Listen To The Heartbeat

2. A gentle Tornado

Till the lunch break, Wei ying was in no mood to do anything, at all. Since the learning materials would be shared online, he didn't feel guilty about not listening to the so-called introductions to the subjects or whatever. 

However after getting hold of himself, he came back to his senses and acknowledged the presence of Nie huaisang, who kept glancing at him often. It's natural that huaisang would feel itchy if he doesn't have a buddy to hang out with. 

Huaisang smiled brightly and immediately they became pals and added each other on Wechat. By the time this happened, Jiang cheng had already gone out to have lunch alone. He did say a 'hi' to huaisang, who happened to be his childhood friend, but huaisang chose to stay back with Wei ying. 

"Not hungry?" Wei ying asked. 

"The campus food is just ew" huaisang expressed his genuine disliking to the food. 

Wei ying remembered the meal they served in cloud recesses in all shades of green. He internally agreed. 

Huaisang took out the packed lunch in time, like he just remembered it and shared it with his new found friend. 

"You killed it buddy!!" Huaisang  praised animatedly, giving a shoulder nudge to Wei ying, just when Jiang cheng returned. 

The boys had been so busy playing something together on their phones, that they didn't see the unsightly expression Jiang cheng had. 

'Ahem' No one heard Jiang cheng's voice. 

Jiang felt so curious to sneak a peek on their phones, but he couldn't. They didn't give him any face. And poor him, he chose to refuse when Wei ying offered him the seat next to him. 

The classes resumed and Jiang cheng would hear the secret giggles and muffled noises from the back seat, from time to time. 

'We met first. Technically, I should be his first friend in class. Shouldn't I?

'tsk tsk' these were the frustrated complaints of the grumpy young man whenever he heard noise from behind. 

In the meanwhile, after playing for a while, Wei ying thought that he could ask about his Lan zhan to huaisang himself. Even in their previous births, Huaisang was a living data bank. 

As the general conversion progressed, Huaisang himself opened up about his tragic life, about how his brother is asking him to have a motivation in life, to set an inspiration or have a role model like 'Lan Wangji' etc etc. 

(In chat)

"Lan Wangji?"

"Don't you know him? The Lan??!!"

"Of Course I have heard about him. What's the big deal?" 

"It's Lan Wangji dude!!! A guy of our age, who got promoted straight to third year, due to his academic performance, how am I supposed to 'be like Lanwangji?' "

"Oh wow" (shit, how did I forgot that Lan zhan is brilliant) 

"He is our senior?" 

"He is and he is not. He is indeed our senior but I heard my brother say that he is doing an internal program in an university abroad"

"Oh" 

"Yeah, he will be returning soon" 

Finally, Wei ying's face retained its radiance. 

When classes ended for the day, Jiang cheng wantedly waited a few seconds before he got up to follow the two guys, so that he could see what they were upto. 

Again the two smiled smugly, staring at their phones as they walked. 

Jiang cheng grew frustrated when he witnessed the reason. 

Wei ying and Huaisang were making fun of each other by sending stickers and gifs. 

"Aren't you two too childish and dumb to play this at this age??" He asked, doing his eye rolls. Though he asked, he felt that it would be nice if they were to play together. 

"Told you. I just told Xian that you don't like playing silly." Huaisang replied. 

'Xian? Not even a day, and Wei wuxian is Xian to him? Hmph. I don't care'

Wei ying saw Jiang cheng's expression and at once knew that the latter was envious. He pushed his limits by saying that they shouldn't bother Mr.Jiang. 

As they neared their dorms, Jiang cheng's ears perked up as he heard a very familiar name. 

"Do you know him in person?" 

"Yeah, our big brothers are friends. Have met him a few times." 

It was about Lan Wangji. Knowing Wei ying's interest in Lan zhan, Jiang cheng finally felt that he had something to get the idiot closer to him. 

Meanwhile Wei ying wanted someone to tell him about Lan zhan's life so far, so as to fill the yearnings of the 18 years. He remained silent after Huaisang admitted not being close to his husband. 

"We meet in family gatherings every now and then, you know." Jiang cheng played his card. 

"I shall introduce him to you, if you want." He continued. 

At Lan villa

Xichen was seen talking over video call to his baby brother, regarding a serious matter. It was about choosing the suitable partner for Lan zhan. 

"Did you check the profiles I shared?" Xichen asked. 

"Mn" 

"What's lacking?" He knew the answer his brother would give, yet asked. 

"Not gentle like mother" 

"You must know, that uncle is not willing to wait any longer, Wangji. Brother can only help you to this extent." Xichen's face showed helplessness. 

"I understand. Wangji do not blame brother." 

This is the repeated activity of the two brothers in the past one year i.e. one chooses the profiles for dating/ marriage, while the other constantly rejects. A gentle person is what Lan zhan mentioned when asked for the requirement.

The brothers were not aware that a highly gentle tornado was coming their way.