Chapter 114
“J IANG CHENG,” Zhao Ke said, patting the edge of his bunk, “we’re going to the library.”
“You and Qiqi go ahead.” Jiang Cheng was sitting cross-legged on his bed, looking down at his phone. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
“He’s in a bad mood,” said Zhao Ke. “He went off somewhere to mope.”
“Hm?” Jiang Cheng glanced at Zhao Ke. Zhang Qiqi’s personality was like his face—naively carefree. What would put a person like that in a bad mood?
“His English placement test result was lower than he expected,” Zhao Ke explained. “Come on, let’s go to the library. You can just dick around on your phone there if you want. If we get there late, we’ll have to wait for seats again.”
“He’s upset because of that?” Jiang Cheng hesitated for a moment before climbing down from his bunk. “That test isn’t that big of a deal, right? I went into it with zero prep and I’m not even upset.”
“But you got a higher score than him with zero prep,” Zhao Ke reminded him.
“…Oh,” Jiang Cheng sighed. “I have to be good at something , right? English just happens to be my strong suit.”
“Well, some people like to keep the pressure on.” Zhao Ke walked out of their dorm room and added, “Lock the door behind you.”
Jiang Cheng locked the door and walked to the library with Zhao Ke.
Pressure.
He felt it too. He didn’t even need to look around at the other people in his class or the senior students; he only needed to look at the three other people in his dorm room to feel it weighing on him.
They took breaks and went out—for a walk, to eat, to have fun—but they always blocked off large chunks of time for studying.
Jiang Cheng had never experienced that before. He’d always been the type to cram for a test at the last minute. It took an environment like this to make him start to feel this sense of constant pressure.
When everyone around him was marching forward, he didn’t dare stop.
Meanwhile, he was starting to experience a different kind of urgent pressure as well…
He felt in his pocket for his phone. He had checked his bank accounts just now, and the amount on the card wasn’t as abundant as before. He needed to think about making money.
Technically, he wouldn’t need to worry about it until next semester…except he knew Gu Fei was well aware of his financial situation. He needed a stream of income before Gu Fei started wiring him money.
Zhao Ke’s phone rang just then. “Sis?” he said.
“Hey, you little good-for-nothing—” Zhao Ke’s older sister’s voice rang loudly from the other end. Even from beside him, Jiang Cheng could hear her drawling out his…pet name?
“What.” Zhao Ke’s answer was calm and flat; he must have been used to this nickname by now.
Jiang Cheng gave Zhao Ke a little more space and pulled out his own phone, looking down at it as he walked.
There weren’t any messages from Gu Fei, who was already very familiar with his daily schedule. He usually wouldn’t reach out to Jiang Cheng until after ten o’clock at night. At any other time, it was Jiang Cheng who messaged him first whenever he had a free minute.
Jiang Cheng still hadn’t gotten used to this kind of life. Still, the initial overwhelming agony and desire to hop right back as if his feet were held over a roasting flame had subsided a little after the first few days. But one addiction he couldn’t quit was looking at photos of Gu Fei every day.
“I don’t want to go. I can’t stand little girls…
Of course, you’re not a little girl, huh?
You’re a big girl,” said Zhao Ke. “And by the time you finish grad school, you’ll be an old girl.
I think maybe you shouldn’t go for that PhD, you’ll…
I really don’t wanna go, I don’t want to tutor, it’s not like I need the money…
I don’t need that kind of experience… Maybe you can recommend someone else… ”
“Tutoring?” Jiang Cheng turned to him.
“Hm?” Zhao Ke looked back at him. “What, you?”
“Can I?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“Okay, wait, my roommate is interested—yeah, his entrance score is in the top three of my year. Why don’t I call you back later?” Zhao Ke hung up and turned to Jiang Cheng. “Are you really interested?”
“Mm.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “What’s so earth-shatteringly important about this tutoring job? Why does it need all these referrals?”
“It’s for a kid from my sister’s friend’s family, a little girl in her second year of high school. They specifically asked for a student from a top university,” said Zhao Ke. “They pay pretty well. You won’t usually find one that pays so well on your own. If you want it, I’ll let my sister know.”
“Why not just hire a teacher from a top school if they have the money?” Jiang Cheng couldn’t understand what the parents were thinking.
“The girl doesn’t want it, of course. She wants someone closer to her age. Her parents dote on her, so they agree to everything she wants,” Zhao Ke explained. “Besides, elite teachers don’t necessarily want to do one-on-one tutoring.”
“Oh.” Jiang Cheng thought about it for a moment. “I’ll do it.”
“I’ll tell my sister,” said Zhao Ke.
Jiang Cheng felt like it hadn’t sunk in yet. He couldn’t believe his income problem had been solved just like that… Incredible. Zhao Ke sure was a lucky charm—no, Jiang Cheng himself was a lucky charm. Lucky Chengcheng charm.
“It’s a deal, then. I’ll give you my sister’s number, you can contact her directly.” Zhao Ke forwarded his sister’s contact information to Jiang Cheng. “You sure you have time for all this?”
“Yep.” Jiang Cheng glanced at the contact card Zhao Ke had sent. The alias he had given his sister was…“an old lady.” Jiang Cheng sighed. “What’s your sister’s name?”
“Zhao Jin.”
“Zhao Jing, as in quiet?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“Jin,” Zhao Ke repeated.
“…Jin, as in fun and energetic?”
Zhao Ke nodded. “Yeah. It’s wasted on her, since she’s not much fun. She’s only energetic when she’s making fun of me.”
Jiang Cheng chuckled as he saved Zhao Jin’s number to his phone.
“Is your allowance not enough to cover expenses?” Zhao Ke asked him.
“It’s not that.” Jiang Cheng hesitated for a moment. “I’m on my own.”
“Oh.” Zhao Ke glanced at him and didn’t say anything else.
Jiang Cheng thought about it for a second and realized what he’d said wasn’t entirely accurate. “Well, not on my own exactly. I—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, there are two of you,” Zhao Ke cut him off. “Dude, can you guys have some kind of limit with abusing single assholes like me? You don’t need to seize every opportunity you see.”
Jiang Cheng cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing.
***
“Tutoring?” Gu Fei was surprised. “Aren’t you pretty busy with school? I thought you just finished that English thing a couple days ago. Don’t you have the College English Level Four Test next semester?”
“I don’t need to prep for my Level Four,” Jiang Cheng said with his familiar arrogance. “And this tutoring gig doesn’t take up much time. It’s only twice on the weekends.”
“How much money do you have left in your account?” Gu Fei asked.
Gu Fei had a pretty good idea of Jiang Cheng’s finances. By his calculations, Jiang Cheng should still have some money left. He was planning to give him some on October 1 from the sum he’d received for the store. He hadn’t expected Jiang Cheng to start working part-time so soon.
“I’ve still got money,” Jiang Cheng said with a smile. “I’ll get you a big fat red envelope for New Year’s.”
“Just put yourself in it. That’s enough.”
“Shameless.” Jiang Cheng cackled. Gu Fei could tell that Jiang Cheng was in a pretty good mood today—probably because there were only a few days left until National Day.
The thought lifted Gu Fei’s mood too.
“Have you not gone out to take photos lately?” Jiang Cheng asked him. “What about that collection on the Steelworks?”
“No, the ones I took before are enough. I’ll work on processing them in the next few days and send it off for them to pick from,” Gu Fei replied. “I’ll be doing more model shoots after the holiday.”
“I see.” Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, then laughed again. “I’ll buy the ticket tomorrow. Remember to come pick me up.”
“Okay.” Gu Fei smiled.
“On your motorcycle,” Jiang Cheng added.
“Okay.”
***
As October 1 approached, the days leading up to it were hard to bear, but not impossibly so.
Gu Fei opened Jiang Cheng’s closet and looked inside. When Jiang Cheng left again, he’d need to take some warm clothes with him. The days were already getting cooler.
Gu Fei ran his hands over the clothes in the closet and pulled out one of his own jackets. Jiang Cheng had taken two of Gu Fei’s jackets, and out of the ones he wore often, he had only left this one behind. When this one needed to be washed, he would have to wear one of Jiang Cheng’s.
Just as he was about to hang the jacket back up, the bottom hem brushed against his leg. It felt like there was something in one of the pockets. He reached his hand inside, touching something that felt like an envelope. When he took it out and saw what it was, his face froze in surprise.
It was a thick red envelope.
Great Luck and Great Fortune.
He opened the envelope and pulled out a wad of bills.
He didn’t need to guess to know this was money that Contestant Jiang Cheng, his boyfriend, had left for him. And perhaps out of worry that Gu Fei wouldn’t accept it, he had delivered it to him with the same method Gu Fei himself had used.
Gu Fei smiled and counted the money. Even the amount was the same.
He took a picture of the money and the envelope and sent it to their chat, along with a message he had copied from Jiang Cheng:
- Thanks boyfriend!
- mwah mwah, you’re welcome!
Jiang Cheng’s reply came swiftly, followed immediately by another message.
- say, don’t you think that Great Luck and Great Fortune is way more heartfelt than wishing me a long life?
- Super heartfelt!
Gu Fei couldn’t stop laughing. He’d been a little out of it that day and had gotten the red envelope from a shelf in their store, all the while thinking he’d grabbed one that said “Great Academic Accomplishment.” It wasn’t until Jiang Cheng sent him a picture that he realized he had grabbed the wrong one.
- just you wait, i’ll get you an even bigger red envelope one day!
- Waiting!
***
Jiang Cheng gave Zhao Jin a call and arranged to start tutoring the high school girl after the National Day holiday. He did, however, have to go and meet the family first in the next few days.
“I’m not going with you,” Zhao Ke said. “I don’t wanna see my sister. Here, you can give this to her for me.”
Zhao Jin was in her first year of grad school at PKU. Jiang Cheng stood outside the gates of PKU with the cake Zhao Ke had asked him to bring for Zhao Jin and gave her a call.
Not long after the call ended, he saw a girl walk out from inside the gates.
He could tell from a glance that she was Zhao Ke’s older sister.
They looked alike—both tall and fair-skinned.
And when he saw the clothes she wore, Jiang Cheng believed for the very first time that Ding Zhuxin’s conceptualist designs really did have a market.
It actually looked good on Zhao Jin, too.
“Jiang Cheng?” Zhao Jin asked, walking up to him.
“Yep.” Jiang Cheng nodded and handed her the cake. “Zhao Ke asked me to give this to you.”
“Huh, what the heck?” Zhao Jin opened the box and peered inside. “I heard that you’re the one he’s closest with in your dorm.”
“Probably,” Jiang Cheng said. It had to be true, since he was the only other one without a girlfriend.
“How do you even stand him?” Zhao Jin asked, showing him the cake inside the box. “With taste like this? Are you the only two people in your room?”
Jiang Cheng glanced inside at the surface of the small cake iced with a very ugly drawing of a panda. “He might have…made this himself. He mentioned a few days ago there was a DIY bakery near campus.”
“Here.” Zhao Jin skipped the fork and took out the cake with her hand, breaking it into two halves and handing him one. “I agreed to meet them at three. We’ll be right on time driving there.”
Jiang Cheng took a bite of the cake, which tasted all right. “I really appreciate all your help. I can just go there by myself.”
“It’s no trouble. One of my seniors is heading that way, so he’ll give us a ride,” Zhao Jin said. “And I can go shopping.”
“Oh.”
“Spent all that effort doing my makeup, can’t let it go to waste.”
“…Ah.” Jiang Cheng nodded.
A car drove up and stopped beside them.
“Get in.” Zhao Jin stuffed the cake into her mouth, licked her fingers clean, and climbed into the front passenger seat.
Jiang Cheng hesitated for a second, then took out a tissue and wiped his fingers before getting into the back.
“This is Jiang Cheng, my little bro’s friend from school,” Zhao Jin introduced him. “This is my senior, the studdiest of the three superstuds in our program, Xu Xingzhi.”
Xu Xingzhi sighed. He turned and nodded at Jiang Cheng. “Hello.”
“Hello, senior,” Jiang Cheng said. “Sorry for the trouble, and thanks for the ride.”
“It’s on my way,” said Xu Xingzhi.
It was the first time Jiang Cheng had gone more than half a mile from campus since enrollment day. The view outside the car window was strange to him; he felt like he could blink and get lost. He decided to look up the directions properly once he got back to his dorm.
The place wasn’t too far, and there wasn’t much traffic along the way. The trip took them just over twenty minutes.
“We’re here, let’s go.” Zhao Jin opened the car door. “Thanks.”
“Thank you,” Jiang Cheng said again as he opened the door.
“You’re welcome.” Xu Xingzhi turned back to face him.
Only then did Jiang Cheng see his face properly. Xu Xingzhi wore glasses, and he looked… Well, he certainly wasn’t as handsome as Gu Fei. Gu Fei also looked hot whenever he wore glasses. That was a hotness that Jiang Cheng could never tire of admiring.