Chapter 128

Though fighting was a last resort, it seemed to have paid off.

Having a single dorm room was expected, while classmates avoiding them was an added bonus.

Under the witness of teachers and school leaders, Mo Yin and Mo Yufan reached a “reconciliation.”

Mo Yufan clearly had a tough few days. His eyes were swollen with dark circles, and his arm was bandaged. Mo Yin’s facial scratches were almost healed; he had covered them with band-aids to avoid looking too unconcerned.

Unexpectedly, Mo Yufan’s parents came to Mo Yin’s dorm again that evening. Mo Yin thought they were there to defend their son, but instead, they brought a basket of fruit and apologized to Mo Yin once more.

Neither family looked particularly wealthy. Mo Yufan’s father was somewhat overweight and not very tall, while his mother had rough hands and insisted on stuffing the fruit basket into Mo Yin’s hands.

Mo Yin reluctantly accepted the basket.

After they left, Mo Yin set down the basket and walked to the window of his dorm. After a moment, he saw them appear in the hallway below.

Under the streetlight, Mo Yufan kept his head down, obviously waiting. The two adults approached and spoke to him. Mo Yufan kept his head bowed and looked very dejected. His mother reached out to touch his forearm, avoiding the bandage on his hand. His father patted him on the back of his head twice, with enough force to be felt but not enough to be considered hitting.

Mo Yin closed the curtains, then turned to dismantle the fruit basket on his desk. Among the fruits, he found a card hidden inside—a bookstore card worth two hundred yuan.

Mo Yin picked up the card and, for some reason, felt a stronger, strange feeling than if he had argued again with Mo Yufan’s parents.

With the dormitory issue resolved, Mo Yin’s life began to stabilize and become routine.

This completely unsurprising life brought Mo Yin great peace, a peace he had never experienced before.

Even towards Li Xiu, Mo Yin felt much less hostility.

Could it be because Li Xiu said he liked him?

Mo Yin was secretly vigilant and somewhat suspicious that Li Xiu might be deliberately playing tricks to distract and confuse him.

Clever.

One evening while doing laundry, Li Xiu approached with a basin. Mo Yin initially moved aside, but Li Xiu’s first words made Mo Yin involuntarily stop in his tracks. Li Xiu said, “You’re really amazing.”

Mo Yin remained composed, continuing to scrub the clothes while discreetly listening.

“No one will dare to provoke you in the future,” Li Xiu said.

Mo Yin smiled inwardly, thinking, Of course.

Li Xiu continued in a calm tone, “I really envy you.”

Mo Yin’s scrubbing stopped abruptly. What was Li Xiu envying him for? What had he done that surpassed Li Xiu, leaving him in the dust, making him only capable of envy?

Unfortunately, Li Xiu didn’t elaborate further. Instead, he brought up some mundane topics. “You seem to use the same soap for bathing?”

Mo Yin turned his head, staring at Li Xiu with an unfriendly gaze.

Li Xiu grinned, “I didn’t intentionally peek. I saw it by accident.”

“Whatever,” Mo Yin said coldly. “I don’t care.”

Li Xiu nodded and slowly said, “Actually, I don’t care either. Want to shower together next time?”

It was strange. Li Xiu’s tone and expression were completely different from when he said similar things to Zhou Ren, as if discussing it with Mo Yin was as simple and natural as studying together.

But Mo Yin wouldn’t study with Li Xiu, let alone shower with him. He replied bluntly, “Go to hell.”

Li Xiu laughed loudly, attracting curious looks from passersby.

After the fight incident, Mo Yin’s already sparse popularity dropped to zero. No one dared to approach him anymore, except Li Xiu, who continued to talk and interact with him. Although Mo Yin didn’t think he needed such social interaction, Li Xiu seemed to enjoy talking to him more and more.

Mo Yin put down the clothes in his hands. “You always laugh for no reason. Have you ever considered going to the hospital? I think you might have some mental issues.”

“Maybe,” Li Xiu said, neither angry nor objecting, still smiling.

Mo Yin turned back to continue washing clothes.

Li Xiu watched Mo Yin, thinking of the bus ride, the pieces of glass in the windows, the varying lights in the car, Mo Yin’s face following the crowd forward, doing something different from everyone else.

And then, he began to get closer to him.

The weekend training session ended.

Zhong Jiaming packed up his pens from the desk, occasionally glancing at Mo Yin in the front row. As Mo Yin was about to stand up, Zhong Jiaming approached quickly and said, “I’m sorry.”

Mo Yin adjusted his backpack strap with his thumb and raised an eyebrow in question.

“That day, I didn’t help you,” Zhong Jiaming said.

He was referring to the day Mo Yin fought with Mo Yufan. “Actually, I…”

Before he could finish, Mo Yin stood up and walked away.

Zhong Jiaming stood there, stunned.

Mo Yin didn’t feel much about Zhong Jiaming’s repeated attempts at kindness; he simply didn’t want to engage.

He had encountered people like Zhong Jiaming many times since starting school—people who expected something in return for their goodwill.

Perhaps people were just inherently despicable. The colder he was, the more these people wanted to “redeem” him. What were they expecting?

Were they hoping that one day he would tearfully open his heart to them, recount his life’s misfortunes, and tell them that they were the only ones who could touch his soft heart, redeeming him and transforming him into a better “him”? Would he bow to them, becoming a new person tamed and remolded by them?

Just thinking about it made him feel a bit nauseous.

Footsteps behind him made Mo Yin realize it was Li Xiu; he recognized his footsteps.

Compared to “normal people” like Zhong Jiaming, Li Xiu’s unpredictability and quirks actually made Mo Yin feel somewhat comfortable.

As this thought crossed his mind, Mo Yin shuddered.

What was he thinking? Did he really prefer to be around mentally unstable people?

Mo Yin quickened his pace, distancing himself swiftly; after all, Li Xiu wouldn’t catch up.

The bus was taking its time; there were a few cars parked at the stop.

Looking around, Mo Yin didn’t see Li Xiu’s family car.

After a few minutes, slow footsteps approached. Mo Yin glanced sideways and indeed, it was Li Xiu.

Why wasn’t he using his family’s car lately?

Did their family go bankrupt?

Or was it because… he liked him?

Mo Yin shuddered again, even in the heat of summer, feeling as if there were ghosts behind him, his skin crawling.

The bus arrived slowly. Mo Yin closed his book, turned, and gave Li Xiu a cold glance. “I’m not blind.”

Rarely without his earphones, Li Xiu wore a heavy backpack over one shoulder, smiling. “This time, it’s your turn to cover for me, right?”

Mo Yin froze momentarily, then replied, “Are you sick or something?”

“Fair is fair. I helped you last time, so now you help me,” Li Xiu said.

“Do you find this exciting or something? Go find excitement elsewhere,” Mo Yin retorted.

The bus arrived, and Mo Yin boarded first. He inserted two prepared coins into the fare box and took a window seat.

Resting his head against the window, book in hand, he reminded himself not to look at Li Xiu, but he couldn’t resist stealing a glance.

There weren’t many people on the bus to begin with, and Mo Yin’s presence made it even emptier. Li Xiu, being tall, stood out in the crowd.

Everyone in front swiped their cards. When it was Li Xiu’s turn, he lifted his card, but Mo Yin smirked when he didn’t hear the familiar “beep.” He glanced at the bus driver, who didn’t seem to notice.

With a slight bow of his head, Li Xiu walked towards Mo Yin and showed him his meal card.

Only then did Mo Yin realize he had been holding his breath.

He looked up.

Li Xiu was smiling.

Mo Yin asked, “Having fun?”

Leaning against the back of his seat, Li Xiu replied, “It’s quite thrilling.”

Their eyes locked, and suddenly Mo Yin raised his hand.

“Driver—”

Mo Yin spoke loudly.

Li Xiu watched him, and Mo Yin’s face was filled with a sense of entitlement as he pointed at Li Xiu, saying, “Someone didn’t swipe their card.”

All the passengers in the bus looked at Li Xiu.

The bus driver, focused on driving, gruffly said, “Anyone who hasn’t swiped their card, come up and do it.”

Mo Yin looked at Li Xiu and smiled faintly. “Go ahead and swipe your card, Li Xue.”

Li Xiu also smiled. “Sure.”

Amid the attention of everyone on the bus, Li Xiu swiped his card and then sat down in the back row near Mo Yin.

Mo Yin turned back to Li Xiu and said, “Exciting enough? Fun?”

He looked slightly smug, mocking Li Xiu without a hint of self-awareness about his own numerous fare dodges.

In response to his straightforward double standards, Li Xiu still smiled. There was a subtle change in his smile that Mo Yin couldn’t quite describe, but it seemed less irritating than before—almost genuinely happy. Mo Yin stopped smiling, turned his head away, and lifted the book in his hand to shield his face while he read.

The bus soon arrived at the station. Mo Yin transferred to the subway, and Li Xiu also boarded the subway. They ended up in the same subway car, holding onto the handrails, separated by a few people. Mo Yin kept his head down, reading, while Li Xiu watched his shadow on the subway door’s glass.

Today, Mo Yin’s destination was a bookstore.

He had visited a bookstore once when he was very young but hadn’t been back since.

In the city, Mo Yin hadn’t ventured to many places. When he arrived at the bookstore indicated on the map, he found it to be exceptionally elegant and beautiful, far different from what he had imagined.

The glass door was spotless, adorned with cute statues next to a small blackboard listing newly arrived bestsellers—books whose titles were entirely unfamiliar to Mo Yin.

Pushing open the door, he felt a blast of cold air and a faint sweet fragrance wafting from somewhere.

Mo Yin stood somewhat dazed, looking around a place that bore no resemblance to his impression of a bookstore.

Stacks of new books were neatly piled near the entrance, their covers smooth and inviting to touch.

Following the signs, Mo Yin made his way to the educational section.

The textbooks were arranged meticulously, colorful and uniform.

Mo Yin’s eyes began to strain.

He reached out and picked up the nearest book, flipping through a couple of pages, only to feel a sense of disappointment at its superficial content.

“Looking for physics textbooks?”

Li Xiu spoke up, and Mo Yin realized he was there. He glared at Li Xiu and said, “Are you following me?”

Li Xiu pulled out his phone. “These ones are good. You might want to try them.”

Mo Yin looked skeptically at his phone screen but decided to pick up one of the recommended books. Flipping through it, he found it surprisingly good. Looking back, Li Xiu was standing by the shelf, hands in his pockets, pulling out a book and putting it back as Mo Yin approached, craning his neck to sneak a peek.

Mo Yin browsed through a few more textbooks, circling the shelves and glancing back several times, gradually distancing himself from Li Xiu until he couldn’t see him anymore. Finally, he sat down, picked up one of the textbooks, and carefully evaluated whether it was worth buying.

He needed to manage his 200 yuan book card wisely.

Mo Yin took out his book card from his pocket, feeling a strange heaviness akin to that low feeling from the other day.

After choosing his books, Mo Yin felt he should leave, but he hesitated—this place was filled with books he had never seen before. Almost involuntarily, he wandered among the shelves, scanning the spines with his eyes, wanting to pick up almost every book to take a look.

Was this a waste of time, or should he hurry back to practice problems?

Thinking this, his hand was drawn to a dark-spined book, its title intriguing him.

Flipping through a few pages, Mo Yin feared getting too engrossed and reluctantly placed the book back. He continued to roam the bookstore, noting down titles that caught his interest. Walking past another bookshelf, Mo Yin spotted Li Xiu sitting cross-legged on the floor, absorbed in reading.

Mo Yin stopped in his tracks, curious about what Li Xiu was reading.

Eavesdropping.

Slowly circling around the other side of the bookshelf, Mo Yin got close enough to Li Xiu to see the book in his hands, and his lips curved downwards.

Li Xiu was actually reading a children’s picture book—with pinyin.

Mo Yin didn’t know what to say. Perhaps there really was something wrong with this person.

At that moment, Li Xiu’s phone, placed on the floor, rang.

Li Xiu leaned back against the stack of books, answered the call calmly, listening to the other person without a hint of agitation. Mo Yin leaned in, hearing someone apparently berating Li Xiu, and edged closer.

“I’m outside,” Li Xiu’s voice remained calm, almost matter-of-fact. “On the road. There’s a traffic jam due to an accident. Yeah, I understand. I’ll hurry back as soon as possible.”

The call ended quickly.

Mo Yin listened in astonishment at how casually Li Xiu lied, his expression almost as nonchalant as his own.

Li Xiu picked up the book and glanced over.

Mo Yin didn’t have time to hide and locked eyes with Li Xiu.

Li Xiu’s eyes were unexpectedly cold, but upon seeing Mo Yin, he immediately smiled, “Let’s read together.”