Noticing his evasive gaze, Chi Wang lowered his head and chuckled softly. Teacher Su was indeed stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside.
Taking two steps with his long legs, he leaned against the doorway. "Then open the door a bit wider, I can't get in."
Taking advantage and still acting coy, Su Lian yanked the door open and turned to sit on the sofa, showing no intention of welcoming his guest.
Chi Wang made himself at home, closed the door behind him, and sat down on the small sofa opposite Su Lian, bending his legs. He looked up to survey the room.
The layout of the entire room could be seen at a glance - a small living room and kitchen, two adjacent bedrooms, that was the entirety of the house. Although the walls were mottled and old, everything inside and out was kept very clean.
Looking around the silent surroundings, he propped his chin and asked, "Is there no one else at your home? Just you?"
Su Lian sat cross-legged on the sofa and hummed in agreement. "My dad is out. My mom... they divorced a long time ago, she doesn't live here."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Chi Wang's voice lowered, his expression a bit at a loss.
He seemed to have a knack for dancing right into Su Lian's minefield, hitting a sore spot as soon as he arrived. How impressive.
Thinking of how he always saw an unresolvable melancholy between Su Lian's brows, perhaps family reasons were part of it.
Compared to his own smooth-sailing life and perfect family, Chi Wang felt a bit heartbroken.
Su Lian flicked his fingertips, his expression calm. "It's fine, it's all in the past. Won't your uncle scold you for not going home?"
"I often sleep at internet cafes. They're used to me not coming home at night, they can't control me," Chi Wang shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back. "Anyway, I'm not doing anything bad, so they're quite at ease."
Indeed, no one can keep you in check, Su Lian scoffed inwardly.
Chi Wang took out his phone, waving the screen in front of Su Lian's eyes, his tone coaxing, "Now that you've vented your anger, how about adding me back as a friend?"
"Fine." Su Lian was too tired to argue, his finger moved swiftly to accept the request. "There, done."
Seeing the official notification "You are now friends, you can start chatting", Chi Wang's expression finally relaxed.
He looked up, carefully examining the expression of the person opposite him. "You've got quite a temper. Next time you're angry, can you tell me the reason before blocking me? Sometimes I'm slow to react, I can't even find a reason to apologize."
Su Lian sneered with a cold expression, "That's because you're stupid."
Chi Wang laughed along, his deep eyes curving beautifully, "Yes, I am quite stupid."
Perhaps the highest state of being is self-deprecation. Su Lian sighed helplessly and lowered his eyes in silence.
"Thank you for the amulet," Chi Wang pulled open his collar, tucked the tassel inside his clothes, leaving only a thin red string wrapped around his neck. Against his healthy skin tone, it had a strangely wild appeal.
It seemed, not as mismatched as imagined.
Su Lian stared at that string for a while before slowly speaking, "It's mainly because you've been quite accident-prone this past month. Quite pitiful."
Who knows if it'll work, but as Buddha says, faith makes it effective. Even if it's just psychological comfort, it's fine.
Recalling his recent painful experiences, Chi Wang played with his phone, smiling as he said, "Indeed, probably in a streak of bad luck. Need Teacher Su's amulet to turn my fortune around."
They were both grown men, not so sentimental. At this moment, the awkwardness from a few hours ago dissipated with their casual exchange.
The two looked at each other in silence for a while. Remembering what was interrupted earlier, Su Lian lowered his head to search for the video online and check the comments.
"Ahhhh the dynamic exercise duo is killing me! Handsome, can lead exercises, can sing and play guitar! Perfect!"
"Tell me, what other surprises do you have that your girlfriend doesn't know about?"
"Dashing youth on horseback, this auntie's heart is pounding..."
"To be honest, this song is quite good. Does anyone know what it's called?"
"Never heard it before, probably an obscure song. My husband just has good taste!"
"So obscure that even the lyrics can't be found online. Could it be... self-composed????"
Su Lian's brow twitched. He couldn't quite remember exactly when that song was released. He was drunk at the time and didn't pay attention to which year it was from.
But if things blew up, how would they explain when the band releases new songs in the future? That would directly expose his ridiculous time-travel experience.
Drinking really causes trouble. Su Lian rubbed his face, feeling anxious.
He looked up at Chi Wang, somewhat pleadingly, "The singing video is trending again. What should we do?"
"Find the source and ask them to delete it," Chi Wang said while searching for the video online.
Because it was trending, they quickly found the blogger who posted it. Judging by the avatar, it seemed to be a middle-aged man who wasn't easy to deal with.
He quickly composed a private message: Hello, I'm the person playing guitar in the video. I don't want to be exposed online. Please delete the video, thank you.
The other party was online and replied quickly: Won't delete. Traffic means money. Only a loser would delete it.
The tone was incredibly arrogant.
Su Lian moved closer, his shoulder pressing against Chi Wang's, looking at the reply with barely contained anger: "Is this person sick in the head?"
Chi Wang laughed angrily and typed rapidly: You've violated our portrait rights and privacy. If we really make this a big deal, I can sue you. The reason I'm messaging privately is to resolve this privately. I can offer some monetary compensation.
The reply from the other side was very haughty: Money? How much can you give?
Su Lian felt very conflicted. On one hand, he didn't want to waste money on something like this. On the other hand, he was afraid that if the public memory became too deep, there would be no way to contain the situation later.
It was indeed his own fault for getting drunk and going crazy. He pressed on Chi Wang's hand, negotiating, "I'll pay for it."
"I just wanted to give a little gesture of goodwill, but now he's getting too cocky." Chi Wang put aside his usual casualness, his expression turning serious. His eyelids lowered, giving him an inexplicably intimidating look.
He scrolled the screen, pondered for a few seconds, then said, "We won't give a cent. I'll report it to the official channels and get the account banned directly."
Su Lian analyzed calmly, "Since the traffic is quite high, it won't be that easy to delete, right?"
"I'll handle it." Chi Wang stood up and paced to the kitchen, making a low-voiced phone call to someone unknown, quickly repeating the situation.
Su Lian couldn't hear the details of the conversation clearly, only occasionally hearing him vaguely respond a few times.
But he had an inexplicable sense of trust that Chi Wang could resolve this matter.
He wasn't sure if this confidence was in the 20-something Chi Wang, or if some of his biased preconceptions about the teenage Chi Wang had lessened a bit.
About ten minutes later, Chi Wang let out a soft sigh, came out of the kitchen, and smiled at him, waving his phone, "They'll ban the account. If it's quick, it'll be gone by tomorrow morning."
"Such great powers, which big shot did you find?" Su Lian breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back against the cushion, now in the mood to joke.
Chi Wang raised an eyebrow slightly, "At times like these, isn't it faster to rely on dad?"
His tone was quite frank, without any intention of concealing or stealing credit.
Su Lian hesitated for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "Bothering your uncle so late at night, isn't that a bit much?"
"It's fine, he's a night owl too, wasn't asleep yet," Chi Wang said with interest. "When my dad heard you were going to tutor me late at night, he was so moved he said he'd handle it right away."
Quite good at making excuses, lying through his teeth.
Tapping his fingers on the sofa, Su Lian looked at him with a half-smile, "Want to study? Sure, come on, get your books out."
Despite one sitting and one standing, Chi Wang lost all his momentum, feeling a sense of impending doom all over.
Late-night tutoring was exactly the kind of thing the diligent Teacher Su would do.
At this moment, he just wanted to slap himself. He had been too complacent earlier, digging his own grave.
He sheepishly pulled Su Lian up from the sofa, pushing him towards the bedroom, quickly changing the subject, "Aren't you all about healthy living? Go to bed early. Want to see your room?"
Forced into the room, Su Lian sat on the bed helplessly, dangling his legs as he looked at Chi Wang, "My place is small, no extra rooms. Make do with what's here."
It was indeed small. The bed looked no more than 1.2 meters wide, with a small bookshelf beside it. The books were neatly arranged, and there were very few items in the room.
Chi Wang's gaze fell on an old photograph on the desk. He walked over and picked it up to examine it closely. "Is this you when you were little? Pretty as a girl."
No wonder they call you Su Daji. With those upturned eyes and delicate features, you had the potential to topple nations even as a child.
"You're the one who looks like a girl," Su Lian snapped. He had been irritated when classmates called him the "class beauty" because of his delicate features as a child. It wasn't until he shot up to over six feet tall and his demeanor completely changed that he finally escaped that nightmare.
Bringing up old memories put Su Lian in a foul mood. He clenched his fist, feeling the urge to punch something. He should have just left this guy standing outside all night - why did he have to be soft-hearted?
"I was just joking," Chi Wang carefully put the photo back, teasing, "You get mad even when I compliment your looks."
"Well, how about if I say you're good-looking?"
"I already know that, no need to point it out."
Su Lian: "..."
Clearly, people's sense of shame wasn't universal.
His hair had air-dried naturally. He lay down on the bed facing the wall and grumbled, "I'm going to sleep. Do whatever you want."
Chi Wang took off his jacket and turned off the bedside lamp before lying down next to Su Lian.
His fingers gently touched the shoulder beside him as he whispered, "Teacher Su."
"Don't call me that." Su Lian pulled the covers over his head and coldly replied, "I'm asleep."
"So you're sleep-talking to me now?"
"..."
"Let's chat for a bit?"
"No."
"I can't sleep. Want to look at the moon?"
"Look at your ass."
Su Lian let out a long internal sigh. He really should have just left this guy standing outside all night. If he wanted to see the moon so badly, the empty alley would have given him a perfect view.
Chi Wang truly couldn't sleep. He didn't consider himself delicate, but this bed was excessively hard - even worse than the rickety cot at the internet cafe.
He finally understood why Su Lian had been so confident about sleeping on the couch for a night - it was far softer than this.
As the night deepened, Chi Wang tossed and turned over a dozen times, sprawled out like a fried egg, still wide awake.
The person next to him had fallen asleep, though he was pressed tightly against the wall, trying to leave as much space as possible. It didn't look very comfortable.
Chi Wang gently reached out, pulling Su Lian closer along with the blanket. He tilted his head to rest against Su Lian's, feeling the soft strands of hair.
Strangely, after hours of insomnia, drowsiness suddenly overtook him and he drifted off.
In the morning, Su Lian was awakened by the sound of someone entering. He opened his eyes slightly, feeling like he could barely breathe.
Looking down, he saw that the idiot Chi Wang was using him as a body pillow, nearly suffocating him.
He had just raised his hand to wake Chi Wang when the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
"Want breakfast? I bought..." Su Huasheng gripped the doorknob, his gaze falling on the messy tangle of blankets. Somehow two grown men had squeezed onto that tiny bed.
The blankets were in disarray, concealing what was underneath except for a glimpse of two pairs of intertwined legs.
The scene was utterly baffling. The rest of Su Huasheng's sentence died in his throat.
Su Lian's scalp prickled as he sluggishly explained, "Dad, this is... my classmate."
Su Huasheng nodded slowly, recalling their chance encounter in the alley. His eyes darted around as he said, "I know. Your deskmate, Chi Wang."
Su Lian: "?"
How the hell did he know that? This was getting weird.
Before Su Lian could react, Chi Wang had gradually opened his eyes. He rolled over and sleepily met the gaze of last night's Good Samaritan.
Remembering what Su Lian had called the man, Chi Wang thought this was quite the coincidence. He drawled in confusion, "Dad...?"
Under the covers, Su Lian kicked him and hissed, "What are you calling him?"
Su Huasheng's expression was shocked. So your "urgent business" was coming to my house for a nap and casually acquiring a new father?