A Confession Under the Guise of Drunkenness

Shi Sui walked ahead of Lu Huaizhi with exceptionally fast steps, as if there were some kind of flood or savage beast chasing him from behind.

“Shi Sui, wait,” Lu Huaizhi called out from behind him.

Shi Sui felt the residual heat on his face hadn’t dissipated yet. Without turning his head, he said coldly, “Not waiting.” He couldn’t let Lu Huaizhi notice anything unusual.

“I’m not asking you to wait for me.” Lu Huaizhi timely grabbed his clothes. “You walked past the classroom.”

…

Shi Sui turned his head and looked at the class number next to him: Class 4, Grade 11.

“Shi Sui, what are you doing? Walking like the wind.” Wang Cheng poked his head out of the open window. “I was slapping the window, and you didn’t even notice?”

He had been waiting for Shi Sui in the classroom. Having finally spotted him, his brother didn’t even look sideways, his feet moving as if equipped with a speed boost, vanishing in a flash.

Shi Sui: “…” No wonder he felt like some idiot was making faces at the window just now.

Once the two of them entered the classroom, Wang Cheng asked, “Anyway, what did Old Tian want with you guys? Why did it take so long?”

Shi Sui had been called out in the middle of self-study, and even by the time school ended, he hadn’t returned. Wang Cheng had thought Shi Sui had gotten into trouble again and was prepared to go to the office to rescue him, but when he reached the door and saw a large group of teachers packed inside, he tucked his tail and came right back.

The matter was big; it wasn’t something he could meddle in.

Shi Sui spoke up, “It’s nothing. Just that my exam results were too good, so I got targeted by the Class 8 headteacher.”

“That guy surnamed Jiang?” Wang Cheng’s tone shot up instantly. “He’s incredibly petty. Sometimes when he passes by our class, he looks inside with those shifty, rat-like eyes.”

Several times before, when he was sneaking snacks during class, this was the exact person who reported him to Tian Hongjun. Even more annoying than Qi Sizheng.

Shi Sui took out the grade sheet he had been carrying in his pocket all this time and put it into his backpack. Before leaving, he had asked Tian Hongjun for a copy of the grades so he could give an account to his grandmother later.

Seeing that Lu Huaizhi had started packing his things, Shi Sui also swung his backpack on. “Forget it, stop thinking about those annoying things. Let’s go to the internet cafe to team up. Chi Qing said to call him if we go.”

Wang Cheng pulled out his phone, ready to summon people, but the phone happened to vibrate right then.

Shi Sui’s and Lu Huaizhi’s phones did the same.

Wang Cheng had thought Chi Qing was mentioning them in the [A Nest of Dogs] group, but upon opening it, it turned out to be their Class 3 group chat. The one mentioning all members was Tian Hongjun.

[Tian Hongjun: Everyone did well in this monthly exam. The school handed out bonuses, so teacher is treating you to a meal.]

[Tian Hongjun: 8:00 PM tonight. You guys decide the location.]

Just as Wang Cheng finished reading the message, Tian Hongjun appeared at the classroom door. Seeing them, he let out a sigh of relief. “Good thing you guys are still here.”

Class 3 had made the top five in this monthly exam, and the school gave a 5,000 yuan bonus. This was a first, so Tian Hongjun thought about organizing a team-building meal.

After discussing it with Wang Cheng and the others, the location was set at the barbecue shop they had visited before in South Lane.

“That new shop has a discount, and today happens to be the last day. It’s perfect!” Wang Cheng grinned. “I’ll try my best to notify every classmate.”

Wang Cheng was the little social butterfly of the class; he had everyone’s contact information.

Tian Hongjun nodded. “Alright, then remember to book the seats in advance. I’ll go home, change my clothes, and come over.”

The group split up to take action. Wang Cheng was busy contacting people, but he didn’t forget to shout to Shi Sui, “Tell Chi Qing that the headteacher is treating us to a meal today. We’ll set up the internet cafe date next time.”

Shi Sui pulled out his phone, only to see that Chi Qing had already sent a message in the group long ago.

[Chi Qing: I have something unexpected to attend to today, so I won’t go to the internet cafe. You guys have fun.]

Lately, Chi Qing didn’t seem to hang out with them after school either, as if he had something going on.

But Shi Sui didn’t think too deeply about it, stuffing his phone into his pocket. “I’ll go check on my grandmother first and come over later.”

After speaking, he waved his hand at the two of them and walked in another direction.

Lu Huaizhi was about to follow him, but his arm was yanked back by Wang Cheng. “Top Student, you can’t run. I can’t handle this alone!”

With nearly thirty people in the class, managing the venue, time, and menu would definitely be too much for him to handle by himself. Lu Huaizhi had no choice but to stay behind.

The barbecue shop owner was also happy to take such a large order, quickly promising to reserve the tables and chairs, and the dishes would be prepared in advance so the students wouldn’t be kept hungry.

Not only that, but Wang Cheng also took advantage of Tian Hongjun not arriving yet to order two crates of beer for each table.

As night fell, the students gradually gathered.

Except for one or two people who genuinely had other engagements, the three large tables were almost completely filled, and the barbecue shop instantly became lively.

By the time Lu Huaizhi finished helping out, he unexpectedly couldn’t find a seat for a moment.

Tian Hongjun waved a hand at him. “Huaizhi, there’s a seat here.” An almost empty vacuum circle had formed around him.

Lu Huaizhi didn’t move for a moment; he was looking for Shi Sui.

Suddenly, a small pebble hit his shin.

Lu Huaizhi looked behind him and instantly recognized the back of Shi Sui’s head among the crowd of students, and there were two empty seats to his left.

He nodded apologetically to Tian Hongjun. “Teacher, I’ll go sit next to Shi Sui.”

Lu Huaizhi very naturally moved the beer bottle Shi Sui had used to reserve the seat and sat down.

Shi Sui threw away the pebble in his hand, brushed off the dust, and turned his head to look at him. “Did I say this seat was yours?” They had gotten a bit familiar, and now he didn’t even ask.

“May I sit here, Student Shi Sui?” Lu Huaizhi asked, extremely cooperative.

Shi Sui: “…”

He glanced behind Lu Huaizhi. “Where’s Wang Cheng?”

“He went to the restroom. He’ll be over shortly.”

Lu Huaizhi pulled at the plastic tablecloth on the table to flatten it. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the bulging backpack next to Shi Sui’s chair. “Did Grandmother give you something?”

Before Shi Sui left, his backpack had been flat.

“It’s nothing, just some candy.” Shi Sui gripped his backpack strap. “The nougat my grandmother made herself. She told me to let my classmates try it.”

Grandmother was worried that kids nowadays wouldn’t be used to home-made candy, so she had specifically gone to the supermarket to buy ready-made lollipops, wanting Shi Sui to share them with his classmates and get along well with them.

She said that since his grades had improved, his popularity shouldn’t lag behind either.

But as everyone knew, Shi Sui had virtually no so-called popularity. Even in such a relaxed setting, he couldn’t even hand out the candy.

Shi Sui: “When Wang Cheng comes back, I’ll give it out under his name—”

“No need, I’ll help you,” Lu Huaizhi spoke up.

He unzipped the backpack and found that Grandmother had packed the candy in very beautiful gift bags. The outer candy wrappers were designed in a red and white theme, with a red maple leaf right in the center, wrapping the candy perfectly.

Looking at this candy wrapper, Lu Huaizhi’s movements paused.

Shi Sui thought he felt the candy wrapper chosen by the elder didn’t look good, so he snatched the bag of candy back. “My grandmother just happens to like this candy wrapper. I’ve eaten it since I was a kid. If you think it’s inappropriate, I’ll keep it for my—”

“It’s not that.” Lu Huaizhi’s finger brushed over the red maple leaf. “On the contrary, it looks really beautiful. I was just thinking about how I could ask for more for myself.”

“You’re so high-maintenance.” Shi Sui grabbed a small handful straight from the bag and stuffed it into the side pocket of Lu Huaizhi’s backpack. “My grandmother made less this time, so it probably won’t be enough to distribute evenly. You take this first.”

Wang Cheng happened to catch this scene when he returned, his eyes lighting up instantly as he dashed over in a single stride. “Holy f*ck! Grandmother made nougat again? I want some too!”

When he was a kid, he often followed Shi Sui to his grandmother’s house to play. Every time they went, Shi Sui’s grandmother would give him this candy to eat.

However, she hadn’t made it in a long time recently.

Wang Cheng’s mouth was practically watering, and he immediately reached out to dig into the bag, only for his hand to be smacked away by Shi Sui.

“We need to share it with others. The nougat isn’t enough.” Shi Sui picked and chose from another plastic bag, taking out a strawberry-flavored lollipop and handing it to Wang Cheng. “You eat this.”

Wang Cheng: “?” A whole handful for Lu Huaizhi, but for him, it was the least favored strawberry lollipop?

Since when did the status gap between him and Lu Huaizhi become this huge?

Nevertheless, with Wang Cheng the social butterfly around, the candy was distributed very quickly.

When Lu Huaizhi handed them out, he didn’t forget to explain, “This was made by Shi Sui’s grandmother using peanuts she grew herself. The flavor is very authentic.”

Everyone immediately thanked Shi Sui who was next to Lu Huaizhi, “Thank you, Shi Sui’s grandmother!”

“Wow, it really smells so good.” Someone had already couldn’t wait to taste it. “Shi Sui, your grandmother is amazing.”

Shi Sui was a bit unaccustomed to such praise. His hand holding the candy bag tightened, and he mumbled, “Yeah.”

With everyone having a piece of candy, the atmosphere at the dining table grew even more lively.

Originally, the people sitting at Shi Sui’s table had been a bit intimidated by him, but now, everyone had opened up.

“Lu Huaizhi, I heard you took rank one in the grade again this time. Truly awesome!”

“The monitor improved a lot too. You guys are pushing the curve too much; looks like I need to put in more effort as well.”

“If you ask me, Shi Sui is the truly impressive one. I heard his grades shot way forward this time. How did you do it?”

Before Shi Sui could answer, Wang Cheng, being quick-tongued, replied, “Tsk, you guys wouldn’t know about this, would you?”

“There’s a secret trick to it.”

Wang Cheng deliberately beat around the bush, completely whetting everyone’s appetite. “His deskmate is rank one in the grade. With Lu Huaizhi providing hand-held tutoring, it’d be weird if his grades didn’t go up!”

Wang Cheng’s tone carried a sense of shared glory. Stuffed with a piece of nougat, he spoke with animated gestures: “Moreover, they go to Shi Sui’s house every single night—”

Before he could finish his words, Wang Cheng’s mouth was plugged by Shi Sui with a mutton skewer.

Shi Sui: “Just eat your skewers properly.”

This was a grilled skewer that had just been served, so hot that Wang Cheng gasped and gulped down ice beer.

“Shi Sui, you’re committing murder!” Wang Cheng fiercely bit off the skewer at his mouth. Just as he was about to reach out to grab the last one, he saw Lu Huaizhi step ahead of him, placing the mutton skewer right in front of Shi Sui.

After dealing with Wang Cheng, Shi Sui kept his head down to continue playing a mini-game on his phone, very naturally picking up the mutton skewer to eat while playing.

“No, you two?” Wang Cheng looked at Lu Huaizhi, then at Shi Sui, unable to squeeze out a single word for a long time.

“Haha, Wang Cheng, have you fallen out of favor?” the others laughed.

“I think so too,” Wang Cheng said with a bitter face, taking a sip of ice beer. “If I have to wait for him to start dating, wouldn’t I be pushed to third place?”

“Dating?” Lu Huaizhi, who had just brought over a few skewers of grilled potatoes for someone, heard these two words unexpectedly and knitted his brows. “Shi Sui is dating someone?”

“You don’t know? I discovered it back at the exam room.” Wang Cheng’s tone was a bit smug. “This kid definitely has a situation, and I’ve even guessed the suspect.”

To avoid Wang Cheng’s noise, Shi Sui had just put on his earphones, completely missing their conversation.

Hearing this, Lu Huaizhi turned his head to glance at Shi Sui. Sensing it, Shi Sui pulled off one earphone and looked back.

What was wrong with this guy again?

Looking at the charred yellow grilled potatoes in front of him, Shi Sui pushed them slightly toward Lu Huaizhi, knitting his brows: “I didn’t steal them from you.” Why look at him with such a resentful expression?

Lu Huaizhi: “Forget it, it’s nothing.”

Wang Cheng, the instigator, was watching the drama from the side. After speaking, he quietly leaned into Lu Huaizhi’s ear, “Do you want to know who the suspect is? You can trade a piece of nougat for it!”

Shi Sui was incredibly stingy, only giving him two pieces, which were gone in a few bites.

“No trade.” Lu Huaizhi didn’t hesitate at all.

Wang Cheng opened his mouth, “No, such explosive news isn’t worth a single piece of candy?”

Lu Huaizhi’s expression remained indifferent, and he even put that small handful of nougats into the small inner pocket of his backpack.

Seeing him guarding it like he was protecting against a thief, Wang Cheng snorted, “I don’t believe you aren’t curious. Anyway, I’m not in a hurry.”

Half a minute later.

“No, Top Student, are you really not interested at all?” Wang Cheng burst out, his mouth practically bubbling from holding it in. “That’s Shi Sui we’re talking about—the Shi Sui who is usually like a cold stone, the Shi Sui who rejected the grade beauty of the first years, Tao Lingwei!”

“Don’t look at how arrogant he usually is. He’s never dated anyone from childhood to now; he’s just a pure-hearted virgin!”

Wang Cheng kept his voice extremely low for the last sentence, but it successfully caught Lu Huaizhi’s attention: “Never dated anyone?”

Wang Cheng nodded firmly: “Yeah!”

Like a block of wood that had severed all ties with love, completely wasting such good looks.

Wang Cheng enticed, “So, trading?” Lu Huaizhi glanced at him: “No trade.”

“However,” he shifted his stance, “I can make an exception and give you this weekend’s homework.”

Wang Cheng grinned: “Deal!”

Covering his mouth with his hand, he whispered, “Do you still remember the person who wrote the cheer-up draft as a love letter during the sports meet? Her probability is the highest!”

“I guarantee it with my over a decade of understanding Shi Sui!” Wang Cheng patted his little chest. “Shi Sui is most afraid of people pestering him, and that one is clearly a bold one.”

The girls from before had been too thin-skinned, beating a retreat after being rejected by Shi Sui once.

“Do you know how I ended up hanging out with Shi Sui?” Wang Cheng poured another gulp of beer, not forgetting to open the alcohol in front of Lu Huaizhi. “To get him to cover for me, I ground him down for an entire semester!”

Looking at the bubbles rising from the bottle opening, Lu Huaizhi fell into deep thought.

Thinking back to those days made Wang Cheng feel sentimental, so he opened another can of alcohol for himself, dragging Lu Huaizhi along to drink quite a bit.

Shi Sui’s energy for his phone game ran out, so he joined the drinking team as well.

Tian Hongjun watched from the side, only able to advise them not to drink too much and to head home clear-headed.

In the end, the only one who drank too much was Wang Cheng.

Shi Sui looked with disgust at Wang Cheng who was leaning against him. “Your alcohol tolerance is that trash, yet you still drank so aggressively? Forget it, I’ll send you back.”

Just as his hand was about to support Wang Cheng, a person suddenly leaned against his left shoulder.

Lu Huaizhi’s head rested on Shi Sui’s shoulder, his brows tightly knit, showing a look of discomfort from the alcohol rushing to his head. He even showed a tendency to collapse toward the ground because of the awkward leaning position.

Shi Sui’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly turned his body around, supporting his back to press the person back.

He looked at the three empty beer cans in front of Lu Huaizhi. “You’re drunk off just this?”

Wasn’t he sitting next to him looking quite calm just now? How did he collapse all of a sudden?

“Maybe because I usually drink less.” Lu Huaizhi wanted to support himself on the table to sit up straight, but he couldn’t seem to muster any strength no matter what.

Shi Sui couldn’t bear to watch, pulling the person steady. “Alright, stop tossing around.”

Lu Huaizhi immediately settled down, obediently resting against Shi Sui’s shoulder.

In contrast, Wang Cheng, having been dumped on the dining table by Shi Sui, started throwing a drunken tantrum and talking nonsense, “Shi Sui, you little heartless wretch! To think you’ve shifted your affection so quickly.”

“Waaah, return that one semester of bribes to me.”

Shi Sui casually picked up the remaining green vegetables on the table to plug the man’s mouth.

Wang Cheng directly chewed and started eating, and his mouth finally quieted down.

Just as he was worrying whether to just let Wang Cheng sleep on the street, Qi Sizheng walked over. Seeing the two drunks next to Shi Sui, he offered to help: “Wang Cheng and I are heading the same way; I’ll send him back.”

During the heavy rain last time, he had walked along the same path sharing an umbrella with Wang Cheng.

Shi Sui: “Alright.”

The crowd dispersed, leaving Shi Sui to support Lu Huaizhi toward that bus station in South Lane.

Shi Sui asked, “You should be able to take a taxi home by yourself, right? Do you remember your home address?”

“Anhe Community, Building 5, Room 202.” Lu Huaizhi let out a breath with some discomfort. “Shi Sui, alcohol doesn’t taste good at all. Let’s not drink it in the future, okay?”

Shi Sui ignored him.

“Smoking is also bad for your health. I saw you sneak off to the back to smoke again just now.”

“Fighting isn’t good either. Don’t fight in the future.”

Lu Huaizhi went on sentence after sentence. Shi Sui kept a stiff face, suddenly stopping his footsteps. “Keep nagging and believe it or not, I’ll dump you by the roadside.”

Lu Huaizhi shut his mouth.

Seeing that they were almost at the bus station, the quiet Lu Huaizhi called out his name very softly, “Shi Sui.”

His voice, affected by the alcohol, carried a hint of hoarseness, and due to the extremely close distance, the exhaled hot air instantly enveloped Shi Sui’s earlobe, drilling into his ear along with the sound.

“I feel uncomfortable.” The lowered voice sounded a bit pitiful.

Shi Sui’s footsteps halted instantly. He looked at the person leaning in his arms. “Try throwing up on me and see?”

The body of the person in his arms suddenly stiffened.

Shi Sui felt Lu Huaizhi stand up a bit straighter.

“It’s not the kind of discomfort where I want to throw up.” Lu Huaizhi lowered his eyes slightly, his eyelashes long, the streetlights casting a small shadow beneath his eyes.

“Wang Cheng said you have someone you like and will start dating,” Lu Huaizhi brought the atmosphere back once more. “By then, I can only rank second.”

Shi Sui: “?”

“What kind of nonsense did Wang Cheng spout to you?” Shi Sui was a bit speechless, but he suddenly realized something was off. “Lu Huaizhi, when did you become number one?”

Lu Huaizhi turned his head to look at him. “Then what rank am I?” He asked very seriously.

Shi Sui was caught tongue-tied all at once. He shut his mouth, silently leading the person toward the bus station. Once they got into a taxi, he would have some peace.

The drunk Lu Huaizhi was exceptionally talkative.

But he didn’t know if it was his misconception, but a path that had felt quite easy to walk before suddenly became heavy. Was Lu Huaizhi carrying stones on him?

Just as he was about to tell Lu Huaizhi to stop leaning toward him, he heard Lu Huaizhi speak slowly: “Shi Sui, don’t date anyone else.”

Shi Sui understood the underlying meaning. You can date me.

He pursed his lips and didn’t speak.

Lu Huaizhi looked up, his gaze lingering for a moment on Shi Sui’s gradually reddening ear tips before moving his eyes away, resting his chin on Shi Sui’s shoulder. “Actually, I wrote two pages for the second love letter. Did you read it?”

Shi Sui: “No.”

“What about the ones after that?” Lu Huaizhi said. “I stuffed them in many times, and those were written quite well too.”

“Torn up.”

“Mm.” Lu Huaizhi didn’t get angry either. “Then I’ll recite them to you. I remember all the contents.”

Today was Friday, with people coming and going in South Lane, yet Lu Huaizhi shamelessly wanted to recite love letters to him.

Perhaps feeling that his throat after drinking wasn’t very clear, Lu Huaizhi cleared his throat.

“Hello, Shi Sui. I am Lu Huaizhi from Class 3, Grade 11. We met a very long time ago, and since then, I have never forgotten you again. I lik—”

Before the following words could be uttered, his mouth was covered by Shi Sui.

Lu Huaizhi reciting a love letter was just like reading a speech on the flag-raising platform—tonal, clear, knowing where to pause, and showing absolutely no restraint in volume. Shi Sui already felt several people around casting strange glances at them.

However, once his hand went up and Lu Huaizhi was instantly muted, Shi Sui felt even more uncomfortable.

Because of the alcohol, both of their body temperatures were higher than usual. With Shi Sui’s hand covering Lu Huaizhi’s mouth, he could feel the shape of the lips underneath—soft and warm. But in direct contrast to that was the breath exhaled from within, heavy and scalding, gradually enveloping Shi Sui’s palm and seeping out bit by bit from the gaps between his fingers.

Shi Sui felt his palm sweating again.

But fearing that Lu Huaizhi would recite that reckless and bold love letter again, he could only warn with a flushed face, “Don’t throw a drunken tantrum.”

Lu Huaizhi blinked at him, and taking it as his agreement, Shi Sui slowly lowered his hand.

The two of them also reached the bus station at this time.

The station was completely deserted at this hour.

Shi Sui was prepared to leave him here, but turning his head, he happened to meet Lu Huaizhi’s eyes.

Dark and bright, without a single trace of drunkenness.

“I’m not throwing a drunken tantrum.” Lu Huaizhi raised his hand, very gently touching the hair near Shi Sui’s cheek that had been messed up from supporting him. “I remember every love letter very clearly, and every single one has that phrase you don’t allow me to say written on it.”

Shi Sui knew what that phrase was. [Like you.]

Before Lu Huaizhi could open his mouth to utter those three words, Shi Sui hurriedly interrupted him, leaving behind a sentence: “Take a taxi back by yourself.” Fleeing in panic.

Once he returned home and closed the door, Shi Sui touched his heartbeat.

It was abnormally fast. Was it because of the alcohol combined with running too fast?

He slowly squatted down against the door, covering his face with both hands. His face was also scalding hot.

Shi Sui cursed in a low voice. “Madman.”