As dinnertime approached, Fu Shize and Yun Li completed their thesis plan for the day and drove to a mall near West Science University to eat.
Fu Shize asked, “What do you want to eat?”
The bustling barbecue restaurant was filled with noise and enticing aromas. Yun Li stared at it for a while, swallowing hard, but said, “Let’s have congee.”
They found a famous congee shop, and Fu Shize got a number. There were still ten tables ahead of them. Seeing Yun Li rubbing her stomach from hunger, he asked, “Should we go somewhere else?”
“No,” she replied. Then, pinching the flesh at his waist, she added, “In the future, if you drink coffee on an empty stomach, we’ll have congee all day.”
Fu Shize wanted her to eat dinner sooner and pointed out the flaw in her logic: “We didn’t have it for lunch.”
She insisted stubbornly, “I said in the future!”
He circled back to what he said initially: “Then we don’t need to have congee tonight either.”
Yun Li stared at him, feeling he was being a bit argumentative tonight.
Unable to out-talk him, her expression softened, and she resorted to whining, “But I just want congee.”
Her tone carried a hint of coquettishness. Fu Shize chuckled and led her to a nearby dessert shop, intending to find a place to fill her stomach first.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure. He stopped, his gaze lingering on Zhou Tiao, who was several dozen meters away, rushing to a hot pot restaurant with some colleagues.
He paused for a moment, took a step in that direction, saw Zhou Tiao enter the hot pot restaurant, and then retracted his step.
Having arranged to meet Zhou Tiao tomorrow, Yun Li hadn’t expected to run into him at the mall. She noticed Fu Shize’s movement and directly pulled him into the hot pot restaurant.
They found a seat, and Yun Li ordered a dual-flavor pot.
“Do you want to see him?” she asked.
“Mm,” he paused for a moment before continuing, “But we haven’t been in touch for a long time.”
He looked up at Yun Li, who seemed lost in thought. Suddenly, she stood up, saying, “I’m going to get some condiments.”
Yun Li went to the condiment area and prepared some seasonings. After locating Zhou Tiao’s table, which was surrounded by people engaged in lively conversation, she approached step by step, giving herself a pep talk with each step, until she met Zhou Tiao’s gaze.
She quickly blurted out, “Team leader, my boyfriend and I are eating here,” before fleeing the scene.
After returning to her seat, she had barely sat down when Zhou Tiao found their table.
Yun Li excused herself to go to the restroom, leaving the two of them alone.
Zhou Tiao looked Fu Shize up and down several times, as if finding it amusing, and covered his mouth, “You haven’t changed much in these years, still so pale and skinny.”
When Fu Shize first met them, he was still a teenager, with straight, slender limbs. Having played badminton since childhood, his legs were fair and long, with well-proportioned muscle lines.
Back then, they often teased Fu Shize for looking like a girl.
Because of the frequent teasing, Fu Shize hardly wore shorts during his undergraduate years, until his body had mostly settled into its adult form.
Fu Shize’s gaze moved to Zhou Tiao’s now slightly pudgy belly. His limbs were still normal, but due to long hours sitting in the office, his abdomen showed signs of overwork-induced weight gain.
“How many kilos now?” Fu Shize asked, hitting a sore spot.
Zhou Tiao raised his eyebrows, “One hundred and sixty. How about you?”
Fu Shize calmly replied, “Not much different.”
“Come on,” Zhou Tiao gave him a light push. “With your build, after all these years, you haven’t put on any solid weight. All that food went to waste.”
“Fu Shize, you bastard, you haven’t contacted your former roommate for three years.” Zhou Tiao said with a half-smile, sitting directly across from him. Fu Shize was silent for a moment before saying, “Sorry.”
Zhou Tiao was taken aback, amused by his serious demeanor. He waved his hand dismissively, “Alright, don’t be so sentimental like a woman. Let’s call it even.”
As if nothing had happened, the two fell back into their old interaction pattern. Zhou Tiao bit his e-cigarette and asked, “I heard you started smoking last time.”
“Quit. My girlfriend doesn’t like it.”
Fu Shize glanced towards the entrance; Yun Li hadn’t returned yet.
“Oh, that girl from earlier? She’s graduating next year and joining our team, right?” Zhou Tiao suddenly remembered Yun Li’s resume and asked, “That girl is four or five years younger than us?”
Fu Shize: “Mm.”
Zhou Tiao inhaled sharply: “A junior?”
Fu Shize glanced at him: “Mm.”
Zhou Tiao laughed: “You beast.”
“…”
After chatting for a while, Zhou Tiao asked, “Want a drink?”
Noticing Fu Shize’s hesitation, Zhou Tiao grinned mischievously, “You’re so henpecked. We always said your personality would lead to your wife having you wrapped around her finger in the future.”
Fu Shize calmly replied, “Not true.”
Seeing him lowering his head to operate his phone, Zhou Tiao asked, “Are you ordering? Get some white liquor.” It seemed he had no intention of returning to his table.
“No,” Fu Shize casually replied, “Asking my girlfriend if I can drink.”
“…”
Yun Li had been aimlessly wandering around the mall when she received three messages from Fu Shize.
[Zhou Tiao wants to drink.]
[White liquor.]
Two minutes later, he sent another message explaining his innocence.
[It’s not me who wants to drink.]
Yun Li gripped her phone tightly, pressing her lips together. Alcohol was bad for the stomach, especially white liquor. Her instinct was to rush back and stop them. After standing still for a moment, her hand gradually relaxed.
Zhou Tiao was probably one of Fu Shize’s few close friends. For Fu Shize, ending the friendship unilaterally due to personal reasons—he felt guilty about it.
Returning to sit beside Fu Shize, she saw that Zhou Tiao was already flushed from drinking, while Fu Shize’s glass remained untouched. Yun Li volunteered, “You guys drink. I’ll drive, so I won’t have any.”
Hearing this, Fu Shize finally picked up his glass and clinked it with Zhou Tiao’s.
As they chatted, their tone was a bit roguish. Fu Shize wasn’t as taciturn as he usually was in the lab. Yun Li consciously refrained from interrupting, feeling something in her hand. She looked down.
While Fu Shize was resting his chin on his hand and talking to Zhou Tiao, his other hand was gently squeezing her palm.
After drinking half a bottle, Zhou Tiao directly ordered a large plate of chili peppers and poured them into one side of the dual-flavor pot.
Just as Yun Li was about to stop him, Zhou Tiao spoke familiarly, “Little Li, don’t worry. Despite how he looks, he does not react to spicy food at all. In the past, we’d all be sweating and red-faced, while he’d calmly continue eating.”
Holding his chopsticks, he regaled Yun Li with stories: “Once, I was pursuing a girl. We had mutual feelings, and both dorms went out for a spicy hot pot. I was a mess, with a face full of snot and tears, and the crucial part was, this guy was sitting right next to me.”
“He even kept handing me tissues,” Zhou Tiao remembered another detail, “Usually, the difference in our looks isn’t that big, right?”
Yun Li glanced at Zhou Tiao, then at Fu Shize, thinking to herself that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but said nothing.
“After that spicy hot pot meal, the girl never spoke to me again, saying I was ugly as sin,” Zhou Tiao said, laughing. “At that time, Fu Shize said to me—’Isn’t she telling the truth?'”
Fu Shize gave him a wordless glance.
Yun Li found it hard to imagine this scene. She felt too embarrassed to respond and just lowered her head with a slight smile.
“But he still has a conscience. The next day, he and a few buddies flooded the school forum with posts saying I was the department’s heartthrob,” Zhou Tiao took a sip of his drink and continued casually, “As a result, that girl and her roommates kept replying to the posts with just one sentence—”
“‘If Zhou Tiao is the department’s heartthrob, then his roommate Fu Shize must be the school’s heartthrob, the nation’s heartthrob,’ damn it, each sentence followed by six or seven exclamation marks.”
“…”
Fu Shize directly took his wine glass: “Drink less.”
Seeing Fu Shize only picking food from the clear soup side, Zhou Tiao complained, “It’s only been a few years, and you can’t handle spicy food anymore?”
“His stomach isn’t very good,” Yun Li explained on Fu Shize’s behalf.
Zhou Tiao frowned, saying, “How can your stomach be bad at such a young age?” But he turned the clear soup side towards Fu Shize and stopped adding alcohol to his glass.
By the time they finished eating, Zhou Tiao was completely slumped over. Yun Li watched them; Fu Shize seemed to be in a semi-conscious state. He directly lifted Zhou Tiao and said, “Let’s go.”
Yun Li asked, “Do you know where he lives?”
Fu Shize was already a bit slow to respond. He put Zhou Tiao back in his seat after a delay.
“…”
Opening Zhou Tiao’s phone and checking his Taobao app, Fu Shize glanced at the shipping address. His vision was already somewhat unfocused, and he directly handed the phone to Yun Li.
After sending Zhou Tiao home, Yun Li looked at Fu Shize. Perhaps due to the high alcohol content of the white liquor, his face was slightly flushed for a few centimeters on both sides, and his body was a bit unsteady.
Yun Li supported his waist and helped him sit in the passenger seat.
She had just started the car when Fu Shize pressed her wrist, unbuckled her seatbelt, and pulled her towards him. His kiss was somewhat aggressive, his embrace seeming to want to completely occupy her surroundings. Yun Li felt dizzy from his kiss. When he finally let go, she heard him say softly—
“Li Li.”
“Thank you.”
…
As they reached the door of Fu Shize’s dormitory room, he fumbled with the keys in his pocket, unable to hook them out for a long time.
Seeing this situation, Yun Li reached into his pocket. His campus card, phone, and keys were all in the same pocket. She intended to pull out the keys, but Fu Shize pressed her hand, his words carrying a hint of amusement: “Don’t.”
Don’t…
Yun Li was confused by what she heard. Through the thin fabric of the pocket, she could feel his rising temperature.
Feeling that he was completely unable to control himself, Yun Li said irritably, “I’m just getting the keys.”
Fu Shize chuckled softly: “Too close.”
Yun Li had just inserted the key into the lock when a male voice suddenly came from the corridor: “Senior!”
Her body stiffened, and she looked at Fu Shize. He straightened up a bit, his calm gaze moving to the side.
Lin Jinran raised his hand in greeting, noticing Yun Li standing beside him as they were about to enter the room. Lin Jinran’s expression was indescribably strange, with a hint of envy and a touch of teasing: “I just wanted to say hello, hope I didn’t disturb you.”
At this moment, Yun Li just wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
After entering the room, she remembered what the other person had said. What did he mean by—hope I didn’t disturb you?
Did he think they were going to do something?
Fu Shize slowly walked to the bed and sat down.
“Just now, your junior, did he think we were going to do something?” Yun Li asked.
Fu Shize glanced at her and made an affirmative sound.
Yun Li felt a wave of frustration and said with a red face, “Why didn’t you explain? You could have told him you were drunk and I was just sending you back. Won’t he tell others? Won’t they think you’re a frivolous person?”
Fu Shize chuckled lightly. Feeling hot, he tugged at his collar and responded, “It’s not like I brought someone else back.”
“But we’re at school, it’s not good like this.”
Fu Shize tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said slowly, “But we didn’t do anything.”
Seeing Yun Li still looking at him intently, Fu Shize met her gaze. His mind was barely functioning, and he conceded, “I’ll tell him tomorrow.”
Yun Li felt relieved, and Fu Shize chuckled at her reaction, reminding her, “But he won’t believe it.”
“…”
Feeling his tone and laughter were extremely wicked at the moment, Yun Li stared at him.
Fu Shize placed the pillow against the wall and leaned back on it. His neck was also slightly flushed, and when he looked up, there was an inscrutable emotion in his eyes as they met hers.
In the small space, there were only two of them.
The slight smell of alcohol on him hadn’t made him lose his composure. Fu Shize’s skin was naturally very fair, and the blush on his cheeks inexplicably reminded Yun Li of flowers swaying on a high ridge.
The alcohol made his eyes a bit hazy, and he quietly looked at her with an indescribable allure.
Yun Li stared at his loosened collar, able to see his collarbone. She bit her lower lip and said, “Since everyone else thinks we’re going to do something, wouldn’t it be a waste if we didn’t do anything?”
Fu Shize chuckled but didn’t say anything.
Yun Li crawled onto the bed, slowly approaching him. She naturally cupped his face and kissed the corner of his lips. Those black eyes were tinged with a hint of emotion, but he made no aggressive moves. With his head leaning against the wall, he passively accepted her kisses.
She moved closer, sitting directly on his legs for comfort, her knees pressing against the bedsheet on either side of his body. Yun Li could feel his reaction. With the taste of alcohol between their lips, her body grew increasingly hot.
She was wearing a loose dress. As she sat on him, Yun Li was still engrossed in the kiss when she felt Fu Shize’s hand moving up from her ankle, brushing past her smooth calf, pushing up the dress at her waist, and then gripping her waist.
Yun Li’s breathing quickened. With her last shred of reason, she grabbed his hand at her waist and said softly, “We can’t, we’re at school.”
Fu Shize lowered his gaze to look at her posture, just chuckling softly. His eyes held a hint of reproach, but he didn’t intend to force her and withdrew his hand.
Yun Li’s face was bright red. She had originally just wanted to kiss and hug, but it seemed she had gone too far.
“Uncomfortable,” he said in a low, hoarse voice.
Yun Li was startled: “Where are you uncomfortable?”
Fu Shize paused, then laughed, “Help me get a pair of pajama pants.”
Yun Li immediately got up. It wasn’t until she reached the wardrobe that she realized what he meant by “uncomfortable.” As she rummaged through the clothes, she noticed that the gray scarf she had knitted for him was stored in a dust cover, hanging in the wardrobe, carefully preserved.
Yun Li handed him a set of loose pajamas.
“Wait a moment, I’ll go downstairs to buy you a bottle of milk to help with the alcohol.”
Without waiting for Fu Shize to refuse, Yun Li hurriedly left the room and ran downstairs, recalling everything that had just happened. She felt her legs were weak.
What! Just! Happened!
After buying and heating several bags of milk, she returned to the dormitory. Fu Shize had already changed into his pajamas and was lying in bed, ready to sleep.
She stayed with him for a while longer until he was mostly sober before getting up to leave.
As she was leaving, Yun Li, smelling of alcohol herself, muttered, “I wonder if I’ll run into traffic police doing breathalyzer tests today. Would I be charged with drunk driving like this?”
“…”
Fu Shize sat back on the bed.
It had been quite a long time since he had drunk alcohol.
Zhou Tiao reminded him of Jiang Yuan, a part of his past he was reluctant to revisit. He had either ignored or perfunctorily responded to Zhou Tiao’s concerned messages.
They had been teammates for seven years, during which Zhou Tiao had regarded him as a close friend.
During that period of despondency, he had indeed hurt many people.
Seeing Zhou Tiao again wasn’t as difficult as he had subconsciously anticipated.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to take that step forward.
Although Yun Li wasn’t particularly adept at socializing, tonight she had ‘clumsily’ created numerous opportunities for him to resolve his inner conflicts, taking that step on his behalf.
He glanced at the milk in his hand, opened a new packet, and took a sip.
His phone rang. It was a video call from his father, Fu Dongsheng. He answered, and Chen Jinping’s face also appeared on the screen. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they got straight to the point.
“Son, we heard you’re in a relationship,” his father said.