From the living room came the sounds of the TV and Xiao Hulu’s meowing. A lingering fresh aroma still filled the bedroom, so it seemed Xiao Yao had just carried some food around the room.
Ti Xiao wiped the sweat dripping from the tip of his nose and kicked the thin blanket off to the side.
It’s just turning off the air conditioner—I’ll just turn it back on. I’m definitely not talking to you.
But in the end, he still underestimated that old rascal Xiao Yao. The remote control for the air conditioner was gone too—taken and left right on the carpet next to him.
That made Ti Xiao mad enough to shrink down to four feet tall.
Technically, Ti Xiao could have pressed the power button directly on the air conditioner to save himself, but the bedroom only had a soft plastic stool—and after checking its height, he gave up on the idea.
Grumbling, he opened the bedroom door—and was immediately hit by a wave of cool air.
The air conditioner in the living room was blasting full blast, no telling how many degrees it was set to, whooshing cold air out nonstop.
Xiao Yao sat on the carpet with his back to Ti Xiao, eating something. Every now and then he’d wave a treat to tease Xiao Hulu—but wouldn’t actually give it to her.
Xiao Hulu meowed in frustration when she couldn’t get any food. Ti Xiao’s hamster nose twitched as he sniffed the air, then he walked over and sat down beside Xiao Yao, naturally opening his mouth with an “ah.”
Right then, something delicious was shoved into his mouth.
“Good?” Xiao Yao asked with a smile, wearing plastic gloves.
Ti Xiao mumbled through his chewing that it wasn’t tasty but opened his mouth again to get fed some more.
After eating most of it, Ti Xiao’s anger from the whole day had mostly faded—but he still needed to ask about yesterday.
He swallowed and said, “Why did you—”
Before he could finish, Xiao Yao interrupted, shaking his phone. “Sorry, my phone ran out of credit. The place was totally closed off with no Wi-Fi, and since the exam papers have to stay secret until scores come out, it’s a special situation—I couldn’t get anyone to help me top up.”
“Well, at least call me before posting on Moments,” Ti Xiao complained, pouting.
No sooner had he said that than his phone rang. Without looking who it was, he swiped to answer, “Wait, let me take this—hello?”
Xiao Yao held the phone up to his ear with one hand, while tugging Ti Xiao’s cheek with the other. “I called you—does this make up for it?”
One voice came through the receiver, another was right by his ear.
The phone bill was always overdue, yet he was still wasting money calling the mobile company.
Ti Xiao hung up on Xiao Yao with a grumble and gave him a little tap. “Don’t let this happen again.”
He added the most important part: “And no more turning off my air conditioner.”
Who turns off the air conditioner in the middle of summer? How are we supposed to live?
After getting lectured, Xiao Yao happily went off to cook. Ti Xiao sat cross-legged by the small coffee table, continuing to eat.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the calendar on the wall and suddenly stood up.
The calendar was the daily tear-off kind Xiao Yao’s school gave out—Xiao Yao tore off a page every morning.
Before he realized it, it was already June. In a few days, it’d be July. More than half a year had passed, and they’d been together that long too.
When exactly did they start dating?
Ti Xiao looked at the ring on his finger and carefully searched his memory for when Xiao Yao confessed. It seemed like the day before Lunar New Year. If he counted the days, their anniversary hadn’t even hit six months yet—there was still a month to go.
He flipped to August 14th and stared at the bright red numbers on the page, an idea slowly forming.
With the kitchen door tightly shut and Xiao Yao promising to make a big meal, Ti Xiao took the calendar down and ran back to his art room.
After a series of careful steps, he double-checked to make sure no clues would be found, then hung it back up.
This little tweak to the calendar was just the start of the birthday surprise for Xiao Yao—there was still plenty more to do.
Just thinking about it made him excited.
When he opened his phone, he saw a message from Gua Pi.
Since their last meetup, Li Yi found out Ti Xiao was the notorious procrastinator under his management; Ti Xiao learned Gua Pi was the vicious antagonist. Their conversations became increasingly blunt, and they even changed each other’s contact names.
Editor · Vicious Antagonist: Hey, under my urging, your serialized work has already begun its first print run. Hurry up and come kneel in thanks.
Procrastinator Little Shorty: Nyah nyah nyah.
If all went well, Ti Xiao’s new comic would be released and available by the end of July, and he might even hold a solo signing event in the neighboring provincial city.
Thinking about it made him even more excited.
Ti Xiao wandered into the kitchen to see what Xiao Yao was cooking. After sharing the good news with him, he sneaked a few bites. “When’s your next parent-teacher conference?”
It was during the last parent-teacher conference for Ti Nanyi that Ti Xiao figured out Xiao Yao’s undercover identity.
“The day after tomorrow,” Xiao Yao said, sprinkling some chopped green onions into the soup. “Are you the one going to Ti Nanyi’s conference this year?”
“Probably my sister-in-law. You better say something nice, or Ti Nanyi’s toast,” Ti Xiao said, giving the small bowl of chopped cilantro a disdainful glance and silently muttering a few curses.
Xiao Yao reached out and pushed the cilantro bowl aside. “I’m not his teacher this time; I’m covering a different class.”
“Then what are you wearing to the conference?” Ti Xiao asked. It was summer after all—there was no way Xiao Yao was going to wear a suit again.
“The short-sleeved shirt the school gave us,” Xiao Yao replied.
“That’s good,” Ti Xiao nodded, hoping not too many people would see his usually sharp-dressed top dog in a suit.
“Hey, Xiao Yao,” Ti Xiao suddenly remembered something. “Does your school have a ton of students and teachers who like or secretly admire you?”
When he went to Ti Nanyi’s conference last time, so many pairs of eyes kept sneaking glances at Xiao Yao that Ti Xiao even felt a little threatened.
“Secret admirers?” Xiao Yao raised an eyebrow. “More like assassination attempts.”
Especially when he assigns homework, looks don’t matter at all.
“Teacher Xiao… even though I know you like me, we can’t be together… let’s just break up…” Ti Xiao leaned against the fridge, suddenly slipping into drama mode, sounding surprisingly convincing.
Xiao Yao lowered his head to chop vegetables but played along, “I can give up my job for you—why won’t you give me a chance?”
“You’re a teacher and I’m your student…” Ti Xiao put on a pained expression and sneakily opened the fridge.
“Close the fridge door,” Xiao Yao said behind him, as if his back had eyes. “Dinner will be ready soon—don’t eat cold food.”
Sigh. Ti Xiao stomped his foot in frustration. Just when the mood was good, poof, it was gone.
“Teacher Xiao, did you even hear what I said? We really can’t be together.” Ti Xiao refused to get out of character and kept acting.
“I heard you,” Xiao Yao said, cracking an egg into a bowl and stirring it with chopsticks. “Then please take that box in the corner away. It’s a gift I got you.”
Ti Xiao skeptically moved the box in the kitchen corner—and sure enough, it was heavy.
“This is a box of my willing surrender,” Xiao Yao said, pouring the egg mixture into the pan and tossing in tomatoes. “Dinner’s almost ready. Help me take out the trash.”
Even asking someone to take out the trash sounded so poetic with Xiao Yao.
Thinking back on all the wordplay Xiao Yao had used on him, Ti Xiao thought it was a shame he wasn’t a language teacher.
After dinner, the rain started pouring. Xuancheng always had lots of rain in summer. June was okay; the rain wasn’t too wild. But July and August were almost nonstop storms.
Maybe because he was so into his role, Ti Xiao found himself drawing a Siamese cat teacher for Xiao Yao’s birthday gift tonight—wearing a little necktie and holding a pointer, tapping on a blackboard.
Below, three students raised their paws to answer questions—two hamster balls and one tabby cat.
The next page showed the bigger hamster ball getting the answer right, and the Siamese teacher rewarding him with a prize.
A cardboard box labeled “A Box of Willing Surrender.”
The gift Ti Xiao was preparing for Xiao Yao was like a picture book diary, starting from when they met, laid out chronologically, all the way up to Xiao Yao’s birthday on August 14th.
By the time he got here, Ti Xiao flipped through his notebook and realized he’d used almost all the pages—only about a dozen left—but there was still over a month until Xiao Yao’s birthday. Not enough paper to finish the drawings.
Luckily, the notebook was thread-bound, so if Ti Xiao’s craft skills were up to par, he could add some extra pages later.
The table was by the window, and as Ti Xiao was cutting paper, the wind from the rainy night blew in, scattering all the pages he had carefully prepared across the floor, fluttering wildly around the room.
Ti Xiao hurriedly grabbed a few pages from the wind’s grasp and rushed to close the window.
The drawings of hamsters and Siamese cats were now scattered on the floor, their order completely messed up. Ti Xiao crouched down, frustrated as he picked up the pages—why hadn’t he pressed them down with something to keep them from flying away?
As he bent down, a pair of slippers came into view.
Ti Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked up.
Xiao Yao had just finished showering, shirtless with a towel draped around his neck. Seeing the mess on the floor, he couldn’t help but ask, “Xiao Xiao, what are you doing?”
Worried that Xiao Yao might see something, Ti Xiao sped up picking up the papers, and in his usual teasing tone, said casually, “None of your business.”
Xiao Yao blinked, “You coming at me?”
Ti Xiao wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He just wanted to rescue the scattered papers quickly and didn’t want Xiao Yao to discover the surprise he was secretly preparing.
Grabbing Xiao Yao’s slipper, he said, “Lift your foot!”
Using his height advantage, Xiao Yao squinted and glanced down roughly at the floor. Most of the pictures were of Siamese cats and hamsters, which made him smile a little.
Ti Xiao tapped his shin a few times, “You’re stepping on my stuff!”
Xiao Yao quickly lifted his foot, worried about ruining his birthday gift.
But since he’d just showered, his shoe soles were wet. Ti Xiao’s grip on his leg made him lose balance. When he tried to lift his foot and step back, his wet sole slipped, causing him to slide backward several steps.
With every step back, he stepped on a drawing.
Ti Xiao was stunned.
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