I Treat You as a Brother - Chapter 42

42 – Fang Mo Joins the Reasoning Team

Translator: tamago

This was too much of a coincidence.

Fang Mo felt a little uneasy, and continued to ask, “Have you exchanged photos before?”

Liu Xiaochang’s expression and tone clearly sounded disheartened, “I mean I have…”

“Did you only show your figure?” Fang Mo asked.

Although he looked small and fragile when he had his clothes on, the man in front of him was actually very impressive. Fang Mo had taken a glance, and his impression was still deep to this day.

Liu Xiaochang forced a smile: “I did show my appearance…”

Fang Mo immediately continued: “But it can’t be seen clearly, can it?”

“How do you know,” Liu Xiaochang was alert, “Did you find my account?”

Fang Mo shook his head: “…Just a wild guess.”

On the surface, he was calm and collected, but on the inside, he was screaming that something was wrong. The person that Zou Shun was going to meet this weekend could very possibly be the guy in front of him.

Fang Mo knew what Zou Shun’s photos on social platforms looked like. They definitely would have some retouching and editing, but the difference between what he looked like online and in real life was not too big, and it definitely would not be unrecognizable. Even if he didn’t know him before, Liu Xiaochang should have recognized Zou Shun when he saw Zou Shun that day.

When he thought about it, this matter was quite strange.

Liu Xiaochang had heard the call between Fang Mo and Zou Shun, and knew that Zou Shun’s relationship was not going well. He had also specifically asked about what Zou Shun usually liked to wear. There were not many people who were publicly out and would use their own photos as profile pictures in school, so it was not difficult to find Zou Shun’s account. The timing was also too perfect.

He probably had thoughts about Zou Shun from the very beginning.

Maybe it was because Zou Shun had ruthlessly said that Liu Xiaochang was not his type, that it made him this uneasy.

As for why Liu Xiaochang still dared to meet him under these conditions, it may be that the two have been getting along online for a while and have gathered a favorable impression of each other, which may have remedied the disadvantages in appearance and made Zou Shun reconsider.

Liu Xiaochang was too optimistic. Compared to Fang Mo’s understanding of Zou Shun, he knew next to nothing.

Zou Shun was the type of person who was cold-blooded to the bones. He was one to pour his heart and soul into people he cared about, but to make him care was just too difficult. Before He Chengyi, Zou Shun would always hit on or get hit on by others online and in real life, and there were stories and there were accidents, and he never cared much for anyone. Now that he had experienced a failed unrequited love, there still shouldn’t be much of a change.

When the time comes that Zou Shun finds out that he has been tricked, he’ll show no mercy to Liu Xiaochang. His mouth has always been full of poison, and he will say anything when he is angry.

Fang Mo was a little anxious. He had no friendship with Liu Xiaochang, but he still didn’t want to watch him run into trouble. This petite Mr. Awesome 1 clearly lacked confidence in himself, and he seemed to be quite serious about Zou Shun, so he would definitely be hit hard when the time comes.

As for Zou Shun, Fang Mo was even more worried. Now that there finally was a springboard for him to walk out of the shadow of heartbreak, Zou Shun would definitely feel very disappointed if he found out he ended up with him.

But after thinking about it, Fang Mo really didn’t know how to save this tragedy.

His expression was too rich, and Liu Xiaochang couldn’t help but care: “What’s the matter? Is there a problem?”

Fang Mo decided to be direct: “Be honest with me, are you meeting with Zou Shun this weekend?”

Liu Xiaochang was taken aback for a moment, then loudly replied: “No!”

Fang Mo squinted his eyes at him and did not say a word.

“What are you thinking?” Liu Xiaochang looked away, “How is that possible?”

He seemed too suspicious. His expression, tone of voice, and body movements had guilt written all over them. Fang Mo became more and more convinced of his hypothesis.

“Zou Shun likes… people that are older, and more mature…” Fang Mo said in a probing manner.

Liu Xiaochang hesitated to speak, and his expression was tangled.

“Anyway, he already told you that day, right?” Fang Mo said, “You’re really not the type he would like.”

Liu Xiaochang frowned and looked at him: “Why are you saying this all of a sudden? You really can’t stand me?”

“I’m telling you this for your own good!” Fang Mo felt worked up.

“Then I should really thank you,” Liu Xiaochang said and lay back down again, and then sighed with sorrow, “Most 0s don’t like my type, would I really not know?”

He was frustrated, and Fang Mo felt too bad to strike back, so he could only comfort him: “You don’t need to be so anxious. Have some patience, you’ll find the right person.”

Liu Xiaochang was quiet for a long time before replying in a low voice, “I hope so.”

~

Two days later, when Fang Mo asked Zou Shun if there were any changes to his weekend date plans, Zou Shun suddenly asked him if he could meet.

Hence, Fang Mo made plans with him to meet in the small garden again.

When the time came, the cat that Xu Xiran often fed was also there. The little guy had grown again, but didn’t look aggressive and still attracted people’s affection. Fang Mo had followed Xu Xiran to feed him a few times, so he remembered him. He wrapped his body softly around Fang Mo’s legs and acted like a baby, and his cries were also soft, which made people’s hearts soften along with him too.

Fang Mo squatted on the ground to play with the cat, while Zou Shun sat on the bench and watched.

“I just deleted all of his contact information,” Zou Shun said.

Fang Mo raised his head immediately: “Didn’t you say before…”

“He was blocked before,” Zou Shun lowered his head and looked at his toes, “I wanted to delete it all at that time, but I couldn’t do it. Now I finally went through with it.”

Just when Fang Mo started to think about whether to tell the story of He Chengyi’s visit to him that day, Zou Shun suddenly raised his head and smiled at Fang Mo.

“Who hasn’t made any wrong choices when they were young?”

Fang Mo quickly nodded, “Mn.”

“I’m really nervous now,” Zou Shun said again, “I’m nervous but I’m also looking forward to it. I hope everything goes well tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was the weekend, which was when they planned to meet. It seemed that Liu Xiaochang still didn’t intend to give up, and wanted to make one last gamble.

Fang Mo felt very troubled. It was not a good thing to know too much, especially if you are unable to help and can’t find anyone to talk about it with.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Zou Shun asked in a low voice.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but he looked a little anxious as if he desperately needed affirmation from him.

Fang Mo scratched the little cat’s head with his fingers: “You seem to pay special attention to this person.”

Zou Shun was silent for a while, then nodded: “Mn. It feels that way. Does this mean that I like him?”

Fang Mo stopped moving.

“I also wonder why I’m looking forward to it so much,” Zou Shun said with a smile, “I’m usually never like this. Ever since I made plans with him, I’ve been wanting time to go by faster every day.”

Fang Mo lowered his head and continued to stroke the cat: “That, that’s good.”

“Momo,” Zou Shun called him.

“Mm?”

Zou Shun didn’t say anything and called his name again. The tone of his voice sounded very kidlike.

Fang Mo stood up, walked to him, sat down next to him, and nodded, “I’m here.”

“I hope everything goes well tomorrow.” Zou Shun said.

He had already said this sentence once before. Fang Mo reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and said, “It will.”

~

After the two had parted, Fang Mo didn’t immediately go back to his dorm, and instead rushed to the fourth floor to bang on Xu Xiran’s door.

The one who opened the door was Xu Xiran’s roommate. As soon as he saw Fang Mo, he turned around without waiting for him to speak and shouted inside: “Ran-ge, someone’s looking for you.”

Xu Xiran was sitting on his bed cross-legged with his laptop. When he heard this, he craned his neck and glanced at the door. Then with a big smile on his face, he beckoned to Fang Mo: “Come in.”

Fang Mo beckoned to him: “You come out.”

Bewildered, Xu Xiran got out of bed and walked out under the watchful eyes of his roommates. Fang Mo grabbed him and quickly walked to the fire escape.

“What is it? What happened?” Xu Xiran was at a loss.

The two entered the fire escape, and Fang Mo closed the door and immediately held Xu Xiran’s shoulders with both hands and vigorously shook: “I can’t hold it in anymore! Listen to me! I’m about to suffocate!”

Xu Xiran was dizzy from his shaking: “Say it, say it. Just say it and stop moving.”

Fang Mo took a deep breath and let go of his hand: “It’s about Zou Shun.”

Xu Xiran immediately showed concern, and in turn pressed Fang Mo’s shoulder: “What’s wrong with him? Did he confess to you?”

“No,” Fang Mo quickly shook his head, and added, “It’s also related to Liu Xiaochang.”

“…Huh?” Xu Xiran didn’t understand, and put down his hand, “They know each other?”

“It’s like this.” Fang Mo cleared his throat.

He had already thought of the perfect wording on the way here.

Zou Shun told him that he had completely let go of the straight man he was unrequitedly in love with, and recently met a person he liked online, and planned to meet him this weekend. And by chance, he discovered that this person was most likely his roommate Liu Xiaochang.

Every sentence was true, and even if Xu Xiran’s misunderstanding were to be substituted in, the story would still make sense.

“You’re saying, the two of them are dating online and want to meet up?” Xu Xiran was taken aback when he heard that.

“…It seems so,” Fang Mo couldn’t help shaking Xu Xiran again, “I’m so worried right now aaahhhh!”

“Isn’t that good? What are you worried about?” Xu Xiran swayed left and right from his movements.

“How is that good! I thought Zou Shun was just on there for fun. He definitely doesn’t like Liu Xiaochang, and at most will not be pleased,” Fang Mo frowned, “but now Zou Shun seems… like he really cares about that Liu Xiaochang online, so he will definitely be upset when they meet.”

Xu Xiran was dumb as a log, “Why would he be upset?”

“Because of the huge gap between his expectations and reality!” Fang Mo said, “To look forward to meeting his male god, only to find a… ai, I don’t even know how to describe him. What do you say? Now that he is finally able to start a new relationship after struggling for a while, wouldn’t you be overwhelmed by such a setback?”

“Not really,” Xu Xiran still couldn’t understand, “Didn’t you say that he was very interested in Liu Xiaochang, which means that the two have a lot in common and that they might get along better after meeting in person? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“But how could he be satisfied with Liu Xiaochang?” Fang Mo felt that it was difficult for them to communicate.

“Why would he not be satisfied?” Xu Xiran was puzzled, “Liu Xiaochang isn’t bad-looking? He’s like a petite girl so this type should definitely be very popular in their circle!”

Fang Mo finally understood the problem.

It seemed that straight men would default to a petite and pretty boy like Liu Xiaochang, who would not worry about finding a boyfriend to love him.

Fang Mo cleared his throat, “But Liu Xiaochang claims he’s a 1.”

Xu Xiran was stunned for a while, and then turned pale with shock.

“So you understand now?” Fang Mo shouted at him with energy.

“I see,” Xu Xiran suddenly realized, “I’ve heard that many people in their circle are like this, pretending to be 1s. Liu Xiaochang must have lied to Zou Shun, right? When the time comes and he realizes something wrong, there’s going to be a problem.”

“……”

Fang Mo was speechless. What’s up with this person? The things he shouldn’t know, he actually knows a lot about.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but sigh, because as expected, the fact that Liu Xiaochang was really a 1 was hard for both gay and straight men to digest.

Author’s note:

We interviewed BigAwesome1 himself, and he said that he is 1.7 meters tall.

ps, I didn’t mean to play CP at all when I wrote this, and when I posted, I realized that the reader’s perspective is very different _(:з」∠)_In short… it should be clear after two chapters…