He Chao didn't even look at his phone. After answering the question, he noticed that Xie Yu wasn't eating the walnuts, so he opened a small bag and handed it over.

Xie Yu took the walnuts with mixed feelings.

Unfortunately, He Chao was again the one who drew the next card.

But this time, the question was relatively normal, belonging to the category of the least anticipated truth or dare questions.

"What is the one thing you regret doing the most?"

When this card was drawn, everyone's enthusiasm waned. They probably expected trivial answers, what could there be worth regretting.

Xie Yu was waiting for He Chao to make up some nonsense, but He Chao remained silent.

They had chosen a spot by the lake, where the wind would bring a refreshing chill when it blew across the water.

He Chao had his head bowed. Shadows cast by his long lashes danced across his face, and it was unclear what he was thinking. After a moment, he lifted his head and began, "In my third year of middle school, a friend of mine, because of me..."

But his words trailed off.

He Chao couldn't bring himself to continue.

The moment he brought it up, his heart felt congested.

He couldn't continue.

The rest looked around at each other, unsure of what to do or say.

Suddenly, Xie Yu remembered the He Chao who had sat smoking on the steps late at night, the one who had caught him and called him "little cripple."

Liu Cunhao noticed He Chao's reluctance to speak and waved a dismissive hand. "Forget it, this topic is boring. Let's move on."

The other classmates didn't care and threw the cards back, planning to draw again.

Everyone chatted and laughed for a while, and the previous question was forgotten.

He Chao took out his phone to check the time, only to realize that Shen Jie had called him several times, with dozens of missed calls and six or seven text messages.

He quickly glanced at them and was about to reply when he felt something hit his back.

Xie Yu was still playing with his phone, but he leaned forward slightly, his forehead resting against He Chao's back.

Xie Yu moved his fingers and tapped on his phone screen a few times.

The next second, He Chao heard his phone beep.

[Little Friend]: ?

Xie Yu waited for a while, but He Chao didn't reply. He curled his fingers and lightly tapped on the person's back.

After playing a few rounds, it was about time to go. Xu Qingqing collected the cards and Liu Cunhao reminded everyone, "You all know where to meet up, right? Let's wander around a bit more before heading there, but don't be late for the gathering."

With only half an hour left, there wasn't much to do but wander around.

The only things to see were some small stalls selling goods.

As Xu Qingqing was collecting the cards, Xie Yu handed his over. Suddenly, He Chao grabbed Xie Yu's wrist and pulled him away from the rest.

"Have you gone crazy?"

"I just want to hug you," He Chao replied. "Just for a little while."

After finishing the game, Shen Jie turned around to look for He Chao, but he was already gone. He paused for a moment, then lowered his head to check his phone. There was a short message from He Chao that said: "Let me introduce you, Xie Yu, my boyfriend."

Once all the cards were collected, the group of people started to worry about where to go next.

"Why don't we buy some local specialties?" suggested Luo Wenqiang.

"But it's only a 40-minute drive, what kind of local specialties can we find? What does City C have that our city doesn't?" replied Liu Cunhao.

After some discussion, they ultimately decided to visit the specialty store. They felt that it would be a waste to come all this way and not buy anything. As they were about to leave, they realized that someone was missing: "Leader, then we'll go to...Wait, where's our leader?"

"And where's Brother Yu?"

"..."

Finding an empty spot in a tourist attraction was like finding a needle in a haystack.

They wandered around the area for a while until they unexpectedly ran into Liu Cunhao and the others at the entrance of the specialty store. Unfortunately, He Chao's wish to hug his boyfriend couldn't be fulfilled.

"Brother Chao, I never thought you would be this kind of person."

"Leaving your team members behind and running away with your desk mate, is this how you lead a team?"

"Enough talk, where did you two go?"

The team members were taking turns to question them, like they were in an interview.

"Alright, that's enough," said He Chao.

"No, I'm a little thirsty," said Luo Wenqiang. "Unless our irresponsible team leader can buy us two bottles..."

This hint was quite obvious.

He Chao went to buy water while the others sat on the bench waiting.

Xie Yu glanced at the things they were holding and looked up at the 'North Lake Specialty Shop'. From the entrance, he couldn't see any specialties, only snacks and pastries. "You guys are buying specialties?"

"Yeah, Brother Yu, look, I bought a silk scarf." Liu Cunhao opened his bag and pulled out a red patterned scarf.

Xie Yu couldn't quite understand, "What kind of specialty is this even?"

"Some specialties are not about where they come from, it's all about the psychological effect."

"..."

These people really had a broad perspective.

By the time He Chao came back with the water, the tour guide had already started counting the number of people: "Is everyone here? Group leaders, please count the number of people in your group."

There were four or five classes in line, making a lot of noise.

After counting several times and finding no one missing, they finally boarded the bus back to school.

On the bus, Xie Yu continued watching the movie he hadn't finished in the morning, and He Chao reached over and took one of his earphones.

After a while, He Chao suddenly said, "Um, I have something to give you."

Xie Yu was still trying to recall what the movie had been about when he heard this sentence and was momentarily taken aback.

He Chao pulled out two bracelets from his school uniform pocket.

They were made of red string, with a red bean attached to each one.

"I saw them when I was buying water just now," He Chao said, feeling a bit embarrassed. After all, these were the kind of things that only little girls liked to wear. He paused before continuing, "Think about which hand you want to wear it on."

Xie Yu looked at them for a moment and said, "It's a bit girly."

"It depends on who's wearing it," He Chao said. "I think we'll look totally cool wearing them together."

"...Brother Chao, can you be a bit less shameless."

"There's even an engraving?"

Xie Yu had called it girly, but he still took one of the bracelets. The one he took had a "z" engraved on the back of the red bean, a simple English letter written in He Chao's bold handwriting.

He Chao was mainly attracted by the slogan on the small stall sign, with messages along the lines of 'never separate, connecting you and your loved one together, buy now and get a free personalized couple bracelet'.

"I personally engraved it," He Chao boasted.

Xie Yu: "I know, usually people can't engrave something so ugly."

"..."

On the way back, the atmosphere was not as lively as when they arrived.

Everyone had played all day and was now exhausted, with earphones in their ears, listening to music until they fell asleep.

The tour guide expressed his feelings and joy of spending the day with the Class 3 students in front of him: "In this vast sea of people, it is fate that brought us together. After today, you will return to school to continue your studies, and I hope the joy of today will accompany you..."

Xie Yu cursed for a while, and just when He Chao thought the little friend wouldn't wear it, Xie Yu said, "Forget it, I'll do it for you."

The bracelet wasn't bad-looking, just a simple red string with nothing fancy.

The style was simple, but not too plain.

Although the boy's wrist was slender, his bones were distinct, and He Chao's throat tightened as he saw the red string hanging on it.

He Chao's bracelet had a "y" engraved on it, it was the "Yu" from Xie Yu.

After Xie Yu put it on, he couldn't help but look at it. The two of them looked at each other for a while, and finally He Chao grabbed Xie Yu's hand and put their wrists together.

The two red strings looked like they were intertwined into one.

After the tour guide expressed his feelings, he also sat down, and the bus became completely quiet.

Only the sound of Luo Wenqiang snoring remained.

Xie Yu didn't care about what the movie was about. He watched for a little while, but soon felt tired. Slowly, he closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep leaning on He Chao's shoulder.

All good things must come to an end.

In the future, they could only look back on this day from their memories. It seemed like an ordinary and uneventful day.

Old Tang had been teaching for many years and had led countless classes, but he never grew tired of the spring and autumn outings that they participated in every semester.

He stood up clumsily and took a careful photo with his phone, focusing carefully until he captured a group of people sleeping in all sorts of positions.

It felt like they slept for a long time on the way back.

When Xie Yu opened his eyes, the bus had already turned onto the small road near the No. 2 High School.

Xu Qingqing whispered on the phone, "Hello, Mom, I'm almost there. Are you at the school gate?"

Luo Wenqiang's loud snoring was disturbing the other passengers. Finally, he was awakened by Wan Da patting him: "We're nearly there, sports committee rep!"

Luo Wenqiang rubbed his eyes and yawned, feeling reluctant to get off the bus: "What? So fast?"

"Don't worry, even though the autumn outing is over, we still have weekends to look forward to, as well as the upcoming winter break," Liu Cunhao reassured him. "There's still hope for all of us students. Oh, and everyone, please pass your hats from this morning to me. I need to collect them and give them to Old Tang."

The hats were the school caps from No. 2 High School. Perhaps they were given out to prevent the students from getting lost, or maybe it was to make it easy to identify who was from No. 2 High School. Although they were considered ugly and no one wanted to wear them, they were still distributed every year during the spring and autumn outings.

When He Chao passed his hat over, Liu Cunhao immediately noticed the red bracelet on his wrist and asked curiously, "Brother Chao, when did you buy this bracelet?"

After Liu Cunhao spoke, he also noticed that Xie Yu had the exact same one on his wrist. He paused and said, "...Brother Yu bought one too? It looks pretty good. Is this some kind of lucky charm for passing exams? Is it one of those bracelets that were blessed by a master?"

He Chao: "..."

Xie Yu: "..."

Even though the two were wearing matching couple bracelets, they were only seen as lucky charms for passing exams by their classmates.

"We've arrived at school. Everyone who was sleeping, wake up. Those who need to go home, go home. Those who need to go back to the dorm, go back. Be careful on the way," Old Tang reminded them. "Get your emotions in check and complete your weekend homework seriously."

He Chao suddenly remembered that he hadn't received a response to the question he asked earlier: "Are you going back this weekend?"

Xie Yu had to go back this weekend.

Last weekend, he went to visit Aunt Mei. If he didn't spend a few more days with Madam Gu this week, although Madam Gu wouldn't say anything, she would definitely feel unhappy.

"I'm going back," Xie Yu said, thinking of this. "I need to go back and spend some time to coax my mom."

He Chao responded with an "Oh."

After a while, he leaned over and asked, "So, when do you plan to spend some time to coax your boyfriend?"

The Class 3 students got off the bus one after another.

A crowd of parents had already gathered at the school gate. Xu Qingqing's mother, wearing a sun hat, sat on an electric scooter chatting with other parents. When she saw Xu Qingqing getting off the scooter, she took an apple out of the front basket and said, "Are you hungry? What did you bring for the autumn outing? I told you already to eat less snacks."

These parents were all familiar with each other. Liu Cunhao had previously complained in the class group chat about how his mother managed to establish a friendship with Xu Qingqing's mother at the school gate.

Liu Cunhao and his friends walked over and greeted the parents with a polite "Hello, uncles and aunties."

He Chao got off the bus and glanced over from across the street.

Xie Yu didn't bring much with him. He hadn't even brought back the clothes he brought home last weekend. But he still followed He Chao towards the dormitory building.

As the little friend followed him into his dorm room, He Chao suddenly realized something was off: "Aren't you going to pack?"

"There isn't much for me to bring," Xie Yu replied.

Just as He Chao was about to ask why he came in then, Xie Yu said, "Just came to coax my boyfriend, then I'll leave."

This person had said he just wanted to hug him for a bit, but in the end they couldn't find a suitable location.

Xie Yu originally planned to hug for a while, coaxing him a little, then leave. But once they hugged, he realised it wasn't so easy to go.

He Chao pressed him tightly, his hand instinctively reaching into Xie Yu's pants, and he bit down on his neck: "Want me to help you out?"

Xie Yu let out a muffled groan, his voice seductive, causing He Chao to grip him even tighter, almost losing control.

Xie Yu's fingers clawed at the bedsheet, his knuckles turning white, and the red string on his wrist made his skin look even paler, creating a dazzling and enchanting feeling.

When He Chao bought it, he never imagined it would end up on Xie Yu's hand like this.

Damn, it's really fucking unbearable.

At the end, Xie Yu let go of the bed sheet, covered his eyes with one hand, while He Chao propped himself up with one hand on the bed, got up to grab some tissues from the bedside table, and handed them over after pulling out several pieces.

Even the air was filled with the smell of some kind of bodily fluid.

Xie Yu took the tissues and wiped himself off haphazardly, but it didn't help much. He decided to go back and change his pants, but then he remembered that He Chao was still hard.

"I advise you not to touch me," He Chao said hoarsely, "...otherwise you might not be able to go back and coax your mother."

"Then," Xie Yu was about to touch him, but after hearing this, he changed his mind and propped himself up on the edge of the bed, saying without any burden, "Thanks for your hard work, just take a cold shower to fix this."

"..."

When Xie Yu left to catch his bus, there were hardly any people left at the school gate.

Once he got on the car, he called Madam Gu and she happily exclaimed "good" several times on the other end of the phone.

Then Madam Gu asked, "Did you have fun on the autumn outing? Are you hungry? What do you want to eat when you get home?"

"It was okay," Xie Yu said, "just whatever you feel like making."

After hanging up, Xie Yu suddenly thought that He Chao almost never went home on weekends.

His mother was abroad, but he also never mentioned his father.

What kind of parent wouldn't be worried about their child's grades?

As he thought about this, Xie Yu sent a message to the person who should have finished showering: "Are you done washing up?"

He Chao replied quickly.

- Not yet.

- When I think of you, it can't go down.

"..."

When Xie Yu reached his stop, He Chao had just showered and called him while drying his hair, "Are you home yet?"

While Walking, Xie Yu casually remarked, "You took a long shower."

He Chao chuckled softly, "Yeah, it lasted for a while."

Ignoring He Chao's suggestive tone, Xie Yu asked, "Aren't you going home?"

"No one's home, so what's the point?" He Chao sat on the bed, opened his textbook, and said, "My dad's on a business trip, traveling everywhere."

"He doesn't care about you?"

"He does, but he wants me to think for myself. If I really want to do something, he won't stop me."

He Chao felt that his dad was pretty rare. When he decided to drop out of school and stay at home, his dad didn't scold him. Instead, he analyzed the pros and cons with him and let him make his own decision.

The most frequently spoken sentence was, "He Chao, your life is your own."

"I'm here, let's not talk about it for now."

"Okay."

But He Chao didn't hang up after saying "okay."

Xie Yu stood at the door, leaning against the wall, feeling a bit amused. "If I don't hang up, are you not planning to hang up either?"

"In that case, I'll hang up," He Chao said. "You should go in quickly."

As soon as Xie Yu entered and changed his shoes, Gu Xuelan handed him a fruit platter, which was quite heavy. "Sit on the sofa and eat. We'll have dinner later."

The fruit platter was cut very delicately, with several types of fruit arranged on a glass plate.

Xie Yu picked up a toothpick and ate two pieces before walking over and leaning against the kitchen door to watch her.

Gu Xuelan finished cutting the vegetables, washed her hands, and turned to look at the thing on Xie Yu's wrist. "When did you buy this?"

Xie Yu followed her gaze and looked down, finally landing on his own wrist. He opened his mouth and said, "Ah, this, it was from the autumn outing today."

Gu Xuelan didn't think much of it. She knew Xie Yu's personality better than anyone else. He usually didn't like to interact with people, so she casually remarked, "When we were kids, I bought you a small gold lock but you didn't want to wear it. When I hung it around your neck, you cried."

Xie Yu didn't say anything.

Zhong Guofei came back early tonight, and the three of them had dinner together. There wasn't much conversation at the dinner table. Madam Gu talked to Zhong Guofei about some Madam Chen and Madam Lu, but Xie Yu wasn't interested. He ate a little and planned to go upstairs.

Gu Xuelan asked, "Don't you want to eat more?"

Xie Yu said, "No, I'm full. You guys take your time."

Soon, Xie Yu found himself unable to stop thinking about the future of a certain idiot and his excavator.

He had looked at He Chao's midterm exam paper, and it wasn't so bad that it was beyond redemption. There were a few questions that Old Wu had repeated countless times, and even He Chao, who could make Old Wu lose his temper with mistakes, got them right.

After some thought, Xie Yu turned on his computer and opened a Word document. He typed a line in the title: Summary of Key Knowledge for the College Entrance Examination.

It was after eleven o'clock at night.

He Chao was in the dormitory, reviewing his test paper. As he was going through it, a notification popped up on his phone.

――You have a new email.