CH 18

In the evening, after he took a shower and laid in bed, Xu Xiran received a message from Fang Mo.

[“You’re such a good friend. You still haven’t let me treat you to dinner, I feel so bad”]

Xu Xiran immediately smiled.

Fang Mo was referring to when Xu Xiran had said he would accompany him to class. Xu Xiran felt that it was unnecessary to treat someone just for this reason. After all, it wasn’t something that Fang Mo had asked him to do, it was he who wanted to go with him for his own peace of mind.

In Xu Xiran’s eyes, although Fang Mo didn’t look dumb, he was very naive. He clearly had a face that attracted the bees and the butterflies, yet he was a man of considerable responsibility. Whenever the two of them were together, Xu Xiran could always feel the passionate eyes of girls on him, yet Fang Mo himself was always completely unaware of this, turning a blind eye.

It gave a person a feeling of dumbfoundedness.

Although the two have not known each other for long, Xu Xiran had a deep affection for him, and was worried that a person like Fang Mo would not end up well with that leather bag1. When all was said and done, he was not only popular with the girls, he was also a target of harassment by men. As for the latter, Xu Xiran had ample experience in resisting against this kind of thing, so he naturally wanted to help out in this area. 

However, Fang Mo had already mentioned many times that he wanted to treat him, and Xu Xiran was not used to such politeness.

[“Then do we want to go to the new mala soup place that just opened in school?”] he sent back.

~

The next day, Xu Xiran’s classes continued until half past six in the evening. Having class at this hour was illogical, and by the end all the teachers and students were hungry.

Near the end of class, he received a message from Fang Mo. It was a photo of a little cat with gray fur, looking down and burying its face in a pile of cat food. Immediately after, Fang Mo sent over a sentence, [“Successfully completed this mission!”]

Xu Xiran replied back with a finger heart sticker.

He couldn’t find time to feed the cat today and was worried that the little one would be hungry, so he asked Fang Mo to do it for him. When Fang Mo saw the little cat yesterday, his eyes widened and his fists clenched tightly as if he were prepared for battle. Xu Xiran was worried that he didn’t like such small animals. It was a good thing that he was only overthinking.

About ten minutes later, Fang Mo sent him another message, [“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”]

Xu Xiran was a bit surprised. He happened to be sitting by the window, and quickly turned his head to look down. Soon, he found the familiar figure in front of the garden not far from the school building.

Fang Mo was a very conspicuous person. He was not particularly tall amongst other men, but he had long legs and a straight back, and even if his face couldn’t be clearly seen, his figure was very pleasing to the eye.

The class beauty had used this term when evaluating Fang Mo: a jade tree in the wind. After praising him, she lamented over and over again why such a handsome guy like him was into those kinds of things, and why it was no wonder that he was so close to Xu Xiran.

“I’m not wasting my time,” she said, “Go love your paper people!”

Xu Xiran was too embarrassed to tell her that these things that Fang Mo liked were all introduced by him. In order to restore his brother’s image in front of the girl, he also tried to help him out by saying that Fang Mo was only new to these things, had not been poisoned that deeply yet, and that it would be best if a beautiful girl were to fall from the sky to save him from the fire and water.

When Xu Xiran said those words, he felt as if his heart was being cut out. After all, it was not easy to have a friend who he could talk to, who he wouldn’t exchange a thousand gold for, so at this point, it was hard to let him go live a full real life2 without feeling grief.

It was a pity that the class beauty did not appreciate this.

“Forget it, I don’t think he’s very interested in me,” she shook her head and sighed, “I’m not used to always being the one to initiate.”

When all was said and done, she was a beautiful girl who was used to being pursued.

Xu Xiran sighed to himself, Fang Mo was really too naive. From what he said a few days ago, it was clear that he thought of girls that way. It just seemed that he couldn’t talk to them, thus persuading them to quit. This Xu Xiran couldn’t help with; he also didn’t know how to develop a relationship with a real girl.

At this moment, the silly and eye-catching Fang Mo was standing a little more than ten meters straight across from him. Xu Xiran couldn’t help but stare. Fang Mo was walking around, looking at his face left and right on his phone, and using his hand to fix his hair. 

Xu Xiran immediately understood.

This brother said that he wanted to find himself, but he actually had other plans. Although it was hard to avoid feeling sorry, Xu Xiran felt that he should help out as a friend.

He made up his mind and secretly sent a message to the class beauty diagonal from him.

[“Do you have plans later?”]

The class beauty quickly looked back at him.

Xu Xiran smiled at her, and then sent another message.

[ “Someone wants to treat you to dinner.”]

~

After seeing the girl standing beside him, Fang Mo’s eyes immediately widened.

“It’s your treat,” said Xu Xiran, smiling at him. “Do you mind?”

The class beauty was a little embarrassed, “Aiya, it’s okay, you don’t have to be so polite…”

Xu Xiran guessed that it was because Fang Mo was nervous that he didn’t say anything for a long time. It wasn’t until the atmosphere became awkward that he squeezed out a smile and nodded, “Okay, then let’s go.”

Xu Xiran wondered to himself whether this light bulb3 should find an excuse to disappear. Then, right at this moment, God created an opportunity for him. An acquaintance suddenly appeared not far away.

“Xiao Yang, did you just get out of class?” Xu Xiran raised his hand to greet the man standing by the road.

It was his xuedi4 named Yang Lin, and because his name sounded a bit feminine, he didn’t like being called by his full name. Xu Xiran never wanted to purposely offend him and so he simply called him Xiao Yang5.

Yang Lin immediately ran over and politely greeted him and the other two classmates.

“I was stood up by a friend. We originally had plans to eat together,” he said with a sigh, “Now I’m debating whether to go to the dining hall or go back to the dorm to order takeout.”

“How about…” Xu Xiran had a flash of inspiration in his heart. “Wherever you were planning to eat at, want to go together?”

Immediately, there was a scorching gaze on his side. Xu Xiran glanced out of the corner of his eye, and it turned out to be Fang Mo. He discreetly raised his hand and lightly patted Fang Mo twice on the back, implying that he could only help here, and that the rest was up to his own efforts.

Yang Lin beamed, “Aiya, you really don’t have to… But if you’re willing to accompany me xuezhang6, that would be great!”

Xu Xiran smiled at him, then turned to look at the two beside him, “Then I will head out first, you two can go.”

Fang Mo looked at him, and then at Yang Lin, with his mouth open not knowing what to say. The class beauty beside him was a little shy, and lowered her head and silently smiled. It seemed that these two had grasped his intentions, and it was time to leave them be.

Xu Xiran smiled and put his hand on Yang Lin’s shoulder and led him forward, “Where did you guys say you were going to eat at?”

For some reason, Yang Lin also became shy like the other two, “The newly opened mala soup place over there.”

Xu Xiran was taken aback. Then, Fang Mo, who was behind him, loudly said, “Wow, what a coincidence, we were also planning to go there for dinner!”

Yang Lin looked back at him, “Eh?”

“Then let’s go together?” Fang Mo said pompously as he took two steps forward and squeezed between Xu Xiran and Yang Lin.

~

The atmosphere was a little strange.

After all four people had ordered their food, they encountered a bit of a dilemma while paying the bill.

It was originally agreed that Fang Mo would be the one treating, but now there were more people, and they were people who had nothing to do with Fang Mo. Asking Fang Mo to treat Yang Lin would make  Xu Xiran feel embarrassed, but letting Yang Lin pay for himself would also make Xu Xiran feel embarrassed. In the end, he pulled Yang Lin in front of Fang Mo and the others, and then turned around and said, “I’ll pay for Xiao Yang and myself.”

Before Fang Mo could speak, Yang Lin hurriedly said, “Xuezhang, you’re too polite. How about this, I’ll treat you next time?”

Xu Xiran nodded at him, “Okay.”

When they were looking for seating, they ran into another little problem. At a four-person table with a pair of seats on each side, Fang Mo was the first to take a seat. Xu Xiran, who followed him, looked at him and didn’t know which side to choose. Was it better to let Fang Mo and the class beauty sit face to face or side by side?

While he was hesitating, Yang Lin, who was walking behind him, passed him as if nothing was wrong, sat down next to Fang Mo, and then said, “What are you all standing for? Let’s sit.”

Now he had no choice. Xu Xiran obediently sat opposite to Fang Mo, face to face with Yang Lin.

The mala soup was still cooking, and with no one speaking at the table, the atmosphere was stiff. Fang Mo held his chopsticks and repeatedly tapped the edge of the table, making a “ta, ta, ta” sound. His face was expressionless, and Xu Xiran couldn’t tell if he was nervous.

The class beauty was noticeably overwhelmed. She hesitated to open a topic, but didn’t know what to say, so she could only sit there and laugh awkwardly.

Xu Xiran simply hated that iron could not become steel7. He wanted to create some opportunities for the two fools, but unfortunately, he also lacked experience in love.

Yang Lin didn’t know anything about their little inner thoughts, and said to Xu Xiran with a smile, “Xuezhang, how about I treat you to barbecue at Little North Gate next time?”

Xu Xiran was immediately inspired, and quickly turned to ask the class beauty who was sitting next to him, “Do you girls rarely eat this kind of stuff?”

He was hoping that Fang Mo would be a little clever here. If the girl says she likes it, he should immediately tell her to treat her again next time, and if she doesn’t like it, he should ask what she likes and then express that he’ll treat her to that next time.

“I’m not picky,” said the class beauty. “I’ll eat anything.”

Xu Xiran quickly glanced at Fang Mo and suggested that he should say something.

Fang Mo kept a straight face, didn’t say a word or even look at them, and stared down at the chopsticks in his hand.

Xu Xiran realized afterwards that his appearance today was really strange, and wondered if there was something wrong that made him unhappy. After hesitating for a moment, he took out his phone and typed a message under the table.

[“What’s wrong?”]

He pressed send, and Fang Mo’s phone on the table lit up. Fang Mo frowned and stared at the screen for a while, then quickly glanced up at Xu Xiran.

A moment later, he received a reply.

[“Your xuedi has a problem”]

Author’s note:

Although Fang Mo has pinched his butt, gotten a nosebleed from his body, and flaunts his peacock tail at him everyday, he also picks up the villain script with evil intentions at the moment. But in the eyes of the straight man, he’s still a poor little fool who needs to be taken care of. 

You see, being too straight has its own advantages.