OVTTGTBE Chapter 12

Dinner Gathering

Dinner Gathering

“Liu Yucheng.”

“Liu Yucheng, it’s time to wake up.”

Liu Yucheng frowned and groggily opened his eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, he remembered that he was in the hospital.

Bai Yao moved his shoulders, which were so stiff they couldn’t be stiffer. “Liu Yucheng, let me tell you, my leg is injured, and I’ve only washed my hair recently. I haven’t showered for days. Please move your head; your nose is about to grow into my neck.”

The breath he exhaled kept sweeping across his neck, making it unbearably itchy. His patience had reached its limit.

Also, not showering for a few days would have resulted in his mother severely disliking him to the point of kicking him out of the house; Liu Yucheng, however, was happily sticking close. He probably couldn’t smell anything because he was sick.

“…”

“Sorry.”

Liu Yucheng quickly adjusted his sitting posture.

But that nap was so comfortable; he wanted to do it again…

He felt his nose was clear, and his whole body felt much lighter. The needle in his left hand had been removed at some point, and the IV drip was still hanging on the stand, now empty.

Their hands had become very stiff from being in the same position for so long.

Afraid that Bai Yao would be unhappy, Liu Yucheng quickly let go of him and said again, “Sorry.”

“It’s time to go. It’ll be dark and cold soon.”

Bai Yao stood up and stretched his limbs, saying, “Zhang Yifang and the others are already at the door. Let’s go.”

Liu Yucheng remained seated.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, “My legs are numb.”

“Huh? Then stand up and walk around, move a little.”

Bai Yao watched him from the side. “Can you stand up on your own? I probably can’t support you right now. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll call Zhang Yifang and the others in to help you…”

Liu Yucheng immediately stood up, looking at Bai Yao expectantly. The pressure from his height of over 1.9 meters instantly made Bai Yao feel a little unbalanced—if he hadn’t had diarrhea every time he drank milk as a child, he would definitely be taller than him.

Moreover, Bai Yao saw that his movements were smooth and didn’t think his legs were numb at all.

But out of kindness for the patient, Bai Yao still asked, “How long will it take?”

“Wait a little longer.”

Until he thought of an excuse to keep Bai Yao around a little longer.

He didn’t want to leave so soon because once they left the hospital, they would have to go back to school, and Bai Yao would go back to his 319 dorm. Liu Yucheng couldn’t find a reason to step into that 319 door again.

Peach Milk had already been blacklisted by Bai Yao. He didn’t know if he would ever have the chance to be so close to Bai Yao again.

He wished time could slow down, even if it was just for a few seconds. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop time at all.

“Alright.”

Bai Yao took out his phone. “Then I’ll have them go to the restaurant to get a table first. It’s easy to catch a cold waiting outside. We’ll go to the restaurant to find them later.”

Hearing these words, a trace of surprise appeared in Liu Yucheng’s eyes.

He would actually have another chance to be with Bai Yao!

“I haven’t forgotten.”

Bai Yao didn’t even look up, saying as he sent a WeChat message, “I said, you have to stay ten meters away from me from now on… Today is an exception, it doesn’t count for now, let’s start from tomorrow. Yan Hao doesn’t know about our relationship, and he came to me when he saw you were sick, so I couldn’t refuse directly.”

Moreover, the person he used to like was now sick, and no one was taking care of him. Bai Yao felt that it was normal for him, as a single man, to be soft-hearted. This didn’t mean he wanted to get back together with Liu Yucheng.

As for saying he would take him to the restaurant to eat together, there was also a reason.

While sitting and waiting just now, Bai Yao had suddenly become a little curious—Liu Yucheng had been waiting for a message all night, so how would he react when he saw the message he replied to Peach Milk?

Would he be so shocked that his face would change drastically?

Liu Yucheng hadn’t even looked at his phone since waking up. Sooner or later, he would take out his phone to check his messages at the dinner table.

Bai Yao didn’t want to miss this moment, so he couldn’t let him go back yet. Anyway, his fever had already gone down, so it shouldn’t be a problem for him to eat out.

“… Okay.”

The trace of surprise that had just ignited in Liu Yucheng’s eyes was mostly extinguished.

Today, Bai Yao had taken the initiative to find him, and he had thought that the “ten-meter rule” no longer applied.

…

Although it wasn’t dark outside yet, the wind was strong, making Bai Yao shiver. The weather forecast said it would snow tonight, which was one of the reasons why Bai Yao had chosen to go to college in this northern city. His hometown never snowed.

Liu Yucheng was initially following behind him, but seeing Bai Yao limping ahead, his back view looking very desolate, Liu Yucheng sped up.

Catching up with Bai Yao, he boldly said, “I’ll carry you.”

Bai Yao stopped and stared at him for a while, saying, “What’s wrong with you?”

He looked a little unhappy, and Liu Yucheng stood there blankly, not knowing how to react for a moment.

“You either walk miles away from me; or you say you want to carry me, or just pick me up directly… Are you a binary switch? Can’t you just walk side by side with me like a normal person??”

“… Sorry.” Liu Yucheng awkwardly lowered his eyes.

“Here.”

Bai Yao took the initiative to extend an arm. “Do you know how to help someone walk? Like helping an old lady cross the road, just support me. It’s too cold outside, and this way we can walk faster… When we get outside the restaurant, I’ll walk on my own again.”

The opportunity had actually presented itself, and Liu Yucheng quickly supported him.

After walking a long way, Liu Yucheng finally asked, “Why? Don’t you want people to see you walking closely with your ex-boyfriend?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Bai Yao answered without hesitation. “But I also want to walk faster, so being supported by you is just something that can’t be helped.”

Liu Yucheng didn’t ask any more questions. The two of them crossed the road and went to the nearby business district. The restaurant was on the fifth floor of the mall, and Zhang Yifang had already sent the table number to Bai Yao.

The two of them went up the escalator, one floor at a time. With each floor, Bai Yao could feel Liu Yucheng becoming more nervous.

Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time Liu Yucheng had eaten with his three roommates. In the past, when Bai Yao had dinner with his roommates, he would ask Liu Yucheng to join him, but Liu Yucheng would always refuse with the excuse of “doing a part-time job.”

At that time, Bai Yao didn’t think much of it. Since he wasn’t coming to the dinner, he would find more opportunities to eat with Liu Yucheng alone; he would then hang out with his roommates during dorm dinners.

“You guys are here?”

Li Jinyang enthusiastically greeted them. “You two sit on the outer seats. He just had an IV drip, so he’ll probably need to go to the bathroom later.”

Liu Yucheng nodded, stiffly saying, “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to be so nervous, we’re not going to do anything to you.” Tao Lin smiled and handed them the menu. “Same rules as always, each person orders one dish, and then we discuss together to order one big dish. We’ve already ordered, just waiting for you two.”

Liu Yucheng pushed the menu to Bai Yao, letting him order first.

Liu Yucheng had never been interested in understanding Bai Yao’s three roommates before, only remembering their names and characteristics.

Li Jinyang looked chubby and talked a lot. Bai Yao had said that he was a good person, but too greedy; Zhang Yifang was the one who recommended Bai Yao to play that game, and like Bai Yao, he was a southerner. His family had settled in this city years ago because of their business; Tao Lin wore black-rimmed glasses, had a very good temper, and was a straight man. But because he looked too delicate, Bai Yao said that he was always treated as a “sister” by the girls he had a crush on.

“Brother Yao is a very precious young master, super picky about food, you should know that, right?” Li Jinyang looked at Liu Yucheng, asking as he drank his tea.

“Yeah.” Liu Yucheng nodded.

He had only found out yesterday that Bai Yao was allergic to so many things.

“Then can you satisfy our curiosity—who did you go to bed with on Friday?”

Li Jinyang suddenly changed the topic, asking him directly, “Your new love, you found them even faster than Brother Yao! Brother Yao’s new love seems to still be in the stage of chatting on the phone, right? How did you guys directly go to a hotel?”

Bai Yao was looking at the menu. Hearing this, he raised his head and glanced at Li Jinyang.

Before coming, the three of them had asked Bai Yao in the dorm group chat if there were any topics they couldn’t talk about in front of Liu Yucheng during dinner?

Bai Yao had replied at that time: There shouldn’t be anything, I’ve already broken up with him, just chat about whatever.

He had thought the topics would be the same as usual, chatting about games and movies, discussing homework or when to take the CET-4 and CET-6 exams; but what was this rhythm now? Why did it have the meaning of a family negotiation before a divorce?

“Li Jinyang, be friendly.” Tao Lin pushed up his glasses, saying, “It’s his first time eating with us, look, you’ve scared him. Don’t make the relationship awkward.”

“It’s okay, he’s sticking up for me.”

Bai Yao ordered his food, casually pushing the menu in front of Liu Yucheng. “Yesterday I heard Zhang Yifang say that he went to a hotel, and I was still quite sad. But I’m fine now, I’ve already let it go.”

He even patted Liu Yucheng on the shoulder like a real man, comforting him, “We’ve already broken up, so you don’t need to feel any psychological burden.”

Liu Yucheng didn’t touch the menu, but lowered his head and fiddled with the tablecloth in front of him with his hand.

His silence, which had moved from the two-person table with Bai Yao to the five-person table now, magnified the strangeness of the atmosphere.

Bai Yao felt that things were getting more and more interesting. Li Jinyang and the other two didn’t know about Peach Milk, only knowing that he had someone he chatted with and shared daily life with every day.

But if things continued to develop like this, he wondered if it would force Liu Yucheng to take off his mask and admit that Peach Milk was his alternate account?

Just as he was pondering, Liu Yucheng suddenly raised his head, looking sideways at Bai Yao. “How can you treat me like this?”

Bai Yao: “?”

What kind of answer was this?

“You know what I did on Friday night. I already told you in person when I carried you back to the dorm yesterday.”

Liu Yucheng’s expression now would make anyone think he had suffered a great injustice. “Why didn’t you tell them and instead used this to embarrass me with them? You know I have a psychological aversion to intimacy, and I can’t be as close to others as that.”

Yesterday? Carried back to the dorm?? Explained in person???

The three people sitting across the table were instantly dumbfounded, looking at Bai Yao with puzzled expressions.

Bai Yao: “…………”

Damn, he actually kicked the ball back to him!!