The news about Xu Qichen also spread to Peiya School. Compared to Jingjian School, the eye of the storm, the students at Peiya were not much calmer. Gossip knows no audience. The rumors were very exaggerated, with all sorts of bizarre versions appearing, each more sensational and melodramatic than the last.

The rumors unscrupulously distorted Xu Qichen's personality and character. As the ones spreading them, they had never even met him, yet they acted as if they knew him best. "I heard," "It's said," "Just look at his face," "Everyone's talking about it"... Amidst these illogical and baseless words, the person in question had become completely unrecognizable.

The day after the training camp ended, Song Yu returned to school for classes. In the cafeteria, the boys eating at the same table brought up this topic.

"That guy from Jingjian, you guys heard, right? A male student is having an affair with a male teacher." The speaker, relying on the fact that his orientation was the same as most people's, spoke with a clear sense of superiority. "So disgusting, a guy actually liking a guy. Good thing he's not at our school, or I wouldn't even dare to come to class." Hearing this, the remaining few all burst into laughter.

Qin Yan picked up some food with his chopsticks, then tossed it back onto his plate. He said nonchalantly, "Give me a break. There are girls who like guys all over the streets, but it's not like they fall for every guy they see, right? It's the same for guys who like other guys."

Stung by his words, the other guy couldn't keep his composure. "So what? People aren't allowed to talk about guys who like guys now? Don't tell me you like guys too."

Qin Yan put down his chopsticks. "Honestly, I like pretty girls with long, black, straight hair. But if I really did suddenly turn gay one day, I wouldn't be into some Qing Dynasty relic."

The moment he finished speaking, Song Yu, who had been exuding a gloomy aura the whole time, picked up his tray, which he had barely touched, and left with a sour look on his face. Seeing this, Qin Yan also picked up his tray and followed him.

On the fourth day after returning from the training camp, he finally received a WeChat reply from Xia Zhixu.

[Xia Zhixu: I'm fine.]

Song Yu didn't think so. The people around him were noisy. His deskmate was catching up on sleep during the break. He typed out a sentence.

[Song Yu: If you need someone to play ball with, you can find me this weekend.]

He usually found it difficult to care about others, but with Xia Zhixu, Song Yu couldn't just be a cold bystander. Perhaps it was because he had happened to witness it, or perhaps it was because he truly saw Xia Zhixu as a mirror of himself.

The mirror had shattered, and his reflection in it was shattered too.

The sky was gray and overcast, and a light rain began to fall—a fine drizzle, uncommon for this city, that sprinkled down like needles. Song Yu stared out the window, lost in thought. The scene from the day he returned from the training camp, at the entrance of Peiya School, surfaced in his mind again.

He found it hard to describe the feeling of being embraced by Yue Zhishi after having witnessed such a bloody, failed case.

If he had to describe it, it was probably like drinking poison to quench a thirst.

That day, Yue Zhishi hadn't asked anything. He had just comforted him, saying, "Let's go home. Shall we watch a documentary together?"

It was as if he was the child, and Yue Zhishi was actually a very mature adult.

For the first time, they walked home from school along the street. The road was long, and Yue Zhishi stuck close to him the entire way, talking about many happy things that had happened at school. He also mentioned that Auntie Rong's friend's border collie had puppies, and that he had gone to see them and they were especially cute.

When it came to trying to transmit warmth to Song Yu, Yue Zhishi would never tire.

But Song Yu didn't respond much.

The moment he first saw that post, Song Yu had the thought of backing down. 'Forget it,' he thought, 'this is too dangerous. Even the heavens are trying to give me a warning.' But when he truly faced Yue Zhishi, he couldn't bring himself to make such a firm and decisive retreat.

He really wasn't mature at all.

In the end, Song Yu never gave the handmade art book to Yue Zhishi. It stayed in his schoolbag. Sometimes he would see it when he took out his supplementary materials, and he would pretend not to. Later, he stuffed it into a drawer, buried under many books.

After class, he rested with his eyes closed, head down on his desk. His phone vibrated once.

[Xia Zhixu: I can't delay your review. Let's play after the exams.]

Before he could reply, a new message appeared in the chat box.

[Xia Zhixu: I finally managed to see him just now, but it seems like he doesn't want to see me. He said he's not gay, and he doesn't want to be friends with me anymore.]

[Xia Zhixu: You told me to give it a try. It seems like there's no chance anymore.]

The night of the power outage, the clumsy pigeon metaphor, and Xia Zhixu's conservative imaginations—all of it seemed like a premonition. Song Yu thought that before this happened, if Xia Zhixu had flinched just one more time, he could have pushed his shoulder and told him, "I don't think so."

But now, he couldn't say those words anymore either.

An example that had a higher chance of success had ended bloodily right before Song Yu's eyes. He had thought he was mature enough, that he could even give a shot of confidence to someone similar to himself, hoping to catalyze his desired outcome. Was he so noble as to want to help someone else's love succeed? No.

Song Yu knew he was just looking for a nearby success story to give himself some encouragement.

In the end, he was still too young.

You can never guess what will happen tomorrow.

......

Yue Zhishi would occasionally recall how Song Yu looked on the day he returned to school from the training camp.

His exhaustion didn't seem to last very long. After returning home, Song Yu didn't watch the documentary with him. Instead, he shut himself in his room. When he came out again, he was back to being the same calm Song Yu as before.

Although his words and actions weren't much different from before he went to the training camp, Yue Zhishi still had a faint feeling that Song Yu had changed a little. He spoke even less than before and was more reluctant to express himself.

After the monthly holiday, when he went back to school, Yue Zhishi also heard the rumors about Xu Qichen. To every person who tried to maliciously criticize Xu Qichen in front of him, Yue Zhishi voiced his opposition directly to their face.

In his heart, he firmly believed that Xu Qichen wasn't the kind of person they made him out to be, but these events still left a shadow in Yue Zhishi's heart.

So there really were boys who liked other boys.

From childhood, the education they received was that opposites attract. Other possibilities were rarely mentioned. From the very beginning, the same presumptions were established for them, so the germination and awakening of awareness could only start from doubt.

Yue Zhishi couldn't help but recall the rainy day when he first met them, thinking about the subtle connection between Xu Qichen and Xia Zhixu. He felt like he had discovered something, but it wasn't clear enough.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he turned over, opened his phone, and looked for answers on a search engine.

In the morning, Yue Zhishi almost overslept. He was only startled awake when he heard Lin Rong knock on his door. The phone by his hand had already run out of battery and shut down. He quickly washed up and went downstairs, where he saw Song Yu standing in the living room, taking off his school uniform shirt. The lean muscles of his back covered his frame, moving with his actions.

Yue Zhishi suddenly had a strange feeling and stopped where he was.

Lin Rong brought another school uniform shirt. "This one should be completely dry. I grabbed the wrong one just now, no wonder it felt a bit damp. Here." She handed the shirt to Song Yu, and when she looked up, she saw Yue Zhishi standing there in a daze. She urged, "Lele, why are you still standing there? Hurry up and eat something before you go to school. I can drive you guys today, you know."

Song Yu draped the new shirt over his shoulders and also turned his head, his eyes meeting Yue Zhishi's for a brief moment.

His fingertips felt like they'd been zapped with electricity. Yue Zhishi lowered his eyes and hurried downstairs to get ready.

Lin Rong drove a relatively small A-class car. Yue Zhishi followed Song Yu into the car and sat pressed against the window and door. There was a considerable distance between the two of them.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Lin Rong teased, "Lele, you've grown up."

Yue Zhishi was a bit confused. "Hmm?"

"You used to practically glue yourself to your brother." Her smile was beautiful, and the pearl earrings on her earlobes swayed. "Like a little pendant."

Hearing this, both Song Yu and Yue Zhishi turned to look at the distance between them. Two seconds later, Song Yu turned his head to look at the scenery, while Yue Zhishi stared at the schoolbag on his lap.

"It's a little hot to be so close," Yue Zhishi explained, lacking confidence.

......

Two weeks before the college entrance exams, Yue Zhishi was sick the whole time. He had an upset stomach and even ran a fever once.

He was afraid of worrying his family, so he secretly went to a nearby clinic. The old doctor inside just glanced at him and said that many students had come to see him recently, with similar symptoms, all stress reactions from being overly nervous before the exams.

"Don't be nervous. The more nervous you are, the more uncomfortable you'll feel." The doctor did a rough check-up, then sat down and took out a medical record book from a drawer. He glanced at the calendar. "Oh, it's already the second today. The college entrance exams really are just a few days away."

He wrote quickly with his pen, not even lifting his head. "What's your name, how old are you?"

Yue Zhishi gave his name. "Fifteen." He sat down in the chair opposite the doctor and honestly confessed, "I'm not the one taking the exams."

"Fifteen?" The doctor pushed up the reading glasses on his nose. "Huh? No wonder. You look quite young, not like someone taking the college entrance exams. So, are you nervous about the high school entrance exams?"

"I don't think so," Yue Zhishi said. "But I am a little nervous, and I haven't been sleeping well at night." He added, "My older brother is taking the college entrance exams."

"You're worried for him?" The doctor seemed to find this very amusing. "You should be nervous for yourself, you silly child."

In the end, Yue Zhishi went home with a pile of medicine. After taking it for two days, his symptoms eased considerably.

The school announced that the Junior High Division would be cleared out in a few days to be used as a college entrance exam site. Everyone started to move their books home bit by bit. After it was cleared, they would wait for the exam rooms to be set up. From the day of checking the exam rooms until the end of the exams, the Junior High Division students were on vacation at home, so Yue Zhishi could only study at home.

He got hungry while reading and went downstairs to find something to eat. It happened that Lin Rong was video chatting with a friend. Lin Rong gestured for him to come over and say hello. Yue Zhishi went over with a pudding in hand and politely called out, "Auntie."

"So well-behaved, and you've gotten more handsome. Hey, Xiao Rong, both your sons have exams coming up, right?"

"Yeah." Lin Rong's expression changed in a second, and she clutched her chest. "I hope they both stay healthy. We'll go on a trip after the exams."

"You're really something. Other parents are worried about their kids not doing well and stressing over their university choices, and all you think about is having fun. Hey, do you know that Chen Xiaomei, the doctor? The day before yesterday, she went to Guiyuan Temple to burn incense for her daughter."

Lin Rong laughed. "Does it work?"

"She heard about it from someone else. Someone said it was super effective before, which makes me want to go burn an incense stick too."

"I can't be bothered to go, it's too much trouble. My older one wouldn't appreciate it anyway."

Yue Zhishi listened in from the side. After finishing his pudding, he went upstairs by himself and searched for Guiyuan Temple on his computer. To his surprise, it was full of positive reviews. He had received an atheistic education his whole life, but Yue Zhishi saw a comment that he felt made a lot of sense—it works if you believe, and your wish will be granted if you are sincere.

Besides, whenever he thought about how in the same exam hall, some people would have burned incense and prayed to gods and would be carrying protective talismans, while Song Yu had nothing, he felt unhappy.

Whatever others have, his brother must have it too.