TSIBAMS Chapter 116
by Volare“The significance of the founding of the new China,” Ye Xing mumbled, holding a half-eaten bun in his left hand and a pen in his right, scribbling on scrap paper as he recited, “First, it laid a solid foundation for the gradual development of national political construction; second, it ended the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society; third…”
“Ye Xing—” His deskmate rushed over, face flushed, and after dropping his bag, quickly pulled his stool closer, “Is it true what they’re saying lately?”
“Huh?” Ye Xing didn’t look up, “Third, it changed the balance of world political forces…”
His deskmate leaned even closer, lowering his voice, “Haven’t you seen the forum? A lot of people are discussing whether you and Wu Tong are together!”
“What?” Ye Xing widened his eyes and looked up, “Who the hell is spreading this nonsense?”
“Look, look!” His deskmate took out his phone and tapped a few times, then placed it solemnly in front of him, even reading out the title as if afraid he wouldn’t understand, “The school’s high school heartthrob is finally taken! Wu Tong’s coffee shop’s new owner is Ye Xing!”
Ye Xing clicked on it, completely bewildered, and found that there were already over fifty pages of posts.
[I represent all the girls who secretly have a crush on Ye Xing, crying first, waaaah!]
[I represent the not-so-many but still quite a few guys who secretly have a crush on Wu Tong, crying with you!]
[OMG, what a beautiful love story, the male lead only dared to face his feelings after the female lead left, taking over the coffee shop to remember her and silently wait??]
[What ‘silently wait’? Maybe they’ve already started a long-distance relationship! Don’t you know Wu Tong gave Ye Xing a gift before she left? It’s a two-way arrow, people!!]
[Yeah, otherwise, when taking over a shop, you’d usually remodel, but nothing inside has changed! Even the staff are still there!!]
[I can testify, even the sign hasn’t changed!! Still Wutong Cafe!! OMG, I’m shipping them so hard!!]
Ye Xing frowned speechlessly.
What the hell was all this about? It’s just that he didn’t have time to deal with all this, okay? Were these people not studying and spending all their energy on gossip?
They were thinking too much with so little knowledge!
He took a bite of his almost cold bun, a little annoyed, and continued scrolling down.
[I have Wu Tong’s WeChat, her moments don’t seem to hint at anything?]
[Maybe she blocked you, or she didn’t plan to post anything there.]
[Yeah, yeah, these days you have to stalk someone on Weibo! You’ll find everything there.]
[So exciting, does anyone have their Weibo accounts? Let’s form a team to eat melons!!]
[Quietly raising my hand, I have Ye Xing’s account, I’ve been following him for years, watching him go from a nobody to over 100,000 followers!!]
Hiss—
Ye Xing sucked in a cold breath.
Who was this person? Secretly following him!
He gulped down a big mouthful of soy milk, frowning as he swiped down the screen.
[Ye Xing is actually an internet celebrity??]
[Strictly speaking, he probably isn’t, he never shows his face, his Weibo is full of his occasional paintings and photographs, but I think he doesn’t want people he knows to find out about this account, because his following list doesn’t have any of our classmates.]
[Then how did you find out?]
[I was in the same class with him in middle school, I just followed him when I first started using Weibo because it was suggested by my contacts, but he didn’t follow me back, probably thought I was a zombie account…]
[Upstairs, please give us the Weibo account!!!]
[Not a good idea, I think he wouldn’t want people he knows to find out about this account…]
[It’s fine, we’ll just eat some melon and stalk him, we absolutely won’t like, follow, or comment, won’t leave even a trace behind!!]
His deskmate finally spoke, seeing Ye Xing’s increasingly gloomy face, “The person who started this thread is blind, right?”
Thinking that he had received unconditional trust, Ye Xing felt a surge of gratitude.
But then he added, “He’s clearly a school heartthrob, they actually demoted our Bro Ye!”
After sending the recorded song, he hadn’t received any response, which made Qi Guang feel distracted for several days.
Was he sulking?
He considered calling to reassure himself, but every time he hesitated for a long time before putting his phone down.
After all, he was the one who initiated the breakup. Now, going back and contacting him, demanding a response… it looked pretty annoying no matter how he looked at it.
No zuo no die.
It felt like going back to the time right after they broke up. Every day he felt like something was wrong. He finally couldn’t bear it after a week of this and skipped evening study to go to 1984 for some air.
Maybe it had been too long since he came, because he felt a little unfamiliar after pushing open the door. He looked around and realized that the walls had been freshly painted.
Since it wasn’t the weekend and it wasn’t even the busy hour yet, there were hardly any people inside. So, he didn’t go to the bar, but found a sofa nearby and sat down.
Xu Ge heard the noise and turned to see the person on the sofa. Without surprise, he walked straight over.
“The results of the second mock exam are out, right?”
Qi Guang didn’t expect the boss to greet him this way.
“Yeah,” Qi Guang replied, “They’ve been out for a while.”
“Judging by your listless look, seems like you haven’t surpassed number one yet?”
“Xu Ge, why are you always talking about my studies now? Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re my real brother.”
“I’m your real dad!” Xu Ge bared his teeth at him.
Qi Guang’s gaze unintentionally swept over his clothes and he smirked, shaking his head with a noncommittal smile, “Oh, no wonder Boss Xu is in such a good mood, you’ve been staying at Bai Shu’s place recently…”
“Hiss—” Xu Ge acted like he was going to hit him, “You little rascal!”
“Did I say anything wrong?” Qi Guang pretended to dodge him, “Please call me Sherlock Qi. Today I represent the broad proletariat to accuse you, the evil capitalist, of exploiting and oppressing your lower-level employees. You even want his shirts for yourself, tsk, isn’t it too tight?”
Xu Ge looked down and noticed that the shirt did seem a lighter color than what he usually wore.
“No wonder, it is a bit tight. Thanks for the reminder, it removed my doubts that I was experiencing middle-aged weight gain.” Xu Ge chuckled, “Hey, how are you so sure that I’m staying at Bai Shu’s, not the other way around?”
“I saw your car at the entrance. Your house is just a stone’s throw away from here.” Qi Guang raised his eyes towards the window.
“Your sensitive nose… makes it seem like I’ve been caught cheating,” Xu Ge shrank his head in awe and concluded, “Single dogs are terrifying.”
Qi Guang didn’t say anything, his eyes still fixed on a certain spot, unfocused.
Xu Ge watched him slumped on the sofa like a withered leek and poked his arm with his elbow.
He sighed and reluctantly sat up straight, then hunched down again, elbows on his thighs, head buried in his hands.
“Xu Ge, I’m a little upset.”
“Okay, talk to me.” Xu Ge said.
“Last week was Ye Xing’s birthday, I couldn’t help contacting him.” Qi Guang said.
“Did you ask him to get back together?” Xu Ge asked.
Qi Guang was silent for a moment before saying, “I don’t dare.”
“Afraid he’ll reject you?” Xu Ge asked.
“With his personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if he rejected me, but I’m even more afraid that he won’t.” Qi Guang said.
Xu Ge frowned, “What do you mean?”
“Actually, the breakup before was quite inexplicable, but on closer inspection, I realized that there were many things we couldn’t fight against with our strength, for example, his mom went to see a psychiatrist because of our matter,” Qi Guang said, rubbing his forehead in frustration, “I really feel guilty. Even if I shamelessly ask to get back together, and he agrees, will we then spend our days with our ears and eyes covered, pretending that nothing happened? It’s impossible. The barrier is there, we are simply not capable of changing it.”
He sniffed, then continued, “I know he loves his mom very much, and I also know that they need each other more than ever after their family fell into trouble this year. I also know that he’s always blamed me for breaking up, but the truth is, I’ve never blamed him for leaving here.”
Xu Ge didn’t know how to comfort him, so he handed him a glass of hot water, “Or you two could find some time to talk. If this goes on, I’m afraid it will affect your college entrance exam.”
Qi Guang didn’t respond to him, but continued to speak, “There’s another very important reason, I can’t ask him to get back together, I don’t seem to have the confidence to do it.”
Xu Ge was confused.
“Like you and Bai Shu,” Qi Guang glanced at Bai Shu, who was checking the accounts at the cashier, then looked back at Xu Ge, “You’re his boss, you have more than him and can give him a lot, so even if the two of you argue and break up one day, you can still confidently bring him back, but Bai Shu probably couldn’t.”
“Huh?” Xu Ge was totally confused by what he was saying, “No! Why wouldn’t Bai Shu be able to confidently bring me back?”
“It’s not that he doesn’t love you enough,” Qi Guang said calmly, “Think carefully, why has he been by your side for so many years, always quietly watching and waiting for you to choose him, instead of pursuing you recklessly from the very start?”
Xu Ge’s eyebrows were now knitted together in a knot.
“He feels he doesn’t have the capital, just like I feel about Ye Xing now.” Qi Guang said.
Xu Ge was beginning to understand, “Do you think you can’t give him anything?”
Qi Guang didn’t speak, slowly sipping the hot water.
Xu Ge didn’t bother him anymore. Just then, some customers came into the shop, so he got up to greet them.
Qi Guang sat there alone, drinking the cup of hot water as if it was white wine, taking small sips. He took out his phone and noticed an unread message.
He clicked on it, and was surprised to see that it was from Huang Shanshan.
-You and Ye Xing??!!!! Is it real??? OMG!!!!
It was rare to see this little girl get so excited that she cursed. Qi Guang didn’t know what had happened, and typed three words and sent them.
-What’s up?
-He came out on Weibo, didn’t you see??? It’s full of your pictures!!!
Qi Guang almost dropped his phone.
His heart was pounding like thunder, he tried to type but found his fingers completely out of his control, he managed to type only one word after a long time.
-Huh?
-Go check the hot comments!! The top ones are all people I know, Ye Xing even liked their comments!!