No one knows when Qin Fang started pursuing girls, and he hasn't seemed to have any targets recently, but he has been quite enthusiastic in "pursuing" Xing Yan.

It's just that Hua Tong is carefree, and there aren't so many sensitive and delicate thoughts between boys, otherwise he would definitely feel uncomfortable. This is clearly a case of forgetting old friends for new ones, and the relationship between the two close friends has been intruded upon by others.

However, Hua Tong, a straight man through and through, is carefree and doesn't care. When Qin Fang goes to play with Xing Yan, he finds other small groups to play with, completely unconcerned.

When Xing Yan goes to the library, Qin Fang often goes too, taking a leisure book to read along with him, and incidentally occupying a seat for his roommate. Occasionally, they arrange a ball game, and the two of them go to the gym to play a round, sweating profusely.

One day, when he returned to school from the Jian family, he even went to find Xing Yan first, and invited him to go out for a meal before returning to the dormitory. Only when he saw him did he think that this might be too much trouble.

In the car, the two of them didn't say anything at first. When they stopped at a red light, Qin Fang suddenly looked at Xing Yan, and after a long silence, he said seriously, "...Actually, I'm really not gay."

Xing Yan was stunned by his words, turned his head to look at him, and after a long time, he blinked and said, "Who said you were gay?"

Qin Fang felt a little uncomfortable himself, but also a little amused. He actually laughed, "I just feel that we're getting along very well now, and I always come to you. If you have any other thoughts... I'm afraid you'll misunderstand."

The corner of Xing Yan's mouth curled into a smile, and he said, "...You're overthinking it."

"I also feel like I'm overthinking it," the red light passed, Qin Fang started the car and said, "I don't know how I thought of that."

Qin Fang really didn't know how he thought of that, suddenly thinking about the issue of being gay, and then inexplicably wanting to explain. It may be because he and Xing Yan are too close now, and he's afraid that Xing Yan will misunderstand that he has any ideas.

But before, he was even closer to Hua Tong, and they never thought about being gay or not. Qin Fang laughed at himself in his heart, probably just a brain fart.

Dong Yin's child was born on a clear morning. Qin Fang was still asleep when he heard his phone vibrating constantly. He reached over and looked at the screen with squinted eyes, it was Jian Muyang.

"What's up, Yangyang?" Qin Fang's voice was still hoarse, and he cleared his throat.

"Brother!" Jian Muyang's voice had an uncontainable little excitement, "Our little brother is born!"

Qin Fang's eyes were originally closed, but when he heard this, he opened them and asked, "Is your mother okay?"

"She's doing well!" Jian Muyang was still happy, "But I haven't seen my mother yet, Auntie came to deliver things, and I came along with her."

"Mm," Qin Fang said to him, "Take good care of them."

Jian Muyang had been looking forward to the birth of his sister, and although it turned out to be a brother, it didn't dampen his joy. Listening to the phone, one could imagine his little appearance of being so happy that he was stomping his feet.

But Qin Fang really didn't have that. There was a blood tie between him and the child, but before seeing him with his own eyes, he truly had no feelings. From Dong Yin's pregnancy to the birth of the child now, Qin Fang had no expectations, nor any negative emotions, simply the feelings that an outsider should have.

However, after seeing the child, he might still like him, just like with Jian Muyang. Only after meeting him did he have that sense of closeness that he should have had, and only when he saw him did his mind consciously say, this is my brother.

Originally, he had agreed to play ball with Xing Yan today, but it seemed that he couldn't go. After class, he had to go to the hospital.

He was about to reach the hospital when he turned around and went to buy a small gold lock first.

The maternity hospital had a nice environment, full of pregnant women and small babies. The pink environment made people feel at peace. Qin Fang asked the nurse's station for Dong Yin's room number. The door was open, and inside there was only Dong Yin and an aunt.

Before entering, Qin Fang knocked on the door panel. When Dong Yin saw that it was him, she quickly smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Xiao Fang is here? Come in quickly."

Dong Yin's complexion looked pretty good, just her voice sounded a bit weak. Qin Fang called out "Aunt Yin", and then asked, "How are you doing?"

"Not bad, after giving birth, I feel relieved no matter what. Yangyang will be here in a bit, he didn't even want to go to school in the morning to stay with me." Dong Yin's hand rested on the crib on the inside, and she said to Qin Fang, "He's still sleeping, come take a look at your little brother."

Qin Fang walked over, bent down to look at the pink little bundle in the crib, ugly. Qin Fang laughed silently, and touched the little arm through the thin quilt. He lifted a corner of the bedding and placed the small gold lock in the corner of the crib, pressing it down.

Dong Yin had a natural birth, and the nurse had to come for care every few hours. This time, she looked much better than before giving birth, not as oppressed as she was then, and her complexion was much better.

Qin Fang chatted with her in a low voice for a few sentences. With no one else around, it wasn't quite right for Qin Fang to be here alone, and it was awkward, so Qin Fang sat in the corridor later, waiting for Jian Muyang to come over after school, and took him out for a meal.

Jian Muyang was so happy, he must have been thinking about his little brother all day. When Qin Fang took him out to eat, Jian Muyang said blissfully, "From now on, I have both an older brother and a younger brother."

Qin Fang flicked his forehead, "So happy?"

"Of course I'm happy." Jian Muyang nodded, then smiled at Qin Fang and winked, "And my little brother's birthday is so close to yours, you're about to have your birthday, I remember it all!"

Qin Fang smiled and said, "Impressive."

Qin Fang himself had forgotten about his birthday, he didn't remember it at all. He glanced at his phone, it really was, just the day after tomorrow. Qin Fang doesn't remember his own birthday very well every year, it's always others reminding him when it's getting close.

Jian Muyang asked him, "Are you coming back for your birthday?"

Qin Fang thought for a moment, "Not sure, why?"

"Come back for a bit, I have a gift." Jian Muyang said, "I've been preparing it for a long time."

Qin Fang then nodded, "Okay."

His birthday was already during the holiday, and there wasn't really anything going on, but he didn't dare to agree to Jian Muyang at first, afraid that something might come up at the last minute and it wouldn't be good to go back on his word. But the little guy had prepared a gift for a long time, so he still had to come and get it.

His birthday was too easy to remember, every year it was the second day of the National Day holiday, and usually the group would get together and go out for the day, so everyone remembered it. But Qin Fang himself only remembered the holiday and not his birthday, probably because they used to get together too often, so there wasn't much of an impression.

The next day, when Xing Yan called him, Qin Fang was responding to those people in the group. It had been a month since school started, and they were all about ready, waiting for Qin Fang's birthday to go out and have fun together.

Qin Fang took the call, "Hey."

Xing Yan asked him, "Where are you?"

Qin Fang said, "Dorm, I'll go to class in a bit."

"Are we having dinner together tonight?" Xing Yan said, "If not, I'll just go to Si Tu's place. You always call me out of the blue."

Qin Fang couldn't help but chuckle at his words. They sounded a bit cute, but Xing Yan said them in a completely emotionless tone.

Just from his voice, one could imagine his expressionless face.

Qin Fang said with a smile, "Then just let me know if you're busy and I won't bother you."

Xing Yan asked him, "Do you want to come along?"

Without much thought, Qin Fang directly replied, "Sure."

He was quite familiar with Si Tu and Han Xiaogong, having lived together for so long during the summer break. He considered them friends. Si Tu's place wasn't far from the school. After class, the two of them walked there together.

At first, Qin Fang thought all four of them were studying here. Later, he found out only Xing Yan and Zhou Siming were. Si Tu was older and had already graduated. Han Xiaogong's grades weren't good, so he was just hanging around some college without attending classes much.

It had just rained that day. The ground was wet and the air damp and cool. In northern China, temperatures drop after rain in early autumn. Qin Fang asked Xing Yan, "It gets so cold here in winter. Can you guys get used to it?"

"It's alright." Xing Yan walked with his hands in his coat pockets. Occasionally their arms would bump.

"How are you spending the National Day holiday?" Qin Fang asked him.

Xing Yan said, "The usual, no plans."

Today was the last day before the holiday, which would start tomorrow. The roads were jammed with people going home or traveling.

Qin Fang thought of his birthday and called out, "Yan-ge."

Xing Yan looked at him. "Hm?"

"The day after tomorrow is my birthday. I'll probably have to go out for a meal with friends," Qin Fang ran a hand through his hair. He had shaved it in the summer and hadn't grown it out. It felt nice to touch. He smiled and asked Xing Yan, "Will you come?"

"Your birthday?" Xing Yan raised an eyebrow.

Qin Fang nodded.

Xing Yan asked, "You want me to go?"

Qin Fang looked at him and nodded again.

Xing Yan said, "Okay."

They had reached the building. Qin Fang was about to say something but stopped short in surprise when he looked up and saw the person in front of them.

Xing Yan also looked up and saw Gong Qi standing there.

Gong Qi turned around. When their eyes met, she was also very surprised to see Qin Fang. It had been months and meeting again now was quite awkward for both of them.

Gong Qi waved at them and walked over to say to Qin Fang, "Long time no see."

"Yeah, it's been a while." Qin Fang nodded but didn't say anything else. Back then, he had directly deleted her on WeChat and they hadn't had any contact since.

Gong Qi didn't look well, her lips were even a bit pale. She was dressed a bit thinly and looked cold when the wind blew.

Xing Yan asked her, "Why didn't you go up?"

"No need," Gong Qi gave a small smile, "I was just about to leave."

She turned to Qin Fang again, perhaps wanting to say something more. But it was probably just apologies that didn't mean much now. So in the end, she didn't say it and Qin Fang didn't want to hear it either.

"I'll get going then," Gong Qi smiled again, "You guys head up."

Xing Yan nodded at her and Gong Qi turned to leave.

The thin girl looked like she was shivering a bit in this weather. Together with her sickly complexion, it really made one feel bad for her.

Qin Fang called out to her and Gong Qi turned around.

Qin Fang took off his coat, but before tossing it over, he paused and looked at Xing Yan, calling out "Yan-ge".

Xing Yan glanced at him, took off his own coat, walked a few steps and handed it to Gong Qi. "Put this on."

Gong Qi accepted it without fuss, smiling and saying "Thanks".

After she left, Qin Fang gave his coat to Xing Yan, who shook his head. "I don't need it."

"Wear it," as they entered the building and went upstairs, Qin Fang said, "Good thing you understood me."

Of course Xing Yan understood him. That was just how Qin Fang was - he couldn't bear to see Gong Qi looking so unwell and shivering as she walked away, but felt it inappropriate to give her his coat considering their past relationship and also Si Tu.

A gentlemanly and thoughtful warm-hearted guy.

The two of them went upstairs and Si Tu opened the door for them, greeting Qin Fang with a smile.

Actually, Si Tu and Gong Qi were quite well-matched, both seeming very gentle.

Neither Qin Fang nor Xing Yan mentioned seeing Gong Qi downstairs, pretending it never happened. It wasn't appropriate for Qin Fang to bring it up, and Xing Yan couldn't be bothered to meddle - people make their own decisions.

Han Xiaogong walked out from his room in pajamas, looking like he had just woken up.

Xing Yan had no coat and Qin Fang had one but wasn't wearing it, just holding it in his hand. Seeing them, Han Xiaogong laughed, "You sports guys are freeze-proof, huh? I feel cold even in my room."

Qin Fang grunted in agreement, "We have strong internal heat."

"Then why don't you two let off some steam?" Han Xiaogong went and sat on the sofa, yawning.

That didn't sound like a nice thing to say. No one responded to him.

Si Tu's cooking was quite good. Qin Fang ate happily. Halfway through the meal, Han Xiaogong suddenly said, "Change the light for me."

"What are you up to now?" Si Tu asked as he got up to change the light.

"I want to take some photos." Han Xiaogong said.

Si Tu changed the light to a softer color. Han Xiaogong took his phone and snapped photos of Xing Yan and Qin Fang, two of each. Qin Fang had just gnawed on a rib and had oily hands. He couldn't believe it, "Don't tell me you're going to post on Weibo."

"What's there to be afraid of? You're handsome." After taking their photos, Han Xiaogong took a selfie making a funny face. He was about to snap Si Tu but Si Tu blocked the camera with his hand, "Don't take my picture."

So Han Xiaogong let it be and lowered his head to fiddle with filters.

Xing Yan didn't even bother with any expressions, just eating as usual. He only lifted his head when Han Xiaogong told him to.

Qin Fang was caught off guard by Han Xiaogong's sudden photos. Being a bit vain, he felt he wasn't very photogenic at the moment. So in one of the photos, he was frowning a little. Together with his hairstyle and gaze, it made him look a bit fierce and cool.

After editing the colors, Han Xiaogong really posted it on his Weibo with the caption: One sweet sunshine, one dark inside. Come on girls, check out the guys' attributes.

Putting down his phone, he continued eating. Qin Fang said, "What's your Weibo handle again? I'll go take a look later."

"To see the girls praising how handsome you are?" Han Xiaogong smiled, "Or to see if you two will have CP fans?"

"CP fans?" Qin Fang glanced at Xing Yan and asked Han Xiaogong, "...The CP I'm thinking of?"

"Yeah," Han Xiaogong sipped a bowl of soup slowly, "They used to think Yan-ge and I were a CP, do you want to see the comments?"

"No," Qin Fang shook his head and continued eating, "I don't want to look."

At the time, he really didn't want to look, but after returning to the dorm that night, he suddenly picked up his phone and searched for Han Xiaogong's Weibo.

Still over 2 million followers, with a video ad pinned at the top.

The first post below the pinned one was the Weibo from that evening, with over a thousand comments.

Han Xiaogong had quite a high popularity, and this level of activity was considered pretty good. When Qin Fang saw the text of his Weibo, he didn't really understand what "white-cut black" meant.

-- Ahhhh, long time no see Yan-ge! First time seeing this guy next to you, I've already said those three words to death.

-- Asking for Weibo! Gonggong, look at me, I know Yan-ge doesn't have Weibo, I want the handsome guy's Weibo! An iron chicken coop can't hold back this flowing chicken!

-- I bet Yan-ge is white-cut black? Yan-ge, I always thought you were the cool type ahhhhhh! But the handsome guy's eyes look a bit fierce, doesn't seem like a silly white sweet either! This question goes to the comments below.

-- My turn to ask a question. Given that three people had dinner together, is it Gong and Yan? The newly revealed handsome guy and Yan? Or the handsome guy and Gong? Or all 3...?

Qin Fang felt a bit dazed after reading the top few hot comments, not having much exposure to these things before, and not quite understanding some of the language. He scrolled down a bit more, and indeed there were quite a few talking about CP... some even let their imaginations run wild.

Qin Fang looked at it for a while and then closed Weibo, taking in a lot of fresh vocabulary and feeling a bit shocked. For example, people below were already discussing who x who, black x white or white x black. This "x" made Qin Fang feel a bit stimulated.

Based on his simple understanding, "x" was the character that needed to be censored when cursing at someone, and now these little girls were pondering this right off the bat?

Chen Ke came out from his shower and saw Qin Fang sitting still in his chair, asking him: "What are you thinking about, Fang?"

Qin Fang looked up and asked: "Who x who? What does that mean?"

"What the fuck?" Shen Dengke, who was already in bed, poked his head down to look at Qin Fang, "Who's fucking who? Your thoughts are very dangerous, who fucked who? What are you thinking about? What were you just looking at??"

"...Fuck, no," Qin Fang realized what Shen Dengke was saying and tugged at his ear, "x, as in the cross x."

Shen Dengke maintained his head-poking posture and exchanged glances with Chen Ke, thinking for a moment before saying: "Doesn't that still mean the same thing..."

"Hey, I can't explain it clearly." Qin Fang stopped pondering, tossed his phone on the bed, and went to take a shower.

While showering, Qin Fang thought about showing the Weibo post to Xing Yan when he got out, so they could enjoy it together. But after he finished showering and went out, he felt a bit awkward about sending it, feeling a bit strange.

He couldn't quite put his finger on the feeling, but it just felt awkward. It was originally just meant to be a joke to enjoy together, but for some reason, he couldn't quite bring himself to send it.

Before going to bed, Qin Fang clicked on that Weibo post again and read through all the comments. He didn't even realize that his focus wasn't at all on the little girls below praising his handsomeness and asking for his Weibo. He was staring at and reading everything else.

After finishing this post, he also scrolled back through Han Xiaogong's Weibo, seeing the motorcycle photos of Xing Yan posted during the summer vacation.

It had been a month since school started, and he had already adapted to the current Xing Yan. Suddenly seeing him in that state again made him feel quite nostalgic. This summer left Qin Fang with a very warm and comfortable feeling. He liked that house and liked Xing Yan's motorcycle.

Qin Fang had personally taken that set of photos, and he had all the photos here with him.

Qin Fang continued scrolling back through the Weibo posts, and indeed there were quite a few photos of Xing Yan on Han Xiaogong's Weibo. Xing Yan almost never had any expression in the photos. He could look directly at the camera without shying away, but was very stingy about giving any expression.

Qin Fang remembered when he took photos of him, he had crossed his arms to block his eyes and made a V sign.

There was also a set of photos taken at the old house, with Xing Yan sitting on the steps playing the harmonica one evening. The small lights in the courtyard were a bit dim. Xing Yan was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, sitting on the steps.

This overlapped with a certain evening in Qin Fang's memory. In the photo, Xing Yan was also sitting with one leg stretched out and one bent, seeming to really like sitting this way.

Qin Fang saved this photo, and later also saved a few others.

Qin "self-proclaimed iron-straight man" Fang, on a quiet late night, spent half the night browsing someone's Weibo, believing it was because the person's Weibo was interesting and the little girls' comments were interesting. In fact, he himself didn't even realize it was simply to look at a certain someone's photos.

Looking at photos of a buddy and even remembering to save them - this behavior couldn't be any straighter.