My Roommate is a Gloomy, Sensitive Guy Who Cries Over Everything - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Then You Must Have Known Each Other for a Long Time…

Lin Zhiyu was immersed in the joy of buying good strawberries, but the moment he pulled out his incessantly vibrating phone, the sound of collapsing buildings echoed in his mind.

Ning Xingzhou dropped him off at the front door. Xue Rong had long since gone to sleep at this hour. Ning Xingzhou watched Lin Zhiyu as he checked his phone, noticing his uneasy expression.

“Auntie is probably asleep. I’ll come see you tomorrow.”

Lin Zhiyu spoke quickly: “I’m going back to school tomorrow.”

Ning Xingzhou raised an eyebrow slightly. “It wouldn’t be because of me, would it?”

Lin Zhiyu was quiet for a few seconds, then replied naturally and frankly: “Tickets during the National Day holiday are hard to get. I usually book them two or three days in advance.”

Ning Xingzhou was actually quite interested in him, not to mention Lin Zhiyu’s current “playing hard to get” appearance, which was very attractive.

“Alright then. We’ll find a chance to meet next time; we have each other on WeChat now.”

Lin Zhiyu gave a perfunctory nod and entered the house without looking back, not caring if the person behind him had left or not.

…

In a darkened room, Lin Rangchuan was smoking, staring deathly at the ID on the game interface. His gaze shifted to the time in the top left corner: 11:03 PM.

Lin Rangchuan stubbed out the cigarette butt. His fingertip touched the burning end, but even though he was burned, he didn’t seem to feel a thing.

The phone on the desk vibrated.

He quickly picked it up to answer, but after hearing the voice, he frowned slightly.

“Are you done with your game? Want to come out and play? We’re at the place right next to your courtyard. Come on, we’re all acquaintances; it’s no fun without you.” Lou Chen was just giving it a shot.

“Wait for me,” Lin Rangchuan said in a low voice. “Open a crate.”

Lou Chen was stunned. “Is the great artist out of inspiration?”

“Or did you get stood up in your game?”

Lin Rangchuan hung up the phone directly. Lou Chen tutted at his phone twice.

“Is Brother Lin coming?” someone asked while rubbing their hands. “I’m going to crush his murderous aura this time. I died so miserably last time.”

The shop owner scoffed. “He’s in a bad mood. You’ll only die more miserably.”

When Lin Rangchuan arrived, six or seven bottles of beer were already open on the table. A group of people surrounded the square table, most of them half-drunk. Lou Chen stood up to give him his seat, but he froze as soon as he looked up.

“Why are your eyes so red?” Lou Chen joked. “Didn’t rest well? They’re even a bit swollen—anyone would think you’d been crying.”

Lin Rangchuan: “None of your business.”

“…”

The people at the table were playing Texas Hold’em. Lou Chen was trembling as he touched his cards, and the shop owner looked solemn. Only Lin Rangchuan remained as calm as ever; after glancing at his hole cards once, he never flipped them over again.

They were just playing casually—losers drank, and those who vomited lost money.

Lin Rangchuan won hand after hand, but he also drank quite a bit.

Lou Chen lost several times. “Damn, you’re way too strong.”

“It’s simple,” Lin Rangchuan said. “You’re just trash.”

“Damn.” Lou Chen laughed in frustration. “Don’t take it out on us. Do you know what you look like right now? Heartbroken. I had a buddy who looked exactly like this after a breakup.”

“Drink up.” Lin Rangchuan threw his cards out and glanced at him. “You lost.”

Lou Chen: “…”

During a break, Lin Rangchuan fiddled with his phone, repeatedly opening and locking the screen as if waiting for someone’s message.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time in the studio lately. Is inspiration abundant? I’ve replied to the workshop for you.” Lou Chen thought for a moment and looked at the shop owner. “The gallery is contacting Brother Li.”

“Take it,” Lin Rangchuan took a sip of his drink, fell silent for a moment, and added, “The more, the better.”

“Got it.” Lou Chen shuffled the cards, then suddenly heard Lin Rangchuan’s phone vibrate a few times.

From Lou Chen’s perspective, Lin Rangchuan’s downcast eyes flickered. Under the dim bar lights, the bloodshot veins in his eyes looked even redder.

“Buddy, what’s wrong with you…”

Before he could finish, Lin Rangchuan stood up, dropped his cards, and said coldly, “I’m leaving.”

The whole table went quiet. Lou Chen was dumbfounded. “Where are you going?”

“Getting married.”

Everyone at the table: “!!!”

Lin Rangchuan finished the rest of his drink. “In the game.”

In that game, was there a difference between cohabiting and getting married? No.

…

[Xiao Yu: I’m so sorry! I went to buy strawberries for Brother Lin and got delayed for a bit.]

When Lin Zhiyu got home and saw the string of withdrawn messages from Senior, his scalp went numb instantly. For a moment, he didn’t even know how to reply.

[Senior: You bought strawberries for him? Did you go by yourself?] [Xiao Yu: No.] [Senior: So Baby has made a new friend and is ignoring me.] [Xiao Yu: No, no, it’s someone I knew from before. He’s a senior, I guess.] [Senior: Baby has so many seniors. Didn’t you say there was only me?] [Xiao Yu: Well, we have to distinguish by intimacy points, right?]

Lin Zhiyu pursed his lips. Afraid the other party wouldn’t believe him, he added: [I get along with you the best.]

There was no reply from the other side for a while. Lin Zhiyu logged into the game. As soon as he got on, dozens of cohabitation applications popped up before his eyes.

His eyes widened in disbelief. Before he could react, a voice call invitation followed.

Lin Zhiyu’s heart trembled. He answered with a shaky hand.

“Did I scare Baby?”

A deep, slightly husky young male voice—Senior was using a voice changer. Lin Zhiyu blinked his eyes gently.

“No, just a bit surprised.” Lin Zhiyu didn’t catch the subtle smile in the voice. “Have you been waiting long?”

“I can wait for you as long as it takes.”

Hearing him say this, Lin Zhiyu felt a bit embarrassed. He didn’t even know who was accompanying whom anymore. “How about I give seniors a ‘benefit’?”

“What kind of benefit?”

“I haven’t thought of it yet. If there’s anything Senior needs me for, you can order me around as you like. No charge—an extra benefit!”

“I want to see you.”

“What?”

“I want to video call you once,” Senior added, his tone deepening. “They all say you’re very beautiful. I want to see Baby too, but I don’t dare come out to meet you.”

Lin Zhiyu’s eyelashes fluttered helplessly. He felt like Senior was like a gloomy mushroom that had grown in a damp area for years, unable to see the light, yet seemingly very interested in him.

Lin Zhiyu: “Okay…” Lin Zhiyu: “It can’t be for too long.”

Showing his face past the time limit would cost extra!

The person on the other end let out a sudden laugh from deep in his throat, a sound like a wheezing bellows. “Alright.”

The cohabitation mode was activated, and their two farms merged. There were too many things that needed reorganizing. Lin Zhiyu had never fought such a “wealthy” battle before; he dove straight into the warehouse to start picking and choosing.

Before he was even halfway through, it was already late at night. His eyelids were drooping. Afraid he would fall asleep and pass out, Lin Zhiyu quickly said goodnight in advance.

Senior: “I’m two years older than you.”

Lin Zhiyu’s brain was already muddled, but a sudden inspiration struck: “Brother?”

“And then?”

“Brother, goodnight.” Lin Zhiyu felt like he was being led along, his voice getting softer and softer. “I’m really sleepy.”

“Goodnight, Baby.”

The person on the other end chuckled. “I didn’t say you couldn’t sleep.”

…

The entire conversation was saved. Lin Rangchuan stood on the balcony, listening to the recording over and over again with a slight curl to his lips, until he was interrupted by the doorbell.

He turned off the device and went to open the door. The shop owner, Brother Li, dragged in a half-dead Lou Chen and dumped him onto the sofa with a thud.

Lin Rangchuan was expressionless. “Where did this dead pig come from?”

“You left suddenly, so he drank for you. He puked twice. You have to take responsibility.”

Lin Rangchuan scoffed but didn’t say anything. The shop owner knew that meant he agreed. “Were you busy tonight?”

“Busy getting married.”

Shop owner: “…”

Lin Rangchuan repeated: “I got married to him.”

The shop owner spread his hands. “…Did I ask?”

“Does it matter?”

“…” The shop owner was also quite drunk, his lip twitching. “I can’t believe you actually know how to chase a girl. And online dating, too? Is that the trend now? When are you going to bring her out to meet us?”

Lin Rangchuan’s tone was flat: “He doesn’t like men.”

“Oh, so she’s a lesbian…”

…

The strawberries were sent by express delivery and would take two days to arrive. Lin Zhiyu wasn’t in a hurry. He returned to school early, while Yu Hechang wasn’t leaving until the 7th.

To be safe, Lin Zhiyu took motion sickness medicine and sat in a window seat. He was lucky; he was surrounded by old ladies and there were no smokers. Everything was peaceful.

Since he had added Ning Xingzhou yesterday, he saw a post on his WeChat Moments today. It seemed to be a primary school reunion, and he had posted a photo from a primary school dinner back then. A group of primary schoolers was taking a photo in front of a restaurant; the pixels were blurry and the photo felt very aged.

When people get bored, they can do anything. Lin Zhiyu zoomed in and realized he could recognize a few of them.

Lin Zhiyu suddenly blinked. He zoomed in on a corner of the photo, zooming in infinitely until it was at the absolute limit. Then he zoomed back out to take another look.

He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but this person really looked like Brother Lin.

After looking for nearly half an hour, Lin Zhiyu’s eyes were strained, but he still felt that person was Brother Lin. No way, no way… was he also a student at Ning County Primary School?

After getting off the train, he took a taxi back. It happened to be noon, lunchtime. Brother Lin asked him on WeChat where he was eating, and Lin Zhiyu just said, “Your cooking is delicious,” so he went straight home to eat.

When he arrived home, he found someone else there.

After waking up, Lou Chen had a splitting headache and stubbornly refused to leave, insisting that Lin Rangchuan cook for him as well.

At the dining table, Lou Chen poured himself a glass of water and rubbed his scalp, looking so exhausted he seemed ten years older.

Lin Zhiyu looked at him, and Lou Chen, after drinking some water, looked back. After a moment of silence, Lin Zhiyu awkwardly tried to find a topic: “Lou… Brother, have you known Brother Lin for a long time?”

Lou Chen said thoughtfully: “Primary school, middle school, high school, and now university. We’ve been in the same class all along. You could say we’re inseparable.”

Lin Zhiyu unconsciously touched his glass and didn’t say anything, then heard Lou Chen continue: “But he only transferred here in sixth grade.”

Lin Zhiyu’s heart stirred. “Did he go to Ning County Primary School before?”

Lou Chen froze for a second, then thought about it. “I think so.”

Lin Zhiyu: “I went to Ning County Primary School too.”

“Ah, then you must have known each other for a long time.”

Lin Zhiyu shook his head. “No memory of it. Brother Lin is a year older than me; we probably never even met.”

Lou Chen was slightly disappointed; he had hoped to dig up some of Lin Rangchuan’s embarrassing past. “Maybe Brother Lin knows you? Otherwise, why would he share a rental with you?”

Lin Zhiyu frowned slightly. “Then he probably… does know me?”

But he couldn’t remember anything at all. He had no memory whatsoever.

“Know you for what?” Lin Rangchuan came out carrying the soup, wearing an apron—a look of cold, domestic calm.

Lin Zhiyu was startled. Lou Chen was obviously used to this ghost-like appearance and didn’t mind. “We’re talking about your primary school days. Asking if you knew Xiao Yu from before. Right—can I call you Xiao Yu?”

Lin Zhiyu felt the awkwardness of being caught in the act and nodded indiscriminately.

Lin Rangchuan took off his apron and sat down opposite him. Lin Zhiyu unexpectedly met his deep, cold gaze. His mind went a bit blank, and only Lin Rangchuan’s voice remained in his ears.

“I’m not sure. We probably met.” Lin Rangchuan stared into his eyes. “Have you remembered me?”

Lin Zhiyu smiled awkwardly and shook his head. “No…”

Discussing this topic in front of Lin Rangchuan was so awkward that the atmosphere instantly stiffened. Lin Zhiyu pondered for a moment. “In that case, the Senior must have known you for a long time too, right?”

Lin Rangchuan paused, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. He said in a flat tone:

“You’re talking to me. Why do you have to mention your Senior?”