Seeing Gu Xu suddenly appear, Xia Zichen was quite surprised. He had originally thought Gu Xu had gone offline to read and would send a message later, but he didn’t expect him to show up directly at the door.
Following his instructions, Xia Zichen stood up and walked over. “Why are you here?”
Gu Xu gave a faint smile, his eyes sweeping across the room at the three people inside. Although he had just arrived, he could already clearly feel the tense atmosphere.
“Come stay at my place tonight,” Gu Xu said as he held Xia Zichen’s arm and led him a few steps outside. His voice was very low, as if he did not want the others to hear.
“Why?” Xia Zichen frowned slightly. This guy came late at night just to ask him to go to his dorm?
“Afraid you’ll feel too much pressure and run away,” Gu Xu said with a smile. In his view, Xia Zichen was not someone without stress tolerance, but when it came to relationships, it still needed extra attention. He did not want to put too much pressure on him, but some external factors were beyond his control, so he could only start from Xia Zichen’s side and calm him down. Everything else would not be a big issue.
Xia Zichen looked at Gu Xu for a moment, then curved his lips. “That won’t happen.” At most, he would just stop playing the game. Besides, when he confessed his gender to Gu Xu last time, nothing serious happened. Today’s matter was nothing compared to that, since it didn’t involve anyone or anything he truly cared about, and Gu Xu had always been on his side.
“Just in case,” Gu Xu said. When it came to Xia Zichen, he always had to stay alert.
Thinking about the atmosphere just now, and glancing at Shen Yicheng who was clearly unable to communicate properly, Xia Zichen indeed did not want to stay in the dorm anymore. At least tonight, everyone should calm down. Gu Xu clearly did not plan to deal with Lan Feier’s matter, but Shen Yicheng had to resolve it because of business interests. He could not simply cut ties with her. If he truly had no “profit-first” mindset, he would not have agreed so quickly in the first place.
“Wait for me a moment, I’ll change clothes,” Xia Zichen said. He couldn’t just go out in pajamas, even if Gu Xu didn’t mind. He turned back inside. “Come in and wait.”
“You’re going out?” An Jing asked as he saw Xia Zichen close the computer and change clothes.
“Yeah.” Xia Zichen nodded slightly. “Not coming back tonight.”
“Okay.” An Jing glanced at Gu Xu, then said with a smile, “Senior, just sit and wait. Want something to drink?”
“No need to trouble yourself,” Gu Xu said, nodding at the three of them as greeting. Then he added, “There’s no need to be so distant. I am Desolate Ink Wuhen.”
The moment his words fell, An Jing almost dropped the cup in his hand. Luckily he caught it in time, only spilling a little water. Tang Hui’s cola can made a slight “click” sound as he froze and turned his head stiffly. Shen Yicheng did not speak, but his face turned even uglier than before, his expression becoming complicated, as if falling into a bottle of mixed emotions.
Seeing their reactions, Gu Xu did not show any special expression.
“This matter, I originally did not want to say it, and I also didn’t let Zichen tell you. But today it must be made clear,” Gu Xu said calmly.
This sentence explained Xia Zichen’s concealment, taking responsibility onto himself and stating his position.
Regarding the concealment, Xia Zichen had also hesitated before and wanted to find a chance to tell An Jing, but before he could, Gu Xu spoke first, making his position seem very innocent.
Gu Xu then looked at Shen Yicheng.
“I don’t want to ask about you and your girlfriend’s matters, and I’m not interested. But today’s situation is clearly not a sudden impulse from her. Last time at the restaurant, Zichen and my brother talked at the sink about how we met in the game. At that time, your girlfriend should have been in the restroom. She went in earlier but came out later than Zichen and my brother. I don’t know whether she heard their conversation, but she could not have suddenly shown goodwill toward me without reason.”
Shen Yicheng frowned and recalled that day. Lan Feier did stay in the restroom longer than usual. At the time he only thought she was slow with makeup, but now it seemed not entirely that simple. When she came back, he vaguely saw a trace of satisfaction on her face, but he did not ask further.
“I am who I am, and not many people know me. But people in business circles mostly know my brother. I believe that day you also recognized my brother, and thus could infer my identity,” Gu Xu continued.
Shen Yicheng was not stupid. With Gu Xu having said this much, he could already guess the implication. Thinking further, Lan Feier’s change also had an explanation.
He and Lan Feier were the same kind of people. If there wasn’t a greater benefit, she would not have broken up with him. And now, that “benefit” was naturally Gu Xu.
Thinking of this, Shen Yicheng gave a self-mocking smile. In the end, he had not been as smart as a woman.
Gu Xu did not continue. Some things were better left for Shen Yicheng to figure out himself.
“Done packing?” Gu Xu asked, looking at Xia Zichen.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go.”
“Mm.” After saying goodbye to An Jing and the others, Xia Zichen left with Gu Xu.
Watching their backs disappear, Shen Yicheng clenched his fingers. His heart felt empty. It wasn’t exactly sadness, but there was a hint of jealousy—he couldn’t even tell who he was jealous of, maybe both of them.
After buying late-night food, the two slowly returned to Gu Xu’s dorm.
Gu Xu brought out pajamas, and Xia Zichen went to shower. When he came out, the late-night food was already arranged, the computer on but not logged into the game, only soft music playing.
Sitting on the sofa, Xia Zichen rubbed his still-wet hair. Gu Xu put down his book and looked up.
“Stay here these few days,” he said.
Xia Zichen paused. “I can’t run away.”
Gu Xu smiled and took the towel from his hands, standing to dry his hair. “You also need a quiet place for final exams. My thesis is already submitted, just waiting for defense. I’m free, I can keep you company.”
Xia Zichen said nothing.
“Even if I move in, I still feel a bit uncomfortable,” he said after a while.
Gu Xu said, “I just want to invite you to live in a better environment. I won’t interfere with your life. You can still stay in your room all the time. Just have meals with me every day, talk a bit. Is that okay?”
He had already planned their future cohabitation in detail.
Xia Zichen couldn’t find a reason to refuse.
“Then during holidays I’ll still go home,” Xia Zichen said. “I want a separate room. I can clean and cook.”
Gu Xu smiled and kissed the corner of his lips. “You don’t need to do anything. Just stay where I can see you.”
Xia Zichen snorted lightly, but the smile on his lips deepened.
—Maybe living together was not as pessimistic as he had imagined.