Shu Ziqin found himself in a dilemma.

He glanced at them, then hastily averted his gaze, hesitated for two seconds, glanced again, then simply closed his eyes and rubbed his hands together on his thighs.

Luckily, Yang Yue was quick, and in less than half a minute, he was dressed again and ready to go.

Jing Tian was about to bid them farewell when he saw Yang Yue pointing at him. “Hurry up!” he said.

Still in his pajamas, Jing Tian looked puzzled. “Me?”

“Look at you, you woke up before me but haven’t even changed your clothes,” Yang Yue pushed him impatiently. “Hurry up, I’m starving!”

Jing Tian was dumbfounded for a moment, then glanced back at Shu Ziqin.

Shu Ziqin was still looking down, his cheeks flushed. It was unclear whether he was still lost in the scene from earlier, as he completely ignored their conversation and remained immersed in his own world.

“You two go ahead,” Jing Tian said. “My stomach still isn’t feeling well, I won’t be able to eat anything.”

Yang Yue frowned. “Didn’t we agree to go together?”

Jing Tian was surprised. Yesterday, after discussing with Shu Ziqin, Yang Yue had indeed informed him of the specific time they had agreed upon. He had thought Yang Yue was just casually letting him know, but he never expected it to imply that he was also expected to join them.

“He can join us for lunch,” Yang Yue said, looking at Shu Ziqin. “Right, lunch?”

Surprisingly, Shu Ziqin didn’t object to being called that. He nodded. “Yes.”

“We can find a light restaurant, it shouldn’t be a problem to have some porridge or something,” Yang Yue said. “It’s rare for me to treat, and you’re not giving me face?”

Jing Tian was stuck in a dilemma.

He didn’t want to be a third wheel, but he also couldn’t find a suitable reason to refuse. After hesitating for a while, he reluctantly agreed.

After changing his clothes in the bathroom, the three of them had just reached downstairs when they ran into someone they knew.

Zheng Xunqian was carrying a bag and was about to go upstairs when they bumped into each other.

“Are you looking for Jing Tian?” Yang Yue greeted him with a smile. “Come, let’s go have lunch together.”

Zheng Xunqian glanced at Jing Tian, then at the bag in his hand, and did not immediately respond. Jing Tian followed his gaze and saw that the bag contained a disposable takeout box, undoubtedly filled with food.

It was lunchtime, and bringing food specially seemed unlikely to be just for show. They had only parted ways yesterday, so this must be a bribe to make amends.

Jing Tian lowered his head, trying to suppress the smile creeping up on his lips.

“What’s this?” Yang Yue approached and took a look. “Porridge?”

“Fish congee,” Zheng Xunqian said. “Are you guys leaving school?”

“Yes, you’re lucky, I’m treating today,” Yang Yue smiled. “Since you treated me to bubble tea and snacks yesterday, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Jing Tian thought to himself, why don’t you two go together and leave us behind? Otherwise, this fish congee will go to waste.

He glanced tentatively at Zheng Xunqian, expecting him to have the same idea, but to his surprise, he nodded decisively and turned to the door.

Not far away, Jing Tian could faintly hear his conversation with the dormitory aunt. He was thanking her for her help the other night and had bought some food to show his gratitude.

When he came out of the room, he was empty-handed.

“Let’s go,” he said to everyone.

Jing Tian finally didn’t have to hold back his smile and pouted in frustration.

With four people, three of whom were Shu Ziqin’s seniors, whenever he called out, both Jing Tian and Yang Yue would turn their heads, but Zheng Xunqian remained unaffected.

“Do you want me to come?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

“…yes,” Jing Tian said.

Zheng Xunqian nodded and remained silent.

After walking for a while, Jing Tian secretly encouraged himself and nudged Zheng Xunqian with his elbow, asking, “What did you mean by the message you sent last night?”

Zheng Xunqian took a while before slowly answering, “I wanted to know the answer, so I asked.”

A pointless answer.

“Why did you want to know?” Jing Tian pursued.

Zheng Xunqian still didn’t immediately respond. After walking a few more steps, Yang Yue, not far ahead of them, turned around and loudly asked, “Shall we go to the tea restaurant over there?”

“Oh, sure,” Jing Tian nodded.

Then, he glanced at Zheng Xunqian.

Zheng Xunqian stared straight ahead, walking leisurely without any intention of speaking.

Once they were seated at the tea restaurant, Shi Ziqin, who was usually overly restrained in front of Yang Yue, finally showed a bit of his usual liveliness.

This restaurant was one he had recommended to Yang Yue. He was very familiar with the menu here and carefully introduced each dish after asking everyone’s preferences.

Jing Tian was very hungry, but unfortunately, his stomach wouldn’t allow much. He ordered only a bowl of preserved egg and lean meat congee and a plate of blanched lettuce. He also wanted to order a cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea, his finger hovering over the menu, but he didn’t dare to speak up under Zheng Xunqian’s gaze.

After ordering, the four of them looked at each other, unable to find a topic for conversation for a while, and fell into silence. After a moment, Zheng Xunqian broke the silence.

“Why did you suddenly want to treat us? Is there something worth celebrating?” he asked Yang Yue.

“Hahaha, no,” Yang Yue waved his hand, laughing at Shi Ziqin, “I accidentally insulted lunch yesterday, so today I’m treating him to lunch to make up for it.”

He was extremely pleased with his own joke, laughing incessantly.

“Lunch?” Zheng Xunqian looked at Shi Ziqin with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“Uh!” Shi Ziqin cleared his throat, showing a slightly shy smile, still not protesting against this nickname.

Zheng Xunqian had not eavesdropped on Yang Yue and Jing Tian’s conversation yesterday and was unaware of what had happened, so he asked with interest, “He insulted you again?”

“No, it’s my fault, I was the one who… uh… that… that…” Shi Ziqin became more and more embarrassed as he spoke, “I… that…”

Jing Tian kicked Zheng Xunqian under the table, signaling him not to ask anymore.

Zheng Xunqian didn’t speak again, but Yang Yue, who didn’t know what to do, started to brag, “He’s never seen such a beautiful lady like me before, so he was too excited, which is understandable.”

After saying that, he turned to Shi Ziqin with a loud voice, “Isn’t that right!”

Shi Ziqin looked embarrassed and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Yes, but at that time… anyway, it was my fault…”

“No big deal, why are you taking it so seriously,” Yang Yue said casually, raising his hand, opening and closing his fingers rapidly twice, “You weren’t that hard.”

“…” Shi Ziqin froze.

Jing Tian, momentarily shocked, kicked Yang Yue under the table and when Yang Yue looked at him, he quickly gestured with his eyes.

Yang Yue was stunned for two seconds, glanced at Shi Ziqin who was blushing and about to faint, realized that what he said was ambiguous, and felt embarrassed: “What I meant wasn’t that… I meant that you… uh… really weren’t very hard…” he said as he raised his hand and made a subtle measurement, “Just about this much, so there’s no need to pay too much attention… we’re all guys, it’s not a big deal…”

Jing Tian held his forehead.

Shi Ziqin buried his head in silence.

Yang Yue, still feeling awkward, tried to change the subject: “Why isn’t the food here yet,” Jing Tian said loudly, “I’m so hungry!”

“Yeah, ” Yang Yue retracted his hand and rubbed it, “I’m starving to death, it’s so slow!”

Shi Ziqin kept his head down and said nothing.

Finally, after finishing the meal, Shi Ziqin expressed his gratitude to Yang Yue and quickly fled. Yang Yue intentionally wanted to give them a chance to be alone, so he found an excuse and left as well.

Leaving Jing Tian and Zheng Xunqian staring at each other in silence.

Jing Tian was somewhat uncomfortable but didn’t want to say goodbye too quickly to Zheng Xunqian. He walked slowly with his head down on the way back, not saying a word.

Zheng Xunqian also remained silent, walking at his pace alongside him.

Thus, they walked all the way back to the campus, and when the dormitory was in sight, Zheng Xunqian, who had been silent all the way, finally spoke up: “Hang in there for a few more days. When your stomach feels better, I’ll treat you to a drink.”

“What?” Jing Tian didn’t react for a moment.

“Ice milk tea,” Zheng Xunqian said, “But, you can’t drink cold things now, so have a warm one first.”

Jing Tian didn’t respond.

He bit his lip, brewing some words in his heart. He wanted to speak since just now but always lacked the courage.

“Aren’t you happy?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

Jing Tian shook his head, then raised his head, took a deep breath, and said, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Huh?” Zheng Xunqian was puzzled.

“The question I asked on the way here,” Jing Tian looked at him, “Why did you want to know?”

“…”

“Why?” Jing Tian asked relentlessly.

Zheng Xunqian didn’t answer him.

The two of them walked in silence for a while again. Jing Tian noticed that Zheng Xunqian’s steps were a bit faster than before.

As a protest against his unresponsiveness to his questions, Jing Tian didn’t catch up. Soon, they went from walking side by side to one in front of the other.

Jing Tian felt a little discouraged and a little wronged. As if venting, he asked again loudly, “Why did you want to know in the first place?”

Zheng Xunqian walking ahead of him finally spoke, “Because it’s important to me.”

Jing Tian was stunned for a moment, touched his nose, and asked, “Then, why is it important?”

Zheng Xunqian remained silent again.

Jing Tian didn’t ask further, silently walking behind him, his heart full of anxiety and a hint of anticipation.

After about half a minute passed like this, a seemingly calm voice came from ahead, “Because I want to strive for it.”

Jing Tian looked up at his back, blinked, mouth still open but no words came out.

“…Why did you stop asking?” Zheng Xunqian said.

Jing Tian pursed his lips.

He quietly followed behind Zheng Xunqian for a while, then suddenly quickened his pace and caught up to him. He raised his hand and carefully held Zheng Xunqian’s fingertips.

As he felt the familiar warmth, a thought flashed through his mind.

It had been over twenty hours since he last kissed Zheng Xunqian.