"My name is Zhou Jia, what's your name?" He was invited to enter the room next door.
He was shocked when he stepped into the comfortable warm room and could not believe his eyes. Too clean and neat, too warm and homey! He quietly walked in and felt like he was straying into a couple's space...Zhou Jia shook his head and felt it was only his imagination.
"Brother Zhou Jia, my name is Su Xing." He said. "Sit down here. I'll pour you a glass of water." However he found that there were only two cups in the room, one for him and one for Yu Feng.
Fortunately, Su Xing remembered that when he went shopping at the supermarket, he was given a cherry blossom patterned cup. This came in handy now.
"Thank you." Zhou Jia looked at the drink. It was not plain boiled water, but scented tea with wolfberry and chrysanthemum. This level of sophistication was really thought-provoking. He gave Su Xing another glance.
"You're welcome." Su Xing said while bringing food to the table.
The two people chatted while eating. Zhou Jia was a lively and talkative person. Su Xing learned that the man was working towards his degree and majoring in biology.
After the meal, Zhou Jia gratefully said, "Thank you Su Xing for your hospitality. I'll invite you to dinner on Friday. Can you come?"
The young man next door could cook. Zhou Jia sharpened his mind and wanted to make friends. What's more, the young man looked enthusiastic and Zhou Jia had an idea of pulling him into his circle of friends.
Su Xing froze and immediately wanted to refuse, but it would seem out of place after he thought about it. A few days ago, he vowed to his brother that he was okay, that he was improving and would retract into his shell.
"Okay." Su Xing agreed to Zhou Jia's invitation.
In the afternoon, Yu Feng came back before dinner. The weather in Beijing was still hot in early September. The man returned from the teaching building and was lightly sweating. He unbuttoned his collar at the door, he looked very casual, completely different from at the office.
If one saw him at school, they would say that Yu Feng was a model student with a professional atmosphere. However at home in front of Su Xing, Yu Feng was a relaxed and lazy old beast. This casualness lasted until he walked to the table and saw the paper cup.
Yu Feng walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. The person inside had just taken a shower. Su Xing's hair was still wet when he opened the door. The first thing he saw was his brother's chest.
"Brother, you're back?" Su Xing stepped back a little.
"Who was here?" Yu Feng asked without hiding his emotions.
"Um, how did you know?" Su Xing answered, "I made a new friend and invited him over for lunch."
Su Xing did not notice his brother's expression change and continued, "His name is Zhou Jia, a student of the biology department. He lives next door to us. He has a good personality and looks good."
At this moment, Su Xing realized that Yu Feng's expression was unpleasant. "Didn't you want me to make new friends?"
The question made Yu Feng blink. He quickly smiled and touched Su Xing's head. "Nothing wrong, you can make new friends. I am very happy for you."
Yes, in Su Xing's case, it was best to make friends at the university. He should not stop it. On the contrary, he should support it.
Yu Feng suppressed his selfishness and distraction. He swept Su Xing's bangs aside and kissed his forehead. He whispered as Su Xing left to dry his hair. "I'll take a bath."
Su Xing did not probe further. "Could you help me dry my hair?" Yu Feng would not refuse such a request and happily nodded. "Okay."
The shirt in hand was thrown into the clothes basket in the bathroom. Then he came out with the hair dryer. In order to be level with Su Xing's height, he kneeled on the sofa and seriously dried every strand of hair on Su Xing's head. It was disturbingly gentle.
Su Xing felt his heart racing in his chest. He occasionally looked at the other person's handsome face and had the urge to confess. But he held himself back. He dared not confess but dared to hug his brother for a moment.
"Done." Before being held for too long, Yu Feng felt warm and wanted to take a shower.
"Okay." Su Xing frowned, he wanted to hug longer.
He thought about getting a cooler hairstyle soon. If he looked more mature, would his brother no longer treat him like a child? Su Xing felt the idea was feasible and decided to ask Zhou Jia for advice and help after dinner on Friday.
Thinking of that, he immediately sent a message to Zhou Jia saying he wanted to get a haircut after the meal and wanted to get a stylist recommendation.
Zhou Jia paused before asking: [Are you talking about a basic haircut?]
Su Xing: [Yeah, I don't want to dye or perm my hair.]
Zhou Jia was relieved. He thought the younger man wanted to do a complete makeover after dinner. To be honest, many male students in the school played around.
Friday quickly arrived and Su Xing suddenly remembered that he had not told Yu Feng about the dinner invitation. In the morning, he sent his brother a message.
Su Xing: [You're eating alone tonight [laugh emoji]]
Yu Feng: [???]
Su Xing: [Brother Zhou Jia invited me to dinner.]
Yu Feng glanced at the message with an unhappy expression. [Is that so, that's great. Have fun.]
Su Xing: [Yes, he said that he would introduce some ladies to me.]
Yu Feng looked at the response and expressionlessly put down his phone. After a while, Su Xing sent him another message: [Brother, what it's like to fall in love?]
If the previous one only made him uncomfortable, Yu Feng now felt attacked. [What does that have to do with you? If you dare to fall in love before graduation, I'll break your dog leg.]
Su Xing: [Oh. Then will you fall in love?]
Yu Feng: [No.]
Su Xing: [But what should I do if I can't control my feelings.]
Yu Feng: [Compare the importance of love compared to legs.]
Su Xing: [Legs are more important. {Laughing/crying}]
Yu Feng: [You are still young, don't believe that those thoughts are love. It's just a part of adolescence.]
Puberty his foot, Su Xing thought. He did not reply further.
In the afternoon at school, Su Xing met up with Zhou Jia as agreed and they went out for a meal. After eating, Zhou Jia brought Su Xing to get a haircut.
"I wanted to ask you, why did you have such a plain haircut before?" It looked good, but it made him seem very young. Almost like a high school student.
Su Xing got annoyed at the matter. "I did not choose this style."
Zhou Jia was smart and guessed that Su Xing's parents or older sibling chose it. "Let's go, the ladies have booked a private karaoke room and are waiting for us." He looked at his phone and told Su Xing.
"Eh?" Su Xing stopped back when he heard it was karaoke. Mainly, if his brother knew about it and his previous threat.
But as soon as he thought about today's matter, he felt annoyed. Yu Feng had indirectly looked down on his age and feelings. How could that not be irritating? Su Xing thought about Zhou Jia's arrangement.
After a while, Yu Feng sent a message to his mobile phone. He spoke in a soft tone. "Su Xing, have you finished dinner with your friend? When are you coming back?"
Su Xing took a colorful picture and sent it: [Brother, I am dancing.]
Yu Feng: [...Dance hard, while you still have legs.]
Su Xing: [Let me tell you, if you scare me so much I won't go back home tonight.]
Yu Feng was startled because Su Xing was like this in his mind.
Su Xing: [Here's my new hairstyle, isn't it handsome? {image}]
Yu Feng took a look. Although the lightning was limited, the rabbit has a good background with a clear outline. Su Xing definitely looked handsome. But Yu Feng could not calm down at the thought of Su Xing dressing up for a young lady.
Yu Feng: [Stop playing around and come back.]
Su Xing: [It hasn't been a long time since I came here. If I leave now, how can I hang out in the dorm in the future?]
Yu Feng grit his teeth and asked in frustration: [Where are you guys? Give me the address.]
Su Xing: [I don't want you to come so I won't tell you.]
After getting such a refusal, Yu Feng could not help but think back, when did he provoke Su Xing? Was he irritated that he blocked him from dating? But Su Xing wasn't like that before. He was very well-behaved and nodded in agreement.
Now he was suddenly rebellious, even if Yu Feng did not want to accept reality, he had to admit that Su Xing likely had a crush on someone. Yu Feng felt heartbroken at the thought. The person he cared for in the palm of his hand, who had grown to be lively, cute and cheerful, would get stolen away by a stranger.
Yu Feng was not actually a good person. In this world, only Su Xing would feel that he was warm. It was not difficult to know where Su Xing went. Yu Feng went to a school chat and asked what activities were going on tonight.
Any girl from the same school would be able to answer Yu Feng's question and even invited him to come. Su Xing was still too naive, thinking Yu Feng would be unable to find out the information.
On the way to the karaoke bar, Yu Feng messaged Su Xing: [Do you really want to fall in love?]
His brother contacted him again, he really was like a parent. Su Xing sighed and thought for a while and answered: [Instead of saying I want to fall in love, I would prefer that you respect my feelings.]
He continued texting: [Although I am still young, it doesn't mean that my feelings are not serious. You can't attribute my feelings to puberty, I won't accept that.]
Yu Feng: [Who do you like?]
Su Xing: [I won't tell you.]
No solution in sight. Yu Feng opened the window and let the wind blow on his face to cool off. Although he comforted himself repeatedly, the so-called feelings of youth were fickle. Every semester or so, they would change the goddess they liked.
But in all fairness, was Su Xing that kind of person? Yu Feng was so annoyed he dropped his phone, causing the driver to look at him from the rear view mirror.
If someone had asked Yu Feng what he thought the probability of a 19-year-old boy and a 27-year-old man being together. He would not bother to calculate the probability at all because it was like a blind cat trying to catch a dead mouse.
Now however, even if knew that he had no chance, he still wanted to force it. Su Xing caused him to want to give up the opportunity of being a good person. Maybe when he stepped back into the university, he was an old beast without moral integrity.
"We arrived." The driver said.
Yu Feng opened the car door, looked at the neon lights and sent a message to Su Xing: [Su Xing, you come home right now, while I am still your good brother.]