After My Secret Identity Was Revealed, My Crush Said He’s My Biggest Fan - Chapter 4

When he heard these words, ripples suddenly stirred in Lin Yu’s heart, like pebbles tossed into water, because he was glad to see that Xia Chenxuan shared a connection with the city he lived in.

The handsome lad with a mullet raised an eyebrow. “That’s great. I have family members from the tropical rainforests south of Lingyun. I followed them there twice when I was little, and I still love those customs to this day.”

“It’s not my family.”

“Huh?”

Xia Chenxuan’s sudden denial left both of them momentarily stunned. For a second, Lin Yu looked as if he hadn’t processed what had just happened. Then, Lin Yu cast a puzzled look at him. Noticing something was amiss, Xia Chenxuan wore an unnatural expression for a moment before explaining:

“Sorry, I just said it without thinking. I mean, his influence on me wasn’t like that of an elder toward a junior, but rather…”

At this point, Xia Chenxuan’s voice trailed off.

In truth, even he wasn’t quite sure how to define this influence, but to Lin Yu, this hesitation seemed to carry a different connotation.

That strange feeling of annoyance rose in Lin Yu’s chest once again. Having grown up in the internet age, a young adult was hardly made of wood. Suppressing his emotions, Lin Yu arched a single eyebrow, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing slightly as he intentionally put on a gossipy persona:

“What do you mean? Is it that you have a girlfriend in Mengze?”

Xia Chenxuan didn’t answer right away. Lin Yu mentally dissected his previous description and then suddenly froze:

“Oh right, I didn’t realize you just said ‘before’. If this brings back sad memories, let me apologize first. Sorry…”

“It’s fine, you misunderstood. He’s not my partner, and definitely not an ex.”

Before Lin Yu could finish his apology, Xia Chenxuan spoke up to cut him off. At this moment, the brown-haired young man wore a somewhat complicated expression. He glanced at Lin Yu’s right hand resting on his knee, then closed his eyes for a moment:

“Actually, it’s nothing much. Just a friend I met in high school. For a while back then, we really hit it off and talked a lot. But I’ve been out of touch with him for a while now, and I don’t know which university he’s attending, but I guess he’s probably doing well.”

Hearing Xia Chenxuan’s explanation, Lin Yu’s mood lifted noticeably. As a kind-hearted roommate, he offered his help:

“If he managed to get into a good university in Mengze, maybe I can help. The student circles of the top high schools in Mengze have a lot of overlap. I can check if I know anyone who knows him.”

“You probably don’t need to. But thanks anyway.”

After a long pause, Xia Chenxuan slowly uttered these words. Lin Yu saw the corners of Xia Chenxuan’s lips curl up, but the dark-brown-haired boy was clearly smiling without any real warmth in his eyes, and Lin Yu inexplicably felt a sense of aloofness radiating from his gaze.

Intuition told him that Xia Chenxuan didn’t really want to bring this person up.

This thought made Lin Yu feel somewhat annoyed. Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere didn’t last long, as Tao Xi was soon escorted out of the consultation room by the doctor. The tearful girl walked toward the two of them clutching her injury report, and upon hearing footsteps, Lin Yu immediately turned halfway around:

“You’re out? What did the doctor say?”

“It hasn’t reached the level of severe injury, so I don’t know if it’s enough to get him convicted. Older brother, let’s go back to the police station first to hand the report over to the police officer.”

Hearing this response, Lin Yu let out a sigh and reached out to gently pat the girl’s head:

“I wasn’t asking whether the medical results could get that man convicted; I was asking if you’re okay. Even if you want payback, you need to take care of yourself first.”

At this moment, Xia Chenxuan seemed to have returned to his previous persona of a sunny university guy, nodding in agreement with Lin Yu’s words. Tao Xi also realized she had misunderstood his intent; a flash of embarrassment crossed her face before she said:

“Ah, the doctor said I’m fine, just go back and apply some medicine. Thank you both, older brothers. I really took up a lot of your time.”

Noticing the girl’s voice trailing off and getting softer, Lin Yu frowned slightly. He exchanged a glance with Xia Chenxuan and said:

“It’s fine. Seeing someone start a physical fight right on the main street, I definitely had to step in. This older brother Xia Chenxuan and I are both students at Qingyun University. If you run into trouble again, you can come straight to us, and we’ll accompany you to handle it.”

[I Love Succulents]: You mean to tell me that today you went to report a case, randomly performed a good deed by saving a girl suffering from domestic violence, and as a result, you ended up running into your dream Heart-Chosen brother you’ve been longing for?

31: What Heart-Chosen brother you’ve been longing for?

[I Love Succulents]: That sunny university guy from the summer camp. It’s a popular internet term.

[I Love Succulents]: Didn’t you know long ago that he was your moonlight? Now that he appears in the flesh right in front of you, you pretend not to recognize him?

Sitting in a barbecue restaurant on University Avenue and looking at the chat box with Yang Yuanran, Lin Yu couldn’t help but fall silent. Xia Chenxuan sat across from him, absorbed in his phone, completely unaware that the core subject of his roommate’s chat with his good buddy was none other than himself.

31: Right, I realized I liked guys back in senior year of high school, and in all likelihood, the person I liked was him.

31: But what you just said sounds extremely cheap.

[I Love Succulents]: Fine, fine, I’ll change it.

[I Love Succulents]: Come on, give me the detailed deets of how you’re interacting with your Northeast sunny guy. Feed my soul.

Lin Yu and Xia Chenxuan had been the earliest to arrive at the gathering spot; the rest of Room 401 was still on the way. So, he quickly typed away, recounting the whole mess of events that had happened that afternoon to Yang Yuanran. The boy far away in the southwest read through the screenful of text and finally reached a shocking conclusion:

[I Love Succulents]: Isn’t this wonderful?

[I Love Succulents]: You’ve literally moved in with your ideal type.

This super-duper mischievous best friend of his seemed to relish watching Lin Yu get a taste of frustration. Looking at that row of question marks, he couldn’t help but picture Lin Yu sitting inside the restaurant on University Avenue with an expression like he’d just swallowed a fly, and then let out a thoroughly malicious laugh:

[I Love Succulents]: Oh well, I know you. Since you’re already living together, just go ahead and pursue him.

[I Love Succulents]: Daddy’s waiting for your good news. That kind of sunny guy looks like prime dating material.

31: Duh, of course I know whether he’s suitable or not.

31: I’ll pursue him sooner or later, but let me find the right time first.

The moment this message was sent, the door to the barbecue restaurant was pushed open by a group of noisy college guys. Lin Yu put down his phone and looked up to see five young men led by Yin Hongfei appearing before them.

“Xuan Ge, Lin Yu? Yo, we’ve only been apart for a bit and you two are already deep in conversation?”

Yin Hongfei had always possessed a lively and outgoing personality. Seeing Xia and Lin sitting face-to-face, he waved his hand directly. Before Xia Chenxuan could speak, Lin Yu took the lead and smiled gently toward their side:

“Mmhmm. Xia Chenxuan and I ran into each other this afternoon, handled some stuff, and came over together.”

Yin Hongfei looked visibly curious. “What stuff? Can I listen in?”

This time, Xia Chenxuan didn’t let Lin Yu continue. Instead, he lifted his chin toward Yin Hongfei and spoke:

“We dealt with a drunk guy at the subway station, and things are pretty much sorted out now. Let’s eat.”

The members of Room 401 had already coordinated in their dorm group chat, so plate after plate of fresh, delicious barbecue had already been served at the table. The five newly arrived guys took their seats one by one. Xia Chenxuan raised his eyes to look around and then asked with a puzzled expression:

“By the way, why are there only seven people? Is someone missing?”

“Ah, the other classmate from room B said he was eating with his family, so he didn’t come today.”

The other classmate from room B was Lin Yu’s suite-mate, so Lin Yu naturally paid a bit of attention to this remark. Before he could fully digest this comment, whoever had said it, he heard Xia Chenxuan say:

“Oh well, let’s hang out with him next time then. Should we take this opportunity to do a round of self-introductions?”

Xia Chenxuan’s tone right then was very light and breezy. Although his voice still carried his characteristic coolness, his expression didn’t show a single trace of cold emotion. Yin Hongfei, the dormitory head, immediately responded:

“Alright, I’ll go first! I’m Yin Hongfei from Room 401A, hailing from Liaoyang Yucede School in Fengshi, Liaoyang Province. Very happy to become roommates with everyone!”

Whether it was Lin Yu’s imagination or not, Xia Chenxuan’s eyelashes seemed to flutter slightly when Yin Hongfei mentioned his school. Then, everyone’s gaze shifted to the other classmate in room A. Xia Chenxuan arched his spirited sword-like brows and smiled at the surrounding roommates:

“What a coincidence, I’m also from the Northeast. I am Xia Chenxuan from Room 401A, from Shendu Middle School in Xuelin, Yanchun. I usually like sports like basketball and volleyball, and I hope we can all play together.”

“Shendu Middle School? Doesn’t your school have an alliance formed with Shenfeng Middle School in our city?”

Hearing this slightly familiar school name, Lin Yu instinctively looked straight toward where Xia Chenxuan was. Xia Chenxuan seemed surprised that Lin Yu brought this up. His dark brows knitted slightly in thought for a moment before he said:

“You must mean the Beidou Alliance of Schools. Our preceding cohort seemed to have held a joint alliance examination. Are you from Mengze Shenfeng?”

“No, Shenfeng is the best school in our province; my school is roughly considered top two or top three. I am Lin Yu from Room 401B, from Mengze City, Lingyun Province. My alma mater is Mengze No. 1 Middle School.”

“I see. I thought I met a fellow schoolmate from an allied school. But I remember Mengze No. 1 Middle School is also quite good, with a very loud reputation in your province.”

Strangely enough, upon learning that Lin Yu didn’t belong to Shenfeng Middle School, Xia Chenxuan seemed to grow a bit disappointed. But Lin Yu couldn’t focus on asking about that right now, because the remaining roommates in the dorm started speaking up next:

“Then Song Geng and I must be from allied schools! My name is Song Geng, from Feitian Middle School in Lanzhou, Longyuan, and I currently live in room C.”

Then Xia Chenxuan acknowledged Song Geng’s words, smiled and shook hands with him, saying, “Indeed, we are allied schools.” Xia Chenxuan had always been outgoing, his brows and eyes curving into a smile that made him look like a little sun. A guy in Room D, seeing these two roommates seemingly hitting it off instantly, couldn’t sit still any longer:

“Wait, wait, wait, what on earth is this Beidou Alliance of Schools you guys keep talking about? How come I’ve never heard of it?”

Aside from Song Geng, another guy in room C nodded in agreement. A clueless Yin Hongfei chimed in to stir up trouble, while Lin Yu fell into a brief silence as if deep in thought. This time, it was Xia Chenxuan who provided the explanation:

“Oh, it’s just seven key high schools located in different provinces that somehow got pulled into a unified alliance. It was originally initiated by Haishan Middle School in Jiaping City, and later they pulled in Shuangnan Middle School in Nanling City and Xiaoshui Middle School in Xingsha City, and finally roped in Xuelin Shendu, Mengze Shenfeng, Lanzhou Feitian, and Minzhou Jinfan from the four corners of our country, turning it into a grand alliance that occasionally gets mentioned together.”

Song Geng thought for a moment and then threw out a question: “I seem to have heard of it once or twice back in high school. These schools should all count as the best in their respective provinces, right?”

Xia Chenxuan sneered: “Pretty much. But to be honest, this alliance is utterly useless. The results of the previous batch’s joint exam were so absurd that the school leaders of all seven schools got chewed out by students for almost a year. The rest of the time, everyone is so far apart that they practically have zero interaction.”

Yin Hongfei, who had already grown somewhat familiar with Xia Chenxuan, raised an eyebrow quizzically: “Then how come you’re so clear about this, rattling off the schools like you know them inside and out?”

Yin Hongfei raised the crucial question, causing Xia Chenxuan’s words to suddenly halt. Lin Yu, however, suddenly grasped the crucial link, connecting it to his earlier words and blurting out:

“You used to know someone from Mengze Shenfeng.”

It was an unshakeably certain statement, and both he and Xia Chenxuan knew which part of daytime’s conversation this reply was picking up on.

The hands of the clock on the barbecue restaurant wall ticked past several notches. This time, Xia Chenxuan didn’t fall silent again, but finally said quietly:

“Sort of. I used to chat with a friend from Mengze Shenfeng for a while, and our relationship was alright. But our school really can’t compare to your Mengze Shenfeng.”