A fierce storm came suddenly, without any prelude, with large raindrops pelting against the windows. The sky outside was gloomy, making daytime feel like night.
Gu Xingyou rinsed his mouth and washed his face before closing the window. The rain had started around six o’clock and had been pouring for over half an hour with no sign of stopping.
They had left a window slightly open for ventilation last night, and now there was a layer of rainwater on the floor. Gu Xingyou fetched a mop to clean up. Despite his gentle movements, Ji Chen was awakened by the noise. He stared blankly at the ceiling, eyes bleary, and after a while, raised his arm to cover his eyes, letting out a long, slow breath.
“Awake?” Gu Xingyou asked.
“Yeah.” Ji Chen’s voice was hoarse, as if his throat was overly strained. He coughed twice to clear it, but once he started, he couldn’t stop.
Gu Xingyou came out after washing the mop to find him still coughing, bent over the edge of the bed and coughing violently. Startled, Gu Xingyou exclaimed, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing… cough cough!” Ji Chen waved his hand, covering his mouth as he tried to stifle the itching in his throat, his cheeks flushing red.
The dormitory was dimly lit, and the air had become humid due to the rain. Just a few days ago, it was too hot to wear short sleeves, but now, wearing long-sleeve T-shirts, they could feel the chill.
Seeing Ji Chen’s condition, Gu Xingyou guessed he had caught a cold. They had played basketball yesterday, sweating and then getting chilled by the wind, and it was cool at night. It was easy to get sick during seasonal changes.
He walked to Ji Chen’s bed and felt his forehead with his palm, “Doesn’t seem like you have a fever. I’ll go buy some cold medicine for you. Just lie down and rest.”
“No need,” Ji Chen replied weakly. “There’s cold medicine in my desk drawer from last time—I didn’t finish it.”
Gu Xingyou turned on the desk lamp, illuminating every corner of the desk. Ji Chen’s desk was neat and simple, with only a few books on one side, their covers still looking new.
Following Ji Chen’s instructions, Gu Xingyou opened the second drawer of the desk and found a white plastic bag. He took it out and opened it to find several boxes of medicine, each only a quarter used.
“Why is there so much left?” he asked offhandedly.
Ji Chen sat up in bed, tugging at his disheveled shirt. “I forgot to take it.”
Forgetting to take medicine and still recovering from illness was no easy feat.
Gu Xingyou picked out the cold medicine from the boxes and asked, “Where’s your cup?”
“I’ll get it myself,” Ji Chen said, lifting the thin blanket off himself.
Before he could respond, Gu Xingyou had already spotted the cup, picking up the glass from the book. “You go wash your face and brush your teeth. I’ll get you some hot water.”
Ji Chen pressed his lips together, watching Gu Xingyou leave with the cup. The dormitory door closed with a soft click, and Ji Chen turned his head, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
What was this? Just this little bit of care, and his heart couldn’t help but leap with joy.
Each floor of the dormitory had a water heater at the end of the corridor. Usually, there weren’t many people at this early hour, and even fewer during the holidays. Gu Xingyou returned within three minutes.
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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He hadn’t realized that his excessive attention to Gu Xingyou was already abnormal.
At that moment, Gu Xingyou suddenly looked up and met Ji Chen’s eyes. Ji Chen’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and he hurriedly looked away. Gu Xingyou didn’t notice, instead seriously suggesting, “You need to build up your strength. Want to join me for morning runs to get in shape?”
Ji Chen: “…”
In the silent exchange, Gu Xingyou saw his refusal.
The rain continued all morning, turning from a downpour to a drizzle, with fine rain floating in the air. The ground was wet, and the trees and flowers were covered in raindrops. The campus was empty as Gu Xingyou and Ji Chen walked to the canteen under an umbrella.
“Hold your umbrella to the right so you don’t get wet,” Gu Xingyou said. Ji Chen obediently tilted his umbrella to the right.
A slight breeze carried the drizzle as they strolled, occasionally chatting, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere.
Ji Chen’s lips were pale, and his eyes were cold, making him seem even less approachable than usual. Wearing a loose white hoodie, one hand holding the umbrella, and the other in his pocket, he exuded a strong sense of detachment. Yet in some ways, he appeared unexpectedly more obedient than usual, his whole demeanor relaxed and indifferent.
At the other end of the rain, two girls of similar height walked hand in hand in front of the teaching building’s corridor. Chen Qiaolin held a book in one hand and pulled a hat over her head with the other.
“I just washed my hair yesterday, and now it’s raining so hard. It was just dry when we came out,” she said.
Beside her, Zhang Lingyu complained, “It’s all your fault. I told you to bring an umbrella, but you refused.”
Chen Qiaolin pursed her lips without saying a word. Zhang Lingyu had been complaining all the way. Before they left, she had told her to bring an umbrella, but she didn’t, and now she was blaming her.
“Hey?” Zhang Lingyu exclaimed excitedly. “That looks like Gu Xingyou and Ji Chen!”
“Ji Chen?” Chen Qiaolin looked up in confusion. She remembered Gu Xingyou, but who was Ji Chen?
“Oh no, they’re leaving. Wait here; I’ll go borrow an umbrella from them,” Zhang Lingyu said, stuffing the book into Chen Qiaolin’s hands and rushing into the rain.
“Hey…” Chen Qiaolin barely got a word out before she was gone, leaving her to wait there.
＊
“Gu Xingyou, Gu Xingyou!”
A small figure called out urgently from behind them. They stopped and turned to see a petite figure running into their view.
Zhang Lingyu held her hands over her head to block the rain, though it didn’t help much. She jogged up to them, her calves splattered with mud.
“What a coincidence! Where are you two going?” she asked.
“To eat,” Gu Xingyou replied. “Weren’t you going to the haunted house? Why are you back?”
Zhang Lingyu pouted and pointed to the overcast sky. “The weather wasn’t on our side. It rained too hard, so we didn’t go.”
She was wearing a white shirt and a short skirt. The rain wasn’t heavy at the moment, and only her shoulders were wet. She stomped her feet and said, “I’m also heading to the canteen and didn’t bring an umbrella. Can I go with you guys?”
“Sure,” Gu Xingyou said, shifting the umbrella towards her.
But Zhang Lingyu cheerfully ducked under Ji Chen’s umbrella instead, saying, “Chen Qiaolin is still waiting over there. Could you please go get her?”
If Gu Xingyou hadn’t understood earlier, he did now. This girl wasn’t here to borrow an umbrella; she was here to chat. He exchanged a look with Ji Chen and saw the displeasure in Ji Chen’s eyes.
Ji Chen’s brows furrowed openly, and he subtly stepped back to distance himself from Zhang Lingyu, though he didn’t move the umbrella out of courtesy. His arm, exposed to the rain, caught drops from the umbrella’s edge.
Gu Xingyou looked in the direction Zhang Lingyu indicated and saw a girl standing at the edge of the corridor, watching them. He said to Ji Chen, “Wait for me.”
With that, he walked towards Chen Qiaolin.
Rain pounded on the black umbrella with a steady beat. In the absence of conversation, the sound became particularly clear. Ji Chen’s hand gripping the umbrella handle was slender and pale, with well-defined knuckles.
Zhang Lingyu had seen such hands on Xu Yue’s drawings—hands that were beautiful with a restrained allure, making one want to experience being held by them.
She bit her lower lip and cautiously glanced at Ji Chen’s profile a few times. Her usual vivaciousness turned to timidity in Ji Chen’s presence. She took a deep breath and put on a cheerful smile.
“Hey, little brother, I’ve seen you so many times but haven’t had the chance to ask, what’s your name?”
Ji Chen glanced at her with his slightly upturned eyes, his voice cool, “Ji Chen.”
Zhang Lingyu, seemingly oblivious to his coldness, enthusiastically said, “Hello, I’m Zhang Lingyu. I’m in the accounting major. What about you?”
“Finance,” Ji Chen replied, somewhat annoyed by her chatter. He already knew she was in accounting; she mentioned it yesterday in the supermarket when he was standing nearby. His memory wasn’t that poor.
“Wow! I heard finance is really tough…”
In the distance, Gu Xingyou exchanged a few words with Chen Qiaolin under the corridor. The two then walked towards them, sharing an umbrella.
As they approached, Gu Xingyou handed the umbrella to Chen Qiaolin, who accepted it with a quiet thank you and pulled Zhang Lingyu under the umbrella. Gu Xingyou slipped under Ji Chen’s umbrella.
He turned and said, “We’ll lend you the umbrella. We’re going ahead.”
Zhang Lingyu was momentarily confused. Chen Qiaolin tugged at her sleeve and said, “Let’s go.”
“Where to?” Zhang Lingyu asked instinctively.
“To the dorm,” Chen Qiaolin said. “Gu Xingyou asked where we were going. I told him we were heading to the dorm, and he offered us the umbrella. He’s really nice.”
Zhang Lingyu’s face flushed red. She covered her face with both hands, exclaiming, “Ah! How embarrassing.”
Ji Chen’s umbrella wasn’t particularly small, but it was barely enough for two tall guys. Relieved not to share an umbrella with Zhang Lingyu, Ji Chen indeed felt uncomfortable being so close to someone.
“They’re not going to the canteen anymore. Let’s go,” Gu Xingyou said, shaking the rain off his sleeves as a cold breeze approached Ji Chen.
“Okay,” Ji Chen replied, relaxing his guard. Without further questions, he tilted the umbrella towards Gu Xingyou.
Fortunately, the rain wasn’t heavy, and two people could squeeze under the umbrella. Their arms brushed against each other, and the warmth seeped through the thin layers of fabric. Ji Chen’s expression remained unchanged, though his ears turned red.
Gu Xingyou’s body temperature…
This realization made Ji Chen’s heart race. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and he tightened his grip on the umbrella handle.
He truly wasn’t used to being so close to others.
But Gu Xingyou didn’t make him uncomfortable; in fact, he even… liked it. Liked it to the point of addiction, not wanting to reach the canteen too quickly, hoping the rain wouldn’t stop.
However, the weather didn’t comply. After they finished eating in the canteen, the rain stopped, and they no longer needed the umbrella on their way back. A fleeting sense of disappointment passed through Ji Chen, so brief that he didn’t even understand its source before it vanished.
Ji Chen: I don’t like being close to others.
Gu Xingyou: ? Am I not a person??
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Zhou He…probably. The first guy who saved Han when he was young.
Thanks for the new chapter
wrong novel? isnt it from three views rectifier?
LOL
Not a human, an instrument in this story
Thank you for your translation 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
You are not a human, you are an angel.
… That sounds better in my head alright I’ll head out.
thanks for the chap!