Annoying

In the evening, the Faculty of Humanities and Arts held the first choir rehearsal at the stadium.

You Ran was quick on his feet. Before the faculty teacher could bring the song list, he had already clapped along to the beat of the song "Time Thief," successfully gathering countless votes for himself and changing the choir competition song to this one before the training session ended.

The teacher was so angry he wanted to hit him, but he couldn't go against the wishes of all the students. Xie Qizhi looked up and saw him standing behind the teacher, smiling and giving him a thumbs-up.

Xie Qizhi unexpectedly discovered that You Ran sang very well. His voice was clear, and when he held the final notes, there was an indescribable purity and depth.

During the interlude, Xie Qizhi asked him softly: "Did you ever study singing?"

You Ran asked back: "Is it good?"

Xie Qizhi nodded obediently.

You Ran laughed and winked at him: "Are you about to fall in love with me?"

Unable to stand this person, Xie Qizhi immediately distanced himself and ignored him.

When the rehearsal ended, Xie Qizhi called a taxi home. He didn't know what information You Ran had spread in his absence. As soon as he got out of the car and checked his phone, he saw dozens of group messages. The topic of conversation had shifted from "what to eat tonight" to "does Xie Qizhi's family really have a white-haired, blue-eyed mixed-race hottie."

During the parent-teacher meeting in the 12th grade, Zhan Xinjiai had met Xie Zhilan. Just by talking to You Ran for a bit, she knew the two people they had encountered looked completely different.

So the question was, why did his brothers look different, and why didn't Xie Qizhi look like his brothers either?

Zhan Xinjiai and You Ran were extremely curious. Even the orange cat profile picture, which was said to never speak, appeared and typed a question mark.

Xie Qizhi built up the suspense: 【Because】

Zhan Xinjiai: 【Because?】

You Ran: 【Because?】

Orange Cat: 【?】

Xie Qizhi: 【They were all picked up and raised.】

After typing this, he put his phone in his pocket and took the 45cm Stitch doll into the elevator. The express delivery package had arrived and was placed on the cabinet outside; he took it inside as well.

Not long after, Ying Huai also returned, seeing Xie Qizhi sitting in the living room unboxing the package.

He walked up behind Xie Qizhi, looked down, and asked: "I have this book? If you want to read it, just take it."

Xie Qizhi looked up at him: "I didn't know."

Ying Huai was about to walk away, but hearing his words, he turned back and asked: "You didn't know?"

Xie Qizhi said firmly: "I didn't know."

Ying Huai looked at him for a few seconds, his gaze very direct, making Xie Qizhi feel guilty. He suspected the man might have known he had secretly entered his room.

Probably not; Ying Huai's house didn't have surveillance cameras. He couldn't possibly smell it, right? His nose wasn't that sharp, was it? He wasn't a dog.

Ying Huai said nothing more and went to his room. Soon after, the sound of running water came from the bathroom.

Xie Qizhi put the book in his room and also went to shower.

The Stitch doll he brought back still didn't have a place. Xie Qizhi had just finished drying his hair and stepped out when he saw Ying Huai standing in the living room.

He had his hand on Stitch's soft blue head, his eyes slightly lowered, looking at something. Before Xie Qizhi could call out, he saw him slap the back of Stitch's head. Stitch fell onto the sofa with a "thud."

Xie Qizhi: "..."

He walked over and asked: "What are you doing?"

Ying Huai asked back: "Why did you only bring back a small one?"

Xie Qizhi said: "I only bought a small one."

He leaned over to set Stitch upright again, placing it between two sofa cushions. Ying Huai's gaze landed on his wrist, and he suddenly asked: "Where's your hair tie? Did you give it to someone?"

"What hair tie? I don't tie my hair, why would I buy that? It's a curtain clip, I bought it for a friend!" Xie Qizhi emphasized seriously.

Ying Huai said nothing, his head slightly tilted. Xie Qizhi found it strange, and looking up, he caught the smile in his eyes and realized the man knew it was a curtain clip; he had just asked that on purpose.

What a boring person! Xie Qizhi glared at him and asked: "Why are you just like You Ran—"

Ying Huai interrupted: "Who is You Ran?"

Xie Qizhi was stunned. Before he could answer, he heard him say: "The green-haired guy from this afternoon?"

Xie Qizhi blinked and thought: *I told you green hair was a prominent identifying feature; You Ran is the unusual one for remembering a face on the first meeting.*

Thanks to this commonality, his anger suddenly vanished. His eyes curved into a smile as he said: "That's right."

Ying Huai looked down into his smiling eyes and asked calmly: "Was it fun hanging out with him?"

Xie Qizhi thought for a moment and said: "It was quite fun. I've never hung out with classmates before."

Ying Huai gave an "Oh," leaned over to pick up Xie Qizhi's towel that had slipped onto the sofa, draped it over his wet head, and rubbed: "Water is dripping on the floor."

The moment he leaned close, Xie Qizhi instinctively held his breath, his whole body tensing up, staring stiffly at the slightly open front of the pajamas before him.

Ying Huai had also just finished showering; warmth and the scent of body wash enveloped him. Even though it was a similar scent, it rushed in, making Xie Qizhi's mind go blank and his cheeks gradually turn red.

He instinctively wanted to pull back, but Ying Huai held the back of his neck firmly.

"What are you dodging?"

Xie Qizhi didn't dare look up. He was a size smaller than Ying Huai, his whole person enveloped in the man's shadow. He lowered his head and said nothing, his hands clutching his towel, both resisting and pushing Ying Huai's hand away.

Ying Huai didn't notice his unusual reaction. He ruffled a few more times and let go: "Then dry it yourself." With that, he turned back to the bedroom.

When the door closed, Xie Qizhi pulled down the towel, sitting on the sofa with a gloomy expression.

Ten minutes later, his brother called.

He asked directly: "Ying Huai said you're hanging out with a rebellious green-haired guy now?"

Intuitively, Xie Qizhi guessed "green-haired" was Ying Huai's words, while "rebellious" was his brother's own interpretation. He said irritably: "Who is rebellious? Don't guess blindly before you've met him; he's my classmate! He's a very good person!"

His brother gave a cold laugh: "I know you too well. Since you were little, you only look at faces. How can you tell good from bad? You think whoever is most beautiful is the best person in the world! Qi Qi, where is that green-haired guy from, what's his situation—"

Xie Qizhi was hit where it hurt. He couldn't say if the green-haired guy was beautiful, but Ying Huai was indeed the most beautiful person he had ever met.

He turned his embarrassment into rage and, without waiting for his brother to finish, hung up the phone.

The night was as cold as water, but his heart was restless, unable to calm down. He walked around the living room, then around again, returning to sit on the sofa, clutching his ceramic cup and gulping down the entire cup of water.

Putting down the cup, he looked at the Stitch sitting next to him and decided he would just leave it here and not give it to Ying Huai.

He could imagine Ying Huai's relaxed, natural tone when chatting with his brother, and then he would, as if taking credit, mention the incident this afternoon where he met him and You Ran blocked at the gate of Songcheng University, and how he had kindly used his student ID to let them in...

Otherwise, how would his brother, thousands of miles away, know about the green-haired guy?

This man Ying Huai, who seemed so aloof, could actually find the time to tease him while still in contact with his brother?

How annoying.

The next day was the weekend. Xie Qizhi woke up to find the whole house empty; Ying Huai had gone out early.

He went to the living room and saw that the Stitch, which had been sitting upright last night, was now lying face down on the sofa.

Such a boring thing—one didn't even need to think to know who did it.

...

Even more annoying.