I Treat You as a Brother - Chapter 44

44 – Making Use of Every Second to Date

Translator: tamago

Editor: Yin

The last time Xu Xiran met Yang Lin face to face was when the four of them had gone to eat mala soup.

It had been a while, and since then, there had been some unhappiness between them, so now that they suddenly met by chance, his mood was quite complicated. Just as he was hesitating on whether he should say hello, Fang Mo, who was beside him, suddenly tightened his hold on his arm.

Xu Xi realized later that his whole body turned stiff.

During this period of time, everyone around him had already agreed that his relationship with Fang Mo was not merely platonic. He had also deliberately pretended to be ambiguous with Fang Mo to make Zou Shun jealous, and to make Liu Xiaochang back off with his act. But now, this was actually the first time they deliberately acted ambiguously to pretend to be a couple.

This kind of realization made Xu Xiran feel tense and awkward.

His arms were stiff and he let Fang Mo hold them, but when he took a step, his hands and feet moved simultaneously due to excessive stress. Fang Mo felt a bit of disdain, and covertly stretched out a hand to pat him on the back.

“What are you doing!” He lowered his voice and asked Xu Xiran.

Xu Xiran couldn’t answer him. His mind was a complete mess, and a few strange sentences floated around in his brain.

Such as, “these are your words, I really don’t know”, or “you care more about me than him”, and “because I’m a guy”.

When he first thought of these words, they made his heart shrink unnaturally. It felt weird, uncomfortable, and scary.

Now that they all jumped into Xu Xiran’s brain together, making his heart shrink even more, it made his whole body feel uncomfortable.

Yang Lin glanced at them from a distance, turned around, and ran away.

Not only that, he ran pretty fast. Xu Xiran was distracted and didn’t have time to see his expression clearly. He was only able to see his back and his slender ankles under his rolled-up pants.

Xu Xiran thought in his mind, Fang Mo’s looks fairer and better.

When Yang Lin’s figure completely disappeared around the corner, he seamlessly pulled his arm out of Fang Mo’s embrace and discreetly moved a little to the other side as they walked, creating a bit of distance from Fang Mo.

This way, he could finally be able to breathe smoothly.

It must have been because there were too many people who have been misunderstanding them, and that he himself often made these kinds of jokes, that he subconsciously couldn’t accept this illusion.

He thought that he was not being obvious, but it still alerted Fang Mo.

“What are you doing?” He was a little unhappy, “Are you shunning me?”

He obviously was not. It was just that this feeling felt a little too weird. This was the same as when he had carried him back to the dormitory a while ago. He felt guilty for no reason, and couldn’t look at his face after putting him down.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Fang Mo’s face sank, and with his head down, he quickened his pace.

“Slow down,” Xu Xiran reached out his hand to pull him, “Your foot just got better, you should be careful.”

After being pulled by him, Fang Mo obediently slowed down his pace, but he kept head down and did not look at him as he spoke: “When I suddenly hugged your arm, did that make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No.” Xu Xiran amplified his volume because of his guilty conscience and raised his arm, “If you don’t believe me, hug me again.”

Fang Mo turned his head away: “Who wants to hug you? He’s already gone.”

That was true. Xu Xiran put down his arm and awkwardly thought, he was just putting on an act out of necessity, so what’s the point of making it a big deal?

After going around another corner, Fang Mo suddenly made a new discovery and tugged on his sleeve: “Look!”

Xu Xiran looked in the direction of his line of sight and saw two figures in the distance, one in front of the other, both people he was familiar with. It was Liu Xiaochang and Yang Lin. They also clearly didn’t come together. Yang Lin was about five meters behind Liu Xiaochang, and they were walking in the same direction.

“Should we walk a little slower?” Fang Mo said, “Your xuedi was running so fast a moment ago, why is he being so slow now? In case we accidentally catch up with him and he loudly calls us out, it won’t be good if Liu Xiaochang notices us.”

Xu Xiran nodded, and then suddenly thought of a good idea.

He reached into his pocket, took out his student ID card, and took out a brand new point collection card, “Come, it’s close by, let’s take a detour. I’ll treat you to milk tea!”

There are only two stamps on his new point collection card, and if he didn’t seize the opportunity, he would miss the event’s time limit.

Seeing this, Fang Mo suddenly widened his eyes, then shook his head: “Let’s not… this is not the time…”

“Please, let’s just stop by,” Xu Xiran was very experienced in this, and had a humble attitude when asking others, “I’ll treat you, just one cup. It only takes two minutes to walk from here.”

“I’m not going,” Fang Mo still declined, “What if we lose track of them if we take a detour?”

“It’s not like we don’t know their destination,” Xu Xiran reached out and pulled him, “It’ll be quick, let’s run over.”

“…I don’t like drinking it,” Fang Mo said.

He was so uncooperative that Xu Xiran felt somewhat depressed.

“Okay, then I’ll drink it myself. You can just accompany me there.” He decided to take a step back.

Fang Mo had a confused expression, “Why do you insist on collecting points right now… Besides, the event is going to end next week, so there’s not enough time if you drink it all yourself.”

“But when I want to treat you, you say you don’t want it.” Xu Xiran said.

There was a strong sense of complaint in his tone, and he clearly was a little emotional. The two stood in place, looking at each other without saying a word.

Xu Xiran’s heart felt blocked.

This person, Fang Mo, had a very awkward mouth, but he was indeed easy to talk to. In the past, when Xu Xiran wanted to do something, even if he complained a little, he would always agree in the end.  Now that he suddenly refused to cooperate with such a trivial matter, Xu Xiran was not used to it.

“Let’s forget about it today,” Fang Mo reached out and patted him lightly, as he talked it over with him, “How about I go with you tomorrow, okay?”

“I want to go today,” Xu Xiran said.

After he said this, he reached out his hand to pull on Fang Mo and walked in the direction of the milk tea shop. Fang Mo was reluctant and was dragged by him the whole way, with his head down, not making a sound.

Originally, he only thought of taking a detour to the milk tea shop on a whim, and wasn’t adamant about it. Fang Mo was unwilling, and he even began to grow more reluctant. Xu Xiran soon realized that his own current behavior was too childish. He felt a bit of regret but was secretly happy because Fang Mo obediently followed him in the end.

When he was about to reach the milk tea shop, Xu Xiran looked back and was surprised to find that Fang Mo’s cheeks were red.

After being stunned for a moment, Xu Xiran quickly let go of his hand. He was clasping Fang Mo’s forearm the whole way, and that posture was not supposed to be ambiguous. But now, his flustered expression made his own actions just now seem unnatural.

As Xu Xiran continued to walk towards the milk tea shop, he kept wondering why Fang Mo blushed. If he was like this, would that not make him overthink?

When the two arrived in front of the shop, Xu Xiran finally realized that he was indeed overthinking.

Fang Mo lowered his head, and even unnaturally lowered his hat to try to cover his face. But the girl in the milk tea shop still recognized him and greeted him loudly: “Handsome guy, you’re here again today!”

Xu Xiran was puzzled, and asked him in a low voice, “Do you come here often?”

Fang Mo blushed even more but said nothing.

The girl didn’t seem to care, and was very enthusiastic: “How many points did you collect yesterday? How many do you need now? Shouldn’t it be done soon?”

Xu Xiran raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Fang Mo sighed helplessly, took out a collection card from his pocket, and handed it to the counter: “There’s two left. If I order two glasses myself today, I’ll be done.”

After he said this, he pointed to Xu Xiran: “He’ll pay.”

Xu Xiran looked at the point card with eighteen stamps on it, and was extremely surprised: “When did you drink this much?”

Fang Mo remained silent, and the girl answered for him with a smile.

“He’s been standing around our store for the past two days. Whenever someone would buy milk tea, he would go up to them and ask if they could help him collect some points. We all know him.”

Xu Xiran was speechless for a moment.

Seeing that his deeds were revealed, Fang Mo became angry from embarrassment and kicked Xu Xiran’s leg.

“I wanted to surprise you!” He furrowed his brows in displeasure. But because his face was still red, he did not look threatening at all.

Xu Xiran looked at him dumbfoundedly: “I’m still very surprised right now!”

The girl’s voice came from behind: “Your total for two cups is forty yuan, please scan the code here.”

~

A few minutes later, the two each held a cup of extremely sweet pink milk tea.

There was also a small box in Xu Xiran’s pocket, which contained the keychain that he had been thinking about for a long time.

“So there is such a trick, why didn’t I think of this,” Xu Xiran sighed with emotion in a low voice, “But… it still must have been embarrassing, wasn’t it?”

Fang Mo sipped his milk tea and made no sound.

“And everyone agreed with you?” Xu Xiran said.

Fang Mo let go of the straw: “Maybe it’s because I’m handsome.”

It sounded a little bad, but it was probably the truth. Suddenly being approached by a handsome guy like Fang Mo would make a girl who didn’t plan to buy milk tea change her mind.

“Did those people not ask why you were collecting points?” he asked.

He was in an overly happy mood, and couldn’t help but feel talkative. Although he could see that Fang Mo was feeling embarrassed, he still couldn’t help asking.

“I told them I have a friend who likes that keychain and I want to give one to him.”

Xu Xiran lowered his head and smiled, and said nothing.

“Then they all said, ‘your friend is actually yourself, right?’” Fang Mo sighed, “I was victimized by my own reputation.”

Xu Xiran was still smiling. This milk tea was too sweet, and he still couldn’t get used to it. But now he suddenly felt that Fang Mo was also very sweet, so he was quite satisfied with his drink.

“How will you repay me? ” Fang Mo asked.

“You tell me,” Xu Xiran promised, “I will answer any request.”

Fang Mo turned his head to look at him: “Really?”

Xu Xiran nodded: “As long as I can do it.”

After he said this, he waited for a long time, but Fang Mo never spoke. So he couldn’t help but urge him.

“Say it, really. I will do whatever you say.”

Fang Mo slightly nodded: “I haven’t thought of it yet, I’ll save it for now.”

Then, before Xu Xiran could speak, he suddenly asked, “Do you still remember what we’re supposed to do today?”

~

Xu Xiran really did forget everything.

When they finally arrived at the cafe, it was already 20 minutes after the meeting time told by Zou Shun.

The tea-colored glass exterior of the cafe was only semi-transparent, making it difficult to see the situation from the outside. In order not to be seen by Zou Shun but also be able to carefully observe, they cautiously slipped inside.

As soon as he entered the door, Xu Xiran caught sight of Zou Shun’s figure. He sat in a seat not far from the door, and only half of his body was exposed. The person opposite him was completely blocked by the wide seat, so he couldn’t see him clearly at all.

Xu Xiran pulled Fang Mo in and sneaked to the corner diagonally opposite from the two and specifically picked a seat that was mostly blocked by potted plants.

After taking his seat, Fang Mo muttered in a low voice: “Something’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?” Xu Xiran lowered his body and turned in Zou Shun’s direction.

“Look at the man across from him, he seems to be the wrong height.” Fang Mo said.

From Fang Mo’s perspective, he couldn’t see the man’s face, but he could see the general figure.  Comparing the shoulder heights of the two, that person was taller than Zou Shun.

“Is that?” Fang Mo asked.

Xu Xiran was much more surprised than him. Because from his angle, he could see the reflection of that person on the glass.

“That’s Professor Xu!” He said.

t/n: did anyone expect that ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ

Yin: XXR acting so cute (๑>◡<๑), I imagined him with ears and tail hanging down with watery eyes as he begs FM

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