling turned his back to him and gave him the middle finger.

—

In the evening self-study session, the math teacher introduced a few new types of questions. The topics covered were exactly the ones Song Wenzhou had missed during his leave, and when the teacher mentioned that substituting a certain formula would directly lead to the answer, Song Wenzhou felt completely clueless.

So, Song Wenzhou gave up on listening and decided to flip through the book to catch up on the chapter’s knowledge points.

But Mu Chi wouldn’t let him relax. While his eyes were on the teacher at the podium, his hand secretly slipped a notebook toward him.

Song Wenzhou knew Mu Chi’s temperament and thought he was probably trying to pass him another little note, so he didn’t want to pay him any attention. He took the notebook and placed it under his math textbook.

Not only did he not respond, but he also confiscated the means of communication, preventing Mu Chi from causing any more trouble.

But Mu Chi wasn’t someone who could be easily dismissed. Before long, he handed over a real little note—fresh and warm, just torn off from a scrap of paper.

Song Wenzhou sighed silently, glanced at the note casually, and then raised an eyebrow in surprise.

【If you don’t understand, look at the last page of the notes.】

This was the first time Mu Chi had passed him something that wasn’t just nonsense during class.

Song Wenzhou flipped open the notebook, and sure enough, the last page was filled with detailed math notes.

The handwriting was Mu Chi’s, but the style of the notes was very different from the earlier ones.

Although Mu Chi’s attitude toward studying was far from ideal, his grades were actually quite good, and his notes were very much in the style of a lazy overachiever, often just writing down the beginning, the end, and key phrases.

There had been teachers who told him not to be lazy and to write full notes, but he had logically countered, saying that this saved time and energy, and the time saved could be used to… chat with his desk mate.

When Song Wenzhou had first transferred to the school, he’d borrowed Mu Chi’s notes a couple of times, but each time he ended up not understanding them.

This time, though, he understood. The content was very detailed, almost as if he had written down everything the teacher said.

It seemed… like it was written specifically for him.

Song Wenzhou looked at the slightly messy handwriting on the notebook, a result of writing too quickly, and his heart stirred.

【Thank you.】

Song Wenzhou wrote on the little note to Mu Chi, drawing a smiley face afterward to fully express his gratitude.

【^_^】

Mu Chi smiled at the note, matching the little expression, and soon pushed over another one:

【Don’t be mad anymore orz】

Song Wenzhou paused for a moment and wrote:

【I wasn’t really mad.】

Mu Chi became even happier, so much so that he eagerly volunteered to go up to the board and solve a difficult problem the math teacher had given.

He stunned both the teacher and the classmates.

You see, in the past, whenever the teacher asked Mu Chi to share his problem-solving process, he would come up with all kinds of excuses and stubbornly refuse to go up, to the point that there was a period when many people thought his excellent grades must have been achieved through cheating.

In response to those rumors, Mu Chi didn’t feel his character had been insulted. On the contrary, he considered the fact that he had become the subject of such rumors among his classmates to be a kind of legend in its own way.

Qi Ling couldn’t understand his thinking at the time and said, “Just go up and prove your abilities. Isn’t it more satisfying to slap them in the face?”

“No, no, no,” Mu Chi shook his head mysteriously, “My hobby is to secretly talk under the teacher’s nose. Showing off my intelligence is too high-profile. I don’t like it.”

Qi Ling was speechless upon hearing this.

Song Wenzhou didn’t know about this, but if he did, he would definitely comment: “Mu Chi doesn’t usually seem like someone who wants to be low-key.”

After that class, Mu Chi pulled out his notebooks for all his subjects and placed them in front of Song Wenzhou, saying, “Everything we’ve covered in the past few days is in here. Take a look. If you don’t understand anything, just ask me.”

Song Wenzhou casually flipped through two of them, and the content was as detailed as the math notes.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

“How many times have you thanked me?” Mu Chi waved his hand generously. “Actually, you don’t need to be too moved. The main reason is, when you’re not here, nobody talks to me in class. I’m just passing the time by writing these.”

Song Wenzhou: “…”

Okay, he wasn’t that moved anymore.

“Although, a little bit of gratitude is fine,” Mu Chi said “shyly,” “after all, this is my first time…”

Song Wenzhou directly ignored his nonsense and asked, “Are you free this weekend?”

“Huh?” The topic changed too quickly, and Mu Chi didn’t respond immediately. “I’m free. Why, are you asking me out?”

“No,” Song Wenzhou mischievously said, “It’s my mom who wants to ask you.”

Mu Chi was indeed surprised: “Auntie wants to ask me? Ask me to do what? When? Where?”

Song Wenzhou: “?”

Why did he feel like Mu Chi was so excited and eager?

“Go ahead, tell me,” Mu Chi urged.

“You took me to the hospital last time,” Song Wenzhou said coldly, “My mom said she wanted to thank you properly, so she wants to invite you over to our house for dinner this weekend.”

“Oh, I see,” Mu Chi patted his chest. “You scared me for a second.”

Song Wenzhou gave him a sidelong glance.

“Hey,” Mu Chi suddenly sighed deeply, “Actually, I have a bit of social anxiety. When unfamiliar people come to find me for unknown reasons, I get panicked.”

He looked at Song Wenzhou and smiled self-deprecatingly. “Can’t you tell?”

Song Wenzhou nodded, “I can’t.”

He really hadn’t noticed that Mu Chi had social anxiety.

“You couldn’t tell? That’s right,” Mu Chi couldn’t hold back his laughter and chuckled out loud. “Because I was just messing with you.”

“…” Song Wenzhou was frustrated, “You’re crazy.”

“Alright, alright, your mom is treating me to a meal. Are you welcoming me?”

“Of course.”

“Good,” Mu Chi clicked his tongue, “Then I’ll respectfully accept the invitation. I’ll definitely visit you when the time comes.”

Song Wenzhou sighed and said, “Just, can you not talk so weird like you are now? I’m afraid my parents will think you’re a fool.”

“Zhouzhou, why would you say that about me…” Mu Chi said with a sad tone.

Song Wenzhou looked at him without saying a word.

“Fine, fine,” Mu Chi gave in, “I’ll try my best.”

On Friday evening, Song Wenzhou told Mu Chi to come home with him after school the next day for lunch, and after that, they could do the weekend homework together if they had time.

However, Mu Chi insisted that he was starving after a whole morning of class and absolutely had to eat lunch at the school cafeteria first. Otherwise, he might not make it to Song Wenzhou’s house and would collapse from hunger halfway.

Song Wenzhou couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and called Ren Suyi to tell her not to wait for them to eat lunch, and to just prepare dinner.

On Saturday afternoon, there were only a few students left in the school cafeteria who weren’t going home for the weekend, so only a few windows were open. Song Wenzhou and Mu Chi each ordered a bowl of beef noodles.

“Ah!” Mu Chi stirred his noodles a bit too forcefully, causing a big drop of red oil to splash onto his clothes. He exclaimed, “How am I supposed to face people now?”

“…” Song Wenzhou couldn’t understand, “It’s just a drop of oil.”

“It ruins my image,” Mu Chi said with dissatisfaction.

Song Wenzhou calmly responded, “Should I find you some clothes to change into when we get back?”

“No,” Mu Chi shook his head firmly, “I’ll go back to my dorm to change clothes.”

Song Wenzhou couldn’t do anything about it, “Alright, alright.”

It wasn’t urgent anyway.

But Song Wenzhou clearly underestimated how particular Mu Chi could be when it came to his appearance.

After returning to the dorm, Mu Chi rummaged through his wardrobe for a long time and asked Song Wenzhou’s opinion several times before reluctantly matching up an outfit he was somewhat satisfied with. He then took out a pair of underwear.

Song Wenzhou saw what he was doing and thought, Mu Chi is really particular. He has to change into a full set of clothes.

The next second, Mu Chi hugged his clothes and went to the balcony to open the bathroom door.

Song Wenzhou couldn’t help but sneer, “Since when did you start avoiding people when you change clothes?”

Previously, Mu Chi wasn’t someone who paid much attention to privacy.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Mu Chi said.

Song Wenzhou furrowed his brows, “Did that drop of oil get on your skin?”

“No,” Mu Chi stared at him, “But I want to wash up. Wait for me a little longer, okay, Zhouzhou?”

“…” Song Wenzhou helplessly waved his hand, “Fine, go ahead.”

At first, he thought Mu Chi would just change his clothes and be done, expecting him to leave soon. He stayed in a state of being ready to leave at any moment. But now, he could only relax and lie back on the bed, playing with his phone while waiting.

From the bathroom, Mu Chi’s singing could be heard. The pitch was all over the place, but his tone was cheerful, leaving Song Wenzhou both amused and speechless.

After about ten minutes, the sound of water stopped. Soon, Mu Chi came out, drying his hair, and poked his head from the balcony to look at Song Wenzhou on the bed.

Song Wenzhou didn’t move but lifted his eyelids to glance at him, casually asking, “Can we go now?”

“Just a bit longer,” Mu Chi chuckled, “I need to style my hair.”

“Oh.” Song Wenzhou didn’t feel like commenting anymore. Then, he thought that the oil on Mu Chi’s clothes might be hard to wash out later, so he got up and went to the balcony. “Give me the clothes you changed out of.”

“Why?” Mu Chi asked, confused.

Song Wenzhou replied, “I’m bored. I’ll help you wash the oil off.”

“Isn’t that embarrassing?” Mu Chi said it was embarrassing, but his body was very honest as he quickly handed the clothes to Song Wenzhou. “Zhouzhou, you’re so thoughtful.”

Song Wenzhou gave a perfunctory smile.

Mu Chi, growing bolder, asked, “How about you wash my underwear too while you’re at it?”

Song Wenzhou shot him a sharp glance, “Are you thinking about peaches?”

Mu Chi immediately made a pleading face and motioned with his hands to zip up his mouth, then “invited” Song Wenzhou to go to the washbasin.