Later that night, Xu Wei had trouble sleeping. Thinking of Qin Yue inexplicably asking him to apologize earlier, he knew he must've said something wrong again.
Looking at the sleeping person on the other side of the room, he asked a question online.
[Is it wrong to tell someone they're poor?]
He stared intently at his phone, waiting for any movement.
At this time, the night owls were very active and it was a slightly controversial topic so the platform pushed the post and within a few minutes, he got countless views.
With these views came replies.
[Did I read this right or are all my light nights catching up to me?]
[Is OP serious or am I being ragebaited?]
[Is that even a question you should ask? Who would call someone poor directly to their face?]
[This has to be a social experiment.]
[I'm only curious if you got beaten up or not because if you did, then you deserved it.]
[Everyone is being sarcastic but OP seems like someone who hasn't seen much of the world so I'll be honest. DON'T DO THAT!]
[Classic rich kid not knowing anything about tact]
Xu Wei stared at the replies, his eyebrows knitting tightly together.
So… it was wrong?
He replied to that comment.
[I say it to my roommate and he dosent mind]
Realizing that he was genuinely asking, the comments became a lot more helpful.
[I suggest you stop doing that. Maybe he does mind but just doesn't show his emotions outwardly.]
He glanced at Qin Yue again, sleeping quietly on the other bed. Xu Wei felt a prickle of guilt.
He didn't understand a lot of things, like why speaking the truth could hurt people but he didn't want to upset anyone.
He also knew that he words could come off as rash sometimes but he had always been surrounded with people who seemed not to mind or didn't dare to call him out so he never realized his casual words could be interpreted in ways he didn't mean it.
After hesitating, he typed another comment under his own post:
[So I should apologize again tomorrow?]
Someone replied instantly.
[YES. And maybe stop saying "poor" altogether.]
Another added:
[Try saying something nice instead. Like compliment their skills or help them quietly.]
Xu Wei read that twice. Help him quietly… he could do that.
He locked his phone, determined.
Tomorrow he would speak less. Maybe even think before speaking. A minute later, he turned over in bed again and whispered.
"…But he is poor."
Xu Wei sighed silently that public interaction was really too complicated. Lost in thought, he didn't even realize when he drifted off to sleep.
When Xu Wei woke up, it was a little after nine. Neither of them had any classes today so after getting dressed, Xu Wei proposed a more intensive tour of the campus and Qin Yue agreed.
But before that, they went to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Seeing Bai Jinhai again made Xu Wei a bit nervous and he was a lot more careful. He weighed Bai Jinhai's expression and there was nothing unusual but he still dawdled a bit.
When Qin Yue gave him a questioning look, he scratched the back of his hair and tried to appear nonchalant.
"Don't mind me, I'll be right behind you."
Qin Yue could see he wanted to do something and walked off calmly.
Watching him leave, all the courage Xu Wei gathered before suddenly evaporated.
Bai Jinhai was annoyed with his hesitation.
"If you're not going to get anything, could you please keep the line moving?"
Xu Wei turned around, confirming that he was the only one on the 'line' and turned back to Bai Jinhai who didn't seem phased.
Xu Wei took a deep breath and gathered his wits.
"Hello, my name is Xu Wei. I found that my offhanded words may have been considered rude and offensive so I apologize. I won't make excuses for myself but I hope I can make it up to you."
Bai Jinhai hummed softly.
Xu Wei blinked twice.
"Is that a yes?..."
Bai Jinhai sighed and nodded.
Xu Wei smiled brightly.
"Thank you! And again, I'm sorry. Let's start over shall we? My name is Xu Wei, freshman, nice to meet you."
Bai Jinhai hesitated only slightly before responding.
"Bai Jinhai, freshman. Nice to meet you as well".
"Now that we've introduced ourselves, we'll be friends. And I won't call you poor anymore."
The last part was said in a barely audible voice but Bai Jinhai managed to catch it. A smile flashed in his eyes and he nodded.
"Mnn"
Xu Wei picked up his food tray and left, visibly happier.
Bai Jinhai watched his back until he was out of sight.
While scrolling last night, he saw a post on his feed where the poster asked a question.
If he had only been 70% sure the poster was Xu Wei, after this interaction, he was a 100% sure.
Xu Wei sat beside Qin Yue humming a little tune while Qin Yue gathered his used plates and cutlery in the tray and clasped his hands.
Xu Wei was slightly speechless.
"You eat really quickly."
But in less than a second, he was no longer thinking about that.
"Guess what? I made a new friend. He's that po..ehem.. that Bai Jinhai from yesterday"
A corner of Qin Yue's lips raised at Xu Wei's efforts to be respectful but Xu Wei didn't notice.
"Did he agree to be friends with you?"
"We already introduced ourselves to each other, doesn't that make us friends?"
Qin Yue muttered under his breath
"What kind of middle school thinking is that?"
Seeing Xu Wei's earnest expression, he sighed.
"That's not how it works"
Xu Wei's brows shot up.
"Really? How do you know? Do you have many friends?"
Qin Yue gave him a scathing look and Xu Wei rubbed his head awkwardly.
"So what do I do now?"
"Just bother him until he agrees to be your friend. Or reports you for harassment"
Xu Wei's brightening expression instantly fell.
Qin Yue got up with his tray
"You can't force something that's not meant to be. If you're meant to be friends, it'll happen naturally."
Xu Wei was barely placated. He picked up his half eaten food but under Qin Yue's disapproving gaze, he sat back down and wolfed it down in minutes.
They dropped their trays and Bai Jinhai wasn't there anymore. Xu Wei sighed.
"Maybe it isn't meant to be."
Just as they stepped outside, Qin Yue tripped and would have called face first if not for Xu Wei's quick hands.
"Are you okay? How could there be stones here?"
Qin Yue quickly recovered and looked back at the leveled floor with dark eyes.