Gu Yufeng stood in front of the photo wall, his gaze sweeping over several group photos. Some were with Jiang Chenyu and the others, while others included different people, even Xiang Haibin made an appearance. But the most important thing was that in every picture, there were both Xie Ci and him.

Looking back, in his previous life, he and Xie Ci hadn’t even taken a wedding photo. The two of them had a tacit understanding to never bring it up, or rather, they simply didn’t care. It was as if they were certain that this marriage was just a temporary arrangement, one that could end at any moment, so they couldn’t be bothered to put in extra effort, treating benefits as the only focus of their relationship.

He had once despised the way his parents maintained their marriage, but when he came to his senses, he realized he had already walked down the same path as them.

Seeing Fang Sizhe come in through the back door with a clean mop, Gu Yufeng pointed at the photos on the wall and asked him, “Who has the negatives? I want to keep a set.”

Fang Sizhe glanced over, “You want the photos with Old Xie, right? I have them, I’ll give them to you later.”

Gu Yufeng replied, “…I meant these group photos.”

Fang Sizhe casually responded, “The ones with Old Xie and you in them, right?”

Gu Yufeng said, “…Yeah.”

Did this kid sense something?

Xie Ci went to the office to get competition materials from Old Xiang. When he returned to the classroom, he saw Fang Sizhe and the others gathered in front of the photo wall chatting. He asked Jiang Chenyu, who was sitting in someone else’s seat, “Is your leg feeling better?”

Jiang Chenyu rolled up his pant leg, revealing large bruises on his knee and calf, with a few scrapes that had already scabbed over. “I went to see a doctor. They said I didn’t hurt the bone, it just looks bad. It won’t affect the upcoming competitions.”

Xie Ci wanted to say he wasn’t worried about the basketball league, but the class bell rang, and everyone returned to their seats.

Not long after, Xiang Haibin entered the classroom.

Class One had made quite a splash at the sports meet, securing first place, and as the homeroom teacher, Xiang Haibin was in a great mood these days, smiling at everyone he met.

The excitement among the students hadn’t faded yet, and seeing their teacher smiling today made them relax a bit. However, the old man’s first words were about exams.

“The sports meet is over, everyone should refocus and put their minds back on studying. The higher-ups have decided that there will be a monthly exam this Thursday and a midterm exam next week. The schedule is tight, so I hope everyone prepares well.”

A chorus of wails erupted in the classroom.

For Xie Ci, besides the monthly and midterm exams, he also had to deal with the upcoming math competition and the second half of the basketball league schedule.

Time suddenly felt insufficient.

Even Zhang Ruochuan and Jiang Chenyu, who often chatted with Xie Ci during breaks, were now buried in their seats, cramming for tests.

In the whole class, only Gu Yufeng didn’t care about grades, but he wasn’t slacking off either. Every night after self-study, while Xie Ci and the others reviewed, he was busy with work, sometimes even busier than them.

After finishing a set of competition questions, Xie Ci noticed Gu Yufeng across from him rubbing his temples, looking a bit tired. He said softly, “If you’re tired, you should go rest. It’s getting late.”

“I still have a bit left to finish.”

Gu Yufeng looked up and joked, “If your bed could lend me a spot, I’d go rest for half an hour.”

Xie Ci replied, “I’ll lend it to you.”

“Really?” Gu Yufeng raised an eyebrow, “You’re so straightforward about it, now I don’t want to go.”

Xie Ci: “…”

He just loved to take verbal advantage.

“My eyes are going blurry.”

Zhang Ruochuan took some eye drops, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes slowly. “When will this miserable time come to an end?”

Jiang Chenyu leaned his head against his test paper, sighing, “If only we could suddenly have three days off without any reason, I could sleep for three days.”

Fang Sizhe, who had come to ask questions and chat, saw them looking lifeless and comforted them, “If you sleep for three days and forget everything, wouldn’t that be worse when it’s time for the exam?”

“…” Jiang Chenyu turned to look at him, “You make a good point, but I really want to hit you.”

The atmosphere in the dormitory had been getting heavier day by day. Seeing that they were all down, Zhang Zhijie tentatively asked, “My mom made persimmons, do you want to try some?”

A few of them looked over eagerly, not that they were particularly craving persimmons, but they just wanted to do something else to relax.

Zhang Zhijie got up to grab a container, opened it, and handed it over, “Here.”

“It smells so good.” Zhang Ruochuan took a piece, and before he could even put it in his mouth, he was already drooling. “I really envy you for having a mom who can do everything.”

Zhang Zhijie chuckled and handed some to Xie Ci, worried that Gu Yufeng might say, “I don’t eat that, I’m allergic to persimmons,” since he hadn’t eaten peanuts last time.

Gu Yufeng didn’t rush to take it. Instead, he watched Xie Ci take a bite and asked, “Is it good?”

Xie Ci didn’t answer, directly offering the persimmon to Gu Yufeng’s mouth, “You’ll know if you try it.”

Gu Yufeng glanced at the persimmon that Xie Ci had bitten, just sniffed it without taking a bite, and raised his hand to take a new piece from Zhang Zhijie’s container. After tasting it, he told Zhang Zhijie it was good.

Zhang Zhijie let out a sigh of relief, feeling secretly pleased.

“Glad you like it.”

Xie Ci retracted his hand, glancing at his own persimmon, and began to realize something.

So Gu Yufeng’s cleanliness obsession showed up in this way? It seemed like he was flirting every day, but in reality, he maintained a subtle distance, absolutely never crossing the line he set for himself.

For some reason, Xie Ci felt a bit happier.

Busy dealing with various exams, a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Xie Ci encountered his aunt and the lawyer she hired at the school gate. She wanted to sit down and talk with him, but after he refused, she demanded he provide a mediation letter on the spot. As long as he wrote it, Chen Xinhong wouldn’t have to go to jail.

He firmly rejected her again, but his aunt, who was crying and making a scene, wouldn’t let go, attracting a lot of students to watch.

Before he could call the police, the security guard noticed something was off and yelled and scolded her, driving her away.

After hearing about this, Xiang Haibin called him to the office the next day for a talk. That was when he learned that his aunt had been coming to the school frequently, and each time she was dissuaded by Xiang Haibin. After that, she had been waiting for him at the school gate.

On this day, after the math competition ended, Xie Ci returned to school.

All the exams had finally come to a close, and Jiang Chenyu shouted that they should indulge a bit over the weekend.

When asked for his opinion, Xie Ci readily agreed, “Sure, you guys decide on the activities.”

After discussing for a long time, Jiang Chenyu and Zhang Ruochuan decided that hiking and camping were too tiring and wanted to do something indoors.

Zhang Ruochuan thought of Gu Yufeng, who had never been to an internet café, and suggested taking him to broaden his horizons.

On Saturday afternoon, Xie Ci and Gu Yufeng followed the group to the internet café. Even Fang Sizhe, who was usually disciplined, silently tagged along, probably feeling pent up during this time.

They booked a small private room, just enough for the five of them to team up for a dungeon run, but it turned out that neither Xie Ci nor Gu Yufeng had accounts.

Jiang Chenyu looked at them in shock, “Wait, Old Gu is a foreigner, it’s understandable he hasn’t played domestic online games, but Old Xie, you’ve never played either?”

Xie Ci really hadn’t played much online gaming. When he had some free time in school, he used it to work, and after starting work, he became even busier, mainly because he didn’t have much interest in playing games.

“I don’t have money to go online,” Xie Ci casually made up an excuse.

Hearing his tone was low, as if he was really disappointed, Jiang Chenyu immediately felt guilty and wanted to make it up to him. But then he thought, wait! Old Xie didn’t need to exert much effort to pull in a million dollars, why would he need pity?!

“Is it fun?” Gu Yufeng sat down next to Xie Ci.

“Fun!”

Jiang Chenyu had multiple accounts and lent them two, excitedly assigning roles to everyone, “Old Xie, you play the tank, Old Gu, you’re the support, it’s easy to get into.”

Xie Ci logged into the game with the account Jiang Chenyu provided. He was a bit surprised to see Fang Sizhe had already logged in on his left. “You have an account too?”

Fang Sizhe looked serious, “I play occasionally.”

Xie Ci: “…”

Why did playing a game seem so serious?

After logging in, Xie Ci familiarized himself with the interface and key bindings. After all, he wasn’t completely unfamiliar with it. He quickly got the hang of it and noticed Gu Yufeng looking completely lost. He asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

Gu Yufeng confidently replied, “It’s easy.”

Jiang Chenyu pulled everyone into a group and randomly selected a dungeon.

“Old Xie, you hold aggro, don’t run too fast… Old Zhang, you’re a warrior, don’t just stand there attacking, move! The boss is about to unleash a big move! … Old Fang, you’re a mage, don’t stick to the boss, your health is almost gone, heal yourself first!”

Xie Ci pulled a wave of monsters and ran to a corner, waiting for Jiang Chenyu and the others to come over to deal with them.

The screen was filled with flashy skill effects and damage numbers, making it hard to see anything. When Xie Ci went to find Gu Yufeng, he realized he was gone.

“Old Gu, where are you? Don’t run around, stick with me.”

“I’m waiting for you!”

Gu Yufeng’s long fingers danced on the keyboard, his tone growing increasingly impatient, “Just go, don’t waste time on the small monsters, they’ll respawn endlessly.”

Xie Ci looked around and saw all the small monsters had been cleared, “I’m not fighting the small monsters.”

“Don’t say that, you’ve been hitting this little lantern monster for ages and won’t leave.” Gu Yufeng complained.

Xie Ci was getting more confused, “What lantern monster?”

Gu Yufeng replied, “Right in front of you, isn’t this sbking you?”

“What sbking?” Xie Ci looked at his ID in confusion, “I’m spring.”

Gu Yufeng paused: “…”

Xie Ci, not believing it, leaned over to look at Gu Yufeng’s screen, and the air fell silent.

Jiang Chenyu shouted in the headset, “Old Xie, hurry! Old Fang accidentally aggroed a wave of elite monsters!”

Xie Ci lazily glanced at Gu Yufeng and told Jiang Chenyu, “You guys find a safe place to hide, I’ll go get Old Gu.”

“Old Gu?”

Zhang Ruochuan, in a panic, pressed random buttons and glanced at the mini-map, “Where is he?”

Xie Ci replied, “He followed someone to another map.”

Zhang Ruochuan: “…”

Jiang Chenyu: “…”

Fang Sizhe: “…”

Under the gaze of these three speechless expressions, Gu Yufeng awkwardly brushed his bangs back, pretending to be calm, “No need to come get me, I can go myself.”

He casually clicked on the auto-pathfinding, but after just a few steps, he was swarmed and killed by monsters.

Hearing a light laugh beside him, Gu Yufeng turned his head to see Xie Ci propping his head up with his hand, laughing uncontrollably.

“Is it that funny?” Gu Yufeng said with a straight face.

He shouldn’t have said anything; as soon as he did, Jiang Chenyu and the others also burst into laughter.

“Don’t be too ridiculous!”

Xie Ci, under Gu Yufeng’s chilly gaze, stopped laughing and said half-seriously, “It’s normal to mistake someone in a game, but don’t mistake anyone in real life.”

Gu Yufeng sized him up, feeling that Xie Ci’s words had a deeper meaning: “Who did I mistake?”

Xie Ci replied, “Just a friendly reminder.”

The two of them didn’t have much interest in playing the game; they were just passing the time with the mindset of accompanying a child.

After playing for over an hour, Jiang Chenyu’s phone suddenly rang. He picked it up, cursed under his breath, and hurriedly told Xie Ci and the others, “The head teacher is here, let’s go!”

The few of them quietly slipped out of the private room, and Jiang Chenyu skillfully led them out through the back door of the internet café.

At this awkward time, they simply went to Lao Li’s small stir-fry place to eat skewers.

After ordering, Xie Ci asked Jiang Chenyu, “You’re so familiar with this place, do you come to the internet café often?”

“I used to go a lot in first year, but I don’t go much anymore. Mainly because you guys are too competitive; I can’t even lie down and relax,” Jiang Chenyu said, and tears almost fell.

He was a rich second generation who could easily live off his parents, but the group of them who played well had grades that were getting better and better. If he didn’t want to fall behind, he could only grit his teeth and push forward, it was simply unbearable.

Zhang Ruochuan went to grab some drinks and placed them on the table.

Gu Yufeng casually picked up a bottle, opened it, took a sip, and felt something was off. He looked at the label in confusion, which read four big characters—“Six Nuclear Bombs.”

“…”

Was he really up against a counterfeit today?

Thinking about being mocked by Xie Ci while playing the game, Gu Yufeng silently turned the bottle to a less noticeable angle and pushed it to a corner. But as soon as he turned his head, he met Xie Ci’s teasing gaze, which made him laugh in anger, “What, do you want to laugh at me again?”

Xie Ci rested his chin on his hand, looking relaxed, “I’m not laughing.”

Gu Yufeng replied, “You’re laughing inside.”

Xie Ci said seriously, “It’s normal to mistake someone when playing a game for the first time, it’s quite ‘adorable’.”

Gu Yufeng raised an eyebrow, “You can say such insincere things?”

“I’m serious.” Xie Ci hadn’t finished speaking before he started laughing.

Gu Yufeng was annoyed and pushed him against the wall, leaning in, “If you laugh so ‘beautifully,’ do you believe I’ll kiss you?”

Xie Ci looked at the enlarged face in front of him, his eyes filled with playful laughter, as if he was certain Gu Yufeng wouldn’t easily cross that line with anyone else.

Thinking about it this way, Xie Ci’s curiosity was piqued.

In Gu Yufeng’s eyes, what kind of person was he?

In his previous life, to socialize, he had often gone to some shady places, and Gu Yufeng never cared, which made him think that he had accepted his love for fun and had no intention of interfering.

So, at least at seventeen, in Gu Yufeng’s eyes, he was still a disciplined and self-restrained person?

“Alright then.”

Xie Ci spoke slowly, “Kiss me, don’t be shy.”

After saying that, he saw Gu Yufeng’s eyes widen slightly, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Xie Ci urged, “Hurry up, the dishes will be served soon.”

Gu Yufeng’s heart skipped a beat, looking at him in confusion.

“Not coming? Then I’ll go?” Xie Ci said, holding Gu Yufeng’s chin, and without giving him a chance to refuse, leaned in to kiss him.

Whoa—!

Jiang Chenyu and the others, sipping their drinks, gasped in shock.

As expected of Old Xie, a real man dares to go for it even with another man!

Gu Yufeng snapped back to reality and pushed Xie Ci’s face away.

It wasn’t his imagination; Xie Ci had been acting strangely since the sports meet.

Had he finally worn down his resistance?