I Can Still Salvage It

After returning from the autumn outing, it wasn’t long before the midterm exams arrived. This allowed Shen Mian to temporarily withdraw from his emotional attachment to Pei Zhiyi. He never dreamed that one day he would rely on studying to escape from reality.

However, after giving it some thought, he couldn’t help but feel that the school deliberately arranged the midterms during those few days with malicious intent. It was like sending a little piglet to the slaughterhouse—

When Shen Mian mentioned that to Pei Zhiyi, Pei Zhiyi looked at him with a speechless expression and wondered, “It’s the first time I’ve seen someone so eager to be a little pig.”

Shen Mian choked and realized that he had insulted himself. He continued writing the questions with a sullen face.

That class was a self-study session before the exam. The teacher had just left for a bit, and the atmosphere in the classroom became a bit restless. Everyone was reviewing the content for the next day’s exam while engaging in side conversations and reading novels whenever they found a chance.

Shen Mian was silently writing the few Chinese dictations given by Pei Zhiyi. After writing for a while, he felt a bit annoyed and popped a candy into his mouth.

The candy had a lemon flavor.

Ever since the failed confession on the Liuyi Bridge that day, he started liking candies with a lemon flavor. It seemed like it could suppress the restlessness in his heart.

It wasn’t because of Lu Yue; it was because he finally remembered that his first kiss with Pei Zhiyi had a lemon flavor.

He felt a bit perverted, thinking about all those things in his mind. If Pei Zhiyi knew what he was thinking, he might end up packing his bags and running away on a train overnight.

He chewed on the candy listlessly, and suddenly heard Pei Zhiyi ask him, “What gift do you want for your birthday this year?”

Shen Mian’s pen paused. He wasn’t surprised, even if he himself had forgotten his own birthday, Pei Zhiyi wouldn’t.

Last year, Pei Zhiyi gave him a watch. It was still on his wrist—a navy blue body with a dial embedded with diamond-like fragments that resembled a starry sky. When he received it, he thought it looked nice, but later he realized that the watch was quite expensive.

But Pei Zhiyi absolutely refused to let him repay, to the point where they even had their first argument. Shen Mian has been wearing it ever since.

“I don’t want anything specific. Don’t give me something too expensive,” Shen Mian said, bowing his head. “Even if you give it to me, I won’t accept it.”

Pei Zhiyi also noticed the watch on Shen Mian’s hand and smiled, unable to make any promises.

“But this year is your coming-of-age ceremony, so it should be something special.”

He used to hope that Shen Mian would grow up faster, understand the emotions and love of the human world a bit sooner. But now that Shen Mian was almost eighteen, he seemed to wish that time would slow down, allowing him more time for Shen Mian to rely on him wholeheartedly.

Shen Mian finished writing all the recitation content and checked his accuracy. He muttered softly, “Then, give yourself to me as a gift.”

He said it too softly, and Pei Zhiyi didn’t hear clearly, asking, “What did you say?”

Shen Mian, of course, wouldn’t say it again.

“I said it doesn’t matter,” he casually replied, “nothing special, as long as you come to celebrate my birthday with my family.”

The mid-term exams were scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and the exam schedule was packed from morning till night, with no time to catch a breath.

But as compensation, there were no makeup classes on Saturday after the exams.

The two exam days turned out to be the calmest days for Shen Mian. Sitting in the examination hall, he didn’t have to think about anything else, just focus on answering the questions. If he encountered something he didn’t know or couldn’t figure out, he could only give up in the end.

But he felt that he should have done well because the major topics he reviewed were all included in the exam.

When he came out of the examination hall, Pei Zhiyi was supposed to go home with him. They even took the car halfway, but then Pei Zhiyi received a sudden call from his grandfather.

Pei Zhiyi had a strained relationship with his father, but he got along well with his grandfather.

Every year, his grandfather would have him stay with him for a month.

Pei Zhiyi listened to the phone call while habitually holding and playing with Shen Mian’s hand, rubbing his fingertips.

Shen Mian had no choice but to tolerate those little actions of Pei Zhiyi’s, he couldn’t push him away. He could only shift his gaze to the window.

He heard Pei Zhiyi say, “Okay, I’ll come later. Behave yourself in the hospital and don’t cause trouble for the medical staff.”

After Pei Zhiyi hung up the phone, Shen Mian turned his head and asked, “Did Grandpa call for you to go over?”

Pei Zhiyi rubbed his temples and replied, “Yeah. Grandpa was admitted to the hospital because of high blood sugar, but he’s still not obedient. The nurse complained to me and asked me to go keep an eye on him.”

His father couldn’t come back from work, and even if he did, he couldn’t communicate with the old man. It was better for his grandson to handle it.

He touched Shen Mian’s head and said, “I’ll send you back first, and then I’ll go to the hospital.”

Shen Mian obediently agreed.

The car drove all the way to Nanhu Lane and stopped at the entrance of the lane.

Pei Zhiyi got out of the car to escort Shen Mian home. Although the lane was only about a hundred meters long, he acted as if he was afraid Shen Mian would get lost and escorted him all the way to the doorstep.

Shen Mian’s home was pitch black.

He belatedly remembered that his parents were working late that day, and Shen Yu had gone out to play with her classmates.

Shen Mian unlocked the door with the key but didn’t go inside.

The courtyard was quiet, the grapevine leaves had fallen off, and the osmanthus flowers had reached their end. There weren’t many flowers left on the branches, but the ground was covered with delicate, golden petals.

Amidst the fragrant osmanthus scent, Shen Mian turned his head and looked at Pei Zhiyi. His gaze was soft in the darkness of the night.

He softly reminded, “Brother, it seems like we’re missing one task this week.”

One kiss was still missing.

That was the first time he had voluntarily reminded Pei Zhiyi to complete a task.

He had always relied on Pei Zhiyi, knowing that he would never forget at any time, so he always naturally procrastinated.

But that day, he didn’t want to delay.

Struggling for just a second, Shen Mian tiptoed and gently kissed Pei Zhiyi’s lips.

He had eaten candy, and his mouth had a refreshing taste of lime.

Imitating how Pei Zhiyi kissed him, he licked the tip of Pei Zhiyi’s lips and then, as if he had frightened himself, quickly retreated, parting their lips.

“I… I’ll go inside first,” Shen Mian didn’t have the courage to look into Pei Zhiyi’s eyes. He hastily pushed open the door in a panic, “Brother, go to the hospital.”

He closed the door with a bang.

The heavy door separated them on either side.

After a while, Shen Mian finally heard Pei Zhiyi say, “Then I’ll leave first.”

Pei Zhiyi’s footsteps gradually faded away until they couldn’t be heard anymore. Shen Mian’s legs weakened, and his whole body leaned heavily against the door, almost collapsing.

Pei Zhiyi returned to the car.

Once Shen Mian was away from his side, Pei Zhiyi reverted to his usual distant and cold demeanor. The driver didn’t dare to disturb him, and the atmosphere in the car became a bit heavy.

He looked out the window at the passing scenery, his expression subtly changed.

He raised his hand and touched his own lips. It seemed like the lingering moist feeling of Shen Mian’s kiss was still there, and the taste of lime candy had also stained the corners of his mouth.

He hadn’t expected Shen Mian to kiss him voluntarily.

Before, Shen Mian had also kissed him, but it was more like a puppy’s spoiled behavior, just randomly rubbing his lips.

But this time, he felt that Shen Mian was learning how to kiss.

Pei Zhiyi’s gaze suddenly became thoughtful, his expression unchanged, but the corners of his mouth slightly curved upwards.

Shen Mian leaned against the wall, taking a long time to recover.

He raised his hand to cover his eyes, feeling like he was going crazy.

Why did he kiss him? It was still only Saturday, and Pei Zhiyi wouldn’t forget to complete the task, right?

He complained to system 007, “Was I stupid just now? My brother is so smart, he must have easily seen through my thoughts, right?”

He was truly terrified, so much so that he anxiously discussed it with a system.

And as expected, system 007 didn’t deviate from its usual “system” behavior and coldly laughed, “In my opinion, humans are all stupid, including both of you.”

Shen Mian felt that that system was truly unfriendly.

It was fine to scold him, but how could it include Pei Zhiyi in the scolding?

He protested in his mind, “My brother often ranks in the top three of his class in exams and has won many awards. You’re the stupid one!”

007 laughed coldly again and didn’t bother to respond. It shut down automatically.

Shen Mian called out to 007 a few times without receiving a response, so he gave up. He picked up his bag from the ground and leisurely walked back to his room.

His parents had left dinner for him, and he sat eating the bacon fried rice his father made while watching a TV drama.

After watching for a while, he received a message on WeChat from a familiar profile picture.

It was Xu Yuanfan, asking, “Have you figured out the answer to the question you asked me last time?”

Shen Mian hesitated for a moment before typing his reply.

“I’ve figured it out, but I don’t know if he likes me or not.”

Who this “he” referred to, Xu Yuanfan certainly knew.

In fact, he wanted to write “pain,” as falling in love with his best friend was truly tormenting.

But he didn’t want to simply attribute his feelings for Pei Zhiyi to pain. Pei Zhiyi was so wonderful, and every detail about him made Shen Mian feel happy.

After thinking for a moment, he asked Xu Yuanfan again, “Brother, did you have a high school romance?”

Xu Yuanfan replied quickly, “No, I was studying hard to get into A University.”

Shen Mian didn’t believe him.

“Liar. You must have had seven or eight boyfriends in high school.”

This time, Xu Yuanfan took a while before replying.

“You guessed wrong, I really didn’t. I was about to have one, but that person didn’t keep their promise and went abroad. So, little friend, high school relationships aren’t real. Work hard to get into a school with lots of handsome guys, and you’ll have plenty of choices for boyfriends. Even rabbits know not to eat grass near their burrows.”

Shen Mian pursed his lips. He wasn’t a rabbit.

He thought for a moment, typed a sentence, deleted it, typed again, and deleted it.

In the end, he sent a short sentence.

“I don’t want many boyfriends, I just want Pei Zhiyi.”

He didn’t even know if, besides Pei Zhiyi, he would be attracted to other boys.

It seemed that his liking for boys wasn’t pure. If Pei Zhiyi were a girl, he might have been heterosexual.

Shen Mian’s mind wandered, imagining a female version of Pei Zhiyi. She would probably be an imposing and aloof older sister, cold but gentle in private.

And then, for a shameful second, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Xu Yuanfan’s next message came quickly.

“So, are you going to confess? if you confess, maybe you won’t even be friends anymore.”

Should he confess…

Shen Mian fell into another daze.

He didn’t have an answer in his heart, so he could only hastily type, “I don’t know.”

He had never been smart, and it was the first time he had feelings for someone. And it happened to be with the highest level of difficulty.

He was afraid that Pei Zhiyi would notice his feelings, but he was also afraid that Pei Zhiyi wouldn’t notice them.