Translator: Ryn
Editor: Pluto
In accordance with the group’s plan, Xie Qibao sent a “willing to cooperate” text message to Catherine. While waiting for a response, he circled around the dorm room and took two photos at random. Then he surveyed the room again, asking, “Brother Qi, do you have anything that you don’t want, that we can just give her?”
Qi Feng was drinking from a bottle of water when he heard Xie Qibao’s question. He lifted his bottled water and raised his eyebrows. “Mineral water bottle?”
“F*ck, haha, are you really only giving her an empty bottle? So stingy!” Xie Qibao laughed.
“Didn’t she say she was fine with anything?” Qi Feng said helplessly.
Xie Qibao quickly finished typing the second half of the sentence on his phone and read it aloud for them. “This is our dorm room. The first photo is a photo of Brother Qi’s study table. The second one is a photo of a corner of our washroom’s countertop. The toothbrush and washing cup on the left are Brother Qi’s. But now that we’ve just started, it’s improper for me to take things that are too personal. So why don’t I first take a few…empty mineral water bottles for now? Let’s arrange for a time and place to meet… What do you think?”
“Pu…” The other three held themselves back for a moment before they burst out laughing, “HAHAHAHAHA!”
This idea of using mineral water bottles as bait was totally unheard of! Gao Junfei protested loudly, claiming that this wasn’t the way to do business, and suggested it be changed to “a gel pen that Qi Feng carries around often”. In any case, it wasn’t as if it would really be given away, as their main aim here was just to use it as bait to lure Catherine out to meet with Qi Feng.
Not long after the text message was sent, the phone buzzed and vibrated.
“She replied!” Xie Qibao exclaimed, and the other three immediately leaned over to look at the unread incoming text message.
Catherine: OK.
—She! Took! The! Bait!
“YEAH!!!!” The four of them excitedly high-fived one another, celebrating as if they’d just won a grand prize.
Xie Qibao felt deeply moved. This game was honestly much more fun and interesting compared to when he conspired with Gao Junfei to steal and sell Qi Feng’s things. Sure enough, one shouldn’t go against their conscience to dig a pit for others ah.
However, after Catherine sent the single word text message “OK”, she suddenly became alert and sent a second message.
Catherine: Actually, it’s better not to meet ba.
“F*ck!” Xie Qibao grew anxious and hurriedly called on his dorm mates for a discussion. “What should we do? Why is she suddenly saying not to meet? Is she regretting this?”
“If she is really regretting this, she wouldn’t have replied with an ‘OK’ in the first place,” Gao Junfei said whilst rubbing his chin, “Could it be that she’s worried that this is a trap? Or perhaps she’s worried that you’ve already sold her out… Ask her, how are you going to exchange goods without meeting face-to-face?”
Xie Qibao quickly typed the question and sent the text message.
Catherine: Let’s go to the library. Area C is relatively deserted, so we can schedule a time for you to place the items on the last row of the bookshelves, and I’ll collect them after twenty minutes. I can transfer you the money by phone later.
Gao Junfei: “F*ck, this girl is too cautious! It’s just an ordinary gel pen, so why is she treating this like some spy movie?”
Qi Feng spaced out for a bit. Then, with a dark gaze, he said, “She is afraid I would recognise her. This basically confirms that I most probably know this person.”
His solemn expression combined with his low voice sent chills down Xie Qibao’s back.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Damn it, don’t break it down any further. The more you analyse, the more terrifying it seems!” Xie Qibao shivered then said, “It is also possible that she only knew of Brother Qi after attending this university!”
“It’s only been a little more than two months since we’ve started attending university. Those that have confessed to me, I’ve already rejected. And those that have never been in contact with me, the possibility of them having such a deep infatuation towards me is quite low…” Qi Feng smiled and said, “Alright, you guys don’t have to mull over this pointlessly along with me. Wait till I meet with her, then we’ll know.”
Xie Qibao: “The problem is that she’s unwilling to meet ah.”
Qi Feng: “But she’ll still have to go and retrieve the items, right?”
Xie Qibao: “This is also true.”
“You can discuss with her and see if you can change to a different location. The library is too large. If something does go wrong, it’s also not good if it causes too big a commotion.” Qi Feng glanced at Gao Junfei, smiled and said, “Hey Wikipedia, can you suggest a suitable place?
Gao Junfei clapped his hands together, and confidently said, “You’ve asked the right person! Hehe, I know of a place…”
***
The next evening, 5:23pm.
Xie Qibao sneaked into the Graduate Study Room in the second building of the School of Economics & Management.
At this time, most of the students would be eating dinner in the cafeteria, so the building was empty.
Xie Qibao clutched at his chest where his heart was beating wildly, finally arriving at classroom M-202. He entered after pushing the door open then walked towards the second desk on the second row. Following this, he placed the gel pen and a complimentary emptied mineral water bottle on the desk. With his task completed, Xie Qibao turned and left the room abruptly with a calm and levelled expression, deeply concealing his meritorious deed.
After he left the building, he sent a text message to Catherine.
Xie Qibao: I’ve left the items there.
After that, he reported to their 412 Dorm Room group chat.
[Group Chat] Xie Qibao: It’s done, now it’s up to you guys!
[Group Chat] Qi Feng: OK.
[Group Chat] Gao Junfei: OK.
[Group Chat] Xie Qibao: Where’s Ling Ke?
[Group Chat] Ling Ke: ok…
[Group Chat] Xie Qibao: Good luck!
The three of them hid at various positions in the building, lying in wait for their prey to show up. But for some reason, Ling Ke felt this situation was a bit silly. If it wasn’t to help Qi Feng, he would have coldly refused to participate.
At 5:48pm, a female figure appeared within the sights of the three people. She carried a small bag on her shoulder, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a mask, exactly as Xie Qibao had described.
[Group Chat] Ling Ke: Recognise her?
[Group Chat] Qi Feng: Not sure…
Listening as Catherine’s footsteps reached the second floor, the three of them acted together to outflank her from different directions. Ling Ke and Gao Junfei stood in front of the only two exit staircases on the second floor in order to seal her escape routes, while Qi Feng quickly walked towards Room M-202 alone.
Catherine retrieved the items, and when she looked up, she saw the figure of the person she was infatuated with, standing at the doorway of the classroom.
She had considered the possibility of Xie Qibao regretting it and selling her out, but she simply couldn’t help herself from taking the bait because she really liked Qi Feng too much, liked him to the point where even if she knew it was a pit, she would still willingly jump into it, like a moth drawn to a flame.
But she never expected Qi Feng to arrive so quickly.
Qi Feng stood there, and due to the backlight, his face gave off a somewhat sombre impression. He closely observed her, and then solemnly called out her name. “You are… Sun Man?”
As Catherine’s hands trembled, both the pen and the mineral water bottle in her hands fell to the ground.
***
The others received a message from Qi Feng on the group chat.
[Group Chat] Qi Feng: I’ve cornered her. I need to say a few things to her, so you guys go and eat first ba. Don’t wait for me.
[Group Chat] Gao Junfei: OK, we’ll leave first.
Ling Ke stared at the line sent by Qi Feng, somewhat in a daze. It wasn’t until Gao Junfei, on the other side of the stairs, had waved to him to capture his attention, before Ling Ke proceeded in walking down the stairs to catch up to the other.
Gao Junfei shook his head and said, “Hey, she seems to be an acquaintance, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked us to leave first.”
Ling Ke remained silent. Gao Junfei gave him a glance, before asking carefully, “You… Do you want to wait for Qi Feng?”
“No.” Ling Ke shook his head. “Let’s go ba.”
He felt somewhat frustrated. Although he was particularly concerned about what Qi Feng was going to say to the girl, he knew that the girl’s matter must be solved by Qi Feng himself. Even though they were friends, there ought to be a line separating the matters he could and couldn’t pry into.
After sending a message to Xie Qibao, Gao Junfei said to Ling Ke, “Dabao hasn’t finished eating yet, let’s go find him.”
Ling Ke let out a sigh and suppressed his curiosity. He replied, “En.”
Xie Qibao waited for them at the cafeteria, wanting to ask for an update of the situation.
After they ordered their food and sat down, the three couldn’t help talking about Qi Feng.
Xie Qibao said, “I think the main problem is that Brother Qi is too handsome. That reminds me. Ling Ke, do you remember the day we first reported to the dorms? Do you know what my parents said after meeting Qi Feng?”
Ling Ke: “What did they say?”
“When my mom walked out of our room, she looked just like a crazy fangirl of Qi Feng’s, clasping onto her face while saying, ‘Aiyah, this roommate of yours is just too good-looking. He’s like a movie star who appeared straight out from the TV. In the future, just relying on his face alone, he can become a big talent!’” Xie Qibao imitated his mum’s tone, and acted out the scene vividly.
Ling Ke: “…”
“Actually, if we didn’t have Brother Qi with us, Ling Ke would definitely be considered the most handsome man among us ba? Yet of all people, Brother Qi only likes to stick to you, and because of this, everyone only looks at Brother Qi.” Xie Qibao said whilst shaking his head, as if feeling some pity for Ling Ke.
Ling Ke was delighted over Xie Qibao’s choice of words, “stick to”, and smiled instead of getting angry.
Gao Junfei sighed, and then said emotionally, “You really can’t compare between two people ah.”
Xie Qibao ate a mouthful before commenting, “Brother Gao, actually, you’re also quite handsome, it’s just that your temperament is much too similar to a gangster. I think university students probably wouldn’t like a person like you.”
“Pffff…” Gao Junfei almost spat out the food in his mouth. “What the f*ck are you talking about? Who’s a gangster?”
As the two bantered back and forth, Ling Ke listened on the side, feeling somewhat envious.
Indeed, relationships between straight men should be like this. No matter how good their relationship was, the feelings between them still remained pure. Unlike him. Day by day as he got closer to Qi Feng, he grew increasingly greedy and yearned for more…
At this time, he heard Xie Qibao say, “Say, with Brother Qi’s excellent qualifications, why isn’t he looking for a girlfriend ah? If he had a girlfriend, he wouldn’t have needed us to do what we just did today! Our sis-in-law would be able to sort it out!” Xie Qibao waved his chopsticks in the air, “She’d tear that bit*h apart~”
“Cough…” Ling Ke’s heart clenched after hearing Xie Qibao’s first sentence. However, after he heard the latter few sentences, he nearly spat out his food.
Xie Qibao raised his eyebrows and lifted his chin. “Don’t you guys think what I said makes sense? Brother Qi should find an official Empress and put an end to all gossip! Also, he can avoid having to continue implicating our Ling Ke, this male god from getting mistaken as a gay all day long…”
“Alright, alright, stop talking ba. You’re spitting saliva all over my dinner plate.” Seeing Xie Qibao progressively shooting his mouth off, Gao Junfei couldn’t help interrupting him. “It’s not like you have a say over your Brother Qi’s affairs anyway. Perhaps he just likes being ‘gay’?”
Ling Ke had felt fear and trepidation upon hearing this, when suddenly, his phone in his pocket rang.
“Where are you?” Qi Feng’s voice drifted from the phone.
“3rd cafeteria,” Ling Ke paused for a bit before asking, “You’ve… settled the matter?”
“En, I’ll come find you.”
——————
【A brief interlude】
Qi Feng sent a text message saying, “You guys leave first.”
Ling Ke and Gao Junfei left together.
After Qi Feng cleared up the matters with Catherine, he was unable to find Ling Ke anywhere. “Where are you?”
Ling Ke: “Cafeteria.”
Qi Feng: “Why didn’t you wait for me! QAQ”
Ling Ke: “Didn’t you ask us to leave?”
Qi Feng: “I meant Gao Junfei and Xie Qibao, not you ah KeKe! I thought you would’ve waited for me, Keke! Aren’t you curious about what I said to her, Keke? QAQ
I wonder what he said to her…
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
Once Ling Ke is together with Qi Feng, he’ll be the one in charge of ‘shear that bit*h apart~’ Hahaha
Thanks for the chapter!
Qi Feng “everyone leave!”
Ling Ke leaves
Qi Feng: “NOT YOU!!”
gah!! Too damn cute 😍😍
Soon!! It’ll be soon, Keke!! Make sure not to be too excited. I’m cheering for you! Jiayou!!🎉
Thanks for the chapter~! ❤️
Thank you for the update!
Okay, so he did know her. I want to know too what he said to her lolol And that little theater was gold xDDD
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Thank you for the chapter!
Why is there always an “a” before gay?💀they always do that with translation
Yeah it’s really jarring always seeing “a gay” or “gays” being used in translations. While it’s technically also a noun but who uses it that way anymore?
bruh i thought i was the only one who found that so annoying. i even looked it up to see if it’s a noun but as ice said who uses it like that? not sure if it’s a problem with the translation or the raws itself, but it’s really irking.😭
Next time I bet he’ll make it clearer 😂😂😂