Chapter 105: Whether he comes or not is his freedom

Chen Mian held a bowl of oden, eating while swaying back to the dormitory, when he saw Xu Yanfeng sitting as steady as a great Buddha before the desk, his whole body frozen there, unmoving, his eyes widened.

Why are you still here?

Xu Yanfeng's fingers hovered above the keyboard, he turned his head and glanced at him, that glance very nonchalant: "Otherwise, where should I be?"

Chen Mian pointed at the door with the bamboo skewer in his hand, a piece of white radish speared on it, and accidentally dropped it to the ground with a "pa—" sound. Chen Mian's mouth twitched, he lowered his head, looking full of regret at the white radish on the ground.

The white radish, cooked until nearly translucent, soft and limp, had soaked up the oden broth; he hadn't even taken a bite, yet it was sacrificed like that.

Chen Mian observed a moment of silence, then raised his head and said to Xu Yanfeng: "Don't you know Xia Xi is waiting for you at Nan Guangchang to confess?"

While eating dinner in the cafeteria, Chen Mian's tieba account named "cmbay11" received a private message from Xia Xi.

Xia Xi: "Sorry to bother you, enthusiastic senior, the private information you previously gave me about Xu Yanfeng is completely true; I suppose you must be close to him?"

Chen Mian didn't dare reveal his identity, still for that reason—he feared that one day Xu Yanfeng would find out he was betraying him behind his back, and he would surely not get away with it.

He told Xia Xi that he and Xu Yanfeng lived in the same dormitory building, so he knew a bit more about his affairs than others.

This wasn't really deceiving Xia Xi either, since sharing a room counts as being in the same building.

Xia Xi: "Great, I happen to have a favor to ask you—could you pass a message to Xu Yanfeng? Just tell him I'll be waiting for him tonight at the school's Nan Guangchang, I have something to say to him, please be sure to come."

Thanks to the information Fang Huaiyuan brought back a few days earlier, Chen Mian had long known that tonight Xia Xi was seeking Xu Yanfeng to confess. He had also sounded out Xu Yanfeng's stance, and Xu Yanfeng had no intention of accepting her confession.

He wasn't even sure whether Xu Yanfeng would go see Xia Xi at all.

Chen Mian, feeling reluctant, replied tactfully to Xia Xi: "What if Xu Yanfeng doesn't come?"

Xia Xi was quite optimistic: "Just focus on delivering my message to him; whether he comes or not is his freedom."

cmbay11: "... Alright then."

Chen Mian routinely gave her four words—good luck.

After putting down his phone, Chen Mian chose his words in his mind, and without revealing himself, conveyed Xia Xi's meaning to Xu Yanfeng: "You should know Xia Xi will confess to you today, right? I just saw someone in the group say she's waiting for you at Nan Guangchang; look at her posture, if you don't go she won't leave. Do you want to go take a look?"

Xu Yanfeng gave no reaction to his words, placed his chopsticks on the side of the tray, lifted the small bowl of soup, and drank two sips.

"Xu Yanfeng, did you hear what I said?" Chen Mian felt a bit anxious, he was anxious on Xia Xi's behalf; people love to join in the fun for such things, and if Xu Yanfeng really didn't go, she'd lose even more face—"If you didn't hear me, I'll say it again."

Xu Yanfeng finally spoke impatiently: "You care a lot about this?"

Chen Mian was choked up: "Not exactly, I just..."

"Then shut up and eat."

Chen Mian fell silent, buried his head in his dry rice; tonight he had bought teriyaki chicken leg rice, the chef perhaps in a bad mood or with a shaky hand, had added too much salt, so after a few bites it was too salty to swallow.

He poked the rice with his chopsticks, secretly glancing at Xu Yanfeng opposite him.

Xu Yanfeng probably had trained his facial control skills to a state of perfection, his expression revealing nothing; trying to read his emotions from his face was harder than climbing to heaven.

Chen Mian let out a low sigh, inevitably feeling a bit of sympathy for the junior Xia Xi.

Xu Yanfeng finished his meal, lifted the tray and took it to the return slot, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and walked away without looking back. Chen Mian lagged a beat, shouting "Wait for me" while dumping the awful-tasting rice, then caught up to his pace.

Chen Mian ran, panting, lifted the cafeteria's cloth curtain, inhaled a breath of cool air, and began to hiccup: "Hic... where are you going... hic...?"

Xu Yanfeng replied with the three shortest words possible: "You tell me?"

His tone saying those three words was quite thought-provoking; Chen Mian thought he had changed his mind and intended to go to Nan Guangchang to see Xia Xi, so he smiled and said "Nothing," waving as he watched him walk away.

He had noticed that the direction Xu Yanfeng was heading was the road toward Nan Guangchang.

Chen Mian breathed a sigh of relief, put his mind at ease, turned to the small shop beside the cafeteria, bought a steaming bowl of oden, to soothe his stomach that had just been tormented.

This is why Chen Mian, upon returning to the dormitory and seeing Xu Yanfeng sitting here, reacted with such astonishment, as if he had seen a ghost.

In his understanding, Xu Yanfeng should be at Nan Guangchang right now. He had forgotten, though, that between the cafeteria and Nan Guangchang there is a fork in the road, passing through a patch of firs, leading straight to the boys' dormitory building.

Chen Mian innocently asked: "Did you go to Nan Guangchang and come back?"

Xu Yanfeng had already turned his head back; on the computer screen was an opened email, he was carefully choosing his words to reply, his mind focused on typing, so his spoken words naturally lacked sincerity: "Why should I go to Nan Guangchang?"

"Of course it's because of Xia Xi... never mind." Chen Mian shook his head and sighed, "Forget I said anything."

Regardless of before or now, Xu Yanfeng's attitude had already made his choice clear, so there was no need to probe his true feelings.

Xu Yanfeng, with his back to him, murmured a reminder: "Clean the floor, it's easy to slip if you step on it."

"Oh." Chen Mian placed the unfinished oden on the table, took a few paper towels, picked up the glistening white radish that had fallen on the ground, threw it in the trash, went to the restroom to get a mop and wiped a few times at the stains on the tiles.

Having set the mop down, he sat down to continue eating his oden, phone on the stand, fingers scrolling the screen, jumping back and forth among several groups, he saw many messages discussing Xia Xi.

Looking around, the boys' discussions were more heated than the girls'.

"Have you heard? Xia Xi is confessing to Xu Yanfeng at Nan Guangchang, brothers—I've even stopped playing my game to go watch the excitement."

"I'm actually there on the scene; I think you don't need to come, Xu Yanfeng didn't show up at all. Of course, if you're here to admire a great beauty, disregard what I just said—Xia Xi's looks are indeed top-notch."

"If it weren't for the fact that she declared her allegiance as soon as she entered the Xin Xiaoqu gate, with that face and figure, who knows how many guys would be chasing her."

"Xu Yanfeng's willpower is impressive—this leaves him unmoved; I couldn't hold out for a week, let alone a day—I'd have to kneel at the goddess's pomegranate skirt."

"Stop daydreaming, no matter how you think, the campus belle won't be yours; better to get practical—let's bet on whether Xu Yanfeng will come."

"I bet he won't; that title 'Lofty Peak Flower' isn't just for show."

"I also bet he won't; if any girl stood in the square and publicly confessed to Xu Yanfeng, he'd accept, and the girlfriends he's dated could fill a whole train."

"Everyone's betting he won't come? Then I'll take a gamble and bet he will. The other night I even saw Xu Yanfeng drive Xia Xi back to school late at night, showing their relationship isn't as bad as everyone thinks. Who knows what might have happened between them when we weren't looking."

"Really? Fake? I'll also bet he'll come."

"You guys, think about it—if Xia Xi really had no confidence, would she dare do this? If Xu Yanfeng doesn't come, she'd just be embarrassed. All things considered, I'm betting Xu Yanfeng will come; maybe he's just held up by something and will arrive later."

Chen Mian finished a bowl of oden while reading those group messages, even drinking the broth dry. He turned his head to glance at Xu Yanfeng's back, unable to control his mouth, and reported: "Hey, several groups are all betting on whether you'll go or not."

Xu Yanfeng's fingertip tapping on the keyboard paused, he didn't turn back, and said: "Then bet on him not coming—you're sure to win."