I Can Still Salvage It

“Pei Zhiyi wore the scarf made by Shen Mian to participate in the competition.

His appearance was outstanding, even though that scarf was incredibly ugly, it didn’t diminish his charm.
Instead, it gave the scarf a strange aura of sophistication.

After the competition, a female student from the same school couldn’t help but ask him if that torn scarf was some new trend.

Pei Zhiyi smiled slightly and replied, ‘No, it was made by someone close to me.
They’re clumsy at knitting, but it’s quite adorable.’

The girl was a bit shocked.
It was the longest sentence Pei Zhiyi had ever spoken to her since they met.

She looked at Pei Zhiyi’s face thoughtfully and wondered, ‘What kind of person could make him smile so sweetly? Almost as if it was a girlfriend!’

The bus drove back to the school, and Pei Zhiyi saw Shen Mian waiting for him at the school gate.

It was a bit cold that day, and Shen Mian bundled up a bit thicker, even looking a bit plump.

There was a stall selling fruit skewers by the back door of the school.
Shen Mian didn’t notice that Pei Zhiyi had already arrived; he was still carefully choosing, struggling between strawberries and oranges.

When he finally chose the oranges, a slender hand reached out next to him and scanned the QR code.

‘Two orange fruit skewers.’

Shen Mian turned around abruptly and saw Pei Zhiyi standing right behind him, wearing a fitted black coat that made him a head taller.
Pei Zhiyi looked at him with a smile in his eyes.

Pei Zhiyi handed one of the orange fruit skewers to Shen Mian and kept one in his hand.

Shen Mian took a bite and asked, ‘Why didn’t you tell me when you arrived?’

‘I saw you, so I came straight over.
Have you had dinner?’

‘No, I was waiting for you.’

The two of them went to eat vermicelli hot pot together.
Despite Shen Mian not being able to handle spicy food, he added a lot of spice but in the end, he couldn’t bear the spiciness and looked at Pei Zhiyi pitifully.

There were quite a few students from their school in the restaurant.
Mu Lingling and Xu Qian were sitting at a table nearby.
Mu Lingling wanted to say hi, but Xu Qian firmly held her hand.

‘Don’t interrupt them,’ Xu Qian whispered.

Mu Lingling turned suspiciously and saw Shen Mian, tears streaming down his face from the spiciness, while Pei Zhiyi gently wiped his tears and ordered another portion for him.

Mu Lingling: ‘..

At that moment she really thought they really looked like a gay couple.

She secretly took out her phone and took a photo, planning to keep it for herself.
Then she turned back and asked Xu Qian, ‘You like Pei Zhiyi, don’t you? How can you still ship them?’

Leaning on her chin, Xu Qian admired the scene of a same-sex couple calmly.
She casually replied, ‘Does it change how I feel about Pei Zhiyi if I ship him with someone else? It doesn’t.
Besides, I don’t like him that much.
It’s just a natural reaction to seeing a handsome guy.’

Shen Mian had no idea that he had become the topic of their imaginary couple.

He finished the non-spicy vermicelli soup which was much better and said to Pei Zhiyi, ‘There’s a new restaurant on Shuanghua Road.
I made a reservation for this week.
shall we give it a try?.’

Pei Zhiyi had no objections and looked at the time.
It was time for evening self-study, so he nodded and took Shen Mian back.

Because of the competition, Pei Zhiyi didn’t have to do homework that day.
He spent his time checking Shen Mian’s mistakes for the week.
He noticed that when he was away, Shen Mian’s attention seemed to decline rapidly.
His English answers were careless and poorly done.

Shen Mian guiltily turned his head the other way avoiding his gaze.

Unable to resist, Pei Zhiyi tapped Shen Mian’s forehead lightly and said, ‘What will you do in college if you continue like this?’

Shen Mian fell silent for a moment, and then his mind went back to the day when he was playing cards with Xu Jing and the others in the dormitory.
They mentioned that Pei Zhiyi might go to University A.

Resting his chin on the desk, he asked Pei Zhiyi, ‘Which university are you going to?’

Pei Zhiyi paused for a moment.
He felt that Shen Mian was intentionally changing the subject but still answered him.

‘University A or University S.
If it’s University A, I’ll choose finance, but I might also go to the medical school at University S.’

He had already thought about it, so he answered without hesitation.

But he saw Shen Mian’s expression darken for a moment, like a lost deer in the forest, a bit panicked and aggrieved, and his moon-like eyes turned gray and misty.

‘You’ve already made up your mind…’ Shen Mian muttered.

It seemed like he had always been following Pei Zhiyi.
When Pei Zhiyi got accepted to this high school, he also paid a high transfer fee to join.

But it seemed that his pursuit could only go so far.
Pei Zhiyi hadn’t helped him figure out where to go next; he had to figure it out himself.

 Shen Mian slowly continued doing his homework, retreating like a turtle into its shell, not wanting to face reality.

However, after a while, he heard Pei Zhiyi ask him very softly.

‘Mianmian, do you have any universities you want to apply to?’

Shen Mian didn’t even want to speak and simply wrote two words on the paper: ‘None.’

Pei Zhiyi fell silent for a while before saying, ‘Then how about X University? It’s close to both University A and University S, and I can take care of you.
You can apply for Chinese or media studies, which align better with your interests.’

Shen Mian’s pen made a slight mark on the paper.

He slowly turned his head and stared at Pei Zhiyi.

He even asked Pei Zhiyi somewhat foolishly, ‘Did you already figure it out for me?’

Pei Zhiyi didn’t know what to say.
He was worried that Shen Mian would think he was being too controlling.

But the next second, Shen Mian held his hand under the table.

He turned his head and found Shen Mian smiling, revealing his cute tiger teeth.”

“Okay.
university x sounds good”

Mu Lingling overheard the entire conversation.

She didn’t intentionally eavesdrop, but their conversation was a bit loud.

She quickly edited a message and sent it to Xu Qian, who was sitting at the other end of the classroom.

Unfortunately, not everyone had eyes as keen as hers.

Five seconds later, teacher Ding’s serious middle-aged face appeared from the window, and he shouted at Pei Zhiyi and Shen Mian, “Shen Mian, Pei Zhiyi, how long do you plan to chat and make noise for the others? Are you trying to get punished!”

Shen Mian got scared and pulled his hand out of Pei Zhiyi’s and obediently put on a serious studying expression.

Pei Zhiyi remained calm and composed, and he started selecting random questions for Shen Mian to practice with.

Finally, teacher Ding nodded in satisfaction and walked away.

The week went by quickly, and the task assigned by Agent 007 was simple: they were to have a candlelit dinner.
Shen Mian calculated the points to be awarded and felt that his chances of surviving were increasing.

However, before they could go for the candlelit dinner, something happened—Pei Zhiyi’s father returned.

Shen Mian wasn’t sure how he felt about Pei Zhiyi’s father.
As an elder, Pei An was quite friendly and affectionate towards him and Shen Yu.
However, the relationship between Pei Zhiyi and his father was icy, almost nonexistent.

Out of twelve months in a year, Pei An spent ten months away from home.
Pei Zhiyi and his father were like two strangers, barely exchanging a few words in an entire year.

So, when Shen Mian followed Pei Zhiyi home on Saturday and saw Uncle Pei at home, he subconsciously glanced at Pei Zhiyi.

Although Pei Zhiyi appeared unchanged, Shen Mian could still sense that he wasn’t too happy.

Shen Mian had dinner at Pei’s house that night.

Thanks to his presence, the atmosphere wasn’t as cold.

Pei An had always liked him and brought gifts for both him and Shen Yu.

But when facing his own son, they seemed like superior and subordinate communicating about work.
One asked in a stiff manner, and the other replied half-heartedly.

Shen Mian’s stomach ached as he watched from the side.

That night, Shen Mian didn’t stay overnight at Pei Zhiyi’s house.

He walked out of Pei’s courtyard but turned back, hugging Pei Zhiyi’s neck and asking, “Can you not argue with Uncle? When you argue with him, your mood gets ruined.”

Every time Pei An came back, the father and son would argue within three sentences of opening their mouths.

Pei An was too fond of controlling other people’s lives, and Pei Zhiyi disliked others interfering with his life.

Even without doing anything, he could irritate his own father with a cold, sarcastic gaze to the point of giving him high blood pressure.

So, Pei Zhiyi didn’t promise Shen Mian there wouldn’t be arguments between him and his dad, but thought for a moment and replied, “If he leaves soon, it should be fine.”

Shen Mian thought that it was no different from not making a promise at all.

But he couldn’t ask for more.

Between Pei An who was his parents’ friend, and Pei Zhiyi who was his childhood friend.
He cared most about Pei Zhiyi.

So, he hugged Pei Zhiyi again and said, “If you’re unhappy at home, you can always come to my place.”

“Okay.”

………..

The next day, Pei Zhiyi had a fallout with his father.

Shen Mian had thought of going to have dinner with Pei Zhiyi, when he heard his father talking on the phone.
He seemed to be persuading the other person, saying, “This is not right.
How can you inform the child directly without discussing it?”

Shen Mian didn’t know who was on the other end so he asked Shen Yu.

Shen Yu whispered, “It’s Uncle Pei.
He had a fight with Big Brother Pei, and Big Brother Pei ran away from home.”

He asked Shen Yu, “Why did they fight?”

Shen Yu shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Shen Mian glanced at his father again.
It seemed like the call wouldn’t end anytime soon.
He picked up his jacket and informed Shen Yu, “I’ll go out for a moment.”

As soon as he stepped out, he dialed Pei Zhiyi’s video call.

But Pei Zhiyi didn’t answer.

He called seven times in a row before Pei Zhiyi finally picked up.

“Where are you?,” Shen Mian asked.
“I heard you had a fight with your dad.
Why didn’t you even answer my call?”

Pei Zhiyi remained silent for a moment before saying, “I’m at the club.”

Shen Mian replied, “Oh,” understanding that Pei Zhiyi was genuinely angry.
When he mentioned the club, it meant he was playing shooting games, which he only did when he was in a bad mood.

He asked, “Should I come to find you?”

“No need, I’m already leaving.”

“Where should we meet then?”

“Let’s meet at Luhe River, in the private room.”

Luhe River was the place they had planned for the candlelit dinner.
Although it was still a bit early, Luhe River was far away, and by the time they arrived, it would be around 7 o’clock.

“Okay, I’ll come to you.”