After My Childhood Friend Misunderstood That I Had a Boyfriend - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: He hated Zhou Jinyan to death

Chu Xi agonized for a full ten minutes.

He really wanted to send the message, but he didn’t dare to. A battle broke out between his left and right brain, and unable to choose, he simply decided to let a digital dice make the decision for him.

He clicked into the chat interface with his own alt-account and typed: Should I invite Zhou Jinyan to travel? Odd for yes, even for no.

He sent the cyber-dice. It spun on the screen for a few seconds as Chu Xi held his breath. Finally, it stopped on a three.

Three. An odd number.

The heavens wanted him to invite him!

Chu Xi’s heart bloomed with joy. This was a divine arrangement it wasn’t that he proactively wanted to send it, after all.

But if he was going to invite him, he had to consider many things. For instance, how to use the “art of language” to be both reserved and proactive.

Chu Xi pondered hard for half an hour. Finally, he gathered his courage and sent the message in one go.

Chu Xi: Kitten peeking.jpg Chu Xi: I heard a new tourist area was developed in M-City. The scenery is supposed to be great. Want to go check it out?  Chu Xi: There’s a ski resort too! Let’s go skiing together then

After hitting send, Chu Xi’s “ostrich mentality” kicked in. He turned off the screen and put the phone aside, not daring to look.

He slumped on his desk. Two grinning teddy bears and the Border Collie at the “center” spot looked back at him.

Bored while waiting, Chu Xi reached out and poked the brown bear. After knocking it over, he poked the white bear next to it. The two bears fell together, their heads leaning against each other.

Just as he was about to poke the Border Collie over, his fingertip paused. Looking at the Border Collie’s eyes, he felt like he was forgetting something.

Border Collie,  Zhou Jinyan Ah!

Chu Xi suddenly sat upright. He remembered: the camera he bought had arrived! It was in the express locker at the Small East Gate, and he hadn’t picked it up yet.

But it was so late. He didn’t really want to go out. Maybe pick it up tomorrow?

Forget it.

The thought was instantly dismissed. He had procrastination; if he waited until tomorrow, “tomorrow” would become “the day after tomorrow.”

Chu Xi had a very clear self-awareness of his own habits, so he threw on a trench coat and prepared to head out.

The moment he stepped out, he was attacked by a surge of cold air. He went back to grab a deep coffee-colored scarf from the wardrobe, burying his fair face in it. After walking a short distance, he unlocked his phone to check the pickup code.

Okay. Chu Xi repeated the string of numbers in his head. He switched to WeChat and saw that Zhou Jinyan still hadn’t replied.

Why hasn’t he replied?

But from the time he sent it until now, less than twenty minutes had passed. Maybe he just hadn’t seen it yet.

The autumn wind was desolate. Chu Xi pulled his scarf tighter. His palm-sized face was buried in the warm fabric, leaving only his round, deer-like eyes visible, the corners slightly red.

The weather was getting colder and colder with the changing season.

Chu Xi blinked, his long lashes trembling. He couldn’t help but miss the summer.

He turned off the screen and stuffed the phone into his coat pocket, missing a system notification that it would start raining in ten minutes.

The Small East Gate wasn’t far from the dorm; it was a ten-minute walk. Chu Xi entered the code into the screen, and with a click, a locker door to his right popped open automatically.

Chu Xi took out the package and closed the locker door. After another click, a sound suddenly erupted on the awning above, as if it were being struck by something.

No way.

Chu Xi’s heart skipped a beat. Could he be that unlucky?

As if to confirm his fears, just minutes after he stepped out from under the awning, cool raindrops fell on his cheeks, leaving behind wet trails.

Chu Xi: It really was raining!

If it’s going to rain, why pick the exact moment I come to get a package!

He comforted himself: It’s fine. As long as it doesn’t turn into a downpour.

He refused to believe a person could be that unlucky!

The droplets on his face had been a mere preview. The rain gradually intensified, leaving no room to react as it began to patter down.

Chu Xi:

Ahhhhhhh! A person really can be this unlucky!

Chu Xi took off his scarf and fashioned it into a makeshift hood. However, the rain was coming from directly in front of him; the “hood” was useless, serving only as a fashion statement.

For the first time, Chu Xi thought the school’s decision to line the paths with parasol trees was brilliant. With the trees providing some cover, he sprinted back to the dorm.

Once back, he tossed the package onto his desk. Only then did he have a moment to breathe. Even with the trees, he was halfway soaked, though not completely bedraggled.

Chu Xi slumped into his chair. Thinking about how he must have looked like a refugee while running back, he felt miserable. His already sad mood sank even further.

He took off his wet coat and the “decorative” scarf and sent a message to Zhou Jinyan in a fit of grievance: “I’m so unlucky.”

Chu Xi: It suddenly started raining really hard. I didn’t have an umbrella when I went to get my package, and I got all wet QAQ.  Chu Xi: I’m so sad.

Having vented his grievances, Chu Xi propped his cheek on one hand and stared at the screen. Suddenly, his vision blurred. Before he knew it, his eyes had filled with so many tears that they clouded his sight.

He blinked, and the accumulated tears fell like a broken string of pearls.

Chu Xi hurriedly wiped away the tears obstructing his view, but as soon as he wiped them, more appeared. In the gaps between the tears, he thought with a sense of emptiness: Zhou Jinyan still hasn’t replied to the invitation I sent before I left.

So much time had passed, and he still hadn’t replied. Chu Xi felt like he was about to get even sadder.

His eyes felt sore. If the previous message wasn’t answered, what was the point of sending these complaints? Zhou Jinyan would just leave him on “read” anyway.

But what if Zhou Jinyan was really busy and hadn’t seen it?

Chu Xi lowered his eyes, dejected. So annoying.

He felt that this version of himself was so annoying. Why did he always make excuses for Zhou Jinyan?

He didn’t like this side of himself.

Everything had been so smooth between them at noon… so even if he chose to compromise and paper over the cracks, was there still an invisible barrier between them?

He thought that reigning in his emotions would be the spear to break their deadlock, but Chu Xi now realized that the spear he was gripping so tightly was actually pointed at his own heart.

He was so tired.

Chu Xi started crying again, editing a message through his tears: “Why are you ignoring me? QAQ.”

One minute. Ten minutes. Still no movement.

Chu Xi had stopped crying. He exited WeChat to check the weather forecast and found that A-City, which had only been clear for a few days, was about to face a period of intermittent rain.

To prevent himself from forgetting, he placed an umbrella in his bag in advance. After doing so, he stood frozen for a long while before deciding: Whatever. I’ll take a shower first.

By the time he came out of the shower, the room had been warmed by the heater, melting away the chill he had brought in from outside.

Chu Xi went out to the balcony to hang up his wet coat and scarf, planning to take them to the dry cleaners tomorrow.

Chu Xi had made up his mind: If Zhou Jinyan replies to me, I’ll begrudgingly forgive him.

He unlocked his phone with a heart full of hope.

And received exactly zero messages from Zhou Jinyan.

How can this be?

Chu Xi’s smile vanished.

Ahhhhhhh! That’s it! I’m not forgiving him! Not only that, starting now, I’m going to hate him to death!

Chu Xi was fuming. Zhou Jinyan had actually left him on “read” the entire night!

Genuinely angry, he sent one final message: I hate you!!!

The rain in M-City was still falling.

“Luna told her assistant to apologize to you. The assistant didn’t mean it; there were too many people and luggage at the time, and they didn’t notice when they bumped into you.”

Jiang Yi said tentatively, “Can your old phone still be fixed?”

Zhou Jinyan took out the SIM tray of his new phone. After inserting the card, his voice was cold: “It fell too hard. It’s totaled.”

It had tumbled all the way down an escalator. It would be a miracle if it worked.

The only fortunate thing was that the area in front had been empty, so no one was injured.

Seeing Jiang Yi’s hesitation, Zhou Jinyan proactively said, “It’s fine. I don’t mind.” He saw no need to make things difficult over such a small matter.

He pushed the SIM tray back in and logged into WeChat. The loading circle spun and spun. Chu Xi’s messages popped up, and after a moment, a small red dot appeared on his only “pinned” contact.

He clicked in to see only one message: I hate you!!! It sat there lonely in the chat interface.

Chu Xi hates me?

Zhou Jinyan was stunned. His first thought was that Chu Xi’s “official boyfriend” had figured out their ambiguous relationship and had done something behind the scenes to make Chu Xi hate him.

Zhou Jinyan stayed quiet for a moment, then typed: Why?

Half a second later, he withdrew it.

After a moment, he sent: Did he say something to you?

Seeing the jealousy practically oozing off the screen, he withdrew that too.

He edited for a long time before finally sending: Can you please not hate me? And then: Please?

No reply.

An hour later, Zhou Jinyan sent a sticker of a large, aggrieved dog.

Still no reply.

It was already midnight. Chu Xi was likely asleep. No reply was normal.

The next morning, Zhou Jinyan boarded the high-speed rail back to A City. It was 8:00 AM. Why was there still no reply?

By the time he returned to school, it was nearly lunchtime. Zhou Jinyan rubbed his tired brow. From last night until now, Chu Xi still hadn’t replied to him.

So he really hated him? So much that he wouldn’t even send a single word back?

He had recently scrolled past news about “social death” where people accidentally used their ex-boyfriends as a memo pad. Zhou Jinyan thought: Why can’t Chu Xi use me as a memo pad for once?

After a while, he got a new message, but it wasn’t from Chu Xi. It was a friend request from Jian Yu.

Zhou Jinyan lowered his eyes. After accepting, before he could even ask anything, Jian Yu messaged: “Are you in the dorm? We agreed to have lunch together, but Chu Xi hasn’t been replying to messages. I’m worried about him. If you’re there, can you check on him?”

Zhou Jinyan held his breath, his pace unconsciously quickening: “Okay.”

Despite the distance, Zhou Jinyan somehow made it back to the dorm in five minutes. He walked over to Chu Xi’s bed: “Chu Xi?”

After calling several times with no response, Zhou Jinyan’s brow furrowed. He pulled back the bed curtain to find Chu Xi curled in his quilt, sleeping on his side.

So he’s just still sleeping.

Just as Zhou Jinyan’s mind relaxed, he thought of the “social news” he had just read. His nerves tightened again, and he carefully placed his index finger under Chu Xi’s nose.

His breath was scorching.

Looking closer, Zhou Jinyan noticed Chu Xi’s face was unnaturally red.

He touched Chu Xi’s forehead; it was even hotter than the breath. He felt a wave of helplessness. How can someone not even know they’re sick?

Zhou Jinyan called him patiently: “Chu Xi.”

Disturbed, Chu Xi finally woke up in a daze. Seeing Zhou Jinyan’s face through sleepy eyes, his sluggish brain suddenly flared with anger: “Ah! How annoying! Why am I even dreaming of this annoying face!”