The three sets of eyes fixed on Fang Hui, who now felt like he wanted to vomit blood and didn’t want to answer Xiao Cheng’s question.
Was he brainless? Couldn’t he see that he liked him? How could he even ask him such a question?
Intuition told Fang Hui that what Xiao Cheng was about to say wouldn’t be good.
Xiao Cheng raised his eyebrows, puzzled by Fang Hui’s resentful look.
“It’s just that in our dorm, you seem to be the only one with experience in romance.”
Jiang Zihe felt a shot to his knee for no apparent reason, but he couldn’t refute it, since he was indeed single.
As for Du Yunshen, he didn’t care whether he had been in a relationship; he was just curious to watch the drama.
It was interesting to see Xiao Cheng seeking advice from Fang Hui.
Xiao Cheng was remarkably oblivious when it came to distinguishing others’ feelings. He hadn’t realized Fang Hui liked him, or rather, the original owner of his body.
He had been avoiding Fang Hui’s intimate gestures recently because he didn’t want others to misunderstand. After all, this was a danmei novel, and people’s tolerance for same-sex relationships was extremely high. When they saw boys being close, their first reaction wasn’t necessarily to think of deep friendship.
Xiao Cheng wasn’t paranoid, but he had noticed that Du Yunshen often watched him and Fang Hui with a peculiar look, as if viewing them as a couple.
Xiao Cheng admitted that he might be a bit less straightforward, but he and Fang Hui were innocent.
He tried to avoid close contact with Fang Hui as much as possible, but he couldn’t tell Fang Hui directly, as it might make him seem like a shallow person.
He thought he had been discreet enough, but to Fang Hui and Du Yunshen, his attitude seemed to have suddenly cooled.
Fang Hui didn’t know what he had done wrong to make Xiao Cheng dissatisfied. Hearing Xiao Cheng’s words, Fang Hui forced a smile.
“You must be mistaken. I’m also single.”
He knew he could never tell Xiao Cheng!
Xiao Cheng looked regretful, thinking that he would have to seek advice from a broader audience. He wondered if posting on the S University forum would help.
He had never browsed the school forum before but had heard that S University’s forum was quite famous, comparable to a small-scale social media platform.
Xiao Cheng decided to give it a try. After registering a new account, he entered the S University forum and, after browsing for a while, learned how to post. He composed his query:
“How to pursue a younger boy by one year?”
The title was straightforward enough.
“Just as the title says, I like a very gentle… (300 words omitted)… boy, but I don’t know how to pursue him. Does anyone have good suggestions?”
After posting, Xiao Cheng refreshed the page every few seconds, afraid of missing any replies.
Perhaps due to the high traffic at this time, responses came quickly.
User A: “OP, can you post a photo of him? I want to see if the 300 words you wrote are true :)”
Xiao Cheng frowned. Wasn’t this person focusing on the wrong thing? Besides, the 300 words he wrote were quite genuine. He could have written more if it weren’t for the word limit.
“My words are true, but I can’t post his photo for now.”
A little later, someone else replied: “OP, clarify, when you say ‘one year younger,’ is it one year younger than you or one year younger than your dad?”
Xiao Cheng: ????
Of course, it meant one year younger than him!
Why would it be one year younger than his dad?!
“One year younger than me. I’m 18 this year.”
User B: “Then you’re really a beast, even if he’s underage.”
Fair point.
Xiao Cheng clicked his tongue. But he wasn’t doing anything inappropriate.
He knew that even if they did end up together, certain things would have to wait until the other person was of legal age.
Does he have to wait until then to pursue him?
“This doesn’t matter. I just want to know how to pursue him.”
Up to this point, there hadn’t been many useful replies. Then someone suddenly asked:
“OP, are you a guy?”
Xiao Cheng didn’t know how they figured it out. After a while, he realized that his profile said he was male. However, social media profiles were not always accurate. He answered honestly: “Yes.”
User C: “Then if you’re going to do that, I’m not sleepy anymore.”
User D: “I’m awake now. OP, I’ll teach you.”
This world was highly tolerant of same-sex relationships, but the mainstream idea was still that heterosexual relationships were the norm. While people encountered same-sex couples frequently, they weren’t always welcoming.
When Xiao Cheng revealed his gender, replies started flooding in. One person even suggested adding “male” to the title.
Xiao Cheng was confused, wondering why his gender was relevant. He was just asking for advice on pursuing a boy.
User C: “OP, you don’t get it :)”
Xiao Cheng thought momentarily and realized he didn’t quite understand, so he edited the title to include “male” and waited.
The forum suddenly became lively. However, none of the answers were what Xiao Cheng wanted. Most responses were either excitedly eating popcorn or questioning the authenticity of his 300 words, and some even asked if he was a gong or shou.
Did it really matter?
Xiao Cheng realized he probably shouldn’t have posted on the forum because he wasn’t getting any useful advice.
He sighed and decided to turn to Baidu for help.
Just then, he received a message from Fang Hui.
[Do you want to pursue the person you like?]
[I can help you.]
It sounded like a sales pitch for health products.
Xiao Cheng replied yes without hesitation, afraid that Fang Hui might change his mind.
Fang Hui responded: [Actually, I was lying when I said I didn’t understand. Although I’ve never been in a relationship, I often give advice on how to pursue someone.]
Ah, forget it. Fang Hui wasn’t genuinely offering help; he was trying to figure out who Xiao Cheng liked.
If he became Xiao Cheng’s romance advisor, he would have a chance to find out who his rival was.
He wanted to see who dared to compete with him.
