CIFB Chap. 66-67 Summary

Thank you everyone for the encouraging comments! I’m sorry I won’t be able to reply to each one, but please know that they all mean a lot to me, especially at a time like this.

The chapters after this will be queued (one a day) since I might not have access to wordpress soon. There’s probably going to be more typos/errors as I’m rushing these out before I leave, so sorry in advance.

I’ve also changed the ToC ahead of time b/c unfortunately that can’t be queued. Just know that the links will soon all work as the posts go up. CIFB will finish before March, thanks for understanding!

This is the 1st extra~ It’s actually 2 chapters but I combined them. There’s no chapter division in the middle b/c I didn’t feel that was necessary.

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Extra 01: The Previous Campus Idol and Student Council President

It was almost July, which meant graduation and the departure of the seniors, Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi included.

Since Qi Feng and Ling Ke could be considered their friends, Qi Feng suggested that they invite those 2 out to eat. Ling Ke agreed, also inviting Zhou Yan’s girlfriend Xiao Zhi and her close friend Qi QiuRui. Although they were only juniors, one was Qi Feng’s club president and the other was Ling Ke’s club president, both of which offered a lot of guidance and support.

Liang RuiXi asked Qi Feng if he could bring his girlfriend too, and Qi Feng happily agreed: “Of course, bring her by all means!”

Qi Feng enjoyed lively events, so he then also invited the other campus anchor he met in the student council, Yu Tong, someone Zhou Yan personally suggested as his co-host.

That weekend, their group sat around a huge table in a restaurant near the west gate.

Other than Liang RuiXi’s girlfriend, the others all knew each other beforehand. Seeing her, Zhou Yan sat next to Liang RuiXi and asked in a low voice, “Changed again?”

That girl had a head of large, wavy hair and a sexy body, dressed fashionably, and looked quite well match with the handsome Liang RuiXi.

Liang RuiXi: “So what of it?”

Zhou Yan smiled: “You’re not going to introduce her?”

Liang RuiXi lightly coughed, then said, “This is Xu Yan, my girlfriend. She goes to S City’s teacher-training college, a junior.”

Everyone welcomed her warmly. Xu Yan swept her gaze around the table, and seeing the other 3 guys, exclaimed w/ hearts in her eyes, “Are all the guys at F University this hot? If I had known earlier, I would have risked my life to get into F University!”

Qi QiuRui laughed out loud: “Girl, you don’t know, but the hottest guys in our entire school are all sitting here right now. What you’re seeing isn’t the average, but the best of the best.” She pointed towards Qi Feng and Ling Ke: “Those two, one’s the current Campus Idol, the other’s our journalism department’s Department Idol. They’re both mysterious people you normally could barely catch a glimpse of.”

Due to Qi QiuRui’s words, Xu Yan covered her mouth and laughed. They were all young, so they quickly got comfortable w/ chatting.

Xiao Zhi teased Liang RuiXi: “You sure have the skills. Not even picking from your own university, but stretching your hands to steal from another. Her college’s on the other side of the city, so how did you two meet?”

Liang RuiXi: “I have former classmates there. When I went to play a while back, we got to know each other on accident.”

Zhou Yan laughed at him: “You sure do a lot of things ‘on accident’.”

Liang RuiXi glared at him and picked up his cup to clink against the other’s: “You shut your mouth.”

Not only did Zhou Yan not shut his mouth, he even said to Xu Yan: “Sister yo, you’d better keep your eyes on this guy. Don’t be fooled by his looks, he’s a fickle little skirt-chaser. In the 4 years I’ve known him, he’s changed girlfriends 4 times. If you feel he’s not treating you seriously enough, dump him fast. Don’t let him hurt you first.”

Liang RuiXi banged his cup on the table: “Oi oi, can you not badmouth me right in front of my face?”

Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow: “Did you, or did you not, change girlfriends 4 times?”

Liang RuiXi: “That… It didn’t work out ok!”

Zhou Yan: “Then tell me how long the longest one lasted.”

“4 months… 3 months?” Liang RuiXi suddenly realized his mistake and roared, “Fuck, you’re just digging holes for me to jump in!”

Everyone laughed, and with just this short convo, Zhou Yan already established that Liang RuiXi was a womanizer.

Ling Ke inwardly thought: Compared to this former Campus Idol, Qi Feng’s pretty much an innocent little bun.

However, every girl in love probably thought they’d be the one to finally cure a fickle heart, so Xu Yan didn’t take Zhou Yan’s warning seriously and treated it as a joke.

Xu Yan then looked towards the girls next to Qi Feng and Ling Ke and asked out of curiosity while completely misunderstanding, “Are you guys couples too?”

The 4 of them quickly refuted. Qi QiuRui pointed towards Qi Feng and Ling Ke with a wicked smile: “They’re the actual couple.”

Xu Yan blanked out for a bit before realizing what that meant.

Qi Feng grasped Ling Ke’s hand and introduced, “He’s my boyfriend.”

Xu Yan covered her mouth w/ her hand, not hiding her astonishment at all: “You’re…homosexual?”

Qi Feng and Ling Ke shared a glance, then nodded.

Seeing this, everyone was shocked, including Qi QiuRui: “Oh my god, you guys weren’t joking around?”

Due to the precedence of the previous Campus Idol Liang RuiXi and Zhou Yan’s rumors, even though Ling Ke getting kissed by Qi Feng was known throughout the school, most people still thought they weren’t for real. Qi Feng and Ling Ke didn’t care to make a big deal out of it and continued to stay low-key.

The ppl here today only thought that Qi Feng and Ling Ke’s relationship was good and never expected them to come out like that in front of someone from another school.

Liang RuiXi also stared at them in disbelief: “Holy fuck, you guys are really together?”

Qi Feng: “That’s right. Ling Ke and I are different from you and Senior Zhou. We’re really dating.”

Zhou Yan & Liang RuiXi: “……”

The only person not shocked was Xiao Zhi. Smiling happily, she told them that last year when they met on Christmas in that restaurant, she knew there was something fishy b/t Qi Feng and Ling Ke.

She looked at Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi before sighing, “A real gay couple sure is different from a fake one. No matter how suggestive you two act, you can’t even compare to the sweetness of them sharing a single glance.”

Zhou Yan almost spit out his wine: “Other than you, who else even fantasizes all day about her boyfriend being gay w/ another guy?”

Qi Feng was quite curious, thus asked, “Senior Liang and Senior Zhou both have girlfriends, so President, why would you fantasize about them being together?”

In his eyes, Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi couldn’t be more “straight”.

Xiao Zhi grew excited: “Aiya, you don’t know, but those two have done a whole bunch of very gay things!”

Zhou Yan set down his cup: “Today, you’d better explain to our faces just how Liang RuiXi and I acted gay.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Liang RuiXi even put down his chopsticks.

Xiao Zhi crossed her arms confidently: “I entered school a year after you guys, but I heard that during your freshman year, when Liang RuiXi accidentally twisted his foot, Zhou Yan carried him on his back to class for two whole weeks. Did that happen?”

Zhou Yan frankly admitted: “Yes. But that was just helping out a classmate.”

Xiao Zhi shot him a sideways glance: “Why did you carry him and not someone else? You weren’t even roommates w/ Liang RuiXi.”

Hearing this, even Zhou Yan paused, then looked towards Liang RuiXi: “Hey, why did you ask me to carry you back then?”

Liang RuiXi retorted: “What do you mean I asked you to carry me? It was clearly you who volunteered to carry me, ok!”

Zhou Yan thought back: “When you twisted your foot, I was the only person nearby. You were screaming like a pig getting slaughtered, so if I didn’t carry you, was I suppose to abandon you there? So of course I volunteered to send you back to your dorm, but after that, you kept clinging to me.”

Liang RuiXi: “Fuck you, weren’t you the class monitor? Your classmate got hurt and you were planning to watch from the sidelines?”

Zhou Yan snorted: “I certainly didn’t watch from the sidelines. I even suggested you find a stick as a cane and make do, but you didn’t want to lose face in front of other people, and wanting to maintain your image, insisted that I carry you to class everyday. Or did you forget?”

Liang RuiXi’s cheeks turned a bit red: “Lies! If it wasn’t b/c you were tall and had the strength, who’d ask you.”

Zhou Yan shrugged and looked towards Xiao Zhi: “Alright, he was the one who wanted me to carry him. I’m innocent.”

Liang RuiXi: “……”

Everyone thought this was pretty normal. To be fair, Qi Feng felt that if he was Zhou Yan, he’d help Liang RuiXi too.

Xiao Zhi said to Zhou Yan: “During your sophomore year, the 1st time you hosted an event, Liang RuiXi also sang. When he finished, you princess carried him off the stage, remember? That was something I personally witnessed.”

Everyone else was taken aback. Xu Yan gasped, “Princess carry???”

Qi QiuRui also remembered and excitedly added, “Ahh, I remember! That was such a shock to baby me who had just started college! Just like when Qi Feng and Ling Ke played their duet last year, the entire audience exploded!”

Zhou Yan expression was a bit strange while Liang RuiXi had covered his eyes as if he never wanted to remember that again.

But the others wouldn’t let them off that easily and all started gossiping.

Zhou Yan bit the bullet and explained: “Do you still remember what song Liang RuiXi sung?”

Qi QiuRui: “Nope. It was kind of a rap, and sounded quite nice……”

“Chen XiaoChu’s ‘Give a Hug‘.” Zhou Yan cleared his throat and hummed a few lines.

“You’re out of tune!” Liang RuiXi interrupted him and corrected, “It’s, ‘Where should I go find my love, do you want my heart or not, I don’t want you to argue with me, if only you understood’……”

Qi QiuRui: “Right right, that’s the one!”

Liang RuiXi continued to sing: “Where should I go find my love, are my words important, I only want you to come and, give a hug…”

Singing to here, he and Zhou Yan’s gazes met, passion instantly radiating out. Zhou Yan opened his arms and said, “Come, hug me.”

Liang RuiXi: “……”

Liang RuiXi: “Fuck you asshole!”

Everyone broke out in laughter, and even Qi Feng and Ling Ke couldn’t bear to look at this scene straight on.

After that joke, the two of them weren’t so awkward anymore and Zhou Yan smiled: “I think it was due to the atmosphere at the time. The audience was yelling ‘Give a hug’, so I did.” (In Chinese, ‘hug’ and ‘carry’ use the same word, so here’s me explaining the joke.)

Liang RuiXi: “But you shouldn’t have gone w/ a princess carry! My illustrious reputation was completely ruined by that ‘hug’ of yours!”

Zhou Yan: “Then what was I suppose to do? Lift you up like a baby? How stupid would that be!”

Everyone else was doubling over in laughter. Liang RuiXi looked to the ceiling, speechless, as if he would never love again. In any case, ever since that happened, the rumors about them being gay never stopped.

Zhou Yan shrugged and argued, “What happens onstage doesn’t count. The ambience and atmosphere means that your actions aren’t your own.” He looked towards Qi Feng: “You should have experience with this. Didn’t you also kiss Ling Ke on impulse?”

Qi Feng innocently replied, “No, I’m different. At that time, I already liked Ling Ke.”

Ling Ke: “……”

Zhou Yan wanted to spit out a mouth full of blood. Looking at Qi Feng’s pure and simple smile, he personally experienced what it felt like to get screwed over by an airhead……

Xiao Zhi continued to make fun of them as everyone else laughed. She mentioned a few more of their escapades, like how despite being the Campus Idol, Liang RuiXi holed up in his room all day, and even needed Zhou Yan to bring him food. Or like, when she, Zhou Yan, Liang RuiXi, and Liang RuiXi’s ex-girlfriend went out to travel, Liang RuiXi needed Zhou Yan to pick out his clothes for him everyday to judge whether it was hot or not, and every little thing he did required Zhou Yan’s help. In the end, it felt more like he and Zhou Yan were the real lovers, and Xiao Zhi and that other girl were background mobs……

After a whole slew of things, even Xu Yan started looking at Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi somewhat differently.

But this entire convo held a joking mood, and after listening, Zhou Yan even retorted w/ a grin: “Look, everything’s him coming to look for me. I have nothing to do with any of it.”

Liang RuiXi: “Oh, so it’s my fault? If you think I’m annoying, then refuse. From what I saw, you were plenty happy about helping with this and that.”

Zhou Yan cursed in jest: “Screw you!”

Xiao Zhi used her index finger to point at Liang RuiXi: “You’re the one bullying my family’s super nice Zhou Yan!”

Grimacing, Liang RuiXi poured a cup of win and said to Zhou Yan: “Alright, Yan Bro, let me toast you. Thank you for all your care these 4 years.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yan remembered their upcoming graduation. They’d go their own way and probably won’t see each other often anymore, so he also raised his cup: “Yeah, from now on, if something comes up, call me. This is my toast to you.”

With a “Stop stealing my lines”, Liang RuiXi threw back his head and drank the whole cup.

Parting was eminent. Everyone offered their congratulations, and as Liang RuiXi thought back to all that happened these 4 years, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental, so throwing an arm around Zhou Yan, they started drinking cup after cup.

After a few rounds, they both got a bit drunk, and their convo also turned more and more sappy.

Liang RuiXi sincerely expressed: “Bro, I’ll miss you.”

Zhou Yan: “Me too……”

Liang RuiXi, his voice hoarse: “I feel like from now on, I’ll never meet anyone as good as you……”

Zhou Yan: “What are you saying, idiot. Your girlfriend is sitting right there. You’re this handsome and worried that no one will treat you well?”

Liang RuiXi belted out: “That’s different! Women are women! Bros are bros!”

Zhou Yan: “You have straight male cancer.” (From my understanding, that means a sexist, chauvinistic, and possibly homophobic straight guy.)

Liang RuiXi: “Lies, I don’t have straight male cancer! If I did, would your wife still fantasize about us being together?”

Zhou Yan, speechless: “……Straight male cancer doesn’t mean straight male.”

Thinking of an idea to tease the other, Liang RuiXi giggled: “Hey, since Sis Xiao already fantasized about you being w/ me, if we don’t really do something suggestive, wouldn’t that be letting her down?”

Zhou Yan, on guard: “What do you want to do?”

Liang RuiXi drank a mouthful of oily and numbing pickled veggie soup: “We’ve been gossiped about for 4 years, so let’s take this opportunity before graduation to officiate that rep. Come come come, give me one and let me experience what a guy’s kiss tastes like!”

Saying this, he puckered his super oily lips and moved closer to Zhou Yan purely out of mischief.

The entire table instantly became interested, slapping the table and chanting: “Kiss! Kiss!”

Zhou Yan pushed Liang RuiXi’s face away while half-cursing: “Our girlfriends are both right here. You might not care but I do!”

Xiao Zhi was all smiles and flowers: “As long as RuiXi’s girlfriend doesn’t mind, I certainly don’t mind hahaha!”

At first, Xu Yan was a bit stupefied, but hearing Xiao Zhi say that, also agreed, “I don’t mind either.”

Liang RuiXi shrugged his shoulders and laughed w/ glee: “See, you coward, scared now huh? Straight male cancer is referring to people like you. If you were really straight, what are you afraid of, it’s not like a kiss will turn you gay—”

Right at this point, everyone witness Zhou Yan putting down his cup and suddenly sealing Liang RuiX’s lips with his own.

After a beat of silence, a shrill squeal erupted: “AHHHHHHHHHH!” Xiao Zhi was already so excited she could faint.

That kiss lasted for barely a second. Liang RuiXi finally came back to himself and jumped out of his chair, letting out a string of “Fuck”s while rubbing his lips w/ napkins and using beer to rinse out his mouth: “Are you crazy! Didn’t you know I was just joking with you ahhh!”

Zhou Yan also used his hand to wipe his lips: “You asked for it, dumbass.”

Liang RuiXi’s entire face was beet red: “What asked for it! What, you’d kiss anyone who asks!?”

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes and remained silent while taking a drink.

This prank washed away most of the sentimental mood from earlier, but soon, Liang RuiXi got completely drunk. His entire body leaned against Zhou Yan while crying his eyes out with snot and everything, completely ruining his image.

The group had already gotten used to their “deep brotherly love” at this point.

After they split, Zhou Yan helplessly asked, “Should I carry him back first?”

Xiao Zhi nodded in consideration: “I’ll help Xu Yan get a taxi……”

Awkwardness flashed across Xu Yan’s face: “That, if I go back now, the school’s gates would already be closed. I think I’d better find a hotel nearby. I-I can take care of RuiXi……”

Zhou Yan: “Alright, then I’ll directly send you guys to a hotel.”

Qi Feng paid the bill and officially bade farewell with the others. Zhou Yan thought of something and then said: “That’s right, I bought a lot of books these 4 years. Now that I’m graduating, it’s inconvenient to bring them all back home, so when you have time, come over to my room and take a look. If you see something you like, you can have it.”

Qi Feng: “Ok, thank you Senior.”

Zhou Yan: “What are you being so polite for.”

On the way back, Qi Feng and Ling Ke chatted about Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi’s relationship. Qi Feng asked, “What do you…think about them?”

Ling Ke knew what Qi Feng wanted to ask. Actually, he also thought about this question before— If Qi Feng was straight, then he’d cooperate and play the role of a close bro until the very end, burying his own feelings deep inside his heart, forever…… Perhaps in that scenario, they’d also looked very similar to Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi.

But he wouldn’t find a girlfriend. If he was truly gay, then finding a girlfriend was really lacking in morals, unless they privately talked it out and agreed it was only an act. Like how he and Qi Feng pretended to be fake boyfriends.

…Then, could Xiao Zhi be acting with Zhou Yan?

Ling Ke shook his head and replied, “I can’t tell. This kind of thing isn’t easy to joke about. Whether or not they really have feelings, only the two of them know.”

Qi Feng held Ling Ke’s hand. He didn’t really have the heart to gossip about other ppl either and only randomly asked. As long as he and Ling Ke were happy, that was enough.

The next day, Qi Feng went over to Zhou Yan’s dorm to pick books, and while chatting, asked: “How’s Senior Liang?”

Zhou Yan smiled: “Hungover, how else? But at least he had his girlfriend to take care of him. Just let him be.”

He pulled out a box of books from under the bed, all of them neatly stacked.

Qi Feng: “You bought all this? You’ve read each one?”

Zhou Yan: “Yep. I don’t have a habit of making notes in the book as I read and didn’t lend these to other people, so they’re all quite new.”

Qi Feng pulled one out and flipped through it: “You’re just going to give these away? No regrets?”

Zhou Yan smiled: “I’ve already bought an e-book version of the good ones and saved them on my Kindle. I can read them at any time.”

Qi Feng only picked a few and even offered that if Zhou Yan wanted to sell these, he knew someone who could help.

When Ling Ke came back to the dorm that night, he saw that Qi Feng had placed the books on his desk. One of them was Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams”, and curious, he picked it up. But after flipping through a few pages, a piece of paper fell out.

That was a page torn directly out of a notebook, and on it was one of Xi ZhiMo’s poems:

You and I met by chance on the ocean that night,

You have yours, and I have my, path to follow;

It’s great if you remember,

But I’d rather you forget,

The sparks we both felt during this encounter!

……

Seeing that there seemed to be words on the back as well, Ling Ke flipped it over and jumped in shock. The back of this page was entirely and densely filled with repetitions of a single name: Liang RuiXi

He handed it over to Qi Feng. Qi Feng’s expression was a bit peculiar as he asked with interest, “Say, do you think it’s possible that Zhou Yan likes Liang RuiXi?”

Ling Ke sighed, “Who knows.”

 

The next time they heard about Zhou Yan and Liang RuiXi was 3 years later. At that time, they were also close to graduating and heard that Xiao Zhi was getting married, but not to Zhou Yan.

Worried about Xiao Zhi, Qi Feng sent her a pm to congratulate and also subtly brought up Zhou Yan, wanting to know what happened b/t them.

Xiao Zhi: 😁 I was never really together with him. He has someone else in his heart.

Thinking of that piece of paper from 3 years ago, Qi Feng joked:

Qi Feng: Is it Liang RuiXi?

Xiao Zhi: Haha, now that, I can’t tell you. If you want to know, why don’t you ask him yourself. Don’t you have his WeChat?

Qi Feng didn’t want to sound like a gossip, so sending back an emoji, dropped the subject.

Xiao Zhi: Are you and Ling Ke still doing well?

Qi Feng: Yes, very well. Thank you for asking.

After a while, Xiao Zhi sent another text:

Xiao Zhi: Zhou Yan wasn’t as fortunate as you guys. The person he liked wasn’t of the same path, so the road he walked was a difficult one.

Qi Feng: “……”

No need to ask more; this already confirmed Qi Feng’s guess.

 

Half a year later when Qi Feng and Ling Ke were out shopping, they saw a pair of guys also shopping. Qi Feng paused, thinking that those two silhouettes looked a bit familiar. He pulled Ling Ke along, and as they stealthily got closer, they heard:

“Wow, I like this beanbag, let’s buy one!”

“Don’t you already have a sofa? The room we rented is tiny, where do you plan on putting this?”

“Then we can just throw away the old one, come on, let’s buy it……”

“Fine fine, let’s buy it.”

……

Qi Feng and Ling Ke shared a look, then walked up and patted one of those 2 guys on the back with a smile: “Hey, Senior Zhou, long time no see.”

The other person also turned around. He was someone they hadn’t seen in 3 years: Liang RuiXi.

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[[And that’s the end of the 1st extra! I think it’s meant to be an open-ended ending, but omg, I ship them~]]