After The Beautiful Woman Moves Into The Jock's Dorm Room - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Walking on the Road to Happiness

The next day, the weather was clear. Shen Qingyu was stunned when he saw his three roommates at the Japanese restaurant.

His first thought was: “They actually went out to eat together?”

His second thought was: “Wait! Did they ditch me? Why didn’t I know they planned to eat together?”

Gu Ye arrived a few minutes later than Shen Qingyu because he had an engagement later in the afternoon. He apologized, “Sorry, I’m late,” and handed Shen Qingyu a small bouquet of daisies.

Shen Qingyu touched the daisy petals and smiled, “It’s fine.”

The Japanese restaurant had a very stylish environment. Shen Qingyu looked around and made eye contact, one by one, with the three people sitting at the table right next to theirs.

His smile froze on his face. Shen Qingyu offered a bitter smile to greet them with his eyes, then quickly dropped his gaze back to the menu.

Shen Qingyu was treating this time. He asked Gu Ye to order, and by great coincidence, Gu Ye ordered exactly what Shen Qingyu wanted.

While waiting for the food, Shen Qingyu set the daisies aside, took out his phone to snap a photo, and admired it for a while.

“Tch, what’s so great about those ugly flowers?”

Lu Xiao’s voice was jarring in the Japanese restaurant. He said it on purpose, trying to get Shen Qingyu’s attention.

Shen Qingyu paused, successfully taking the bait.

His eyebrows furrowed, and he glared angrily at the sarcastic Lu Xiao, threatening him with his eyes: “Try saying that again?”

Song Yu and Cheng Che exchanged glances. They were very satisfied with his rudeness. At least at this moment, Lu Xiao had voiced their inner thoughts.

It wasn’t that they genuinely disliked the flowers, but they were simply unhappy with the xuezhang (senior) who was able to arrange a private outing with Shen Qingyu. Therefore, whatever Gu Ye did, they would scoff at it.

As soon as Gu Ye walked in, he felt three sets of unfriendly eyes staring at him. He had consciously tried to avoid eye contact with them, but it seemed that wasn’t a good strategy.

He smiled calmly at Shen Qingyu and spoke in a voice that was just loud enough for the others to hear: “Who are these gentlemen?”

Knowing he couldn’t avoid it, Shen Qingyu reluctantly said, “They are all my roommates.”

Hearing this, Gu Ye looked thoughtful: “What a coincidence.”

He looked at one familiar face—Cheng Che. If he recalled correctly, it was the boy he’d seen at the basketball game last time.

As for the other two… Gu Ye’s heart sank.

“It is quite a coincidence,” Shen Qingyu said, trying to hold his ground.

Fortunately, all the private rooms in the restaurant were full; otherwise, Shen Qingyu felt that someone as brazen as Lu Xiao would definitely have tried to join their table.

Shen Qingyu found the meal to be flavorless, even a little hard to swallow.

Mainly because of the hostile gazes constantly being cast from the next table, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Why do they look at me like I’m some kind of heinous sinner?

Shen Qingyu muttered to himself, lowering his head and stuffing a piece of salmon sushi into his mouth.

He accidentally dipped too much wasabi. His mouth and nasal cavity were instantly filled with a choking spiciness. Shen Qingyu covered his mouth and coughed twice.

Seeing this, Gu Ye quickly poured him a small cup of barley tea.

Neither of them said a word, yet their actions displayed a naturally flowing rapport.

Anyone could tell their relationship was very good.

“Be careful,” Gu Ye said.

Shen Qingyu’s eyes were watering, and his nose was red, making him look very pitiful.

“It’s because this is too delicious; I couldn’t resist stuffing the whole thing in,” Shen Qingyu sniffled, pulling out two tissues to wipe the physiological tears from the corners of his eyes.

Gu Ye’s eyes were full of smiles, staring steadily at him.

Under the gaze of such affectionate eyes, Shen Qingyu felt his cheeks rapidly heat up, quickly turning crimson.

“Hello, here is the salmon sushi you ordered.”

Shen Qingyu looked blankly at the new plates of sushi the waiter brought over and asked, “Did you order this?”

Gu Ye frowned slightly, “Not me.”

“It was me,” Lu Xiao’s arrogant voice came over.

Shen Qingyu looked at him with an expression that said, “What are you trying to pull now?”

Lu Xiao, the person in question, just sat there openly, leaning back in the soft chair with his arms crossed, adopting an unruly, “What are you gonna do about it?” posture that made an anonymous rage surge within Shen Qingyu.

“Why did you order so many portions for us?” Shen Qingyu forced himself to suppress his anger, not wanting to get mad in front of his xuezhang.

Lu Xiao stated righteously, “I saw you liked eating it.”

“Even if I like it, I can’t eat this much,” Shen Qingyu was a little angry. “Take it away.”

He stood up, holding the small plate out towards Lu Xiao.

The atmosphere grew tense. Lu Xiao’s self-perceived kindness was rejected again, making the already image-conscious him lose even more face. But mostly, he felt sadness and disappointment.

He couldn’t help but wonder: Why can you accept what others give you, but not what I give you?

Lu Xiao turned his head away, “I don’t like it. It’s too rich.”

“Then why did you order so much!”

Lu Xiao was startled by Shen Qingyu’s suddenly raised voice, and his tone carried a hint of grievance: “Wasn’t it because I saw you like eating it…”

Song Yu, who acted as if the matter didn’t concern him, lightly tapped his fingers on the table. He didn’t say a word, seemingly uninvolved in the conflict, calmly observing from the side.

Cheng Che sighed internally, feeling helpless. He really shouldn’t have impulsively agreed to Lu Xiao’s idea of eating Japanese food at this restaurant. Not only did watching Shen Qingyu and Gu Ye interact make him feel agitated, but now he also had to help Lu Xiao deal with his mess.

“I quite like eating it. Give it to me,” Cheng Che proactively stepped in to smooth things over, taking the small plate from Shen Qingyu’s hand and seemingly touching his fingertips accidentally.

In such a public setting, Shen Qingyu was a little shy. After feeling Cheng Che’s warm fingertip, he pulled his hand back quickly, as if burned, and avoided his gaze.

Lu Xiao let out a disgruntled “humph,” his sharp gaze darting like a knife toward Gu Ye. He was already annoyed after learning Cheng Che might be Shen Qingyu’s lover, and now there was mysteriously a xuezhang whose relationship with Shen Qingyu was also very close. That sense of crisis, which came from nowhere, once again swept over his chest.

Gu Ye lowered his voice and said half-jokingly, “Does your roommate have an issue with me?”

Shen Qingyu paused, quickly realizing he meant Lu Xiao, and immediately defended Lu Xiao: “No, no. It’s probably because he looks a bit cool and fierce. He looks at everyone like that, so don’t overthink it.”

As Shen Qingyu spoke, he ate an entire matcha daifuku. White cream smeared the corner of his lips. Gu Ye stared at the spot of white for two seconds, his body stiffening for a moment. He belatedly realized how highly Shen Qingyu had rated Lu Xiao.

“Is that so?” He raised an eyebrow, pulled out a tissue, and without waiting for Shen Qingyu to react, gently wiped the corner of his lips.

The soft touch of the paper immediately froze Shen Qingyu. His peripheral vision registered several burning, boiling gazes pinning him to the spot.

Shen Qingyu felt a chill run down his spine, a sinister feeling, as if he was being stared at by a cold-blooded animal.

“Xuezhang… I can do it myself,” he pressed down on Gu Ye’s hand.

Now, Gu Ye was the one who froze.

“…Okay.”

Shen Qingyu quickly wiped his mouth and smiled, asking, “Is that better now?”

Gu Ye nodded, a flicker of complex emotion in his eyes.

…

After paying the bill, Shen Qingyu still felt somewhat guilty. The sudden appearance of his roommates had completely disrupted the original plan for the meal.

“Xuezhang, I promise I’ll treat you to a quiet meal sometime soon,” Shen Qingyu said earnestly.

Looking at the sparkles in his eyes, Gu Ye’s heart instantly softened: “So you know this meal wasn’t quiet.”

“I didn’t know it was such a coincidence that their get-together was also here today…” Shen Qingyu said weakly.

“It’s okay. I was never mad at you,” Gu Ye ruffled his hair.

“That’s good!”

After Shen Qingyu paid, Lu Xiao followed suit. But they didn’t leave immediately. Instead, they stood not far from the restaurant entrance, like gatekeepers, neither of them suggesting they return to school.

Shen Qingyu knew they were waiting for him, but he couldn’t just leave Gu Ye alone. He was thinking about how to politely dismiss his roommates first.

“I want to ask you a question,” Gu Ye said.

Shen Qingyu was a little distracted and didn’t hear clearly. “What?”

Gu Ye took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, as if bracing himself: “Do you have someone you like right now?”

His head buzzed, and his mind went blank.

He had never asked himself this question, so when Gu Ye asked it so directly, he felt a wave of panic.

Shen Qingyu thought: He definitely had a good impression of Cheng Che, but did that count as liking him? Liking someone should be a carefully considered conclusion, not a casual answer to the question, “Do you have someone you like?” Even he wasn’t sure if his feelings were simply admiration for a good, beautiful boy, or a desire-driven affection.

But in Gu Ye’s eyes, his silence was his answer.

Gu Ye looked at the three people by the roadside who hadn’t left, forced a small smile, his voice slightly trembling: “Is it one of those three?”

Shen Qingyu slowly lifted his thin eyelids, his thick, slender eyelashes fluttering like a butterfly’s wings, lightly sweeping across Gu Ye’s heart.

Gu Ye felt he might have arrived too late. If he had been earlier, not back in high school, but even during the period when Shen Qingyu first enrolled, he would have had an absolute advantage.

He managed a bitter smile. Despite this, he still didn’t plan to give up. As long as Shen Qingyu was still single, he still had a chance.

At least he and Shen Qingyu shared a memory that belonged only to them.

“Your roommates are waiting for you,” Gu Ye said. “Go with them.”

Shen Qingyu: “What about you?”

“Something suddenly came up.”

Shen Qingyu didn’t notice his low spirits. He lightly said “Oh,” and continued: “Alright then, see you next time, bye-bye.”

He curved his eyelids, smiled, and waved goodbye to Gu Ye, then jogged towards his roommates. The streetlights turned on simultaneously, a beam of bright white light hitting the top of his head, illuminating the path ahead. He walked steadily and confidently along the direction of the light, his back to Gu Ye, looking like he was walking on the road to happiness.