Chapter 37 Lin Zhi: Alright, see you tomorrow.

On the way to Lu Liu’s dorm, Lin Zhi felt a mix of emotions. This indescribable feeling reached its peak when Lu Liu took out his keys to open the door. He almost wanted to stop him from unlocking it.

“What are you standing there for?” Lu Liu noticed Lin Zhi hesitating outside and turned to open the door wider. “Come in.”

As Lu Liu moved, Lin Zhi saw the empty dorm room.

“Eh?” Lin Zhi’s heart, which had been caught in his throat, finally settled back into his chest. “Your roommate isn’t here?”

That made sense. If his roommate had been in the dorm, there’d be no need for Lu Liu to use his keys. Lin Zhi realized he had been overthinking.

“Mm,” Lu Liu gestured for Lin Zhi to sit in his chair. “Tomorrow’s the first day of classes, so my roommates went out to play today since they had the day off.”

“Why didn’t you go with them?” Lin Zhi casually asked.

“Didn’t you say you were coming to see me?” Lu Liu replied.

“Ah, right,” Lin Zhi smiled awkwardly. “My bad.”

Unable to sit still, Lin Zhi wandered around the dorm, casually asking about Lu Liu’s roommates.

“Why are you so interested in my roommates?” Lu Liu chuckled.

“I’m just worried that you’re too gentle,” Lin Zhi made up an excuse. “That your roommates might bully you.”

“Oh, I see,” Lu Liu nodded with a meaningful look. “So you care about me that much?”

Lin Zhi felt that Lu Liu’s tone seemed strangely familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had heard it before. “Well, we were desk mates.”

“But didn’t you say…” Lu Liu reminded him. “Don’t be too nice to others. People might misunderstand.”

“Hm?” Lin Zhi subconsciously asked, “Misunderstand what?”

“What do you think they might misunderstand?” Lu Liu said with a hidden meaning. “Aren’t you supposed to have a boyfriend? Why are you still…”

Lu Liu didn’t finish his sentence. Recently, he had been feeling strange about Lin Zhi’s attitude toward “Zhi”. To put it bluntly, Lin Zhi had been overly attentive.

That wasn’t the Lin Zhi he knew. Even though they were the same person, Lin Zhi used to subtly avoid him. Now, he was so active toward “Zhi”.

Every day, Lin Zhi would greet him in the morning, say goodnight at night, and show concern for him when he was hot, tired, hungry, or exhausted. Today, he had even used the excuse of visiting him and secretly asked about “Zhi’s” dorm. Lin Zhi probably wanted to see “Zhi.”

They had only known each other for less than a month!

Lu Liu thought about it and got a little angry. He lowered his eyes slightly and said, “You know my sexual orientation. Aren’t you worried I might misunderstand?”

Lin Zhi froze for a moment. He hadn’t thought about this before, mainly because he didn’t think his kindness toward Lu Liu was enough for him to misunderstand. Plus, there was an even more important issue now…

“Actually, I don’t have a boyfriend,” Lin Zhi quickly clarified. “I haven’t caught up yet.”

He didn’t want Lu Liu to think he was playing both sides while pursuing “Zhi.”

Lin Zhi had a meal in Lu Liu’s school cafeteria, and later, Lu Liu saw him out of the school gate. During the time they spent together, Lu Liu’s roommates hadn’t returned. Lin Zhi felt a little disappointed that he hadn’t met “Zhi,” but Lu Liu seemed to be in a great mood. Lin Zhi noticed that nine times out of ten, Lu Liu’s lips were curved upwards.

“Should I walk you back to school?” Lu Liu asked with a smile when they reached the bus stop.

“No, no,” Lin Zhi quickly shook his head. “I’ll go back myself.”

Today, Lu Liu’s words reminded him that he and Lu Liu were both single young men with the same sexual orientation. It would be better if their one-on-one meetings, like today, were kept to a minimum.

It wasn’t Lu Liu’s fault for misunderstanding. If he were simply bored in the dorm, he could have gone to find Yao Wenjing for company, since Yao Wenjing was his real good friend and younger brother.

“Alright,” Lu Liu stood aside, accompanying Lin Zhi while they waited for the bus. “Be careful on the road.”

“Mm.” Lin Zhi made a decision in his mind: from now on, he shouldn’t think about running into “Zhi” by chance. He should focus on building a connection with him over WeChat, and once they were closer, he could directly arrange to meet him.

What Lin Zhi didn’t expect was that the meeting would come so soon.

Only a week after classes started, the National Day holiday arrived. Having just been at school for a month and with B City being far from J City, neither Lin Zhi nor Yao Wenjing planned to go home.

The night before the holiday, Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing were on the phone discussing where to go for fun.

“Sorry, Xiao Zhi,” Yao Wenjing said, “I might not be able to go with you. I found a part-time job, and I’ll be working from the 2nd to the 6th.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” Lin Zhi chuckled. “You’re amazing! You’ve found a part-time job so soon after school started.”

“Hehe,” Yao Wenjing laughed shyly. “A senior introduced me to it.”

“Is anyone going with you?” Lin Zhi asked, feeling a little uneasy.

“Yeah,” Yao Wenjing replied. “The senior who introduced me is also going.”

“Well, that’s fine.” If the introducer was going too, it shouldn’t be a scam. “Call me if anything happens.”

Yao Wenjing agreed, and Lin Zhi then asked, “Do you have anything planned tomorrow? Want to grab a meal together?”

“Sure, nothing’s going on tomorrow,” Yao Wenjing asked, “Where should we eat?”

“We’ll see when we get there, probably a lot of people around.”

“Mm,” Yao Wenjing thought for a moment and then asked, “Should we invite Lu Liu along?”

“Not sure if he’s going home…” Lin Zhi bit his lip. “I’ll ask him.”

After hanging up, Lin Zhi sent a message to Lu Liu, and after learning that Lu Liu was also staying at school, he invited him to join them for a meal. Lu Liu agreed.

The three of them set a time and place to meet. Feeling a bit bored, Lin Zhi casually opened his chat with “Zhi.”

Tsk, so sweet, Lin Zhi thought enviously. Some were working part-time, some were out on dates, and some were going home. He was the only one with nothing to do.

He wondered if “Zhi” had any plans for the holiday. Lin Zhi skillfully navigated to Zhi’s chat interface.

【Lin Zhi: Are you going home for National Day?】

Lu Liu had just finished a phone call with Feng Shuyun. Feng Shuyun, a high school teacher who had dealt with all kinds of troublesome teenagers, had taken a relatively hands-off approach to Lu Liu’s upbringing. Fortunately, growing up in a household steeped in positive influences, Lu Liu had developed exceptional qualities—mature, independent, and rarely requiring his parents’ intervention, whether in academics or daily life.

After ending the call, Lu Liu noticed Lin Zhi’s message from two minutes earlier. Recently, Lin Zhi had been reaching out to him frequently, and Lu Liu had started treating his “Zhi” account as his main one.

【Zhi: Not going home. Why?】

【Lin Zhi: What a coincidence, I’m not going home either.】

Lu Liu chuckled softly.

【Zhi: Planning to travel?】

【Lin Zhi: Nope. Haven’t decided what to do. No one to hang out with. Pretty boring.】

【Zhi: Then think about what you want to do tonight. I’ll join you.】

“!!!”

Lin Zhi immediately perked up. Zhi was going to spend time with him!

It felt a bit sudden. Lin Zhi couldn’t immediately think of what to do for their first “date.” His previous time spent with “Zhi” had been too short, and when they finally got to the day of the date, an accident had interrupted it halfway. He had no experience at all. After thinking hard for a long time, the only image that came to his mind was the two of them studying together.

“Shaochuan,” Lin Zhi eventually sought external help, “Are you going to meet your girlfriend tomorrow?”

Zhao Shaochuan, who had been packing a change of clothes after discussing plans with his girlfriend, glanced up at Lin Zhi and replied casually, “Yeah, why?”

“Uh,” Lin Zhi hesitated as if prying into someone else’s private life, feeling a little embarrassed. “For National Day, what do you two plan to do?”

“Eh~” Yuan Hesong chimed in from the side, “Lin Zhi, that’s a pretty suggestive question.”

“…” Lin Zhi immediately understood Yuan Hesong’s insinuation from his tone. Speechless, he rolled his eyes lightly. “You’re the one with dirty thoughts. Grow up and think about something wholesome for once. I’m just asking what Shaochuan and his girlfriend usually do on their dates.”

“Tsk, I’m older than you…” Yuan Hesong started to argue, only to stop mid-sentence. “Wait, something about the way you’re asking doesn’t seem right.”

Lin Zhi smiled faintly but didn’t deny it.

“Damn,” Yuan Hesong adjusted his glasses. “Lin Zhi, that’s sneaky of you. When school started, you clearly said you didn’t have a girlfriend…”

“You did say it was at the start of school,” Zhao Shaochuan interrupted, nodding in Lin Zhi’s direction. “Does he look like someone who couldn’t get a girlfriend?”

Lin Zhi thought to himself, I really can’t find a girlfriend, but a boyfriend might be possible, though I haven’t caught up yet.

Yuan Hesong: “… Are you saying I look like someone who can’t get a girlfriend?”

Zhao Shaochuan didn’t answer Yuan Hesong’s question and walked straight to Lin Zhi’s side. He had been the only one in the dorm with a girlfriend before, enduring his roommates’ “envy and jealousy” every day. Now, it felt like he had found someone who understood him, and Zhao Shaochuan was very eager to share his experience of being with his girlfriend.

“I’m telling you,” Zhao Shaochuan said with excitement, “Dating a girlfriend is actually very simple. You just take her out to eat and play, that’s it.”

Lin Zhi thought for a moment. “What if she doesn’t like snacks?”

“How could that be?” Zhao Shaochuan gave him a look of “You really don’t understand girls,” and said, “What girl doesn’t like to eat? Sweet, spicy, sour—every girl will at least like one kind of flavor. You just have to observe slowly and cater to her preferences.”

“…Alright,” Lin Zhi decided to skip over that topic. “What about playing? Can you be more specific?”

“Common things are watching movies, shopping, going to amusement parks…” Zhao Shaochuan listed them one by one, then concluded, “Actually, where you go isn’t the most important thing. The important thing is how you behave during the time you’re together. If you’re good at finding topics to talk about, you can make her happy even by just walking and chatting along the street.”

Lin Zhi nodded thoughtfully.

Zhao Shaochuan enthusiastically shared his experiences with Lin Zhi for a while, then, after taking a sip of water, added, “And there’s one more very important point—girls love romance. You can occasionally give her a small gift. If you really don’t know what to give and your financial situation isn’t great, you can always bring her a fresh flower on your date. Heh, that’s what I do. When I gave my girlfriend flowers, she smiled as beautifully as the flower itself, heh heh heh…”

At this, Zhao Shaochuan couldn’t help but take out his phone and text his girlfriend, then continued packing his things happily, leaving Lin Zhi staring blankly, imagining the scene of him giving flowers to “Zhi.”

Lin Zhi finally decided that for his first date with “Zhi,” they should watch a movie. The cinema would have many people, the lighting would be dim, and they would need to stay quiet—at least they wouldn’t face an awkward silence from a lack of conversation.

After picking the movie, Lin Zhi took the initiative to buy two tickets and confirmed the time and place to meet with “Zhi.” He thought for a moment and then messaged:

【Lin Zhi: By the way, what’s your favorite flower?】

【Zhi: Sunflower】

【Lin Zhi: Alright, see you tomorrow.】

Lu Liu felt like something was off, but he was also a little excited, with a slight worry that Lin Zhi might be upset with him tomorrow for tricking him. He restrained himself and replied with a simple “See you tomorrow.”

He hadn’t initially told Lin Zhi that “Zhi” was his account because he never expected Lin Zhi to care so much about this account, as if it were more than just an ordinary online acquaintance. It was hard for him to explain his mixed feelings—quietly pleased but also frustrated—and he just hoped that after Lin Zhi got angry, his attention toward “Zhi” would shift to him instead.