My Childhood Friend is Secretly in Love with Me - Chapter 27

Fine, fine! I like guys. Is that enough?

“No, this one is not cool enough.”

“The color is too feminine.”

“This price is too high; the cost performance ratio is not good.”

“This one is typical; it looks good but is not practical.”

“I am telling you, ancestor, you are my living ancestor. We have already looked at over twenty of them and been to four shops. Is there even a single bike that satisfies you?” Li Zihao asked, dragging his tired feet as he followed behind Zuo Yi. Running ten kilometers would not be this exhausting.

Zuo Yi thought for a moment. He did not have a specific goal in mind. “If it catches my eye, I will buy it. If not, I will keep looking.”

“The sky is falling!” Li Zihao shouted to the heavens, clutching his head dramatically. “Boss, what kind of fate do you need just to buy an electric scooter!”

Zuo Yi pulled Li Zihao into a new shop, and his eyes instantly lit up. “There it is. I want this one.”

Half an hour later, a super handsome guy appeared at the gates of Jingxi University. He was leaning lazily against a water blue Little Sheep electric scooter, holding a Doraemon head helmet in one hand. A small pink pig helmet with ears was hanging from the handlebars.

Zuo Yi took his phone out of his jacket pocket and checked the time. Qi Yan had been out of class for a while now. Looking up, he saw Qi Yan in the distance among the crowd. He was wearing a white baseball jacket and had a black backpack slung over one shoulder as he walked toward the school gate. Zuo Yi’s heart gave a violent jerk, and his whole body trembled.

He thought to himself, As expected of the man I chose. Every single glance makes my heart skip a beat.

Zuo Yi quickly put on his helmet, wanting to give his brother a surprise. Qi Yan was not nearsighted, but after standing at the gate and searching for a long time, he could not see Zuo Yi anywhere. He did notice a guy sitting on an electric scooter wearing a childish Doraemon helmet, waving at him like an idiot.

Qi Yan frowned. He looked back to confirm there was no one behind him and that the strange guy was indeed waving at him. He moved a few steps to the side to avoid him and then sent a message to Zuo Yi on his phone.

[1: Xiao Yi, where are you?]

[Zorro: In front of you.]

“Brother, I am here.”

Zuo Yi’s voice was a bit muffled because of the helmet. Qi Yan was surprised but did not show it. He was laughing hysterically inside, though he remained calm on the surface. He had not expected the silly guy to be Zuo Yi.

“Where did the scooter come from?” Qi Yan asked, suppressing a smile.

Zuo Yi took the piglet helmet off the front of the bike and handed it to Qi Yan. “I bought it. Do you know how to ride this thing?”

Qi Yan took the helmet. “It is not hard.”

“Then you carry me.” Zuo Yi sat on the back, his long legs bracing against the ground as he gave up the driver’s seat.

Qi Yan took off his backpack and handed it to Zuo Yi. He put on the helmet and then sat in the driver’s seat to start the bike.

“Woohoo! Go, little piglet!” Zuo Yi shouted happily.

They had both forgotten about the fact that Zuo Yi and Liang Yi had been on the Weibo trending searches yesterday. Consequently, as soon as Zuo Yi arrived at the restaurant kitchen, he was surrounded by his colleagues.

“Holy crap, the guy on the trending search is really you, brother?” one of the male chefs shouted gossipingly while mid toss with his wok.

Zuo Yi denied it, “No.”

A guy pulled out the photo from the trending search and compared them. “It is clearly you.”

“Then why are you asking?” Zuo Yi said, speechless.

Someone else asked, “Are you an athlete? Have you won any championship medals?”

“No, I wash dishes in a restaurant. I only handle steel wool.”

“Brother, be generous. We will help you keep it a secret. It is rare for the subject of a national gossip story to be right beside us; of course we are curious.”

Zuo Yi pouted. He was in a good mood today and did not want to argue with his colleagues. Since it was a baseless story anyway, there was nothing he could not say directly.

“Fine. This subject of gossip will let everyone enjoy the story today. Ask whatever you want.”

The head chef asked, “You are a sports guy; your family cannot be short of money. Why did you come to our kitchen to scrub plates?”

Zuo Yi smiled and asked back, “Then why do you work in the kitchen?”

The head chef said, “I am doing it to get a wife. I am uneducated, and this job pays well.”

Zuo Yi replied, “Me too.”

“Tch, how old are you? You have not even grown your hair out yet, and you are talking about getting a wife,” an old master prep cook teased.

Zuo Yi snorted and retorted, “So what? Cannot I be a late bloomer?”

“Then are you and Liang Yi in that kind of relationship?” Feng Sang suddenly asked.

Zuo Yi was quite surprised. He had not expected Feng Sang, who usually seemed so focused on his own world, to be interested in gossip.

“Of course not. He is my senior,” Zuo Yi answered.

Qi Yan was worried about Zuo Yi’s waist injury. He had just entered the kitchen to ask how he was doing when he walked into the middle of the laughter. Just then, someone happened to ask Zuo Yi, “Do you like guys or girls?”

Zuo Yi had become one of the guys with just a few words, and he did not shy away from answering such an invasive question. He answered loudly, “Of course I like,”

Qi Yan stopped in his tracks and hid to one side. He also wanted to know the answer. Seeing Zuo Yi being mysterious, the head chef stopped his work. “Just say it. Society is very open nowadays. We do not mind, right, brothers?”

Someone chimed in, “Yeah, I have already dated two girlfriends.”

Everyone laughed, and Zuo Yi joked, “You are a total scumbag.”

“Do not listen to his boasting. He has no girlfriends; he just has two silicone dolls in the dorm.” Another person urged, “Speak up, Zuo Yi.”

“Fine, fine! I like guys. Is that enough?” Zuo Yi answered with a smile.

Qi Yan felt the blood in his body run cold at this answer, and his breathing rhythm faltered.

Amidst the laughter and teasing, Zuo Yi added, “Saying it that way is not quite right. Actually, I am not interested in guys in general. It is just that the person I like happens to be a guy, so I only like him. If it were not him, I probably would not like anyone at any time.”

“Oh, he is a pure hearted kid.”

“Of course! You guys promised to keep the secret for me; do not let it out.”

Qi Yan turned and went back to the front of the house after hearing the full answer. Mysteriously, a certain guess seemed to overflow in his heart. However, he did not have the courage to face the consequences if that guess turned out to be inaccurate. So there was no rush; he had time to verify it slowly.

Just like an astronomer exploring the universe, one cannot rush to a conclusion upon every new discovery. Instead, one must patiently observe, analyze, experiment, and research. This process might take a long, long time, but Qi Yan found the process of verifying a hypothesis step by step to be very interesting.

Zuo Yi was humming a song while washing dishes in the kitchen. His happiness also infected Feng Sang.

“Your mood seems very good today?” Feng Sang rarely initiated conversation with him. Usually, even when they ate together, he was a man of few words.

Zuo Yi was very happy to talk to him. “Of course I am happy.” He lowered his voice, speaking at a volume only the two of them could hear. “You have no idea. Today was the first time I admitted in public that I have someone I like, and that I like a guy.”

Feng Sang praised him as he wiped a wine glass, “You are very brave.”

“Sigh, do not say that. This feeling of coming out is actually pretty damn great. This is called coming out, right?”

Feng Sang was not sure either. “I suppose so.”

Hearing that, Zuo Yi became even happier. He did not know why he had suddenly done such a thing today, ignoring the eyes of others and without thinking of the consequences. He said what he wanted to say and did what he wanted to do. Whether everyone would actually keep the secret for him seemed irrelevant to him. It made him feel as if he had just cleared a major internal blockage; it was very refreshing, exciting, and absolute.

In any case, if Qi Yan found out and could not accept it, Zuo Yi would just brush it off as a joke. His current mindset was completely different from when he first arrived in Jingxi. At that time, Zuo Yi was timid, terrified that someone would discover his abnormal feelings for his childhood friend, and even more afraid that Qi Yan would distance himself because of it. But now, Zuo Yi increasingly felt that he and Qi Yan belonged to a state of mutual need, rather than it being a one sided craving from him. Qi Yan might not have romantic feelings for him, but he was tolerant enough. So, Zuo Yi wanted to be a bit more bold in Qi Yan’s world. He craved this sense of security. Even if the dream could end at any moment, as long as he enjoyed it in time, he was satisfied.

Deep down, there was always a faint thorn in Zuo Yi’s heart, reminding him from time to time not to fall in too deep. After all, Qi Yan had personally admitted to having someone he liked.

One month later, winter arrived.

The early winter in Jingxi was particularly cold, and one already had to wear heavy sweaters to keep warm. During this month, Zuo Yi usually stayed in the dormitory and would stay at Qi Yan’s apartment on weekends. Qi Yan rode the electric scooter most of the time, so he also took on the task of picking up and dropping off Zuo Yi. When there was no training in the afternoon, Qi Yan would pick Zuo Yi up from the PE university and take him to the restaurant for work. After work, he would drop Zuo Yi at the dorm and then ride back to the apartment. It was a repetitive, tireless cycle.

On this day, the scooter could not start, perhaps because the weather was too cold, so it had to be left in the apartment’s bike shed.

Over the past month, Zuo Yi and Feng Sang’s relationship had grown closer, and Zuo Yi discovered that Feng Sang was actually someone who longed for friends. After they became familiar, they talked more and could even joke around and tease each other. Even Qi Yan could exchange a few words with him.

After work that night, Zuo Yi left his phone in the restaurant. Qi Yan accompanied him back to find it, while Feng Sang waited outside the mall to return to school with Zuo Yi. Unexpectedly, as soon as Zuo Yi and Qi Yan stepped out of the mall, they encountered a drunken man pushing and shoving Feng Sang on the sidewalk. Feng Sang seemed very afraid and kept saying to the drunkard, “I really do not have any more money.”

“Bullshit! I know you got paid today. Hand it over!” The drunkard said as he reached into Feng Sang’s jacket pocket.

Feng Sang protected his clothes desperately. “All my earnings have gone to paying your debts. You have to at least leave me some for tuition.”

“Fuck you! You ungrateful brat! What is the point of wasting time at some university? You would be better off working more jobs. I will go and withdraw you from school tomorrow.” The drunken man cursed.

Zuo Yi could not stand it anymore, but his arm was held back by Qi Yan. “Brother Yan, do not stop me. I am going to go up there and kill him.”

Qi Yan: “This is Feng Sang’s family matter. You cannot handle it right now. Wait and see.”

Feng Sang could not take it anymore and broke down. “Feng Zhixing, stop pushing me! If you drive me to my death, there will be no one left to pay your gambling debts!”

The drunken man was instantly enraged. “Fuck you! I think your skin is itching again, daring to shout at your old man in the street. You damn well need a beating.” He pulled the belt from his waist and lashed it hard against Feng Sang.

Feng Sang, as if long accustomed to this, did not even dodge. He only bit his lip and stared fixedly at the man beating him. Qi Yan held up his phone and recorded everything that had just happened, then stopped restraining Zuo Yi.

In a fit of rage, Zuo Yi rushed at the drunkard and kicked him. “Fuck!”

Feng Zhixing was kicked to the ground. Zuo Yi pointed fiercely at the drunkard on the ground and roared, “You damn well try hitting him again!”

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