Chapter 33
Editor: Princess
Luo Changzhou definitely knew Yu Pei didn’t like Qi Weiqiang. It wasn’t because he was overly confident but because this was something that one could discern easily.
Secret crushes didn’t really exist in this world. Although one might hide feelings temporarily, they couldn’t be concealed forever. Genuine affection couldn’t be hidden.
Take his feelings for Yu Pei for example. Because he liked Yu Pei, he constantly paid attention to him, noting his every move, practically wanting to cling to him like ivy. He was gentle only toward Yu Pei, kind only to him. Such preferential treatment was extremely obvious.
However, since they were both male, everyone assumed that they were merely good friends. However anyone like him could easily notice the difference.
Furthermore, “liking” someone was such a significant matter that Yu Pei would definitely have mentioned it to him, yet he had never brought Qi Weiqiang up. This proved that she was essentially inconsequential to Yu Pei.
Still, he hadn’t realized that Yu Pei had once liked her.
“If you liked her, you would definitely have told me.” Luo Changzhou’s voice remained gentle, his blue eyes dark and profound. “But since you never mentioned her to me, how could you possibly like her?”
“Right, right, right!”
Yu Pei nodded repeatedly, his eyes bright as he looked at Luo Changzhou. He just knew that Luo Changzhou was smart enough to recognize the fact that he didn’t like Qi Weiqiang.
Luo Changzhou looked at Yu Pei, his lips curving into a smile. “Class is about to start. I’ll tell you something during the long break.”
“Mm-hmm.” Reassured that Luo Changzhou hadn’t misunderstood his feelings for Qi Weiqiang, Yu Pei felt relieved. He took a sip of the white Pu’er tea Luo Changzhou had prepared for him, then arranged their textbooks for the upcoming class.
Today’s first two periods were biology, taught by their homeroom teacher, Teacher Shao.
Gu Zheng had gone to the office 10 minutes before morning class to find him. Whatever he said to Teacher Shao, just before class started, Yu Pei saw him exchange seats with a girl behind them, allowing him to sit right behind Yu Pei and Luo Changzhou.
“Hehe, Ah Pei, I’m here!” Gu Zheng greeted both Yu Pei and Luo Changzhou happily after sitting down.
Yu Pei hadn’t expected Gu Zheng to sit so close to him and was excited. “Ah Zheng.”
“Isn’t the next class with our homeroom teacher?” Gu Zheng asked Yu Pei while searching for his biology textbook in his bag.
Yu Pei nodded. “Yes.”
“Then I better prepare myself. The teacher will definitely ask me to introduce myself during class.” Gu Zheng said with a smile.
When he smiled, his two rows of white teeth showed, and his almond eyes curved into crescents, making him look handsome and dashing. Yu Pei noticed that the girl sitting next to him had bright red ears and pink cheeks, probably thrilled to have such a handsome guy beside her.
Indeed, as soon as the class bell rang, Teacher Shao asked Gu Zheng to stand up and introduce himself. However unlike Luo Changzhou’s concise self-introduction, Gu Zheng was notably more talkative—
“Hello everyone, I’m Gu Zheng. ‘Gu’ as in ‘looking left and right’, ‘Zheng’ as in ‘outstanding’. My family also has a younger brother named Gu Rong, hahaha. I just transferred to this school and don’t know anything yet, so please don’t bully me.”
The moment Gu Zheng finished saying this, the entire class burst into laughter. Even the usually serious Teacher Shao couldn’t help but laugh and say, “You’re so tall, who would dare bully you?”
This was definitely true. Currently, the tallest person in their class was Luo Changzhou, followed by Gu Zheng. Their height of over 180 centimeters stood out not only in Class 1 but throughout the entire school. Nevertheless, Gu Zheng laughed and said, “Well, you never know. I’m actually quite timid.”
“Alright, if anyone bullies you, just report to the teacher.” Teacher Shao smiled and gestured for him to sit down.
After hearing Gu Zheng’s self-introduction, Yu Pei was stunned for a moment, because although the talkative style matched Gu Zheng’s personality, the content clearly didn’t.
Gu Zheng was actually very brave and would never express fear of being bullied by classmates. Perhaps only Yu Pei could understand the deeper meaning behind his words.
He felt a warmth inside and regretted not chatting more with Gu Zheng last night. He planned to have a good conversation with him after school. However, Gu Zheng obviously couldn’t wait until then and had no intention of napping during the break, because the moment the long break began, he poked his back eagerly, wanting him to turn around and talk.
“Ah Pei, let’s go buy snacks at the cafeteria. The next class is English, and I’ll definitely get drowsy. Without snacks, I’ll definitely fall asleep.” Gu Zheng looked at him expectantly.
Yu Pei hesitated when he heard this, then glanced at Luo Changzhou. He hadn’t forgotten that Luo Changzhou had mentioned wanting to tell him something during the long break.
Seeing Yu Pei looking toward Luo Changzhou instead of answering, Gu Zheng misunderstood, thinking he wanted to invite Luo Changzhou along. So he flashed a brilliant smile at Luo Changzhou and said, “Changzhou, join us too!”
Luo Changzhou: “…Okay.”
Thus, the three left the classroom together, heading toward the school cafeteria’s snack shop, with Yu Pei still walking between them.
Throughout the journey, Gu Zheng continuously chatted with Yu Pei, who naturally couldn’t ignore him. Consequently, Luo Changzhou was neglected.
However, Luo Changzhou didn’t display any unhappiness. He simply kept his hands in his pockets, head slightly bowed, walking silently and calmly beside Yu Pei. Occasionally, when Yu Pei turned his head to look at Luo Changzhou’s lowered eyelashes, he felt a subtle ache in his heart.
Today, as always, the snack shop was crowded. As soon as Gu Zheng reached the entrance, he began pushing his way in, telling Yu Pei and Luo Changzhou, “Today’s my treat! Take whatever you want, don’t be shy with me.”
“Mm.” Yu Pei acknowledged but didn’t immediately head toward the snack shelves. Instead, he stood in place hesitantly.
Perhaps because he was preoccupied with thoughts of Luo Changzhou, he didn’t have any appetite today. He frowned slightly, wanting to turn and look at Luo Changzhou behind him, but the snack shop was too crowded to turn around, so he could only ask, “Changzhou, what would you like to eat?”
“A chocolate bread.” Luo Changzhou’s deep voice sounded near his ear, slightly above. And perhaps because they were so close, Yu Pei could feel his warm breath tickling his ear as he spoke.
Hearing this, Yu Pei moved forward, struggling through the crowd to get a chocolate bread. However, there were too many girls in front of him. He felt uncomfortable standing too close to them, furthermore his arm wasn’t long enough, always falling short of reaching the bread.
Just as he was becoming frustrated, a long arm suddenly extended in front of him. Luo Changzhou leaned slightly forward, his chin almost resting on Yu Pei’s shoulder, their cheeks seemingly pressed together. At this intimate distance where their breaths nearly mingled, Yu Pei heard Luo Changzhou’s deep voice filled with amusement saying to him: “I’ll get it.”
“Ah? Oh, okay…” Yu Pei stumbled over his words. He felt his face must be red, so he immediately lowered his head, not daring to look at Luo Changzhou.
Luo Changzhou asked him again: “Is one enough?”
Yu Pei replied subconsciously: “It’s enough.”
“Then let’s go.” Yu Pei suddenly felt his hand gently held by another’s palm in the crowded space. He froze for a second, trying to pull his hand back, yet the grip only tightened.
The hand holding his was dry and warm, with a palm larger than his own. It was Luo Changzhou’s hand.
Yu Pei belatedly realized that Luo Changzhou had actually taken his hand, instantly rendering him speechless. However, once they nearly reached the snack shop’s exit, Luo Changzhou released his hand.
Gu Zheng was waiting for them at the cashier, holding a large pile of snacks. And seeing them approach, he placed his snacks on the counter. Then noticing that Yu Pei had nothing, he said in surprise: “Ah Pei, you didn’t take anything? Aren’t you eating?”
“I…” Yu Pei had been completely focused on Luo Changzhou earlier, thinking only about getting the chocolate bread Luo Changzhou wanted that he hadn’t considered what he might eat himself.
But now it was too late to go back.
“Then share mine, I bought plenty of snacks.” Gu Zheng assumed Yu Pei couldn’t decide what to eat. Fortunately, he had taken many snacks, which was enough for everyone.
After saying this, he saw Luo Changzhou standing beside Yu Pei place the chocolate bread on the counter. His eyes widened his eyes as he asked him: “Changzhou, so you like chocolate bread too? I thought only Ah Pei enjoyed such sweet things.”
“This isn’t for me.” Luo Changzhou glanced at him and said, “I got it for Ah Pei.”
Gu Zheng nodded understandingly: “That makes sense.”
Yu Pei found Luo Changzhou’s statement strange since he had clearly said earlier that he wanted chocolate bread: ” Changzhou, aren’t you going to eat it? But you just said…”
Luo Changzhou turned his head to look at him silently. Yu Pei met Luo Changzhou’s blue eyes, feeling inexplicably nervous. Then he heard Luo Changzhou say: “I don’t like sweet things.”
Yu Pei was stunned. Luo Changzhou said he didn’t like sweets?
But he had given him many candies before, which Luo Changzhou had eaten. He thought Luo Changzhou, like him, enjoyed sweet foods.
Yu Pei couldn’t describe his feelings at that moment. He only felt as though his entire body lost all warmth after Luo Changzhou spoke those words. Even his blood seemed frozen, no longer flowing.
However, within seconds, Luo Changzhou raised his hand to pat the back of Yu Pei’s head, sighing softly before saying: “So I got this for you, silly.”
Yu Pei stared at him blankly, not immediately understanding what he had said.
After Gu Zheng finished paying, he left carrying the snack bag. Seeing Yu Pei’s dazed expression, Luo Changzhou raised his eyebrows, then directly took his wrist and pulled him outside.
Yu Pei lagged a few steps behind Luo Changzhou. Then looking at Luo Changzhou’s hand, he called softly: “Chang-Changzhou…”
Luo Changzhou responded immediately: “Yes?”
“You just said you don’t like sweet things?” Yu Pei looked up at him, asking quietly.
“Mm.” Luo Changzhou lowered his head, unwrapping the chocolate bread.
Yu Pei glanced at the bread, then continued asking: “Then all those candies I gave you before… you didn’t like them?”
“How could that be?” Luo Changzhou smiled slightly, asking in return, “If I didn’t like them, why would I have eaten them all?”
Yu Pei became more confused: “But didn’t you just say you don’t like sweet things?”
“I don’t like sweet things.” Luo Changzhou stopped walking, his deep blue eyes fixed unblinkingly on Yu Pei as he slowly said, “But anything you give me, regardless of its taste, I will enjoy eating.”
Such words were nearly a confession.
If he were a girl, he would definitely think Luo Changzhou was confessing to him. But even as a boy, such words seemed exceedingly sweet.
Yu Pei felt the blood that had frozen in his body earlier begin flowing again. Only this time, his veins seemed filled with sweet honey, so sweet he could barely speak. He stammered, asking Luo Changzhou: “W-why?”
Luo Changzhou looked at him, smiling as he asked in return: “What do you think, Ah Pei? Why could that be?”
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