My Roommate is a Gloomy, Sensitive Guy Who Cries Over Everything - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Lin Zhiyu’s Tall Tales

Su Ying froze for a few seconds. He had always been terrified of this half-brother, but this time, a sudden surge of uncharacteristic courage drove him to try and peek at who was messaging his brother’s phone.

However, Lin Rangchuan didn’t give him the chance. Without even sparing him a glance, he turned and went back into his room.

Su Zhengxiang took his medicine and went to his room to sleep. When Song Yaju came out and saw Su Ying staring blankly in a certain direction, her anger flared up. She twisted his ear, snapping, “What are you looking at? He’s gone.”

Then, she hugged Su Ying and began to wail again. “Your brother has no conscience. He just stood there and watched our family get bullied.”

Her tears smeared against Su Ying’s cheek, feeling sticky and uncomfortable. Su Ying frowned slightly. “Mom, Brother has given us a lot of money already, hasn’t he?”

Song Yaju stared at him with tear-filled eyes, grabbing his hair in a heart-wrenching grip. “Are you stupid? He has mountains of money. He could give us a good life with a snap of his fingers. He’s doing this on purpose, don’t you see? He wants to humiliate us. Do you really think your brother is some kind of good person?”

Su Ying didn’t know if his brother was a “good person,” but he bit his lip. “Didn’t Brother pay for my tuition? And he gives me money for my hobby classes, too.”

Song Yaju couldn’t take it anymore. “That pittance? It’s not even 100,000 yuan a year. You’re so easy to please. You’re nice to him, but does he acknowledge you? Stop sucking up to him. I am your real mother, and the man lying in there is your real father!”

Su Ying fell silent, his heart heavy.

Since he was little, he had envied other kids who had older brothers to protect them and give them gifts. Whenever he saw older siblings picking up kids after school, he fantasized about Lin Rangchuan coming to get him.

But Lin Rangchuan never did.

Su Ying knew why. Lin Rangchuan wasn’t happy in this house. His father disliked this “son” who shared no blood with him, and his mother was overwhelmed. Often, when the brother was away, she would hold Su Ying and cry, asking herself why she had brought him back.

“He’s disobedient, he’s cold, his heart is made of stone and can’t be warmed. He’s not even human,” she would say.

Back then, the young Su Ying thought: If you hadn’t brought him back, I wouldn’t have a brother at all.

Besides, they weren’t very nice to him either. The room the brother lived in was originally a storage closet—tiny, barely nine square meters, and filled with junk. But the brother was incredibly handy; he had organized it so well it looked like a room from a cartoon. Su Ying had wanted to ask his brother to help design his own room more than once, but he could never find the words.

As for the debt collectors who came on New Year’s Eve, it wasn’t the first time they had barged in. It would be a lie to say Su Ying wasn’t scared. He would secretly crouch by his brother’s door. Those people seemed wary of his brother, so they never attacked him there. To Su Ying, he was the most impressive brother in the world.

Even if his brother didn’t like him, the one unchanging fact was that they shared half their blood.

His brother was always aloof, disregarding everyone and everything. The person he interacted with most seemed to be a classmate named Lou Chen, who had visited a few times, though Su Ying didn’t have a strong impression of him.

When the brother was in middle school, he had been kicked out by their father once and hadn’t returned home for a long time after that. Su Ying had been devastated, thinking he’d never see him again. But later, he found that the brother would occasionally return—though every time he did, the household would suffer some sort of calamity…

It didn’t seem like a coincidence. It felt intentional.

This New Year’s Eve, his mother had specifically gone to invite the brother home. She thought it would take a lot of persuasion, but he had agreed, only for the recent scene to unfold.

After she finished crying, his mother wiped her nose and pushed him. “Go find your brother. Ask for next semester’s tuition. I’m tired of talking to him.”

Su Ying lowered his head. “He won’t talk to me.”

Song Yaju looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. “Then don’t go to school. The family can’t afford it.”

Su Ying looked at her features for a silent moment. “Mom, you and Brother have very similar eyes.”

Song Yaju glared at him. “Obviously. I gave birth to him.”

Su Ying frowned, stomped his foot, and felt incredibly wronged. “But I don’t look like him at all. I look like Dad. My classmates say we don’t look like brothers!”

Song Yaju’s temper flared, but she suppressed it, speaking softly: “What are you sulking about? Hurry up and get the money while he’s still home. Ask for more, understand?” She stroked his head. “He’s still relatively decent to you.”

Su Ying looked down. “Because I’m a minor.”

“What?”

Su Ying bit his lip and didn’t elaborate. Asking for money wasn’t a first, but using Su Ying as an excuse made it easier.

He forced himself to ask Lin Rangchuan for the money. Lin Rangchuan was silent for a few seconds, as if he hadn’t heard anyone speaking. Su Ying called out “Brother” again, cautiously. Still no response.

Su Ying thought for a moment. He remembered when Song Yaju wanted to change his surname, Lin Rangchuan had refused adamantly. So, he added a different title.

“Brother Lin.”

Only then did Lin Rangchuan glance over with his peripheral vision—a blunt, malicious gaze that scanned him from head to toe like an infrared beam, showing zero respect.

“How old are you?”

Su Ying was flattered by the attention. “Thirteen.”

Back then, right after he said it, he wasn’t sure if he’d seen it correctly, but the corner of his brother’s mouth seemed to turn up slightly. Finally, he muttered to himself, “A minor.” After that, the money was transferred without a hitch. Ever since then, his tuition and hobby fees had been easy to get.

Seeing him still hesitating, Song Yaju gave him a shove. “Go on. If you don’t get the money, don’t bother with school. I’m going to sleep; I need to look after your father.”

Having vented her frustration, she stopped crying.

Su Ying waited until she was in her room before hesitantly going to Lin Rangchuan’s door. He knocked a few times, but there was no answer. He pressed his ear against the door and listened. There was a sound inside—perhaps muffled by something. Driven by a strange impulse, he turned the handle.

It was unlocked. Fearing discovery, he only opened a tiny crack and looked through the sliver of light.

Su Ying held his breath. He saw his brother sitting with his legs relaxed and spread. His short hair didn’t hide his sharp features. His head was tilted back, eyes closed, but his voice was tender.

“I don’t want to watch the fireworks. I want to see you.”

A soft, gentle voice came from the phone: “Look at them first~”

It was a man’s voice.

Su Ying’s eyes slowly widened. He didn’t dare eavesdrop further. He quietly closed the door and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. A long time passed. He crouched against the wall, head buried between his knees, his heart still thumping wildly. Infinite imagination and infinite sorrow, excitement and disappointment—they collided inside him like two clashing gases.

Does Brother have a new ‘little brother’ out there?

This was a privilege even Lou Chen never had.

…

Lin Zhiyu didn’t wake up until noon. Sitting up, he shoved his hands into his fluffy pajamas and rubbed them together—it was freezing—before tucking them back under the covers.

But he was soon called downstairs by Xue Rong. He helped out in the kitchen with messy hair, sleep creases on his chubby cheeks, and long eyelashes drooping. Xue Rong truly realized her son had put on quite a bit of weight.

After helping, Lin Zhiyu sneezed and shrugged. “It’s so cold, Mom.”

Xue Rong draped a newly bought down jacket over him. “A New Year’s gift.”

Lin Zhiyu was still cold, but he played along. “Wow, I’m warm all of a sudden. A mother’s love really is something else.”

“Stop your smooth-talking.”

Lin Zhiyu put on his headphones and started a voice call with Lin Rangchuan as usual, carrying a power bank with him.

“Brother Chuan, I’m going to play with firecrackers today. Have you ever played with them?” It was snowing lightly in the southern countryside, but the ground was wet—the season of sleet.

“What did you call me?”

Lin Zhiyu yawned. “Hubby.”

He lit one and threw it on the ground. Pop! Crackle! Since he was close, Yu Hechang bolted far away. Lin Zhiyu laughed and ran along, but the firecracker seemed to have legs of its own, following him.

Lin Zhiyu’s face fell. “Why is it following me? Don’t let it go off here!!!”

On the other end, the veins in Lin Rangchuan’s temples throbbed. His mind was filled with images of Lin Zhiyu fussing and crying.

Lin Zhiyu, still shaken, continued playing. “Why did it run? I bought a disobedient firecracker. I’ll smash it.”

He made a fierce face, which Yu Hechang caught on camera and turned into an emoji to send to him. The person in question was already exasperated.

Lin Zhiyu ran far away before finally attending to the person on the phone. “It’s so much fun. You should have come to spend the New Year with me.”

“Why couldn’t I?”

Lin Zhiyu asked expectantly, “You’re coming over?”

“Hubby is very busy,” Lin Rangchuan said lazily.

Lin Zhiyu pouted and rubbed his ears. “I talk to you every day; these headphones are making my ears hurt.”

“Hubby will blow on them for you.”

Lin Zhiyu didn’t believe him. “I’ll hit you!”

He turned around to walk away, huffing, but didn’t pay attention to what was in front of him. He slammed into a tree trunk, clutching his nose, unable to speak.

Lin Rangchuan’s voice lost its calm. “Baby?”

“My nose hurts.” With a heavy nasal tone and a faint sob—it really did hurt, it wasn’t just him being delicate.

“I’m worried about you.” Lin Rangchuan paused, then asked, “Are you crying?”

“…”

“If you cry, there’s no one to comfort you.” Lin Rangchuan’s lips were pressed into a thin, pale line, appearing very unhappy.

Lin Zhiyu wanted to say plenty of people would comfort him, but he swallowed it. “I’m crying. I’m waiting for you to comfort me.”

Lin Rangchuan couldn’t teleport. He felt stifled, angry at himself. “It’s not like I made you cry.”

The pain lessened. Lin Zhiyu felt his nose—no nosebleed. Realizing what was said, he kicked the tree trunk in frustration. “As if you haven’t made me cry plenty of times!”

Wait, what was he saying?

The topic took a turn. Lin Rangchuan’s fingertips trembled as he touched his thigh. For a moment, a faint, phantom heat seemed to radiate.

Even though there was no blood, it still hurt. Lin Zhiyu went home to rest. Upstairs, Xue Rong had bought a new heater and plugged it in for him. She wouldn’t let him touch cold water—only hot.

“You’ve definitely caught a cold; your voice is all nasal. Take some medicine after lunch.”

Lin Zhiyu was too embarrassed to say he ran into a tree. “Okay.”

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, they prepared chicken, duck, fish, and meat. For just two people, there were several large dishes—color, aroma, and taste were all present. The sense of ceremony was complete. Lin Zhiyu already foresaw that the next few days would be nothing but leftovers.

Xue Rong went to pray and burn incense. Every blessing was about Lin Zhiyu. When he heard her wishing for him to marry soon and have a partner to keep him company, his teeth actually ached.

Xue Rong suddenly had a psychic moment, turning her head and waving for Lin Zhiyu to join her. “Tell the ancestors to bless you with wealth, good internship opportunities after graduation, and to find a nice girl to start a family with.”

Lin Zhiyu held the incense, silent.

Xue Rong asked him, “Do you want a son or a daughter?”

Lin Zhiyu’s soul drifted for a moment. He looked at her. “I like you.”

“Be serious.”

“I’m talking, I’m talking.” Lin Zhiyu formally offered the incense. “A son, then.” In his mind, Lin Rangchuan’s face appeared.

I guess he counts as a son. They both had the surname Lin, anyway.

…

In the afternoon, Yu Hechang dragged Lin Zhiyu to the river for an “adventure” with some other friends. But before they could set off, Xue Rong called him back.

Lin Zhiyu didn’t want to spoil the fun. “You guys go. I’ll join the team next time.” Yu Hechang regretfully became the temporary leader.

Lin Zhiyu thought it was an emergency. He saw Xue Rong standing very awkwardly at the door. Seeing him, she gestured and whispered, “A guest came. He says he knows you. He brought so many gifts—bird’s nest, sea cucumber, all very expensive.”

Lin Zhiyu was confused. “He’s inside?”

Xue Rong shook her head. “He went to buy some fruit; he’ll be here in a… here he comes. That’s him.”

Lin Zhiyu’s heart jolted. Don’t let it be Lin Rangchuan, he thought. A sudden meeting like this—he wasn’t prepared at all.

He rubbed his hands inside his sleeves several times before finally seeing a figure slowly riding over on an electric scooter. It was Lou Chen.

Lin Zhiyu was dumbfounded. He walked down the steps, still rubbing his hands. “You rode this thing all the way from City A to here?”

“…”

Lou Chen: “How is that possible!”

Lin Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief and introduced him to Xue Rong as a senior one year above him. Fearing she wouldn’t believe it, he dragged Yu Hechang into the story.

Lou Chen immediately picked up the script. “Right, right! Xiao He, I know him too. He always comes to the milk tea shop—pfft!”

Lin Zhiyu gave him an elbow to the ribs.

Xue Rong jumped. “What happened?”

Lin Zhiyu gave a small smile. “Nothing. I often went there with Yu Hechang to drink milk tea; that’s how I met Brother Lou.”

Lou Chen clutched his stomach, rubbing it and smiling apologetically. “Right, right.”

With the double insurance, Xue Rong relaxed, her face full of smiles. “That’s good then. Such a handsome young man, coming all this way to see you during the New Year. Your relationship must be special.”

The three chatted as they went inside. Xue Rong invited him, “Where are you staying? I have a spare room here, if you don’t mind…”

Lou Chen interrupted her with a sunny, bright smile. “Auntie, don’t worry about it. I’m an uninvited guest as it is. I’ve booked a hotel in town, and the scooter is a rental. I’m just here for a trip and stopped by to visit a classmate. Please don’t be so formal. Actually, I’ve wanted to come and grab a meal for a long time—Xiao Yu often brags that your cooking is delicious.”

As expected of Lin Rangchuan’s manager, his silver tongue was smooth. After that, Xue Rong instantly lost her reservations.

However—Xue Rong went to the kitchen to boil water. Lou Chen glanced at the composed Lin Zhiyu and couldn’t squeeze out a single word for a while. Lin Zhiyu’s big eyes couldn’t hide anything; he was happy when he was happy and angry when he was angry. They were so bright that, with one look, they made Lou Chen’s smile fade.

Xue Rong brought out some high-quality tea leaves—a gift from a customer when she opened the shop that she’d been saving. After a few sips, Auntie San from next door dropped by, saying they were one short for a mahjong game. Lin Zhiyu told his mom to go, saying he would take Lou Chen for a stroll. Only then did Xue Rong agree.

Once outside, Lin Zhiyu was still looking at him. He gave an elegant smile. “You’re getting nervous? I haven’t been mean to you or interrogated you. What are you afraid of?”

The fact that he could date Lin Rangchuan was proof that Lin Zhiyu wasn’t exactly a normal person either. Lou Chen had been processing their relationship ever since he found out.

Lin Zhiyu tilted his head. “He sent you?”

Lou Chen hummed. “Yeah. He told me to come check on you. I was bored anyway—I’m over thirty, so my parents don’t bother me anymore. It was Brother Lin’s suggestion.”

It was a reasonable explanation. Lin Zhiyu said, “Why didn’t he come himself?”

“…” Lou Chen glanced at him. “Does he dare? Would you let him?”

Lin Zhiyu thought: That’s a fair point. But he had been caught up in the moment earlier, thinking it really was Lin Rangchuan. After the disappointment passed, he calmed down. “I’m not angry. But since you’re here, have a good time. I’ll show you around, though I’m a local.”

Lou Chen didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with being a local?”

“Being a local means I have absolutely no idea what’s fun to do around here.”

Lou Chen: “…”

Lin Zhiyu’s smile was gentle; he found it fun to tease people. Lou Chen watched him, then suddenly said, “Yesterday on New Year’s Eve, Lin Rangchuan went home to be with his mother. Usually, he’d definitely lose his temper, but I heard you stayed up all night with him?”

“Not really, it was off and on.” Lin Zhiyu blushed.

Lou Chen was suspicious. “You guys are moving fast. Every time he goes home for the New Year, he throws a fit, and then his mother calls me.”

Lin Zhiyu knew nothing about the mess in Lin Rangchuan’s family, but he didn’t ask. He didn’t want to hear it from an outsider; if Lin Rangchuan wanted to tell him, he would. Lin Zhiyu always went with the flow and didn’t want to rip open his boyfriend’s bloody wounds—it felt too cruel.

Lou Chen also wanted the best for his friend. “Now that he has you, he seems much better. He’s slowly improving. I hope you two last a long time.”

Lin Zhiyu got carried away. “Of course! You can rest easy now that he’s with me.”

They stayed by the river for a while. The wind was bone-chilling, the southern cold carrying a dampness. Lin Zhiyu exhaled a cloud of white mist. “He really didn’t come?”

Lou Chen shook his head.

Lin Zhiyu squeezed the red envelope in his pocket and said disappointedly, “Alright then.”