I Treat You as a Brother - Chapter 10

Xu Xiran almost dropped his phone in the water.

When Fang Mo called, he had just taken off all his clothes and turned on the shower, and his body was all wet. Urged by the ringtone, he quickly wiped his hands, pressed to answer, and heard a clearly tense voice from the other end of the line.

“Can I come over right now?” Fang Mo asked him.

“Ah?” Xu Xiran was perplexed. “Yeah, you can, what is it?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there,” Fang Mo said, repressing his emotions, “You’re at 406 right? I’ll come up right now.”

“Wait wait wait wait!” Xu Xiran hurriedly stopped him, “Can you give me five minutes? I’m taking a shower, wait for me to put on my clothes.”

~

Once he hung up the phone, Xu Xiran took a battle shower, rubbed some soap on his body, rinsed himself clean, and considered it done. Among men, he preferred to be clean. This was his second shower of the day, which was why he could be more relaxed about it.

He wasn’t necessarily a clean freak; it was only because he had just gone out for a long walk and had sweat a bit, and he felt that lying on the bed like this wasn’t refreshing enough.

According to his original plan today, after feeding his cat in the afternoon, he wasn’t planning on leaving the dorm. Summer has yet to pass, and it was still very hot outside. It was better to make instant ramen in his room than to go eat at the dining hall.

Although he had gone off plan, Xu Xiran was still in a very good mood.

Even though they hadn’t had much contact with each other since they met online, he still had a good impression of Fang Mo. They shared a common language in certain embarrassing places and were able to have meaningful conversations together. Previously, he had been mocked by his friends and relatives when he posted on his Moments begging for likes, but only Fang Mo went on and helped without any intention of making fun of him. What a kind and warmhearted person.

Not to mention, he was also very pleasing to the eye. Xu Xiran did not think about this in a homosexual way at all, but who didn’t like looking at good-looking people?

What moved Xu Xiran the most was that after when Fang Mo learned about his hobbies and interests, not only did he not reject him, but he also showed a strong curiosity and a genuine look of interest. When he was talking nonstop in the dining hall to the point when he felt a little awkward, Fang Mo still looked at his face with focus and fascination.

Even though they’ve been in contact with each other in real life for less than a day, Xu Xiran firmly believed that Fang Mo was his friend.

~

His good friend Fang Mo seemed to be in a hurry and after half of the agreed-upon five minutes, he was already knocking at the door, making a bang-bang sound. Xu Xiran suspected that right after he hung up the phone, he must have immediately dashed up here.

Xu Xiran didn’t have enough time to dry himself, and in a hurry, only put on a pair of pants as he quickly ran to open the door.

It turned out that Fang Mo really did run up here and was still panting.

“What is it?” Xu Xiran stepped back to welcome him in. “Is someone chasing you?”

Fang Mo didn’t say a word and closed his mouth and shook his head quickly, looking very nervous.

He quickly glanced at Xu Xiran, whose hair was still dripping wet on his bare upper body, and then looked away. Then looked again and looked away. He repeated this nonstop as if his soul had left his body.

“What is it that it’s so hard to talk about?” Xu Xiran began to worry. “Did that Liu guy insult you?”

Fang Mo shook his head, then suddenly asked, “Can I borrow your bathroom?”

Xu Xiran nodded. When Fang Mo awkwardly went in and closed the door, that’s when Xu Xiran realized, “Is your bedroom bathroom broken?”

Fang Mo didn’t answer. With the sound of water rushing inside, he probably didn’t hear Xu Xiran’s words.

Five minutes later, when he finally came out, his hair was dripping wet like Xu Xiran’s.

“You took a shower?” Xu Xiran asked.

Fang Mo’s cheeks were red, probably from the steam of the hot water.

He ignored Xu Xiran’s words and asked, “Why don’t you put your clothes on?”

Xu Xiran smiled, “My change of clothes is in the bathroom, how was I supposed to put them on when you were in there?”

He walked past Fang Mo into the bathroom after saying that, picked up a towel, and began to dry his hair. “What are you doing here? Just borrowing my bathroom?”

Fang Mo followed him two steps and stood at the door of the bathroom and looked at him, “Staying with that Liu Xiaochang makes me uncomfortable.”

“What did he do?” Xu Xiran put down his towel and turned around, and his face turned pale in shock, “Why do you have a nosebleed?!”

~

Fang Mo wiped his nose with a bunch of tissues full of blood but his face was still flushed.

Although he knew he shouldn’t, Xu Xiran couldn’t help but laugh, “Your face has lost all color, are you a bit shanghuo?”1

“Maybe,” Fang Mo looked like he wanted to die, “I ran too fast when I came up.”

Xu Xiran smiled as he walked to the cabinet, then found a clean towel and threw it towards Fang Mo.

“Wipe your hair,” he said. “With the air conditioning blowing hot and cold air at you, it’s easy to get a headache.”

Fang Mo wiped his hair as he watched Xu Xiran get dressed and muttered softly, “The dorm here actually has air conditioning? We used to have to bring our own fans.”

“Air conditioning is good and all. It’s just that these days when I live alone and have no one to split the electricity bill with, it can get a bit expensive,” said Xu Xiran.

“Want to split with me?”

Xu Xiran hesitated for a moment, “What the hell did that Liu guy do to you?”

Fang Mo put down his towel and faintly sighed, “He didn’t do anything. He just glances at me from time to time and always smiles at me. It gives me goosebumps. We might as well get fresh with each other, so we fought.”

Xu Xiran tried to visualize it for a bit and got chills.

“Then come stay here with me. It’ll be a few days before my other roommates come back. The sheets and blankets are all clean.”

Fang Mo looked at him gratefully. “You’ve done me another big favor.”

“You’ve also done me a big favor,” Xu Xiran said. “Courtesy is to be reciprocated.”

Fang Mo pursed his lips and smiled, then turned and looked around the room. A moment later, he pointed at Xu Xiran’s bed, “Is this yours…”

Xu Xiran coughed, feeling a little embarrassed, “Is it obvious?”

He slept on the lower bunk, and there was a body pillow in the middle of the bed and two posters on the wall beside the bed. Hidden from Fang Mo’s point of view, Xu Xiran had also stuck a poster under the bed of the upper bunk. That way, he would be able to see his paper wife when he opens his eyes every morning.

“This artwork is so exquisite,” Fang Mo said, not at all repelled but rather interested in these things. “Can I pick it up and look at it?”

Xu Xiran had no objection in this regard. “Sure.”

“I also like to hold something when I sleep,” Fang Mo picked up the body pillow and looked at it carefully for a while. “Hey, why doesn’t this pillowcase…”

Xu Xiran immediately rushed over and snatched the pillow. “It’s okay, it’s just this kind of design.”

The body pillow was double-layered and the outer layer was printed with a character wearing a uniform. This layer could be pulled up and down from the waist of the character, and the action was very similar to undressing the character by hand. The inner layer was printed with the character wearing only their undergarments, and even their facial expression was slightly different from that of the outer layer.

Despite the fact that Fang Mo has always been very accepting, Xu Xiran was still embarrassed to suddenly expose these kinds of things to outsiders.

“You scared me,” Fang Mo said, “I thought it was broken when I saw a seam.”

After a moment, he spoke again, “It looks good, I want to buy one too. Is there a link?”

This was a limited edition and was no longer available.

However, in an instant, Xu Xiran was so excited that he almost wanted to give his other treasured one to him. But in the end, he still couldn’t bear to give it away.

…It was a limited edition after all.

“You also like girls like Xiaoyao?” he asked Fang Mo.

“Her name is Xiaoyao?” Fang Mo thought for a while, “…not bad, I like, I like it very much.”

“She’s super cute!” Xu Xiran’s heart was burning, and he felt that Fang Mo might have more things in common with him. “Anyway, since we’re not doing anything, do you want to watch a couple of episodes to get a feel for it?”

Fang Mo stared at his face solemnly for a while, then nodded, “Okay… then, then let’s watch.”

Couldn’t find a good translation for this so I kept the pinyin. Shanghuo (上火) literally translates to elevated fire, and it’s a concept in traditional Chinese medicine in which the Yin and Yang are out of balance with each other, and the “fire” in your body can cause effects like inflammation, sore throats, and even nosebleeds like Fang Mo