Chapter 18

Over the past few days, Bai Zining encountered a small setback. A new piece of music he was learning had a section in the middle where his fingering would always get messy, no matter how much he practiced. It felt like an insurmountable obstacle, and he experienced a sense of frustration he hadn’t felt in a long time.

That night, during a phone call with Zhu Shizhou, he vented his irritation about it.

Wearing his headphones, Zhu Shizhou’s gentle voice seemed to resonate right beside his ears. “Think about it, are you making the same mistake at the same spot, or are they happening at different points?”

“While practicing the measures, don’t focus on the thought that you’ll make a mistake here. Just treat it like the first time you’re playing and try to connect it smoothly.”

“It’s okay to make mistakes; take it step by step. We’re not aiming for speed. Baby, you’re already amazing, after just over a month, you can play two complete pieces. I may not understand music theory, but to me, that feels pretty ‘genius.'”

“Oh, stop it,” Bai Zining said with a laugh. After being comforted, he felt much better and decided not to dwell on the issue for the rest of the day, planning to continue practicing tomorrow.

“Thank you, gege, I understand now.” Bai Zining fiddled with the corner of his summer blanket. “I feel like I’ve never seen you upset.”

Not just online but in real life too. Other than with himself, Bai Zining had never seen Zhu Shizhou show a sour expression to anyone.

Most of the time, Zhu Shizhou wore a neutral expression, making it hard for people to guess what he was thinking or discern his true emotions.

He had seen Zhu Shizhou laughing and chatting with Xie Cheng and being jovial while talking with Cai Yu and Zuo Xingwei. Yet, when it came to him, Zhu Shizhou rarely displayed a pleasant attitude.

To be honest, in the past month of phone calls with Zhu Shizhou, Bai Zining had heard Zhu Shizhou laugh more than he had during the entire year they had lived together.

“There are times, just very few,” Zhu Shizhou replied.

Bai Zining instinctively asked, “Then, when was the last time you were unhappy?”

Zhu Shizhou fell silent for a moment. Bai Zining suddenly realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly added, “Forget it, gege. Pretend I didn’t ask. I don’t want to make you recall unhappy memories.”

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. The last time I was really upset was before the start of last year’s term. I had an argument with my parents. They wanted me to choose a different major and school, but I still put the Computer Science major at University A as my first choice.”

“I see.” Bai Zining felt it wasn’t his place to comment on family matters, so he tried to comfort him from another angle. “Gege, you’re really talented in computer science! My friends told me your GPA is super high, and you even won a national award in a competition as a freshman. That proves your choices and decisions were the right ones.”

“I think so too, especially since our school’s dorm allocation is excellent,” Zhu Shizhou added with a hint of amusement.

What does that have to do with the dorm?

Zhu Shizhou continued, “During that time, I was in a bad state, something like self-isolation. When others showed kindness to me, I might have ignored it because I didn’t have the energy to maintain other relationships.”

So that’s how it was? Bai Zining froze for a moment. No wonder his attempts to befriend Zhu Shizhou back then had been ignored. It seemed the conflict with his parents had been serious enough to keep him in a prolonged bad mood.

Alright then, Bai Zining thought to himself, since there was a reason for it, I’ll lightly forgive him… just a little bit.

.

In mid-August, Zhu Shizhou mentioned he was going on a trip to Spain. He explained that due to the time difference, there might be delays in replying to messages.

Spain was currently observing daylight saving time, which meant it was six hours behind China. This meant that when Bai Zining woke up in the morning, it would still be early dawn in Spain. And when Bai Zining was about to go to bed at night, it would be afternoon there, with Zhu Shizhou likely out and about.

On the first night without their usual voice call, Bai Zining found himself feeling slightly unaccustomed to it.

At 11 p.m. the next night, Bai Zining’s phone suddenly rang, it was a call from Zhu Shizhou. Bai Zining quickly opened the voice-changing app before answering.

“Why are you calling all of a sudden?”

“It’s mealtime here, and… I kind of miss you,” Zhu Shizhou said bluntly. Caught off guard, Bai Zining didn’t know how to respond and could only ask, “Are you alone, gege?”

“With a childhood friend.”

“Isn’t it a bit rude to leave him to chat with me?”

“It’s fine, he’s on a call with his girlfriend.”

They chatted for nearly half an hour. Zhu Shizhou shared stories about what he had seen and experienced over the past two days and also asked about Bai Zining’s progress with learning to drive and play the guitar. Before hanging up, he said, “Baby, you can set my message notifications to silent so they won’t disturb your rest.”

At first, Bai Zining didn’t quite understand what Zhu Shizhou meant, until the following days when he began receiving dozens of messages and photos from him every day.

Ferry: 【Baby, we’re in Madrid today, heading to the Royal Palace later. [Photo]】

Ferry: 【The paella tastes pretty good, though the rice is a bit hard. [Photo]】

Ferry: 【Bought a 10-trip transit card—it’s more cost-effective than single tickets. [Photo]】

It felt like he was reporting his daily itinerary.

Zhu Shizhou took many beautiful photos; intricate and whimsical buildings, sculptures full of artistic flair, and grand European-style murals. Sometimes, he even appeared in the photos himself.

There was a silhouette of him bathed in the vibrant light and shadows of the Sagrada Familia, a picture of him smiling by the seaside wearing a straw hat, or candid shots of him and his childhood friend taken by passersby. Bai Zining meticulously saved every photo that included Zhu Shizhou, even if it was just a hand peeking into the frame.

One night, while helping Cai Yu with an overdue lab report, Bai Zining stayed up late for the first time in a while. At around 2 a.m., he sent Zhu Shizhou a message: 【Goodnight.】

Zhu Shizhou quickly replied: 【Baby, why are you up so late today?】

Hawthorn Porridge: 【Helping a friend finish some homework.】

Ferry: 【Then can you stay up ten more minutes?】

Bai Zining joked: 【Gege has homework to finish too?】

Ferry: 【Can we video call?】

!!

Ferry: 【I want to share the sunset with you.】

Ferry: 【You can cover the camera or turn it to the back if it’s inconvenient. If not, that’s okay too.】

Bai Zining thought about it for three minutes before finally agreeing.

He covered the front camera with his finger and leaned back, keeping his face as far from the screen as possible. The moment the call connected, Bai Zining caught a glimpse of Zhu Shizhou’s smiling face, but before he could take a closer look, Zhu Shizhou had already flipped his camera to the back.

After switching his own camera to rear-facing mode, Bai Zining began to regret it. Covering the front camera with his finger earlier was already cautious enough. By leaning so far away, he had completely missed the chance to see Zhu Shizhou’s face clearly.

“Baby,” Zhu Shizhou called him.

“I’m here,” Bai Zining quickly replied.

There was a pause, likely due to signal issues, lasting at least ten seconds before Zhu Shizhou spoke again. “Can you see it?”

Bai Zining nodded at first, then realized the other side couldn’t see him, so he answered aloud, “Yes, I can.”

The sky looked like a vast canvas washed with color, dominated by hues of orange, rose gold, and deep blue. The clouds flowed like molten lava, as if capturing the moment just before a volcanic eruption. Zhu Shizhou seemed to be at the top of a mountain, and in the frame was the silhouette of a sculpture, quietly overlooking the world below. In the distance, buildings and the sky were separated by a faint blue-black line, which gradually blended into the deep blue, illuminated by the dazzling lights of the city.

“So beautiful,” Bai Zining couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

“I think so too,” Zhu Shizhou said. “The sunset is even more beautiful when I’m watching it with you.”

Zhu Shizhou’s trip to Spain lasted a total of ten days. After returning to the country, they resumed their usual voice call schedule and frequency.

A few days later, Zhu Shizhou asked Bai Zining for his address, saying he had brought him a gift.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zining sent him the address of a courier station ten kilometers away from his home.

The package arrived on the third day. The courier called at 2 p.m., the hottest time of the day. After thinking for only a minute, Bai Zining immediately booked a car on his phone to head to the courier station.

When he saw the box, which was over half a meter tall, Bai Zining was stunned. After confirming with the station staff twice that it was indeed his, he finally dared to sign for it. Hugging the box all the way home left him drenched in sweat. After taking a quick shower, he began unboxing the package.

The box contained a variety of items: beautifully packaged nougat and chocolates, ceramic ornaments and hangings, teddy bear and rabbit plushies, hand-painted plates, and an assortment of pretty refrigerator magnets. To prevent damage during transport, everything had been meticulously wrapped.

After unboxing, Bai Zining immediately called Zhu Shizhou via voice chat. “Thank you for the gifts, gege. I received them. But how did you manage to bring back so much stuff?” A single suitcase certainly wouldn’t have been enough, especially considering Zhu Shizhou also had his own belongings to pack.

“I mailed them, baby. That’s why it took a few extra days to arrive.”

“This is way too much. Gege, you must have spent a lot of money. I feel bad about it,” Bai Zining said earnestly. He truly didn’t want Zhu Shizhou spending money on him.

“I just saw these and thought you’d like them, so I bought them. Doesn’t baby like them?” Zhu Shizhou’s tone carried a hint of disappointment.

Bai Zining immediately raised his voice, fully expressing his emotions. “I like them, I like them! It’s just… it’s so much…” He thought about sending Zhu Shizhou some local specialties from his hometown in return but hesitated, fearing it might give something away.

“It’s fine, don’t feel burdened. Try the chocolates; the store said the almond-flavored ones are better, not too sweet.”

“Okay, I will.”

The entire summer break, Bai Zining found himself immersed in a sweet and heady romance.

Things had completely deviated from his original plan. Occasionally, Bai Zining would find himself in a daze, questioning—what exactly was he doing?

Especially when Zhu Shizhou called him “baby” over voice chat, his voice low, as if whispering directly into his ear. Zhu Shizhou always showered him with praise, “Baby, you’re so cute,” “Baby, you’re amazing at gaming,” “Baby, your hands are so beautiful,” “Baby, your piano playing sounds wonderful.”

It was obvious that Zhu Shizhou’s feelings for him were overflowing, so full they could hardly be contained. And himself? He was deceiving him.

No, Bai Zining shook his head. He wasn’t deceiving anyone. This was actually… doing a good deed.

There were so many bad people online, with countless scams appearing one after another. If it weren’t for him, Bai Zining, being in an online relationship with Zhu Shizhou, there was a chance Zhu Shizhou could have ended up in an online relationship with someone else.

What if he encountered a scammer? What if Zhu Shizhou was lured into sharing intimate photos or videos and then blackmailed for money? Knowing Zhu Shizhou’s personality, he likely wouldn’t give in, and the scammer, humiliated and enraged, might send his compromising photos to everyone in Zhu Shizhou’s contact list. What would Zhu Shizhou do then? Embarrassment would be the least of the problems, what if he couldn’t handle it and chose to end his life? The consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking this way, Bai Zining became even more convinced that he wasn’t in the wrong.

His motives might be a little impure, but throughout the process, Zhu Shizhou hadn’t been hurt or scammed out of money. Who knows, maybe if Zhu Shizhou found out one day, he might even thank him.