I really like him~

Li Yi turned around and discovered it was that jinx Zhou Xuanze. His face immediately fell, and he raised his eyelids in irritation. "Does your family sell plumbing? Why are you sticking your nose into everything?"

Zhou Xuanze ignored him and pointed at Shi Yan beside him. "You turned Song Tianyi down back then just to come with him?"

Shi Yan stood behind Li Yi without a word. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow at Zhou Xuanze with brazen defiance.

The provocative gesture infuriated Zhou Xuanze. Without waiting for Li Yi's answer, he pulled him aside and warned him in a low voice, "Li Yi, you've really gotten bold, haven't you? You even dare to latch on to Shi Yan.

You don't know about his family, do you? He personally engineered a car accident that left his father in a vegetative state!

He even took a hammer and smashed his stepmother's kneecaps himself, blow by blow.

His stepmother's son didn't even get to see his paralyzed mother before Shi Yan shipped him off to Africa overnight to mine coal.

Someone like that is a lunatic!

You won't end well if you fall into his hands!

Break it off with him right now. I can pretend none of this ever happened and get back together with you. We'll have an engagement ceremony next year, and once you graduate from college..."

"Shut up. Stop bad-mouthing him in front of me." Li Yi fished something out of his pocket at random and stuffed it straight into the endlessly babbling Zhou Xuanze's mouth.

"Ptooey..." Zhou Xuanze lowered his head and spat it out, only to discover it was a piece of chewed gum wrapped in foil. He angrily looked up to curse at him, only to find Li Yi had already walked away.

"Li Yi, everything I said is true! If you don't believe me, ask the man beside you!"

"I already know about all that." Li Yi deliberately gave him a cheerful smile. "I think he's much more charming than an arrogant narcissist like you, a big oaf who grew taller but never grew a brain~

I really like him~"

"You like him?" Zhou Xuanze was angry and jealous. He didn't even know what he was jealous of; he was just furious that Li Yi's feelings had changed so quickly. "You said you liked my confidence, liked my face, and thought I was the most handsome man in the world. What did all that count for, then?"

"What did it count for? My rotten luck." Li Yi sounded casual. "I was your personal compliment machine for so long. Not paying me was bad enough, but now you're getting angry at me too? What unbelievably shitty luck!"

"All that affection you showed me before..." Zhou Xuanze took a step back in surprise, looking somewhat disbelieving. "That was all just compliments?"

"What else? Did you think I actually liked you? Look at you, with your underdeveloped cerebrum and completely undeveloped cerebellum. Only Lu Junjia would treat an idiot like you as a treasure."

"Li Yi, I don't believe you never liked me." Zhou Xuanze shook his head, looking deeply wounded. "You must still be angry that I didn't comfort you last time. That's why you're deliberately saying this.

I never announced our breakup. As far as everyone else is concerned, we're still a couple."

"Do you think this is a divorce? What, do I have to post an announcement on my feed?" Li Yi scoffed. "Tell them or don't. As far as I'm concerned, we've already broken up.

Besides, there's nothing to announce anyway. You never formally introduced me to your friends in the first place."

"That's because..." Zhou Xuanze anxiously tried to explain, but found he had no explanation to give, and Li Yi didn't want to listen either.

He tried hard to steady himself. "That's because I wanted to formally introduce you when we got engaged."

"Go introduce your Junjia. I don't care anymore. I like playing with something exciting now." Li Yi gently tugged Shi Yan's sleeve, turned toward him, and winked. Quick, help me.

"Oh~" Shi Yan looked down at the pale fingers clutching his sleeve. As though afraid he wouldn't agree, Li Yi even gave it a wheedling little shake. The corners of his lips lifted as he finished the thought. "I'm something exciting."

"..." Zhou Xuanze froze on the spot, as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.

Li Yi still hadn't quite caught on and followed Shi Yan's lead. "Right, he's something exciting. I just like..."

Before he could finish the rest, his entire head began to burn, and Shi Yan's words kept looping through his mind.

What did he mean!!!

He'd said he liked playing with something exciting, and Shi Yan had said he was something exciting.

Didn't that mean he'd be playing with him?

He'd only asked Shi Yan to help drive Zhou Xuanze away. He hadn't asked him to take it this far!

"What, don't you like playing with something exciting?" Shi Yan lowered his head. "Or am I not exciting enough? How about we try again tonight?"

"Enough, enough." Li Yi reached up to cover his mouth and whispered, "That's enough acting."

"You two... you've already gotten that far." Zhou Xuanze's face twisted with heartache. "Li Yi, I don't believe it. You must be lying to me."

"Why would I lie to you?"

Li Yi rubbed his burning ears and declared boldly, as though covering something up, "After breaking up with you, I discovered there are handsome guys everywhere.

Once I have money, I'm definitely going to keep eighteen male models with abs. One a week, without any repeats."

"Oh? Eighteen male models with abs." Shi Yan folded his arms and lowered his head slightly, his deep voice carrying a hint of laughter. "Kid, do you have that much stamina?

I'm not enough for you? You need eighteen more?"

"What eighteen?" Peng Yuyan had just taken Qi Feiyu to the first-aid station and walked over in time to hear that last remark.

"Nothing. Let's head to the spectator stands." Li Yi's heart gave a jump, and he hurriedly pushed the two of them along. "If we don't go now, we won't get good seats."

"Feeling guilty." Peng Yuyan didn't budge. Burning with curiosity, he poked Shi Yan beside him. "A-Yan, you tell me. What was the kid saying about eighteen?"

"Eighteen..."

"Older brothers!" Li Yi blurted out without thinking, then stammered out a nonsensical explanation. "Brothers. Eighteen older brothers."

"Older brother..." Shi Yan's gaze flickered. He quietly repeated the form of address, looking at the red-eared Li Yi arguing with Peng Yuyan beside him.

He reached out a finger and toyed with Li Yi's pink earlobe. "Say it again."

"Say what?" Li Yi looked up blankly. Shi Yan was so tall; when he looked down at him, the sense of pressure was so strong.

"Call me big brother."

"Yeah, yeah, call me big brother too. You've already got eighteen older brothers, so what's another one or two?" Peng Yuyan joined in.

"No." Li Yi turned his face away and squeezed between them. "I'm going to the stands first."

"Hey, kid, why are you so stingy? Your big brothers brought you here to watch the competition, and you won't even call us that once."

"I'm an orphan. I don't have brothers."

Zhou Xuanze watched them leave with a desolate look in his eyes, as though he still hadn't quite recovered.