CH 56

Shang Jin sat down at the stone table and said, “Auntie just gave birth and Youyou’s mood isn’t very good, so I have to go home everyday.”

Ye Zhou had a sudden realization. Before, he thought that Shang Jin had avoided him because he’d rejected Shang Jin.

Thinking about it, it also made sense. According to Shang Jin’s personality, no matter what happened, his first reaction would be to face the difficulty and overcome it rather than escape it.

“So it’s like that,” Ye Zhou responded, looked at the time and said, “It’s not early now. Youyou must be waiting for you anxiously. You should go back quickly.”

“It’s still not a rush at this moment. I have to give you something before we go back.” Shang Jin took the lead and Ye Zhou followed behind him. They walked to the temporarily-parked car with its half-open window by the side of the road. Shang Jin opened the passenger door and carried out a birdcage.

Ye Zhou joked, “I said you threw it away.”

Shang Jin lifted the corners of his lips, put the cage on the front of the car and unlatched the triangular lock. He handed the flowerpot full of strawberries to Ye Zhou and said, “Happy Birthday.”

“You…you know.”

“I said I like you. If I didn’t even know your birthday, how does that count as liking?”

Ye Zhou faintly felt that he had been stabbed.

Sure enough, he didn’t like Tang Dongdong. Otherwise, how could he not even remember his birthday?

Ye Zhou took the flowerpot and the sweetness of the strawberries lingered at the tip of his nose. The light wasn’t too good, but Ye Zhou could still see that most of the strawberries were ripe. “Thank you. Mine also grew a lot of strawberries. Some have ripened, but I haven’t had time to taste them. I don’t know if they’re sweet or not.”

Shang Jin reached out and picked a strawberry from the flowerpot. He casually wiped it and directly popped it into his mouth. Perhaps because the strawberry was entirely grown by him, Shang Jin felt that it was more delicious than the strawberries he’d eaten before.

“Eh, this hasn’t been washed yet!” Shang Jin moved too fast and Ye Zhou couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t help but remember that he’d given Shang Jin an apple that hadn’t been washed clean, but Shang Jin had still enjoyed eating it. People truly can’t be judged by their appearances. Obviously, he looked like a nit-picky person, but in reality, he was very laid-back. Ye Zhou glanced sidelong at him and said, “You said this is my gift. I haven’t eaten it yet, so how could you, the gift-giver, move your mouth first!”

“Move your mouth…” Shang Jin looked around, suddenly approached Ye Zhou and quickly kissed him. The tip of his tongue pressed between Ye Zhou’s still-parted lips, swept around his mouth and then released him. He smiled and asked, “Sweet or not?”

After the initial surprise, Ye Zhou quickly responded. Regardless of whether Shang Jin was talking about the strawberry or  that kiss, he pursed his lips and grinned, “It was just too fast. I need to taste it again to know if it’s sweet or not.” Saying this, he placed the flower pot on the hood of the car, grabbed Shang Jin’s collar and kissed him.

After a good tasting, the two people didn’t reach a conclusion on the sweetness. Ye Zhou’s forehead rested on Shang Jin’s shoulder, catching his breath. After a while, he finally realized that the two people were outside. He let go of Shang Jin and said, “Someone might come over.”

“Not at all.” When Shang Jin parked, he’d deliberately chosen a relatively remote location to park. The road was empty at this time and the only animal was a moth under the dim street lamp.

“It’s getting late. You should go back soon.” Ye Zhou put the pot back in the cage. “I have to go back to the dorm too. I’ve already been out for a while.”

Just finished, Shang Jin’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and seeing it was from home, it seemed that the time really can’t be dragged out.

He sat in the driver’s seat and pressed down the window. Ye Zhou held the cage and said, “See you tomorrow.”

“Ye Zhou.” Shang Jin suddenly called his name.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not the eternal second.” Shang Jin pointed to his own heart and said, “Here, you will always be the first.”

Ye Zhou blanked, and his nose was somewhat sour. Shang Jin really…always knew what he wanted to hear the most.

He concealed it and said, “Quickly go! So many words!”

Shang Jin didn’t look at Ye Zhou this time and directly drove away.

Ye Zhou held the plant in the cage and sat on the stone steps beside him. His chin leaned on the cage and he giggled.

What should he do? He had some regrets: why did he have to confess today! He definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, so where would he have mind for tomorrow’s exam!

Calming down his excitement, Ye Zhou brought the strawberry back to the dorm.

“Zhou, you just went…” Liu Yutian said halfway when he saw a familiar cage in Ye Zhou’s hand. Instinctively, he looked at the flower stand where Ye Zhou’s pot was resting. Then the one in Ye Zhou’s hand was…

Ye Zhou simply explained, “I just met Shang Jin. He gave it.”

Liu Yutian’s face changed. He pulled Ye Zhou into the dorm and closed the door. “Zhou, tell me the truth: what happened between you guys?”

This kind of thing wasn’t easy to say. Ye Zhou simply said the result, “We’re quite fine.”

“Who are you deceiving! If it’s fine, how did he give the strawberry to you!” Liu Yutian worried, “This is the gift you gave him. He gave it to you, what does that mean?”

“What does it mean?” Ye Zhou was unclear. Although this pot of strawberry was gifted by Ye Zhou, and Shang Jin re-gifting it sounded very stingy, but he’d gifted a seedling, while Shang Jin returned the fruit that he’d carefully cultivated. For Ye Zhou, no matter how expensive the gift was, it couldn’t compare to the other’s sincerity. The intention in the gift was important, not the price.

“This is the same as breaking all ties!”

Breaking all ties…

Ye Zhou said with a face filled with black lines, “We’re really alright. Stop making wild guesses. Tomorrow’s the exam. I’m going to shower and sleep.” His mood today was quite good, but he didn’t want to listen to them babble nonsense by his ear.

Originally thinking that he couldn’t sleep that night, but maybe because he’d solve the thing that had been hanging in his heart, he slept more soundly than usual.

In the morning of the exam, Ye Zhou got up and saw that Shang Jin had sent him a message. It said that his newborn little brother would be coming back from the hospital today, and he’d have to go home after the exam. He guessed that they wouldn’t be able to exchange two words.

Although he had a bit of regret, Ye Zhou didn’t say anything. After all, there was a long time later.

He got up early to review the textbook again. Before going to the exam room, he saw the Shang Ye number that he hadn’t touched for more than half a month. There was a layer of dust on the surface and the windows were blurred.

Maybe because the relationship had changed between the two, when Ye Zhou saw the Shang Ye number, he actually felt a strange kind of sweetness.

“Tsk tsk tsk…” Ye Zhou circled around the body and stopped behind the car. He stretched out his finger and drew a circle around the ‘Shang’ character. Shang Jin’s word and the person were the same: confident and casual. “I never thought we had such foresight.”

It now appeared that this car could really be regarded as their “token of love”. Only their feeling at that time was of friendship, and now, it’d developed into love.

When Liu Yutian went downstairs, he saw Ye Zhou staring with “great bitterness and deep hatred” at the two characters “Shang Ye”. Zhou Wendao was about to say hello when Liu Yutian grabbed his collar and dragged him into the dormitory building.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Wendao flung off Liu Yutian’s hand, “If you have words, just say it and lay off the hands.”

Liu Yutian whispered, “I suspect Zhou will smash the car.”

Zhou Wendao turned pale with fright. “Smash…smash what???”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that Shang Jin returned Ye Zhou’s gift to him? It looks like he wants to break off all ties.”

“So serious?”

“I’m in the same dorm as them, so how can I not be clear on what’s their situation?” Liu Yutian stuck his head out of the dorm doorway. Ye Zhou had left. He waved to Zhou Wendao and said, “Let’s go to the car and see.”

The two people made several laps around the Shang Ye number and found nothing unusual.

Zhou Wendao doubtfully said, “Are you overthinking it?”

“Wait until the exams are finished, you’ll see.”

Ye Zhou knew nothing about their discussion behind him. He came to the exam room as soon as he finished eating. Today, Shang Jin would leave when he finished the exam and he also didn’t know if he could say a word or two if he came earlier.

However, it wasn’t until the beginning of the exam that Shang Jin arrived late, just taking his seat before the proctor came over. It truly meant that they didn’t even say a word.

Ye Zhou seriously doubted whether he’d made up a dream last night.

The exam took one and a half hours. If one answered fast, then they could leave early. Ye Zhou was still checking his answers when he saw Shang Jin was the first to hand in the paper.

Ye Zhou looked at him worriedly. It was reasonable to say that even if the newborn brother was just brought home, he didn’t need to be so anxious. It seemed that today there really was no way to speak a word.

Ye Zhou checked the paper twice and confirmed that there was no problem. He also submitted the paper in advance. Figuring it was still early, he thought it’d be good to clean up the Shang Ye number now.

The school building at exam time was unusually quiet. Ye Zhou walked softly out of the school building and went by the grove next to the parking shed. Suddenly, he was pulled inside.

“Whoー” just uttered a sound, he heard a familiar chuckle. Ye Zhou turned around to see Shang Jin who had left 15 minutes ago.

Not waiting for Ye Zhou to ask, Shang Jin preempted him. “Why are you so slow?”

“We must check everything before handing it in.” In broad daylight, in the grove next to the only path from the school building, Ye Zhou was nervous with a tinge of excitement. “Did you specifically wait for me?”

Shang Jin repudiated, “If I knew you were so slow, I wouldn’t have wait for you.”

Ye Zhou curled his lips. “Who are you waiting for?”

Shang Jin used his thumb to caress Ye Zhou’s lower lip. “Are you free tomorrow?”

“Why?”

Shang Jin moved away his gaze and said, “I heard that an amusement park just opened. I bought tickets.”

Ye Zhou’s eyebrows rose and a hint of awkwardness flashed across Shang Jin’s expression. He deliberately said, “There’s an exam in two days. How can I go out and play with the exams going on?”

“Is that so? Then I’ll take Youyou.”

Ye Zhou teased, “Youyou doesn’t need a ticket. Since you bought two and I don’t want it to go to waste, I’ll reluctantly go with you.”

Shang Jin smiled. “No need. I remember that the ticket is refundable. It’s not a bother to return one.”

“Hey!”

Shang Jin took a quick kiss on his lips. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” When Ye Zhou still hadn’t returned to his senses, he quickly withdrew. “I’m going first.”

These two “surprise attacks” made Ye Zhou deeply aware that there was a large generation gap between the two of them.

Shang Jin was indeed a person who wasn’t afraid of gossip. He didn’t know how to restrain his behavior in public!

Although it was undeniable that the process was very exciting, but could the next time not be in a private environment?

The test bell rang, and Ye Zhou rode back to the dormitory. On the way, he took a bucket, cleaning rags, and a feather duster from the dormitory.

Ye Zhou put on a mask and raised the feather duster to get rid of the dust on top of the car. Suddenly, he was pulled back from both sides. One man held his waist and one man seized his feather duster.

Ye Zhou: “???”