Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating

Edited by Divetus

Starting yesterday, several departments had ended their review classes, so today, the library was full of people.

Jing Huan peeked through the library's floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The first floor was full of people, there wasn't a single empty seat in sight.

It was hard to find someone in this environment.

As soon as he thought that though, he saw Xiang Huaizhi sitting by the window on the second floor.

Xiang Huaizhi was wearing a white sweater, and the warm winter sun blanketed him with a layer of fluffy light.

Jing Huan walked into the library with his books in his arms, going up to the second floor like a thief.

The second floor's seats were also nearly full. Many people were even standing around to read books. In Xiang Huaizhi's vicinity, there were even fewer vacant spots.

Jing Huan walked in the direction behind him, looking for a seat and glancing at the people in front of him.

After five minutes of walking back and forth, someone finally couldn't bear watching him anymore.

"Senior, are you looking for someone?" The girl sitting in the corner of the bookshelf asked in a low voice as she grabbed the corner of his clothing.

Jing Huan's footsteps stopped. "No, I'm looking for an open spot."

"Oh, then you can come and sit here with me ba, but the lighting here is kind of dim…"

Jing Huan responded, "Thank you!"

Girl: "…"

Jing Huan sat in the spot furthest into the corner. It wasn't only separated from Xiang Huaizhi by several big tables, but it was also blocked by a bookshelf in the middle.

Fortunately though, he could still catch sight of Xiang Huaizhi if he craned his neck a bit.

Jing Huan opened the book, and then remembered to pick up his cellphone to reply to the message.

Xiao Jing ya: Okay. I also didn't have time to do instances today.

Little Road Little Road Certainly Wouldn't Get Lost: Oh right, you should also be taking final exams soon ba?

Xiao Jing ya: Next month is the first exam.

Little Road Little Road Certainly Wouldn't Get Lost: We're about the same. Tch, it's too cold here for me, it takes courage to go outside now. Is it cold for you over there?

Xiao Jing ya: It's cold. It also snowed the past few days.

Little Road Little Road Certainly Wouldn't Get Lost: Same. Then, you should pay attention and keep warm, not like your husband.

Jing Huan's eyelids twitched.

He had discovered yesterday that it seemed like Xiang Huaizhi didn't tell anyone about their divorce.

Jing Huan held his cellphone and thought that no one would see his chat record between him and Lu Hang anyway.

Xiao Jing ya: What happened to my husband?

Little Road Little Road Certainly Wouldn't Get Lost: To be handsome, he wore less clothes and ran to the balcony to look at the scenery. He happily got a cold bei.

Xiao Jing ya: Ah?

Little Road Little Road Certainly Wouldn't Get Lost: Haha. Anyways, a boy's cold is trivial. I'm going to class first ah.

Jing Huan put his cellphone into his pocket and hung his head to look at the book, both eyes focusing on the text, until he couldn't resist it anymore and leaned forward.

Just in time to see Xiang Huaizhi's shoulders shake a bit as he coughed twice.

Although the movement was very small, the girl sitting next to Xiang Huaizhi still turned to look at him. Xiang Huaizhi took off his headphones and whispered, "Sorry."

The girl wearing glasses, with a complete bookworm look, shook her head. "No problem."

Nevertheless, she took earphones out of her pocket and put them on.

Jing Huan drew back and felt the strange look from the person sitting next to him.

He didn't care. He propped his head on one hand and tried hard to read the words.

After a moment, he couldn't endure it anymore and took out his cellphone to click on the delivery app.

In less than half an hour later, the delivery person arrived. Jing Huan asked the person next to him to help him keep his spot, and ran downstairs to take the delivery.

The delivery person handed the plastic bag to him, caught a glimpse of the drugstore logo on the bag, and said, "These are your purchased items… Make sure to keep warm ah."

Jing Huan took it. “Thank you.”

Back at his seat, Jing Huan stared at the bag of medicine and worried.

He had bought it on impulse.

Maybe Xiang Huaizhi had already taken some?

Furthermore… How to give it to him ah.

Jing Huan held the bag and thought for a while. Suddenly, he felt that he had turned into Lu Wenhao as a freshman. The tall and sturdy lordship had struggled every day over what to say to make his online girlfriend happy. It had bored him to death.

Just give it to him directly. If Xiang Huaizhi didn't accept it… whatever ba.

Besides, it was just medicine.

If he just acted natural, it could be regarded as genuine! Concern among classmates!

After he finished hypnotizing himself, Jing Huan grabbed the bag and got up. However, before he could walk two steps, he saw Xiang Huaizhi take off his earphones, place them onto the open page of his book, pick up his thermos cup, and stretch his long legs to walk down to the first floor.

The library's first floor had hot water, so Xiang Huaizhi poured himself half a cup. When he returned to his seat, he saw that a white plastic bag had appeared on top of his open book. .

He lightly frowned and opened up the bag with his fingers to glance inside, seeing several medicine boxes in it.

"Is this yours?" He didn't examine it carefully and closed the bag while asking the person next to him.

The girl didn't respond at first and only felt his gaze on her after a few seconds. She took off her earphones, looking at him puzzledly.

"No," The girl responded.

She had been wearing headphones and studying harder than anyone else so she hadn't seen who had put this thing there.

Xiang Huaizhi nodded and didn't disturb her any more, putting the bag aside.

Not long after he sat down, his shoulder was suddenly patted.

Xiang Huaizhi looked back, and the girl that he had met at Jing Huan's classroom was standing behind him.

Liang Mengjia bent over with her two hands clasped together, whispering, "Sorry for disturbing you, Senior… Can you do me a favor?"

Jing Huan looked on helplessly as the two people whispered for a while until Xiang Huaizhi closed his textbook and followed Liang Mengjia to leave.

He remembered that this girl was the one who accosted Xiang Huaizhi at his classroom's door that day.

But then Xiang Huaizhi had said that he had a girlfriend and had rejected her.

Today however, they barely exchanged a few words, and Xiang Huaizhi gave up studying to go off with her.

That's right, after all, he doesn't have a girlfriend now.

Jing Huan suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his head, and an indescribable sense of suffocation also filled his throat.

After taking two steps, Xiang Huaizhi suddenly thought of something and turned around to take the plastic bag off the table.

Jing Huan thought, Okay ba, at least he took your medicine with him.

But before this sentence could comfort him for more than a few seconds, he saw Xiang Huaizhi take the bag and place it beside the lost and found office when he reached the stairway.

For a moment, Jing Huan felt that it wasn't the bag of medicine but himself that was placed in the lost and found box.

He didn't know how long it took for him to finally regain his composure. When he leaned back, he suddenly regretted it.

Damn it.

It wasn't like he was Lei Feng, why didn't he leave his name behind after doing this good deed?? He could've also just given the medicine to him directly; whether it was getting thanked or getting cursed out, at least he would've had a response. He would've at least not been reduced to his present situation, sitting in a corner and being depressed.

Like a fool.

Jing Huan sat in the library all afternoon without saying a word and also barely even looked at his book.. At last, Lu Wenhao sent a message to ask if he wanted to get dinner, and only then did he find that the sky outside was now dark.

Jing Huan replied with a no, then closed his book and got up. He slowly stepped toward the lost and found office.

He took out his cellphone, pulled up the delivery order from today, showed it to the administrator, and took the bag of medicine back.

Jing Huan absently walked along the path outside the school and decided to go home and order take-out.

At this time, his cellphone gently vibrated.

Xiang: Saw the luggage, it was hard on you.

He had packed all the furniture and put them at the door of his home. Xiang Huaizhi could just pick it all up and leave.

Jing Huan stopped by the road and stared at the message for a long time.

In these past few days, Jing Huan had been immersed in guilt, his head full of how to make up for everything, how to apologize, how to admit his mistakes, and how to possibly calm Xiang Huaizhi's anger.

But at this moment, his only thought was—Fuck, I don't even want to divorce you, why do I have to help you pack?

Jing Huan had been persuading himself to take it slowly. Hasty men don't get to eat hot tofu, but he forgot that this tofu was so popular—if he hesitated, it'll fall into another person's hands.

Xiao Jing ya: Have you returned to your dorm?

Xiang: ?

Xiao Jing ya: Are you in your dorm?

Xiang: Yes.

Being in the dorms was good..

At least he and Liang Mengjia hadn't been alone together for more than three hours.

Xiang: Something wrong?

Xiao Jing ya: Yes.

Xiang: Say it.

Xiao Jing ya: Remember to take medicine.

After this sentence, Jing Huan put his cellphone in his pocket, turned around with the bag of medicine and walked into the claw machine shop next to him.

The claw machine shop was extremely empty today. There was only one man in the shop, and he was sitting in a chair, not playing.

Jing Huan didn't have the capacity to care about others. He directly exchanged 100 yuan for tokens, and planted himself in front of the claw machine.

Perhaps he might've had a bonus buff from Xiang Huaizhi on the night of Christmas, since he had only used up a bit more than ten tokens to grab Xian Xiangjing.

Today he had sunk in 300 tokens and Xiao Xiangjing was still lying there in the claw machine, laughing at him.

"Really not being filial…" Jing Huan murmured and turned around to exchange another hundred yuan.

Ten minutes later, the man sitting next to him couldn't just keep watching anymore.

"Hey, young man, get up," The man patted Jing Huan on the shoulder.

Jing Huan didn't even turn his head and said, "Why? If you want to play, line up."

The man's expression was complex. He came here today to adjust the tightness of the claw of the claw machine. Before, plushes were grabbed too quickly, and the shop earned less.

But the adjustment wasn't so outrageous ba, to the point of spending several hundred yuan but still not catching anything… He was afraid that if he didn't do something soon, the boy would just smash his machine.

"I'm not playing," the man said with a look that said he couldn't keep watching this. "I'm the shop owner. Looking at you trying to hook a plush is so exhausting, so I'll just open it and give you two of them ba."

Jing Huan: "…"

In the end Jing Huan didn't let the shopkeeper give him one, and at last, he firmly fished one out.

Coming out of the claw machine shop, he somehow didn't want to go home.

If he went back, he would need to log in to do dailies. When he logged in, he would receive the divorce application's countdown from the system prompt.

When Jing Huan snapped out of it he had already passed the school's back gate and had come all the way to the men's dormitory landing.

He stood outside the dorm's front door for half a minute, until finally turning around to sit on the stone chair opposite of the dorm building. Holding the bag of medicine and plush in his arms, he took his cellphone out of his pocket.

There were two unread messages on it.

Xiang: ?

Xiang: Where are you?

Jing Huan was hesitating over how to reply when he was interrupted by an incoming call.

Gao Zixiang called. He asked Jing Huan if he was going to go to class tomorrow, and for him to help him out..

"It's the end of the term and you're still skipping class? Do you want to die?" Jing Huan asked.

"It's okay, that class isn't very strict, they shouldn't fail me," said Gao Zixiang. "I'm depending on you ah, bro."

Jing Huan answered with an "understood" and then hung up the phone. In order to look down at his cellphone, he had untied his scarf. The two ends of the scarf were now loosely hanging around his neck, and the wind blew directly into his neck, making him so cold he couldn't help but sneeze.

"What are you doing sitting here?"

The boy's voice wasn't much warmer than the gust of wind, but as soon as he heard it, Jing Huan felt like his heart was on fire and warmly leaped to life.

He raised his head to meet Xiang Huaizhi's cold eyes.

Jing Huan froze, switched to WeChat, glanced at it, and confirmed that he hadn't replied yet.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Saw you." Xiang Huaizhi said.

Jing Huan glanced at his balcony on the fifth floor and understood.

"Don't you have a cold?" Jing Huan asked, "Why did you still go on the balcony with the wind blowing?"

Xiang Huaizhi was silent for a bit. "Hanging up clothes."

Jing Huan blinked. "And when you saw me, you came down?"

"Taking out the trash." Xiang Huaizhi slightly frowned as he glanced at the stuff in Jing Huan's arms.

Jing Huan followed his gaze, opened his mouth, and said, "Ah, this… Do you need medicine?"

"How did you know that I have a cold?" Xiang Huaizhi asked.

"Lu Hang said it." Jing Huan opened the bag. "These are all cold medicine. You can see from the instructions that they're not something strange."

Xiang Huaizhi's gaze turned and fell upon the plush.

Jing Huan blinked rapidly.

Every time he met Xiang Huaizhi now, he ended up like this. When he fought with people in middle school, he didn't even have to become this battle-ready.

Xiang Huaizhi didn't even ask before Jing Huan said it first, "Also, this Xiao Xiangjing, I just hooked it. Do you want it?"

Xiang Huaizhi: "…"

He didn't speak for a long time, his brow was all wrinkled.

"If not, I'll just… ask you again next time," Jing Huan said.

He had originally wanted to say that if he didn't want it, then just forget it.

But if he said that, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to restrain himself.

After an indeterminable period of silence, Xiang Huaizhi just asked, "What exactly are you trying to do here?"

Jing Huan froze for a moment and looked up at him. "Huh?"

"If it's about the previous matter, you've already apologized and paid me back. It's done." Xiang Huaizhi looked at the things in his hand. "You don't need to express your guilt to me with these things."

Jing Huan raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't understand, and then repeated in a daze, "Guilt?"

Xiang Huaizhi really didn't like hearing this word. His throat moved a bit, and he finally said, "Forget it, I'm heading back."

As soon as he turned around and was about to leave, Jing Huan grabbed him and pulled him back.

Jing Huan grabbed him very tightly. Although he couldn't compare to Xiang Huaizhi, his strength was also not small.

"No…" Jing Huan paused and asked, "You think I'm giving you flowers, medicine, and Xiao Xiangjing out of guilt?"

"Otherwise?" Xiang Huaizhi asked.

Jing Huan licked his lips and said, "I do feel very guilty…"

Xiang Huaizhi's eyes sank.

"So I'm willing to pay you back double, willing to let you curse me out or beat me, you can do whatever you want."

Jing Huan took a deep breath, and the streetlamp was reflected in his eyes, shining brightly.

"But these…" He raised the things in his hands and said, emphasizing every word, "These are things that I want to give to the person I like. It has nothing to do with guilt."

—

Juurensha: !!! Huanhuan you did it! You confessed! (And let's also give a hand to doll machine owner, he was a nice man) And we'll be back to our regularly scheduled chapters after this.

Divi: FINALLY!!!!!!! CONFESSED THAT HE LIKES XHZ. Thank you, we are back to the regular fluff.

And we have a fanart page!

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