MGAG: Chapter 124

Ever since he liked Shen Yuhuai that day, every time Chen Qizhao posted on his Moments, there was always that profile picture among his likes. It was normal for people to like his Moments. It wasn’t that he deliberately paid attention to that profile picture, but he could always see Shen Yuhuai’s profile picture at a glance among the pile of likes.

There weren’t so many things during the summer vacation. Yan Kailin was busy with the enrollment of the new semester. They couldn’t meet every time he went out to drink. Chen Qizhao had also recently visited this person’s Moments. He always saw Yan Kailin posting food photos. The other person lived in Shen Yuhuai’s apartment, and he ate the meals made by Shen Yuhuai almost every day. He didn’t repeat any photos in his Moments.

Was Shen Yuhuai’s cooking so delicious?

Chen Qizhao gave Yan Kailin a like before clicking into Shen Yuhuai’s Moments. This person cooked so well. Why didn’t he post it on his Moments. Those friends of his would show off when making plain fried rice with egg. How could Shen Yuhuai’s last post be a month ago?

Soon, it was the day when college started.

Yan Kailin asked people for a connection. Originally, an exchange student like Yan Kailin should live in a single-person dormitory. However, he didn’t want this, so the rooms of the two people were arranged together. Fortunately, there happened to be a separate dormitory that was a four-person room. Chen Qizhao’s room had two students of the same major. Yan Kailin just happened to fill in the vacant position.

On the day of school, Chen Qizhao arrived at the dormitory and found that his other two roommates were already there.

Chen Qizhao finished greeting them. Then he saw Yan Kailin coming over slowly, sweating profusely and pulling his suitcase. Fortunately, the air conditioner was turned on in the bedroom. Yan Kailin was tired and paralyzed as soon as he came in.

“How can you be so tired just carrying a suitcase by yourself?” Chen Qizhao was full of disgust, but he still went down to help Yan Kailin push the suitcase in. But as soon as he reached the door, a tall man came in from the other side. He failed to stop his footsteps and accidentally hit someone.

Chen Qizhao took two steps back and looked up to see Shen Yuhuai.

Shen Yuhuai pushed Yan Kailin’s remaining suitcase inside and nodded slightly at Chen Qizhao. “Are you okay?”

Chen Qizhao responded positively. A faint mint smell lingered at the tip of his nose. He suddenly remembered the last time when he strayed into Shen Yuhuai’s bedroom. It was also this smell. It was a faint mint fragrance.

Shen Yuhuai glanced at him with a bit of concern. Then he quickly pushed Yan Kailin’s suitcase to his desk.

Yan Kailin came late, so his bed was right at the door.

Yan Kailin greeted the other two roommates. Chen Qizhao returned to his table and sat down, but his gaze involuntarily fell on Shen Yuhuai. Shen Yuhuai stood by the door after pushing in the suitcase. He wore light-colored casual clothes today, and the loose sleeves showed his fair arms.

Chen Qizhao’s eyes moved up slightly and stayed on Shen Yuhuai’s face. The other person wasn’t wearing glasses, and there was an indescribable feeling.

This look lasted a bit long.

Shen Yuhuai noticed that there was a vague gaze from the inside of the dormitory. The chairs in the dormitory were small wooden chairs without a backrest. The boy sat there in a regular manner, slightly longer legs bent. There was one hand resting on the desk and he was a bit casual and free.

His slightly longer forehead hair covered his eyes, and occasionally looked over here from time to time.

There was still a bit of baby fat on the boy’s face, and it was faintly reminiscent of when he was young.

In particular, those eyes never restrained their sharpness when staring straight at people.

Shen Yuhuai lowered his eyes slightly. He put his phone away and looked in the direction of Chen Qizhao.

The moment that Shen Yuhuai looked at him, Chen Qizhao suddenly withdrew his gaze.

He lowered his head and blinked slightly. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the pair of long legs standing at the door not far away. Inexplicably, what appeared in his mind was when he went to find Yan Kailin during the summer vacation. Shen Yuhuai stood in front of him with long and straight legs.

Shen Yuhuai said, “If it is okay, I’ll go first.”

Chen Qizhao raised his head when he heard this voice.

“Thank you, Brother Huai!” Yan Kailin exclaimed. “We will eat later. Do you want to go?”

Shen Yuhuai looked at the time. The other person glimpsed Chen Qizhao in the distance, who was also looking at him, but he really had no time in the afternoon. “I still have something to do in the research institute this afternoon. I’ll leave first.”

“Okay, I’ll treat you to a meal another day,” Yan Kailin said.

Once Shen Yuhuai left, Chen Qizhao asked, “Isn’t he going to the research institute today? Why is he free to help you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe my brother asked him to?”

“Oh.”

They finished setting up the dormitory, and the group went to explore the school.

His new roommates weren’t bad. On the first day of school, Chen Qizhao casually took a landscape photo and posted it. Soon, there were many people who liked it. He instinctively looked for a profile picture among the likes, but there wasn’t Shen Yuhuai’s profile picture.

“Why do you keep looking at your phone?” Yan Kailin asked.

Chen Qizhao’s mind returned. “Nothing. I’m just looking at my Moments.”

“Why do you have a bad face when browsing your Moments?”

Chen Qizhao frowned and put away his phone. “Is there a bad face?”

They walked to the exercise field, which was close to the outskirts. He could see the buildings in the distance. He remembered that the Ninth Research Institute seemed to be next to S College… which direction was it?

in the evening, Chen Qizhao returned to the dormitory after having dinner with his roommates. As he was scrolling through his Moments, he suddenly saw the latest post from Shen Yuhuai. It was a photo of the sunset, and there were some buildings around it.

Chen Qizhao paused when seeing it. Then he switched back to his own Moments to take a look again and found a familiar profile picture under what he posted this afternoon.

Was this just after finishing work…?

Chen Qizhao backed out and continued to look down at his other friends’ Moments. Halfway through, he thought of something, swiped up again, and added a like to the sunset photo that Shen Yuhuai just sent.

The number of likes increased, and Chen Qizhao always subconsciously paid attention to a certain profile picture.

Obviously, there was no communication, but he was always a bit concerned.

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Even if Yan Kailin went to school, he was stared at by Yan Kaiqi and arrested whenever he went to drink. Yan Kaiqi also came back from abroad. Now Cheng Rong and the others didn’t dare forcefully pull this person to go out. They couldn’t say anything to Yan Kaiqi, so even if they drank, they didn’t dare exceed 11 o’clock.

Chen Qizhao didn’t have a good relationship with his family and quarreled with his father and brother again. This weekend, he was supposed to go home for a meal at Zhang Yazhi’s request, but Chen Shiming talked about his drinking with Cheng Rong some time ago. It wasn’t the first time that he and Cheng Rong had gone out to drink. In Chen Shiming’s eyes, rich second generations like Cheng Rong and Liu Kai, who didn’t have a job, were those who brought him down.

As a result, the meal was unhappy. Chen Qizhao didn’t want to stay at home and simply went out to find a bar.

The bar owner was an acquaintance. Chen Qizhao drank at the bar with a frown.

In the lively atmosphere, Yan Kailin didn’t reply to the message he sent. It was estimated that the other person was playing games again.

Chen Qizhao clicked on Chen Shiming’s chat box and just glanced at it. Finally, he didn’t send a message.

He drank while clicking on the Moments. Then he found that Shen Yuhuai liked the Moments he posted yesterday.

Chen Qizhao’s mind was confused. He clicked on the profile picture and sent an emoji to Shen Yuhuai for the first time.

The moment it was sent, he immediately clicked to withdraw it.

It was just that it had already been seen by the other person.

[Shen Yuhuai: ?]

[Zhao: I sent it mistakenly.]

[Shen Yuhuai: Yes.]

Chen Qizhao’s wine glass emptied, and he asked the bar to mix him another one.

He swiped upward. He hadn’t talked to Shen Yuhuai except for the first voice call.

[Shen Yuhuai: You’re not at school?]

Chen Qizhao paused before typing a reply.

[Zhao: I’m drinking.]

[Zhao: Not with Yan Kailin.]

[Shen Yuhuai: I know.]

Chen Qizhao didn’t understand how he knew. Chen Qizhao was unspeakably irritated. Perhaps it was because he heard too much talk at home today or perhaps because he drank too much alcohol. The initial urge to chat with this person was gone.

He didn’t reply to Shen Yuhuai’s message.

Five minutes later, Shen Yuhuai’s voice call invitation came.

Chen Qizhao was stunned for a moment when he noticed the voice call. It was only a while later that he picked up.

There seemed to be whistling wind on the phone. Shen Yuhuai seemed to be outside and his voice was a bit low. It was easy to be covered by the wind in the background and the noisy music in the bar, but Chen Qizhao still heard his words very clearly.

Shen Yuhuai asked, “Where are you?”

Chen Qizhao blurted out, “The bar.”

“Which bar?” Shen Yuhuai asked again.

Chen Qizhao reported the name of the bar.

Around ten minutes later, a figure came in from outside the bar. Chen Qizhao noticed the bartender’s eyes looking out and glanced over slightly. Someone sat down next to him.

The smell in the bar was complicated. When Shen Yuhuai sat down, there seemed to be a bit of an outside smell, which was different.

Chen Qizhao turned his head to look and found that the other person was wearing glasses today.

The bartender asked him what he wanted, and Shen Yuhuai asked for a glass of juice.

People at the bar often struck up a conversation with each other. Chen Qizhao had already sat here for a while, and two or three people had already come over. Not long after Shen Yuhuai came, both men and women came over in order to invite Shen Yuhuai to drink.

Chen Qizhao listened to Shen Yuhuai reject them all. Chen Qizhao shook his wine glass while looking at the glass on the table from the corner of his eye.

The orange liquid was bubbling and took on a gradient color under the light of the bar.

Once the person who struck up a conversation left, Shen Yuhuai went to grab the glass.

Chen Qizhao pursed his lips and reached out to stop the other person without thinking.

Shen Yuhuai’s action of holding the glass stopped for a moment, and his gaze stopped on the warm hand.

Chen Qizhao pressed down on the hand and thought that Shen Yuhuai’s hand was a bit cold. Shen Yuhuai’s fingers were very long, and the nails were trimmed and rounded. There was a bit of pink in the white. The distinct joints had a particularly smooth feeling, and it seemed possible to see the blue veins under the skin.

Shen Yuhuai’s posture of holding the cup was very beautiful.

Chen Qizhao withdrew his hand and told the bartender, “Change the glass for him.”

He added, “The man who just came threw something into your cup.”

Shen Yuhuai looked at him. “How do you know?”

Chen Qizhao looked away uncomfortably. “I see.”

There wasn’t the sticky feeling of the bar atmosphere. It was refreshing and a bit cold.

Chen Qizhao rubbed his two fingers together. The feeling of the other person’s fingers lingered. His brain and face were a bit hot as he drank some more. His brain seemed very awake, but his external senses were a bit dull.

During this period, Yan Kailin made a call, and he couldn’t help complaining about Chen Shiming to Yan Kailin.

He hung up the phone and realized that Shen Yuhuai was still sitting beside him.

“You have a bad relationship with your brother?” Shen Yuhuai asked.

Chen Qizhao hadn’t hidden anything when he spoke just now, and Shen Yuhuai probably heard it.

Chen Qizhao simply said, “It isn’t good.”

“I remember that you had a good relationship with him when you were a child. You liked to sling to him.”

Chen Qizhao frowned slightly before quickly letting things go. “Things in my childhood are a matter of my childhood. He doesn’t understand anything and cares about everything. What’s wrong with me drinking with others? Firstly, my studies aren’t delayed. Secondly, I don’t mess around with people. Cheng Rong and the others do have a bad personality, but they don’t…”

Perhaps it was due to his drunkenness, but Chen Qizhao couldn’t hold back his chatter.

Shen Yuhuai listened quietly to the side. Every time Chen Qizhao said something, he would respond. He wasn’t in a hurry to veto Chen Qizhao’s words, nor did he fully agree with Chen Qizhao’s thoughts.

Once Chen Qizhao finished speaking, the pent-up energy in his heart seemed to dissipate, and his mood improved a lot.

In the end, his mind was muddled, and he fell asleep on the table.

Shen Yuhuai didn’t touch his new cup of juice to the end. He listened to Chen Qizhao’s nagging and watched this person sleep directly in front of him. Finally, he settled the bill with the bar and helped this person out.

He came here, ordered juice, paid the bill, and left without drinking. After coming, there were no extra movements. He listened quietly and listened to a person complain. The bartender watched him thoughtfully and felt that this man was really patient.

As Shen Yuhuai stuffed this person into the car, Chen Qizhao opened his eyes slightly. His confused gaze stayed on Shen Yuhuai for a while.

Shen Yuhuai’s movement stopped. He helped straighten the messy hair on Chen Qizhao’s forehead and whispered, “It is time for a haircut.”

The hair was long and covered the eyes. It wasn’t good-looking.

Chen Qizhao still looked at him as if trying to identify what he was saying. Finally, he smiled and called out ‘Brother’ in a vague tone.

It wasn’t known who he was calling for.

Shen Yuhuai lowered his eyes slightly. The hand fastening the seat belt stopped, and he said, “Yes.”

……

Chen Qizhao was hungover and didn’t go to class the next day. He woke up to the harsh sunlight outside the window.

His phone was full of messages from Yan Kailin. He understood that today was Monday and endured a headache as he scanned the surroundings. The unfamiliar place made him unresponsive and think that he was in a hotel.

This was until he sat the potted plants on the long table diagonally in front of him and the faint scent of mint in the room.

His chaotic mind regained consciousness. He hurriedly got up and grabbed the coat on the chair next to him. Once he walked out of the room, he saw the man sitting on the sofa, and his movements instantly stopped.

The man seemed to be working. A laptop was on his lap, and he was tapping.

Memories of last night at the bar quickly came back.

Chen Qizhao remembered that he was drunk and sent Shen Yuhuai a message. Shen Yuhuai came, and he said a lot of bad things about Chen Shiming to Shen Yuhuai… In the end, Shen Yuhuai brought him back. He occupied Shen Yuhuai’s bed and slept all night.

The man on the sofa seemed to pay attention to the sound on this side. He tilted his head and looked over.

Chen Qizhao paused. He couldn’t go back, so he had to bite the bullet and go sit down on the sofa. “Brother Shen, thank you for last night. I drank too much wine and talked badly.”

Shen Yuhuai said, “No.”

Chen Qizhao couldn’t help looking in at Shen Yuhuai. In the past, when he talked to people and scolded Chen Shiming, Cheng Rong and Liu Kai would agree with him before changing the topic to other things. Finally, it only became drinking.

It was the first time anyone had patiently listened to him tell the whole story.

Chen Qizhao held back for a long time before only saying, “You are a very good person.”

Shen Yuhuai smiled when he heard this. “Then can you listen to what I have to say?”

Chen Qizhao nodded.

Shen Yuhuai told him, “You and your brother don’t intersect much in life. He doesn’t necessarily know your thoughts or considerations. In a sense, he just thinks about things from his point of view. There are right and wrong. The next time you quarrel with him, you might as well tell him everything you are thinking.”

He paused before continuing, “It isn’t too late to argue after you speak.”

Chen Qizhao said with surprise, “I thought you were going to persuade me not to argue.”

Shen Yuhuai looked at him. “I can’t persuade you.”

“I only helped you out of your coat last night. Go take a shower first and come eat lunch.” Shen Yuhuai put the laptop aside and walked to the kitchen. He asked on the way there, “Is there any taboo?”

“No,” Chen Qizhao replied. “Thank you, Brother Shen.”

Shen Yuhuai told him, “Don’t be so polite.”

Chen Qizhao changed his words. “Thank you, Brother Huai.”

Shen Yuhuai entered the kitchen and stood in front of the stove to prepare lunch.

Chen Qizhao went to the bathroom to take a shower. Shen Yuhuai was still busy when he came out of the bathroom.

The man stood in front of the stove in an apron. He had a tall and straight figure.

Chen Qizhao glanced at him a few more times with concern.

Shen Yuhuai looked over. “It isn’t done yet. Wait a while.”

Chen Qizhao withdrew his gaze. He was a bit embarrassed about peeking at others. He sat down on the sofa and replied to the messages of his friend.

Soon, Shen Yuhuai called him to eat.

There were three meat dishes and one vegetarian dish on the table. Chen Qizhao had no taboos, but he had preferences.

He noticed that the dishes at noon were all his favorites. There was nothing fat or greasy.

“Is it okay?” Shen Yuhuai asked.

Chen Qizhao bit down on a piece of meat and said vaguely, “It is delicious.”

He thought to himself, ‘Shen Yuhuai is very good. His cooking is delicious.’

Shen Yuhuai said, “If you like it, I’ll make it for you next time.”

Chen Qizhao stopped but didn’t say anything.

The next time he got drunk, he might not come to Shen Yuhuai’s house.

From that day on, Chen Qizhao discovered that his relationship with Shen Yuhuai had improved. Perhaps it was because he was a chatterbox, but when he occasionally greeted Shen Yuhuai, Shen Yuhuai would reply to his messages. The relationship between the two of them was visibly better.

Chen Qizhao didn’t ask Shen Yuhuai why he liked Chen Qizhao’s Moments. After that day, in addition to the likes, Shen Yuhuai would occasionally comment on him.

Chen Qizhao reciprocated. He seldom commented under other people’s posts. He preferred to open a chat box to chat directly. But as soon as he saw Shen Yuhuai’s comments, he would occasionally ask, ‘What are you doing?’

Shen Yuhuai didn’t reply to him when he was busy with experiments. The two of them often chatted without saying a word.

Sometimes, they didn’t speak for a day. Chen Qizhao wasn’t used to it.

This person looked quite old-fashioned, but it wasn’t hard to talk to him.

Most of his peers spoke a bit aggressively. Chen Qizhao occasionally didn’t change this habit, and his tone was a bit aggressive. Even so, Shen Yuhuai wasn’t angry. Chen Qizhao found that chatting with Shen Yuhuai was very comfortable. This person didn’t deliberately accept his words but would give opinions or ideas. He didn’t have many words, but they got to the point.

Shen Yuhuai stayed in the Ninth Research Institute for a long time and often came to S College. He occasionally recommended restaurants and stalls to Chen Qizhao.

If nothing else, the recommended places were quite in line with Chen Qizhao’s taste.

After their relationship improved, Chen Qizhao always liked to promote things to him. For example, if he found a good place to eat, then he would recommend it.

The first time they made an appointment, the two of them ate in the cafeteria of S College.

There were many people at the stalls. Chen Qizhao didn’t go with his roommates but with Shen Yuhuai.

The cafeteria in summer was hot despite the air conditioning. He was sweating after queuing up. He came back after the queue, but Shen Yuhuai hadn’t come yet. He waited a while before finally seeing two bottles of Coke and orange juice on Shen Yuhuai’s tray.

Shen Yuhuai told him, “I don’t know what you like, so I brought two.”

Chen Qizhao thanked him and took the Coke.

The Coke that day wasn’t very cold, but it quenched his thirst.

With the first appointment, there would always be a second time.

…There would also be late-night meals.

The laboratory often finished late. Shen Yuhuai occasionally couldn’t eat dinner and could only eat a late-night meal.

On the night of their first late-night meal appointment, Chen Qizhao came out of the bathroom and noticed a message on his phone.

{Shen Yuhuai: I’m at the gate of your school. Come out for a late-night meal?]

Chen Qizhao stopped after seeing the message.

There was no class in the evening. Yan Kailin and their other two roommates were ready to play a game. As they were discussing it, Yan Kailin saw that Chen Qizhao didn’t respond and glanced at him. “Brother, come and eat chicken later.” (TL: In China, eating chicken is another name for the game, PUBG.)

“You guys, call someone else.” Chen Qizhao took off the hanging coat smoothly. “I’m going out.”

Yan Kailin exclaimed, “Where are you going? Are you drinking without me!”

Chen Qizhao was already gone.

Chen Qizhao was panting when he arrived at the school gate. He glanced around but didn’t see Shen Yuhuai.

“You haven’t arrived yet?” Chen Qizhao lowered his head and sent a message to Shen Yuhuai.

Soon, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Chen Qizhao turned around and saw Shen Yuhuai and another boy following him.

He put away his phone and glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eyes.

So there were other people?