Chapter 26: The Buffet and the Brotherhood Pact

“Old Zhong, want to go out? I’m practically growing mold indoors, ahhhhh—”

Having just woken, Zhong Tian smoothed his long hair and let out a yawn.

“No.”

Though the sheer sound of Li Jianren’s voice on the phone conveyed his utter misery, Zhong Tian simply had no desire to leave the house.

At this hour, with the glorious midday sun shining, his only thought was, naturally, to draw.

As it was, he already spent Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays teaching painting at Chu Lenghu’s place, significantly cutting into his time for drafting. Moreover, with the story’s ending now in a crucial preparatory stage, any outing would inevitably disrupt his carefully maintained rhythm.

“Oh, please, I’m begging you, old man! Otherwise, I’ll die of boredom, ahhh…”

Zhong Tian vaguely heard the rustling of fabric from the other end of the line, imagining the guy was probably already performing 360-degree rolls and tumbles on his bed.

“I’m quite busy…” Zhong Tian sighed. “While I deeply sympathize with your predicament, I’m afraid I’m powerless to assist.”

–Zhong Tian, tonight I’ll treat you to dinner at the new buffet restaurant on Commercial Street. What do you say?–

‘Hmm?’ A buffet? Zhong Tian had heard that place was incredibly delicious, though a tad pricey, which was why he hadn’t managed to go yet.

A flicker of temptation stirred within him, but… Zhong Tian fell into contemplation.

He had to choose between indulging in food, drink, and entertainment, or diligently working on his drafts.

Opting for drafts seemed more sensible; after all, going out always incurred expenses, and he wasn’t exactly flush with cash at the moment.

–I’ll treat you the entire day…–

“When are we leaving? Where should we meet?”

****

“Old Zhong, you have no idea how much I’ve suffered these past two days—” The moment they met, Li Jianren glided towards Zhong Tian like a specter, his expression so utterly miserable, he resembled a dog that had just been neutered.

“What on earth is wrong with you, doggy?”

“Ah, do you know how bored I’ve been? Last night, I called you, wanting to drag you to an internet café for an all-nighter, but you didn’t answer me…”

“I went to bed early last night…” Yet, upon waking that morning, Zhong Tian had indeed been startled by two or three dozen missed calls, prompting him to quickly call Li Jianren back.

Anyone unaware might have thought something catastrophic had befallen the guy, waiting for Zhong Tian to come to his rescue…

“Ah, never mind.” As if instantly rejuvenated, Li Jianren took a sip of the milk tea in his hand. “We’re finally out, hahahaha!”

“Couldn’t you have gone out by yourself? Did you really have to drag me along…”

Zhong Tian took the lemon tea Li Jianren offered, took a sip, and exhaled slowly.

“Ah, I just don’t want to go out alone. It’s no fun. If I’m going to go through the effort of going out just to be bored, I might as well stay home and grow mold.”

“That’s true…” Zhong Tian said, running a hand through his hair. “So, what exactly is the point of us going out then?”

“Isn’t it more fun to come out and grow mold together?”

“……”

“Oh, right, Zhong Tian,” Li Jianren suddenly interjected, as if a thought had just struck him. “Apparently, someone at the comic con recognized you from school. Just a rumor, though.”

“…It’s not a big deal.” Zhong Tian rotated his squashed straw, flattening it once more with his teeth.

“Anyway, I don’t really interact with anyone from school. Even if they recognized me and knew I was a well-known cartoonist from Man Tang, it shouldn’t cause any trouble.”

“…Brother, I still don’t quite understand why you don’t try to get along with people in our class,” Li Jianren said abruptly, glancing at Zhong Tian. “Doesn’t it get exhausting, pretending to be a ‘cold, aloof beauty’ all day?”

“…Aren’t you much the same?” Zhong Tian tossed his empty lemon tea bottle into a trash can, then drifted into the shadows of the second-floor corridor on Commercial Street. “I have my reasons, you know.”

His reason was quite simple: Zhong Tian didn’t want to be too conspicuous.

As the saying goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered; the more noticeable a person is, the more likely they are to encounter trouble. And Zhong Tian detested trouble.

His middle school experiences had taught Zhong Tian that a boy who resembled a girl stood out far more than an actual pretty girl.

Therefore, in pursuit of a tranquil high school experience, Zhong Tian had chosen to negotiate with the school, opting to pose as a girl within its walls.

This arrangement had gone surprisingly smoothly.

Perhaps it was because Zhong Tian truly resembled a girl so closely that remaining in school as a male might have actually been more unusual.

Thus, at the very beginning of the school year, Zhong Tian had used his mind-reading ability to scrutinize the inner thoughts of everyone in his class.

He already knew what kind of people they truly were, deep down.

After carefully weighing the benefits, Zhong Tian had chosen to become a “cold, aloof beauty.”

Firstly, making friends inherently carried the risk of his true identity being exposed, yet his appearance made it impossible for him not to stand out.

Consequently, he chose to simply avoid interacting with anyone in his class… with the exceptions of Li Jianren and Jiang Nanjin.

Even then, their interactions were primarily outside of school; within the school grounds, he still kept his distance.

After a year, this arrangement felt unexpectedly good.

“True,” Li Jianren shrugged. “The girls in our class, one by one, are quite… well… I just can’t bring myself to look at them.”

“So, what you meant by ‘getting along with classmates’ was actually romantic relationships…” Zhong Tian flicked his finger against the frame of Li Jianren’s glasses, which, being lensless, nearly flew off.

“Ow, what the heck!” He quickly adjusted his glasses, then declared with righteous indignation, “Come on, I’m almost an adult! Isn’t it perfectly normal to consider such things?”

“Right, right, perfectly normal. Speaking of which, you don’t look bad at all; you’re quite presentable. If you spruced yourself up, you’d be incredibly handsome. Why don’t you put in some effort?” Zhong Tian observed Li Jianren, knowing full well that the guy was actually quite popular among girls.

“Ha, you think it’s hard for me to find someone? Huh? Who am I?” He suddenly puffed out his chest. “I’m considering our brotherhood, understand? If my brother hasn’t found someone, why should I?”

“So, by that logic, should we plan our weddings back-to-back? Not wishing to be born on the same year, month, and day, but hoping to escape singledom on the same year, month, and day?”

“Wouldn’t that be great?”

“Great, my foot…” Zhong Tian was caught between laughter and tears, able only to raise his hand and flick his glasses once more.

“Whoa, I’m telling you, if you flick them two more times, I’m going to get mad.”

“Can you beat me?”

Zhong Tian, escalating his teasing, flicked them twice more in quick succession. Li Jianren couldn’t dodge, and his glasses went flying.

“Fine, you’re ruthless. I concede defeat; I’ll acknowledge you as my father, alright?”

“Father, my foot! Your ‘father’ here is going to pin you down and rub you into the ground in a moment.” Zhong Tian rolled up his non-existent sleeves.

“Ha, I’d like to see who ends up on top!”

****

The two of them spent the afternoon walking along Commercial Street, engaging in lively banter.

After calling home to inform his family, Zhong Tian and Li Jianren entered the newly opened buffet restaurant.

The buffet restaurant boasted exquisite decor, which, to put it simply, was luxurious, grand, and tasteful.

Having selected their food, the two took their seats.

“Suddenly, I really want to complain.”

“Complain about what?” Li Jianren took a sip of cola, picked up a small sandwich, triggering his passive “Cultivate Taste,” and activated his skill “Feast Heartily.”

“Don’t you think this background music is a bit too… suggestive? Why would a buffet play such a sultry saxophone tune? It just feels so out of place…”

“Hmm, I’m already unconsciously picturing a cat slowly licking its long leg. Reo reo reo…” Li Jianren then applied “Giant Tongue Lash” to his freshly scooped ice cream.

“Whoa, watch your table manners… And why are you making those weird noises, hey! Don’t you care about other people’s stares? If you grew any more hair on your face, people would probably mistake you for a caveman!”

“It’s fine, I’ve got thick skin. How others see me isn’t important; happiness is all that matters.”

“…Speaking of which, can you get takeout from a buffet?” Zhong Tian looked at the somewhat excessive amount of food before them—most of which Li Jianren had taken—a troubled expression on his face.

“Probably not… Otherwise, if you brought up an entire platter of food, took two bites, and then said you wanted it packed, would they really let you take the whole damn thing home?”

“That makes a lot of sense… So, can you actually finish all of this?” Zhong Tian took a bite of a French toast that was a little too sweet.

“Don’t worry.”

Zhong Tian sighed, opting to trust Li Jianren. He then began to eat the food he had chosen, taking small, deliberate bites.

“…The food here isn’t as good as I imagined, even if the decor is nice… And that saxophone, it’s just so damn suggestive…”

“Indeed, this atmosphere is making me quite nauseous… If I weren’t treating, I doubt I’d be able to eat a single bite.” Li Jianren, with an air of utmost righteousness, picked up a napkin and dabbed his mouth.

“It’s not that bad, is it…?”

“Didn’t I say it was the atmosphere? Look around—”

“Oh, wow…”

At first, Zhong Tian hadn’t thought much of it, but with Li Jianren’s subtle pointer, he now looked around at the various men and women seated at the two-person tables. Coupled with the suggestive saxophone background music, an unmistakable aura of ambiguity wafted over them.

‘Ugh.’

“Alright, I get it,” Zhong Tian said, finishing his last piece of French toast, taking a sip of water to steady himself, and standing up. “Let’s go.”

“Sounds good, let’s bail, let’s bail! Deep Abyss Dive!!”

****

“Oh, right… Old Zhong, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you…”

On the way home, Li Jianren rubbed his hands together. “About that… you know, back at the arcade, I might have… acted a bit too cool, doing something I shouldn’t have…”

“Oh, I remember. I haven’t even settled the score with you for that yet…” Zhong Tian shot him a sidelong glance.

“Well, those guys, they said they’re going to… karaoke the day after tomorrow… and they said to bring girlfriends… So, ahaha…” Li Jianren let out an awkward, yet polite, laugh.

“I refuse.”

The words were swift and decisive.

How could he possibly agree to such a thing? Though they were brothers, this request was a bit too much; he simply couldn’t do it.

“Just consider it…”

“Your attempts at cuteness are useless; I’m not falling for that… In fact, it’s rather nauseating. Go away…” Zhong Tian gave Li Jianren a gentle push, truly just a light nudge. Yet, the guy dramatically spun 360 degrees, collapsing to the ground with an exaggerated expression of agony.

“Ahhh, brother, I’m begging you! At worst, at worst, I’ll give you a set of 300-color markers, starting from then on!”

“……” Zhong Tian sighed. “Let’s put the reward aside for now… First, let me ask you, why are you so fixated on hanging out with that group of people? Is it really that interesting?”

“It really is quite interesting.”

“…I don’t understand.”

“It’s perfectly normal for you not to understand,” Li Jianren said, conversing eloquently from his spot on the ground. “Even I sometimes don’t quite grasp why I find interacting with all sorts of people so interesting.”

“Perhaps it’s the novelty~” He chuckled. “Anyway, after this period, I probably won’t have much new interaction with them. That’s just how I am.”

“……”

“But hey, let me state this upfront, Old Zhong, you’re different,” Li Jianren declared. “You’re my friend forever.”

“…Oh.”

Li Jianren’s sudden sincerity made Zhong Tian feel uncharacteristically uncomfortable, his cheeks flushing slightly as he averted his gaze.

Li Jianren sat up, propping himself on his hands behind him. “Our friendship, it should last at least ten years after I die.”

‘Why did that feel strangely like déjà vu?’

“Get up first; don’t you mind sitting on the dirty ground…?”

“So,” Li Jianren sprang to his feet, “my dearest friend! Please grant my request!”

“……Ai—” Zhong Tian sighed. “Fine.”