After finishing his night run, Lin Xinyuan headed to the little snack street outside the sports field wall to buy things for his four precious sons in the dorm.
He also bought himself a portion of savory pancake, planning to have it as a late-night snack later.
“Brats! Daddy’s back! Rejoice!”
“Oh! My dearest old father! I swear, I must give your~ cheek~ a big kiss~”
“Thank you, Daddy! I love you so much…”
“Thanks for your generosity, Dad.”
“No need to thank me, kids, just send me the money.”
His body was sticky after exercising, so the first thing Lin Xinyuan did when he got back was to take a shower.
Ten minutes later, Lin Xinyuan stepped out of the bathroom feeling fresh.
Looking at the pile of clothes in the basin, he thought for a moment and decided to wash them.
He had always preferred to wash clothes by hand, never bothering with the dorm’s communal washing machines.
He simply thought they were dirty—who knows what some people would put in there!
He’d even seen someone toss in their underwear and socks before; after that, he never dared use the communal washer again.
Better to wash them himself—cleaner and cheaper!
He grabbed his own bucket, put the clothes from the basin in, started filling it with water, poured in some laundry detergent, and let them soak for a while.
Then he carefully scrubbed each piece of clothing twice with a brush, placing the cleaned clothes back in the basin, and finally rinsed off the foam.
“What’s this… that thing?”
“So I didn’t throw it out after all!”
Lin Xinyuan was still scrubbing his pants with the brush when he suddenly noticed a ring-shaped bulge in the pocket.
He pulled it out, and sure enough, it was that bracelet-shaped thing that had hit him.
It had left his head buzzing at the time, and he’d forgotten to throw it away, accidentally bringing it back with him.
There was still some white laundry foam on the Jade Bracelet, but it didn’t affect his inspection.
The jade was a vivid green, cool and smooth to the touch, with intricate carvings that looked both ancient and imposing.
Wanting a closer look, he leaned in and noticed a line of tiny, unremarkable traditional characters etched on the inside of the Jade Bracelet:
“…grain of rice…becomes a basket?”
There was another line after that, but it seemed to have been scratched and was unreadable.
“What the heck?”
“What thing?”
While Lin Xinyuan was examining it closely, a male voice suddenly sounded by his side, startling him so much he almost dropped what he was holding.
“Damn, you scared me to death! Are you trying to kill me, you turtle-bastard!”
Chen Ze didn’t mind Lin Xinyuan’s words.
He’d just gone to the bathroom, but seeing Lin Xinyuan’s actions piqued his curiosity, so he came over to have a look.
At this moment, his eyes lit up with interest as he looked at the item in Lin Xinyuan’s hand.
“Yo! A Jade Bracelet? How come I’ve never seen you take this out before?”
He reached out to grab it as he spoke.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing! This is mine!” Lin Xinyuan instinctively covered it, looking like he was protecting a treasure.
“I know, I just want to have a look!”
“Well… fine then…”
“Hold it tight! Don’t break it!” Lin Xinyuan reminded.
Chen Ze waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I know!”
As he examined it, rubbing it with his fingers, he couldn’t help but sigh, “The craftsmanship’s really good! Looks pretty legit! Hey, Lao Liu, where did you buy this? Looks great! I wanna get one too.”
“Buy? I picked this up! And why would you buy one? Planning to give it to Yu Xiaowei again? And hey, don’t get so close to me without brushing your teeth, damn it!” Lin Xinyuan looked disgusted and moved further away from Chen Ze.
Hearing this, Chen Ze’s expression turned sly, and he let out a silly laugh like he’d thought of something good, but quickly covered up, stubbornly saying, “Wha… what… Xiaowei! I wasn’t planning to give it to her… Can’t I give it to my mom?”
“You?” Lin Xinyuan looked utterly unconvinced.
After all, this guy had a crush on the president of their club. Last semester, he’d even begged Lin Xinyuan to ask her for her Green Bubble.
The guy had pleaded so hard and even promised him a big meal, so Lin Xinyuan finally gave in.
But honestly, it wasn’t a big deal for Lin Xinyuan. His club was always short on members anyway…
All he had to do was ask the president if they needed more people, then conveniently recommend Chen Ze to join and have the two of them add each other as friends.
Maybe that’s why his so-called Animation Club was basically a gathering place for slackers…
Otherwise, with Chen Ze’s pervy vibe, Lin Xinyuan seriously doubted he’d ever make it past the interview—any other girls would run at the sight of him…
Ahem… Of course, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Chen Ze wasn’t ugly at all, actually a bit handsome.
It’s just that hint of sleaze that occasionally slipped out made any handsomeness disappear completely…
What happened afterward was clear enough.
Chen Ze managed to add the girl as a friend and joined the club, but maybe he was too eager—anyway, it didn’t work out…
He ended up spending a lot of money, but she never accepted his gifts.
Even now, he hadn’t given up… still thinking up ways to please girls…
“So what! Even if I give it to Weiwei, what about it? I like it, okay!” Chen Ze puffed out his chest and declared, then muttered under his breath, “Why don’t I have this kind of luck, picking up something like this…”
“Alright, alright, give it to whoever you want. But this thing is mine—not for sale, hand it over!”
Lin Xinyuan snatched the Jade Bracelet back and wiped his foamy hand on Chen Ze’s face.
Chen Ze didn’t mind and asked, “Hey, Lao Liu, how about selling it to me? I’ll give you twenty!”
“Get lost, not for sale! Like I need your twenty! What if it’s real?”
“You wish! Found on the street, and you think it could be real? If it’s real, it’d start at hundreds of thousands!”
“I’ll give you fifty!”
Lin Xinyuan hesitated for a moment, but still refused, “Not selling!”
“Fine, forget it… I’m going to the bathroom.”
Chen Ze had just been asking for fun. Without much care, he went off to the toilet.
“Weird…”
Looking at the Jade Bracelet in his hand, Lin Xinyuan actually felt a bit tempted just now, but for some reason, a sudden urge kept him from selling it.
“Must be my imagination…”
He didn’t dwell on it, shook the water off the Jade Bracelet a bit, stuffed it into his pocket, and continued washing clothes…
Past midnight, Xiong Wei finally snuck back in.
The dorm was still a battlefield—Xu Wentao and Chen Ze had turned into telegraph machines, crazily ranting about their actor teammates, while Lin Xinyuan was on his bed, planning to write a few more chapters just in case.
Hearing the door, Chen Ze glanced back while still typing, “Boss, get online! This idiot teammate is trolling me, it’s my promotion match!”
Xiong Wei was speechless, “Bro, I just got back, haven’t even showered yet!”
“Forget the shower, it’s Saturday tomorrow, shower then! Hurry up and log in! We’re about to lose!”
Boss sighed, “Alright! Let me hit the bathroom first! I drank way too much water today.”
“Hurry!”
Seeing the boss head into the bathroom, Xu Wentao asked Chen Ze, “Where’s Old Three? How come he’s not back yet? It’s so late!”
“Same as always! What else? Off having fun with some new girl! They’re probably in a hotel by now.” Chen Ze clearly had his own guess.
“Oh, right, makes sense. I’m jealous! Old Three’s changed who knows how many girlfriends!”
“Comparing people just makes you angry…”
Lying in bed, listening to Lao Wu and Lao Er’s conversation, Lin Xinyuan got distracted, his phone slowing in his hand.
The moment he thought that Qin Nan Feng might have already scored, his heart wept.
Back when he and Li Xue were together for over a month, the most intimate they got was holding hands—they didn’t even kiss!
But after breaking up with him, she probably already did that with Qin Nan Feng!
Xiaoxue! How could you! Didn’t you say your family was traditional, and those things had to wait until after marriage? Why?
No… no, Xiaoxue must’ve been tricked by that player Qin Nan Feng, that’s definitely it!
Thinking like this, Lin Xinyuan couldn’t write anymore, hastily finishing the chapter.
Was that period when I spent so much money on you all for this?
Lin Xinyuan’s mind was a mess, filled with images of a man and woman on a bed.
And he seemed to be standing silently outside the door, holding the luxury cosmetics he’d just bought, listening to the sounds from within, tears streaming down his face…
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