“It’s not my fault that I’m tall.”


  Hao Meng sounded frustrated. He picked up his phone and opened a social app. The one he had his eye on had the ID name: First-Year New Student.

  The other boy had only posted a few photos — all were faceless and only showing his well-proportioned and tanned body wearing a racerback vest. In the background was a balcony, showing that the photos were likely taken at home.

  The photos were on his mind constantly after he saw them, so he secretly sent a private message to hook up with him. Who knew that after reporting his height and weight, the other boy would blacklist him?

  Hao Meng was miserable. He just wanted to be a zero. What was wrong?! He was so angry that he downloaded some torrent files, planning to save them to watch slowly. The video had only progressed into the first stage when he was caught by Lin Jiang.

  Lin Jiang didn’t want to continue on this topic of conversation and climbed into his own bed.

  He lay flat on the bed and looked at the rotating ceiling fan. Everything was great at University A, except that dormitory conditions were poor. There was no air-conditioning and they had to depend on two fans during the summer.

  Lin Jiang was very confused. He kept thinking of Gu Ming Ren walking away — how cold and resolute the image of his back was, making him feel an indescribable annoyance.

  He closed his eyes and tried to force himself to sleep but after tossing and turning, he didn’t get what he wanted.

  Suddenly sitting up, Lin Jiang leaned against the wall feeling disheartened. What was happening to him?

  In the lower bunk, Hao Meng was scared to death. He quickly stuck out his head and said to him, “Did I disturb you?” Lin Jiang lifted his eyelids. “Aren’t you wearing earphones?” He didn’t hear anything at all. Disturb my foot.

  But Gu Ming Ren, that pervert, had been walking around in his mind.

  There was a tinge of embarrassment on Hao Meng’s face and he said shyly, “I want to jerk off.”


  Lin Jiang wanted to split his head open with a punch. “If you want to jerk it, then jerk it. What are you telling me for?!” Did he want his help or something?

  Hao Meng was distressed. “Our bed isn’t very solid. You always move around so I get very flustered, feeling like I’ve disturbed you, and I can’t get hard……”


  The last part of the sentence was the main point!

  Lin Jiang wanted to scold him. But seeing his wronged expression, he wanted to poke both his eyes out. So he simply turned and got off the bed.

  “Alright, alright. I’ll go out for a walk. You fucking hurry up.”


  Lin Jiang put on his shoes. He couldn’t sleep anyway and it was good to go out for some fresh air. He could even save himself from smelling Hao Meng’s descendants.

  Hao Meng was really moved and wanted to express his feelings in whimpers, but a book thrown by Lin Jiang hit him in the head.

  “Don’t fucking let me see that expression again.”


  Lin Jiang almost felt goosebumps forming and he observed a three-minute moment of silence for Hao Meng’s future partner. He didn’t have heavy tastes and couldn’t stomach this type. When he left the dormitory, the cool wind blew against his face which made him feel slightly better.

  In the past when he was upset, all he needed to do was make a phone call and friends from all around would rush over to accompany him to drink and sing, no matter how high he got. Now, he had cut off all contact with everyone. When he was upset, he only had himself.

  With both hands stuffed into his pockets, Lin Jiang wandered around aimlessly.

  He began to think about what he would do in the future. Since he couldn’t be supported by Gu Ming Ren for his entire life, he had to find a life of his own. But after being separated from his parents, he had nothing and had to start from scratch without any qualifications.

  Lin Jiang wiped his face with a hand and felt that he was really useless.

  He went to the convenience store to buy two cans of beer and drank as he walked. Without realising it, he arrived at Moon Lake and stopped.

  The place was secluded and the moonlight was bright on that summer night, reflecting indistinctly onto the lake. It was really beautiful.

  Lin Jiang gripped the can. It was an eyesore to see so many cuddling couples so he turned to go back.

  Hao Meng had already resolved his physiological problem and even cleaned up the dormitory.

  The boy loved cleanliness which Lin Jiang was very satisfied with.

  “Are you in a bad mood today?” Hao Meng asked with concern when he came back.

  Lin Jiang wasn’t calculative. Being his roommate meant that Hao Meng was a friend, so he didn’t hide anything. “Yeah, I’m upset.” Hao Meng immediately became gossipy. “Is it because of that nightmare?”


  Lin Jiang drew a blank for a moment before realising what nightmare he was referring to, then said vaguely, “I guess you could say that.” In any case, the protagonist was Gu Ming Ren.

  Hao Meng wanted to find out more but his phone sounded with two or three notifications. After checking, he jumped up and happily ran around the dormitory, like an ostrich in heat.

  “My number one sent me a private message!” Hao Meng said excitedly after running two rounds and suddenly grabbing Lin Jiang’s shoulder.

  “Oh!” Lin Jiang pushed him aside with a detached expression and went to sleep.

  This time, he really fell asleep and only woke up when it was bright.

  His major was unpopular and there were barely any classes during the first semester, so he went to work daily at the milk tea shop.

  Before he left, he saw Hao Meng wearing an attention-seeking pair of tight jeans. Well, he had worn it before but after knowing the other boy was gay and a zero, he felt that it was especially attention-seeking.

  Lin Jiang frowned and asked, “Are you going on a date today?”


  Hao Meng emanated the joy of a hunky zero. “Yes, I’m going to meet ‘First-Year New Student’!” Lin Jiang had a dumbfounded expression on his face. “Aren’t you a first-year new student?”


  Hao Meng laughed obscenely and his gaze landed on Lin Jiang’s crotch. “This big one is not the same as that big one. It’s a very big one.” “!” Lin Jiang slammed the door and left.

  The milk tea shop opened at nine-thirty in the morning. Lin Jiang went to the shop with two steamed buns and greeted the lady boss. “Wei Jie.” Seeing that he was so skinny and only eating so little, Zhang Wei pointed to the buns and asked, “Will you be full enough?” Lin Jiang laughed and said, “It’s enough.”


  The main reason was that he had no money. Now, he had less than twenty yuan in his pocket and would need to start begging soon.

  Zhang Wei didn’t say anything and poured him a glass of milk.

  “Thank you, Wei Jie.”


  Lin Jiang stared at the milk for a while but didn’t drink it.

  When it was time to change shift at noon, he made himself scarce.

  He wanted to look for a job of handing out leaflets on a daily basis but felt embarrassed if it was too near the school. So he walked for a distance and in the end, saw Hao Meng.

  There were two undesirable-looking boys beside Hao Meng manhandling him. Lin Jiang felt that something was wrong and rushed over immediately. When Hao Meng saw him, he shouted urgently, “Lin Jiang, help me!”


  Lin Jiang kicked the boy who was dragging Hao Meng. He was familiar with fighting and the two boys ran away quickly after giving each other meaningful looks.

  Lin Jiang walked over to untie Hao Meng, thinking to himself, you’re so big and yet can’t outdo two weak chickens. What a shame.

  The two of them found a KFC and sat down.

  Hao Meng started complaining to him, “They were definitely not ‘First-Year New Student’! The moment I saw them, I felt that something was wrong, but there were two of them and I couldn’t run away. They even tied me up.”


  While eating a burger, Lin Jiang commented, “I don’t think your app is reliable. You don’t even know who they are and you dared to meet them!” But those two boys were also brave since Hao Meng’s height didn’t scare them. It seemed like they had realised he only looked impressive and couldn’t actually do much.

  Hao Meng was depressed and he had a hurt expression on his face. Lin Jiang couldn’t bear it and yet didn’t know how to comfort him. He pushed his cola over. “Have a drink first to calm yourself.”


  Hao Meng lowered his head and muttered to himself. “They said that ‘First-Year’ said I was very disgusting.”


  The two boys were friends of ‘First-Year New Student’. When they saw that he wanted to “seduce” ‘First-Year New Student’, they asked him out, wanting to strip off his clothes and humiliate him. It was revealed that ‘First-Year New Student’ hated him and also said that he was disgusting.

  This word reminded Lin Jiang that he had also said that to Gu Ming Ren.

  “Can’t the word disgusting be used?” Although it was a little too much, it wasn’t that deeply hurtful, right?

  Lin Jiang wanted to argue for himself.

  Hao Meng glanced at him. “If there’s a physiological disgust, then there is no leeway left.”


  With that, he sucked in a mouthful of cola and pulled himself together, saying, “Fortunately, I don’t like him that much, or my heart would be broken!” Lin Jiang put down his burger guiltily.

  He was silent, thinking of whether Gu Ming Ren’s heart had been broken.

  Then he determined that it hadn’t been. He even went on a date with a girl to Moon Lake. It was clear that Gu Ming Ren didn’t like him that much.

  Lin Jiang consoled himself and started munching on the burger again.

  After Hao Meng settled the bill, he returned to school and continued being sad. Lin Jiang was at a loss and he boarded the bus to Gu Ming Ren’s house.