Chapter 49: My Girlfriend

When You Chong opened his eyes in the morning, he saw Lin Hexi curled up in his arms, wrapped in a blanket and still asleep.

Realizing that his leg was pressing against Lin Hexi’s ankle, his expression subtly stiffened. Without making a sound, he moved his leg away, intending to put some distance between himself and the still-sleeping person in front of him.

However, it felt as though something was holding his waist, making it impossible for You Chong to move.

As he noticed that the thing tightly wrapped around his waist was Lin Hexi’s arm, a vein on You Chong’s forehead faintly throbbed. He reached out to remove Lin Hexi’s arm.

But Lin Hexi’s arm only tightened its grip. If You Chong hadn’t been sure that Lin Hexi was still asleep, he would have suspected that Lin Hexi was pretending to be asleep, showing a clear tendency to deliberately go against him at this moment.

Originally, You Chong intended to wake Lin Hexi up directly, but when his gaze swept over Lin Hexi’s peacefully sleeping face with closed eyes, he inexplicably dismissed the idea.

After several failed attempts to move Lin Hexi’s arm, You Chong began to feel a faint sweat forming from the effort. Finally, his patience wore thin. He turned his body towards Lin Hexi and reached out to pat the face that was so close to his.

Lin Hexi’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, his consciousness gradually starting to return, but his eyes remained closed. He murmured softly:

“Don’t mess around.”

You Chong, looking displeased, reminded him, “Take your hand off my waist.”

Lin Hexi, still half-asleep, managed to catch a few words from what You Chong said. The arm wrapped around You Chong’s waist shifted slightly, sliding softly down his side and lightly landing on the bulging pocket at the front of You Chong’s body.

Lin Hexi’s fingertips twitched slightly, unconsciously rubbing against it.

The item in the pocket started to react noticeably, becoming both hot and hard.

A heavy pulse throbbed at You Chong’s temple, and his expression turned even darker. He gritted his teeth and called out Lin Hexi’s name, “Lin Hexi, are you doing this on purpose?”

Upon hearing his own name, the half-asleep Lin Hexi mumbled unconsciously, “Are you hiding under the blanket, secretly playing on your phone?” With his palm pressed against what he thought was You Chong’s phone, he struggled to lift his eyelids but still couldn’t open his eyes fully. His voice gradually faded, “How long have you been playing? Your phone is so hot…”

You Chong almost laughed out of frustration. To vent his irritation, he grabbed Lin Hexi’s face and, enunciating each word clearly by his ear, said, “This is not a phone.”

Lin Hexi’s sinking consciousness was yanked back up again. Irritated by the hand on his face, he buried his whole face into the pillow and mumbled, “If it’s not a phone, then what is it?”

You Chong stared at him expressionlessly. “It’s the sunscreen bottle.”

Lin Hexi’s muddled thoughts stalled, and as he processed the meaning behind You Chong’s words, his sleepiness vanished without a trace. The moment he opened his eyes, he tried to withdraw his hand from the scalding hot object under the blanket.

You Chong held his hand in place, preventing him from moving, and asked with a serious expression, “How do you plan to deal with the trouble you caused?”

The burning sensation in his palm seemed to spread along the surface of his skin. Lin Hexi hesitated and asked, “Do you want me to help you with it?”

“But, having me help you unconditionally doesn’t seem very fair.” He thought about it seriously and earnestly suggested, “How about this: I’ll help you first, and then you help me.”

You Chong froze abruptly, his face turning livid as he flung Lin Hexi’s hand away, lifted the blanket, got out of bed, and went straight into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Lin Hexi remained lying on the large bed, his lips curling into a half-disappointed, half-amused smile. As expected, a straight guy is a straight guy—mention mutual assistance between two men, and they immediately turn pale at the thought.

But then, Lin Hexi paused slightly.

What exactly had he been disappointed about just now?

While the person outside the bathroom door was lost in thought, the person inside was experiencing a similar mix of emotions.

You Chong wasn’t angry about Lin Hexi’s suggestion of mutual assistance; rather, it was the fact that when Lin Hexi made the suggestion, You Chong had almost, as if bewitched, agreed to it without hesitation.

As the night passed, the previously bright and sunny weather was gone, and the entire city officially entered the rainy season brought on by the offshore typhoon.

The six of them packed their backpacks, checked out at the hotel front desk, and drove back to school.

The temperature had dropped to the point where jackets were needed; it was suddenly colder outside, while indoors remained stuffy and hot. After parting ways at the seaside, the next time Lin Hexi saw You Chong was unexpectedly at an art supplies store outside the school.

After finishing his classes, Lin Hexi remembered that Fang Qingning hadn’t sent him any stray cat photos on WeChat for several days. On a whim, he called Fang Qingning to ask her to join him in feeding the cats.

Coincidentally, Fang Qingning didn’t have any classes either; she was lying in her dorm bed playing on her phone. After receiving the call, she happily climbed out of bed, changed clothes, and went to meet Lin Hexi at the school gate.

Fang Qingning brought cat food, so they didn’t stop by the convenience store for more supplies and went straight to the alley behind the bar street.

It seemed that it had been a while since they last came by, and upon closer inspection, the little stray cat appeared to have grown a bit. Lin Hexi squatted down to pour cat food for the orange cat, while Fang Qingning stood behind him, sipping yogurt through a straw.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the alley, lifting a plastic bag that had been lying next to a trash can and carrying it out of the alley.

The clouds on the horizon seemed to be growing thicker and thicker. Fang Qingning threw her empty yogurt carton into the trash can, looked up at the sky, and couldn’t help but say, “It looks like it’s going to rain again.”

Lin Hexi replied, “Let’s leave after it finishes eating.”

Fang Qingning nodded, opened the weather app on her phone, and after checking it carefully, said, “The weather forecast says it won’t rain in the next two hours.”

After remembering that night when he and You Chong had to turn back halfway at the seaside, Lin Hexi silently lifted the corners of his lips. He watched the orange cat flick its tail and walk deeper into the alley, then stood up from where he had been squatting. “The weather forecast isn’t reliable.”

Fang Qingning believed him completely. “Then let’s go.”

The two of them turned and left the alley.

After recalling the incident with You Chong at the seaside, Lin Hexi finally remembered that he had promised to draw something for him.

He turned to Fang Qingning and asked, “Do you know if there are any art supplies stores near University Town?”

Although she wasn’t an art major and knew nothing about drawing, Fang Qingning did happen to know a store that Xia Chengfeng often visited, thanks to her interest in him.

After thinking for a moment, she provided the exact location of that store.

It wasn’t far if they took a shortcut through the bar street. Lin Hexi said, “I need to go to the store to buy something. Do you want to come with me, or head back first?”

Fang Qingning looked hesitant.

Seeing this, Lin Hexi proactively suggested, “It seems like it’s going to rain. You should head back to school first.”

But Fang Qingning shook her head and, as if making a firm decision, said, “I’ll go with you.”

“I’m a little worried about running into the guy I used to chase.” She caught up with Lin Hexi and explained somewhat troubledly, “He’s a student at the Art College, you know. The owner of that store is his friend, and he often goes there to buy things.” Fang Qingning paused, trying to maintain a calm tone, “I feel like the reason he refused to go to the art exhibition with me back then was probably because he looked down on me a little.”

Lin Hexi guessed that something else must have happened between them after the art exhibition incident.

He didn’t press further and simply raised his eyebrow slightly. “It’s fine. If we really run into him,” he smiled casually, “I’ll back you up.”

Fang Qingning was stunned for a moment, then smiled brightly.

Perhaps it was because Fang Qingning was good-looking; the art supplies store owner still remembered her.

When Lin Hexi and Fang Qingning entered the store, the owner was a bit surprised and called out to her, “Aren’t you the girl who came with Xia Chengfeng last time? How come Xia Chengfeng isn’t with you today?”

Fang Qingning looked a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, Lin Hexi reached out and pulled her close, casually waving his hand at the owner as he led her towards the shelves in the store.

He seemed quite protective. The owner noticed this and couldn’t help but fall into thought—could it be that this girl had given up on Xia Chengfeng and found herself a new boyfriend?

Just as the owner was still puzzled, the front door of the shop was pushed open again.

Upon hearing the sound, the owner looked up and saw Xia Chengfeng and You Chong walking in. He immediately broke into a grin, “What a coincidence.”

Xia Chengfeng laughed and asked, “What’s so coincidental?”

The owner didn’t answer directly; instead, he wore a look of amusement. “I was just thinking about you, and then you walked right in.”

Xia Chengfeng chuckled, “Why are you thinking about me for no reason? Let me make it clear, I’m straight.”

The owner instantly showed a look of disdain. Unable to outtalk Xia Chengfeng, he turned to chat with You Chong instead.

Seeing that You Chong was standing by the front desk without any intention of coming in further, Xia Chengfeng walked alone towards the shelves at the back. He was there to buy drawing paper, which was stocked on the innermost shelf.

As he passed the shelf in the front row that held paints and palettes, Xia Chengfeng noticed two people standing in front of it.

The tall boy on the inside was unfamiliar to him, but the girl beside the boy—he recognized her immediately with just one glance.

Xia Chengfeng stopped in his tracks and suddenly turned his face, his gaze directly locking onto Fang Qingning, who was standing inside.

Sensing something, Fang Qingning quickly looked up. Under the bright lights overhead, the moment she clearly saw Xia Chengfeng’s face, she felt as if she were nailed to the spot, her eyes filled with confusion.

Xia Chengfeng spoke in a cold tone, “You’re not an art major, so what are you doing here?”

A flicker of discomfort flashed quickly in Fang Qingning’s eyes. She even forgot that Lin Hexi was there; at this moment, she just wanted to look away and stop looking at Xia Chengfeng, but it was as if she were paralyzed—unable to do so.

She fell into a long silence.

Xia Chengfeng’s expression grew increasingly distant, and just as he was about to say something else, he saw the boy standing behind Fang Qingning turn around.

Lin Hexi raised a hand and gently pushed Fang Qingning’s back, a clear reminder for her to move.

She snapped back to reality and instinctively took a step forward.

Lin Hexi followed behind her, unhurried and calm.

Just as they were about to walk out of the shelving area, Lin Hexi casually placed his arm around Fang Qingning’s shoulder, stopping in front of Xia Chengfeng. He lazily curled his lips into a smile and deliberately emphasized his words, “Please move aside, you’re blocking me and my girlfriend.”

Xia Chengfeng’s expression instantly darkened.

Behind him, someone else looked even more displeased.

You Chong, who had come over after hearing the exchange, stepped forward from behind Xia Chengfeng. His gaze fixed on Lin Hexi’s hand resting on Fang Qingning’s shoulder, and his face filled with a stormy anger.

“Your girlfriend?” He enunciated each word, “Lin Hexi, where did you get a girlfriend?”