Chapter 21 – It’s All Strategy

Xu Xiran had previously thought of this scenario before. If Professor Xu came to talk to Fang Mo after class, he would block Fang Mo back, who was too naive and not good at dealing with these situations.

He also thought about how to express himself in a way so that it wouldn’t be too rude yet clearly convey Fang Mo’s dislike for the professor’s behavior.

His original intention and purpose was to be honest and frank, but at this moment, he couldn’t say a word. Not only that, he also felt a little embarrassed, and even overwhelmed.

When Professor Xu nodded at the two of them with a smile, Xu Xiran said in his head:

“Kill me now, are we a couple in his eyes now?”

Although in his heart, he was critical of Fang Mo’s manipulation, since it had come to this point, he couldn’t reveal Fang Mo’s truth and could only bravely accept this misunderstanding.

“Long time no see,” Professor Xu said to him proactively, “You’re not in this class, how come you’re suddenly here to listen?”

Xu Xiran had also thought about how to deal with this question.

I came here not to listen to your class but to accompany my friend. I didn’t expect to meet you, Professor Xu. Haven’t seen you in a while, are you still this concerned about your students in private?

The meaning was there, it was deliberately ambiguous, and the other party should be able to understand the tone behind the words.

But now, Xu Xiran felt that if he said this, it could be taken as “Old man, are you hitting on my wife?!”

He was having such a breakdown that he couldn’t speak. 

Seeing Xu Xiran stunned, Fang Mo hurriedly said, “What, Professor Xu, do you know him?”

“Has he not mentioned it to you?” Professor Xu said with a smile, “I think it was last year? I taught his class before.”

Fang Mo turned his head and glanced at Xu Xiran.

The atmosphere became very weird. Xu Xiran felt awkward, and thought that something didn’t feel right, as if an undercurrent that he couldn’t understand was frantically surging.

“He came to accompany me in class,” Fang Mo added, “We’re going to have dinner together later. So…”

While speaking, he raised his hand and loosely put it on Xu Xiran’s arm. The gesture was a little intimate, but not too out of the ordinary for friends of the same sex.

Professor Xu quietly watched where his hand fell, and after a while, his eyes fell on Xu Xiran’s face again. He nodded and said, “Very nice, go along.”

 

~

 

After finally walking away, before Xu Xiran could speak, Fang Mo went ahead and complained.

“What the hell were you doing there? Standing there like a fool, making me nervous to death!”

“I…” Xu Xiran didn’t know what to say, and raised his hand and gestured twice, “It was just… just very awkward.”

Fang Mo frowned, “What was there to be awkward about?”

“The way he looked at us just now, it was clear that he thought we were… like that?”

He didn’t know if Fang Mo was actually dumb or pretending to be dumb, “Like what?”

“Like we’re dating,” Xu Xiran said. “Aiya, I can’t. Saying this now even makes me feel embarrassed. This was not my original plan.”

He came here to cover for his friend, not to declare war on a rival in love. What he wanted to express was that my xiongdi is as straight as me and woould only make two parallel lines with anyone of the same sex, not this handsome guy you fancy has been entangled with me, you’re too late, don’t think even think about it.

“…The plan couldn’t keep up with the changes,” Fang Mo said. “The result is the same anyway.”

 Xu Xiran sighed deeply, “Ai, I am a good young man, I didn’t think that one day I would be so misunderstood by others.”

After he finished speaking, he laughed in a self-deprecating manner, glanced at Fang Mo again, then suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Fang Mo’s expression looked a little unhappy.

“What’s wrong?” He quickly said, “I’m not offended and I’m not criticizing you, so you don’t need to think too much about it.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Fang Mo asked.

 “…It’s really not that bad,” Xu Xiran said, “It’s just, eh… a little…”

“It’s disgusting, right?” Fang Mo muttered in a low voice, “You’re a grown man, and being misunderstood like this made you uncomfortable.”

Xu Xiran was even more embarrassed, “I just didn’t know how to act with you just now. If someone suddenly misunderstood that I was in a relationship with a girl, I would also be just as dumbfounded.”

Fang Mo glanced at him, then shook his head and sighed, “I’m so handsome that even if I’m misunderstood this way, I wouldn’t feel wronged by you.”

“……”

“Men and women who want to gossip about me can wrap around this school building.” Fang Mo said.

 “……”

 “You actually hate this.”

 “…Fuck,” Xu Xiran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Are you that lowly?”

He couldn’t help but laugh after saying that. It was an exaggeration, but it was also true that Fang Mo was indeed popular. This guy was getting more and more unrestrained in his words and deeds in front of him. If he kept this up, Xu Xiran no longer had to worry about him as much.

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“Don’t you remember? You proposed this idea to me yourself before.” Fang Mo asked him.

“What did I propose?”

“It was not long after I moved here, when no one else was in my dorm except for me and Liu Xiaochang,” Fang Mo said, “You said that if Liu Xiaochang thought we were a couple, he might stop harassing us.”

“Ah, I said that?” Xu Xiran was surprised.

Most of the time, the things he casually said didn’t really go through his head and he had no impression of his unintentional remarks, and so he didn’t expect Fang Mo to remember them.

“Yeah, you said that,” Fang Mo emphasized, “I thought about it later, and thought that you really had a point.”

“Eh…”

“See, that xuedi of yours disappeared immediately after a misunderstanding, right?” Fang Mo began to give an example.

Xu Xiran nodded, “Indeed.”

“Professor Xu too just now,” Fang Mo said. “He must have waited for us to come out to make sure. When he really thought we were in a relationship, he let it go right away, didn’t he?”

“…Mn.” Xu Xiran continued to nod.

“In the time that Liu Xiaochang and I have been living together, he hasn’t done anything to me since that incident,” Fang Mo said, “It must be because he saw us approaching and mistakenly thought we were a couple.”

 Xu Xiran frowned, “It’s that useful?”

“When you put it together, this method is really not that bad,” Fang Mo said, “We don’t even have to pretend anything. People who have this tendency will naturally overthink. Just be a little ambiguous and then deliberately not explain, and they’ll misunderstand.”

“But… to be seen as gay will always feel a little weird, right?” Xu Xiran still couldn’t get over this psychological barrier.

“Don’t worry about that, it’s not like we need to come out publicly, and most ordinary people won’t misunderstand,” Fang Mo said, “We only need to act in front of people who seem suspicious, that’s all.”

Xu Xiran frowned, still a little hesitant, “What if some people who have no morals, who thought it was impossible get together with you, see us together and feel that they now have hope? What do we do then?”

“That’s easy enough,” Fang Mo waved his hand dismissively, “First off, is he as handsome as me?”

 “……”

“Certainly not,” Fang Mo asserted, “so since you already have me, can’t you be justified in looking down on him?”

“……”

“Does what I say make sense?” Fang Mo said.

“Yeah,” Xu Xiran said, “but why does it sound so bad?”

Fang Mo didn’t care, “I’m just not good at hypocrisy.”

“Do you still remember that when we first met, you told me in a private message that you were average in appearance.”

Fang Mo was stunned for a moment.

“Ai,” Xu Xiran sighed in a low voice, “At the time, after seeing your photo, I really thought that this person seemed a little hypocritical.”

Fang Mo cleared his throat, “I just wanted to be polite with you, don’t take it too seriously.”

 

~

 

Fang Mo’s proposal was well-founded and quite appealing.

It was just that Xu Xiran, as an iron straight man, inevitably felt entangled in his heart, so he hadn’t yet responded.

From his personal point of view, the school was such a big place, and people who have attempted against him have been exposed in the past two years, so there should not be any new troubles. Since the beginning of this semester, he has not once encountered this kind of problem, so for the time being, there was no need to go to such extremes.

Fang Mo was not in a hurry and said that he could take time to think about it.

“I’m not even shunning you, but you’re shunning me, how is that right?” He said to Xu Xiran before parting.

As the time between the two of them gradually increased, the guy’s face had become thicker and thicker. Xu Xiran of course didn’t feel disgusted, since only good friends could complain and joke like this with each other. Compared with his reserved appearance when they first met, the contrast of how Fang Mo was now gave Xu Xiran a real sense of “our relationship is very strong”.

It was a pity that Fang Mo clearly couldn’t act this way towards outsiders.

Today, when he faced Professor Xu in his downtime, Fang Mo felt cautious and was trembling when he had to speak. Looking back now, Xu Xiran felt a little bit of self-blame, and then fell into a predicament again.

For him, Fang Mo’s proposal was of little use. But for Fang Mo, it could be a lot of help, right? He couldn’t even deal with Liu Xiaochang before, and he was eaten like tofu by Yang Lin, who didn’t look that built or tall either. Professor Xu teased him in every class, and he always took it honestly.

Now that he already knew his struggles, and still stood by him, was he not already good enough of a friend?

 

 

Author’s note:

I still think it needs to be emphasized. There is no prototype for any character! I don’t know if there is such a look that can make all gay men fascinated in reality. I recommend that when you open this story, you can assume that there is one.

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