X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the ServerDuring the meal, he truly experienced what “setting people up” meant.
The last time on WeChat, what he hadn’t understood was child’s play.
A plate of fish came.
Xie Wan gave the fish head to Lin Chuji and the tail to her brother, her tone as calm as an AI.
“You eat the head, he eats the tail.
Feelings harmonious and beautiful.”
Lin Chuji: “…….”
He almost choked on a fish bone.
A bowl of soup came.
Xie Wan enthusiastically ladled out a bowl for each, striking again.
“One sip of soup, one sip of feeling.
After the soup, talk about feelings.”
Lin Chuji: “…….”
He coughed from choking on the soup.
A plate of shrimp came.
Xie Wan picked up a shrimp with her chopsticks for each, continuing her auspicious sayings from who knows where.
“You pick one, he picks one.
Sooner or later you’ll become one.”
Lin Chuji: “…….”
He didn’t dare move his chopsticks anymore.
So scary.
Shen Yinan, watching the show, was nearly laughing himself sick.
He couldn’t even eat.
He opened his memo and said, “Wanwan, your lines are great.
I need to write them down.
Next time you’re not here, I’ll help you be annoying.”
“I can extend them too.
Like this vegetable heart, this egg…
Everything can be a creation,” Shen Yibei happily joined in.
Xie Yan, used to this, ate his food without paying attention.
“Raising kids really is hard.
Thanks for your hard work,” Lin Chuji sighed softly.
After Xie Wan had her fun, she looked at the time and planned the afternoon.
“I know today is Friday.
You don’t have training in the afternoon.
So who’s free to take me to a bookstore?”
Xie Yan leaned back in his chair, looking at her inquisitively.
“You came all this way just to go to a bookstore?
What are you plotting?
If you want to do problems, I can give you some.
I guarantee you’ll be swimming in a sea of math at the hotel all afternoon.”
“You’re really annoying.
It’s not Xinhua Bookstore.
It’s a little independent bookstore.
I looked it up online earlier.
It’s nearby.”
Xie Wan teased, rarely acting cute.
“I came all this way.
Just spend some time with me.”
“The professor wants to see me this afternoon.
I’ll only have two hours to spend with you,” Xie Yan said, checking the time.
Lin Chuji, looked at so pleadingly by the young girl, had no resistance.
“I need to go to a lab to have something checked.
I’ll join you when I’m done.”
“Great.
One of you can keep me company for the first half, the other for the second half.
Perfect.”
Xie Wan smiled at him.
After the meal, they went their separate ways.
Lin Chuji took the tissue he had saved from last night to the testing center, wanting to find out what was in the milk.
His heart was uneasy.
The test would take about two hours.
Lin Chuji sat in the center’s corridor, searching online for information about Qin Yi.
There were only a few simple special admissions notices and competition news, but he found that his entry was linked to a painter named “Qin Zhishui.”
Lin Chuji muttered, “Qin Zhishui.
A painter in the family.
How come he never mentioned it?”
He clicked the link, which brought up several related news articles.
“Painter Qin convicted of child abduction, sentenced to five years.
Netizens comment: Extreme talent leads to extreme perversion.”
“Painter Qin Zhishui emigrates after release, settles in the UK, will no longer paint.”
“Inside Qin Zhishui: The fall of a gifted painter.”
Almost all were from several years ago—old news.
There was a photo from one of his exhibitions: a distinguished middle-aged man with eyebrows and eyes somewhat similar to Qin Yi’s.
Both surnamed Qin, both studied painting.
Were they relatives?
They had been neighbors for years, but he had never seen this person.
Lin Chuji found it very strange but couldn’t find any cracks. “Mr. Lin, the test results are ready,” a staff member came out to inform him.
“There is a small amount of sleep aid components, mainly to help with sleep.”
Lin Chuji nodded, took the report, and looked up.
“Thank you.
How much is there?”
“It’s not an sleeping pill, not enough to cause bodily harm.
However, you used a tissue to wipe it, so it might have been diluted somewhat,” the other party explained rigorously.
Was Qin Yi doing this because he knew Lin Chuji had trouble sleeping and wanted to help him rest better, or did he have other intentions?
Lin Chuji felt a splitting headache.
Without evidence and unclear of his intentions, he could only wait and see, and wait for him to show more cracks.
But regardless, he really should listen to his parents and stay away from him.
He quickly packed up the report and took a taxi to the bookstore address Xie Wan had sent him.
It was winding and hard to find.
When he arrived at the entrance, he found Xie Yan idly flipping through a pink comic book, looking exasperated and a bit disgusted.
He quietly walked over, patted his shoulder from behind, and teased, “So maidenly, Boss Xie.”
Xie Yan turned around, the corner of his lip slightly raised as he looked at him.
“What did you call me?”
He had just been following everyone else’s lead, but Xie Yan’s sudden emphasis made Lin Chuji flustered.
He bit his lip and said uncertainly, “Boss Xie… can’t I call you that?
That’s your WeChat name.”
From the time they met until now, he had always called Xie Yan by his full name.
He thought the name was very nice—simple, generous.
But saying the two syllables like that felt a bit distant.
So he wanted to learn how his other friends called him, as if that could bring them a little closer.
But this guy was too sharp when it came to details.
The first time he changed the address, he got caught.
Lin Chuji’s cheeks were a bit red, probably from the sun.
“I still prefer you calling me by my full name,” Xie Yan said, staring at him.
When Lin Chuji said his name, it was different from others.
His voice was cool, but the end was a bit soft.
When he said the character “Yan,” it sounded like unconscious cutesy.
Realizing what he was thinking, Xie Yan snapped out of it. “Call me whatever.
I don’t care.”
Lin Chuji immediately changed back.
“Then I’ll stick with Xie Yan, same as before.”
He thought glumly to himself, So Xie Yan doesn’t consider me a friend.
He won’t even let me call him by a nickname.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Xie Yan flipped through the gaudy comic book and cleared his throat.
“Look, ‘The Princess and the Pea’s Quest for Love.’
If you like it, I’ll buy it for you.”
Lin Chuji glanced at it, frowned, and refused.
“No.
I don’t read this stuff.
Who reads this kind of shoujo manga?”
The topic ended again.
Xie Yan sensed that his mood had changed a bit—starting from the name issue earlier—and circled back.
“I’m not trying to restrict how you call me.
It’s just…”
He found it hard to say.
Would a normal guy care so much about names and forms of address?
He was really being influenced by Xie Wan.
“Just what?”
Lin Chuji asked expressionlessly.
Xie Yan said quietly, “It’s just that I think it sounds really nice when you say my name.
The way you say it.”
Lin Chuji silently repeated it twice.
Xie Yan, Xie Yan.
Does it sound nice?
I don’t think so.
But this reason satisfied him.
At least he wasn’t deliberately being distinguished from other friends.
He smiled.
“Okay, then I’ll call you by your name, since you like it.”
Xie Yan looked at his eyes curving and thought, Is it really that exciting?
It’s just a form of address.
He checked the time and said, “I have to go.
The professor is waiting for me.
Can you please take Xie Wan back to the same hotel as last night?”
“Okay.
Don’t worry,” Lin Chuji agreed.
He stood outside, casually browsing the books on the shelves, looking at the flowery titles, opening one at random.
Very shoujo, very school-life, a gaudy Mary Sue style.
So this was what Xie Wan liked?
Just as he was thinking that, she came out with a large bag of loot and handed him a stack of wrapped books.
She leaned in mysteriously and whispered, “These are special collector’s items I asked the shopkeeper for.
They’re not on display for sale.
I specially picked them for you.
Study them, and maybe you’ll open the door to a new world.
My brother is a stubborn straight guy, so it’s up to you.”
Lin Chuji didn’t understand.
“Collector’s items?
For me?
I just looked at a few books.
They’re all bishoujo manga.
I don’t read those.”
“No, no, no.
I picked something else for you.”
Xie Wan patted the stack of books, very confident.
“These are the real gems of this store.
You need to make an appointment in advance to get them.”
Lin Chuji didn’t want to refuse her good intentions.
He put them in his bag.
“Okay, I’ll walk you back to the hotel and read them slowly in the dorm.”
After safely delivering Xie Wan to the hotel and checking her in, he carried his bag back to the dorm, unwrapped the tightly sealed packaging—layer upon layer, wrapped like a state secret—and was finally hit by the shocking titles.
The Handsome Roommate’s Seduction Diary! We’re Friends, So What? Living with a Dark-Skinned Roommate, I Was…
The covers were all extremely explicit versions—the kind that would get you arrested if displayed at a street stall.
Lin Chuji: “…….”
Collector’s items.
Specially.
For you.
Even though he had never read anything like this, from the titles he could basically guess her intentions.
At the very bottom was a how-to book with a title that struck straight at his heart.
100 Little Tricks to Turn a Straight Guy.
Lin Chuji: “…….”
Too scary.
I can’t handle this.
Thank you very much.
He frantically stuffed the stack of books into an empty cabinet nearby, and to hide them, he put the medicine kit in front.
Finally at ease.
***
When Xie Yan returned to the dorm with a stack of books, he found the room empty.
He put them on his desk, playing with his newly received textbooks, and looked down to send Lin Chuji a message.
[Crab Boss]: Where are you?
Not in the dorm.
[lark]: Reading at the library.
[lark]: Your sister is back at the hotel.
[Crab Boss]: Okay, I’ll go find her in a bit.
See you later tonight.
[lark]: Probably not until I come back to sleep.
When Lin Chuji sent this, he meant that he would be reading late.
But when it reached Xie Yan, it changed meaning.
“Not until I come back to sleep”—is she saying she plans to sleep holding him every night now?
She’s being this direct already.
Impressive.
He was thinking absentmindedly when his hand slipped and a new book’s edge cut him.
A drop of blood welled up from the wound.
Xie Yan clicked his tongue and turned to look for the medicine kit.
Ever since Lin Chuji had hurt his back, he had bought a bigger kit and prepared some daily medical supplies.
But suddenly he couldn’t remember where it was.
He searched around the room and finally stopped in front of the empty cabinet.
He opened it slowly.
“You could have said you moved it,” he muttered as he reached in to take out the kit to find a band-aid.
But as soon as he moved it aside, his gaze stopped on the books behind it.
Their titles and covers—direct titles, pornographic covers—hit this straight guy who had never entered this realm with immense impact.
By the time the blood on his hand had turned his entire finger red, Xie Yan had been stunned for nearly a minute before finally coming back to his senses.
The place Xie Wan went today sold shoujo manga.
Besides, these things wouldn’t be sold openly on shelves.
So there was only one possibility: these steamy comics and books had been secretly bought online by Lin Chuji earlier.
He wasn’t just gay—a gay man with an ex-boyfriend—but also a gay man who was very well-prepared in his pursuit of a new target.
Look at this title: 100 Little Tricks to Turn a Straight Guy.
A whole hundred tricks.
So which one was Lin Chuji studying now?
He secretly gave him candy today.
He changed the way he addressed him today.
He said in the message that they’d meet when he came back to sleep at night.
Xie Yan casually flipped through the book, lost in thought.
Lin Chuji had been fishing for him for so long.
Was he finally about to make a move?
You’ve got to see this next! The Moon Reflected In The Water will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂