Heartbeat Command - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Beauty Indeed…

Jiang Luo was still in a daze when Gu Shiyue took a plush keychain out of his coat pocket and handed it to him.

Jiang Luo paused; it was the keychain from his backpack.

The few people nearby, unaware of the context, assumed the keychain was a gift from Gu Shiyue to Jiang Luo. Seeing one guy hand another a plush accessory in public, the scene felt a bit strange and left room for speculation. Two girls nearby exchanged looks, their eyes carrying subtle, knowing smiles.

“Is this yours?” Gu Shiyue asked to confirm.

“Yes, yes, it is.” Jiang Luo hurriedly took the keychain to examine it, then looked up and asked, “Senior, where did you find this?”

“It fell off at the place where we ate. The staff there called me just now.”

Not long after Gu Shiyue left the campus, he had received a call from the clerk at the barbecue restaurant. He had been the one to pay the bill earlier, so the restaurant had his contact information. The keychain had likely been snagged on the wooden slats of the chair back when Jiang Luo stood up and was yanked off. The server had seen it under the chair while cleaning, kept it at the front desk for a while, and when no one came back to claim it, they contacted Gu Shiyue.

The barbecue place wasn’t far, so Gu Shiyue went back to retrieve it. He had originally planned to find an opportunity to return it to Jiang Luo in a few days, but since Xiang Qin happened to ask him if he wanted to play ball, he agreed and came over. Xiang Qin and the others were originally going to play at the outdoor courts, but they only came to the gymnasium because of Gu Shiyue.

“You went back to the barbecue place to get it for me?” Jiang Luo was surprised. Gu Shiyue hadn’t even reached out to him; he had just gone on his own. “Ah… thank you, Senior.”

Gu Shiyue didn’t say anything. Beside them, Cheng Jiashu greeted him: “Hello, Brother Yue.”

Gu Shiyue looked at him.

“You remember me, right?” Cheng Jiashu raised his eyebrows with a smile.

“I remember.”

“Good, good, as long as you remember.” Cheng Jiashu, acting a bit mischievous, intentionally brought up what Jiang Luo had said earlier: “Hey, you can’t call him ‘Brother Yue’ anymore, time for a different title.”

Gu Shiyue was confused and raised an eyebrow: “What title?”

Jiang Luo immediately sensed something was wrong. Before he could stop him, Cheng Jiashu had already spoken: “Beauty, oh beauty…”

At this moment, Gu Shiyue hadn’t quite understood the reference, assuming it was the “family” (jiā rén) homophone. Cheng Jiashu smiled wickedly, continuing to stir up trouble for Jiang Luo: “Someone said it, you have—”

Before Cheng Jiashu could finish his sentence, Jiang Luo covered his mouth.

Jiang Luo glared at him, asking with his eyes: Are you trying to ruin me?

Cheng Jiashu was having a blast; he just hadn’t expected Jiang Luo to react so strongly.

Gu Shiyue had already guessed what the rest of Cheng Jiashu’s sentence was, but he still asked Jiang Luo: “Why are you covering his mouth? What is it that I can’t hear?”

Jiang Luo turned to look at him, his hand still clamped over Cheng Jiashu’s mouth, and laughed dryly: “Nothing good comes out of his mouth, you don’t need to listen.”

Jiang Luo was covering Cheng Jiashu’s mouth, and the two of them currently looked quite intimate. Cheng Jiashu made a “mm-mm” sound, pretending to struggle, though he could have easily pushed Jiang Luo’s hand away; he was just playing along with Jiang Luo and enjoying it immensely. Gu Shiyue watched them, his face expressionless.

“Take your hand down.” Gu Shiyue looked at Jiang Luo, his tone slow and steady. “Let him finish what he was saying.”

Jiang Luo pursed his lips and whispered in a volume only they could hear: “I’ll tell you about it later, okay? No need to hear it from him.”

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Gu Shiyue knowing the joke he had made earlier, but there were other people around. He could say such things to himself, but he didn’t want outsiders to hear it, as if he were teasing Gu Shiyue.

Gu Shiyue didn’t say anything, just stared at him. Jiang Luo finally took his hand away, standing there with a slumped face, feeling a bit guilty.

Cheng Jiashu quieted down, his mouth regained, but he didn’t spout any more nonsense: “Should I keep talking? Guess I won’t.”

Gu Shiyue didn’t press for more, instead looking at Jiang Luo: “I’ll wait for you to tell me yourself later.”

Jiang Luo was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly.

Xiang Qin walked over and greeted Jiang Luo: “Good evening, Junior.”

Jiang Luo smiled: “Good evening.”

Xiang Qin looked at Gu Shiyue and said to Jiang Luo: “I was wondering why he came over; turns out it’s because of you.”

Xiang Qin had been in the middle of a group when he walked in, so Jiang Luo hadn’t noticed him.

“You knew Junior was here early on, didn’t you?” Xiang Qin looked at Gu Shiyue, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think your eyesight is so bad that you spotted him the moment you walked in. No wonder you wanted to change the venue; you came here specifically to find Junior, right?”

Xiang Qin didn’t know yet that Gu Shiyue had come to return the keychain, so he laughed and asked: “What’s the situation? Did you two make plans?”

Jiang Luo said: “No, Senior came to return something to me. I left my things at the restaurant, and he helped me get them back.”

One sentence led to another, and Xiang Qin reacted quickly: “Restaurant? You two were eating together just now?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Luo nodded.

Xiang Qin glanced at Gu Shiyue, looking somewhat surprised.

“Let’s go,” Gu Shiyue said.

“Then we’ll head over first,” Xiang Qin said to Jiang Luo.

“Okay.” Jiang Luo nodded.

Gu Shiyue turned and left without another word, leaving Jiang Luo with only his back, appearing as if he had purely come to deliver the keychain.

“You know quite a lot of people,” Cheng Jiashu said, draping his arm over Jiang Luo’s shoulder. “How come this is another senior you know?”

Jiang Luo swatted his arm away: “You’re always trying to stir up trouble.”

Cheng Jiashu laughed: “What trouble am I stirring up? Didn’t you say there was a ‘beauty encounter’? I’m just retelling it, that’s called stirring up trouble?”

“I know you too well, you just love watching a spectacle.”

“Look at you, why the huge reaction?” Cheng Jiashu hadn’t expected Jiang Luo to react so intensely. He had just been poking fun, but seeing Jiang Luo react so strongly made him even more interested. Later on, it did become a case of him enjoying the drama.

“He’s a senior; don’t joke around like that in front of so many people.”

After that, the group didn’t sit around anymore. They played for about half an hour, and Jiang Luo and Cheng Jiashu sat out to rest. While Cheng Jiashu was drinking water, he scrolled through his phone. Jiang Luo was going to a comic convention during the National Day holiday, and a relevant post popped up on his feed. He clicked on it and asked Jiang Luo: “Who are you cosplaying for the con this time?”

“I’ll see when the time comes,” Jiang Luo said.

“Yo, staying mysterious, huh?”

Cheng Jiashu browsed a couple more posts; the ones appearing later were all related to “Luo C” and the “Comic Con.” He swiped down and caught a malicious title: Waiting for Luo C to be a ‘see-through-the-filter’ disappointment lol.

Cheng Jiashu made a hissing sound and clicked on it.

As long as someone appears in the public eye, no matter how perfect they are, it’s impossible to please everyone. The comments section was a mix of everything, with all sorts of opinions. The title had attracted a lot of haters, and a group that was usually quiet had all popped up at once.

— Does anyone still not know he’s heavily photoshopped? My friend has seen him offline, haha, only those brainless fans believe those photoshopped pictures.

— Idiot, haven’t you seen the videos he posts? You try photoshopping a video for me to see?

— Don’t you know videos can be photoshopped too?

— Huh? Offline? You guys don’t know Luo C has never attended offline events? Spreading rumors really doesn’t cost a thing, huh.

— He has taken commissions, sister. Of course, some people have seen him offline.

— What’s up with this comment section? Why are there so many haters? Hey, you in the first comment, you said your friend saw him offline? If someone actually saw Luo C offline, they wouldn’t say his photos are photoshopped, right? My god, spreading rumors really is free…

— Someone who has commissioned him here. Haters, stop dancing around. When he proves you wrong at the signing event, you’ll be the ones crying.

— Hahahaha, I really think you haters are especially funny.

— Don’t laugh, just wait until your “Luo C-sensei” is a disappointment in person, then you’ll quiet down.

— Honestly, I don’t believe he’s as good-looking as in his photos either. It’s really over-photoshopped, looks a bit fake.

…

This was Jiang Luo’s first time participating in an offline activity, and there was already a lot of discussion online before he had even appeared, attracting haters like moths to a flame.

Cheng Jiashu scoffed, cursed “Idiots,” and rolled up his sleeves, preparing to enter a heated debate and leave his mark in the comments section. Jiang Luo turned to look at him: “What’s wrong? Who are you scolding?”

“Scolding idiots.” Cheng Jiashu typed rapidly, looking quite animated.

Jiang Luo leaned over to look and caught the title of the post.

Many times, malice is completely groundless. Jiang Luo smiled and didn’t take it to heart: “Don’t pay them any mind, you’ll just attract more of them and ruin your mood.”

“I’ll spray one for every one that shows up, and spray a whole bunch if they come in a crowd.” Cheng Jiashu stared at the screen, typing furiously. “Don’t you think these people are hilarious?”

Cheng Jiashu unleashed a heavy barrage and felt much better, grabbing his water bottle and taking a large gulp.

Jiang Luo couldn’t help but smile: “Is it really worth it? You’re so angry.”

“I just can’t stand people badmouthing you and spreading rumors, damn it. I don’t have your patience; you might be able to tolerate it, but I can’t.”

Jiang Luo smiled: “Thank you, Da Shu.”

Cheng Jiashu made a hissing sound, glanced at him sideways, and rubbed his arms: “Don’t do that, okay? You’re giving me goosebumps.”

Jiang Luo smiled and didn’t speak.

One of the people Cheng Jiashu had called to play ball had to leave early. They had been playing doubles, and since they were one person short, Cheng Jiashu went up to fill the spot. Jiang Luo stayed in the stands to watch, and while watching, his gaze drifted toward the basketball court.

Gu Shiyue was over on the basketball court. Jiang Luo was only looking out of curiosity; he was completely drawn in because Gu Shiyue played so well, and his form while playing was incredibly attractive.

When they were eating earlier, Jiang Luo had thought Gu Shiyue was refined, but he hadn’t expected him to be a completely different person on the court—fast reflexes, clean movements, with a clear sense of aggression.

The crowd around the basketball court had clearly grown; at a glance, most were girls. There hadn’t been this many people in the gym earlier, so it was clearly because Gu Shiyue had joined. How was Jiang Luo so sure? Because when Gu Shiyue scored, the cheering was the loudest; the intensity almost made a casual scrimmage feel like a formal match.

During a break, Gu Shiyue walked under the basketball hoop. Someone tossed him a water bottle, which he caught easily. He twisted the cap, took a drink, and suddenly looked toward the badminton court.

Jiang Luo paused as their eyes met.

Jiang Luo stood there in a daze, failing to notice the badminton shuttlecock flying from the court.

“Hey, Jiang Luo!” Cheng Jiashu shouted.

Jiang Luo turned his head at the sound, and the shuttlecock smashed straight into his face, grazing across the bridge of his nose. If Cheng Jiashu hadn’t shouted, the shuttlecock wouldn’t have hit Jiang Luo’s face.

“Crap.” Cheng Jiashu ran over quickly.

Jiang Luo covered his nose, his eyes stinging. The feathers of the shuttlecock had grazed his eye, and tears were already welling up.

“You okay? Damn, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have called you, then the ball wouldn’t have hit your face. Move your hand and let me see.”

Jiang Luo blinked, and tears streamed down the corners of his eyes.

Cheng Jiashu thought he was crying from the pain: “Damn, it’s not that bad, is it? It hurts that much? Move your hand, let me see it!”

Jiang Luo pulled his hand away and saw blood in his palm. The bridge of his nose was red, a mark from being hit by the ball, and the skin on his nose was scraped, with blood seeping out from a few shallow cuts.

Gu Shiyue handed the water bottle to Xiang Qin. Xiang Qin took it, looking confused, and seeing Gu Shiyue just turn and walk away, he couldn’t help but ask: “Where are you going?”

“Something came up, you guys keep playing,” Gu Shiyue said, heading straight toward the badminton court.

The people on the court ran over. It was Cheng Jiashu’s roommate who had accidentally hit Jiang Luo. Seeing Jiang Luo’s face bleeding, he was shocked and apologized profusely: “Oh crap! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

His girlfriend smacked him on the arm, complaining: “Why were you using so much strength? Look, you made his face bleed!”

“Hey, I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know…”

Jiang Luo quickly said: “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Jiang Luo really was fine; he didn’t feel much pain, assuming it was just a few scrapes on his nose.

A girl nearby handed Jiang Luo a tissue: “Quick, press down on the wound to stop the bleeding. Luckily it didn’t hit your eye. Do you want to go back and disinfect it? Don’t let it get infected…”

“Thank you.” Jiang Luo took the tissue and wiped the bridge of his nose. It hurt a bit when the tissue brushed the wound, and he closed his eyes, hissing, “Sss.”

“Where did it hit?” Gu Shiyue’s voice cut through the crowd, and Jiang Luo suddenly looked up.

Everyone turned around as Gu Shiyue walked through them to Jiang Luo. The wound on Jiang Luo’s nose wasn’t large or deep, but tiny beads of blood kept emerging from it. By the time Gu Shiyue arrived, blood was still seeping out.

Jiang Luo blinked and answered obediently: “It hit my nose.”