After a heavy hotpot meal, the sweet and sour Yakult was a perfect way to cut through the richness.
Lu Xingmian returned with two bottles of Yakult, offering one to Lu Shiran.
Lu Shiran took the drink and reminded him, “Zai Zai, your phone rang a moment ago.”
Lu Xingmian hummed in response. After finishing half of his small bottle of Yakult, he picked up his phone and checked it. It was a message from Meng Sun.
Lu Xingmian understood. Meng Sun likely said that because he still viewed him as the child who was often overlooked by adults, the one who lingered by the door. He was a grown man now, not the same little boy waiting eagerly at the door.
Lu Shiran took a casual sip of his Yakult with his eyes fixed on Lu Xingmian. Lu Xingmian smiled as he looked at his phone, his fingers tapping away at the screen. He seemed to be typing a lot, and even after finishing his drink, he was still engrossed in the conversation. His smile was so sweet.
Lu Shiran had never witnessed the young Lu Xingmian nor had he ever seen him sitting on the hallway floor doing his homework. His Yakult suddenly tasted sour. Was it expired? He checked the bottle and saw that the date was fresh.
Lu Xingmian’s eyes grew even more excited as he looked at his phone. His eyes were already beautiful, but when they curved into crescents, they were even more captivating and sweet, making people want to take a bite.
Since he sat down, Lu Xingmian had been glued to his phone, as if something incredibly interesting was happening. He hadn’t paid any attention to Lu Shiran for several minutes already.
Lu Shiran suddenly felt like having a cigarette. He hadn’t touched one in a long time. In an effort to quit, there were no cigarettes at home or at work. He missed the feeling of a lit cigarette, but thankfully, the feeling didn’t last long. A single sentence from Lu Xingmian brightened his mood.
Lu Xingmian looked up. “Ge, look in the group chat! They’re sending red envelopes. I got a bunch! You should join in too, Ge!”
Lu Shiran was momentarily stunned. He then remembered that after their trip to the horse farm, Zheng Minyou had added Lu Xingmian to their group chat. Zheng Minyou and the others were always chatting in the group. Lu Shiran found it noisy and had muted notifications a long time ago, so he rarely checked the messages.
After hearing what Lu Xingmian said, he clicked on the group chat and saw it already had over 99 messages. His friends all liked Lu Xingmian but were worried that he would be as quiet as Lu Shiran. So, they would always “tagged” him to encourage him to join the conversation.
Today, after Wang Yichuan sent the red envelopes, he directly tagged Lu Xingmian to make sure he didn’t miss it. Wang Yichuan was the man with glasses who sat next to Lu Xingmian at the roast lamb meal at the horse farm.
After replying to Meng Sun’s WeChat message, Lu Xingmian saw that someone had tagged him. He entered the group chat and clicked on the red envelope. He had good luck; he was the luckiest one and got a big red envelope of 150 yuan. Wang Yichuan then sent more than thirty more red envelopes in a row, and Lu Xingmian was the luckiest almost every time, receiving over a hundred yuan. This had never happened before. Lu Xingmian felt like he should go buy a lottery ticket; he might just win the jackpot.
When Lu Xingmian appeared in the group chat, everyone was thrilled. After Wang Yichuan finished sending his red envelopes, others started sending them, too, and a shower of red envelopes began. Lu Xingmian happily grabbed them one after another.
While he was busy collecting the red envelopes, he noticed that Lu Shiran hadn’t made a sound. He saw Lu Shiran just holding his Yakult bottle, not even looking at his phone. Lu Xingmian couldn’t bear to let him miss out on so many red envelopes, so he quickly told him to check his phone.
Lu Shiran looked at the chat history and realized that Lu Xingmian had been frantically tapping his phone screen to grab red envelopes. He was smiling so sweetly because he had received a lot of them. Lu Shiran, who hadn’t spoken in the group chat for ages, suddenly began sending red envelopes one after another, exceeding the total amount all his friends had sent together.
Lu Xingmian grabbed the red envelopes while feeling a little concerned. “Ge, aren’t you sending too much?”
Lu Shiran’s sudden appearance in the group chat was rare, but him actively sending red envelopes was even rarer. The group chat had never been so lively.
[Old Lu, you’re finally talking! This is a rare sight! You should talk more!]
[Old Lu, have you been possessed? We tag you, and you never show up.]
[Lu Xingmian, can you check if Old Lu is okay?]
[What day is it today? Let me check. It’s dark outside.]
[It’s true, Old Lu only appears when Lu Xingmian is here. Looks like from now on, all we have to do is tag Lu Xingmian, and Old Lu will show up for sure.]
[Lu Xingmian, you have to talk more often from now on.]
Watching their banter with Lu Shiran, Lu Xingmian was shaking with laughter as he leaned on his shoulder. He had no idea Lu Shiran was so quiet in the group chat. Lu Xingmian checked his balance and saw that in a short time, he had collected over 20,000 yuan in red envelopes.
But it wasn’t over yet. He received a private red envelope from Lu Shiran. Lu Shiran wrapped his arms around him. “I got this for you. It’s all yours.”
When it was time to sleep, Lu Shiran offered, “Zai Zai, do you want to hold my hand while you sleep?”
Lu Xingmian immediately rolled over into Lu Shiran’s arms. “Of course I do.” He happily rubbed against Lu Shiran like a little cat. Lu Shiran was so nice tonight, even offering to hold his hand. Lu Xingmian tilted his face up and kissed him on the chin. “Good night.”
Holding onto something, Lu Xingmian fell asleep quickly. Lu Shiran held the person in his arms, lowered his head, and gently left a red mark on his shoulder.
–
After that badminton match, many people were incredibly impressed with Lu Xingmian. He seemed to have a good relationship with Senior Meng Sun. Many students saw Lu Xingmian and Senior Meng Sun walking together on campus that day.
Some students’ imaginations ran wild, speculating that Lu Xingmian’s boyfriend might be Meng Sun. After all, someone had seen Lu Xingmian get into a luxury car before. If his boyfriend was Meng Sun, it would all make sense.
Moreover, when Meng Sun entered the gym, he greeted only Lu Xingmian. After the match, he went straight to him, and many people saw them talking happily. When one consider all this, the rumors make perfect sense. However, people were only discussing this in private. No one dared to post about it on the forum, as everyone still remembered what happened with Sun Xiang.
“No, Meng Sun Ge isn’t my boyfriend. He’s just a brother from my old neighborhood.” Lu Xingmian said. During a meal in the cafeteria, Jiang Ran told Lu Xingmian about the recent rumors, and Lu Xingmian was surprised by them.
Jiang Ran smiled, he believed what Lu Xingmian said.
Lu Xingmian looked at Jiang Ran. He was his best friend at Yancheng University. When Lu Xingmian was humiliated by Sun Xiang on the forum, Jiang Ran was even more anxious than he was. He suddenly realized he had never properly thanked him.
When Lu Xingmian thanked him, Jiang Ran’s eyes briefly shifted. “It’s nothing,” he said. He considered it atonement for his past. His best friend had gone through a similar situation to Lu Xingmian, but he hadn’t stood by his side. He had hurt his friend and felt he didn’t deserve to be forgiven.
After they finished eating and left the cafeteria, they saw Meng Sun not far ahead. He had returned to school and was talking to a teacher. As Lu Xingmian and Jiang Ran came out, Meng Sun finished his conversation and walked toward them. “I just saw you two. I wanted to ask you a favor, if you’re willing to help.”
Meng Sun’s company had recently developed a new game, and it was in its beta testing phase. They were looking for people to play the game and then write reviews about their experience.
It was a small task, and both Lu Xingmian and Jiang Ran were happy to help.
“The beta test will last for one month,” Meng Sun explained. “We’ll pay you according to the normal market rate.”
He was going to pay them?
Lu Xingmian quickly said, “Meng Sun Ge, you don’t need to pay me. I’m happy to help you.”
Meng Sun laughed. “That’s not up to me; our finance department makes the call. Don’t worry about it. We’ve hired many testers, and they’re all getting paid as well.”
Hearing that, Lu Xingmian felt much better about accepting.
After returning home, Lu Xingmian used the beta test invitation code Meng Sun had sent to access the game. Meng Sun had messaged him, saying he could reach out to him anytime if he had any questions during the game.
The game’s concept was so new that Lu Xingmian was completely engrossed in it. He was still playing on his phone even after Lu Shiran had finished making dinner.
Lu Shiran came over. “Zai Zai, dinner’s ready. You’re playing a game? What game has you so captivated?” He knew Lu Xingmian liked to play Snake, but this wasn’t that game.
Only then did Lu Xingmian put his phone down.
During dinner, he told Lu Shiran that the game he was playing was a new one from Meng Sun’s company, currently in its beta testing phase, and that he had signed up for it.
Hearing this, Lu Shiran frowned slightly. “How long is the beta test?”
When he found out it was a month, Lu Shiran thought for a moment before speaking. “How about we quit this side job?”
Lu Xingmian shook his head. “I already promised Meng Sun Ge I would help.” Meng Sun had helped him so many times when he was little, and now he wanted to return the favor.
Lu Shiran knew that Lu Xingmian could be stubborn and had his own opinions, so he didn’t press the issue. He simply peeled a shrimp and placed it in Lu Xingmian’s bowl. “Eat more.”
Later that evening, Meng Sun messaged him to ask about his experience with the game.
Lu Xingmian replied that the game’s setting was beautiful and realistic, the experience was great, and he hadn’t found any bugs yet. He told him the game was very fun.
While he was texting, Lu Xingmian was lying on Lu Shiran’s lap. Lu Shiran was blow-drying his hair, which had grown a bit long and kept falling into his eyes. As he pushed his hair away to text, Lu Shiran would push it back. “It’s not dry yet.”
“Zai Zai, playing on your phone while lying down isn’t good for your eyes. Play for a little while, then stop.”
Having said all he needed to about the game, Lu Xingmian obediently put his phone down and focused on Lu Shiran. From this angle, Lu Shiran still looked incredibly handsome from every perspective.
“Ge, you look so good.” Lu Xingmian said.
The straight line of Lu Shiran’s lips suddenly curved into a smile. Finally, after an entire evening, his boyfriend’s attention was back on him.
Que celoso jajaja