LFB Chapter 3

Shang Zhao leaned against the railing outside the dance studio corridor, the blistering hot sun made him look somewhat listless. He took out his cellphone to check the time for the umpteenth time.

It was already 12:46 pm—it seemed Ning Gui wasn’t planning on eating lunch.

He asked someone he knew in Class Three for Ning Gui’s WeChat, but his friend request had yet to be accepted. It seemed that his rather abrupt and rash confession yesterday did not leave a good impression on Ning Gui.

Shang Zhao sighed. He thought that not only did he mess up his first impression, he even got NIng Gui’s gender wrong.

His friend’s request to Ning Gui still hadn’t been approved yet, so Shang Zhao asked for Ning Gui’s roommates’ WeChat to inquire about him.

Shang Zhao had a good reputation in the Law Department, and Ning Gui’s three roommates had played basketball with him before. When they heard him say he was pursuing Ning Gui, they were happy and pulled him into a group chat.

Ning Gui’s relationship with his roommates was neither good nor bad. Ning Gui usually kept to himself, but after all, they had lived together for more than a year, so they more or less knew some things about Ning Gui.

He found out about some things that could be shared.

Such as Ning Gui not liking to socialize, but liked to scroll the school forum and was a veteran Internet surfer.

He didn’t smoke or drink and had a tattoo on his left wrist.

He liked to eat nuts and had several boxes of nut gift packs stored in the dorm. He liked to drink milk tea and eat spicy food. He wasn’t picky about food, but he doesn’t like to eat intestines; the kind of dislike where he would throw up from the sight of it.

He liked to dance the most, often going to the dance studio.

His personality tended to yield more to kindness than to harshness.

As for other things…like how he preferred to wear women’s clothes, the three of them tacitly didn’t mention it.

This kind of surprise, it was better to have Shang Zhao find out on his own.

——

At exactly one o’clock—

Shang Zhao opened the door of the dance studio.

The dance studio was the room at the end of the corridor, the door facing the corridor. When he opened the door, his eyes were met with the mirrors on the wall, the wooden floorboard, and the bright sunlight streaming from the window, casting a patch of light and shadow on the ground.

In the spacious dance studio, a young man was sitting against the wall. His chest was heaving, sweat dripped down the hair on his temples, and his face was slightly red from exercise.

Hearing the sound, the young man looked up. His affectionate peach blossom eyes only casted a faint glance, but it carried a natural charm.

“Ning Gui…”Shang Zhao stood at the door, like a wolfdog who accidentally entered someone else’s territory. He obediently didn’t move, and nervously placed his hands behind his back. “Are you going to eat?”

Ning Gui looked at him, then chuckled. “You work part-time as a delivery boy?”

Takeout wasn’t allowed in school, so many people in the school had a side gig of buying food and selling it in the dormitory corridors, but he had never seen someone sell them in the dance studio.”

“I have a friend who went out to eat and he bought my share too.” Shang Zhao brought the takeout in front of him. “It’s spicy chicken and boiled pork slices, and there’s milk tea. Do you want to eat it?”

Ning Gui raised a brow. “How much is the spicy chicken?”

Shang Zhao wanted to say that he didn’t need money, but then he thought about how he hadn’t accepted his friend request, so he lowered his head and looked at the receipt in his pocket. “28.”

And the milk tea?”

“15.”

Ning Gui, “Come in.”

Shang Zhao smiled and went inside with the takeout.

He sat down a distance away from Ning Gui. Two milk teas were placed between them. He handed the box of spicy chicken over.

Ning Gui took out a 100 yuan bill from his pocket and handed it over to him.

Shang Zhao was stunned. “I don’t have change. Is it okay to transfer…”

Ning Gui, “I didn’t bring my phone.”

“When you return to the dorms, you can transfer it through WeChat.” Shang Zhao lowered his head and opened the takeout bag, the hair sticking out on the back of his head swayed slightly with his movement.

“I don’t have money on my WeChat.” Ning Gui said, “My Alipay also doesn’t have money.”

“Then I don’t need the money.” Shang Zhao’s ears slowly reddened. “It’s my treat.”

Ning Gui thought it was a little amusing. “This part-time job of yours not only doesn’t make money but also loses money.”

“It’s not a loss.” Shang Zhao whispered, “I’m chasing you.”

Ning Gui looked at him, then seriously said, “Shang Zhao, I’m a man.”

Shang Zhao also seriously said, “I know.”

Ning Gui asked, “You’re gay?”

Shang Zhao nodded, then shook his head. “I only like you.”

Ning Gui didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling at this moment; Shang Zhao’s passionate and straightforward confession made him feel incredibly significant.

For Shang Zhao, it was very significant.

Ning Gui looked away. “I heard you already have someone you like.”

“I do,” Shang Zhao said, “it’s you.”

“When I first saw you, you still had long hair, and…” Shang Zhao’s face slowly flushed. “And you were wearing a skirt.”

“Which is why I thought you were a girl. However, I couldn’t find you in school after looking for so long. When I saw you on the court yesterday, I even thought I was dreaming.”

Ning Gui was stunned for a moment. “When did you see me?”

“On the evening of August 31st last year, I passed by the lake and saw you sitting in the small pavilion by the lake feeding the fish.” Shang Zhao said, “At the time, I was thinking of asking you for your contacts, but I felt a little shy, so I ended up standing there watching you for a long time.

“When I finally mustered up the courage to cross the bridge and go to the pavilion…you have already left.”

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time, but was unable to find you.”

Of course he couldn’t find him.

Ning Gui sighed. He got the gender wrong, and on top of that, he wore women’s clothes and makeup that day.

Ning Gui clearly remembered that day.

August 31st last year was his first day at school.

He was feeding fish at the lake for a long time, then he went to get a haircut.

He was in a bad mood that day.

But he never expected that on such a bad day, there would be someone who fell for him upon meeting him.

He also never expected that the person would still remember their first encounter a year later, firmly walk toward him, and confess that he liked him.