My Childhood Friend is Secretly in Love with Me - Chapter 29

“I want to sleep with you.”

Their faces drew closer and closer. Under the warm glow of the lamp, Zuo Yi could clearly see the fine, soft down on Qi Yan’s cheeks, just like a certain summer back in junior high.

Zuo Yi remembered it was a weekend. He had been dragged to Qi Yan’s house by Ding Wenxiao to do homework. After barely fifteen minutes of serious study, he could no longer sit still. Those math problems looked like cryptic spells that made him drowsy the moment he looked at them.

He alternated between biting his pen cap and doodling aimlessly on his notebook.

As he scribbled, he sponsored under his breath, “I really do not know what they are thinking. With my level, trying to get into the First High School is a joke. If I even make it into a regular high school, my ancestors’ graves must be smoking with luck.”

His fidgeting did not escape Qi Yan, who was reading nearby. Qi Yan set his book down and leaned in. “Which problem are you stuck on?”

Zuo Yi was startled. He turned around intending to snap at him, but he had not realized how close they were. Their noses nearly touched.

His mind suddenly went blank.

What was I going to yell about again?

It was the first time Zuo Yi had looked at Qi Yan from such a short distance. At that moment, he noticed Qi Yan’s eyelashes were dark and thick, and his skin was so fair and clear that the delicate peach fuzz on his cheeks was visible. The sunlight hit the downy hair, creating a thin, soft glow. He was impossibly handsome.

After being stared at for too long, Qi Yan uncomfortably reached out and manually turned Zuo Yi’s head back toward the desk.

“Ask if you do not understand; do not daydream,” Qi Yan said, feigning composure. When Zuo Yi still did not snap out of it, Qi Yan tapped the tabletop.

Zuo Yi shuddered. He suddenly felt a desperate need for a glass of ice water to cool down. Driven by some strange impulse, he asked, “It is so hot. Is there any ice water?”

“You sure have a lot of demands just for doing homework,” Ding Wenxiao muttered crossly from the other side.

Qi Yan went to the kitchen and brought back three bottles of ice cold Cola.

Zuo Yi took a bottle and downed it in one go, letting out a long, loud burp afterward.

Qi Yan was humored by the long burp and started laughing.

Hearing the mockery, Zuo Yi’s ears turned beet red. He was too embarrassed to talk back, so he could only endure it.

“Is it still very hot?” Qi Yan noticed Zuo Yi’s ears turning redder and reached out to check his forehead.

“No, it is not hot anymore.”

Recalling this, Zuo Yi began to giggle foolishly. Back then, he was too young to understand that his physical reaction was a sign of liking someone. He suddenly felt silly; he had clearly started liking Qi Yan in secret a long time ago.

Qi Yan stared directly at Zuo Yi, capturing every small expression as Zuo Yi’s gaze went from alluring to unfocused and finally to that foolish grin.

By the time Zuo Yi realized he had lost his composure, the distance between his face and Qi Yan’s was less than half a fist, making his heart feel tingly and numb.

Qi Yan’s gaze, brimming with affection, seemed ready to submerge him. A warm palm brushed over Zuo Yi’s burning ear and moved to the back of his head.

Zuo Yi did not dare make any big movements; he just waited quietly for the next second to happen.

With the atmosphere built up to this point, Zuo Yi slowly closed his eyes. However, Qi Yan simply ruffled his hair and asked, “Are you going to take a shower or not?”

For God’s sake, are you kidding me?

For the first time, he felt a desperate urge to fight the man in front of him to the death.

“I am going.” Zuo Yi snatched Qi Yan’s offending hand away, hopped off the sofa in annoyance, and briskly rolled off to take a shower.

The next morning, Zuo Yi went back to school for training early and ignored Qi Yan all day, refusing to reply to his messages.

When training ended in the evening, Zuo Yi went to the restaurant with Feng Sang. Outside the school gate, Feng Zhixing was waiting, accompanied by several men who looked like thugs.

“Son!” Feng Zhixing lunged forward the moment he saw Feng Sang. “My dear son, save your father!”

Feng Sang could not dodge in time. He frowned at the thugs; he knew they were Feng Zhixing’s creditors, brought here to demand money for gambling debts.

His hand instinctively moved toward the backpack behind him, which contained the tuition fees he had saved for next semester.

Zuo Yi stopped him from opening the bag. “Do not give it to them!”

“Get lost, kid. Do not meddle in things that do not concern you,” a thug with a buzz cut and a neck full of tattoos said, pushing Zuo Yi.

“Fuck.” Zuo Yi wanted to kick him, but Feng Sang held him back firmly.

“How much does he owe this time?”

Feng Sang had dealt with these people many times; countless gambling debts had been paid to them. He did not want Zuo Yi involved and just wanted to pay the money and be done with it.

The thug said, “The principal is twenty thousand. As for the interest, since we are old acquaintances, let us call it ten thousand.”

Feng Sang gasped. Where would he get that much?

“I only have five,”

Zuo Yi said through gritted teeth, “I told you not to give it to them. These thugs are clearly setting a trap for you!”

Feng Sang’s hand paused.

A trap?

Feng Zhixing was so angry he pointed at Zuo Yi and cursed, “I have put up with you for a long time! Who the hell do you think you are? A son paying his father’s debt is the natural order of things. You stopping him from giving me money is what is truly outrageous!”

“You call yourself a father?” Zuo Yi rolled his eyes and then said to Feng Sang, “You would actually call a person like this Dad?”

Feng Sang said nothing but shook his head.

Feng Zhixing decided to go all out. He threw a tantrum at the school gate, shouting at everyone who passed by.

“Everyone, come look! My son, such a good university student, has been turned against his own father by this brat! Now he wants to cut ties with his old man! Come see what kind of malicious intent this person has,”

The thugs joined in the commotion. “Yeah, this father is so pitiful. He poured his heart and soul into putting this kid through college, and now that the old man is sick, he will not give him money for treatment and wants to cut ties!”

Feng Sang rushed forward to explain, “No, do not talk nonsense!”

Feng Zhixing sat down on the ground in front of the school gate and yelled, “I am dying! I am dying of illness! This brat thinks my medical bills are too expensive and is just going to watch his father die!”

More and more people were drawn to the scene. Not knowing the specifics, the onlookers began to point and whisper based on Feng Zhixing’s snippets of lies.

“You do not have any illness! You want money to go gamble! I have no money for your gambling and even less to pay back your debts! Leave this place immediately!” Feng Sang was on the verge of a breakdown. He lost his temper and grabbed Feng Zhixing’s arm, trying to drag him away.

“Feng Sang!” Zuo Yi was genuinely worried about Feng Sang’s state of mind and secretly sent a text message to report the incident to the police.

Seeing Feng Sang lose his temper, the thugs stepped forward and kicked him. “Whether you give the money is one thing, but you have the nerve to throw a fit?”

Feng Sang was kicked in the stomach. He knelt on the ground in pain, retching.

“You bastards!” Infuriated, Zuo Yi threw a punch at the thug who had kicked Feng Sang.

Feng Zhixing took the opportunity to try and snatch Feng Sang’s backpack. Zuo Yi struggled to deal with four thugs at once and took several hits.

As they were brawling, Feng Sang suddenly let out a terrified scream, “Zuo Yi, watch your back!”

Zuo Yi could not cover both front and back. Suddenly, he fell into a pair of broad, warm arms. The person behind him hugged him tightly and let out a muffled groan. He recognized the voice instantly. “Brother Yan! What happened to you?”

Zuo Yi broke free from the embrace and turned to see a thug using a jagged stone to slam into Qi Yan’s back. “I will kill you! You dared to touch him? You are dead!”

Zuo Yi had never exerted such strength before. He lunged at the man like a wild animal, pinning him to the ground. He sat on the man and threw punch after punch, hitting his face with everything he had. “Damn you, you piece of trash!”

The man’s face soon became a bloody mess, looking absolutely horrific.

The surrounding thugs were so terrified by his ferocity that they did not dare take a step forward. Feng Zhixing had not expected things to escalate like this and looked for a chance to flee.

“Xiao Yi, stop! Do not hit him anymore!” Qi Yan endured the pain to stop him. “Something bad will happen if you keep going.”

“He dared to touch you; I want his life.” Zuo Yi’s eyes were bloodshot, and he had lost all reason. He gripped the thug’s collar with one hand and used all his strength with the other to strike the half dead man. “Die!”

Qi Yan quickly pulled him into an embrace. “Xiao Yi, I am fine! Look at me!”

Zuo Yi’s mind was in a fog. He could not hear anything at that moment. His body was pinned by Qi Yan, his hands were shaking uncontrollably, and his lips had turned pale. “How could you stand behind me?”

“I am really fine. Calm down,” Qi Yan said softly. “Look back at me, okay?”

Zuo Yi looked back blankly. With just one look, the tears he had been holding back for so long burst out. “I am sorry. It is all because of me.”

“It must hurt so much. Let us go to the hospital,” Zuo Yi hugged Qi Yan painfully, reaching out to touch his back but afraid that his touch would hurt him.

Qi Yan hugged him back, gently comforting him, “It does not hurt. It is not your fault.”

A police car pulled up on the street in front of them. The officers called an ambulance to send the bloodied thug and Qi Yan to the hospital for an examination.

Zuo Yi insisted on going with Qi Yan, but as he was one of the involved parties, the police refused and put him directly into the patrol car.

Fortunately, Feng Sang held onto Feng Zhixing tightly to prevent him from running. Everyone involved in the brawl was taken back to the station to give statements. Two students also volunteered to go as eye witnesses.

With the help of the witnesses and following an investigation, it was determined that Zuo Yi had acted in self defense, though his actions were deemed excessive. He was given a stern lecture on fighting by the officers.

Feng Zhixing and his group were placed under administrative detention for fifteen days for picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

Upon leaving the station, the first thing Zuo Yi did after getting his phone back was to call Qi Yan. Before the call could go through, Liang Yi called. Zuo Yi had no mood to talk to anyone; he declined the call and sent a text with Feng Sang’s information, telling him that Feng Sang was still at the station for the investigation.

Zuo Yi spoke with Qi Yan on the phone. Qi Yan mentioned he might have to stay in the hospital for a day or two. Terrified, Zuo Yi hailed a taxi and rushed to the hospital.

When he reached the ward, Zuo Yi suddenly felt afraid to enter and face Qi Yan. He must have looked hideous when he lost control earlier; perhaps he had scared Qi Yan.

Qi Yan, wearing a hospital gown, was sitting on the bed. He said to Zuo Yi, “Come here.”

Only then did Zuo Yi walk inside. It was a private room. The room was not large, and it only took a few steps to reach the bedside.

“Can I see the wound?” Zuo Yi asked tentatively.

He had actually seen Qi Yan’s clothes on the chair. The white sweater stained with blood was a shocking sight.

This was what Qi Yan called not hurting. He had clearly bled; how could it not hurt?

Qi Yan said, “The wound does not look good. At this time, you should be back at the dorm sleeping, not coming here.”

Zuo Yi said, “Tomorrow is the weekend. I am not going back to school.”

Qi Yan pulled him down to sit on the edge of the bed. “Then go home.”

Zuo Yi sat sideways, looking at Qi Yan. “I am not going back if you are not there.”

Qi Yan knew Zuo Yi was being stubborn again. Feeling both annoyed and amused, he asked, “Then where do you want to stay tonight?”

Zuo Yi could no longer maintain his front. He pulled Qi Yan into an embrace, greedily feeling the warmth of his body and breathing in the unique scent that belonged only to Qi Yan.

“I want to sleep with you.”

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