Chapter 37: Then Go Ahead and Call the Police

When Cheng Xingye returned to the dormitory, the atmosphere inside was strangely tense. Lu Yi looked agitated, as if someone had played him for a fool, thoroughly displeased. Meanwhile, Chen Shujie and Lou Zhao sat on the side, treading on eggshells, barely daring to breathe.

Cheng Xingye had no idea what had happened. He simply placed a gift bag on Lu Yi’s desk.
“Your sister asked me to bring this up for you.”

Lu Yi responded with a dull “oh,” not yet realizing anything was amiss. By the time he registered what was going on, Cheng Xingye had already picked up his clothes and towel and left again. Lu Yi glanced at the bag on the table, frowning slightly. Had that little brat really come by just now?

...

Downstairs in the student dormitory at Jiang University was a bathhouse. In this season, many students liked to go there for a shower. Bathhouses in the south were not as uninhibited as those in the north. Out of consideration for the southern sense of modesty, Jiang University’s bathhouse had installed partitions between the shower heads, sparing students the awkwardness of meeting each other's eyes directly while bathing.

But decency only went so far. After all, this was a university bathhouse with limited funding. On the men's side, apart from the partitions, there wasn’t even a curtain in between.

It was just after dinner, so there weren’t many people in the bathhouse yet. Cheng Xingye chose the innermost stall, draped his towel over the rack, and was about to take off his outerwear when someone entered the stall opposite him.

Someone else coming to shower this early? He looked up instinctively and, to his surprise, locked eyes with Lu Yi’s lazy, nonchalant gaze.

After years of being classmates, this wasn’t their first encounter in the bathhouse. Cheng Xingye paid it no mind and turned away to undress.

As he lifted his shirt, well-defined muscles rippled down his back, broad and firm, stirring the imagination.

Lu Yi looked at his back with frank curiosity, suddenly realizing that this guy actually had quite a good physique—no less impressive than his own. No wonder, back in high school, girls would slip love letters into his desk time and again.

Perhaps people have a natural sensitivity to being watched. Even though he faced the partition, Cheng Xingye felt a pair of eyes burning into his back today.

He finished taking off his shirt and turned around, just in time to see Lu Yi, still fully clothed, staring straight at him in contemplation.

Cheng Xingye had never been scrutinized by a man like this before. He nearly broke out in goosebumps. Still, perhaps because he was confident in his body, he wasn’t shy or flustered under such a gaze. Suppressing his slight discomfort, he lazily met Lu Yi’s eyes and asked bluntly,

“Bro, what are you looking at?”

The one being watched was forthright; the one watching was even more so, scanning him up and down as if admiring a Renaissance sculpture, and commented appreciatively,

“Not a bad body.”

Cheng Xingye couldn’t help but laugh, thinking, “As if I need you to tell me that.” He raised his eyebrows, his tone helpless and a little provocative,

“What’s going on with you siblings today? Taking turns to visit and inspect me?”

This time Lu Yi was caught off guard. He hadn’t expected his sister to be involved in all this and blurted out,

“What about my sister?”

Cheng Xingye replied with calm composure,

“She looked at my lower half.”

Lu Yi: “???”

What kind of nonsense was that?

For a moment, he felt the whole thing was preposterous and nearly laughed out loud. But seeing Cheng Xingye’s unruffled face, with a hint of helpless indignation—as if he really had been taken advantage of—Lu Yi’s heart suddenly sank.

For a fleeting second, he even wondered if this guy’s innocence really had been ruined by that little brat, Lu Qingyue.

Lu Yi narrowed his eyes in confusion. Somehow, he found it not entirely unbelievable. He could absolutely see Lu Qingyue doing such a thing.

The atmosphere thickened for a moment.

In less than two seconds, Lu Yi’s mood passed from shock, to sympathy, to utter calm.

He weighed the information in that sentence. The one being looked at was this bastard, which meant the one at a disadvantage wasn’t the little brat. In that case, there wasn’t much for him to be angry about.

Figuring this out, he quickly regained his usual devil-may-care attitude and nonchalantly said,

“Well then, report it to the police.”

Cheng Xingye, who had just been ogled: “???”

Was this guy even speaking human language?!

Right now, he felt like a bee that had flown into an electric fence—totally numb.

Never mind Lu Qingyue for the moment, but being stared at by Lu Yi, a grown man, was enough to make him want to call the police.

Raising an eyebrow lazily, Cheng Xingye deliberately said, with layered meaning,

“So the brat checked me out, fine, but what’s your excuse?”

Being sized up by a man was truly disgusting.

Lu Yi understood his implication and snorted disdainfully.

“Relax, I’m not interested in you.”

Muscles? Who doesn’t have them?

But lately, that little brat Lu Qingyue was getting more and more out of hand. Lu Yi resolved to find her and sort this out soon.

...

By the time Cheng Xingye finished his shower and returned to the dorm, Lu Yi had vanished.

Chen Shujie caught sight of him at the door, darted out, and dragged him aside conspiratorially, grinning mischievously and lowering his voice,

“Bro, what’s going on between you and Lu’s sister these days?”

Cheng Xingye shot him a speechless glance. “Nothing’s going on.”

If she hadn’t come looking for him today, he wouldn’t have seen her in nearly a month. And hadn’t he been just fine all month?

That only proved he didn’t like her that much. Give it a few more days and he’d probably forget her altogether.

Yet, even as he thought this, he began to reflect. Had she seen him smoking downstairs just now? Damn, that wouldn’t do. Maybe he really should quit while he still could—otherwise, if he dated a girl in the future, she might not like it.

Chen Shujie had no idea what was running through his mind. He slung an arm around Cheng Xingye’s neck, grinning with sly meaning,

“Come off it! Trying to hide it from me? I saw the two of you kissing downstairs just now!”

Cheng Xingye: “???”

When had that happened?

He’d kept his distance on purpose, not wanting Lu Qingyue to smell the smoke on him.

How blind did you have to be to think they were kissing downstairs?

Fresh out of the bathhouse and still annoyed from being ogled by Lu Yi, Cheng Xingye had no interest in banter. He shoved Chen Shujie aside impatiently,

“Go get your eyes checked at the hospital—don’t pinch pennies.”

Chen Shujie, thinking he was just embarrassed to admit it, pressed in eagerly, egging him on,

“Still pretending? I saw you pinch her chin just now…”

At this, Cheng Xingye finally remembered—he had indeed pinched the girl’s chin earlier. But what else could he have done? Let her keep looking down?

Shaking his head, he pushed open the door, tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper, and said with a laugh,

“Pinching someone’s chin counts as kissing?”

Chen Shujie retorted confidently—it was how all the TV dramas did it.

He declared righteously, “Why else would you pinch a girl’s chin? Of course it’s to kiss her!”

No sooner were the words out than his own chin was seized.

Cheng Xingye was a full half-head taller, and now, with ease, he tilted Chen Shujie’s head back by the chin.

Chen Shujie: “???”

His mouth was almost an O, eyes wide with disbelief, and he mumbled,

“What the hell! Why are you pinching my chin?”

Cheng Xingye kept his grip light, his tone languid and teasing as he threw Chen’s words back at him,

“Why else would I pinch your chin?”

With a lazy, roguish smile, he drawled,

“Obviously, it’s because I want to kiss you.”

Chen Shujie: “???”

“Get the hell off me—!”