HRCMF Chapter 25

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🍋‍🟩 Completed Chapter

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

If someone had told Shen Yan a few months ago that there would come a day when he would feel uncomfortable walking alongside Zhao Linsu, unsure of what to say, he would have laughed it off, thinking they were joking.

Heaven seemed to have played a joke on him indeed.

A very unfunny one.

"Your presentation today was very good." Surprisingly, Zhao Linsu was the first to speak.

Shen Yan felt inexplicably nervous, as if it had been a long time since he had chatted alone with Zhao Linsu like this.

"Your group's presentation today was also pretty good. Did you write the script?"

"You could tell?"

"Definitely," Shen Yan slowly relaxed. "We ran out of time today, Zhu Ningbo's group didn't get to present."

"They should be able to next week."

Shen Yan nodded. "We'll cheer him on then!"

"Mm."

Shen Yan's peripheral vision lightly glanced at the top of Zhao Linsu's head.

That darker, more terrifying form of 【沈言】 (Shěn Yán) clearly announced the failure of his "keep distance" strategy. Not only was it useless, but it seemed even worse.

It had only made their relationship even stranger.

It was perfectly fine before, but now even talking while walking together felt awkward.

"What's this?"

Following Zhao Linsu's gaze, Shen Yan looked down at the paper bag in his hand. "Oh, it's cake. Do you want some?" Shen Yan held out the paper bag towards Zhao Linsu.

Zhao Linsu glanced inside the opening of the paper bag. "It was given to you, how could I be so impolite as to eat it?"

"Come on," Shen Yan pointed his chin towards a bench not far ahead. "Go sit there and eat it."

The two sat down on the bench. Shen Yan took the cake out of the paper bag.

The cake wasn't very big, about six inches, small and round, with a transparent box enclosing a pink and blue cake. It looked very cute, with a small wooden horse stuck on top. Shen Yan said, "So girly."

"There's only one spoon."

Shen Yan very simply offered the spoon and the cake to Zhao Linsu. "You eat first."

Zhao Linsu held the cake and said faintly, "Isn't it a bit bad to辜負 (gūfù - let down, disappoint) the girl's kindness like this?"

Shen Yan almost choked. "What kindness? Don't make things up."

"Someone gives you cake, of course they like you," Zhao Linsu said. "Do you think girls just have too much money and do charity by giving apples on Christmas and chocolates on Valentine's Day?"

Shen Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn't explain the relationship between Huang Mengxuan and Liao Jing to Zhao Linsu, so he had to say, "Why are you making me sound like a heartless渣男 (zhānán - scumbag)? Today isn't Christmas or Valentine's Day, and two girls bought and gave this to me together. It can't be a group confession, right? It's just a polite thank you, don't overthink it, okay?"

As he spoke, he realized that Zhao Linsu's words seemed to have a hidden meaning.

Shen Yan pursed his lips and smiled. "Did you hear some rumors?"

Zhao Linsu looked at him.

Shen Yan was smiling. When he smiled, he looked very good-looking, his eyes slightly narrowed at the corners, his lips turned up, as if he couldn't help but smile, simple and clean, without any other emotions mixed in.

"Why are you believing everything you hear?" Shen Yan laughed. "If I were really dating, wouldn't I tell you?"

Zhao Linsu gazed at him intently and smiled. "Who knows about you, valuing romance over friendship."

"Haha, don't talk nonsense," Shen Yan said. "Eat it if you want. You'll only eat a couple of bites anyway, and the rest is mine. I'll take it home to eat."

Zhao Linsu finished the entire cake.

Shen Yan had never seen this person eat so much sweet stuff in one go, even chewing up the fondant little wooden horse on top with a "crunch, crunch."

"Didn't you have breakfast?" Shen Yan asked in surprise.

"Mm."

Zhao Linsu's mouth felt greasy and bitter, almost making him want to vomit, but he said calmly, "Woke up late, forgot."

Shen Yan shook his head. "Isn't it too sweet?"

"It's okay."

Shen Yan muttered, "I really admire you," then added, "Could it be that you haven't had breakfast these past two days?"

Zhao Linsu looked at him quietly.

Shen Yan had a look like he was about to faint. "Big brother, unless I bring you breakfast, you can't remember to buy it yourself?"

"I forget when I'm alone."

"…"

Shen Yan crossed his long legs and swung them up and down. He turned his face, looking at him with exasperation. "You… why are you such a worry for Dad?"

Zhao Linsu smiled faintly. "Just kidding."

Shen Yan: "…"

Sometimes he really wanted to kill this little brat!

These past two days, Shen Yan always felt like something was missing, and he hadn't been able to be truly happy. The happiest he had been was when the two girls stood hand-in-hand in front of him.

No one bickered with him sarcastically like this, as if a seasoning was missing from his life.

Living normally was just… bland.

After being messed with by Zhao Linsu like this, Shen Yan's mood inexplicably improved. He lightly nudged Zhao Linsu's shoe with the tip of his own. Zhao Linsu immediately nudged back rudely. The two of them nudged back and forth a few times, their eyes meeting in the interlacing movements, both with smiles in their eyes.

Let's make up, Shen Yan thought. He couldn't lose this friend.

"For the next group assignment, should we still be in the same group?" Shen Yan said.

Saying this, he actually felt a bit embarrassed.

He was the one who suggested separating, and he was the one who wanted to be together again. He felt like he was being fickle, playing with people.

Shen Yan felt uneasy and quietly looked away, his hands gripping the bench beneath him.

"I'll consider it."

Shen Yan looked up. Zhao Linsu had a teasing expression, clearly deliberately teasing him.

Shen Yan laughed and cursed, "Get lost."

"Are you still eating lunch?" Shen Yan said.

Zhao Linsu stood up. "Let's go."

The two went to the cafeteria for lunch together. Shen Yan saw Huang Mengxuan and Liao Jing eating together. The two were stuck together, occasionally looking at each other and smiling, the atmosphere incredibly intimate. They looked like best friends, but were actually lovers.

"What do you want to eat?"

Shen Yan looked away. He looked at his best friend and took a deep breath.

"Stir-fried rice noodles!"

When Zhu Ningbo saw the two of them sitting together again, he was dumbfounded.

Of course, after his initial shock, he was very happy. "You guys finally made up!"

"What are you talking about?" Shen Yan smoothed his hair. "We never fought." Meeting Zhu Ningbo's indescribable gaze, he nudged Zhao Linsu beside him with his elbow and cleared his throat. "Say something."

"Mm," Zhao Linsu said, "He's better now."

Shen Yan glared at him, thinking, you're the one who's sick.

However, seeing the words 【沈言】 (Shěn Yán) above Zhao Linsu's head return to their normal form, why did he feel so satisfied and content?

"Bo'er, do your best," Shen Yan cheered Zhu Ningbo on. "Zhang Qin's group is right before yours, I believe you can definitely crush him."

Zhu Ningbo smiled good-naturedly. "I'm not competing with him, I'm competing with myself."

Shen Yan gave him a thumbs up. "Such a high level of understanding."

"I still want to be with my group members…"

Zhu Ningbo pointed diagonally behind him.

"Go ahead," Shen Yan said.

Zhu Ningbo hesitated. "Shen Yan, working on the group assignment with others this time, I feel like I've gained a lot. Before, when I was with you two, you took care of me and always gave me the easiest parts to do. I'm very grateful to you. But I was wondering if next time… you guys have made up, and you still want us to do the group assignment together, I also want to take on some more difficult parts, or I want to continue teaming up with others. I want… I want to do things on my own…"

As he spoke, he became a bit incoherent, and his face slowly turned red. Shen Yan quickly said, "You don't need to say anymore, Bo'er. I understand what you mean. I think you're right. You're not our follower or sidekick. You make your own decisions. You can team up with whoever you want. It won't affect our relationship."

Zhu Ningbo also nodded, his eyes filled with emotion. "Shen Yan, thank you…" He looked back at his group members who were waving at him, then turned back and smiled at Shen Yan. "Then I'll go."

"Do your best," Shen Yan clenched his fist.

Zhu Ningbo gave a strong "Mm."

Zhao Linsu also looked at Zhu Ningbo. "Do your best."

Zhu Ningbo walked back. Shen Yan propped his face up with his hand, watching him sit with his new group members. He turned his head to Zhao Linsu. "Hey, I think Bo'er made a lot of sense. Why don't we still do the next assignment separately?"

Zhao Linsu glanced at him.

Shen Yan blinked.

"Is it funny?" Zhao Linsu said.

"…Isn't it funny?"

Zhao Linsu ignored him.

Shen Yan gave a "tsk" and leaned over again to gossip. "Hey, did you learn anything from your new group members?"

"Learned a little."

"Learned what?" Shen Yan asked eagerly.

"Don't reason with idiots," Zhao Linsu said, sidelong.

Shen Yan: "…"

Shen Yan rolled his eyes and then remembered something. "What's your impression of that Tang Chen?"

"Who?"

"Tang Chen, the one who presented in your group."

"No impression."

"…"

People are fantasizing about you, and you still have no impression, Shen Yan thought inwardly, slowly shaking his head.

Shen Yan listened very carefully to Zhu Ningbo's presentation, his eyes fixed on him the entire time. After Zhu Ningbo finished, he immediately applauded, and Zhao Linsu beside him followed suit.

"Bo'er spoke so well," Shen Yan's friendship filter was eight hundred meters thick. "It was really great."

Zhao Linsu gave an "mm." Shen Yan turned his head and saw his notebook screen filled with dense notes. He was touched. His good brother was indeed a loyal and sentimental person. "You wrote all that down?"

Zhao Linsu clapped while saying, "Just wrote down the places where he had errors or omissions."

Shen Yan: "…" Were there that many mistakes? The standards are too high!

"That's good too, send it to him later, it'll help him," Shen Yan said. "You didn't happen to write down mine too, did you?"

"No."

Shen Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "Because I didn't make many mistakes?"

"No," Zhao Linsu put down his hands, "Didn't listen."

"…"

Shen Yan: "Didn't you say I spoke very well?!"

"Just being polite."

Shen Yan: "…"

Is it too late to reconsider breaking up?

The professor above announced the end of class. Shen Yan was about to settle the academic score with Zhao Linsu. His hand had just pressed on the table when Zhao Linsu said, "Just kidding."

Shen Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Not just being polite, it was indeed very well said."

Shen Yan sneered. "Do you think I still believe you?"

"Then do you want me to give you live commentary and annotations?" Zhao Linsu pretended to take out his notebook.

Shen Yan: "…" Didn't want to be nitpicked by this poisonous-tongued bastard.

Zhu Ningbo came over, avoiding an academic war. He was clearly very happy. He had performed well, and the professor had praised him, saying many encouraging words. He was so happy he almost cried on stage.

"Shen Yan, I'm so happy!"

"You spoke exceptionally well," Shen Yan was also happy, standing up and patting Zhu Ningbo's shoulder. "Much better than Zhang Qin."

Zhu Ningbo had a high level of understanding, but he had a low level. He was just biased towards his friends and happy for them.

Zhu Ningbo smiled and said softly, "I think so too."

"Haha!"

"Let's go out for a good meal today?"

"Okay," Zhu Ningbo said eagerly, "My treat today."

"That's a must."

The three of them went to a Sichuan restaurant outside the school for a hearty meal. When Shen Yan went to the restroom, Zhao Linsu said he had emailed Zhu Ningbo, asking him to take a look. It was some of his thoughts on Zhu Ningbo's presentation today.

"Thank you," Zhu Ningbo held his drink cup, hesitated for a moment, and then said cautiously, "How has Teacher Liang… been lately?"

"Don't know," Zhao Linsu said, "I'm not familiar with him."

Zhu Ningbo gave a disappointed "oh."

Zhao Linsu watched coldly, a sudden shared bitterness rising in his heart. He took a sip of water and said, "He doesn't seem to have brought anyone back recently, maybe they broke up."

"Ah?"

"I'm not sure about the specifics."

Shen Yan came back, and Zhu Ningbo didn't ask any further. He just held his empty drink cup and drank air for half a minute, a silly smile on his face.

Shen Yan was dumbfounded. "What's wrong with him?"

"Happy, I guess."

"So happy…" Shen Yan muttered.

Of course he was happy.

He was luckier than him. The person he liked was at least a possibility.

"But I'm also quite happy," Shen Yan picked up a piece of meat and ate it, wagging his head and tail as he ate. He was like this when he was happy. "It's been a long time since I've eaten out with you guys."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hands upwards. "So happy~" He put down his hands and said to Zhao Linsu, "Little buddy, what about you? How are you feeling?"

Zhao Linsu held his cup, his eyes lowered.

He should be content. At least, they were still brothers. At least, Shen Yan hadn't fallen in love with another girl again. At least, they were still sitting together eating without any awkwardness.

"Eating for free, of course I'm in a good mood."

"What?"

Shen Yan's eyes almost popped out in surprise.

"You're getting married?!"

"Making a fuss over nothing," Shen Shen said casually. "Your brother is over thirty, isn't getting married normal?"

"Not normal."

"…"

Shen Yan completely couldn't understand. He looked at the "Koyano Kashiwa" above his brother's head, unable to figure out how his brother's anime obsession had skipped so many steps and directly gone to "marriage"? How did he know nothing about it?

"With whom? Really? Don't lie to me."

Shen Shen said, "Is there anything fake about this? She's coming over for dinner tomorrow night, behave yourself."

Shen Yan looked at his brother's head with suspicion, asking cautiously, "Is my future sister-in-law… alive?"