It is not that Lu Ping hasn’t considered bringing Gu Jiqing into the group.
But after chatting with Gu Jiqing and simply understanding what had happened in the past few days from his own mouth, it turned out that they had indeed misunderstood Zhou Cibai.
Zhou Cibai still has homophobia and did not get seduced by Gu Jiqing. It was only because he had misunderstood Gu Jiqing before and felt guilty that he reluctantly eased his attitude towards Gu Jiqing.
After learning the truth, Lu Ping decided not to bring Gu Jiqing into the original dormitory group for the time being until their relationship was completely improved; otherwise, the two would be awkward in the group.
Because of this, he created a separate three-member group in the game with only him, Gu Jiqing, and Chen Ji there.
“Look, how could there be such a considerate and understanding roommate like me in the world?”
Lu Ping was moved by himself in place where Zhou Cibai himself knew nothing about it.
“But don’t worry, Gu Gu. Although Lao Si has a little psychological shadow over gay people and is still very cold, he’s a decent little innocent guy. If you guys get along more, you guys can be friends! So why don’t we just go to the third floor of the Peach and Plum Garden for a meal tonight, just as a welcome party for you, and to get to know each other better in the meantime?”
Lu Ping was very enthusiastic and sincere at the moment, so Gu Jiqing did not refuse.
“So I’m going to have dinner alone again tonight, right?” Xia Qiao snorted, “Forget it, considering that your new roommates are all pretty good, I’ll forgive them for taking you away. I’ll go find Shen Laoda tonight.”
After speaking, he continued to happily apply paint to the canvas.
Gu Jiqing, on the other hand, was sitting in front of the easel next to him, casually dropping his brushes onto the canvas and casually said. “En, then can you ask Brother Shen if he could help me take care of Zhou Zhou for a while?”
“Zhou Zhou?”
Xia Qiao stopped painting and turned his head.
Qingda Dormitory doesn’t allow pets, and Gu Jiqing hasn’t moved out yet. So asking Shen Zhao, who has already rented a three-bedroom apartment outside to help take care of it is actually normal.
But the question is, isn’t Zhou Zhou in Nanwu?
Gu Jiqing lowered his head and dipped the brushes in paint. “My mother may be coming to Beijing over the weekend, and she will bring it along.”
Xu Qiao asked, “Why is your mother coming to Beijing?”
Gu Jiqing replied casually, “My brother is coming to a banquet and wants me to join him.”
“Want you to join him?!”
Xia Qiao suddenly felt that something was wrong.
As expected, Gu Jiqing casually said, “En, his partner’s son is also from Tsinghua University.”
Xia Qiao exploded instantly. “Is your mom trying to get you to show off the Gu family’s filial piety and brotherly love, and how generous and good he, Gu Jue, is? I just don’t get it. Why does she want you to go when you’re clearly unhappy on every occasion like this? Who’s her biological son, anyway ah?”
“I’ve never seen such a stepmother who treats her own son unfairly just to please her stepson!” Xia Qiao threw down the last sentence and angrily threw the easel forward, completely unwilling to paint more.
He couldn’t be more clear about Gu Jiqing’s experiences from childhood to adulthood.
Because that’s how they met as kids, they studied in the same drawing class.
At that time, the painting teacher’s favorite of the entire training class was him and Gu Jiqing, who were said to have the most spiritual energy and talent, especially his color sense and Gu Jiqing’s emotional expression.
But later on, when he started middle school, Gu Jiqing inexplicably stopped learning.
At that time, he thought that Gu Jiqing’s academic performance was too good, so his parents and school felt that letting him pursue art was a bit wasteful of being a top scorer.
Later, when he overheard the conversation between Gu Jiqing and his mother, he knew that Gu Jiqing had learned painting only to accompany his brother. Because the Gu family’s old lady was a famous painter, all the descendants of Gu’s family would learn painting, including a stepson who had no blood relationship.
But if this stepson’s performance had already surpassed their noble “legitimate eldest son,” everything would be different.
Xia Qiao felt angry and sad at the thought of this: “If you continue to learn painting, you will eventually surpass that stinky old lady in the future and give them a different reputation for the Gu family. As a result, because of that bastard Gu Jue’s lack of ambition, your talents have been wasted.”
“And learning to dance as well, on the surface, is letting you and your cousin learn together with the same treatment, but in reality, it is just for you to take care of your cousin, and when she stops learning, no one talks about letting you continue to learn anymore. So what do you think your mom really thought of you all these years? Has she ever considered your feelings?!”
“It’s really not going to work, you can just come to our house and be a son, my mom likes you anyway.”
The more Xia Qiao thought about it, the angrier he became. He was so angry that he began to think about whether it was legal to adopt an adult male who was almost twenty years old.
Gu Jiqing, however, only curved his lips slightly. “Your mother also wants me to be your boyfriend? Are you willing?”
“That’s impossible.” Xia Qiao refused without hesitation. “I’m not as tall as you, and I can’t protect you. Why should I be your boyfriend? You should find a big, loyal dog from a family that is more powerful than the Gu family, tall, handsome, manly, and has a heroic spirit to support you! Otherwise, when will you be able to avoid the Gu family’s idleness?”
Xia Qiao arranged Gu Jiqing’s future boyfriend’s conditions very clearly.
Gu Jiqing thought he was cute, but he also didn’t think much about it. The paintbrush in his hand continued to leisurely outline, “A loyal dog who is even more powerful than the Gu family, tall, handsome, and has a heroic spirit towards me. Why should he be my boyfriend?”
Gu Jiqing said this naturally and casually.
Xia Qiao widened his eyes in shock and said, “What else do you rely on?!”
Gu Jiqing turned to look at him, his gaze quiet, as if he completely didn’t understand Xia Qiao’s reaction.
Xia Qiao: “……”
Forget it.
Anyway, Gu Jiqing’s charm is not overwhelming, and it’s not just a day or two.
He turned back sullenly and continued to poke the canvas fiercely with his paintbrush. “Anyway, I still feel sorry for you. You’re so talented at drawing.”
During Gu Jiqing’s childhood and even adolescence, he was indeed multi-talented, but there was no other reason. It was just to become the best playmate for the delicate young master and lady of the Gu family.
Because if he is liked by them and by their parents, Yin Lan will be much better at home.
But these things are actually not as important in Gu Jiqing’s mind.
He can easily do everything well, so he doesn’t feel that the things he can do well are too important.
“Alright, don’t be angry anymore. Anyway, I never thought about becoming a painter. I have always preferred mathematics to drawing.” Gu Jiqing originally intended to appease Xia Qiao with the truth.
Xia Qiao, who has always had a deep hatred for mathematics since childhood, showed a more frightened expression when he heard this. The way he looked at Gu Jiqing was as if he were looking at a class enemy.
Gu Jiqing didn’t pay attention while painting, thinking he didn’t believe it. He casually explained, “Mathematics is actually the simplest thing in the world. It is a description of the certainty of the world, and the logic of existence itself will always objectively exist. Right and wrong are both simple and easier than drawing.”
Because drawing requires too much emotional expression.
But he has become accustomed to not caring about anything, so there are not so many emotions to mobilize and express.
And mobilizing emotions is just too exhausting for him.
Thinking about it, Gu Jiqing left his last stroke on the painting and turned his head to Xia Qiao, who had a face full of words like “I don’t understand, but I was greatly shocked.” He smiled lightly and said, “I’ll leave the painting with you for now. I’ll come and pick it up after a few days.”
“Ah? Oh, okay.” Xia Qiao finally regained consciousness and looked at Gu Jiqing’s painting.
On the canvas, there is a deep, light, and moist gray, and in the middle of the canvas, there are slender and sharp black vertebrae standing tall.
He looked lonely and distant, with an indescribable emotion.
“Did you draw a tower?”
Xia Qiao blinked and asked.
“I guess so.”
Gu Jiqing leaned back in his chair, quietly looked at the painting for a while, took out his phone, and took a photo.
When Gu Jiqing came out of Xia Qiao’s painting studio, Lu Ping had already sent the specific gathering address.
The Peach and Plum Garden Restaurant was not far from the dormitory, so Gu Jiqing walked along the way.
When he arrived, he realized that Wang Quan was also present.
As soon as Wang Quan saw him, he quickly waved his phone excitedly and said, “Yuan Hua1Courtyard flower.! Come quickly! The best spot is reserved for you!”
The so-called best position is between Wang Quan and Lu Ping, with the back facing the wall, far away from the door, where there’s no wind blowing, with warm heating, and Zhou Cibai sitting opposite, drinking water with his head down.
As soon as he sat down, Wang Quan quickly took out his phone and opened WeChat. “Yuan Hua, I have a guy here who’s really into your type. Since he saw your photos, he has been pestering me for 23 hours out of 23 hours a day to ask for your WeChat. Please see if you like him or not. If you like him, add a WeChat and chat first.”
With such a situation, Gu Jiqing is no longer surprised.
His usual way of handling it is to first agree to add the other person as a friend and then politely refuse the other person himself, directly cutting off their ideas, so as not to be difficult as an intermediary.
So he replied directly, “En, okay, you can send me his card.”
As the words fell, a loud ‘bang’ was heard.
As soon as everyone looked up, they saw Zhou Cibai put down his teacup with a stern expression, looking unhappy.
What happened suddenly? What is this?
Four people who were originally looking at the photo of Gu Jiqing’s pursuer looked up at Zhou Cibai and blinked.
There was a brief silence.
Then the group suddenly realized.
They almost forgot that Zhou Cibai has homophobia.
Wang Quan immediately came out to mediate and said, “No, Mr. Zhou, what era is this already? Can we be more advanced in our thinking, more magnanimous, inclusive of mergers and acquisitions, and seek common ground while reserving differences?”
Zhou Cibai frowned coldly and said, “I haven’t said anything yet.”
Lu Ping, Wang Quan, Chen Ji: “……”
You haven’t said anything, it’s just that the air pressure is unusually low.
However, the problem of homophobia caused by the psychological shadow of childhood cannot be solved so quickly. It seems that the roommate relationship really needs improvement.
Lu Ping first secretly praised his wise move of not directly adding Gu Jiqing to the dormitory group and then began to worry about how to improve the relationship between the two.
Feeling worried, a message suddenly popped up on Gu Jiqing’s phone next to him.
[Xia Qiao]: Oh, by the way, Gu Gu. My mother will have surgery next week, and I need to go home to accompany her. Can you help me with the volunteer activity of rescuing stray dogs? Otherwise, they will be short of people.
Lu Ping was close, and his eyes were sharp. Although he didn’t intend to look, he accidentally saw it, and his head lit up. “Hey, Gu Gu, you’re also going to participate in a volunteer activity to rescue stray dogs next week?”
Gu Jiqing and Zhou Cibai raised their heads at the same time.
Lu Ping quickly pimped and said, “Gu Gu, is this your first time participating in this activity? No problem, our Xiao Zhou has been going since he was a freshman. If you have anything you don’t understand, you can ask him directly. We can go together then, right, Lao Si?”
After Lu Ping finished speaking, he glared at Zhou Cibai with all his might, with a worried expression of “you should be more friendly towards the new roommate.”
Zhou Cibai: “……”
He felt that although it was not very necessary, it was also not impossible.
So reluctantly, he lowered his head and opened the WeChat QR code scanning interface, saying, “En, you can add…”
“It’s no problem, I’ve been going there frequently since my freshman year, so it’s not my first time going, and I’ve also known a senior student who’s going to join too this time. Don’t worry.”
Before Zhou Cibai could finish saying “add a WeChat,” Gu Jiqing lowered his head and slowly replied to Lu Ping while replying to the message.
Then he looked up at Zhou Cibai and blinked lightly. “What did you say about adding earlier?”
Zhou Zhibai, who just clicked on the WeChat code-scanning interface: “.”
Three seconds later, he pressed to turn off his phone’s screen.
“It’s nothing, I just said you should add a pair of bowls and chopsticks first.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.”
Gu Jiqingsi was completely unaware that something was wrong.
Others didn’t think anything was wrong either.
Only Lu Ping was still worried about how to improve their relationship. While eating, he said, “If you’re all going to do volunteer activities next weekend, let’s go eat hot pot next Friday night. After finishing, we can also go to LOL for a night out. How about that?”
This time, Gu Jiqing politely declined and said, “I’m going to attend a birthday banquet next Friday night, so I may not have time.”
Zhou Cibai also lowered his head and said, “I also need to go home next Friday.”
“Ah?” Lu Ping was disappointed and asked unwillingly, “Where are you going to attend the birthday banquet, Gu Gu?”
“At Beijing No.1 Courtyard.”
As soon as the words fell, Lu Ping’s eyes lit up instantly. “Isn’t that just a coincidence? Lao Si and his family live in No. 1 Courtyard ah. You can send him the specific location via WeChat and ask him to pick you up when he goes home this Friday, saving you the trouble of taking a taxi. It’s safe and convenient!”
Zhou Zhibai who was arranged in a clear way: “……”
His father also happens to have his fifty birthday next Friday, could it be……
Wait, what was he thinking? How could his father’s birthday party be related to an ordinary college student like Gu Jiqing?
But giving a free gift is just a small gesture.
One can’t afford to not even have basic gentlemanly manners.
Thinking about it, Zhou Cibai once again nodded and opened WeChat with a stern face. “En, you send the…”
“It’s okay, someone will pick me up by then, don’t bother.”
Gu Jiqing, as always is understanding and gentle.
Zhou Cibai once again pressed off the phone screen expressionlessly.
.
Except for Zhou Cibai, the meal was lively and enjoyable, and it wasn’t until after finishing that everyone realized that Gu Jiqing had already paid the bill.
“No, Gu Gu, we’re holding a welcome party for you. How could you secretly pay the bill? Let Lao Si treat ah! Our dormitory has been gathering for so long, and it’s always Lao Si treating! How can the descendants of such evil capitalists deserve the hard work and sweat of the working people without being squeezed back?”
When Lu Ping and Chen Ji said this, their faces didn’t change, their hearts didn’t jump, and their reasoning wasn’t too straight and strong.
Zhou Cibai simply didn’t want to say that he knew these two people. He stood up, put his hat on, pulled his leg, and was ready to leave.
Then he heard Wang Quan say, “No, this is impossible. We’ll treat you to our first meal together. It’s so embarrassing. At least AA2AA here means to split the bill evenly when eating out.ba, how much does it cost? I’ll transfer it to you on WeChat.”
“Right, right, right, AA, I’ll also transfer you on WeChat.”
“Hey, Gu Gu, your WeChat avatar has been changed. Is that dark cloud?”
“It’s a tower ba.”
“Aiya, anyway, they’re all pretty good.”
Lu Ping and Chen Ji have transferred the money.
After a brief silence, Zhou Cibai, who is used to paying and is never used to AA, was silent for a short period of time, turned around, slightly pursed the corner of his lips, and said to Gu Jiqing, feeling a bit uneasy, “I also transferred you on WeChat.”
“Oh, okay.”
This time, Gu Jiqing finally clicked on a QR code and reached out to Zhou Cibai.
Zhou Cibai’s face, which had been boarded up for the whole day, finally eased a little. He clicked on the code-scanning interface, scanned the code, and finished.
A page pops up.
Payment to individual [Cyan (Gu＊Qing) 96]
Payment completed.
Return to the interface.
Then there was no more.
So it’s just a simple payment code.
“……”
Coincidentally, Wang Quan raised his voice and asked, “Hey, Lao Si, I heard that a new internet cafe has opened near the school in the evening. Do you want to go together ah?”
“Won’t go.” Zhou Cibai whispered two words and then turned around with a stern face.
Behind him, Lu Ping was still discussing his travel romance with Chen Ji: “Lao Chen, you have rich experience, help me analyze it. Why did this girl chat with me quite well at the homestay before, but when she came back, she never added me on WeChat?”
Chen Ji chuckled lightly. “What else can it be? She’s trying to get you hooked. If she were to add you on WeChat so easily, could you have been thinking about her all day today like you are now? This is called segmentation, okay.”
Who has been thinking about it all day?
And what’s with the hooking?
What if they just don’t remember it for a moment or forget it?
Besides, it’s just a WeChat account. If it’s not added, it means it’s not necessary. When it’s necessary, it will be added naturally.
Why are you thinking so complicatedly?
And he was able to be hooked for a whole day just because of one WeChat. Indeed, Lu Ping was idle all day long.
Zhou Cibai’s ankle was not yet fully healed, but he also didn’t wait for anyone. He just walked straight to the dormitory with his hands in his pockets and his head buried as fast as he could.
The phone in his pocket rang, and he also impatiently took it out to take a look.
Then his knuckles tightened instantly.
[Cyan requests to add you as a friend]
[Note: Lu Ping and them said you are very skilled in PC games. Do you want to play together tonight?]
The applicant’s portrait is a deep and shallow gray patch with a slender, and tall tower in the middle of the gray cloud.
He doesn’t know who the painter is, but at first glance, Zhou Cibai felt a strong sense of loneliness and alienation, as well as a faint melancholy beneath the alienation.
It’s like a lonely princess living in a tall tower, waiting hopelessly for a hero to come and save her day after day, even burying hope in the tower.
At that moment, Zhou Cibai’s heart trembled.
Then he quickly regained his senses, his ears red, and after verification, he didn’t even have time to press off the screen. He hurriedly stuffed his phone into his pocket, put a hat on his head, and buried his head as he walked forward at a faster speed.
Sensing Zhou Cibai’s disappointment, Gu Jiqing thought he was upset because his friends were all around him today and ignored him. He raised his eyebrows in confusion.
Why are his ears turning red again?
Is it because he’s still unhappy?
He remembered that Zhou Cibai wasn’t that difficult to coax.
As he was thinking about it, his phone vibrated, and he looked down.
[White]: I have accepted your friend verification request. Now we can start chatting.
[White]: En, En～(^з^)～Laaaaah
Gu Jiqing slowly typed out a question mark. “?”
Is Zhou Cibai’s WeChat chat style this cute?
The author has something to say:
Doggy: No! It’s the cell phone itself that did it!!!
