Chapter Twenty-Five: Meeting My Brother, But He's Not Handsome

Chapter 25: Met a Guy, But Not Handsome!

Hua Ming was released. “Innocent.” Set free.

Aside from Chief Zheng Chengfeng of the Security Department, who wore a puzzled expression when he received Huang Jie’s call and couldn’t fathom what had happened, Hua Ming, Li Yu, and Liang Tao all understood perfectly well. They knew that Jiao Yuheng must have quietly put in a word with someone influential. Otherwise, with Huang Jie’s domineering personality, how could the matter have simply been dropped?

Although Tang Zhong had gone to see Jiao Yuheng, it didn’t necessarily mean Jiao had to make that phone call. The fact that he did showed that Tang Zhong held a certain weight in his mind. Perhaps that position wasn’t yet unshakable, but at least it indicated there was no dislike.

A well-intentioned “307’s first gathering” turned into this—ending up in the hospital, then the security office—leaving the four roommates with a mix of bitter smiles and helplessness. Offending someone like Huang Jie, with her powerful backing, who knew what trouble might await them in the future? But for now, none of them had the energy to dwell on it.

They had more pressing matters. For instance, food.

It was almost ten o’clock, and none of them had eaten dinner; their stomachs were growling with hunger.

“People are iron, food is steel. Miss a meal and you’re famished. Because of my trouble, I made you all go hungry with me—” Hua Ming waved his hand grandly. “Let’s go. Dinner’s on me tonight.”

“We’d better not go to the campus restaurant again,” Liang Tao joked.

“Pah! Even if you paid me to go, I wouldn’t.” Hua Ming cursed. “There are plenty of places to eat outside the school gate. With cash in hand, why worry about not getting fish or beer?”

“You go ahead. I’ve got something to do, so I’ll skip dinner,” Li Qiang said with a smile. With the matter resolved, the burden in his heart was finally lifted. But there remained a nagging doubt—Huang Jie had been so resolute before, why had she suddenly called Zheng Chengfeng to let them go? He couldn’t have guessed that Tang Zhong had gone to Jiao Yuheng and that Jiao agreed to intervene. “You guys take it easy. Don’t get into trouble again.”

Hua Ming slung an arm around Li Qiang’s shoulders. “Mr. Li, everything you did for me today, I saw it all and I’ll remember it. No matter what you think, I owe you one. Come on, join us for a bite and a couple of beers. Just two, I promise, then you’re free to leave. After all we’ve been through, and after arguing with that old woman for so long, even if you’re not hungry, you must be thirsty, right?”

Li Qiang hesitated, then said, “Alright. I’ll join for a couple. But no more—got to get up early for military training tomorrow.”

Sichuan Flavors Restaurant.

Hua Ming stood up, beer bottle in hand. “This first bottle, I toast to Tang Zhong. Nothing more to say— from now on, we’re brothers.”

With that, he tossed back the newly opened beer in one go.

Without touching a single bite of food, he opened a second bottle. “This second one, to Mr. Li. Thanks for standing up to evil forces on my behalf.”

Then, head tilted back, he poured that one down as well.

“You’re a legend,” Liang Tao said, giving a thumbs-up. “A bottle for each toast. Two in a row. Bold and impressive.”

“Hua Ming can hold his liquor,” Li Qiang said, grinning. He’d claimed he’d only drink two, but seeing Hua Ming downing beer so fiercely, he didn’t try to stop him. He knew that once young people got into the spirit, there was no stopping them.

Li Yu’s eyes sparkled with admiration as she watched Hua Ming.

Hua Ming wiped the beer foam from his mouth with the back of his hand, overflowing with bravado. “This third bottle, to all the brothers of dorm 307. Come on, everyone, bottoms up!”

So Tang Zhong and the others all stood with their bottles, imitating Hua Ming, trying their best to down the beer.

Li Qiang was a veteran drinker—he finished his bottle in one go.

Tang Zhong paused for breath but soon finished as well.

Liang Tao’s face was already flushed purple halfway through.

Li Yu, after drinking a third of her bottle, held the rest in her hand with a look of suffering, unsure whether to stop or force herself to go on.

Hua Ming, after downing his third, shouted, “That’s the way! This is how a man should be.”

Thud—

He collapsed onto the table.

“Hua Ming—Hua Ming—”

Everyone shook and called him, but he was out cold, dead to the world.

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At six in the morning, Tang Zhong woke up on the dot.

It was a habit formed over many years—every day at six, he’d get up to exercise.

After washing up, he changed into black NIKE shorts and a white athletic vest, and quietly opened the dorm door, heading for the school track.

The autumn air was crisp, invigorating his body and sharpening his mind.

A light mist hung over the field, and dewdrops from the grass soaked his calves. The morning sun had yet to rise, only faintly blushing on the distant horizon.

Tang Zhong drew in several deep breaths of fresh air, then started jogging around the track.

No one else was there—the entire field, the whole world, belonged to him.

He liked this feeling.

It reminded him of prison—every morning at six, he and the boss would jog around the exercise yard, one tall and burly, one lean and slim—no words, just the sound of breathing and sneakers on the ground.

One lap. Two laps. Three—

On his third lap, footsteps sounded behind him.

“Someone else up this early?” Tang Zhong thought. But he kept running, focused, not bothering to look back.

The footsteps quickened.

Then, a shapely figure flashed past him.

White athletic shorts, black vest—almost like they were wearing matching outfits.

She was moving too fast for him to see her face—just the curve of her hips and those long, beautiful legs in motion.

Tang Zhong smiled, unconcerned.

He kept his own pace, trailing the woman at a steady distance.

After passing him, the woman slowed, but not enough for Tang Zhong to overtake her.

Lap after lap—one in front, one behind; one in black shorts and white vest, one in white shorts and black vest; a man, a woman—together, they ran through the morning mist, in silent harmony, painting an ink-wash vision of beauty, running with a brilliance that spoke of life and death intertwined.

Fifteen laps, sixteen—

Tang Zhong’s daily regimen included not just running, but push-ups, sit-ups, weighted frog jumps, and the free fighting taught to him by the boss—

But today, he just wanted to run.

Nothing else interested him.

As the mist cleared and the sun’s rosy face peeked out, the woman ahead stopped at the track entrance, signaling the end of her workout.

From a distance, Tang Zhong saw her pausing atop the steps, turning back with a smile.

By the time he reached the entrance, she was gone.

“Interesting,” Tang Zhong chuckled.

He shook his head and made his way to the dining hall.

When Tang Zhong returned to the dorm with a large bag of fried dough and four portions of red bean porridge, only Li Yu was awake, sitting on the bed reading aloud from a book. Hua Ming and Liang Tao were still sound asleep.

Tang Zhong set breakfast on the table and said to Li Yu, “I brought breakfast. Come down and eat before it gets cold.”

He went into the bathroom for another shower.

When he came out, Hua Ming and Liang Tao were still asleep. He called them several times, but they only muttered drowsily in response, showing no intention of getting up. It seemed the long holiday had made them lazy—changing their sleep schedule wouldn’t happen overnight.

Tang Zhong, resigned, ate breakfast with Li Yu and headed to the track.

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Jiao Nanxin emerged from the bathroom, toweling her hair, while her three roommates were busy with their morning routines—one sipping corn porridge with crystal buns, one carefully drawing her eyebrows, another reading an English book aloud.

The girl drawing her brows quickly snapped the pencil back into its case and laughed, “Nanxin, why are you up so early? I was half asleep when I saw you head out the door.”

“It’s a habit from childhood. I wake up naturally at that time; I can’t sleep even if I want to,” Jiao Nanxin replied, toweling her hair.

“You’re amazing,” the girl said. “Back in high school, we barely finished our assignments—no way did we have any energy for early morning runs!”

After a pause, her eyes sparkled. “So? Did you run into any handsome guys?”

A girl with dreams of romance always holds an inexplicable hope for a chance encounter.

Jiao Nanxin’s eyebrows arched, her lips curved into a faint smile. “Met a guy. But not handsome.”

(P.S.: Beautiful girls and handsome boys, I beg for your votes and support!)