A Rival Appears

After Guan Jingshan finished saying that, his eyes were filled with provocation.

“Brother Xun, what kind of expression is that?”

Jian Yixun felt like he was about to go crazy with anger.

He almost wanted to bite this shameless guy in front of him to death.

But as his anger burned, confusion slowly rose within him.

Why did he not want to hear Guan Jingshan say that he wanted to pursue Xu Shuche?

He was a straight man.

Did he not allow his friend, who liked men, to date another man?

Jian Yixun admitted that his brain sometimes had a few problems, but not to that extent.

So he immediately rejected that explanation.

“Since Brother Xun has no objections,” Guan Jingshan continued, “then in the future, when senior and I are together, I hope Brother Xun can give us some private space.”

He didn’t know whether Jian Yixun was still the terrifying straight guy everyone knew.

But some instinctive sense of danger made him treat the man in front of him seriously.

“After all, if Brother Xun were on a date, you probably wouldn’t want a third person tagging along either, right?”

“We’re not even together yet.”

Jian Yixun sneered.

“Since you’re not together, that means you’re chasing my senior.”

“If you’re chasing him, what’s wrong with me, as his friend, evaluating you on his behalf?”

Guan Jingshan’s brows knitted slightly.

That confident expression on his face now carried a trace of annoyance.

Just as he was about to respond, Xu Shuche returned after paying for the food.

“What are you talking about?” Xu Shuche asked.

“I saw you two chatting just now.”

Jian Yixun blurted out,

“He said he wants to…”

Both of them looked at him at the same time.

But Jian Yixun suddenly fell silent, unsure how to continue.

Should he say Guan Jingshan liked him?

Why should he tell Xu Shuche that Guan Jingshan liked him?

What if Xu Shuche actually liked Guan Jingshan too?

Then wouldn’t Guan Jingshan succeed today?

Jian Yixun didn’t want to see Guan Jingshan wearing that smug expression.

So he swallowed the rest of his sentence and shut up.

“Oh.”

Guan Jingshan calmly picked up the conversation.

“I was saying that after dinner I want to go to the library to look up some materials.”

“Brother Xun, want to come along?”

Jian Yixun silently shook his head.

Xu Shuche believed their nonsense.

The anger both of them had earlier had to be temporarily swallowed, leaving only a superficial peace between them.

The portions at this spicy hotpot restaurant were generous.

The pot was filled with beef tripe, beef slices, shrimp paste balls, and preserved vegetables.

Red chili oil and sesame seeds covered the ingredients, making everything look incredibly appetizing.

Xu Shuche, a typical “can’t handle spice but still loves eating it” type, picked up a piece of tripe with his chopsticks.

The moment he ate it, the spice made him gasp for air.

He quickly lowered his head and scooped up a big mouthful of rice.

Guan Jingshan’s expression showed a hint of apology.

“Sorry, senior.”

“I didn’t know you couldn’t eat spicy food.”

“I should’ve asked about your preferences before choosing this restaurant.”

He coughed lightly, looking somewhat annoyed with himself.

“Should I go buy you a drink or some milk to help with the spice?”

Xu Shuche’s nose was covered in sweat from the chili.

His eyes looked as if they were watering from the heat.

A faint mist gathered in his phoenix-shaped eyes, making them shine brightly.

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not that I absolutely can’t eat spicy food, it’s just…”

Jian Yixun, who had been sitting beside him the whole time, suddenly stood up and walked toward the counter.

Guan Jingshan turned his head in confusion, wondering what his rival was doing.

But he saw Jian Yixun return with a clean bowl.

He picked up the kettle on the table and poured half a bowl of hot water into it.

“Beef, tripe, fish balls… what else?” Jian Yixun asked.

Xu Shuche paused for a moment before realizing he was being spoken to.

“Preserved vegetables,” he replied.

“Alright.”

Jian Yixun simply answered with one word.

Then he used his chopsticks to pick food from the red chili oil pot and placed it into the bowl of water, rinsing it.

The red oil spread across the surface of the hot water.

The ingredients slowly lost their layer of spice and revealed their original appearance.

Jian Yixun then dropped the rinsed food into Xu Shuche’s bowl.

“Here.”

Xu Shuche raised his eyes.

The person beside him immediately looked away, leaning back casually as if nothing had happened.

Although the chili oil had been rinsed away, the food still tasted delicious.

For Xu Shuche, this light level of spice was perfect.

Xu Shuche lowered his gaze and spoke softly.

“Thank you, but…”

“Hey.”

Jian Yixun interrupted him.

He picked up more food from the pot and rinsed it again.

“Just eat.”

“I’m not listening.”

Xu Shuche sighed quietly and accepted the food Jian Yixun had rinsed for him.

Jian Yixun ate his own meal while occasionally feeding Xu Shuche with the serving chopsticks.

From time to time he even glanced up at Guan Jingshan, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.

Guan Jingshan’s smile looked somewhat forced.

After finishing his last bite of rice, he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“Senior, I’m really sorry about today.”

“Next time I’ll treat you to a movie to make up for today’s mistake.”

Before Xu Shuche could refuse, Jian Yixun spoke again.

“Why does Student Guan always like to fix things after the fact?”

“If you’re going to pursue someone, you should first figure out their preferences.”

Jian Yixun tilted his head to watch Xu Shuche eat, not even glancing at Guan Jingshan.

“Don’t launch a rocket first and only ask questions after it’s already in the sky.”

“That won’t work.”

Xu Shuche raised an eyebrow.

“And another thing.”

Normally quiet Jian Yixun now seemed possessed by the spirit of an overbearing father giving lectures.

“Even when you start dating someone in the future, the same rule applies.”

“You can’t just talk about buying drinks or buying this and that.”

“You have to actually do it.”

“Understand?”

Guan Jingshan was surprisingly calm.

Even after being repeatedly provoked, he maintained his politeness.

“May I ask something?”

“With how skilled Brother Xun seems at relationships…”

Xu Shuche suddenly felt that the conversation was going in a strange direction.

He quickly interrupted.

“Let’s go.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to the library this afternoon?”

“Alright.”

Guan Jingshan stood up gracefully.

“Remember what we said, senior.”

“When you have time, let’s go watch a movie together.”

Who said that was agreed?!

Jian Yixun instinctively wanted to protest.

But someone tugged hard on his sleeve.

After Guan Jingshan left, Xu Shuche finally spoke quietly.

“Thank you.”

“But please don’t do things like that again.”

“I like doing those things for you.”

Jian Yixun was still angry, glaring in the direction Guan Jingshan had left.

“Senior, when I said I don’t care whether you’re gay or not, I meant it.”

“You can’t reject everyone just because you met an idiot in high school.”

As he spoke, his usually sharp expression softened.

The corners of his eyes drooped slightly.

He looked like a dog begging forgiveness from its owner.

“Senior.”

“Why should I pay for that idiot’s behavior?”

“Haven’t I been good to you?”

Xu Shuche couldn’t handle people begging him.

And he especially couldn’t handle Jian Yixun looking pitiful like this.

“Stop acting cute.”

“I’m not acting cute.”

Jian Yixun realized that softening his attitude worked and became even more shameless.

“You’re the one who likes acting cute, senior.”

“I know what I said before was stupid.”

“I apologize.”

“Please don’t stay angry with me, okay?”

“I’m not angry.”

Xu Shuche lowered his head.

His hand unconsciously twisted the hem of his clothes as he gently bit his lip again.

“Just give me some time to think.”

“You’re putting a lot of pressure on me like this.”

“Okay, I won’t bother you anymore.”

The moment Jian Yixun heard that he was causing pressure, his heart softened immediately.

He almost wanted to kneel down and beg for forgiveness on the spot.

“Then remember to eat on time.”

“Don’t stay up late.”

“And also…”

He coughed heavily into his fist.

“Well… could you remove me from your blacklist?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night without our usual voice call.”

When Xu Shuche returned home, the couple next door was arguing again.

The noise gave him a headache.

After thinking for a moment, he tore off a sheet of scrap paper, wrote something on it, and slipped it through their door.

Just as he turned around, his gaze fell on the doormat outside his own door.

When he had left at noon, the mat had been covered with countless advertisements.

Flyers about selling houses, loans, and various services were scattered everywhere.

But now they were gone.

This old residential area didn’t even have property management.

Everyone simply minded their own business.

No one would kindly help him clean up the advertisements.

Had someone collecting recyclables picked them up?

Xu Shuche couldn’t find an answer.

He pushed the question aside for now, went inside, cooked a bowl of instant noodles, and turned on his computer.

JuJu and several friends were chatting in a voice channel on Shengyan Workshop.

When they saw him arrive, they welcomed him enthusiastically.

“Little Bunny, Little Bunny, want to hear some gossip?”

The healers of the Wanhe sect had an excellent tradition.

They were always on the front line of gossip.

“Today’s gossip is about the third and fourth ranked donors,” JuJu said mysteriously.

“They say the fourth ranked one is actually a man who scammed the third ranked one for money and ran away.”

“So exciting?”

Someone in the chat wrote,

“Weren’t they together for a long time? Didn’t the third ranked person realize the fourth was a man?”

“I have no idea,” JuJu said.

“I’m reading the gossip from our guild chat right now.”

“I’ll organize it and report to everyone in real time.”

After that, she called out to Xu Shuche.

“Little Bunny, come up on the mic and play.”

As soon as Xu Shuche joined the voice channel, his advisor sent him an email asking him to revise the first draft of his paper.

JuJu heard the sound of his keyboard typing.

“What have you been busy with lately, Little Bunny?”

“You seem a bit down these past few days.”

“This week a new dungeon is coming out.”

“It’s an underwater dungeon in Longyuan.”

“Want to explore it together?”

Xu Shuche softly replied,

“Mm.”

“Are you in a bad mood?” JuJu asked.

“What happened?”

Xu Shuche didn’t want to explain that it was because of Jian Yixun.

He answered vaguely.

“I had an argument with a friend.”

“Oh…”

JuJu sighed.

“Hug our poor little bunny.”

“It’s fine. I…”

Xu Shuche stopped halfway through his sentence.

He suddenly heard a clear creaking sound outside the door.

It sounded like someone pacing back and forth in front of his apartment.

“What’s wrong?” JuJu asked.

It was an overcast day.

Even though it was only five in the afternoon, dark clouds already filled the sky.

It looked like a heavy rain might start at any moment.

The light inside the house was dim.

It was even darker than the glow from Xu Shuche’s laptop on the table.

“I…”

Another sound came from outside the door.

This time it was even clearer, crashing directly into his ears.

Xu Shuche pressed his lips together.

Then he said quietly.

“I think… I hear someone outside my door.”