Chapter 131: No Bro, You

"The love I gave you was written before the Common Era, buried deep in the Mesopotamian plains."

Jiang Nian finished washing up, humming a tune as he walked out of the bathroom, shook his head, and used a towel to dry off the water. He glanced down at his phone, and his brow lifted.

"Five minutes to wash my hair and take a shower—I'm really badass."

After blow-drying his hair, he went back to his room, lay on the bed, and received a picture Lin Dong had sent him.

"【Wonton】 (grin)."

Jiang Nian's eyes went dead-fish blank. He thought to himself, what's wrong with this Lin Dong? Sending this kind of thing as a late-night snack too—he'd thought it was another beauty-stepping-out-of-the-bath pic. He'd overestimated him.

"???"

Lin Dong replied at lightspeed, "Guess whose wonton this is? (sunglasses)"

Jiang Nian: "The cafeteria auntie wrapped it with her mouth for you."

In the dorm room with the lights off, the smile on Lin Dong's face instantly froze.

Lesson learned for next time—never chat with Jiang Nian while eating.

Damn, one sentence and his appetite was gone. That wonton-selling auntie's over fifty, wrapping them with her mouth—

Shit, can't think about it anymore, the image is already there.

"No, Yang—" He had just typed one character, then suddenly stopped. He carefully glanced around and asked his neighbors, "Where did cousin Qiming go?"

Huang Cailang was showering naked on the balcony, and turned around to answer.

"I just saw him, he went up to the roof."

Lin Dong took a look, and his gaze unconsciously gathered on the bird's nest. His face immediately showed a pained expression—these people were dead set on not letting him enjoy his late-night snack in peace!

"Get lost, get lost—turn around, damn you!"

"Oh, oh." Huang Cailang turned around, facing the window to shower, leaving his roommates a bare naked back. "Dong-ge, can't blame me."

"The bathroom line was too slow. I'm so sleepy today, I still want to sleep early."

Lin Dong's face was complicated, and he put on Yang Mi's signature disgusted expression.

"Aren't you afraid the building opposite will see?"

"Afraid of what? It's so far away, and our dorm doesn't have its lights on." Huang Cailang splashed water on himself with a towel as he showered. "Besides, there's a wall blocking the bottom."

Lin Dong: "."

He always felt his roommates were all weirdos, but couldn't find any proof.

He thought for a moment, then lowered his head and continued sending Jiang Nian messages to brag.

"Yang Qiming gave it to me. He originally wanted to use it to win over his girlfriend. But his girlfriend ignored him and even blocked him—so it ended up with me."

Half a minute later, Jiang Nian replied.

"Yang Qiming might be playing a very new kind of Nantong fishing method. Actually, he never bought it for his girlfriend in the first place. Is there any chance…"

Looking at that last line of the message, and the ellipsis after it, cold sweat instantly broke out on Lin Dong.

He gulped, and replied trembling.

"Nian-ge, you can't just say things like that."

The message was sent, but Lin Dong's heart was no longer calm. It would've been better if Jiang Nian hadn't said anything—once he did, Lin Dong really couldn't stay calm. After all, he'd just eaten Yang Qiming's rice noodle roll this morning.

Is Yang Qiming's girlfriend some kind of hidden talent from the south of town?

Reject three times before accepting, right?

Jiang Nian's message popped up again. "You can go ask him. He'll definitely say it just like this. 'Little fool, this was prepared for you all along.'"

Lin Dong glanced at the wonton, and suddenly felt a flutter of panic.

There was a tiny bit of something off. Yang Qiming bought two portions this morning, so giving him one to eat was reasonable. But how to explain the evening one—his girlfriend refused it—

Couldn't Yang Qiming eat it himself? Never heard of any guy in high school not eating late-night snacks, saying he wants to lose weight.

"Nian-ge, stop joking around."

The message was sent, and Jiang Nian only replied with a smug-smiling sticker.

Lin Dong couldn't sit still anymore. His reason told him—Jiang Nian was just purely annoyed at seeing him eat a late-night snack, deliberately pulling this stunt. But…what if?

Thinking of this, he was no longer in the mood to eat the wonton.

When Brother Jie gave Ah Wei snacks, he was quite generous too.

He and Yang Qiming were in the same dorm, sleeping in the same room every day. Better to confirm—just in case one day he opened his eyes in the middle of the night.

Brothers turning on each other—how terrifying would that be.

Then there really would be no escape.

Lin Dong thought for a moment, and sent Yang Qiming a message.

"Cousin, where are you?"

The message was sent, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea.

About three minutes later, Yang Qiming replied.

"The roof."

Lin Dong breathed a sigh of relief. During those three minutes just now, he'd already thought it through. Jiang Nian really was just rotten, stirring up nonsense out of pure jealousy that he had wontons to eat.

"Alright, I'll come find you."

Yang Qiming replied, "OK."

Building Five, boys' dorm, the roof.

Logically speaking, the roof should always be locked. But the boys' dorm was full of resourceful guys—no one knew which bro had picked the lock; you couldn't spot it at all unless you looked carefully.

A few of the boys on the upper floors of Building Five silently kept this secret among themselves.

Late at night, after Yang Qiming finished replying to the message, he rubbed the back of his head irritably. He really couldn't figure out what women were thinking—gave her food and she didn't want it.

Saying stuff like… "I didn't ask you to bring it!"

Those words cut deep into Yang Qiming. For the first time, he gritted his teeth and glared at his girlfriend, his emotions getting the better of him.

"What do you mean! Your QQ signature—so you want some other guy to send it to you?"

It was precisely that one sentence. His girlfriend's face instantly went cold; she turned her head and walked straight into the dorm, then turned around and blocked him on every contact method he had.

With no other choice, he could only chat with his girlfriend through Alipay.

【Did you just want to hit me?

You have violent tendencies. Is that my fault?

There's nothing left to say between us. Let's break up. It's over.】

Though he wasn't a simp, those words truly wounded his heart. Annoyed, he logged out, and accidentally tapped open QQ.

If his girlfriend hadn't said that line, would he have gotten worked up? The QQ signature wasn't hinting at himself—then who was it hinting at?

Put this on any guy out there—who could swallow it?

At that moment, he truly wanted to rip open his own heart and show it to her. In this relationship, he had invested real feelings. What did all that effort even count for?

In the midst of his anguish, the urge to pee came.

The dorm rooftop was higher than the two shabby off-campus group-rental buildings across the way. Apart from a row of heat-dissipation tiles and a few water tanks, it was pitch black up there.

So there was no need to hold back—just pull down his pants, take a piss, and be done with it.

Yang Qiming did exactly that. After letting loose, he couldn't help but let out a long breath; the knot of resentment in his heart, controlled by that terrible woman, loosened a little.

He pulled up his jeans and yanked the zipper.

Hm? Why is it stuck?

Yang Qiming tried several times without success. He couldn't help but laugh in spite of himself. How could every rotten thing pile up on the same day? That woman was one thing.

The pants zipper was another. Damn it.

He tried a few more times, still no luck. The nameless fire suppressed in his chest instantly erupted; silently he roared, everyone's bullying me, everyone's bullying me!

Yang Qiming frantically yanked the zipper up and down, his face contorted, letting out low growls every now and then.

At the rooftop door, Lin Dong stood frozen in place.

Yang Qiming had his back to him, doing strange movements nonstop—bending forward and leaning back in combination. First ruling out back exercises, his hip joints were nearly flinging themselves front and back.

Accompanied by a savage low growl, as if he was—

More critically, Yang Qiming's phone screen was lit, lingering on the chat interface with himself.

In that instant, Lin Dong's world collapsed.

The pain this image brought might take a lifetime to heal.

Yang Qiming seemed to sense something too. He turned around, but saw nothing. The rooftop door was empty. Only then did he remember Lin Dong saying he'd come find him.

In the darkness, he couldn't help muttering.

"Why hasn't Brother Dong come yet?"

Against the wall by the rooftop door, Lin Dong clamped a hand over his mouth, his face full of terror. On all fours, he scrambled down the stairs and fled back to the dorm as if running for his life.

Bang! Crack!

"Brother Dong, why'd you lock the door from inside?" Huang Cailang was drying his hair over there, looking puzzled, kindly reminding him, "Yang Qiming isn't back yet."

Lin Dong pressed his back hard against the door, so scared he couldn't get a word out, trembling all over.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Huang Cailang gave an "oh," his gaze drifting to that bowl of wontons.

"Godfather, are you still eating your wontons?"

Lin Dong shook his head violently. "Take them away, take them away!"

"Got it, bro." Huang Cailang was delighted.

He'd seen it himself—Lin Dong only ate one wonton before heading out. Now it was all his. What was there to complain about? They weren't leftovers.

Hehe, what a steal.

The entire night, Lin Dong drifted between half-awake and half-asleep, badly spooked.

Yang Qiming hadn't noticed this at all. When he went downstairs, his girlfriend had sent another message. He was busy arguing, and kept at it until his phone died.

In the final second before the screen went black, she sent one line.

"I'm begging you, let me go."

Seeing that line, Yang Qiming couldn't sleep the entire night. The moment he closed his eyes in the dorm, scenes from their relationship flashed before him one after another.

Yang Qiming's heart suddenly softened again, and a thought flashed through his mind.

Maybe, tomorrow I'll try one more time—bring her breakfast.

Perhaps she's just like him. One night is enough to calm down; tomorrow she'll come around. After all, we have so many beautiful memories!

This is love!

The next day.

Lin Dong looked at the breakfast on his desk, and felt as if he'd fallen into an icy abyss. His fingers dug into his hair, the whites of his eyes bloodshot, and only one thought filled his mind.

No, bro, you—

I'm done for, I'm done for, I have to switch dorms!!!

Ceng You's dorm still has one free bed. I'll swap with one of them. Given the connections I've built up, they probably won't refuse.

Although that dorm has Wu Jungu, which will be a bit awkward, it's still better than—

"Team leader, what's wrong?" Chen Yunyun glanced at Lin Dong curiously, hesitating, "You look so pale—are you sick?"

Sun Zhicheng arrived early today and took a look too, startled.

"Brother Dong, did you pull an all-nighter last night? Your eyes are that red?"

"I'm fine, just—fine, just didn't sleep well." Lin Dong coughed. He definitely couldn't tell anyone about this, though Jiang Nian must have figured it out.

Sigh! That bastard! He really deserves to die!

Chen Yunyun was about to ask more, but suddenly caught sight of Jiang Nian coming in through the classroom door.

She couldn't help but stop mid-sentence, pressed her lips together, and walked across most of the classroom toward the door.

Sun Zhicheng appeared to be memorizing vocabulary, but his eyes had long since taken in everything.

Watching Chen Yunyun's back, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken, wishing he could write a sad love song on the spot. But in the end, he could only hold it in and swallow the bitter fruit.

Start over as friends—love is restraint and endurance!

This is love.

Fewer updates today, starting tomorrow I'll do my best to update three times.