This is a troublesome matter.

If it’s true, then it contradicts his previous assumptions. Zhou Shiru pressed his lips together and, without much hesitation, pulled his hand back.

The moment his hand was withdrawn, it lost its warmth, and he calmed down.

No matter what, he might have guessed wrong, but he didn’t like being so intimate with someone. Moreover, Le Cheng’s current attitude was difficult to read.

Le Cheng’s hand was left empty, but he wasn’t particularly surprised.

After all, he initially approached this with the expectation that Zhou Shiru would refuse. The fact that Zhou Shiru didn’t question what he was doing had already touched him.

After all, he just wanted to hold hands, not to cause a social death.

Successfully taking the first step was also a completed task for today. Le Cheng felt quite happy, especially since he wasn’t used to holding hands with others.

“!!!!!!”

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the crowd ahead. Le Cheng looked over and followed people’s gazes, discovering that there were many drones in the sky, with colorful lights on their tails, performing synchronized aerial flips.

“Wow!!” Le Cheng exclaimed, instantly forgetting the earlier embarrassment. He instinctively tugged on Zhou Shiru’s sleeve. “Look, how cool is that!!”

Zhou Shiru lifted his gaze towards the sky.

Due to this unexpected show, the few scattered people walking on the track quickly gathered around.

Le Cheng and Zhou Shiru were caught in the midst of it. They were already standing too loosely, and when the crowd surged, it scattered them apart.

Le Cheng loved this kind of bright display, like he enjoyed fireworks during the New Year. He kept his head tilted up, blissfully watching, and didn’t notice where Zhou Shiru had gone.

Zhou Shiru, being tall, naturally stood out in the crowd. He glanced around and didn’t intend to go back, but he quickly spotted Le Cheng.

Le Cheng was looking up at the sky, with colorful lights scattering from above, forming irregular shapes and casting a soft glow on Le Cheng’s fair and smooth cheek, outlining his profile with a gentle light.

Le Cheng wasn’t short but not very tall either. He wasn’t particularly noticeable in the crowd. When someone bumped into him, he was too focused on the sky to react, only swaying slightly to the side.

Zhou Shiru furrowed his brows, hesitated for a moment, then decisively pushed through the crowd and walked over, reaching out to turn Le Cheng’s shoulder to make him stand in front of him.

Le Cheng was momentarily stunned and only saw Zhou Shiru when he turned around. The crowd was now gasping in excitement over the drone display. He asked loudly, “What’s wrong——?”

Zhou Shiru looked at his long, curled eyelashes. “…Nothing. Continue watching.”

Le Cheng recalled what had just happened and understood. He turned around and asked loudly, “Are you afraid I’ll get bumped again?”

Zhou Shiru looked at him without saying a word.

Le Cheng didn’t pay much attention. After thinking for a moment, he happily and loudly said, “Zhou Shiru, you’re really great—!”

Although he didn’t like Zhou Shiru, he was still quite responsible and hadn’t neglected his duties as a boyfriend.

The crowd quieted down. Zhou Shiru lowered his eyelashes while Le Cheng’s eyes sparkled with tiny lights, as if everything that had just happened was completely natural.

It seemed that he had overthought things.

Le Cheng’s sudden hand-holding might have just been incidental, perhaps a habit left over from his previous boyfriend.

After watching the drone show, Le Cheng was still in high spirits. As the crowd dispersed, he followed Zhou Shiru, unable to stop chattering: “I didn’t expect our school to have such cool drone shows. It’s amazing, and their movements are so coordinated!”

Le Cheng added, “And the best part is, they performed for free!”

Le Cheng affirmed, “Such nice people.”

Zhou Shiru listened to his somewhat noisy chatter, turned around, and didn’t stop him. He said softly, “I’ll take you back.”

Le Cheng nodded, slipped to the dormitory entrance, and Zhou Shiru turned to leave, only to be suddenly called back.

“Zhou Shiru.”

He turned around.

Le Cheng was standing right in front of him, slightly tilting his face up, with sparkling eyes: “Will you come back at this time tomorrow?”

Zhou Shiru remained silent.

By not using phrases like “I want to be with you” or “I want to ask you out,” which could be more ambiguous, it made it hard to refuse.

Le Cheng appeared full of anticipation, his expression focused as if he was waiting wholeheartedly for his answer.

Zhou Shiru didn’t close off the conversation entirely: “Depends on the situation.”

Le Cheng’s face brightened with a smile: “Really? That’s great.”

It was as if he had already received a positive answer.

“Then goodbye.” Le Cheng waved at him and happily entered the dormitory.

Once back, with nothing much to do, Le Cheng pulled out his phone and opened TikTok.

Expecting only a few dozen likes, he was surprised to see the notifications reading 99+.

Le Cheng’s heart raced as he opened his backend and saw that the likes had skyrocketed to 2k+.

Did this… go semi-viral?

In just three hours, the likes had accumulated to 2k. This meant TikTok would push his content to more viewers, with a promising outlook of ten thousand likes.

Le Cheng happily slapped his thigh, seeing that his views had already surpassed ten thousand and his followers had increased to nearly two hundred.

[Wanwans: Wow, this artwork is amazing!]

[Balala Energy: The artist has worked hard!]

[Tomato Master: The ancient Greek god of painting ���]

[Concubine Xi’s Secret Affair Exposer: Announce! Crown the Masterful Lady!]

Of course, in addition to the comments, there were also a bunch of hilarious low-resolution cartoon stickers.

As expected, there were already private messages in the backend asking if he was accepting commissions and what his rates were.

There were also inquiries about whether the original, unwatermarked image was available and if it could be used as a profile picture.

As a seasoned artist, Le Cheng had naturally watermarked the image before uploading it.

Le Cheng politely declined all the inquiries one by one, turned off his phone, and still felt very happy.

It was quite a surprise.

Is this what they mean by “heaven never seals off all avenues”?

Even though he had ended up as a poor college student, fortunately, his first piece of work went semi-viral on TikTok.

Le Cheng pondered, could he be a natural at self-media?

He continued to browse his backend and politely declined more commissions.

There was a reason he wasn’t taking on commissions right now. The viral TikTok video was something he had drawn specifically for submission, not in his usual style, and he didn’t particularly like it.

Plus, he was currently too busy to complete any new work on time. He wanted to stick to the platform for its safety and simplicity.

He planned to release his contact info after his submission was approved, making things simpler and more convenient.

Half an hour later, Tan Xiaobai returned. Le Cheng was busy working on other commissions.

“Back so soon? Did you go to see the drone show?”

“I did.” Le Cheng stopped and stretched. “You saw it too? I didn’t even notice you.”

“I was on the outskirts, but I think I saw your boyfriend. Being tall does have its advantages,” Tan Xiaobai said, then laughed. “So, how was the evening stroll on the field? Was it pure love and did it enhance your feelings?”

Le Cheng nodded. “It was alright.”

He didn’t notice the pure love part, but it was quite effective for his “act like a drama queen” plan.

“Just alright?” Tan Xiaobai chuckled. “Didn’t you take the opportunity to hold hands or anything while it was dark?”

Le Cheng felt a shiver run down his spine. He thought Tan Xiaobai should really consider writing detective novels, as he always guessed so accurately.

He answered honestly, “We did hold hands.”

“Good, any progress is better than none.” Tan Xiaobai patted his shoulder. “Keep it up tomorrow, strike while the iron is hot.”

Le Cheng looked at him with amusement and nodded.

Tan Xiaobai, like a strategist, went off to wash up, leaving Le Cheng to sink into his comfy chair. He thought he should come up with a new name for his “holding hands with Zhou Shiru” plan.

How about calling it the “Straight Guy Operation”?

Online, he’d use his drama queen plan to stir up trouble.

In real life, he’d use the Straight Guy Operation to break down defenses.

Combined, these strategies would definitely make a straight guy uncomfortable and prompt him to say goodbye voluntarily.

Le Cheng opened Baidu and reviewed how to be a drama queen again.

Hmm… first, being unreasonable—he felt he had achieved this.

Second, causing trouble without reason—he believed he had achieved this too.

Third, being super clingy and checking in at any time.

Le Cheng had succeeded in checking in, but it seemed to be of little use… Zhou Shiru was too principled to be swayed.

Ah, got it.

Le Cheng opened his class schedule and checked tomorrow’s classes.

Hmm, none in the morning, but two in the afternoon.

A perfect Monday without an early start.

Le Cheng opened the chat window, thought for a moment, and updated his message note.

[Orange: Patted myself and said, “Your jelly orange suddenly appeared～”]

Yes, that’s the right level of sweetness.

[Orange: What are you doing?]

[Orange: Do you have class tomorrow morning?]

“Ding dong——”

[Brother: Yes.]

[Orange: What class?]

[Brother: Why?]

Look at that indifferent attitude.

Le Cheng tapped the screen.

[Orange: I want to come with you to class]

[Orange: I don’t even know what you usually study]

[Orange: Little dog New Year.jpg]

Zhou Shiru’s chat box displayed “typing…”

[Brother: It will be very boring]

Is this a polite refusal?

Le Cheng wasn’t discouraged. After all, he was always bold online, so he decided to go all out with his drama queen plan.

[Orange: Is that not allowed? But I want to go]

[Orange: Please agree]

[Orange: Please please please please (o’3’o)]

The “typing…” on Zhou Shiru’s end suddenly stopped.

Le Cheng focused intently on the chat window.

[Brother: You might not like it]

[Le Cheng: That’s okay, I’d like to hear it!]

Le Cheng thought for a moment and added.

[Le Cheng: Don’t you want me to come?]

There was a moment of silence from Zhou Shiru’s side.

[Brother: Second class, can you get up?]

Who does he look down on!

Le Cheng tapped the screen: [Can get up!]

[Brother: Then come on.]

Le Cheng thought Zhou Shiru must have agreed simply because he was too bothered by his persistence.

He happily tossed his phone onto the table, feeling relaxed, but suddenly remembered something and grabbed his phone again.

— He hadn’t expressed his happiness to Zhou Shiru yet.

Le Cheng decided to send a voice message to sound more sincere and opened the voice message feature.

And he was right; Zhou Shiru had indeed agreed out of being pestered. When his roommate came out of the shower, he stood up, and his phone suddenly chimed with a notification.

A voice message from Le Cheng.

After a moment of stillness, he connected his Bluetooth earbuds, placed them into his ears, and clicked to listen.

“Hehe, really? Then it’s a deal.”

The clear and pleasant voice had a slightly soft tone, almost like an unconscious pout.

The Bluetooth earbuds transmitted the sound clearly and unaltered, as if whispering gently.

“Ding dong!”

Another voice message popped up and played automatically due to inertia.

After a slight electrical hum, it sounded like a little fish kissing.

“Poke poke～”