I can still salvage it chapter 33
Being with you
After finishing lunch, Shen Yu and her mother decided to go shopping, while Shen Changhe had made plans with his colleagues to discuss the latest manuscript. Only Pei Zhiyi and Shen Mian were left in the house to continue working on their assignments. Pei Zhiyi had actually finished his assignments earlier and was now working on the competition questions and additional problems.
Shen Yu had urged Pei Zhiyi to join them for shopping as he wasn’t as occupied with his homework but Shen Mian had immediately expressed his displeasure as he wasn’t ready to be separated from Pei Zhiyi.
“Stop daydreaming about your ‘Brother Pei,’ there are so many attractive people out there. Try to find me a brother-in-law as soon as possible.” he casually teased his sister. He was definitely not a reliable older brother, encouraging his sister to start dating early.
Shen Yu sneered, “With the kind of boys at our school? No thanks, I’m better off without them.”
In truth, she was just teasing Shen Mian and had no real intention of taking Pei Zhiyi with them. After putting on her boots, she hurriedly left, but before leaving, she still had some conscience and asked her brother, “Do you want me to bring you any snacks?”
Shen Mian waved his hand, “no thanks, just buy yourself some cake.”
With only the two of them left in the house, Shen Mian didn’t return to his room but sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room to do his homework. He glanced at Pei Zhiyi’s competition questions and read them three times but couldn’t even understand the problem statement. He honestly gave up and set it aside.
Pei Zhiyi was multitasking, alternating between solving questions and stealing glances at Shen Mian. As a result, he casually scanned Shen Mian’s work and noticed that he had gotten four out of ten questions wrong.
However, Shen Mian was still unaware of his mistakes and felt quite satisfied with his work.
He had decided that he would start studying seriously. It’s said that men only think about bettering themselves only after starting a family, and that statement was indeed true.
Just the thought of Pei Zhiyi gave him the motivation to study. After all, he was going to the same university as Pei Zhiyi in the same district.
When the time came , he imagined he would go find Pei Zhiyi right after school, go to the supermarket at the street corner to buy fruits, vegetables, and snacks for the day, and then the two of them would hold hands and go home to cook.
As he thought about it, he couldn’t help but smile, and Pei Zhiyi glanced at him, asking, “What are you smiling about?”
Shen Mian’s tone was a bit dreamy, filled with the breath of spring in the cold winter. “I’m thinking about how we’ll live together after we go to university.”
He didn’t feel embarrassed at all. His ears were red from blushing , and his eyes sparkled as he looked at Pei Zhiyi.
Pei Zhiyi’s heart melted under his gaze. He stopped doing his work and joined him in daydreaming, “We’ll have to buy a house with a large floor-to-ceiling window. We’ll lay a carpet in front of the window for you. Inside the house, we’ll have a game room and a screening room for you, but you can’t stay up late to play.”
He had seriously considered it. Although they were still far from joining university, he had thought countless times about what kind of home he would give to his precious Mianmian if he was fortunate enough to win his heart.
Shen Mian held a pen against his cheek, grinning foolishly. “And I want to have a cat, preferably a dog too. The best of both worlds.”
The more Shen Mian thought about it, the happier he became. For the first time, he was so eager to go to university.
He leaned on the table, stretched lazily, and leaned on Pei Zhiyi. “I wish I could graduate right now.”
Pei Zhiyi stroked his hair, like petting a cat.
He lowered his head and looked at Shen Mian, who closed his eyes and leaned against his chest. He was so well-behaved and soft, as if he would go with him to the ends of the earth.
But he still wasn’t satisfied.
He asked Shen Mian softly, “If one day our relationship is out in the open, and our families want us to break up, would you still stay with me?”
He had never been optimistic or positive. With each step he took, he always prepared for the worst.
Shen Mian’s parents were very open-minded, but being open-minded didn’t necessarily mean they would allow their own son to be with him.
At that time, would Shen Mian still live with him in the same apartment, raise a pair of cats and dogs, and hold hands while grocery shopping?
He couldn’t be sure.
Shen Mian’s eyes popped open.
Pei Zhiyi still stroked his hair, his gaze calm as he looked at him, but there was an undercurrent of anxiety in his eyes.
Shen Mian lifted his hand and gently touched Pei Zhiyi’s face.
“Are you silly?” Shen Mian rarely had the chance to scold Pei Zhiyi. “Even if you come out for someone else, I’m willing to take a beating for you, let alone when it’s for me?”
“If that day really comes, whether it’s getting beaten or being kicked out , I’ll be with you. My parents are soft-hearted. If they don’t agree at once, I’ll pester them for a day. If they don’t agree in a year, I’ll pester them for a year and they will eventually give in.”
Pei Zhiyi was stunned.
He understood now that Shen Mian’s words weren’t just a spur-of-the-moment response. He had truly thought about their future and made the decision not to let go of him no matter what.
Shen Mian continued, “the one I’m worried about is actually your dad. You’re so intelligent, yet you were lured by someone like me. Your parents will be even more angry.”
As soon as he thought about that, he dared not lean on Pei Zhiyi anymore. He quickly got up and continued doing his homework.
“I suddenly regret not studying hard,” he looked at the questions with a hint of worry and asked Pei Zhiyi, “If I were more smart, would your parents feel more at ease entrusting you to me?”
Pei Zhiyi smiled, turned Shen Mian’s face towards him, and kissed him on the cheek.
“You’re already very smart.”
When it came to important matters in life, Shen Mian was never clueless.
Pei Zhiyi understood Shen Mian and could tell when he was joking and when he was speaking from the heart.
Like the words just now, even if they were kicked out of their homes, Shen Mian wouldn’t give up on him. It was truly heartfelt and sincere.
………..
Shen Mian’s serious studying lasted for several days. He wasn’t really dumb, just had difficulty focusing and always wanted to sneak in some playtime.
But now he had the motivation to study—writing one more question today would make it easier to come out tomorrow.
Even teacher Ding was a bit shocked because Shen Mian had improved by three places in the weekend test. Although the ranking wasn’t outstanding, he had been slowly progressing in several consecutive exams.
teacher Ding wanted to encourage him with a few words but was afraid of praising Shen Mian too much and making him proud. It might have the opposite effect, so he cautiously said, “Maintain this attitude and strive to move up a few more places by the end of term. If you can advance by ten places, I’ll give you less homework over the winter vacation.”
He then addressed the entire class, “The same goes for your winter vacation homework, it will be assigned based on your end-of-term rankings.”
Some in the class groaned, some were filled with joy, and some took advantage of the chaos to snack on some treats.
Shen Mian, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, exuding the demeanor of a seasoned general.
Mainly because he had no deire to make trouble anymore.
Recently, he had been enjoying a warm and sweet life. Not only did he have a handsome boyfriend like Pei Zhiyi, but even system 007 seemed to have undergone a transformation overnight. The rewards for completing missions were generously given, as if they were throwing a party.
He would get 3 points for holding hands with Pei Zhiyi, another 3 points if Pei Zhiyi bought him a meal, and additional points if he helped Pei Zhiyi zip up his pants.
Although system 007’s voice remained cold and distant, Shen Mian could sense a touch of warmth in it.
He felt that despite 007’s constant sarcasm and ridicule, the “person” behind it wasn’t that bad.
But there was a species barrier between them, and Shen Mian didn’t know how to express gratitude to 007.
007 remained indifferent to this, calmly stating, “Allowing me to complete the mission and be relieved of this responsibility soon will already be a reward for me. I’ve spent enough time on your Earth.”
Shen Mian thought to himself, “Am I not more eager to complete the mission than you? My life is at stake in this relationship.”
But perhaps because he had been living too comfortably lately, even the heavens found it displeasing and decided to add some romantic chaos in his life.
During a certain self-study session, Pei Zhiyi was called out by teacher Ding for a chat. When he came back, he announced some unfortunate news to Shen Mian—starting from the top 30 of the grade, they would have to go to another classroom for self-study and attend additional supplementary classes.
He realized that the biggest obstacle on his path of love was indeed his poor academic performance compared to that of Pei Zhiyi.
Thinking about this, he cast a resentful glance at teacher Ding, thinking, “If you really care about me, just quickly bring back my boyfriend.”
But that was just wishful thinking.
Pei Zhiyi’s evening self-study sessions were arranged by the school, and the subjects he studied were different from theirs.
…
After finishing his assignments one by one, by 9:30 PM, all the other students had left, leaving only him outside the Pei Zhiyi’s classroom.
Pei Zhiyi’s evening self-study ended half an hour later than his, so he didn’t wait at the window but stood in the corner of the corridor instead.
That spot was a bit chilly, but he could see Pei Zhiyi from there.
He didn’t think it was boring to wait for Pei Zhiyi. He plugged in his headphones and started watching videos. When he looked up again, he noticed that it had started snowing outside the corridor, seemingly out of nowhere.
It was the first snow of the year, arriving unexpectedly, but with great momentum. It was not the delicate, scattered kind of snow, but large, goose feather-like snowflakes that quickly formed a thin layer on the railing.
So by the time Pei Zhiyi finished class and came out, Shen Mian had already built a small snowman the size of half a palm on the railing.
While the other students were still discussing the recently assigned homework, Pei Zhiyi’s eyes were focused only on Shen Mian, who was standing by the railing.
And as if there was a telepathic connection between them, Shen Mian turned his head and saw Pei Zhiyi. His face was red from the cold, but he happily bounced over, offering his hand to Pei Zhiyi like a precious gift.
“It’s for you.” He placed the small snowman in Pei Zhiyi’s hand. “It just started snowing, so I made one casually.”
The snowman was rough, with eyes and a nose drawn with a pen, giving it an improvised and somewhat shabby appearance.
But Pei Zhiyi understood why Shen Mian wanted to give him a snowman.
Ever since they were young, Pei Zhiyi had always been possessive. When they were in kindergarten, Shen Mian had given his self-made snowman to other little girls, which made Pei Zhiyi so angry that he ignored him for three days straight.
Shen Mian could only promise him that in the future, he would be the first person Shen Mian thought of in such matters.
Now that they were older, Shen Mian had matured and became reasonable. But he still remembered.
Perhaps everyone else would think that it was just a childish joke, something not to be taken seriously. But Shen Mian would remember every little detail about him.
“It looks good.” Pei Zhiyi accepted the small snowman, took Shen Mian’s hand, and started walking outside. He said in a low voice, “Next time, don’t wait here. Wait inside the classroom.”
Shen Mian obediently responded, “Okay.”
The two of them walked back to the dormitory together in the heavy snowfall.
The school was quiet, with only a few occasional noises. Their shadows under the streetlights stretched and intertwined, as if they would never separate.