Chapter 15: Creep

The moment Zhu Yida lunged at him, Chi Xiao flipped his phone face down, twisted his arm to the side, and effortlessly broke free from the hold.

Completely ignoring the question of whether he had smiled or not, Chi Xiao stood up, looking utterly nonchalant: “Tired, going to sleep.”

His demeanor was infuriatingly indifferent.

Leaving Zhu Yida fuming below, Chi Xiao grabbed his phone and swiftly climbed into his bed, lying down as if daring anyone to mock him.

The dorm was dark, and the light from his phone screen spread out like a faint firefly in the night. The roommates, lying in their beds, couldn’t help but peek over at Chi Xiao every now and then. Before today, almost no one had seen him play with his phone after getting into bed. It was strange.

Chi Xiao accepted the friend request from Sun Moon Volcano.

A few minutes later.

Sun Moon Volcano: 【Good evening, senior】

Sun Moon Volcano: 【This is Ming Can】

Chi Xiao lay on his back, holding his phone with both hands, and replied with a simple 【Hello】.

His profile picture was a misty blue, like a vast sea of smoke or a chaotic block of nothingness. His nickname was just the initials of his name. Ming Can glanced at it twice, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

After the formal greetings, Ming Can wasn’t sure what to say next.

She had impulsively added this guy on WeChat, but she had no experience in striking up conversations with boys. She casually clicked on his Moments^[1]Moments refers to a feature on the Chinese social media app WeChat (微信). It is similar to the “Stories” feature on platforms like Instagram or Facebook, where users can share photos, … Continue reading and found it completely blank. Her desire to communicate instantly faded.

Let’s leave it at this for now. When she figured out a reason to bring Miaomiao to see him again, she could contact him then.

Thinking this, Ming Can generously waited in front of her phone for two minutes, wondering if he would initiate any conversation.

The result was obvious.

This guy had nothing to say to her either.

Ming Can imagined that the next time she reached out, it would likely be her trying to warm up to his cold indifference, which immediately made her feel annoyed. She tossed her phone aside, deciding to leave it at that for now.

On the other side.

Chi Xiao’s experience with chatting online with girls was as barren as a desert.

After the conversation hit a dead end, he struggled to think of a topic, eventually landing on the idea of giving Miaomiao toys. But since he hadn’t finished carving those wooden figures yet, was it too early to bring that up? Maybe he could discuss some academic topics? No, that would be too boring…

While he was pondering what to say, the best window for conversation had already passed.

It seemed Ming Can didn’t want to talk much with him, and Chi Xiao, realizing this, slowly lowered the hand holding his phone. He shifted to lie on his side, tapping open Ming Can’s Moments.

Her Moments were plentiful and varied, filled with reposts of campus activities and photos of her hanging out with friends and classmates.

Chi Xiao scrolled through them one by one, even clicking into the reposts to see what they were about.

He and Ming Can had very few mutual friends.

For now, he only saw one.

That person was everywhere, liking every single one of Ming Can’s Moments. Under photos where she appeared, he would leave long strings of flattering comments, almost never repeating himself. Ming Can occasionally responded to him, but if she didn’t, he would interact with others in the comments, never running out of things to say.

That Chi Yao had a crush on Ming Can seemed entirely normal to Chi Xiao.

Back in high school, even though they weren’t in the same grade, several boys in Chi Xiao’s class had liked Ming Can, finding all sorts of ways to pursue her.

Chi Xiao was just a little puzzled.

Why was it that his younger brother, who had shared everything with him since they were kids, had never mentioned having a crush on anyone after starting university?

It was as if.

He already knew about Chi Xiao’s feelings.

–

The next morning, Morning Star Elementary School.

Miaomiao said goodbye to Ming Can at the school gate and walked into the school with his backpack on.

The school was large, and it took several minutes to walk from the gate to the classroom. On the way, Miaomiao ran into Zhao Zihao. After the birthday party last time, the two had become good friends. Since Miaomiao was a bit shorter, Zhao Zihao always liked to sling an arm over Miaomiao’s shoulder as they walked. Sometimes he’d do the same with another kid on the other side, strutting around like a little mountain king.

Zhao Zihao had gone to see a movie with his parents yesterday and was enthusiastically telling Miaomiao how exciting and cool it was as they walked.

Miaomiao also shared what he had done yesterday: “I went to University A to watch the big brothers play basketball. They were all so tall and amazing, especially my… brother. He was the handsomest and the best.”

Zhao Zihao: “Really? How handsome?”

“Super handsome. I took a lot of photos…” Miaomiao paused, suddenly remembering that he had been so exhausted from overusing his superpower last night that he completely forgot to ask his dad to send him the photos he had taken after the game.

Those were photos he had worked hard to take as keepsakes, hundreds of them! If they were only stored on his dad’s phone, who knew when he’d get to see them again.

Zhao Zihao: “Where are the photos? Can you show them on your smartwatch?”

Miaomiao shook his head: “No, I can’t.”

There was still some time before morning reading, so Miaomiao told Zhao Zihao to go upstairs first. He walked to the garden below the teaching building and made a call with his smartwatch.

University A, cafeteria.

Chi Xiao and his roommates had bought breakfast and were eating it on their way to class.

Just as they stepped out of the cafeteria, Chi Xiao received a call. Glancing at the caller ID, he left his roommates and walked to a quiet spot to answer.

“Ming Miao?”

“It’s me!” Miaomiao’s voice was full of energy, clearly well-rested from last night. “Good morning, brother~”

“Good morning,” Chi Xiao said. “What’s up?”

His voice was still calm and steady, but compared to yesterday, it seemed a little warmer, less distant.

Miaomiao: “Brother, did you forget to send me the photos?”

Chi Xiao: …

He hadn’t forgotten—he simply didn’t know he was supposed to send the photos to the little guy.

Besides, most of those photos were of him. What did the kid want with pictures of him?

Miaomiao: “It’s okay, I forgot too! Just send them to me today~”

“…” Chi Xiao couldn’t help but ask, “What do you need my photos for?”

Miaomiao: “What else? Just to look at them. And those photos were taken by me, so they’re mine. I just borrowed your phone. You’re not going to keep my photos, are you?”

The logic was sound, and Chi Xiao found himself at a loss for words.

“Alright,” he sighed. “How do I send them to you?”

…

Now it was Miaomiao’s turn to fall silent. He hadn’t considered this before making the call.

His smartwatch could take photos and view them, but he really didn’t know how to transfer photos from someone else’s phone to his watch.

Moreover, Miaomiao didn’t have his own social media account yet. Even if he could use the tablet at home, Chi Xiao’s photos couldn’t be sent to him.

Quickly, Miaomiao’s clever little brain came up with a solution: “You can send the photos to my sister!”

Chi Xiao: ?

What did that mean?

He was supposed to send photos of himself to Ming Can?

The call fell silent, with only the sound of the wind whirling in their ears.

“That’s not a good idea,” Chi Xiao said.

“Why not?” Miaomiao asked.

“…” Chi Xiao couldn’t come up with a reason.

Miaomiao let out a soft “Hmm,” his voice tinged with grievance: “Brother, are you not willing to send me the photos?”

“No,” Chi Xiao replied helplessly. “Have you… talked to your sister about this?”

“I’ll tell her!” Miaomiao’s words came faster. “The pre-class bell is ringing, I have to go to morning reading. Brother, remember to send the photos to my sister today, okay?”

Chi Xiao: “…Alright.”

The call ended.

Chi Xiao stood on the covered walkway outside the cafeteria, the cold wind howling past. His fingers, gripping the phone, were stiff from the cold. He slipped the phone into his pocket, and the outer rim of his ears inexplicably flushed with a faint red hue.

Beside him, two female classmates from his department passed by and greeted him with a “Good morning.”

Chi Xiao: “Good morning.”

The two girls walked past him, excitedly huddling together: “Did you hear that? Senior Chi Xiao actually said good morning back to me!”

“I feel like he was distracted. I don’t think he even glanced at our faces.”

“Nonsense, he definitely saw me! I put on a full face of makeup today.”

…

In the morning, the Computer Science Department had four consecutive professional classes.

In the lecture hall, everyone had a laptop open in front of them, taking notes or coding while listening to the professor.

Chi Xiao and his roommates sat in the corner by the window, second to last row.

During class, Chi Xiao usually spent half the time listening to the lecture and the other half working on his own tasks—all related to academics, such as reading research papers, working on project assignments, or training programs that were typically encountered at the graduate level.

His computer screen was divided into thirds: one-third for the lecture slides, one-third for notes, and one-third for development software. Multitasking was the norm for Chi Xiao, and he excelled at juggling multiple tasks simultaneously. Zhu Yida was incredibly envious of his powerful brain and often peeked at Chi Xiao’s screen during class to see what this genius was working on and how far ahead he was.

Today was no exception. Zhu Yida kept glancing at Chi Xiao’s screen every now and then, pressuring himself, only to end up feeling utterly defeated.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Zhu Yida whispered, his face horrified. “I know you’re handsome, but do you really need to keep looking at your own photos during class?”

Chi Xiao: …

“Too late to switch tabs, I’ve already seen it like eight hundred times,” Zhu Yida said. “Are you trying to win ‘Campus Heartthrob’ or something?”

Chi Xiao: “Mind your own business.”

When Chi Xiao’s face turned cold and impatient, he looked quite intimidating. Zhu Yida backed off, not wanting to provoke him.

But then, unexpectedly.

A few minutes later, Chi Xiao inexplicably dropped his intimidating demeanor. His long fingers reached over and tapped on Zhu Yida’s desk, signaling him to look.

“Between these two…” Chi Xiao took a deep breath, struggling to get the words out, “which one is better?”

Zhu Yida: …

This guy’s gone mad, or maybe the world has gone mad.

“The one on the left, your legs look longer,” Zhu Yida said. After that, Chi Xiao showed him a few more photos for him to help choose. Zhu Yida was holding back laughter so hard his lungs were about to explode. “Why do all these photos have such low angles? Like they were taken by a kid… Holy crap, there are over three hundred of these? How many are you planning to pick?”

Well, they were taken by a kid.

“Not sure, just picking a few randomly,” Chi Xiao said. After a pause, he added, “The news department asked for them.”

“Oh, I see,” Zhu Yida said. He was about to ask why the news department would let the model himself pick the photos when he suddenly remembered something. He pulled out his phone, flipped through it, and tossed it in front of Chi Xiao. “The news department’s article was posted right after the game ended yesterday, okay? Are you messing with me?”

Chi Xiao: …

Zhu Yida had never seen this guy look so embarrassed in his life, and it was absolutely hilarious: “What’s going on, Academic God Chi?”

Chi Xiao didn’t confirm or deny.

The morning light streamed in through the window, illuminating the back of his hand. The slightly raised veins looked like they were traced with gold, and as he gripped the mouse, the veins twitched irregularly, giving off an indescribable sense of anxiety.

The day was packed with classes, so the task of sending the photos to Ming Can was conveniently postponed until late in the evening.

Chi Xiao remembered Ming Miao saying on the phone, “I’ll tell her,” which likely meant he hadn’t told her yet. If Ming Can didn’t know about this, and he sent her photos of himself out of the blue, wouldn’t that make him seem like a creep?

So Chi Xiao waited until after 8 p.m., giving Ming Miao plenty of time to explain the situation to his sister. Then, he reluctantly sent Ming Can the roughly twenty photos he had spent the entire day meticulously selecting.

Among these twenty photos were also pictures of other players and team group photos, a testament to his painstaking effort.

After sending them, Chi Xiao couldn’t bring himself to look at his phone for a few minutes.

Unexpectedly, Ming Can replied quickly.

And it was a voice message.

–

In the nightclub near the university town.

The bass was deafening, chaotic colored lights spun overhead, and the sounds of rock music, laughter, clinking glasses, and the stomping of feet on the dance floor all mixed together in the haze of alcohol, making people’s eyes glaze over and their hearts beat out of rhythm.

Ming Can hadn’t gone to pick up Miaomiao today. After having dinner at school, she came here with her former roommates, booked a back booth, and accompanied Xu Jiayun in drinking while vehemently cursing the self-righteous scumbag Cheng Xiuyuan.

The four of them weren’t heavy drinkers. They ordered two bottles of liquor and a case of beer, and within less than an hour, two of them were already in a questionable mental state.

Since all four girls couldn’t get completely drunk, Ming Can drank the least. Partly because she had strong self-control, and partly because she knew her limits—not only did she have a low alcohol tolerance, but she also tended to act out when drunk. Once in high school, she woke up after drinking, and her classmates described her drunken state in a way that made her scalp tingle. Since then, she never dared to drink without restraint.

Xu Jiayun, holding a green bottle, swayed her head and cried: “Who wants to be his best friend? Shameless… kissing someone else… anything dirty has to be thrown away! Wuwuwu…”

“Throw it away, throw it away,” Ming Can raised both hands and feet in support. “That’s why getting close to men brings misfortune. Don’t go running after him anymore.”

“I won’t!” Xu Jiayun said. “Stupid man, stay away from me!”

She was too drunk to think clearly. After venting her frustrations, she slumped onto Ming Can’s shoulder, her eyes sore, everything around her swaying.

Ming Can took out her phone to check the time and then switched to WeChat to see if there were any work-related messages.

At that moment, a series of new messages popped up.

Chi Xiao?

Ming Can didn’t expect someone like him to reach out to her first, and to send so many… photos of himself?

For now, Ming Can only saw the first few.

Jumping for a dunk, dribbling the ball, pulling up his jersey to wipe sweat… The young man in the photos was undeniably handsome. The red jersey, like a blazing fire, half-covered his athletic figure and taut muscles. Just looking at the photos, you could feel the intense aggression and overwhelming hormones, making the surrounding air feel hot and charged.

“What is this…” Xu Jiayun squinted, “A guy, sending you photos of him showing off this late at night?”

Ming Can: “Can’t you see who this is?”

“I’m dizzy,” Xu Jiayun said, fueled by alcohol, cursing, “Damn, what a creep.”

Ming Can burst out laughing: “He is kind of a creep. What do you think I should reply?”

Xu Jiayun took her phone. Ming Can’s face was still smiling at first, looking nonchalant, until the next second, she saw Xu Jiayun press the record button and yell into the phone: “You damn creep, stay away from Cancan!”

…

“You damn creep, stay away from Cancan!”

A clear and furious female voice echoed through the male dormitory.

Chi Xiao didn’t have time to lower the volume on his phone before his roommates’ shocked and confused gazes turned toward him.

Fortunately, no one believed this was someone privately cursing at Chi Xiao. They all thought he was watching a short video or that the sound had accidentally leaked from a movie or TV show.

Chi Xiao sat at his desk, his eyelids stiff.

The next message quickly popped up.

Ming Can: 【Sorry, senior! My roommate is drunk and acting out, don’t mind her】

Chi Xiao stared at the words.

One second, two seconds… ten seconds… thirty seconds…

The voice message was still there.

Not withdrawn.

Chi Xiao bent down, grabbed a bottle of water from under the bed ladder, twisted it open, and drank half of it in one go.

The words “damn creep” echoed in his mind like a spear, violently stirring his fragile brain.

He felt like he must be seriously ill to torture himself by picking up his phone and listening to that voice message again.

The background was very noisy; they seemed to be in a nightclub, with faint heavy rock music playing.

…

【Ming Miao asked me to send you the photos he took yesterday】

The first thought that popped into Ming Can’s mind when she saw this message was: Really? Were the photos Miaomiao took that good-looking?

Before she could figure out how to reply, she saw another message—

【You’re at a nightclub?】

Ming Can: 【Yes】

Chi Xiao: 【Which one?】

Ming Can was stunned, a strange feeling washing over her.

It wasn’t that she was being overly self-absorbed—it was just that she had experienced this kind of thing too many times. She had the experience and the judgment. Faced with someone as aloof as Chi Xiao, she had already slowed down her intuition, trying not to overthink things.

However.

She now had a very reasonable suspicion—

This guy surnamed Chi was trying to hit on her.

Ming Can: 【The second one on Xuecheng Road】

Ming Can: 【Senior, you’re not thinking of coming over for a drink, are you?】

Chi Xiao: 【No】

Seeing this, Ming Can was taken aback.

Had she guessed wrong? Was Chi Xiao just casually asking, with no ulterior motives?

Chi Xiao: 【But】

Chi Xiao: 【If you need a ride, you can call me】

Ming Can couldn’t help but laugh.

Did he know she was short on drivers? Offering to pick her up so eagerly.

Ming Can glanced at her roommates, who were sprawled all over the booth, and sighed, replying: 【Then come over now】

Upon receiving this message, Chi Xiao immediately stood up from his seat and grabbed the coat hanging on the back of his chair.

“Xiao, where are you going?” a roommate casually asked. “It’s freezing outside.”

Zhu Yida, already in bed, poked his head out to look at Chi Xiao and shamelessly said, “Are you going to the cafeteria? Can you grab me some spicy hot pot?”

Chi Xiao: “No.”

Zhu Yida: “Are you going on a date or something?”

Chi Xiao couldn’t be bothered to respond. He turned to leave, but his steps suddenly paused.

He turned back, hesitated for a moment, and then, as if struggling to get the words out, asked: “If someone…”

“First calls you a creep and tells you to stay away, but then asks you to pick them up,” Chi Xiao’s voice was hoarse, “what does that mean?”

…

As soon as he finished speaking.

The entire dorm fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone looked at Chi Xiao in disbelief, completely unable to connect his words with the cold, aloof, and proud Academic God Chi they knew—the one who would only brush others off, never the one to be brushed off.

Zhu Yida thumped his chest twice: “Brother, who have you been secretly being a backup for outside? How can you do this to the countless girls at A University who are obsessed with you?”

Chi Xiao: …

He didn’t respond, turning to push the door open and walk out.

“Wait, you’re still going after all that…” His roommate’s wailing was muffled behind the door.

As he stepped out of the dorm building, a biting cold wind hit him, seeming to seep into every pore.

The car was parked in a lot a few hundred meters from the dorm. Chi Xiao strode down the campus path, the streetlights casting the shadows of the bare plane tree branches on the ground, like sprawling claws.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and Chi Xiao pulled it out to check.

Ming Can had sent a location, followed by two messages.

Ming Can: 【Thanks for the trouble, senior. After dropping off my roommates later, I have something I want to talk to you about】

Ming Can: 【I’ll pass the photos Miaomiao took to him. As expected of my cousin, his photos are really good~】