AAUMOBIP C6

Chapter 6

“Yes.” Liu He replied softly.

He also wanted to spend a little more time with Yun Ge.

After Jiang Yi received Yun Jingqiu’s autograph, his whole demeanor inflated with pride.

The signature was written on his phone case, and he planned to enshrine this case as a treasure.

They returned to campus by taxi, the ride called by Yun Jingqiu himself.

For two poor graduate students, Yun Jingqiu’s action was like delivering charcoal in the snow¹.

“As your brother, rationally speaking, I should advise you to break up.”

“As your fan, emotionally, I hope you continue dating him.”

Jiang Yi said: “I won’t try to persuade you, it depends on your own decision.”

Liu He nodded.

The car stopped in front of the dormitory building. Jiang Yi thought for a moment, then sent a message to Xu Yi, planning to stay in the dorm that night.

“Tonight I’ll keep you company, I’ll go back tomorrow.”

Jiang Yi and Liu He were assigned to the same dorm, but Jiang Yi had rented a place outside the campus with his boyfriend, so he didn’t live in the dorm that often.

Liu He didn’t really care. He nodded: “Alright.”

“You should sleep early, I’ll revise my thesis.”

Jiang Yi looked at him in disbelief, eyes widening: “Revise your thesis?!”

Liu He nodded, sat down at the desk, opened his computer, and began revising.

He entered study mode instantly.

Jiang Yi was puzzled, utterly confused.

This guy had just met his online boyfriend in real life, how could he still have the mindset to revise his thesis?

They were all graduate students, but why was Liu He so relentlessly hardworking²?

Jiang Yi simply couldn’t understand.

He even wanted to drag Liu He into playing games all night, talking through love strategies, analyzing pros and cons of dating, and sharing his own “master of romance” experience.

But this guy didn’t care one bit—he went straight into thesis revision.

Not even ten minutes after Liu He sat down, his phone rang—it was the special ringtone he had set for Yun Jingqiu.

His body moved on muscle memory: he picked up the phone, swiped the screen, and answered Yun Ge’s call.

“Did you get back to the dorm?” Yun Jingqiu asked.

Liu He: “Yes.”

“There’s some bad news, want to hear it?” Yun Jingqiu asked again.

Liu He nodded, then realized Yun Jingqiu couldn’t see that, so he opened his mouth: “What bad news?”

“I brought the pastries you gave me back to the hotel, but right at the door Wang Ge stopped me. He snatched away half of them, leaving me only two boxes, saying it was only because I finally managed to date you that he was willing to spare me those.” Yun Jingqiu spoke angrily. “He even said he’ll check every day to see how much I’ve eaten, and that I’m not allowed to finish them all tonight!”

“He even said—” Yun Jingqiu was so angry he had to pause, take a deep breath, then continue. “He said I already ate a lot of high-calorie food tonight, so I’m not allowed to eat the pastries you gave me!”

“After so many years in this industry, my counter-surveillance skills still can’t outsmart Wang Ge.”

Yun Jingqiu admitted his utter defeat.

Listening to his complaints, Liu He’s lips curved into a smile, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

The thesis on his screen was completely ignored; he only wanted to listen to Yun Jingqiu’s voice.

After a while, he responded: “Next time I come to City A, I’ll buy more and secretly give them to you.”

Yun Jingqiu sounded regretful: “It’s fine, Wang Ge can’t stop me forever.”

Then his voice paused, shifting into one tinged with grievance and careful hope: “Xiao He, can I video call you?”

Liu He froze, his hand hovering over the keyboard, unable to type another word.

This was Yun Jingqiu’s first time inviting him for a video call. Ever since they had known each other, it had always been voice calls, never video.

But now that they had met in real life, knowing each other’s faces, something felt different.

They were closer than before.

“Alright,” Liu He said.

Jiang Yi, hiding behind his bed curtain, was eavesdropping, itching with curiosity.

Rationally, he knew he shouldn’t interrupt the couple’s call. But that was his idol.

Clutching the fountain pen, he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He couldn’t interrupt the couple—he was a qualified fan. Having received a gift personally from his idol, even having dinner with him, that was already more than most fans could dream of.

He should be satisfied and not interrupt them.

“Xiao He, do you want to see my abs? You didn’t get to touch them at dinner earlier, but you can look now.”

Jiang Yi instantly threw back his bed curtain, put on his shoes, and stormed over, glaring directly at Liu He.

Liu He looked back at him.

Jiang Yi gritted his teeth: “I’m leaving. You can sleep alone in the dorm tonight!”

He was afraid if he stayed longer, he’d hear something unsuitable for minors.

“Why are you leaving? Didn’t you say you’d sleep in the dorm tonight?” Liu He asked in confusion. “I’ll just video call from bed, you don’t need to hide.”

“No, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist peeking at your video call,” Jiang Yi admitted. “I’ll go back. Xu Yi is urging me to come home anyway.”

“Someone’s with you?” A voice came from the phone.

Liu He: “It was Jiang Yi, but he just left.”

After saying that, Jiang Yi really did leave the dorm.

The place he rented with Xu Yi was just outside the school gate, only a two-minute walk.

Liu He set up the phone, then decided to switch the video call onto his computer.

The screen lit up with Yun Jingqiu’s handsome face.

“Now you can take it off,” Liu He ordered.

Yun Jingqiu still wasn’t reassured. He asked, “Are you sure you’re alone in the dorm? If me being shirtless makes it onto the trending searches, Wang Ge will skin me alive.”

Liu He chuckled: “It’s just me.”

With that assurance, Yun Jingqiu didn’t hesitate. He took off his shirt immediately.

A perfect physique was displayed on screen.

Liu He had seen countless fitness influencers online, but he swore, none of them had a body like Yun Ge’s.

No wonder his body fat percentage was in the single digits—how could anyone not be dazed by this?

Yun Jingqiu’s muscles weren’t overly bulky, nor just a thin layer—they were well-proportioned.

His chest muscles were impressive. Why hadn’t Liu He noticed them at dinner?

His abs were distinct too—Liu He counted—eight.

His Adonis belt3 ran downwards, disappearing into his pants. Liu He felt a pang of regret not seeing further.

Regret?

He wasn’t some pervert!

He tried to justify himself, but still blurted out: “Your body’s amazing. I want to touch it.”

His eyes couldn’t leave the screen, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Even Yun Jingqiu’s handsome face couldn’t pull his gaze away from that torso.

A slender hand with sharp joints ran across those abs, caressing upwards, then sliding lower.

Liu He stared, imagining it as his own hand.

The warmth, the elasticity of skin, the muscles rising and falling with each breath…

It was too tempting.

“Little perv, your drool’s falling.”

Liu He instinctively wiped at his mouth—but found nothing.

Looking back at Yun Jingqiu’s face, he saw that smug, victorious smile.

He had actually fallen for such a simple trick!

Truly, beauty is a deadly trap.

“I touched it for you,” Yun Jingqiu said. “Next time, Xiao He, you’ll touch it yourself?”

Liu He nodded: “Okay.”

Next time, he would.

Yun Jingqiu didn’t bother putting his shirt back on. He just kept chatting with Liu He like that.

It was Liu He’s first video call with Yun Jingqiu, and such a daring one at that. His eyes didn’t know where to rest.

Even his thesis lay forgotten on the desk.

On screen, Yun Jingqiu opened the pastries Liu He had bought. Only two boxes remained—the other two confiscated by his agent Wang Ge.

Luckily, the signature butterfly cookies4 were still there.

He took one, biting it, the other hand holding underneath to catch crumbs.

They were flaky and crisp; even with a hand catching them, some crumbs still fell—onto his chest muscles.

Liu He’s eyes locked there immediately.

He couldn’t tell if Yun Jingqiu did it deliberately to tease him, or if it was just an accident.

But there was no denying—he was teased.

The crumbs slid down his chest, and Liu He thought it was a shame.

He even felt the impulse to eat them.

Realizing that thought, Liu He shook his head furiously. He wasn’t a pervert!

But humans are naturally drawn to beauty. If he paused when scrolling past fitness models online, how could he not be struck dumb by such real-life perfection?

“It’s delicious.” Yun Jingqiu said after finishing one.

Seeing Xiao He staring without blinking, as if dazed, he curled his lips in delight, his thin lips opening just slightly: “What are you looking at?”

“Calling you a little perv wasn’t wrong, was it? Is it really that good-looking?” he teased again.

Liu He snapped back to his senses, hurriedly averting his gaze, though he still stole glances at the screen.

“I’m looking at my thesis, not you,” he tried to cover up.

Yun Jingqiu didn’t expose him: “Alright, not me.”

Staring like that really was impolite—even if the other person was your boyfriend.

Boyfriend?

Liu He suddenly realized—until today, they had only been in an online relationship.

Now that they had met in person, were they officially a couple?

He asked outright: “Yun Ge, what’s our relationship now?”

Yun Jingqiu: “The kind of relationship where you can look at my body and touch my abs?”

Seeing Xiao He’s slightly sad expression, he stopped teasing.

“What do you think we are? Unless you plan to abandon me and find someone else? You’ve seen my body—now you have to take responsibility.”

“You were the one who showed me first,” Liu He retorted.

“You sound like a playboy right now.”

“I’m not!” Liu He snapped.

He definitely wasn’t a playboy. But hearing Yun Jingqiu’s words, his mood lifted, and he couldn’t help but ask again: “So we’re really a couple now?”

“We could just skip ahead and get married,” Yun Jingqiu replied.

Liu He smiled, his almond eyes sparkling, his clean, handsome face dazzling to behold.

“I’m filming a historical martial-arts drama right now. Do you want to visit the set?” Yun Jingqiu asked.

Liu He was tempted.

He blinked, then sighed regretfully: “Not in the next few days. I have to finish revising my thesis for my advisor. I’m submitting it to a journal.”

“After that, it’ll be new experiments, then more thesis writing…”

It felt like an endless cycle.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he asked: “How long will you be in City C? I’ll find time to visit.”

Yun Jingqiu sighed dramatically—what kind of couple just met in person, but already had to wait so long to see each other again?

“About half a month, depending on filming progress. Might finish earlier, or later.”

Liu He: “Then I’ll come in a few days, and bring Jiang Yi with me.”

“Why bring a third wheel when you’re already here?” Yun Jingqiu muttered.

“Forget that for now. Do you want to keep looking at my abs?”

Liu He instinctively answered: “I already am.”

“What about the rest?”

Liu He: “What?”

Yun Ge was already shirtless, what else was there to see?

Even as he thought that, his eyes kept wandering lower.

Footnotes:

1. “Delivering charcoal in the snow” (雪中送炭) — A Chinese idiom meaning providing timely help when it’s most needed.
2. “卷” (juǎn) — A slang word among Chinese students meaning “overly competitive, always working harder than others.” Here Jiang Yi complains that Liu He is too diligent.

3. Adonis belt (人鱼线) — Slang for the V-shaped muscle lines running from the hips down toward the groin.
4. Butterfly cookies (蝴蝶酥) — A flaky pastry, also known as “palmiers,” common in Chinese bakeries.