Chapter 41 – BigAwesome1’S Worries

When Zou Shun heard Xu Xiran’s voice on the other end of the line, he immediately laughed.

“You seem busy,” he said, “Let’s talk later.”

Fang Mo hung up the phone, and quickly went to care for his sweetheart whose face was full of despair.

“Did you look carefully? Are you sure it’s nowhere to be found?”

“It’s gone, I’ve looked everywhere,” Xu Xiran had a mournful expression, “I’ve already collected sixteen points on that.”

There were only twenty checkboxes for the point collection card. In order to get the second keychain as soon as possible, these days, Fang Mo had been forced to drink many overly sweet milk teas in cooperation. Hearing that his efforts have gone to waste, he couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

“Think again. Did you take out your student ID card today?” He asked.

Xu Xiran thought back for a moment, “I took it out when I was eating lunch, and I took it out to collect some more points when I treated others to milk tea this morning…”

“Who did you treat?” Fang Mo’s focus began to shift, “Who did you treat to milk tea?”

Xu Xiran sighed at him, “I treated our class beauty.”

Fang Mo remembered this girl. Since eating mala soup together that day, the two haven’t communicated with each other. Fang Mo originally felt a little guilty, but now that he heard that Xu Xiran had treated her to milk tea alone, he felt a little upset.

“What’s the situation with you and her?” he tried hard to have a look of concern.

“It was to apologize,” Xu Xiran said, “Those roommates of yours really have big mouths. She now believes that the reason I asked her to go to dinner with you that day was because I wanted to chase you, and that I deliberately dragged her in as a tease, and that I was using her. She came to denounce me for my crimes.”

Fang Mo was stunned for a moment before repeating dumbfoundedly, “…You’re, you’re what now?”

“That I’m chasing you,” Xu Xiran said, as he began to deeply sigh again, “320 yuan all gone.”

A cup of milk tea costed 20 yuan. Xu Xiran never drank it himself and only treated whoever he could find, which could be said that he was an example of buying a wooden box and returning the pearls inside1. The class beauty thought that Xu Xiran had dragged her to dinner that day to use her, when in fact, the real exploitation was to buy her milk tea as an apology.

Xu Xiran had ulterior motives and was met by karma.

“Do you want to go to the milk tea shop to look around?” Fang Mo suggested, “Maybe someone picked it up and kept it for you.”

With a bit of hope left, Xu Xiran still refused to give up, and immediately planned to go to check. Just as he took a step, he turned back.

“What do you want for dinner? I’ll bring it back for you along the way.” He said.

 

~

 

Xu Xiran’s biggest heartache was probably not the 320 yuan of money poured down the drain. Willing to spend 400 yuan for an acrylic keychain, and thinking that one wasn’t enough, he clearly wasn’t a frugal person. Throughout the time that he had known him, Fang Mo gathered that Xu Xiran was probably well off in terms of money, at least more than him.

Fang Mo himself was not hard-pressed for money. His parents believed in a happy upbringing and didn’t ask for too much of him. They didn’t spoil him but they were very fond of him, and were quite generous with his pocket money. His piles of clothing and skincare products all together did not come cheap.

But compared to Xu Xiran and his figurines, he paled in comparison2.

Fang Mo had only seen a few of them as most of Xu Xiran’s collection was hidden away in his closet, all with very exquisite and indecent designs. One more look and Fang Mo’s love for Xu Xiran would reduce by one point.

Xu Xiran had shown the rest of his collection to Fang Mo in photos. He had a glass cabinet at home completely packed with three floors of eye-catching figurines, and it was a magnificent sight.

Later on, Fang Mo specifically went and looked up the prices for a few of them, and the results were astonishing. What was even scarier was that Xu Xiran had the habit of buying two of everything. One was used to display in his glass cabinet while the other was kept still unpacked in its box. 

But looking at his other expenses, he really didn’t seem like part of the rich second generation3. Other than his shoes, he didn’t wear any name brands on his body, and his laptop looked expensive but the model of his phone seemed old. 

Fang Mo gathered that his family background was probably considered quite good amongst ordinary people. It was able to support his money-burning hobby within a certain limit, but it was not enough to allow him to spend freely to his heart’s desire.

But there was one thing that Fang Mo couldn’t figure out. In his impression, Xu Xiran was already at his dormitory for a while before school started. From his accent, he was most likely a local, and since he had lived on campus for two years, there was no need for him to arrive ahead of time to familiarize himself with the environment, so why didn’t he comfortably stay at home?

Although he was curious, Xu Xiran never took the initiative to bring up such private matters, and so Fang Mo never felt it was his place to ask. He was afraid that if he ran into some difficulties, he would touch a sore spot and make him unhappy.

For things like family background, if later on, they end up in another kind of relationship, he would understand sooner or later.

Right now, Fang Mo felt that he should be more concerned about Xu Xiran’s point card. Xu Xiran was clearly not at the point of buying twenty cups of milk tea in one go and throwing it away without feeling distressed. Even if he didn’t drink it himself, he still had to find someone to drink it for him, as he didn’t want it to go to waste.

Fang Mo was willing to spend money and was willing to sacrifice a few drinks for love, but it would be impossible for him to consume that much in one go. The chances of finding Xu Xiran’s collection point card were too slim, and the collection point exchange had a time limit, so he believed that there would be a lot of trouble in the next few days.

 

~

 

Fang Mo was in his dorm waiting for his dinner as he let his imagination run wild, while another person in the room was pacing around non-stop.

Liu Xiaochang had already walked around the room twice, and then took some more steps into the bathroom. But he didn’t go to the bathroom nor did he close the door after going in. He simply looked at himself in the mirror and used the faucet a few times, and when he came out, his hair was slightly wet, clearly styled from his hands.

This made Fang Mo very curious. Although he still didn’t like him that much, it was inevitable that he was concerned about his abnormal behavior.

He pretended to look at his phone, but his gaze kept drifting towards Liu Xiaochang. He wanted to ask but felt that he didn’t want to lose face. He held back for a while until Liu Xiaochang came out of the bathroom again and looked straight at him.

Their four eyes met, and Fang Mo had wanted to evade his sight, but then saw the other party smiling at him.

This smile seemed different than before, and it carried a hint of shyness, which greatly shocked Fang Mo.

Liu Xiaochang lightly coughed, “So… can you do me a favor? Can I consult with you?”

Fang Mo finally had the chance to ask, “What is it?”

Liu Xiaochang pulled up his chair and sat down in front of him, but when he opened his mouth, the topic was quite embarrassing: “If I’m not wrong, you’re a 0, right?”

“…” Fang Mo felt a bit stiff, “What do you want?”

You are reading story I Treat You as a Brother at novel35.com

“Don’t get me wrong, I just want to ask for your opinion.” Liu Xiaochang said, “You’re a 0, right?”

“I… am probably not considered one,” Fang Mo’s eyes fluttered, “I’m a 0.5.”

Seeing Liu Xiaochang still looking at him without saying a word, Fang Mo felt more guilty, and continued to patch himself up: “The guy in my family was originally a straight man… In short, I’ll have to sacrifice a bit. What exactly do you want to ask?”

Liu Xiaochang was not only shy, but even a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat again, then reached out his hand to brush his hair back, and asked nervously, “If I pull my hair back like this, does it make me look more manly?”

“……”

No, you still look cute.

But this was definitely not the answer Liu Xiaochang wanted to hear. Fang Mo pitied him for a moment, but didn’t say anything.

Liu Xiaochang fixed his bangs: “Or does it look better if I have some of it down like this? Which one looks more masculine?”

After he messed with his bangs, a few strands of hair hung down on his forehead, and he looked even more pitiful.

With Liu Xiaochang’s appearance, no matter how he messes with his hairstyle, there was no way to make him look more masculine. Fang Mo felt that if he was a pure 0, relying on his pretty face would definitely make a difference in dating a straight man.

It was unfortunate that God liked to mess with people.

Fang Mo was a person who was open to persuasion but not to coercion. In the beginning, Liu Xiaochang had always looked calm and skillful in front of him, which made him feel annoyed inside.

But now that Liu Xiaochang has suddenly shown a softer side of him, Fang Mo couldn’t help but also feel softhearted too.

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak and his expression was tangled, Liu Xiaochang guessed his response, and immediately looked distressed. He scratched his hair irritably, and asked again: “What if I just get a buzzcut, would that be better?”

Fang Mo pondered for a while, then gave a tactful but pertinent thought, “That might make you look like a middle school student.”

“…Fuck,” Liu Xiaochang leaned on the back of the chair and sighed, “I’ll just go and get plastic surgery.”

Fang Mo thought in his mind, plastic surgery is probably not enough. He’ll also need to cut a part of his leg and attach another section to it. But if he really increased his height by 20 centimeters, it would undoubtedly make his figure look even slimmer and weaker.

His so-called soul was simply put in the wrong container.

But this kind of issue didn’t just appear today, so why did Liu Xiaochang suddenly stress about this now? Fang Mo felt that there was only one reason.

“Do you… like someone?” he asked.

When Liu Xiaochang heard this, his expression immediately lit up again.

“I’m just casually asking.” He stood up and walked back to the bathroom. “Don’t think so blindly.”

Fang Mo hated this appearance of his the most and felt annoyed, so he ignored him. No matter who he was interested in, it was probably hopeless anyway.

After a while, Liu Xiaochang came out of the bathroom, walked to his bed, and collapsed down.

Fang Mo heard another sigh.

“You… how about you try putting on some makeup?” He finally couldn’t help it, and made a suggestion.

“Hah?” Liu Xiaochang turned his head to look at him, “Wouldn’t that make me look more feminine?”

As a gay guy, he still had a straight man’s kind of misunderstanding. Fang Mo shook his head exasperatedly, and explained to him in another way, “Male actors also need to put on makeup if they go on stage, don’t they? Just think of it as putting on a disguise, you can draw the shape of your eyebrows to be more masculine or something.”

Liu Xiaochang heard the words and sat up, “Do you know how?”

“Of course I don’t,” Fang Mo said, “I don’t wear makeup.”

Seeing Liu Xiaochang looking at him and hesitating to speak, Fang Mo added: “Do I look like I need that kind of enhancement?”

Liu Xiaochang was speechless.

“But, if you tell me exactly what you’re up to, I might be able to find someone who can help you.”

There were many capable people in Xu Xiran’s club, and there were many girls who played male roles. Fang Mo also had a good chat with one of them who was good at makeup, and once he exchanged contact information, he could find help.

Liu Xiaochang was noticeably moved. He hesitated for a while, then said, “Don’t laugh when I tell you.”

Fang Mo already wanted to laugh. He forced himself to hold back and nodded, “Mn, mn!”

“…I have a date.” Liu Xiaochang said very vaguely.

“Ah? With who? Do you have a boyfriend now?” Fang Mo was a bit surprised, “Wait, wait… have you never met him before?”

If the person already knew what he looked like, there was no need for a temporary remedy.

“I’ve never met before.” Liu Xiaochang smiled awkwardly, “I met him online.”

Fang Mo nodded: “I see…”

“I like him a lot. I’m scared that he’ll be disappointed once he meets me. I want to make the best first impression that I can.” Once Liu Xiaochang said this, he began to sigh again, “It’s really hard for me.”

Just as Fang Mo wanted to comfort him, a scary thought suddenly occurred to him.

“When’s your date?” he asked aloud.

Liu Xiaochang didn’t understand, but he answered honestly and immediately: “This weekend.”

 

 

1

An idiom that means to show poor judgment

2

The idiom here literally translates to a small magician in the presence of a great one

3

Children of entrepreneurs who became wealthy under Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms in the 1980s

You can find story with these keywords: I Treat You as a Brother, Read I Treat You as a Brother, I Treat You as a Brother novel, I Treat You as a Brother book, I Treat You as a Brother story, I Treat You as a Brother full, I Treat You as a Brother Latest Chapter