A Maid Outfit, a Health Scare, and Brotherly Bargains

The more Zhou Yi thought about it, the more wrong things felt.

The increasingly distinct discomfort in his chest, coupled with the sudden, unexplained bloody stools a few days prior, and the intense, cramping pain in his lower abdomen that had nearly made him faint…

All these symptoms piling up together caused the unease in his heart to gradually magnify.

Perhaps… he should take Monday off and get a proper check-up at the hospital.

After all, the four thousand yuan from the system was still largely untouched in his account. It should be enough to cover a specialist appointment and a full battery of tests.

A check-up… if only for peace of mind.

He quickly dried himself and slipped into his dry pajamas.

The cotton fabric felt soft and familiar against his skin. Yet, as he put it on, he noticed that the area around his chest felt… not as empty as he remembered.

This subtle difference made him pause in drying his hair.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Jiang Chen had already changed. He was currently on WeChat, discussing the day’s topic with Han Yan. Hearing the movement, Jiang Chen looked up, his gaze lingering for a moment on Zhou Yi’s face, flushed red from the hot water.

“Finished washing up?”

“Mhm,” Zhou Yi mumbled in response, haphazardly drying his hair with a towel. “You should go wash up quickly too, Chen-ge, before you catch a cold.”

By the time Jiang Chen finished his shower, Zhou Yi was already huddled on his bed, frowning at his phone screen.

Hearing the door open, he looked up, speaking with a slight stutter. “Um… Chen-ge, I need to take Monday off to go to the hospital. I just told the counselor.”

Jiang Chen paused, mid-wipe of his hair. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” He recalled how Zhou Yi had occasionally clutched his stomach, his face pale, over the past few days. He also remembered Zhou Yi’s trembling, frail figure in the rain just now, looking as if a gust of wind could knock him over.

“It’s just…” Zhou Yi began, about to casually invent a reason about a gastroenteritis follow-up. However, before he could finish, a sudden knock echoed at the dorm room door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Jiang Chen casually draped his towel over the back of a chair and walked towards the door. “Coming!”

As the door opened, Zhao Lei and Chen Hao squeezed in, one after the other.

Zhao Lei held two cups of milk tea. The moment he stepped inside, he automatically switched to “apology mode,” respectfully presenting the milk teas to Zhou Yi’s bedside with both hands. “Yi-ge! I was wrong, I was truly wrong! Full sugar, extra ice, pearls, and pudding, please calm your venerable self down!”

Zhou Yi sat up on his bed, raising an eyebrow as he looked at them. “Oh, so you still know how to show up? I thought you two would hide until the next century.”

“Absolutely, absolutely!” Zhao Lei bowed repeatedly. “It was my fault for ditching you. I’ll buy the Lolita dress! I’ll learn the dance too! Please, Yi-ge, give me a chance to make amends!”

Zhou Yi took the icy-cold, substantial milk tea, inserted the straw, and took a sip. The sweet chill temporarily suppressed the turmoil in his heart.

He then looked at Chen Hao. “What about you?”

Chen Hao looked utterly bewildered. “Me… what about me?”

He scratched his head. “No, Yi-ge, I’ve thought long and hard, and it doesn’t seem like I’ve committed any heinous crimes, have I? I didn’t ditch you for the sports meet; didn’t I throw the shot put properly? This maid outfit… there’s no need for it, is there?”

With Zhao Lei taking the bullet for him, his courage had grown.

“Damn it, Haozi, are you selling me out?!” Zhao Lei grabbed Chen Hao’s sleeve. “I dragged you here so you could take some of the heat with me, but you just switched sides?! Is it fair for me to take all the blame now, brother? Huh?!”

However, Zhou Yi was stumped by Chen Hao’s words.

Indeed, the Chen Hao standing before him hadn’t promised anything in reality.

Whether it was the maid outfit or the life-saving grace, those were all plotlines existing solely within the simulator.

In this Chen Hao’s eyes, they were just brothers who played games together, brought each other meals, and occasionally pranked each other.

He couldn’t exactly grab Chen Hao by the shoulders and say: “Brother, don’t forget last time you were almost scammed into selling a kidney by that scheming girl, and *I* sacrificed my dignity by entering the simulator to save you. The reason you can sit here blustering now is because I changed your fate for you. So, in this life, you must pledge yourself to me… no, no, you must wear a maid outfit to repay me!”

“You…” Zhou Yi opened his mouth, then finally waved a hand unreasonably. “I don’t care! I just don’t like the look of you, so you’re definitely wearing this maid outfit!”

Chen Hao: “????”

His guess was indeed correct. Yi-ge’s reaction, his logic, this inexplicable strong obsession specifically directed at him… it all seemed utterly bizarre. This was certainly not something a normal guy would do to his brother.

Yi-ge might truly have been possessed by something unclean. Or even worse… could he have been body-snatched?

A shiver ran down his spine, and just as he was about to probe further, Zhao Lei quickly tugged on Chen Hao’s sleeve to stop him. “Haozi, don’t be stubborn! Whatever Yi-ge says, goes!”

“But—” This wasn’t about being stubborn; it was a matter of principle! He hadn’t done anything wrong!

“No buts!” Zhao Lei clapped a hand over his mouth. He then turned to Zhou Yi, forcing out a fawning smile. “Yi-ge! Haozi is being unreasonable! I’ll agree for him! He’ll wear the maid outfit! I’ll personally supervise!”

“Alright then!” Zhou Yi jumped off his bed and darted to his wardrobe. He pulled open the cabinet door, snatched up the maid outfit with its lace trim and cat-ear headband, and dramatically unfurled it before Chen Hao.

“I have them in stock! No time like the present, Haozi. Go change into it in the bathroom right now and give your brothers a show!”

Chen Hao, with trembling hands, took the bundle of pink fabric and gave it a shake. He looked at Zhou Yi with an expression of utter despair, then at Zhao Lei, whose face was beet red from suppressing laughter. Finally, he cast a pleading glance towards Jiang Chen, who had been leaning nearby, silently observing.

Receiving that desperate gaze, Jiang Chen cleared his throat lightly. “Zhou Yi—”

Zhou Yi immediately spun around. “Chen-ge, don’t try to persuade me! This is non-negotiable!”

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t going to persuade you,” he said, slowly walking over. He picked up a corner of the maid outfit between his fingers, examining it. “I was just going to say, this size…”

The dorm room fell silent for a second.

Chen Hao looked down at his own height of one-point-eight meters and his not-so-slight build. Then he glanced at the maid outfit in his hand, clearly a one-size-fits-all garment. Suddenly, he felt as if Jiang Chen had spoken the absolute truth.

“Y-yes, exactly!” Chen Hao exclaimed, clutching at a lifeline. “Chen-ge is right! I definitely can’t wear this! It’ll rip!”

Zhou Yi froze for a moment, clearly not having considered this point.

He frowned, staring at the outfit, then scrutinizing Chen Hao’s sturdy physique up and down. Stubbornly, he declared, “You’ll wear it even if it bursts! I don’t care, you figure it out yourself!”

“If this lace trim rips, how am I supposed to sew it back, Yi-ge?!” Chen Hao was on the verge of kneeling before him.

At this moment, Zhao Lei meekly raised his hand. “Um… Yi-ge, how about next time? Next time! I promise!” He thumped his chest. “I’ll bring my Lolita dress, and I’ll buy Haozi a maid outfit that actually fits. Then the two of us… can perform a ‘brothers united’ show for you?”

This suggestion made Zhou Yi narrow his eyes. He looked at the outfit in his hand, which indeed might get torn. This item had sat in his shopping cart for a long time, and he hadn’t dared to place the order.

If Chen Hao hadn’t sheepishly told him something like, “Yi-ge, I’ll make you brown sugar water in the future,” he wouldn’t have impulsively paid for it on the spot.

He looked at Chen Hao’s almost tearful expression. Then he considered the “brothers united” scene Zhao Lei had described…

It seemed… not entirely out of the question? In fact, it was almost too tempting to look forward to.