Chapter 223: Qi Shaobai (5)

Chapter 223

That night.

Sheng Mumu was not the only one who slept poorly.

In the room downstairs, Qi Shaobai also sat up irritably in the middle of the night.

He raised his hand and messed up his hair randomly.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he was.

What the hell was I panicking about just now?

It was just a minor injury. A clueless girl insisted on putting on a bandaid. I couldn't convince her not to, so I let her put it on. That's it.

It was a very normal thing. Why did I feel guilty?

This is too strange.

Noticing something was wrong with himself, Qi Shaobai started propping his chin and pretended to be lost in thought.

With a serious expression, he analyzed his inner world.

About ten minutes passed.

His deeply furrowed brows finally relaxed slightly.

He came to a conclusion.

The crux of everything was that the bandaid was too ugly.

Since he was little, ever since he could remember, there had never been anything with cute cartoon patterns on his body.

Not even a tiny piece.

It would make him feel uncomfortable, very reasonable.

"Oh, so that's why."

Having found the answer, Qi Shaobai finally went to bed with relief.

*

There were no classes that afternoon. Qi Shaobai went with his roommates to play basketball at a newly opened indoor basketball court off campus.

After working up a big sweat, they walked back to school while chatting.

As winter came, the temperature in Beijing plummeted suddenly.

Qi Shaobai and his friends had just sweated. Wearing only thin sportswear, they drew some sideways glances as they walked down the street.

Christmas was coming soon. Many small shops along the streets off campus had already started decorating early.

An employee was attaching snowflake and reindeer sticker patterns to the glass exterior wall.

The door was open, and the Christmas songs playing inside floated outside.

As Qi Shaobai walked by and heard it, he glanced sideways at the small shop, his eyes lingering for a few seconds.

The holidays are coming again, time flies so fast.

In fact, Qi Shaobai never used to be so sensitive about holidays.

Having grown up with Grandma Qi, the older generation didn't celebrate Western festivals.

Later, when he lived with his dad, the two men even less cared about such niceties.

But ever since Sheng Mumu joined the family, things started to change.

On all the major traditional Chinese festivals like Mid-Autumn Festival, Lantern Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, they would make plans to celebrate together in advance.

In addition, there were also many holidays he had never even heard of before.

All kinds of obscure holidays, he even often suspected she was making things up.

The time Qi Shaobai felt was the most ridiculous was a Sunday not long ago.

Sheng Mumu gave the two Qi's short notice at noon, asking them to go out for a buffet dinner together that night.

When they got to the restaurant, Sheng Mumu raised her glass and said, "Cheers, happy holiday!"

Qi Shaobai racked his brains but couldn't think of what holiday it was.

Only after asking did he find out it was Thailand's "Monkey Buffet Festival" that day.

Even Qi Mo, who was usually quite able to go along with her ideas, was at a loss for words this time.

Not to mention Qi Shaobai, whose surprise was written all over his face as he asked directly:

"Monkey Buffet Festival? Is it appropriate for us to cheers to that?"

"We're all primates. Why not take advantage of an excuse to celebrate a holiday? The monkeys won't mind." Sheng Mumu nonchalantly replied with a smile, clinking glasses.

Qi Shaobai: "......" Is it possible, it's not whether the monkeys mind, but that I mind......

Recalling this scene, Qi Shaobai felt amused.

"What's wrong with you, did you eat the wrong medicine or something? You just started laughing out of nowhere while walking?"

Roommate A was the closest with Qi Shaobai. Usually he loved to mock and banter. Seeing the usually sour-faced Qi Shaobai suddenly laugh like a psycho, he naturally didn't miss the chance to ridicule him.

Annoying.

Truly annoying.

That precious post-mask time! So hard to come by!

She looked up with her head tilted back, hands in the pajama pockets, and let out a soft sigh.

She didn't initially react that she was wearing pajamas. Her hands automatically reached to the pockets in her pants before realizing mid-air that the Pink Bear outfit had a pocket on the belly.

Qi Shaobai caught this silly yet adorable scene with amusement dancing in the corners of his mouth.

It was then that Chi Xia noticed Qi Shaobai.

She looked astonished, craning her neck further.

Her expression seemed to say: What are you doing here?

After exchanging a few words with his roommate, Qi Shaobai's roommate left first while Qi Shaobai walked over to Chi Xia.

He opened with sarcasm:

"Not bad, pretty cool. Rejecting someone in just a few sentences, you seem quite experienced with the process."

Chi Xia glared at him, too lazy to respond.

"I didn't realize you enjoy rubbernecking so much. A loyal fan of gossip platform 1818?"

Qi Shaobai touched the back of his neck, "I just got here, happened to be passing by."

"Oh, I see."

Chi Xia did not doubt the truthfulness of his words, after all the two really did often run into each other on the road.

It was as if they were tied together by an invisible thread, supernatural even.

The two chatted for a few more sentences about other things, and Qi Shaobai noticed Chi Xia make a movement to shrink her neck. Glancing down, he saw that her hands were still stuffed in her pockets the whole time.

"Alright, it's getting late. I still have to go back to the dormitory to lead my team in the promotion matches. Let's chat another day."

Having said that, Qi Shaobai lazily waved his hand to say goodbye.

"Wait."

Chi Xia suddenly called out to stop him.

Qi Shaobai: "Hmm?"

Chi Xia: "Wait for me for a minute, I'll be right down."

After she spoke, she turned and ran towards the dorm building without looking back. She solemnly added:

"Wait for me! Don't leave first!"

"???" Qi Shaobai was puzzled as he stood frozen in place, completely confused.

In less than a minute, Chi Xia appeared in front of Qi Shaobai, gasping for breath.

Before he could react, Chi Xia had already stuffed a thick coat into his arms.

"Put on some clothes, so other out-of-town students won't think we Beijingers have weird body constitutions, wandering around in single layers when it's the dead of winter."

"Here, this is the biggest coat I could find. You should be able to wear it."

Qi Shaobai was stunned.

He really did not expect that Chi Xia had rushed upstairs because she saw he was wearing too little.

He hesitated for a moment, "I just finished playing basketball, I'm drenched in sweat."

Implying that, aren't you afraid of my sweat being dirty?

Chi Xia smiled gently, "So remember to dry clean it and return it to me later, don't think about dumping it on me to wash."

After a few seconds, Qi Shaobai said "Okay."

"Go back to your dorm quickly, I'm in no rush to wear this coat back, just return it to me whenever we bump into each other next time." Chi Xia shrunk her neck and turned her head breezily, "I'm going, bye!"

"Bye."

On the way back to the dormitory, Qi Shaobai still did not put on the coat Chi Xia gave him.

Lightly carrying it in his hand, he could feel the soft touch of the fabric against his palm.

In a certain part of his heart, it seemed to have also turned soft.

Small Theater:

Night time.

The boys' dormitory.

Roommates frantically complain:

"Ahhh, Qi Shaobai, what's up with you today? Usually you'd chase five people by yourself and kill them all, how did you become like a noob today with the wrong equipment and all that?"

"......"

"If you ask me to carry you again I'm a dog."

"......"