The Curse of Desire

 When Zhang Daben came, the three of them were sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV.

The movie was chosen by Cheng Feifei, a ghost movie.

In the end, Bai Qiuyi wasn’t afraid, Jiang Shu wasn’t afraid, but Cheng Feifei, the one who picked the movie, was scared to death.

Before the ghost came out, he stuck to Jiang Shu like glue.

Jiang Shu really didn’t understand what was wrong with him. He was obviously scared to death, but he also loved watching it.

He moved his butt to the side in disgust, away from Cheng Feifei. As a result, a ghost appeared on the TV. Cheng Feifei screamed strangely and came over to hug Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu was expressionless, “I’ll count to three and if you don’t let go…”

Before he finished speaking, Cheng Feifei let go and looked at Bai Qiuyi with pleading eyes, “Little bro Yi, can you give me a hug?”

Before Bai Qiuyi could say anything, Jiang Shu interrupted them, “Is there something wrong with you, Cheng Feifei? I’ll give you two choices, either turn off the TV, or just sit and watch.” 

Cheng Feifei shot Jiang Shu a look of grievance.

Bai Qiuyi watched the interaction between the two, with a hint of envy in his eyes.

Jiang Shu saw Bai Qiuyi’s emotion and felt a little confused.

Why was he so envious?

Could it be… He looked at Cheng Feifei, who was holding a pillow next to him and shivering with fear. 

Could it be that he was also afraid? But he was too embarrassed to say it, so he could only secretly envy Cheng Feifei sitting next to him?

Jiang Shu hesitated but finally said, “Little brother, do you want to sit next to me?”

“Ah?” Bai Qiuyi had already turned his head to watch the ghost movie. Hearing this, he turned his head towards him, “Okay.”

He didn’t ask why Jiang Shu said this, he just stood up and sat down next to him.

How could he miss this opportunity to be close to his target?

So when Zhang Daben came, he saw three boys squeezing onto a sofa.

“Hi,” he introduced himself, “I’m Zhang Daben, I live in this dormitory.”

He didn’t know if these three people were all his roommates.

“You’re finally here,” Cheng Feifei, whose face had turned pale with fright, threw away the pillow in his arms and stood up, “My name is Cheng Feifei, and I live in the same room as you.” 

Bai Qiuyi also stood up, “My name is Bai Qiuyi. We’re are in different rooms, but we’re still from the same dormitory.”

Jiang Shu turned down the TV volume before standing up, “Jiang Shu.”

“Come on, brother, I will take you into the room,” Cheng Feifei walked over familiarly, “I’m telling you, we have all been waiting for you. Now let’s go out to have a meal together, alright?”

The two chatted warmly and entered the room.

Bai Qiuyi and Jiang Shu had already sat back on the sofa. There were only the two of them left in the living room, so Jiang Shu felt secure enough to ask Bai Qiuyi in a low voice, who had continued to watch the ghost movie, “Are you afraid?”

“No.” Bai Qiuyi shook his head.

“Then why were you envious just now?” Jiang Shu asked, gazing at the young man.

Bai Qiuyi kept quiet, and then whispered, “My mother’s very strict. She didn’t let me make friends before, for fear that it would affect my studies. I just saw you talking and laughing, and I was a little envious…” 

Jiang Shu was stunned when he heard this. Wow, this was way over “strict”.

He couldn’t understand Bai Qiuyi’s mother’s behavior at all. She only wanted her son to study hard and didn’t even let him have normal social interactions. Was this really good?

He stared at Bai Qiuyi beside him, not knowing what to say for a moment.

“I want to try to change,” Bai Qiuyi tilted his head to look at him, “I don’t want to live according to my mother’s ideas anymore.”

“That’s good,” Jiang Shu couldn’t help but raise his hand and touch Bai Qiuyi’s head.  “People should have their own opinion. I am not saying this to make you disobey your mother but, you are an adult and can make appropriate decisions for yourself on what to do and what not to do, instead of blindly living according to your mother’s ideas.” 

Doing so, that would just be too pitiful. It couldn’t be considered living, rather just being a marionette.

 Jiang Shu felt that Bai Qiuyi shouldn’t be like this and that his life could actually add various things to color it.

Of course, not everything or everyone could be added.

As Jiang Shu thought this, he decided to watch from the sidelines to prevent Bai Qiuyi  from going astray.

Bai Qiuyi nodded. “Brother, will you help me?” He confessed, “Except for you, I always get nervous when communicating with others.”

After hearing what he said, Jiang Shu felt a little elated. It seemed that in Bai Qiuyi’s heart he was a little special… Because, if he wasn’t special, how could he reveal his heart to him as soon as they met?

Jiang Shu lowered the corners of his raised lips and straightened his expression to appear steady. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. Everyone has two noses and two eyes…”

When Zhang Daben and Cheng Feifei came out of the dormitory, the atmosphere between Jiang Shu and Bai Qiuyi had already changed. It was so good that outsiders would feel awkward when they came into contact with them.

However, Zhang Daben and Cheng Feifei were too dense and didn’t notice anything wrong at all.

“Big bro, little bro Yi, let’s go.” Cheng Feifei cheered.

When they arrived at the school gate, three more people came in. Everyone was walking, talking and laughing, and the atmosphere seemed to be harmonious.

Bai Qiuyi was bathed in such an atmosphere, and he was one of them. Under the influence of empathy ability, he felt a little excited. Jiang Shu was a little behind and walked side by side with him.

“Are you still nervous?” He asked in a low voice, so that his friends who were chatting enthusiastically did not hear him.

“Brother is here, I’m not nervous.” Bai Qiuyi whispered back.

Jiang Shu subconsciously wanted to hook his shoulder, feeling that it would be easier to talk this way, but thinking of the palm prints on Bai Qiuyi’s shoulder, he stopped himself.

“Does your shoulder hurt?” 

Bai Qiuyi rotated his shoulder, “It doesn’t hurt much.”

“This is the first time I’ve met someone with your physique,” Jiang Shu commented.

Just like a delicate flower.

No.

It shouldn’t be described as a delicate flower.

The young man would probably be angry if he knew it he thought about him like this.

“To be honest, brother, this is also the first time I’ve met…”

The two of them had just exchanged a few words, when the people in front noticed that they were lagging behind, and hurriedly called for them to follow.

Near the university, there were various shops and a dedicated food street.

Jiang Shu, Cheng Feifei, and two of the boys in their group were all locals. Cheng Feifei and one of the two local boys were very familiar with this area, so they took them directly to a nice restaurant where they had eaten and found it delicious. 

At this time, it was not yet six o’clock in the afternoon, but the restaurant lobby was basically full, and it seemed that most of them were students.

The group of people directly asked for a private room, and seven people sat around a large round table.

Bai Qiuyi and Jiang Shu were next to each other. On the other side of Jiang Shu was a local student who knew Jiang Shu from the beginning.

Another local student also knew Jiang Shu and called him ge.

As a result, Zhang Daben and another traveling companion, who had just met him today, also called him big bro.

When Cheng Feifei took the menu and introduced which dishes were more delicious, Bai Qiuyi and Jiang Shu continued whispering to each other,

“They all call you big bro, so what do you call them?”

“Just little brothers1,” Jiang Shu answered.

“Don’t call them that,” Bai Qiuyi opened his eye wide, “It’s not good.”

“Why?” Jiang Shu didn’t understand.

“It’s rude.” Bai Qiuyi signaled down.

Jiang Shu was speechless and looked at him for a long time before he couldn’t help laughing, “You can’t… how can you associate it with that? Let me tell you, I don’t mean that at all…”

“Those two who are whispering, can you listen to me properly!” Cheng Feifei stood opposite, holding the menu and looking at the two of them with raised eyebrows.

Bai Qiuyi quickly poked Jiang Shu’s waist. Jiang Shu, whose laughter hadn’t stopped yet, felt as if electricity was flowing through the place he was touched, numbing the area.

His smile faded and he looked at Cheng Feifei opposite him, “Why don’t you order for you and that’s it?”

“If I only care about myself, am I worthy of being your little bro?” Cheng Feifei sniffed, “How many dishes should I ask? Look at it, brother, I don’t know what you like to eat…”

Everyone ordered two or three dishes plus beer. The waiter saw that they had no other instructions and left with the menu.

Jiang Shu began chatting with Bai Qiuyi again, “Stretch out your left hand.”

Bai Qiuyi didn’t know why he asked this, but he still extended his hand as instructed.

Jiang Shu reached out and held Bai Qiuyi’s hand, shook it once, twice, but there was still no electricity. So why was he numb just now?

When Bai Qiu noticed that his crush was holding hands with him his face turned calm but his heart was beating like crazy.

“What’s wrong?” He wondered.

“Nothing.” Jiang Shu took his hand back, watched the waiter bring in the beer, and changed the subject whispering, “Have you ever drank?”

Bai Qiuyi had, but the original owner had not. He shook his head, “No.”

Jiang Shu said, “Would you like to give it a try?”

When he said this, several boys had already started pouring alcohol on their cups.

When the two shook hands just now, they did so under the table and no one saw it.

“Okay.” Bai Qiuyi nodded.

The person next to him pouring beer for Jiang Shu was a local friend.

Jiang Shu took Bai Qiuyi’s cup and put it together with his own cup, “Just pour a little.”

“Little bro Yi can’t drink?” Cheng Feifei chimed in. 

He secretly thought that big bro Shu seemed to take special care of this roommate, even a little bit too meticulously.

The key was, Jiang Shu wasn’t usually this type of person.

The translator has something to say: 

Jiang Shu: You don’t understand.

Cheng Feifei: That you’re a simp? I do, I understand!

Jiang Shu: No, I’m a wife slave, it’s different!

Bai Quiyi: …. Translator, let’s move to a different chapter. Please.

Bambi, the translator: Right. I apologize. On it.

Cheng Feifei: Wait! Before you go… Do I get to have a girlfriend? (shy)