Thump thump, thump thump.
Chi Wang felt the room was very noisy, his mind filled with a chaotic roar. After a while, he realized it was the sound of his own loud heartbeat.
He curled his fingers, grasping back, and found that Su Lian's hand was a size smaller than his own, fitting perfectly in his palm.
Very slender and pale, with a thin layer of calluses on the palm, but still soft.
His heartbeat accelerated, getting faster and faster.
Wait, what did Su Lian just call him?
"Chi-ge" (Brother Chi), it seemed he had never called him that before.
Su Lian always addressed him formally as "Chi Wang", his expression cold and emotionless, showing no feeling.
But this time was different, clearly carrying a hint of dependence, like a soft whine or act of coquetry.
Unexpectedly, Chi Wang recalled that night last week when he sent Su Lian home. Su Lian had called out "ge" (brother) with that same light tone.
At the time, he didn't hear the surname and thought Su Lian was calling someone else, but this time he heard it very clearly and was certain he hadn't misheard.
There weren't many people with the surname Chi, and among the men Su Lian knew, besides Chi Bianhai, it was probably just himself.
So, Su Lian really was calling out to him.
Was it because he felt so awful from being sick that he was acting coquettish?
His gaze fell on that face, and he felt Su Lian was pitifully heart-wrenching, so fragile yet trying to act strong.
Only when delirious with fever would he show weakness and reveal his true feelings.
But that "Chi-ge" he called out really made one's heart itch.
Chi Wang swallowed hard, pressing Su Lian's palm, and said softly, "Su Lian, call me that again."
The person on the bed furrowed his brows tightly, his face looking increasingly pale. His curved knuckles betrayed a hint of unease as he refused to speak again.
As if that moment before had been his own illusion, Chi Wang slightly tugged his hand, but his fingers were suddenly gripped tightly, unable to move.
"I'm not leaving, I'll stay right here with you," Chi Wang lowered his eyelashes, not daring to move again.
Hearing this, Su Lian's brows relaxed a bit, his breathing gradually calming.
Sitting suspended wasn't very comfortable, so Chi Wang simply kicked off his shoes and carefully climbed onto the bed, lying on his side at the edge.
The person who usually hated being touched seemed to sense something, turned over and moved closer, his fluffy head resting against Chi Wang's shoulder, nuzzling slightly.
The thin pajamas transmitted a temperature that was too high, making Chi Wang's heart skip another beat.
Chi Wang raised his hand to feel his own forehead, wondering if this fever was contagious. Otherwise, why did he feel short of breath, with a racing heart, numb limbs, and elevated body temperature?
One hand was being held by Su Lian, so he could only use his other hand to slowly massage Su Lian's temples, helping to relieve the headache.
After rubbing for a while, Chi Wang asked in a low voice, "Does your head still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore," Su Lian responded slowly, shaking his head gently and burrowing another inch into Chi Wang's embrace.
Probably having used up all the patience of his lifetime here, Chi Wang treated him like a child, reaching out to pat the blanket lightly, coaxing him to sleep.
As he patted and coaxed, he also began to feel drowsy, and fell asleep with their heads touching.
In a hazy state, Su Lian had a dream about the second year he and Chi Wang were together.
At that time, they were still living in a small house outside the Fifth Ring Road in Capital City. In winter, to save on heating costs, they bought a small fire stove online.
The bright yellow light illuminated the room, but it wasn't very effective. It was still cold from head to toe.
That day was the coldest winter in 30 years. At night, the two lay in bed watching a movie, shivering under a thin blanket for warmth.
The plot was a bit boring, not even worthy of being called a popcorn flick. It was just playing in the background to pass the time because the website offered it for free.
He impassively stuffed his cold feet into Chi Wang's clothes, deliberately teasing him.
But Chi Wang didn't dodge, just smiled and cupped Su Lian's feet with his hands, massaging them while saying, "Su-su, in another year or two, I'll definitely earn lots and lots of money. We'll live in a big house where we can use the heating as much as we want. Just wait for me a little longer, just wait."
Even if they couldn't wait for that day, it didn't matter, Su Lian thought at the time.
The winters in Fog City were also gloomy and cold. He was a child who grew up enduring hardships, accustomed to this level of difficulty, and didn't think himself so delicate.
But in that second, he felt truly and sincerely cherished.
"Then please hug me now, I'm freezing to death," Su Lian couldn't say anything sentimental, stubbornly ordering Chi Wang instead.
Chi Wang laughed and pulled him into his arms, "Alright, your majesty."
That embrace was very warm, warmer than any heating temperature.
In his daze, Su Lian opened his eyes, feeling his whole body sticky with sweat, an arm draped across his waist.
The dormitory was dim, night had fallen, and a faint light shone through the window, making it hard to tell the time.
It seemed like in a moment of confusion, he had returned to that small room, huddling together for warmth because it was too cold.
He blinked very lightly, discovering that Chi Wang was lying on his side at the edge of the small bed in an extremely awkward position, as if the slightest movement would cause him to fall off.
Su Lian then realized that this was eight years ago, in his dormitory at Third High School, and he was still running a fever.
He must have really been delirious from the fever to think he was in the rental house.
"Chi Wang, wake up," he called out, noticing his voice was hoarse, probably due to inflammation from the cold.
Chi Wang's eyelids trembled slightly, his arm tightening as he lay still.
Su Lian wanted to reach out and push him, but found his right hand was being held tightly, the palm burning hot.
So he pinched Chi Wang's little finger hard and complained, "Weren't you supposed to be helping me cool down? How did you end up sleeping here?"
Chi Wang opened his eyes, his consciousness slowly returning: "You wouldn't let go of me, I had no choice."
His tone sounded quite helpless.
Su Lian immediately retorted, "Nonsense, how is that possible?"
"It's true, you gripped my hand and wouldn't let go, so I could only lie down with you."
"..."
"You were also whining that your head hurt, that it hurt terribly."
"..."
"Oh right, you called me 'Chi-ge'. Why don't you call me that usually?"
"..."
Su Lian felt his head throbbing. He couldn't tell if Chi Wang was making things up or if it was true. That dream from earlier flashed by, and he probably got lost in the memories and unconsciously believed it was real.
He awkwardly turned his head away, pulling his hand out of the scorching palm: "You misheard."
"Impossible, I just wish I had recorded it," Chi Wang sat up, smiling teasingly at him. "Since the mood is already like this, why don't you call me that again?"
Su Lian reached for the blanket to cover himself, his voice muffled as it came out: "Call your grandpa."
Sure enough, he was cuter when groggy. As soon as he sobered up, he immediately returned to being aloof. Chi Wang clicked his tongue inwardly.
He reached under the blanket, feeling around: "Let me check if you still have a fever."
Su Lian raised his hand to smack him, saying irritably: "Where are you touching?"
His fingertips moved slightly, and Chi Wang realized he seemed to have slipped into the open collar of the pajamas. The skin under his palm was delicate, and he didn't dare move.
He withdrew sheepishly, rubbing his nose: "You're covered by the blanket, I can't see."
Forced by necessity, Su Lian lifted the blanket and put his hand to his forehead for a moment, finishing his assessment.
His pale face had an eerily rosy tint: "It should have gone down, probably just over 38 degrees."
Chi Wang didn't believe him. He climbed down the ladder, took out an electronic thermometer, and pressed it against Su Lian's forehead.
To his surprise, it displayed: 38.1°C.
"Are you an electronic thermometer yourself? How accurate," Chi Wang measured twice more to confirm there was no error.
Su Lian made a sound of agreement: "What time is it now?"
Looking at his phone screen, Chi Wang lowered his head to reply: "After 5 PM. Do you want to eat something? I'll go buy it for you."
This nap had lasted from early morning to evening, leaving him groggy, but being held and sweating it out made Su Lian feel much better physically.
Su Lian nodded and said: "Just get something light. I'll go to evening self-study later."
Chi Wang's hand paused as he was about to order food. He said incredulously: "Your fever hasn't even broken yet and you want to go to evening study? Is this the life of a top student? Squeezing in study time at every opportunity?"
Su Lian slowly climbed down from the bed, draping a coat over himself: "I'm already better. It's only 38 degrees, it's fine."
Listening to these words, one would really think his body was made of iron and steel, indestructible.
Chi Wang was speechless. He opened the menu and silently added a serving of pear with rock sugar.
When the takeout arrived, Su Lian didn't speak anymore, eating in silence. After taking medicine and changing clothes, he resolutely returned to the classroom.
Faced with such a stubborn ancestor, Chi Wang was at a loss and could only escort him back to Class 6, completely unable to handle him.
The two sat down in their seats, one listless and the other physically and mentally exhausted, both wilted.
Seeing the newcomers, Gu Anjiu called out, "Lian bro, are you feeling better? Why come for evening self-study? We usually all skip it..."
Before he could finish, Chi Wang smacked him on the head: "No more skipping class from now on. Study hard and improve every day."
With two pairs of eyes - one from the top student and one from the school bully - staring at him, Gu Anjiu didn't dare voice his anger and silently shrank his neck.
Su Lian raised the corner of his mouth and said softly, "Much better, thanks to Chi Wang."
"Yes, thanks to your Brother Chi—ow!" His calf was kicked hard by someone. It seemed the illness had indeed improved quite a bit, judging by the fierce force.
There was still some time before class started. The surroundings were noisy with people copying homework, gossiping, and chattering non-stop.
Chi Wang suddenly thought of something and, from a distance, tapped Gu Anjiu's shoulder: "Hold out your hand."
Gu Anjiu: "?"
A small chubby hand tremblingly emerged from his pocket, hovering in the air: "I haven't offended you recently, have I? Are you going to read my fortune or cut my wrist? Just say it... We've been brothers for so many years, if you don't consider our long friendship, at least think about our silent companionship through thick and thin..."
"Shut up." Chi Wang took a deep breath, reached out and grabbed it, squeezing tightly.
There was a lot of fat, the feeling was barely passable, it felt like gripping a dog's paw.
Squeezed like this, Gu Anjiu looked shocked: "What are you doing? I'm telling you I'm straight as an arrow, don't do things like holding hands to gay me up. You may be quite handsome, but my mind is made up, I won't fall for you."
Chi Wang: "..."
Su Lian opened his textbook. The noise was other people's business; he just wanted to bury himself in doing practice problems.
The chubby hand was unceremoniously thrown back, and Chi Wang tapped Lin Yan: "Your turn."
Lin Yan shook his head, face full of resistance: "No, I refuse to hold hands with you."
"It's just a quick grip, I'm not asking for your life." Chi Wang impatiently grabbed his wrist and pulled it over, squeezing it in his hand.
The knuckles were slender, barely comparable to one-tenth of Su Lian's, but a bit thin, not soft enough, really quite bony.
Lin Yan pulled his hand back, not knowing what whim this big shot was indulging: "What are you playing at?"
"Nothing, I just don't quite understand something." Chi Wang sighed, his expression very troubled.
Su Lian didn't even lift his eyelids, casually asking: "What?"
Chi Wang turned his head to look at the person doing practice problems, mumbling indistinctly: "When I was holding your hand earlier, my heart kept pounding wildly. I don't know why."
The writing hand paused. Su Lian replied speechlessly: "...You might have an irregular heartbeat. I suggest seeing a doctor."
Put that way, it made sense.
"As expected of the future doctor Little Teacher Su, you're really something." Chi Wang covered his heart, suddenly enlightened.
Gu Anjiu turned back, curious: "Who's going to be a doctor?"
Chi Wang pointed to the side: "Him. He has lofty aspirations, wants to get into Peking University Medical School."
Song Jiaci from across the aisle chimed in: "I-I want to apply too, but my grades are still a bit short."
"Looks like our Chi Lin Jiu Rou Small Team is going to produce two doctors, awesome," Gu Anjiu said, pulling out his phone to drag Su Lian into the group chat, explaining: "Well, the team is growing stronger. Now Lian bro is one of us too."
What a stupid name, it sounded so decadent.
Inexplicably pulled into the small group, Su Lian lowered his eyes to look at the group name, silently matching up each person's name: "I can understand Chi Lin Jiu, so is Song Jiaci the 'Rou'?"
Gu Anjiu shrugged: "Who told him to come late? There was no choice left, us three had already taken the first three characters. Ah, but now that Lian bro has joined, four characters aren't enough to go around."
Fingers tapping randomly on the keyboard, Chi Wang changed it in one go, boasting: "Now it's just right. I'm such a genius."
Su Lian looked again and nearly had a heart attack.
Human Delusion changed the group name to: Chi Lin Jiu Su Rou
...Thank you so much, emanating greasiness amidst the decadence, this is even more stupid.
Su Lian did recall another matter though. Even though Song Jiaci seemed to have such a good relationship with them, why had he never seen him again later, and no one ever mentioned him?
If he hadn't transferred to Class 6, Su Lian wouldn't have known Chi Wang even had such a friend.
He stared at the five avatars in the small group, lost in thought.
The class bell rang, and the classroom instantly fell silent, as if someone had hit pause, with only the quiet sound of pens scratching on paper.
Su Lian snapped back to reality, casually circled a bunch of problems and slapped them onto the desk next to him: "These are similar to the types we went over the other day. Do them."
Staring at the dense small writing, Chi Wang twirled his pen, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
Ah, Little Teacher Su, you were really much cuter when you were sick.
Li Guoqing wandered over behind the two, tapped Su Lian's shoulder and asked with concern: "Has your fever gone down?"
Su Lian lifted his head from the practice problems: "Much better, thank you for your concern, teacher."
"You should strengthen your exercise routine. How can you get a fever just from being caught in the rain? Your body is too weak," Li Guoqing said, hands behind his back, rambling on endlessly. "In the future, after evening self-study, go for a run if you have nothing else to do. It's good for your body and mind."
Su Lian: "...Alright."
He suspected that forcing Chi Wang to exercise had backfired on him. How come he seemed to be in a worse state now? It was truly karma.
Chi Wang gloated from the side: "Run more, do more exercises. I'll watch your performance tomorrow morning."
Just thinking about it made Su Lian feel like his cold was getting worse again: "I won't do it. I'm sick, I can't."
Li Guoqing was very understanding: "With one of you having an injured arm and the other having a fever, it's really troublesome. Take a couple days off to rest."
Su Lian breathed a sigh of relief. If he could avoid it for a day, that was one day gained.
This fever was quite worth it.
During the ten-minute break, the quiet classroom became noisy again. Amidst the coming and going of people, suddenly a group of delivery men carrying a bunch of milk teas entered, blocking the doorway.
Gu Anjiu craned his neck to watch the commotion: "Who's so generous, buying so much?"
The milk teas were distributed one by one on the desks. A girl with a high ponytail jumped onto the podium: "Everyone's worked hard at evening self-study. Please enjoy autumn's first cup of milk tea on me."
"Class beauty is generous!"
"Class beauty is rich!"
"Class beauty is kind-hearted!"
"Class beauty is the best in the universe!"
A group of people joined in the commotion. Su Lian looked up towards the front. So this was the center of last night's bet.
His gaze shifted to the window. The treetops were swaying wildly in the wind. It really had entered autumn, no wonder it felt so chilly today.
Chi Wang silently took a sip and complained: "Autumn's first cup of milk tea, this is all just marketing hype from businesses."
Su Lian sneered: "You really are a steel straight man."
"What, you want to drink it? You should have said so earlier. I'll order you a cup when we get dinner tonight." Before Chi Wang could finish speaking, a cup of warm milk tea was delivered to their desk.
His gaze lowered, falling on the name of the milk tea, slowly reading out: "Taro... Bubble... Milk Tea."
Damn, he thought that matter had long been over with. Could it be his identity had been discovered? Was this a silent hint or a threat? He felt a bit uneasy.
Su Lian didn't even look up: "What taro bubble milk tea?"
Chi Wang was very nervous, his voice muffled: "Just the milk tea flavor, taro bubble. Haven't you had it before?"
The name sounded very familiar. Su Lian's pen tip paused. Wasn't this the name of that blogger who posted the morning exercise video?
He pursed his lips, looking at the girl quickly walking towards them, a bit dazed.
So this was the junior classmate who had chatted with him in private messages that day, and coincidentally in the same class?
His scalp tingled. Su Lian averted his gaze and buried his head to continue doing problems.
Liu Youyou bounced lightly to the front of their desk, pushing two cups of milk tea into their line of sight, smiling: "Please enjoy."
Chi Wang tapped his finger, glancing from Su Lian back to himself: "Treating us both? Who?"
Liu Youyou didn't speak, just stared at him meaningfully.
Hearing the commotion, cheers with sarcastic undertones had already started from the other side of the classroom, eager to watch the show.
Qi Tian winked and said: "What did I tell you, brothers? It's time to witness a miracle."
"Damn, I'm nervous and excited. The answer is about to be revealed."
"I bet on Su Lian. The class beauty's gaze towards him is very passionate."
"No way, her body is clearly leaning towards Wang. The body is most honest, don't you know?"
"Anyway, I'm betting fifty. It's definitely Su Lian."
"I'll bet a hundred. If I'm wrong, I'll wash my hair standing on my head," Chi Wang declared.
Liu Youyou raised an eyebrow and emphasized, "This flavor was specifically ordered. Don't you like it?"
Holding the bubble tea cup between his fingers, Chi Wang thought to himself, "The class beauty actually bought bubble tea for the whole class just to give one to Su Lian. How subtle."
"Still trying to pass as taro bubble tea? The real taro bubble tea cutie is sitting right in front of you," he mused.
Su Lian remained silent, thinking that the account had indeed moved on, and was now quietly showing favor to Chi Wang.
"It's just bubble tea now, but what's next? Ridiculous," he thought.
Both of them wore cold expressions, their thoughts running wild, harboring ulterior motives and imagining all sorts of scenarios.
In the next moment, they simultaneously pushed the bubble tea forward and said in unison, "Thanks, but I don't want it."