At This Point

Cheng Shuo was standing by the car. Seeing the two of them, he greeted them calmly.

Cen Zeng stood in the middle and made the introductions.

“Song Shuyi, a Senior Brother from the laboratory.”

Cheng Shuo had actually heard this person's name before. After Cen Zeng's suicide attempt, he was the first to expose the story, only to have his post deleted, his real name revealed, and be questioned by netizens, yet he never reconciled with the school.

Before Cen Zeng jumped, when he was on the phone with Xu Zhenqing comforting everyone, this was also the person who calmly said on the call that things couldn't get any worse anyway.

In his memory, he seemed to be on a leave of absence from school, his voice weak and listless, yet he had never said anything discouraging.

At this moment, however, he was much more lively than in memory, looking over with a smile.

“Cheng Shuo…” Cen Zeng said, “He’s in the same year as me, studying public policy.”

Song Shuyi said, “Is that all?”

Cen Zeng frowned.

“I’m pursuing him.” Cheng Shuo, on the other hand, read the playful undertone and returned a smile. “Senior Brother, please look after me.”

Song Shuyi also smiled and said, oh, don't say that, thank you for being willing to give me a ride.

Cen Zeng hesitated for a moment between the back seat and the front passenger seat. Cheng Shuo had already opened the door, “Sit in the back with Senior Brother.”

He asked for Song Shuyi's address, asked about the air conditioning temperature, and then asked, "Were you busy today?"

They chatted casually for a bit. Cen Zeng didn't say much, but Cheng Shuo had already promised that when he picked him up from work in the future, if the time was right, he would give Song Shuyi a ride too.

Senior Brother said thank you very much, then added, "It also depends on your plans. The place I live is quite close to the laboratory."

The two social experts calmly sparred. One was probing to find out just how busy Cen Zeng was in the laboratory, while the other was indirectly trying to find out how they had met. The person in the middle of the vortex didn't say a word, yet the conversation could still flow smoothly.

Cheng Shuo said he came because he had heard of his reputation; Cen Zeng’s fame as a cold and aloof campus hunk had spread far and wide, and meeting him in person, he found him very interesting.

Song Shuyi said the laboratory was just the usual kind of busy, and that his junior was talented, so it was inevitable that the capable would have to work harder.

No one was telling the truth, but neither of them was particularly dissatisfied.

Song Shuyi directed Cheng Shuo where to stop the car, then turned back to say goodbye to them. The two people in the car both nodded.

Cheng Shuo added, "Send a message when you get home, it’s pretty late."

He was a very thoughtful and cheerful handsome guy, one cold and one warm with Cen Zeng, a pairing that was strikingly compatible. But thinking about the substitute theory his junior had just mentioned, he still felt he needed to observe a bit more.

Song Shuyi smiled and said, "Okay, you two get home early too. Cen Zeng must be exhausted today."

He left. Cheng Shuo unbuckled his seatbelt and turned around, “Want to get a late-night snack? You barely ate anything for dinner.”

Cen Zeng said, "Okay."

“Come sit in the front?”

Before he finished speaking, the person had already gotten out of the car and sat down beside him.

“I still don't quite understand what I'm thinking,” Cen Zeng said. “And I can't give any reaction.”

He looked at Cheng Shuo, his eyes filled with a gentle calm.

Cheng Shuo found it utterly ridiculous. This person wasn't making things difficult for him, and yet, at this point, he was still concerned about his opinion.

What opinion could he have? He just didn't understand why he was almost feeling sad on Cen Zeng's behalf.

The one who suffered had no reaction, yet he was already starting to get angry.

“It’s okay…” Cheng Shuo said. “It's okay, we can take it slow. Anyway, neither of us is in a hurry. When you want to be angry, just be angry. If you want to be sad, be sad. If you have no reaction, then have no reaction. If you don't want to see me, then don't see me for a while. Wait for me to come find you, and then reject me.”

He opened his phone and showed Cen Zeng his list of saved restaurants, “Pick one?”

“There might not be enough time.” Cen Zeng glanced at the distance on the map. “It's too far. It'll be hard to get into the dorms after one-thirty in the morning.”

“Stay at my place. I have a guest room.” Cheng Shuo thought for a moment. “I have some new clothes at home that you should be able to wear. Anyway, you only have class tomorrow afternoon. If you need to go to the laboratory in the morning, I can drive you. Or, the bus is quite convenient too.”

The bedding in the guest room had been washed, and things had been put away. He had tidied it up himself before the cleaning lady, who came once a week, arrived.

Cen Zeng looked into his eyes and smiled.

“What is it?”

“I don't even know if you're doing this on purpose,” he said. “You’re very practiced.”

Cheng Shuo replied, "Of course I'm really waiting for you. I've already confessed today. What's there to be on purpose or not? I just have ulterior motives, what else?"

There was no need for push and pull, no schemes, no desire for control, and he couldn't speak sweet nothings. He was just doing what he wanted to do.

Their progress was moving at the speed of a rocket, but looking back, while the words they'd said had soared to the heavens, the two of them were still stuck in the same place.

“So why?”

“Why what?”

“Why…” Cen Zeng asked, “do you like me?”

Cheng Shuo was so amused he laughed.

He said, "What's wrong? Am I not allowed to like you? Or do I need to write an application to like you?"

“Not knowing the reason is strange.” The person opposite him wasn't buying it, just calmly analyzing, “You've been observing me for a long time and know me very well, but I had never even met you before.”

“If it's because my face resembles someone you couldn't get, it would all make sense. But if not, the inexplicable understanding, the perfectly timed approach, the sudden attentiveness—it's all very strange.”

When Cen Zeng wasn't analyzing his own feelings, he could always be very perceptive.

Cheng Shuo looked at him with a smile, “Want to know why I know so much about you?”

Cen Zeng nodded.

“First, come get a late-night snack with me and go back to my place, then I'll consider whether or not to tell you.” He said it casually, but he leaned in closer. “Aren't you hungry?”

He didn't really feel hungry, just a little reluctant to move. The thought of walking into the dormitory building, opening the door, and going through the process of exchanging pleasantries with Wu Yin made him prefer to just stay where he was.

He didn't speak. Cheng Shuo sighed and said, "I can also just take you straight back."

Only then did Cen Zeng finally turn back and reply, "Let's go get a late-night snack."

Cheng Shuo smiled, “Then what should we eat?”

“I don't know.”

“How come you don't know anything?” He sighed in resignation. “How about some congee?”

Of course, the man didn't refuse.

It was almost one in the morning, and there were only a few people in the open shop.

Cheng Shuo quickly made a choice and pulled Cen Zeng out of the car.

Steam swirled around them. He thought for a moment and, ignoring the staff's question of “Are you two just ordering one bowl?”, added— “Could we have another bowl, please? Thank you.”

Beef and poached egg congee. Cen Zeng poked the yolk open, mixed it in, and then silently stared at the bowl in front of him.

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Cheng Shuo picked up the spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and blew on it. “Open your mouth.”

Cen Zeng stared at the spoon brought to his lips as if he were staring at some bizarre creature.

“Whether you're hungry or not, just have a few bites.”

The man still had a cold expression, unmoving. This time, he wasn't staring at the spoon, but was just staring at him.

He was expressionless, indifferent, and distant, but he was obediently letting him feed him congee.

Cheng Shuo was amused.

“What are you looking at me for?” He said with a smile. “I can eat by myself, I don't need someone to feed me.”

[Author's Notes]

You're quite the expert at this push and pull, classmate Cheng Shuo.