Pandora’s Box

It was as if I’ve never had anyone hugged me sincerely. Hugs associated with lust did not count.

On a weekend morning, I woke up early and couldn’t fall asleep. I laid in bed, browsing through my phone, hoping to bore myself back to sleep. When a notification from WeChat was alerted, I was instantly awake. However, it wasn’t Zhuo, but Lee.

Lee didn’t look for me a few days ago. He seemed busy and didn’t want to contact me.

I suspected that he was busy with a date.

Sure enough, as soon as he opened his mouth, he sounded like he was resting but in a good mood.

“What’s the matter? Had an affair recently?”

“I find that my physical health is very poor,” Lee said, “I felt uncomfortable 3 or 4 times throughout the night, and I had to rest for a few days.”

“What? You can still do it 3 or 4 times?” I immediately exclaimed, “You’re old but getting stronger; you’re rejuvenating!

” ….” He stayed silent for a moment before replying, “It’s alright, it’s not like I haven’t experienced it before. The only thing is that my waist is sore, my kidneys are a bit weak, and my whole body doesn’t feel right. Should I exercise more?”

I comforted him, “Don’t worry, it’s normal. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Really?”

“Of course, men become like this when they’re older.”

“…can’t you say anything nice?”

“Well, you’re not currently too badly off.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it will be worse in a few years.”

“…..”

“This may be the lowest point of your physical fitness, but think about it, this is also the peak of your physical fitness in the future!”

“…..”

Then Lee stopped talking to me.

I bombarded him with emojis and memes while thinking to myself angrily. Even Lee’s spring time had come so was I the only single dog in this world?

I let out a wail of injustice.

Turning over, I bitterly thought that Lee’s new fresh meat was most likely not as attractive as Zhuo.

The image of his face appeared in front of my eyes, my mind full of his face concentrating, serious looks, and emotionless eyes that seemed to reflect the mirrors of lakes.

Now I couldn’t sleep.

Since there was no point in trying to get back to sleep, I gave up and got off the bed. I went to the living room and saw that Cheng Yichen prepared breakfast again.

He was surprised to see me, “Xiao Jing is awake so early today.”

He placed the fork in front of me, “Here, have some breakfast. Do you want coffee?”

Today, we had Hong Kong-style toast, and I helped myself to a slice. The egg-coated bread was nicely fried with tiger-skin patterns. I realized there wasn’t any peanut butter or creamy yolk on the inside after taking a bite. Instead, the creaminess of the milk overflowed into my mouth. It was indescribably rich and velvety.

My eyes enlarged! It was delicious!

In comparison to typical dishes found in tea houses, this dish was healthy and special. After eating a slice, I ate the second, and I couldn’t help stretching my hand trying to reach for another slice again.

There was only a single slice left on the plate. When I reached out with my fork, another fork came out of my peripheral at the same time.

Lu Feng stared at me.

I couldn’t suppress a shiver.

Cheng Yichen knocked on a plate, calmly saying, “Give it to Xiao Jing.”

Lu Feng silently withdrew his hand.

I ate with my head bobbing and tail sprouting, “Mmmmm. it’s so delicious!”

Lu Feng took a sip of coffee expressionlessly.

I finally felt the satisfaction of a fox pretending as if one’s a tiger.

After breakfast, Lu Feng went to wash dishes and cups while Cheng Yichen pealed me an orange, “Remember to eat this fruit and take vitamins.”

“Okay.”

My relationship with Cheng Yichen was quite harmonious. However, we couldn’t get any closer as if there was this constant layer of distance between us.

I didn’t hate him. Even if he was a few years younger (he wasn’t), he had an image I admire most — handsome and clean — I didn’t know why I was partial to clean-looking people.

However, he was someone else’s father and lover. He was a stable individual, fulfilling everyone’s emotional needs. He was different from a person like, overflowing with unfulfilled emotional needs. He had nothing to do with me anyway.

“By the way, Xiao Jing,” he went to get his wallet and gently said, “I haven’t given you this week’s allowance yet.”

He gave me a thousand yuan this time.

I recalled chatting with my teammates when we were gaming. Two of them were college students and both of them happened to live in a dormitory. They shared their expenses, with one saying that he received 1500 yuan a month and the other 2000 yuan. Their allowance included expenses on food, drinks, clothes, and entertainment, and they would still have some left over after the semester.

So this was the normal spending amount for my age?

Did I believe the amount he gave me was too little purely because I was frivolously spending too much money in the past?

How much could he earn monthly in his bookstore?

I took the allowance, “Thank you, Uncle Chen.”

My weekend flew by, but not too quickly. I was happy not having to attend classes, but it also meant that I couldn’t see Zhuo.

I still did not know his full name. It made sense for him to be reserved and not initiate to chat. We didn’t have mutual friends yet and he did not post on his Moments. There wasn’t simply a way for me to get to know him outside of school.

Because I was thinking about him, I constantly fidgeted while sitting. Then I realized that I was thinking a bit too much about him. I always wanted to talk to him even if I had other things to do, always counting down the time for his response like a loser waiting for his immortal to descend.

I also did not know why this was happening.

Maybe this was because we shown each other our vulnerabilities. Even if I opened up my heart, I felt different about him from other people. Was I already dependent on him?

“Will you go to online class on Monday?”

He quickly responded to me, “Sorry, I have a time conflict so I can’t attend.”

“Oh…,” but I was not discouraged. “Are you free at noon? I’ll treat you to dinner? I know of a very delicious Teppanyaki place!” I confidently invited with my pockets full of money, as I just received my allowance.

“I have time at noon,” he said, “But you have to attend morning class and don’t try to skip. When you finish class, we will meet up at the East gate at school.”

“…..”

He was still concerned about me.

I liked it ^^

I obediently attended class on time, but whether or not I decided to listen was a separate matter. Because there was no one next to me repeatedly poking me with a pen, I couldn’t help myself and napped rather peacefully.

I woke up dazed due to the school bell, signaling the end of class. I squinted my eyes and suddenly felt a girl from the front row staring at me with her huge eyes.

I suddenly widened my eyes, startling her.

I rudely asked, “Why are you staring at me? Have you never seen a handsome person before?”

Her nose crinkled and she blushed, “I’m not staring at you.”

“Ah, otherwise?”

She pondered with a “hmmm” twice and asked, “Didn’t Zhuo Wenyang accompany you to class recently?”

I didn’t react, “Who?”

She looked at me, “The man who accompanied you in class.”

The word “accompany” was used very suggestively.

So that was his name.

“Wenyang is such a strange name, a sheep that studies literature, a sheep that practices martial arts?”

She continued to stare, “Yang as in to set sail. What the hell, aren’t you his friend? You don’t know?”

“There hero never talks about where he came from,” I was open-minded, “It doesn’t matter what his name is.”

She looked at me suspiciously, “You are so weird, aren’t you familiar with him?”

I felt like she stabbed my sore spot and I reflexively said, “How are we not? We’ve eaten together several times.”

She gave me a look, “You don’t even know his name. So do you know that he’s the exemplary man of our T Uni?”

“?? He weathered a lot?” Took too many classes and broke a record?

“Do you know how many SCI papers he already published?”

I was at a loss. “What is SCI?”

She was shocked, “Why did you ask such a question?”

“I only know about SCPs.”

She frowned, “What is SCP?”

I was ecstatic, “See, you don’t know either.”

“…..”

“SCP is a violation of natural laws. It can be a substance, living thing, or place. Because these such things violate the laws of nature, they are usually threatening to humans. The SCP Foundation is a collection of these harmful things. They keep control of these things like MIB, the men in black, you know?”

She nodded.

“SCPs are divided into S-class, E-class, and K-class. S-class is safe, E-class is threatening, and K-class is dangerous,” I explained in a low voice, “K-class is the most difficult to contain since they’re aggressive and most dangerous to humans. If they pose a huge threat, they can’t be contained. If they cannot be contained, the Foundation will consider eliminating them. S-class security only means that they can safely be contained, not that they are safe. The most famous monster is an E-class level monster. It’s called SCP-173…”

She was taken aback and took some time to come back to her senses, yelling angrily, “Ah, you’re going too far!”

I crossed my arms and said, “Then tell me about SCI. Is it as interesting as SCP?”

“SCI is, yeah. Ah, you may not understand, but it’s super advance stuff anyway,” she said, “Do you know how difficult it is to publish 5 SCI papers during undergraduate? He even published in Nature, that’s a lot of work!”

“…..”

“He was also involved in the XXXX conference (I didn’t hear what it was), top journals, and influential meetings! He’s absolutely golden!”

“????” I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it felt important.

“Basically, he was a top student. A top student!”

“And he still repeated?”

“What, don’t tarnish our male god, what do you mean repeat?” she said, “He already graduated from undergrad and is now in graduate school. I always thought he would attend a famous abroad program. Considering it’s him, it would make sense. Unexpectedly, he decided to stay at T University. He’s the light of our T University!”

“???” I was confused, “Then why did he come to our class?”

“Why are you asking me?” she pointed out. “How would I know? Why else would I ask you?”

“How would I know?”

“Argh,” she seemed so upset as if she was about to stomp her feet, “Isn’t he attending class with you? Why didn’t you ask these 3 questions? Aren’t you his friend?”

“…..” So was I really his friend?

Noticing the change in my facial expression, she quickly added, “I don’t have any other intentions. Regardless, I envy that the male god accompanies you to class!”

She probably believed that it was such a great honor, but I did not feel that at the slightest.