My Childhood Friend is Secretly in Love with Me - Chapter 23

“Do you still take me for a kid?”

“Mm, not bad. You two should keep up this division of labor; it is working well.” The manager came over, saw the two already working, offered a few satisfied words of praise, and left.

The lunch rush arrived. Aside from a supervisor coming by to teach him the technique of wiping glasses without leaving streaks, the kitchen was as busy as a battlefield. He and Feng Sang repeated the same motions like machines, and Qi Yan did not come to the back to check on him even once.

By the time the rush passed, Zuo Yi was so tired he could not straighten his back. He felt like a survivor returning from the Sahara Desert, parched and with a stomach growling loudly.

The chef fried up a few homestyle dishes for everyone. Zuo Yi pulled Qi Yan and Feng Sang to sit at a small table together for lunch.

Qi Yan took out a water blue Doraemon lunch box he had prepared in advance for Zuo Yi and handed over a bowl filled to the brim with rice.

Zuo Yi grinned from ear to ear. “Doraemon! Did you prepare this specifically for me?”

“Mm.”

“Do you still take me for a kid?” Zuo Yi pulled the lunch box in front of him, looking it over from every angle with eyes that practically glowed.

Qi Yan asked softly, “Are you not one?”

Zuo Yi loved Doraemon the most. When he was little, his school bags, T-shirts, and socks all had to feature the character. As he grew up, he became concerned with his image and stopped using things with Doraemon patterns because he thought they were childish, but he would use water blue items as a substitute for that preference.

He had been sulking because Qi Yan had not come to the kitchen to say a word to him all morning, but now, what was there to be upset about? He was simply too happy. Zuo Yi’s face lit up with joy; he suddenly felt revitalized, as if he could work for another whole afternoon!

Feng Sang lowered his head silently to eat his rice, and his glasses soon became fogged with steam. Zuo Yi noticed and handed him a tissue. “Take off your glasses while you eat.”

“Thank you.” Feng Sang took the tissue, removed his glasses, and wiped away the fog.

Zuo Yi had rarely seen Feng Sang without his black-rimmed glasses. He actually looked quite delicate, but he was a bit timid. When Feng Sang took the tissue just now, Zuo Yi caught another glimpse of a bruise exposed on the skin of his arm.

Zuo Yi could never hide his thoughts; his expression as he stared at his new colleague was fully noted by Qi Yan.

“Eat,” Qi Yan reminded him, placing a piece of stir-fried pork into Zuo Yi’s bowl.

Zuo Yi stuffed rice into his mouth absentmindedly. He recalled that Feng Sang had been quite strange since the start of the semester. Not only was he unsociable, but he was also always elusive, keeping his distance from everyone in the dorm. Even though he had been added to the dorm group chat, he had not said a single word in it to this day.

If they had not met at this job, Zuo Yi might have forgotten such a person even existed in the dorm. Furthermore, with his arms covered in bruises, could he have been getting into fights?

Zuo Yi was certain that something was going on!

After eating and resting for a bit, they continued wiping wine glasses.

Feng Sang seemed off after coming back from a phone call. The manager happened to be inspecting the kitchen when a loud “Clang!” rang out.

The manager walked quickly to Feng Sang and kicked a shard on the floor, his anger flaring. “Oh, my dear brother, are you washing dishes or smashing them?”

“I am sorry, manager. My hand slipped. Deduct the cost of the plate from my wages, just please do not fire me.” Feng Sang was like a startled bird, bowing and apologizing to the manager repeatedly.

The manager found it hard to say anything harsher. He waved his hand and said, “Fine, fine. Sweep the floor and then go help in the front hall. Do not wash these anymore.”

Zuo Yi figured he should find Feng Sang for a chat after work. After all, they were classmates; if Feng Sang were in trouble, Zuo Yi would help if he could. It was just a small effort.

However, after the night shift colleagues came to take over, Zuo Yi went to the front hall to find Qi Yan and saw Feng Sang apologizing to a customer for serving the wrong dish.

After the apology, the manager pulled Feng Sang aside to criticize him. “Xiao Feng, what is wrong with you today? Before you have even earned a cent for the day, you have already paid it all back in damages. Are you here to do charity work?”

“I am sorry, manager. Please give me one more chance.” Feng Sang’s eyes turned red with anxiety.

Zuo Yi happened to pass the front desk, printed a slip, and handed it to the manager. “Manager, the customer did not touch that dish. I happened to be hungry, so I am packing it to take back to school for dinner. I just paid the bill.”

The manager was not the type to make things difficult for his employees. Seeing that the dish had indeed been paid for on the slip, he only gave Feng Sang a serious warning: “Do not be so careless tomorrow.”

Qi Yan observed the whole process silently, but in his heart, he felt Zuo Yi was paying far too much attention to this new colleague.

“Are we going or not?” Qi Yan asked.

Zuo Yi patted his shoulder. “Wait for me a bit longer, Brother Yan.”

“Feng Sang, shall I wait for you to change so we can go back to school together?” Zuo Yi asked.

Feng Sang kept his head down, looking very dejected. “I have to go work at a convenience store in a bit. Thank you, Zuo Yi. I will pay you back as soon as possible.”

“It is fine. I was not just helping you out; I was genuinely hungry, and this ready-made dish was perfect! You do not need to give me the money; it is going into my stomach anyway.” Fearing Qi Yan would wait too long, Zuo Yi waved at him. “I am off. See you at the dorm.”

Qi Yan stood outside the restaurant with his arms crossed, waiting expressionlessly. The moment Zuo Yi pushed open the door, he was met with a face as cold and dark as an iceberg. He instantly realized that he had come to work because of Qi Yan, but he had spent the whole day focusing on someone else, not checking on Qi Yan’s state at all.

“Brother Yan, let us go grab something to eat before we go home,” Zuo Yi said.

Qi Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, glanced at the takeout bag in Zuo Yi’s hand, and started walking. “Is your dinner not already packed?”

Zuo Yi chased after him. “This can be a late-night snack! I want to have dinner with you.”

“You seem quite concerned about Feng Sang,” Qi Yan redirected the conversation.

Zuo Yi took a sharp breath, thinking he was in trouble. After the incident with Guo Jingjing, Qi Yan likely assumed he was not straight. Now, would he think Zuo Yi had fallen for Feng Sang!?

He wondered if he should tell Qi Yan what he had seen in the locker room. After all, it involved someone’s privacy and he had no right to go around announcing it. But if he did not say anything, a rift might form in the childhood bond he and Qi Yan had worked so hard to rebuild!

“It is nothing like that. Feng Sang is my college roommate. I just helped out since we bumped into each other,” Zuo Yi explained.

Qi Yan gave an ambiguous, shallow smile. “Oh, quite a coincidence that he is another roommate.”

“It is not what you think. He is not like Guo Jingjing at all,” Zuo Yi said.

“What exactly do you think I am thinking?” Qi Yan countered.

Zuo Yi wished he could bite off his own tongue. He had trained his verbal skills since childhood to be sharp against anyone, yet they were utterly useless when facing Qi Yan.

Fine, forget it! Compared to Qi Yan, personal principles could be slightly more flexible. Besides, Qi Yan would keep the secret for him.

“It is like this. While changing in the locker room today, I saw that his arms were covered in bruises.” Zuo Yi explained the whole situation to Qi Yan in detail. Before they knew it, they were both on the bus back to the apartment.

Qi Yan realized and asked him, “Are you not going back to school?”

“I will go back later. When we get home, make me something delicious. I will head back once I am full,” Zuo Yi played the rogue perfectly.

Qi Yan reminded him, “Mm. Do not be so impulsive in standing up for Feng Sang again. Today was fine, but next time, you have to tell me first, do you understand?”

“I understand, I understand!”

Finally, Qi Yan was appeased. Zuo Yi breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

At the apartment, Zuo Yi watched Qi Yan’s back as he worked in the kitchen. The thought of going back to live at school brought a wave of inexplicable sadness.

Habit is a terrifying thing. Scientific theory says that repeating an action for twenty one days can form a new habit, but it seemed to take less than twenty four hours for the habit of having Qi Yan in his life to take over completely.

Now he had to return to the collective life of the dormitory. He wondered how long it would take to get used to turning over at night and not feeling that source of warmth.

Once you have had something, it is so much harder to let it go. What was he supposed to do?

Zuo Yi sat on the sofa sighing unconsciously, loud enough for Qi Yan to hear from the kitchen. Qi Yan looked back and saw Zuo Yi’s dazed expression, knowing he was lost in his own world of random thoughts again.

“Time to eat.”

Qi Yan had stir-fried two simple dishes and heated up the food from the restaurant. Two people, three dishes. By the end of the meal, it was exactly the right amount.

Zuo Yi took his usual responsibility of washing the dishes and tidying the kitchen. This division seemed to have become an unspoken agreement between them, followed smoothly and naturally.

Before leaving, Zuo Yi observed Qi Yan’s state several times. Only after confirming there were no issues did he feel at ease leaving.

On the last day of the holiday, students returned to campus. The Beijing Sports University was very lively at night, filled with students dragging suitcases and rushing back at the last moment.

The moment Zuo Yi entered the dorm, he was suddenly wrapped in a massive embrace, scaring him into cursing.

“Holy shit! Brothers, you have suffered!” Li Zihao wailed loudly.

Zuo Yi pushed him away with disgust, stepped back a few meters, and asked, “What kind of fit are you throwing?”

“I heard about Qi Yan’s mom,” Li Zihao said halfway before Zuo Yi covered his mouth firmly.

Zuo Yi saw that Guo Jingjing was also in the dorm. Guo Jingjing had verbally hurt Qi Yan several times, and Zuo Yi did not want him hearing too much about the bad things Qi Yan was going through.

“Let us talk outside,” Zuo Yi said softly.

Li Zihao and Zuo Yi went downstairs to walk and chat for a bit. He learned that Li Zihao’s relationship with Sister Guan Guan was very good; the two had stayed in Semporna until this afternoon before returning home. It was only after returning that he learned the news of Qi Yan’s mother passing away.

Li Zihao said, “You have no idea. When Guan Guan heard the news, she cried immediately. She kept blaming her dad for not notifying us to come back sooner.”

“It is fine. We did not notify our own parents either. Fortunately, everything went smoothly,” Zuo Yi remarked.

“Mm. From now on, Qi Yan is my brother too. Just say the word if anything happens, and I, Li Zihao, will definitely be there for him.” Zuo Yi was moved by Li Zihao’s bold declaration.

From the initial misunderstanding to now, although only a month had passed, it felt like so many things had happened.

At night, Zuo Yi was still worried about Qi Yan being home alone, so he sent him a message.

[Zorro: Asleep?]

Qi Yan replied quickly.

[1: No.]

[Zorro: What a coincidence. I am not asleep either.]

[1: Why are you not sleeping?]

[Zorro: Insomnia.]

[Zorro: To be precise, my symptom is called being homesick for a bed!]

Zuo Yi thought to himself: Actually, I miss the person sleeping in that bed.

[Zorro: Puppy with teary eyes.jpg]

[1: Come back and sleep here on the weekend holiday.]

[Zorro: Puppy rolling happily.jpg]

[Zorro: If you cannot sleep, send me a message. I will chat with you.]

[1: Okay.]

Zuo Yi thought for a moment and followed up with two more messages.

[Zorro: Calling is also fine.]

[Zorro: Video calls are also an option.]

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