Brother, you smell good

| BYSG | I Don't Like Girls | 40

In the end, Shen Yu still bought him a skewer of candied fruit.

The skewer had a variety of fruits, all coated in a hardened layer of syrup. Each bite burst with juice, tasting absolutely delicious.

Cheng Mofei's mood brightened slightly. "Thank you, Brother Shen."

Shen Yu: "…"

If Shen Yu still couldn’t tell that this person was displeased with Fang Xiaoming, he might as well throw his brain away.

There was nothing he could do—Fang Xiaoming was just too talkative. One mouth like his was as good as three, and Shen Yu simply couldn't keep up.

It was normal for Cheng Mofei to feel unhappy about being ignored.

And the way Cheng Mofei expressed his displeasure was just so adorable.

Shen Yu took the initiative to say, "Tonight, I'll tell him that from now on, when you and I eat together, we won’t be eating with him anymore."

"Mm." Cheng Mofei’s mood bar ticked up again.

To justify his little excuse of separating them, Cheng Mofei even made a symbolic purchase—a roasted sweet potato from the newsstand at the school gate, just in time to make up for his unsatisfied lunch.

Actually, the cafeteria also sold roasted sweet potatoes, but Shen Yu didn’t think too much about it, maybe Cheng Mofei just thought the ones from the newsstand tasted better.

After buying their snacks, the two returned to their dormitory.

Suddenly, Cheng Mofei extended his skewer of candied fruit toward Shen Yu.

Shen Yu took a closer look. Half of the skewer had already been eaten, and the last remaining fruit on top was a sugar-coated orange slice.

Cheng Mofei’s voice followed, “I already ate my five oranges for the day. I can't have too many. You can have this one.”

He looked just like an obedient kid following the rules.

Shen Yu didn’t hesitate to accept, lowering his head to bite off the orange slice.

It was incredibly sweet.

…

Time quickly passed, and soon it was Saturday, the day of the basketball game.

Before the match, a teammate who had previously teased Cheng Mofei nudged him with a grin, gesturing toward a certain direction. Waggling his eyebrows, he said, “That girl over there is cute, right? She’s a freshman too. She came specifically to wait for Shen Yu.”

At Yanda University, it was customary for the fall basketball tournament not to include freshmen. The semester had just started, and first-years were too busy to prepare, it would take up too much time and energy.

Freshmen could only come to watch the upperclassmen's games.

Cheng Mofei followed his teammate’s gesture and saw a girl with braided pigtails, wearing a long dress and light makeup. She had clearly dressed up carefully for the occasion.

Cheng Mofei responded indifferently, “He has something to do today. He probably won’t come.”

Early that morning, Shen Yu had already gone out, most likely for a full day of part-time work again.

Cheng Mofei hadn’t brought up the basketball tournament to Shen Yu over the past few days. He knew Shen Yu was busy and didn’t want to make things difficult for him.

Besides, the tournament wasn’t just a one-day event. Their team was strong enough not to be eliminated in the early rounds, so Shen Yu would definitely have a chance to watch their games later.

“Huh? No way…”

Cheng Mofei didn’t continue the conversation. He simply dribbled the basketball and walked away.

Xiao Xiong and Sun Xinghe were nowhere to be found. Cheng Mofei glanced around but didn’t see them. They were both finance majors, there was no way they’d skip their own department’s game, right?

The first match was against the Physics team.

Just as the game was about to start, a loud voice, amplified through a speaker, suddenly echoed across the court:

"Brother Fei—Jiayou—!"

Cheng Mofei: “?”

He turned toward the sound and noticed that, at some point, a large banner had been put up outside the court. Boldly written across it were the words:

"Today is Brother Fei’s birthday—everyone here please kowtow to him!"

On his birthday this year, his two roommates had insisted on printing a banner and hanging it at their door. When they asked what he wanted, he had casually joked about this exact message.

He never expected them to actually do it.

He had expected them to pull some kind of stunt—just not to this extent.

His teammates clearly saw the banner too and immediately chimed in, “Happy birthday.”

Some people had obviously seen the banner before and knew it wasn’t actually Cheng Mofei’s birthday. They were trying their best to hold back laughter.

Even the opposing team from the Physics department called out, “Happy birthday!”

Cheng Mofei: “…”

Not happy. Not even a little.

He didn’t bother responding. Instead, his gaze passed over the banner and landed firmly on Shen Yu.

Xiao Xiong, the one who had just shouted, was now handing the megaphone to Shen Yu.

Shen Yu lowered his head to adjust it, then met Cheng Mofei’s eyes. His voice, amplified through the speaker, rang out loud and clear for everyone to hear:

“Brother Fei, jiayou!”

Cheng Mofei's Adam’s apple bobbed quickly.

Shen Yu? Here?

Wasn’t he supposed to be at work?

Did he take time off just to watch his game?

Before he could dwell on it, the match had already begun. He had no choice but to set the thought aside for now, he could ask later.

The opposing team was strong, but Cheng Mofei was in incredible form today, playing beyond his usual level. The score remained steadily in their favor, and they secured their first victory without much trouble.

After the game, several people offered him water, but Cheng Mofei only had eyes for the one Shen Yu handed him. Taking the bottle, he took a few deep breaths before finally asking, “Why aren’t you at work?”

Shen Yu answered honestly, “I rescheduled.”

“Oh, to watch my game?” Cheng Mofei took another sip of water, suppressing the grin threatening to spread across his face. If he had a tail, it’d be wagging high in the air right now.

"Mm." Shen Yu nodded.

Xiao Xiong chimed in, "The megaphone our dorm bought for last year's sports meet suddenly broke, so Xiao Shen went out this morning to buy a new one."

Cheng Mofei's Adam’s apple bobbed again.

So, Shen Yu had left early not for work, but to buy a megaphone… for him.

Before he could fully process the warmth swelling in his chest, a familiar girl suddenly approached them, she had braided hair and a long dress.

Cheng Mofei's heart sank.

The next moment, he saw the girl turn to Shen Yu and say, "Shen Yu, can I add your contact? I'd like to get to know you."

The teammate who had been trying to play matchmaker quickly backed her up. "Yeah, just get to know each other and make a new friend."

As he spoke, he even slung an arm casually over Cheng Mofei's shoulder.

Cheng Mofei, already feeling irritated, took a step forward, shaking off the arm without a word. He closed the distance between himself and Shen Yu, waiting for his reaction.

Meanwhile, Xiao Xiong and Sun Xinghe grinned knowingly, watching the scene unfold with amused anticipation.

Under the watchful eyes of many, Shen Yu pulled out his phone from his pocket, opened WeChat, and said, "Sure, I'll scan you."

Cheng Mofei: "…"

He could only stare as Shen Yu added the girl on WeChat.

Casually, Shen Yu saved the contact with her full name as a remark.

To be fair, rejecting her outright in front of so many people would have been a bit harsh, it would be publicly embarrassing.

Adding someone on WeChat didn’t mean anything anyway. Plenty of people had exchanged contacts through random encounters, but how many of those actually led to something?

Besides, Shen Yu had another purpose.

Clearly, this girl knew one of Cheng Mofei’s basketball teammates. If Shen Yu revealed his sexual orientation to her, there was a good chance she would share it with that teammate.

And if that happened, the teammate might just pass the information along to Cheng Mofei.

This way, Cheng Mofei might subtly find out about it.

It wasn’t a guaranteed method, but there was no harm in trying. Plus, it conveniently saved him the trouble of directly rejecting her.

…

On the way back, Cheng Mofei couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Did you guys talk about anything?"

Shen Yu assumed he was just curious. After all, Xiao Xiong and Sun Xinghe were also eager to know how things played out between him and the girl. Among friends, this kind of gossip was normal.

Still, he reminded, "I haven’t even opened my phone since then."

"Oh." Cheng Mofei awkwardly rubbed his nose.

That afternoon—