Don’t Pretend to be Poor with Me - Chapter 36

Little Song Yan, gege is here to take you home

Song Yan originally felt a bit irritated for some unknown reason, and upon hearing Xia Zhiye beside him suddenly and inexplicably laugh, he couldn’t help but unhappily toss out a sentence: “What are you laughing at.”

“Nothing, just that I feel like you’re right. If you like someone, you should say it directly, and ignore all other trivial matters.” Xia Zhiye’s voice was wrapped with a hint of lazy laughter, and it sounded as if he was in a very good mood, “So if our Yan ge likes someone, will you also say it directly?”

“Don’t worry, there won’t be that kind of ‘if’.”

Song Yan replied quickly and indifferently.

“What if just by chance?”

“There will never be that chance.”

“Could it be that you really don’t have someone you want to chase?”

Xia Zhiye continued to persevere.

Song Yan was entirely serene: “Nope, but if you keep asking I might have someone I want to mourn1.”

“……”

Sure enough, he stands out amongst the masses.

Clearly, the other likes him, but he insists on not admitting it. If Xia Zhiye hadn’t inadvertently found out about the other’s sockpuppets, then with Song Yan’s tsundere methods, perhaps in the end, they could only be destined to meet but not be fated to be together.

But fortunately, he had discovered it, which that means they were destined by fate.

Since Song Yan is a tsundere, then he just had to be a bit more proactive.

Anyway, men originally have faces so they can court their boyfriend, not to coerce others.

Or else seeing as Song Yan was so popular, if he were to be snatched up by someone else, then he would have to fight that person, and there’s no telling how much it would affect world peace.

Thinking up to here, Xia Zhiye patted Song Yan’s shoulder: “You go back to the classroom first.”

Song Yan side-eyed him: “What about you?”

“I’ll go off first to bravely chase love.”

Xia Zhiye lowered his head to meet Song Yan’s gaze, and smiled deeply and ambiguously.

Song Yan: “……”

Three seconds later, his leg kicked at Xia Zhiye, and he left without looking back.

A bastard who forgets loyalty when in love.

He should’ve left earlier.

.

When Song Yan returned to the classroom alone, he discovered that his and Xia Zhiye’s desks had already been filled with various drinks, bottled water, and snacks.

He frowned, then pushed it all over to one side, then said to the little fatty at the desk in front of him: “Next time someone wants to give these things, just immediately help me reject them.”

“I can’t, they’re really too enthusiastic.” Little fatty ravenously devoured the milk tea they had bribed him with, then began to explain each one, “Here, this is from Class 3’s Hanhan, this is from Class 5’s Yueyue, this is from Class 7’s Jiajia, and this one……”

“Looks like you remember it very clearly.” Song Yan interrupted him.

Little fatty was very proud: “Of course. I still am very professional when receiving money and being loyal to others.”

“So amongst the people who sent these things, is there anyone who has a good relationship with Xia Zhiye?” He paused for a moment, then Song Yan added on, “The kind whose family is pretty rich.”

”Is there?” Little fatty scratched at his head and racked his brains, “Nope, doesn’t Lord Xia usually only have a good relationship with us, the basketball team, and then Shang Huai and Zhou Ziqiu? There’s even less whose family is particularly rich. Other than that student in Class 16 and you, where else is there a rich second generation?”

That’s right.

Could it be they weren’t from No.3 Middle High？

Song Yan was in the midst of thinking when little fatty suddenly thought of something, and shouted out: “But now that you mention it, I suddenly thought of something. I heard that before when he was at ShiWai, Lord Xia had an ambiguous relationship with a girl. It seems she was ShiWai’s school flower. She’s a typical pale, rich beauty, and there were even rumors that Lord Xia transferred from ShiWai to No.3 Middle High because he suffered from emotional wounds.”

It was ShiWai again.

Looks like Xia Zhiye had a lot of stories from when he was at ShiWai.

No wonder he had a reputation of being from ShiWai when he was selling learning materials in the group chat, and he also attached great importance to the basketball competition with ShiWai this time. Turns out it was because he wanted to be in the limelight for his sweetheart.

But Xia Zhiye said that the person he liked was at the court today. Could it be that that girl secretly ran over to No.3 Middle High from ShiWai to watch him play basketball?

It wasn’t impossible. After all, ShiWai was two streets away from No.3 Middle High, the security at No.3 Middle High was also very lax, and it was very easy to come visit.

Saying it like this, Xia Zhiye also told him to return to the classroom first, that he was going off to bravely chase love, and he was probably sending that girl back to school.

Thinking this, everything now made sense.

Song Yan’s fingertips tapped against the table, and his train of thought roamed farther and farther away. It wasn’t until little fatty asked “But Yan ge, why are you suddenly asking this,” did he suddenly snap out of it: “Mm, no reason, just casually asking.”

That’s right, why is he asking this.

Who Xia Zhiye liked, who Xia Zhiye wanted to chase, it all had nothing to do with him.

They only had a relationship of being deskmates and roommates. More deeply, wasn’t it just two friends who spent all their time together in the past two months.

How could he obstruct Xia Zhiye from finding a girlfriend?

That future girlfriend might even settle down with Xia Zhiye for the rest of his life.

At best, he himself could only wait until they graduate before they go their separate ways.

So there was no problem with the fact that the other valued his relationship over friendship.

Song Yan felt that after realizing this point, he shouldn’t be that angry, but once he saw the empty seat at his right side, and that there was no one to help block the draft of cold wind for him, he still felt very troubled in his heart.

So troubled that even the last big problem in the math worksheet didn’t look that cute anymore.

And after evening self-study ended and he walked down from the teaching block alone, when he passed by that boulevard he had passed by countless times before in the past, his irritation became even more evident.

After arriving at NanWu, he had never finished evening self-study on his own, not to mention walking back to the dorms alone in the dark.

In the past, Xia Zhiye had always been beside him to joke and laugh incessantly, and he had never realized that this boulevard was this long and this dark.

There were more broken street lamps than there were working ones, and the surface of the road wasn’t even due to potholes. People passing by were all in pairs, and made Song Yan, who was on his own, look particularly lonely.

In the past several years, Song Yan was clearly used to being alone, but he didn’t know why, in that moment, he suddenly didn’t want to walk back alone.

There was no reason, just that he didn’t want to walk alone.

This kind of negative mood from not wanting to walk alone had already long defeated his fear of being poor, so he lowered his head and pulled out his phone, preparing to call a cab.

But just as he opened his phone, the screen lit up with a WeChat message.

[Wild]: Watch the road when you walk, don’t play around on your phone.

Song Yan: “?”

[Wild]: Raise your head, then look ahead to your right. When you see that handsome asshole, please don’t hesitate to run towards him.

Song Yan raised his head, then looked ahead to his right.

Then in front of the bustling school entrance, amidst people walking back and forth, he saw Xia Zhiye leaning against a blinding, fluorescent pink bicycle. His long legs supported himself, and he smiled while looking over at Song Yan.

His slightly curved peach blossom eyes gathered the light in the night, and because of the halo of the street lamp, his light brown eyes showed a hint of an indulgent, gentle smile, as if he had been standing there waiting for Song Yan for a long, long, time.

At that moment, Song Yan suddenly felt an emotion he couldn’t quite describe.

When he was a child, every time nursery school ended, he would wait at the school entrance for his mother or the aunty to come pick him up. But his mother would always say she forgot, the aunty was always very busy, and more often than not, he would be left behind, standing there alone as he watched everyone else disperse. In the end, he’d wait there for a long, long time.

So he also grew used to waiting alone, or secretly returning home alone.

After becoming accustomed to this for a while, he also felt it was nothing.

Yet at that moment, it was a feeling akin to already being prepared for the fact that no one would come pick him up on a night of pouring rain, but had unexpectedly found that the person he wanted to see had arrived before him.

He didn’t have to wait alone, and could also excitedly return home, just like all the other kids.

Thinking this, Song Yan suddenly felt his eyes grow warm,

Then lowered his head and quietly scolded with a curse in his heart.

How is it that the longer he lived, the more coy he became. He really had been infected by Xia Zhiye’s brain circuits.

He can’t be like this.

Song Yan deeply exhaled, quickly adjusted his mood, and after he suppressed the baffling mood in his chest, raised his head, and his face had already resumed its natural cold expression, then pretended he didn’t care as he walked over, and asked: “Why are you here.”

Xia Zhiye looked at him and smiled: “Aren’t you afraid of the dark, how could I let you go back alone.”

After saying this, he raised his leg, mounted the bike and then lazily replied: “Let’s go, little Song Yan, gege is here to take you home.”

“……”

Fuck.

Song Yan suspected that Xia Zhiye did it on purpose.

But that feeling of coyness just now was an accident, and he was still a steel straight man2. He wouldn’t waver the slightest bit, and so, with a cold face, he sat in the backseat: “Stop saying gege so easily, who are you taking advantage of.”

“Your birthday is in February, mine is in December, one year earlier than you. I’ve always been your gege.” Xia Zhiye replied reasonably.

Song Yan vigilantly asked: ”How do you know my birthday?”

Xia Zhiye chuckled: “Didn’t I see your ID before?”

“……”

He remembered. Not only did the other see it, but the other had even insulted the photo on the ID by saying it was very cute.

But at that time, Xia Zhiye had only glanced at his ID, yet was able to remember his birthday until now, which was also not that easy.

Also was Xia Zhiye’s birthday in December?

Then it seemed it wasn’t too far away.

Song Yan casually asked: “Which day is your birthday on.”

“The 24th, Christmas Eve.”

Song Yan understood it now, no wonder the other wanted to confess on Christmas Eve.

Xia Zhiye saw that he didn’t respond, then laughed while asking: “What, could it be that you’re suddenly asking me this because you want to prepare a birthday gift for me?”

“Stop daydreaming.”

Song Yan ruthlessly smashed his fantasy.

Xia Zhiye tsked: “Really heartless. Luckily, I prepared a National Day gift for you.”

“……”

What fucking National Day gift.

It was already the end of October, and it had already been 800 years since National Day3.

Also, who would give their roommate a gift when celebrating National Day?

Wait, gift?

Song Yan was suddenly on guard: “What gift?”

They had just arrived at the dorms, and Xia Zhiye stopped the bike, turned around, then laughed: “A big gift.”

At that moment, Song Yan had a very bad premonition.

Last time, when Xia Zhiye brought out that blingbling, fluorescent bicycle, he had also used that to indicate a big surprise.

He vigilantly stepped backwards.

Xia Zhiye saw his movement, and couldn’t help but laugh: “Don’t worry, this time it’s really a big present. You’ll definitely like it, believe me.”

As he said this, his good-looking and affectionate peach blossom eyes curved into crescents.

Song Yan’s intelligence reducing buff folded up into several layers in an instant.

Thus, three minutes later.

The balcony in NanWu’s No.3 Middle High’s No.1 student dormitory in room 616.

Song Yan stared at that frosted pink, single-person washing machine that had Hello Kitty written on it, with a one meter high Hello Kitty doll attached to the machine, then exhaled deeply and clenched his fist.

Between him and Xia Zhiye, if they didn’t fight today, there would be no way to prove exactly who here was the purebred idiot.

1. A play on words. To chase (court, in this situation) = 追, and if you add another character to this, it becomes mourn (追悼).

2. Coyishness (being shy/unreasonable, etc.) is often seen as a characteristic that girls have in China

3. Note, National Day is celebrated on October 1st, to commemorate the formal establishment of PRC (which was October 1st, 1949). Also, it’s only been ~80 years since then, SY is being dramatic.