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.
As expected, Qi Shaobai didn't disappoint, fighting back with his sharp tongue as usual.
"Yeah, I was planning to take some vitamins before going out, but I didn't pay attention and accidentally took your idiot pills instead."
"If I bring you food again, I'm a dog."
"Oh no, big bro, next time I'll pay attention when I eat them."
"Get lost."
"Didn't you say you wanted me to join you in the qualifying match tonight?"
"I misspoke. Please forgive me for offending you, big bro." The two continued walking, talking to each other formally as brothers.
As they passed the girls' dorm building, they spotted a crowd gathered up ahead.
Qi Shaobai had no interest in rubbernecking, and walked by with droopy eyes.
But his roommate had a personality that loved spectacles. Before even getting close, he was already craning his neck to watch the excitement.
As he watched the commotion, he chattered incessantly:
"Yo, someone's setting up candles to confess over there again."
"Damn, that's the third time I've seen it happen in a month."
"666, they've pulled out all the stops this time. Not only candles but flowers too."
It wasn't uncommon to see guys setting up candles and flowers to confess under the girls' dorms on university campuses.
Especially in places like Beijing University of Science and Technology with a male to female ratio of 6:1. It was nothing out of the ordinary.
Qi Shaobai couldn't be bothered to even glance at it. He sauntered lazily along.
Behind him, the confessing boy's sonorous voice carried over the crowd, coming through clearly.
"Chi——Xia——I love you! Will——you——be——my——girlfriend?"
Qi Shaobai stopped abruptly in his tracks.
???
Chi Xia?
"Chi Xia?" His roommate looked at Qi Shaobai in surprise and said, "Damn, this guy's digging your corner. He's got some balls."
Qi Shaobai gave his roommate a sharp glare.
"Don't talk nonsense."
He had explained to his dorm mates many times that he and Chi Xia were just friends. But they didn't believe him, adamantly insisting that there was something going on between them. They even claimed that "those involved are blind while bystanders see clearly."
As luck would have it, Chi Xia had also mentioned that she faced similar annoyances.
Apparently her dorm mates also suspected that there was more than friendship between them.
But that was not the case. They had always just been friends, interacting openly and candidly.
These rumors didn't significantly impact their relationship. They both had personalities that didn't care much what others thought of them. On the contrary, because others misunderstood that they were about to start dating, some admirers who originally wanted to pursue them got cold feet, feeling inferior and not daring to confess their feelings.
As a result, they were conveniently left in peace.
Clearly, the boy making a big fuss under the girls' dorm building today didn't fall into the group of timid admirers.
Qi Shaobai's brows twitched slightly. Though he had just uttered words indicating he was unrelated to this matter, his feet couldn't help but shift toward the crowd.
With his chin slightly raised, taking advantage of his height, he quickly peered over the people blocking his view to see the boy surrounded in the middle.
Without realizing it himself, as he looked at that boy, his gaze grew gradually darker, and he secretly clenched his fist.
With knitted brows, his already grumpy face appeared even colder and gloomier.
The boy held pink roses, looking up at the building while shouting a few more times.
Still no response.
The onlookers seemed to guess that the girl being confessed to was directly ignoring him.
Just as the onlookers were losing patience, Chi Xia appeared at the dorm entrance.
There was an uproar among the crowd.
The boy holding the flowers was invigorated, egged on by the voices of the onlookers. He quickly walked up a few steps.
No one noticed that one person in the crowd slowly darkened his gaze, quietly balling his fist.
The people around them were still clamoring.
Chi Xia was expressionless. When the boy got close, she shook her head coldly and seemed to say something with pursed lips.
They were too far away for others to hear clearly.
But judging by the boy's dejected turn and the hands holding the flowers suddenly dropping, the outcome was already clear.
The onlookers seemed to feel it was awkward to watch someone's confession get rejected, and the crowd dispersed shortly after.
Chi Xia stood at the top of the stairs in front of her dorm building wearing a Pink Bear sleep set.
She had been showering in her dorm when her roommate informed her of the situation downstairs.
Having no choice, she gave up the golden sheet mask time after showering and came downstairs to resolve the issue, worried that the noise might affect other dorm residents.
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."
"......"
