Jiang Yang had just finished taking a shower and was about to head out to buy some dinner for Gu Zhifei when he noticed the latter’s phone light up. Hurriedly, he picked it up, tiptoed out of the room, closed the door behind him, and finally answered, “Hello?”
“Where’s Gu Zhifei?” Luo Yu’s distorted voice came through the line, but Jiang Yang could still recognize it.
“He’s asleep,” Jiang Yang replied truthfully.
Luo Yu’s voice immediately raised, “Asleep? At this hour? Get him on the phone! I know who you are. I don’t believe you.”
“I’m not lying,” Jiang Yang said calmly. “He’s exhausted from crying, so he fell asleep.”
There was a moment of silence before Luo Yu, in a trembling voice, asked, “Why was he crying?”
Jiang Yang replied, “Probably because it hurt too much.”
Luo Yu, confused, asked, “What hurt?”
Jiang Yang hesitated for a moment before responding, “What do you think?”
Luo Yu was quiet for a second, but then exploded with rage, practically ready to grab a knife and leap through the phone, “You beast!”
Jiang Yang blushed, “Your senior also called me that. Hey, junior, where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
Luo Yu: “…”
Jiang Yang: “Junior?”
Luo Yu, now fuming, shouted, “Who the hell is your junior?! Put Gu Zhifei on the phone! Now! Immediately!”
Jiang Yang regretfully replied, “That’s not possible. You’ll have to wait until he wakes up. I’m heading out to buy him dinner, so let’s talk later, okay?” With that, he hung up.
Luo Yu: “…”
After Jiang Yang bought some porridge and returned, he found that Gu Zhifei had woken up but was still lying in bed, not moving. His eyes were swollen and red.
Jiang Yang’s movements froze instantly.
He awkwardly shuffled to the bedside, placed the porridge on the nightstand, and was just about to say something when Gu Zhifei spoke first.
“Did you buy the medicine?” His tone was unnervingly calm.
Jiang Yang let out a breath of relief before asking, “Medicine?”
Gu Zhifei’s voice remained calm, “Get me some hemorrhoid ointment, please.”
Jiang Yang: “…”
Jiang Yang’s face turned crimson in an instant, “Sorry, I forgot. I’ll go get it right now.”
Gu Zhifei glanced at him with his swollen, walnut-like eyes and hummed in response.
Jiang Yang stammered, “Do you need an ice pack? For your eyes?”
Gu Zhifei pretended not to hear that and maintained, “I didn’t cry, so I didn’t cry.” Instead, he said, “Give me my phone.”
“Oh, right.” Jiang Yang quickly retrieved the phone from his pocket and handed it over, explaining, “I kept it on me just in case your junior called again.”
Seeing that Gu Zhifei didn’t seem to mind, Jiang Yang hurried off to buy the medicine.
Once he was gone, Gu Zhifei opened WeChat, found Yao Qing, and sent a message: “Got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”
Yao Qing replied quickly, “Obviously the good news!”
Gu Zhifei: “I hooked up with Jiang Yang. That’s it.”
Yao Qing: “!”
Yao Qing sent a voice message, her excited scream almost breaking the phone speakers: “What the heck! What the heck! When did this happen?!”
Gu Zhifei: “Also, there’s bad news.”
Yao Qing: “I suddenly have a bad feeling about this.”
Gu Zhifei: “I was the one who got topped.”
Yao Qing: “…”
Yao Qing was surprised: “You guys move fast.”
Gu Zhifei: “The important thing is, my butt hurts.”
“Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Better to get the pain over with early,” Yao Qing wasn’t too concerned about his discomfort. “So when did you guys start dating? You didn’t even tell me!”
Gu Zhifei: “I can’t even get out of bed, and you’re worrying about trivial stuff like that?”
Yao Qing clicked her tongue. “With a nose bridge that prominent, Jiang Yang probably isn’t small either. You weren’t mentally prepared, huh?”
Gu Zhifei: “I was very prepared. I watched lots of videos and learned tons of positions.”
Yao Qing, intrigued, asked, “Didn’t that help? If you’re prepared, it should make things at least a little easier, right?”
Gu Zhifei: “[Black Man Questioning Face]”
Yao Qing: “What’s wrong?”
Gu Zhifei: “I learned how to make the other person feel good.”
Yao Qing: “…”
Gu Zhifei: “?”
Yao Qing: “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about your position in bed?”
Gu Zhifei: “I was on top at first, but he cried so much I gave up the spot.”
Yao Qing: “Uh-huh, I totally believe that.”
Gu Zhifei instinctively went to adjust his glasses but then realized he’d gotten used to wearing contact lenses and hadn’t worn glasses in ages.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Luo Yu calling: “Gu Zhifei, is that you?”
“Yeah.”
Luo Yu: “Which room are you in?”
Gu Zhifei: “?”
Luo Yu impatiently said, “I’m at XX Hotel. Which room? I’m coming to see you!”
Gu Zhifei gave him the room number, and Luo Yu hung up, angrily stomping into the elevator. Just as the doors were about to close, a familiar figure dashed in, stopping the doors with his hand. “Wait up.”
Luo Yu nearly kicked the person out.
Jiang Yang rushed back with a bag of medicine, panting. When he looked up, he gave a bright smile, “Junior! What a coincidence.”
Luo Yu coldly said, “Who’s your junior?”
Jiang Yang’s gaze softened as if looking at a beloved child, no longer on edge like he had been earlier that morning.
Luo Yu clenched his fists, his gaze catching the bag in Jiang Yang’s hands. “Is that medicine for your ED?”
“Nope.” Jiang Yang didn’t take offense. “It’s for Zhifei.”
Luo Yu’s fists tightened to the point of cracking. “What’s it for?”
With a “ding” the elevator arrived. Jiang Yang stepped out, turned back with a smile, and said, “That’s something I can’t tell little kids.”
Luo Yu: “…”
Fuming, Luo Yu followed Jiang Yang to the room. Jiang Yang opened the door just a crack, peeked inside, and then turned to Luo Yu. “Zhifei’s dressed now. You can come in.”
Luo Yu: “…”
Hearing the commotion at the door, Gu Zhifei closed WeChat, put down his phone, and asked, “Jiang Yang or Luo Yu?”
“It’s me,” Jiang Yang said, “And your junior is here too.” He stepped aside, revealing Luo Yu behind him.
Luo Yu: “…”
Gu Zhifei: “You can sit by the bed or over there on the chair, whichever you prefer.”
Luo Yu, seeing Gu Zhifei lying pale on the bed, sounding hoarse, walked over like a zombie and sat on the chair.
Jiang Yang set the medicine down and noticed the porridge was still untouched. He enthusiastically came over to feed Gu Zhifei. Gu Zhifei, feeling weak all over—especially with his sore back, legs, and butt—opened his mouth to eat without hesitation.
Luo Yu’s face grew darker and darker as he watched.
Gu Zhifei said, “Have you eaten yet? I can send you a red envelope on WeChat. Go get yourself something.”
Luo Yu shook his head. “No need. I’ll be leaving soon.”
Gu Zhifei asked, “Where are you going?”
Luo Yu replied, “None of your business.”
Gu Zhifei nodded. “Okay, but hang around for a bit. In about half an hour, your dad should arrive and take you home.”
Luo Yu froze for a moment, then jumped out of his chair.
Gu Zhifei calmly said, “No need to get worked up. When you get home, focus on your studies and turn over a new leaf.”
Luo Yu asked in despair, “What does he have that I don’t?”
Gu Zhifei thought for a moment before answering, “He’s older.”
Luo Yu: “Does age really matter that much to you?”
Gu Zhifei: “Not really, but you asked for a reason, didn’t you?”
Luo Yu: “…”
Gu Zhifei, unusually serious, called Luo Yu’s name and advised, “You’re still young. You have infinite possibilities ahead of you. Why tie yourself down to someone like me, a charming but unattainable ‘young pine tree’?”
Luo Yu asked miserably, “You say my future has infinite possibilities, but is there any possibility where you’re a part of it?”
“If you also get into this city’s university, you’ll still be my junior,” Gu Zhifei said. “And, of course, as you grow up, you’ll always be my friend.”
Luo Yu’s face darkened. “I turned eighteen last month. Stop treating me like a child.”
Gu Zhifei smiled and didn’t argue with him.
Luo Yu glared at Jiang Yang and said menacingly, “You’d better remember this: a year from now, I’ll be here too. You better watch out.”
Jiang Yang glanced at Gu Zhifei and smiled, “We’ll welcome you when that time comes.”
After Luo Yu’s father finally arrived to drag him home by the ear, Jiang Yang asked Gu Zhifei, “So, why exactly did your junior come here?”
Gu Zhifei thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No idea.”
Later, when Yao Qing found out, she said, “Isn’t it obvious? He was here to assist with a power play!”
If Luo Yu, busy studying for his exams at the time, had known this, he would have vehemently objected, shouting, “I was here to claim my future husband!”
—End—
