Xu Moran came out of the airport, and the wind of the early autumn morning blew coldly on his body.

He couldn’t help wrapping his coat tightly, pulled his suitcase and walked out, when a man rushed up and called him, “Xu Moran.”

It was a tall and thin young man, dressed in trendy clothes, wearing an earring on his ear, with clear and elegant eyebrows, and a mouthful of white teeth when he smiled.

It was a very contagious smile.

Xu Moran smiled and walked over, reached out and rubbed his hair, “Didn’t I say you don’t need to pick me up?”

Luo Qi laughed: “Anyway, it’s just a morning exercise. There’s nothing else to do, so I might as well come and pick you up.”

Luo Qi’s acquaintance with Xu Moran was a bit dramatic.

Xu Moran had come to this city, joined Guan He (Guan He is the guy we met in Chapter 1; Gao Xi helped him with work before going home and seeing Xu Moran in bed with another), and his life was slowly getting on track.

He had two mobile phones. One was from a few years ago. In it, there were Gao Xi’s photos, chat records and everything else related to Gao Xi and Shen Yun…

It was good to take it out from time to time to look at it. Even the screen of the mobile phone was Gao Xi and Shen Yun’s smiling faces. Of course, Xu Moran seldom took it out.

The other one was the one he was using now.

He bought an apartment near a park, and would go for a morning run in the park every morning.

One spring morning, he lost his mobile phone, the old one, during his morning exercises.

Early that morning he took the mobile phone and put it in his pocket, and didn’t realise that he had taken the wrong one at that time.

When Xu Moran found out that the mobile phone was lost, he was in a daze, his brain was blank for a moment, and he almost burst into tears.

It was the only thing left between them.

He even felt that fate was maliciously playing with him, making him lose the most beautiful things in his life step by step.

He forced himself to calm down, and tried to dial the mobile phone first.

But he got the prompt that the phone was switched off, and he remembered that the phone had run out of battery.

Then he searched the route he had been running along, inch by inch, but in the end he found nothing.

Finally, he printed out a search notice, promising to pay a large sum of money, and posted it in all the conspicuous places in the park.

He spent that day in agony, holding his mobile phone in torment and not daring to let go, for fear of missing any news.

He kept reassuring himself that the mobile phone was old and worthless, and that the reward he had promised would buy three or four new ones of that brand.

As long as the other party could see the notice, there was no reason not to return it.

He thought, maybe there was still hope, and he held onto that last glimmer of hope, silently waiting.

He actually backed up the photos a long time ago, but the chat history was still there, and there were a lot of Gao Xi’s voice messages.

He couldn’t lose it.

This torture came to a end in the evening when someone called.

The one who picked up the phone was Luo Qi.

Xu Moran took the phone, expressed his gratitude, and wanted to add the other party’s WeChat to transfer the reward to him.

But Luo Qi waved his hand and smiled, “No need, if you really want to thank me, why don’t you treat me to dinner tonight.”

A discerning person would know at a glance that the clothes and accessories Luo Qi was wearing cost a lot, so Xu Moran didn’t insist.

Xu Moran entered his mobile phone password in front of Luo Qi to show that he was not an impostor.

That night, they had a very good conversation.

Luo Qi also lived nearby and likewise went to the park every morning to run.

Later they had a few drinks, and Luo Qi asked curiously, “That mobile phone is very important to you?”

Xu Moran smiled, “There is everything left to me by the person I love.”

“Oh?” Luo Qi’s expression got a bit more serious, and he didn’t know how to answer for a moment.

Xu Moran smiled, “It’s not what you think, he’s fine, he just doesn’t belong to me anymore, he… married someone else.”

“So?” Luo Qi took a sip of wine and asked, “Why are you stopping here? You could have moved on too?”

“Because I promised to wait for him.” Xu Moran smiled.

For some reason, talking to Luo Qi was comfortable, making him open up naturally.

“Wait for him to get divorced?” Luo Qi asked in confusion; he even felt a little funny.

Xu Moran looked mature and stable, but turned out to be so childish?

But Xu Moran’s answer was beyond his expectation, “Waiting for his next life.”

He even emphasised, “He won’t divorce, he’ll live this life happily.”

Luo Qi was a little tongue-tied. He pursed his lips, propped up his cheeks and smiled, “Oh? You made me believe in this love thing.”

“What? You don’t believe in love? How old are you?” Xu Moran laughed.

Luo Qi shook his glass of red wine and smiled, “My parents and the elders around me divorced a lot, then I went abroad for a few years and had enough fun.” He shrugged. “You know, in this world, very few people can really be responsible for others, so why bother? Isn’t being alone great? I’m celibate.”

Xu Moran nodded, and Luo Qi smiled: “Since you’re waiting for that person’s next life, you’re not planning to get married in this life, right?”

Xu Moran nodded. Luo Qi raised his glass and raised his eyebrows, smiling, “Then you’re celibate in disguise, so cheers.”

Luo Qi had his own advertising company.

Due to professional reasons, he was very receptive to fresh information and new things, and could quickly apply them to work and life.

When Xu Moran was with him, he felt like he was a few years younger.

They went to run in the morning, drank wine and chatted together. Luo Qi didn’t know how to cook, so he often went to Xu Moran’s home to eat, and they also went out on trips together…

In the past two years, Xu Moran had slowly fallen in love with Gao Xi’s lifestyle, and Luo Qi had also become a very important friend in his life.

It made him less lonely and sad.

Gao Xi’s mindset had always been peaceful, without too much utilitarianism, doing his best in everything and seldom forcing the results.

He liked to go out and look around between jobs, and from time to time, he put down his work and travelled.

Xu Moran was different. He was born in an ordinary family, both parents were unemployed, and his life had not been easy.

The whole family pinned their hopes on him, so he was very strict with himself.

He pampered Gao Xi, and he supported him wherever he wanted to go, but he couldn’t let himself put down his work to go out and relax…

He always thought, do more, do more…

And in these two years, after experiencing life-changing events, he felt tired.

At the same time, because of his yearning for Gao Xi, he gradually adjusted his way of life.

He also learned to put down his work and go out to relax.

Gradually, he discovered that Gao Xi was right. Relaxation was also a kind of charging that could bring unlimited inspiration.

Even Guan He joked with him, saying that he was more spiritual now.

And today, he had returned from Northern Europe.

He had been there for more than a month, drifting naturally around a foreign country, taking a rare moment to relax, to learn to enjoy life.

Luo Qi sent him home and drove to the office.

Xu Moran took a quick shower. For some reason he was a little flustered and couldn’t sleep soundly even when he was lying in bed.

He stopped trying to sleep, got up and dressed. It was already past lunch time. He casually ate something and rushed to the company.

Shen Yun came to X City to participate in the bidding of a large-scale project.

He met Guan He at the venue.

Guan He originally had no good feelings for Shen Yun, because this person was intent on bringing down his best friend’s company.

But when he accidentally looked at Shen Yun, Shen Yun gave him a generous smile with his eyes curved, making him feel that this person was familiar and friendly.

During the break, Shen Yun took the initiative to come over to say hello, and the two of them chatted surprisingly well.

Although Shen Yun looked very young, he had his own style of speaking and doing things.

Neither humble nor overbearing, and his magnanimous attitude made him very likeable.

Shen Yun was going to stay here for a week, and they quickly became familiar with each other.

They often went out for a drink together in the evening, chatting and discussing some professional cases.

Guan He couldn’t help but sigh. Fortunately, Xu Moran was not there, otherwise he really didn’t have face to see his old friend after his defection.

Today was Shen Yun’s last day here, and he came along with Guan He to the company to have a look around.

Guan He incidentally asked him to give a bit of guidance to the young people in the company on free-hand drawing.

When he said this, he was a bit sad. If Gao Xi hadn’t had an accident, Gao Xi would have been the one to do this task.

Xu Moran arrived at the company just in time for them to come out of the conference room.

He and Shen Yun walked towards each other, and when the two saw each other, they both couldn’t help but be stunned on the spot, staring at each other.

Guan He stood in place awkwardly, still trying to explain in a few words. Xu Moran pushed him back and pulled Shen Yun out the door.

The wind picked up outside the window and the sky was cloudy, seemingly about to rain.

The two of them sat in the restaurant, relatively speechless for a while.

“You…”

“You…”

The two spoke at the same time, and couldn’t help but look at each other and laugh, breaking the awkwardness.

Shen Yun said, “Are you okay?”

Xu Moran nodded, “Pretty good, how about you?”

Shen Yun looked at the table of dishes, all of which he loved to eat, and smiled, “I’m fine, very happy.”

Xu Moran smiled, but the expression on his face was complicated, and it was hard to say whether it was loss or relief.

Shen Yun lowered his head, wanting to find a cigarette, but then thought about something and stopped his movement.

He looked at Xu Moran, bit his lip and smiled, “I hope you can be happy too, you know?”

After saying that, he smiled again and shook his head, finally knocking out a cigarette and lighting it, squinting his eyes and exhaling a smoke ring.

“Actually, it’s a bit pretentious to say this, but I mean it.”

Xu Moran nodded: “I know.”

He looked at Shen Yun’s face, still the same as before. His bangs hanging down would make him look very young, a little boyish but soft.

“How many days will you stay? I’ll show you around.”

Shen Yun smiled, “Guan He will take me to the airport tomorrow morning.”

The two of them ate in silence, seemingly having a thousand words but unable to speak them. Occasionally their eyes met, and they smiled at each other.

After eating, it was already dark, and Shen Yun was going back.

Xu Moran stood up, “I’ll see you off.”

They stood next to the revolving door at the entrance of the restaurant, and Shen Yun pointed out through the glass, “It’s only two steps, I’ll just walk there.”

The Hilton’s huge light sign was flashing not far away.

Xu Moran pursed his lips and didn’t say anything. Shen Yun smiled and said, “Goodbye, Xu Moran, you will be happy too.”

Xu Moran’s eyes reddened, “I said I would wait for you. This is the life I chose. As long as you don’t interfere, I’m happy.”

Shen Yun blinked and frowned in silence for a long time before saying solemnly, “I have no right to interfere with you.”

He thought for a moment before adding, “I won’t take this as a burden either. If you figure it out one day, you don’t have to tell me, go the way you want to go.”

He pushed the door open and walked out. The wind of the autumn night swept towards him, blowing the corners of his coat like butterfly wings.

Xu Moran stood there without moving until he could no longer see Shen Yun.

His eyes were a little red, and he gently pressed his head against the transparent glass.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and Xu Moran looked back to see Luo Qi’s face.

“Hey,” Luo Qi said, “Is he the one you are waiting for?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to listen to you guys.”

Luo Qi smiled, “I just wanted to say hello, and you guys had a bit of a weird atmosphere when I came over, so I just stopped there.”

“That’s okay.” Xu Moran said.

“He’s very good. His personality is a bit cold but he makes people want to get close. Such a strange temperament.”

Luo Qi smiled, “It’s just that what he said also makes sense. Everyone changes, maybe one day you will change too, right?”

Xu Moran looked at him, “Luo Qi, you’re not a hesitant person, just say what you have to say directly.”

Luo Qi smiles, “Actually, what I want to say is, if you figure it out, you can try it with me. I suddenly feel that if it is you, it might not be bad to get hitched.”

Xu Moran frowned and said softly, “You know I’m not feeling well, don’t play this kind of joke with me at this time.”

Luo Qi raised an eyebrow, “Who said I’m joking? I’m serious.”

Xu Moran looked at him and pursed his lips, not saying anything.

“You’re willing to wait for him, I’m willing to wait for you, how about it?”

Luo Qi smiled and said, “Just like what you said to him, you shouldn’t interfere with my choice either.”

Xu Moran was silent for a long time, but still said with difficulty, “Luo Qi, don’t waste your time on me.”

“Why do you call it waste?”

Luo Qi smiled and shrugged, “I’m celibate anyway, so even if I wait for you in vain, there’s nothing to lose, right?”

Xu Moran flicked his forehead, “You’re really…”

“Really too cute, right?” Luo Qi blinked.

Xu Moran shook his head and smiled after all.

***

Shen Yun came out of the airport and was picked up and spun around. He shrieked in fright and then laughed.

When the two of them sat in the car, he was still laughing, “Next time can we do something age-appropriate? You’re kind of a celebrity anyway.”

Zhou Lan smiled, “Being on the hot search is just free publicity.”

Shen Yun wrinkled his nose, then smiled with his eyes curved. There was nothing he could do about Zhou Lan’s shamelessness.

Zhou Lan held him in his arms and kissed him, “I missed you.”

Shen Yun kissed him back, “I missed you too.”

After they had been cuddling for a while, Shen Yun said with deliberation, “Zhou Lan, I’ve seen Xu Moran.”

Zhou Lan’s body stiffened, then slowly relaxed as he muttered to himself, “Take a deep breath, take a deep breath…”

Shen Yun couldn’t help laughing.

Zhou Lan pinched his waist, “Don’t laugh.”

Shen Yun obediently stopped laughing and went on to kiss him, “Don’t take it to heart, we met accidentally.”

He bit Zhou Lan’s lips, “All of this is nothing in the first place, but I don’t want to hide it from you. Now you are the most important, got it?”

He didn’t want one day Zhou Lan to know from someone else that he had met Xu Moran. That way even if it was nothing, Zhou Lan’s imagination would run wild.

So he chose to say it himself, even though he felt that it really was nothing. But when it came to Zhou Lan, he would rather be more careful.

Zhou Lan kissed him, “I know.”

They drove home. Shen Yun turned on hot water and comfortably soaked in the bathtub.

His cheeks were flushed with water vapour, his eyelashes were wet, his eyes were misty as if dripping water, and his skin was red with hot water.

He closed his eyes and heard the sound of the bathroom door opening. When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhou Lan unbuttoning his shirt.

Shen Yun looked at him suspiciously: “Do you want to wash too?”

Zhou Lan stripped naked in a few movements, stepped into the bathtub, took him into his arms, and bit his ear, “You’ve met Xu Moran.”

“Ah?” Shen Yun was dumbfounded, “I told you, yes.”

Zhou Lan’s big hands kneaded his body, his lips ignited a fire in him, and the sound of two people breathing sharply echoed in the bathroom.

“Don’t meet him again in the future.”

“Zhou Lan.” Shen Yun laughed somewhat helplessly, but Zhou Lan held him close to his chest, entering him from the bottom up.

Shen Yun whimpered, unable to speak, his sweet and unctuous cries brushing over Zhou Lan’s ears.

Zhou Lan nibbled at his slender neck and delicate collarbone, “I’m just jealous of him, jealous of him having you for so many years.”

He buried his head in his chest and bit gently, “Do you know?”

Shen Yun rubbed his hair, “Well, then let me do the maths, if you live to be ninety, then how many years will we be together… ah…”

Shen Yun couldn’t count anymore, bit his lip and looked at Zhou Lan with tears in his eyes.

Zhou Lan couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, all his gloom dispersing.

Now Shen Yun was in his arms, wholeheartedly surrendering himself into his hands, rising and falling with his every move…

He experienced joy with him, and he felt fulfilled.

Shen Yun was so tired that he didn’t even eat dinner, and after being fed half a bowl of porridge by Zhou Lan, he fell asleep.

When he woke up in the morning, the sunlight was already shining through the window, warming him up.

He lazily leaned against the head of the bed, hugging the thin quilt, and returned a few work messages.

The aroma of food drifted in, and Shen Yun smiled.

Zhou Lan came in and took his clothes. Shen Yun said, “I’ll do it myself.”

But he was half-hugged and half-carried by the other man, and his clothes were put on him.

Zhou Lan picked him up and smiled, “Let’s go, go eat.”

Shen Yun leaned on his chest, laughing and teasing him, “Zhou Lan, you are always like this, be careful that one day I will be so spoiled by you that I won’t walk, won’t dress myself, won’t eat myself… will rely on you in everything, annoying you to death.”

Zhou Lan let out a chuckle, “I can’t wait, I really want to raise you like a lover and a child, you don’t know how much I love you!”

Shen Yun raised his eyebrows, unable to resist the urge to laugh, and also a little moved.

But being moved didn’t last long, because Zhou Lan went on to say, “Good boy, call Daddy.”

Shen Yun buried his face in his chest and smothered a laugh.

Zhou Lan’s arms around him tightened.

Before the other party became angry, Shen Yun wrapped his arms around his neck and called out in a light voice in his ear, “Daddy.”

For a moment the two looked at each other, both red in face.

Shen Yun was shy, and Zhou Lan was excited.

He pressed Shen Yun onto the sofa and laughed hoarsely, “Good boy, baby, I don’t want to eat, I want to eat you first.”

Shen Yun was so shy that he couldn’t raise his head and pushed him with both hands, “Hey, Zhou Lan, is this the only thing you know?”

Zhou Lan laughed: “I only indulge in these things with you.”

Shen Yun begged for mercy: “Husband, baby, Zhou Lan, I have a morning meeting today… ah… clothes wrinkled, wrinkled… hmm…”

The breakfast on the table was waiting silently, the wisps of steam dissipated, and the only sound left in the room was the laughter of the two people.

The years were quiet, and nothing was better than this.

THE END

Translator’s note: Yay, this Xu Moran extra was such a nice surprise! Perhaps he’ll be happy again some day.

Big thanks to my lovely Cocole for being here for me, reading and commenting while the translation was in progress!

If you enjoyed the story, please leave a good rating/review on Novelupdates. And if you want to thank the translator, you can do it on Ko-fi 🙂

Previous / ToC

On the last day before the holiday, at the company dinner, Shen Yun was pressed to drink a few drinks. Although he was not drunk, his footsteps were a bit sluggish.

Shen Yun usually didn’t put up airs, had a calm personality, was excellent to talk to, so no one among the employees was afraid of him.

It was just that they didn’t have much chance to get close to him during the working hours, but now that they had a rare dinner together, they all wanted to tease their boss.

Shen Yun originally promised Zhou Lan not to drink, but when he really arrived on the field, he found that some alcohol couldn’t be pushed away.

Fortunately, Ding Ning had suffered before, so he knew that as long as Shen Yun drank too much, Zhou Lan’s face would not look good the next day.

And the direct victim would be Li Huan.

Therefore, for the sake of his Li Huan, Ding Ning took the initiative to block the drinks for Shen Yun, which allowed Shen Yun to get away.

Zhou Lan had just parked his car when he saw Shen Yun’s figure.

Unexpectedly, a tall young man was holding him, looking at him sideways and laughing.

Zhou Lan got out of the car, in a few strides of his long legs was in front of them and took Shen Yun into his arms.

Shen Yun didn’t notice anything, smiled and said goodbye to the young man.

The young man said goodbye too, and Shen Yun followed Zhou Lan to the car.

Shen Yun wore a woollen hat; all his hair was hidden under this hat, only his little widow’s peak exposed.

The snow-white skin and the black hat made him look like a glutinous rice dumpling, cute as hell.

He took off his down coat, revealing the suit inside, and then grabbed the hat with one hand and loosened the tie with the other.

Zhou Lan caught his hand, held him on his lap and rubbed him: “Tie the tie.”

Shen Yun looked at him with a smile in his eyes; Zhou Lan kissed the corner of his lips, but his eyes still looked out of the car.

The young man who sent Shen Yun down had not yet gone up, was standing not far away under the streetlamp, lighting a cigarette. “Who is that?”

Shen Yun couldn’t help but want to laugh at Zhou Lan’s serious look.

He kissed him back, forehead against forehead, nose to nose, smiling gently, “Why are you so childish?”

But he still answered seriously, “This is Song Shan. I told you last time, the one who came back from France, very much with his own style.”

Zhou Lan then remembered that Shen Yun had told him about this person.

Zhou Lan pretended not to care and said, “He treats you differently.”

Shen Yun didn’t laugh at him; he was getting to know Zhou Lan more and more, and also felt more and more heartache for him.

Zhou Lan acted resolutely in some things and used any means possible, but in some things he was fragile like a child.

Especially in the relationship, he was extremely insecure.

Many things that were not worth mentioning in other people’s eyes had a great impact on him.

Zhou Lan had been abandoned by his relatives, family and lover, so he was very sensitive.

Shen Yun understood him, so he never laughed at him, but only felt sorry for him. He hugged him, pressed their cheeks together, gently rubbing against him to soothe him.

No need to kiss, just hug and feel each other’s body temperature like this, feel each other’s gentle rubbing, and feel being treated gently…

There was enough happiness.

The atmosphere in the car was very warm, and the lines on Zhou Lan’s face slowly softened. He lowered his head and bit Shen Yun’s lips relentlessly.

His voice was dark and hoarse: “Don’t take off your clothes tonight, wear them when I do you.”

Shen Yun pursed his lips and hooked the corner of his mouth, “Are you sure? I still have to see my parents tomorrow.”

Zhou Lan held his small earlobe and gently sucked on it, “Just once.”

Seeing him relax, Shen Yun smiled and dispelled his doubts: “He and I are just colleagues.”

After saying this, he didn’t forget to wink mischievously, “I love you.”

Zhou Lan wrapped his arms around him apologetically, “I’m sorry, sometimes I can’t control myself.”

Shen Yun kissed him, “I’m with you, it’ll be fine.”

Zhou Lan hugged him tighter, one hand kneading his soft buttocks and the other hand going to undo his suit trousers.

Shen Yun pushed him away, amused and angry, raising his eyebrows, “Let’s go home first?”

His cheeks were a little red, and his eyes contained a smile, very enticing.

Zhou Lan kissed him, from his forehead to the tip of his nose, to his lips, tasting his sweetness.

It was only when they lacked the air that the two of them gasped and parted.

Shen Yun pursed his lips and smiled, looking at him with a bit of urgency, and it was a rare case for Zhou Lan to be a bit embarrassed.

He wrapped him in his arms and reached out to tickle his armpits, “Still smiling?”

Shen Yun laughed and collapsed in his arms, laughing to tears and repeatedly begging for mercy: “Good brother, good brother, I won’t dare anymore…”

Zhou Lan withdrew his hands, and while Shen Yun laughed until gasping, he put his palm on the back of his head and kissed him breathless.

The two of them fooled around for a while before starting the car to drive towards home.

***

Shen Yun’s red lips were half-open, intermittent chanting escaped them, soft and sweet, with his voice rising and trembling in the end notes.

Every sound was hitting Zhou Lan’s heart, making his whole body tingle.

Only the shirt and tie were left on Shen Yun’s body; his fine sweat wetted the shirt, and the colour of the flesh was faintly revealed through the white shirt.

Zhou Lan’s teeth nibbled on his chest through the shirt, and Shen Yun’s eyes were misty.

The big hand crumpled the hem of the shirt and outlined the thin waistline, the half-concealed sight making one’s blood boil.

Shen Yun’s combed back hair was messed up.

Shirt, tie, hairstyle all could have carried an ascetic coldness.

But the blushing lips, the red corners of the eyes, the confused gaze and the slightly raised head on the slender neck were full of extreme temptation, incredibly sexy.

Zhou Lan was hooked and lost his soul. He tugged at the tie to pull Shen Yun up, hugged him and put him on his lap, kissing him hard, catching the tip of his tongue not to let go.

Shen Yun sobbed softly through his nose. Zhou Lan kissed him breathless before turning to bite the tip of his ear.

Fingers probed into his mouth to play with his red tongue.

Every part of him fascinated Zhou Lan.

“Does it feel good?” He asked with a muffled chuckle in his ear.

“It’s too… too fast… ah… too fast… ” Shen Yun spoke in broken sentences.

“Then your husband will slow down?” Zhou Lan said, but with wicked intentions just moved faster.

Shen Yun whimpered and buried his head in Zhou Lan’s shoulder, biting down hard and panting sharply…

When everything was over, Shen Yun was limp in Zhou Lan’s arms.

His body still couldn’t stop trembling slightly, and his soft hair brushed over Zhou Lan’s chin, making him numb and itchy.

Zhou Lan lowered his head and rained kisses on the top of his head.

The two quietly hugged each other for a long time. Then Shen Yun moved, found a cigarette and was about to light it.

Regardless of the tenderness just now, Zhou Lan stretched out his hand and grabbed the cigarette.

Shen Yun leaned into his arms, hooked the corner of his lips, put the cigarette into his hand and lit it sideways.

A trace of white smoke slowly escaped from his red lips. He raised his long eyebrows and teased, “Do you want to be so overbearing that you won’t let me smoke a cigarette afterwards?”

Zhou Lan pinched his thin soft waist and tightened his arms around it again, “Let’s smoke together!”

Shen Yun smoked too fiercely in previous years, and Zhou Lan always worried that he would hurt his lungs, so in this aspect his control was particularly strict.

Shen Yun smiled, and two people smoked head to head, a mouthful for you and a mouthful for me, until the cigarette was finished.

Shen Yun contentedly exhaled the last mouthful of smoke, enjoying Zhou Lan’s care.

Zhou Lan helped him take off his shirt and tie while teasing him with a smile, “I’ll give my husband a bath.”

They called each other ‘husband’, giving each other face at home and outside.

Shen Yun was too tired, and the light inebriety also helped him sleep, so he fell asleep in the bathtub halfway through the bath.

Zhou Lan meticulously helped him clean up before carrying him back to bed, kissing his forehead with infinite satisfaction.

***

The next day was New Year’s Eve, and on this day they went to Shen Yun’s parents’ home to celebrate the New Year as usual.

Zhou Lan got along very well with the elderly couple and Gao Yuan.

Not to mention Shen Yun liking him, Zhou Lan, whether it was his appearance or manners, was very outstanding and likeable enough.

Most importantly, Zhou Lan was really good to Shen Yun.

For the family, this was more important than anything else.

But there are exceptions to everything, and Shen Qing was this exception.

Shen Qing didn’t like Zhou Lan.

A girl’s heart was a secret, and Shen Qing secretly cried when Zhou Lan announced that Shen Yun was his lover.

It was impossible to say whether she was sad because she lost her brother or because her brother found a man.

But she couldn’t make an exception to the rule that she wanted her brother to be happy, and if he liked this man, she would accept it.

But Shen Qing’s growth process ultimately made her a little more sensitive and delicate than ordinary people, especially when it came to her brother.

One day during the summer vacation, Shen Qing asked her classmates to go out shopping, and as a result, her new shoes rubbed her feet, so she returned home early.

When she was on vacation, Shen Yun would stay with her most of the time in the suite downstairs at the Gao family’s house.

He had to accompany Shen Qing and to be busy with work, so the time to accompany Zhou Lan would be reduced.

Zhou Lan missed him so much that he couldn’t help but toss him around every time they met.

As a result, Zhou Lan couldn’t hold back that day, and the two of them got entangled in the bedroom.

Because Shen Qing said in advance that she would eat outside, Shen Yun relaxed his guard, and didn’t care that the bedroom door wasn’t closed.

As a result, when Shen Qing entered the living room, she heard Shen Yun crying and begging for mercy and Zhou Lan’s low laughter.

Shen Qing blushed and turned around to go upstairs.

When Shen Yun went upstairs to eat dinner, he saw Shen Qing sitting and playing with her mobile phone, so he asked curiously what happened.

Shen Qing only said that she was tired of shopping and came back early.

When Shen Yun went downstairs, he noticed Shen Qing’s abnormality, so he found the medicine box and squatted on the floor to help her deal with the blisters on her feet.

Shen Yun wore a loose T-shirt, and as soon as he bent over and lowered his head, the dense marks on his shoulders and chest entered Shen Qing’s eyes.

Shen Qing hadn’t had any experience, and when she thought of Shen Yun’s crying voice, she couldn’t help but wonder if Zhou Lan had any perverted hobbies.

But she was a girl and couldn’t open her mouth to ask her brother about these things.

But she was so frustrated and angry that she cried until her eyes were swollen that night.

Shen Yun was terribly busy at that time. At first he only thought that the child was unhappy because he accompanied her less.

So he tried to adjust his working hours to spend more time with her.

But then he slowly discovered that as long as Zhou Lan was there, Shen Qing’s face was very gloomy.

And she never took the initiative to talk to Zhou Lan. Even though Zhou Lan’s attitude was very friendly, she never gave the other party a good face.

Zhou Lan was so aggrieved that he pressed Shen Yun at night to vent his anger.

It was only right before Shen Qing returned to school that the truth came out.

The night before leaving, Shen Qing went to Gao Yuan, told her worries, and cried while talking.

Gao Yuan was stunned, amused and touched, and finally blushed.

Shen Qing repeatedly asked Gao Yuan to take care of Shen Yun and to call her in case anything happened.

It made Gao Yuan want to laugh and cry.

Gao Yuan finally tried to say, maybe it was just hickeys, don’t you think too much about it?

But Shen Qing said that Zhou Lan was extremely possessive and controlling of her brother, and she didn’t believe that her brother was really as happy as he seemed.

Gao Yuan also couldn’t explain clearly, and only had to find an opportunity to tell Shen Yun about this. After finishing, she looked at the smiling, blushing Shen Yun.

Shen Yun nonchalantly tapped her forehead with his fingers, and she couldn’t help but bite her lips, smile and blush too.

For a while, the brother and sister blushed and were silent, and the atmosphere was weird.

Zhou Lan was embarrassed and amused when he learnt about this, hugging and kissing and tickling Shen Yun, shouting, “That’s right, I’m so wicked!”

This time when she came back from school, Shen Qing’s attitude towards Zhou Lan was as cold as ever, just as if this person didn’t exist.

When she saw Zhou Lan put his arm around her brother and kiss him, she immediately found something to distract Shen Yun.

Zhou Lan couldn’t get close to him at all.

Shen Qing’s little radar was fully turned on, and all her attention was focused on her brother, making Gao Yuan, who watched it, laugh.

Shen Yun also felt funny; he wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Shen Qing, but in the end it was difficult to talk about it.

Before leaving the house today, he and Zhou Lan carefully checked their bodies for marks and purposely wore turtlenecks so as not to reveal any clues.

Zhou Lan even chose a variety of gifts, brand-name bags, coats of various colours, even two sets of the new Christmas limited edition lipstick.

Facing Shen Yun, he was even more affectionate and sincere, striving to keep his posture as humble as possible to win the recognition of the people around Shen Yun.

Shen Qing didn’t say anything and just accepted the gifts perfunctorily, without even thanking him.

Shen Yun took Shen Qing downstairs and closed the door. Shen Qing couldn’t help but pout.

Shen Yun pulled her to sit down, rubbed her hair and looked at her with a smile.

He poked Shen Qing’s bulging cheeks and smiled, “Do you know why Brother called you out alone?”

Shen Qing lowered her head and didn’t speak.

Shen Yun looked into her eyes and asked with a smile, “Do you believe your brother?”

Shen Qing looked up and said without hesitation, “Of course I do.”

Shen Yun pursed his lips, lowered his eyes and smiled, “Brother is very happy now, you know?”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Shen Qing again, his eyes gentle and firm, shining like the sun.

This brightness came from the depths of the soul; it was the look of happiness that couldn’t be faked.

Shen Qing froze for a moment, then rushed over, buried her head in Shen Yun’s chest and said in a nasal voice after a while, “I see, Brother.”

Shen Yun kissed the top of her head and said nothing more.

When she went back, Shen Qing changed her attitude. She thanked Zhou Lan very sincerely for his gift and expressed her pleasure.

She also began to take the initiative to talk and laugh with Zhou Lan, calling him Brother with a red face.

The family was very happy, laughing and chatting together.

Shen Yun helped his mother set the dishes, what Shen Yun loved to eat, what Zhou Lan loved to eat, what Shen Qing loved to eat, what Gao Yuan loved to eat…

For the elderly couple, what the children loved to eat was what they loved to eat.

There were so many dishes that the table was overfilled.

After the New Year’s Eve dinner, they accompanied the elderly couple to watch the Spring Festival Gala, and arranged for Shen Qing to stay in Gao Xi’s former room before driving back.

Zhou Lan loved the atmosphere of the Gao family. He said he had never felt it before. Even when his mother was still alive, it had never been so happy and lively.

He liked this feeling, the feeling of home.

Shen Yun kissed him with pity, “It’s okay, I’ll make it up to you in the future. What others have, you’ll have.”

When he said this, they were sitting on the balcony of the second floor, and the sound of New Year’s countdown came from the TV downstairs.

Outside the window fireworks ignited, exploding in the air, one after another, colouring the sky.

They couldn’t be bothered to look; at the very beginning of the New Year, Zhou Lan pulled Shen Yun into his arms and kissed him deeply.

In the first moments of the new year, all Zhou Lan wanted was to have this man, to have him forever.

They kissed, tenderly and lovingly.

Zhou Lan whispered in his ear, ”Shen Yun, do you know? After having you, I know the taste of happiness. I love you, love you so much.”

He said, “You gave me hope and made me yearn for the future. Thank you, baby, you made me different.”

Shen Yun smiled and kissed him back, the glow of the fireworks illuminating his beautifully shaped eyes. His bangs were a little messy, making him look like a teenager. He kissed Zhou Lan back reverently, “I love you too, honey. Happy New Year, happy forever.”

His words were swallowed by Zhou Lan, who kissed him in ecstasy. This New Year’s kiss seemed especially, especially sweet, and he wanted to keep kissing.

Previous / ToC / Next

Translator’s note: You know how every BL has an extra about the side cp no one cares about? 🙂 This is it. Xiao Bo and his boyfriend. Fortunately, it’s only one extra, can be skipped no problem.

Xiao Bo was drunk.

With Qiu Mingshan, he always had trouble controlling his emotions.

He dragged himself forward with unsteady steps, and a tall young man stood in front of the elevator waiting for it.

The boy’s legs were long and straight, his waist was thin and his shoulders wide, a very attractive sight when you looked at his back.

Xiao Bo could feel Qiu Mingshan’s gaze on his back and especially wanted to disgust him.

The elevator door opened, the boy stepped in with his long legs, and Xiao Bo walked a few steps to follow.

He stretched out his hand to hold the boy’s neck and pulled his head down, then raised his head and kissed him.

The elevator door closed slowly, and in the haze he saw Qiu Mingshan’s discoloured face.

Xiao Bo let go and stood against the elevator’s wall dizzily, smiling apologetically, “Sorry, I recognised the wrong person.”

Xiao Bo’s original name was Xiao Bo, following his mother’s surname (different Xiao, his surname was 肖 and now he’s called 小 that means “little”).

He had always thought that he had no father; until he met Qiu Mingshan in his first year of high school.

Only then did he know that he had a father, and this man whom he had only seen on TV and in the newspapers was his father.

And he was just an illegitimate child who couldn’t see the light of the day.

He finally realised that his mother’s business was a trick, and that there was someone behind the scenes.

He felt disgusted and would rather not have a father.

So he was happy every time he was able to disgust Qiu Mingshan.

This was the case at the moment; he leaned on the elevator’s wall with his eyes closed and the corners of his lips curled up.

His long and slender neck was slightly tilted, the corners of his lips were pink with a little moist glow, his long eyelashes were slightly curled and were gently fluttering because of his happiness.

The sound of breathing in the elevator became heavy, and Xiao Bo was pulled into an embrace. Before he could react, he was kissed fiercely.

He widened his eyes in amazement, and a pair of dark eyes met his.

He frowned and wanted to push the other person away, but the man said, “You were the one who recruited me first.”

The elevator dinged, alerting that it had arrived, and Xiao Bo was pulled and pushed into a room.

He was pressed against the door and bullied until his body went limp before the lights came on.

The other man was young, not more than a few years older than him, with thick, long eyebrows, deep, long eyes, a lean, upright body and tightly pursed lips that were very sexy.

The intoxicating look, and when the kisses fell again, Xiao Bo didn’t dodge.

The other party’s kisses were passionate and domineering, making Xiao Bo’s mouth ache and feel numb and his brain suffocate from lack of oxygen.

Under the hypnosis of alcohol he got into the mood extremely quickly.

He kissed the other man back frantically, venting his frustration with this fucked-up life with his actions.

It wasn’t until his clothes were ripped off and he was pinned down naked on the big hotel bed, his fine white ankles raised high on the other man’s shoulders, that he really got scared.

He struggled hard but couldn’t break away. His eyes were so misty that he couldn’t even see the other’s face.

He begged the other to let him go, he said it was his first time, he said he didn’t mean it, he said he was sorry.

The other party was obviously stunned, but his body pressed down in an even more frantic way.

The moment Xiao Bo was gently but firmly possessed, he bit his lip and cried.

Hot tears rolled out of the slender fox-like eyes.

Not a single drop of those tears went to waste, all of them were licked away by that person with the tip of his tongue.

Xiao Bo was tossed around so much that he didn’t sleep much all night.

After the other party fell asleep wearily, he secretly found his clothes, put them on indiscriminately, escaped from the hotel, and took a taxi back to school.

He rubbed his forehead in the car; he didn’t even remember who that person was or what he looked like.

All that could be remembered was that the other man was Asian, with straight, long legs and deep, long eyes.

He sighed and mentally comforted himself that he had been bitten by a dog, scratched by a cat or scraped by a car…

His head ached from the hangover, and there was no part of his body that wasn’t sore. He couldn’t afford to think about it anymore.

Xiao Bo had been in this country for two years in order to escape Qiu Mingshan and his mother.

This father, who had never shown his face for more than ten years, had been pestering him non-stop since his first year of high school.

The reason was sad and ridiculous, to say the least. His only brother Qiu Zelin had a car accident and was in a vegetative state, barely alive.

It had been five years and he hadn’t woken up, and as time went by, the chances of him waking up were getting slimmer and slimmer.

And the Qiu family needed an heir.

And his mother, too, tried her best to make this happen.

After all, such a huge business empire as Qiu’s, put in front of anyone, was a huge attraction.

Xiao Bo made a lot of trouble, refused again and again, and was put under pressure from all sides over and over again.

High school was the rebellious period of a child, and because of his hatred for his parents, his rebellious period was fierce and long-lasting.

Drinking, fighting, flirting…

All the things that could give parents and teachers a headache, he did all of them.

Of course, after the university entrance examination he didn’t get into any preferred school.

Then he was sent here by his mother.

Qiu Mingshan came to see him once a year, persistently thinking he would change his mind.

No one can resist temptation, and as people grow older, so do their desires, and he thought that Xiao Bo would be no exception.

He waited with great confidence for Xiao Bo to change his mind.

The first time Xiao Bo met Zhao Meng was in a bar.

He was drinking with Fang Nan, and after a few drinks, Fang Nan waved his hand in greeting.

A tall young man walked over. The lighting in the bar was a bit dim, making the silhouette of the man seem very soft.

Xiao Bo looked over and only felt that the other person was handsome and had a good temperament.

But he was cold; even though the light softened the silhouette, you could still feel that bone-deep coldness.

Fang Nan introduced, “Zhao Meng, my brother from X University.”

Xiao Bo glanced at Zhao Meng with the eyes of the school overlord (the one who studies the hardest), and Fang Nan already went on to introduce, “Also my brother, Xiao Bo.”

For some reason, Xiao Bo felt that Fang Nan’s smile was a bit meaningful, but at that time he only felt that he was thinking too much.

Xiao Bo politely extended his hand. His hands were slim, his fingers were long, and his nails were neatly trimmed and pink.

Zhao Meng looked at these hands and remembered the feeling of these hands caressing his body, as well as the night when these hands left countless scratches on his back.

That night, he made the young man cry, but the more he cried, the more excited it made him, so he coaxed him while doing things that made him cry even more intensely.

They tossed and turned most of the night, but when he woke up, there was no sight of the other.

He called Fang Nan and confirmed that the young man had returned to school before letting go.

But when they met again, Xiao Bo didn’t seem to recognise him.

This filled Zhao Meng with frustration and vague anger, ridiculously as if he was a woman scorned.

He had fallen in love with Xiao Bo at first sight.

The day Fang Nan arrived, he came to welcome him and caught a glimpse of the young man in the sea of people.

Seventeen or eighteen years old, tall, with white skin and red lips, the corners of his eyes and his eyebrows flirtatious.

He laughed with a kind of energy that didn’t care about anything.

A little evil, a little disdainful, even a little frivolous, and also with a little bit of grace and elegance of the rich young master of the old Shanghai that went straight to the heart.

Due to his identity, Zhao Meng had seen many beauties since he was a child.

Male, female, smart, lively, gentle, elegant…

All shapes and sizes, just to name a few; he had thought he was immune to beauty, but he realised it wasn’t so when he met Xiao Bo. The moment he appeared, everything became a backdrop for him.

But Xiao Bo didn’t see him, he didn’t seem to notice him and wouldn’t pay attention to him.

Zhao Meng secretly took a blurry photo while he was passing by.

This photo brightened his eyes in the darkness countless times.

***

The other party didn’t seem to have any intention of shaking hands with Xiao Bo, just quietly staring at his hand.

Xiao Bo’s outstretched hand was slightly embarrassing, and the smile at the corners of his lips gradually disappeared.

He knew that Fang Nan’s circle was mostly second-generation officials, and it was normal that they looked down at him.

When he was about to retract his hand, the man quickly stretched out his hand.

The warm, dry, large hand held his hand tightly, and even squeezed his fingers gently with its palm.

Xiao Bo pursed his lips and withdrew his hand, looking at the other person’s indifferent face, unable to say what he felt.

But he quickly let go of the matter as a very pretty girl came over and invited him to dance.

He put down his glass and slid into the dance floor with the girl. The dance floor was very small, with only a few couples of dance partners clinging to each other and swaying gently.

Xiao Bo wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist and said something as he swayed, making the girl laugh and fall on his shoulder.

The soothing music relaxed him.

He didn’t feel a pair of eyes staring at him, and no one knew what kind of emotions were condensed in those eyes.

Xiao Bo was having a great time. He finished his drink and leaned against the bar to smoke, and when a boy invited him to have fun, he just rubbed the other man’s buttocks and softly whispered a few words to send him away.

Everything was like driving a lightweight chariot on a familiar road (easy and familiar).

Xiao Bo didn’t know that Zhao Meng had silently watched this kind of scene countless times.

The places where he appeared would always coincidentally be accompanied by Zhao Meng’s shadow, but Xiao Bo never spared a thought for him.

And while he was invisible to Xiao Bo, he would watch his flirtation and freedom of picking flowers, and the jealousy and bitterness would twist and crush his heart into a pulp.

It was precisely because of this that he had been so surprised, so pleasantly surprised to hear that night that it was Xiao Bo’s first time.

His body and performance were so jerky, very different from the feeling of a veteran of picking flowers he looked like in the past.

Every minute and every inch Zhao Meng conquered made him tremble, and every teardrop of his was licked with the tip of Zhao Meng’s tongue, full of sweetness.

He was wearing a mask, and the man under the mask was known only to Zhao Meng.

The taste was sour and beautiful.

Halfway through, Fang Nan got a phone call and had to leave early.

Only Xiao Bo and Zhao Meng were left, and there was a strange atmosphere between the two. They just drank and didn’t talk to each other.

Xiao Bo only felt that there was something strange about this person, and after another drink, he also planned to leave.

Zhao Meng stood up and said, “I’ll send you home.”

Xiao Bo smiled politely, “No need, a taxi is very convenient.”

Zhao Meng led the way without saying a word, and Xiao Bo had no choice but to get into the car.

Nothing was said along the way, and the soothing music made Xiao Bo sleepy.

When he woke up, he was lying on the hotel bed. Xiao Bo came round with a jolt and was about to roll over and get up.

But he was held down by the person who had been staring at him.

The bedding had a specially customised logo of the hotel, and Xiao Bo recognised at a glance that it was the hotel he was in that night.

“It was you that day?” He asked in surprise.

“It was me,” Zhao Meng looked at him with a smirk. “What, have you been in bed with too many people that you don’t remember?”

Xiao Bo pursed his lips and turned white with anger: “We are both adults, it’s all in the past, you’re so boring.”

Zhao Meng, however, lashed out. He pinched Xiao Bo’s chin, looking at him viciously: “For you it is boring, but for me it is more than seven hundred days and nights. What do people like you know? What do you know?”

Xiao Bo was frightened by his appearance, and was also shocked by the more than seven hundred days and nights he mentioned. He looked at him in confusion and was stunned for a while.

Something seemed to have happened while he was unaware of it that made him unable to make sense of it.

His clothes were torn, and Zhao Meng leaned to his ear and said in a hoarse voice, “You were the one who provoked me first, and you took my heart, so who are you to say that it’s all in the past? You’re not qualified!”

That night from the initial fierceness to the final tenderness, Xiao Bo was like a sheep that was sent into the wolf’s mouth, eaten dry and wiped clean.

“And what happened later?” Shen Yun smiled, pursing his lips.

“Later, I couldn’t get rid of him.” Xiao Bo smiled too.

“Then those traces on your body at the beginning…” Shen Yun stretched out his finger and pointed at him, blinking in disbelief.

Xiao Bo’s face was tinged with a rare blush. “It’s all him. Every time I asked someone out, he scared them away.”

Shen Yun rested his cheek on his hand and smiled. “I didn’t expect Iceberg Face to have this side. It is pretty romantic.”

Previous / ToC / Next

Zhou Lan’s mother died when he was fifteen.

She died of hatred.

At that time, Zhou Lan was still a well-protected child, but in the midst of countless rumours and deliberately suppressed quarrels, he gradually understood what had happened at home.

Shortly after his mother’s death, a new woman moved into the house, bringing with her a little boy.

He was the child of his stepmother and someone else.

His father asked him to call Zhou Lan “Brother”, but Zhou Lan never responded.

Zhou Lan had seldom set foot in the house since then, and since the day his mother died, he felt he had no home.

When he did go home, the atmosphere would be stiff and the family of three would be happy, making him feel like an outsider.

At first, he chose to live in school, and later, he chose to study abroad.

The resentment in his bones turned into rebellious blood, and he loved to explore and challenge the world.

A year before he returned to China, in the rainforest, he met Wei Chen.

He was twenty-three at the time.

Wei Chen’s father was a well-known lawyer in China, and he himself studied law.

He was full of respect for the law, but also full of flirtatious banter. He would do things in accordance with the law and help others drill loopholes in the law to make money.

Wei Chen was very charming; at least Zhou Lan thought so.

He was both righteous and wicked, making Zhou Lan, who had a rebellious streak in his blood, like him from the bottom of his heart.

Wei Chen has a mole at the corner of his eye, making his beautifully shaped eyes even more sexy and charming.

Zhou Lan was crazy about him and wanted to be with him for the rest of his life.

It was the kind of love deep in his bones.

After returning to China, he took over Zhouquan as a matter of course.

Not only did Old Man Zhou have health problems, but more importantly, Zhouquan was half Zhou Lan’s mother’s credit.

Life seemed to be getting better and better, and Zhou Lan’s sharp edges were slowly becoming rounded.

Until the day he lost Wei Chen.

The day he lost Wei Chen was so similar to the day he lost his mother.

Zhou Lan tried hard to keep him, doing all kinds of stupid things without dignity, but in the end he failed to keep Wei Chen from leaving.

Since then, he had been afraid of feelings, afraid of being abandoned, afraid of the pain of taking out his heart just to be slowly crushed into pieces and thrown into the muddy pit in blood and pain.

He didn’t want to try a second time.

From then on, he only went to bed and didn’t talk about love.

He could give the other party money, but couldn’t give feelings. If he didn’t give feelings, he wouldn’t be afraid of being abandoned and trampled.

Zhou Lan had never forgotten Wei Chen. Every year on Wei Chen’s birthday, the two met, and it was impossible to say whether it was love or hate.

Zhou Lan was vengeful; Wei Chen felt uncomfortable, so he felt better.

Wei Chen had never said anything; he had always cooperated well, and would tell Zhou Lan about his life, which could be considered beautiful.

His beautiful life had long ago excluded Zhou Lan, who was left far behind by joy and happiness.

The drink would roll down his throat like a knife.

Thinking about it, both understood that this was torture for each other.

But Zhou Lan was never tired of it.

Until one day, he met Shen Yun.

In Zhou Lan’s opinion, there were many people like Shen Yun, looking for opportunities everywhere and wanting to make a head start, and he didn’t care to bother with them.

But that mole at the corner of the young man’s eye was too similar, and just like the one of Wei Chen, it was full of charm.

Even if this was a completely different face, even if this face was much younger and more tender.

After Wei Chen left, Zhou Lan accidentally learnt that that mole was called a peach blossom mole, signifying the lack of dedication to love.

He even once attributed Wei Chen’s departure to this mole, and was both resentful and infatuated with that mole.

Indescribable contradiction.

In the cold December, there was drizzle and snow drifting outside. The young man’s clothes were half-wet, his lips were blue with cold, and his body trembled slightly.

He eagerly took a few sips of alcohol, choked and coughed and bent over.

When he looked up again, his long eyelashes were slightly wet, his dark eyes were covered with a layer of mist, his cheeks were slightly red, and even his blue lips were soft pink.

Damn tempting.

As if demons and gods were at work, Zhou Lan said, you play with me for a while.

The young man looked at him at a loss for words, and it was very pleasant, and his unfulfilled hatred for Wei Chen seemed to have an outlet for venting.

He took Shen Yun home, made the other party kneel down on the bed, pressed his palms on the other party’s waist, so that his back was low and his hips were high.

Shen Yun looked a little nervous, fresh and cute and seductive.

Zhou Lan kissed the mole at the corner of his eye, his mind in a daze.

The other party was very cooperative, even though he deliberately suppressed his body’s reaction. The sweetness in his gasps, the toughness in his softness were all squeezed in the palm of Zhou Lan’s hand.

When he tasted it slowly, the flavour was surprisingly good and addictive.

Zhou Lan complied and gave him an opportunity, feeling like he was doing charity.

But after that, Shen Yun’s talent and spirituality in design brought him unexpected joy.

Shen Yun was very well-behaved in front of him, coming when called and never giving him any trouble.

A few times, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he saw the young man sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, smoking, his figure lonely and bleak.

That figure didn’t move; it was like a painting with a different flavour, and people who knew the aesthetics might shed tears looking at it.

But Zhou Lan wouldn’t. It was just a toy in his bed, he didn’t want to spend too much thought on it.

His heart, sealed in a thick shell, would not move easily for anyone.

At that time, he had always thought so, thought that this life was nothing more than that.

Even after knowing that Moxi was making things difficult for Shen Yun at every turn, he had no intention of intervening.

Although the other party was indeed very spiritual, he was not someone Zhou Lan couldn’t do without.

He had given him the opportunity, and it was up to him whether or not he could seize it.

Whether he could stand his ground or whether he would be knocked down in the mud, Zhou Lan would not put it in his mind.

After all, even he himself was only rolling around in the mud.

Not to mention that he still had a lot of things to be busy with, and also had other lovers that he could use to amuse himself and relieve his boredom.

Even Shen Yun’s struggles and confrontations were considered a different kind of pastime.

Until that day when he and Lin Jianyang accidentally saw Shen Yun and Xu Moran at a restaurant.

Xu Moran held Shen Yun’s hand, looked at him with passionate persistence, and even from a distance one could sense his strong feelings.

As for Shen Yun, he smiled beautifully, and it was a smile Zhou Lan had never seen before.

Not as submissive and boring as when he was with him.

Such a smile made him feel that there was a soul inside this body that he didn’t understand.

And that soul had never opened up to him in the slightest.

He narrowed his eyes a little, uncomfortable, too uncomfortable.

How could he let someone else get their hands on the little things he hadn’t grown tired of yet?

After the meal that day, he casually dismissed Lin Jianyang and went to Shen Yun’s place.

On the bed, he kissed the peach blossom mole at the corner of Shen Yun’s eye and slammed hard into him.

He asked him, if he hadn’t taken him that day, would he have gone and sold himself to someone else?

He went too far and crossed the line. Since when did he start trying to control Shen Yun?

He didn’t know himself.

Maybe from the time he’d gone to the supermarket to pick up food to put in the fridge for him.

Maybe when he bought cigarettes for him on purpose.

Maybe when Shen Yun said it had nothing to do with him.

Maybe from the moment he realised that the other person was someone no one could control…

Zhou Lan liked such people, with hard muscles and bones, principled, unyielding.

Wei Chen was also like this back then.

Zhou Lan knew that he liked this stubborn young man, and he was also clear that this man had never cared about him.

Many times, Zhou Lan looked at Shen Yun’s sleeping face and silently wondered if maybe it was all just an illusion.

He tried to test, test himself and test the other party, making them wrestle with each other.

But it always ended in a fiasco.

Until the intense desire for exclusivity slapped his heart over and over again.

He even wanted to imprison this person more than once…

That terrible desire for exclusivity drove him crazy and scared him.

He went to see a therapist.

The lack of emotion made him unable to grasp the distance and measure towards the person he loved, and deep down in his heart, he split into two extremes.

Either to be intensely possessive, or to be afraid to accept.

The death of his mother and the departure of Wei Chen both created a fear in Zhou Lan to have something.

Deep down, he always felt that if he didn’t have it, he could never lose it.

And the beginning of having something was also the beginning of loss, whether sooner or later.

He was afraid of losing.

He was afraid that he couldn’t control himself and would do something stupid to Shen Yun, so for a while, he didn’t dare to go to him.

Until the therapist told him that he didn’t need to come again.

At that moment, Zhou Lan frowned and even had the urge to cry. He opened his heart to accommodate the feelings he didn’t dare to accept in the past.

Carefully, he went to embrace the person he had longed for for so long.

“Shen Yun…” he called softly in a vague voice, reaching out to his side, but the side of the bed was empty.

Zhou Lan opened his eyes. Last night he attended a cocktail party and had a few more drinks. He didn’t know when he fell asleep with his clothes on.

During the night of chaotic dreams, he dreamt of the day he met Shen Yun for the first time.

If he could go back in time, he would have taken him into his arms and warmed him up at the first opportunity.

Used his lips to warm every inch of his body, not letting him suffer a little bit of cold.

“Shen Yun…”

As he looked at the empty king-sized bed, his heart ached heavily. He missed Shen Yun, missed him so much.

He had only been gone for two days, going to Q City to work on a project.

They had been registered abroad as married for over a year.

This not-so-long period was Zhou Lan’s happiest time.

He experienced a sense of happiness and security that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He experienced the magic and attraction of the word “home”.

His home with Shen Yun was the kind of home he had fantasised about countless times but never dared to think about too deeply.

Happy, joyful, safe, warm, full of countless little fun things… home.

With the kind of happiness and satisfaction that could be obtained from innumerable small things every day.

It made him feel that life was full of treasures.

In fact, after marriage, both of them were very busy, especially in the past half a year.

Zhou Lan was really busy with work, while Shen Yun was busy travelling around the world.

He said that if a designer couldn’t go out and wander around, see the ever-changing world and feel the clash of different cultures, then his source of inspiration would dry up.

Even when he had been in Moxi, he had always set aside part of the year to travel around.

He liked to look at the architecture of different places, take all kinds of photos, and come back to organise and file them.

He also liked to sit alone in a wooden chair in front of a dilapidated church, holding a drawing board and drawing all day.

He liked to observe the subtle expressions on people’s faces in various places.

Shen Yun’s thoughts were sometimes so jumpy that they were hard to grasp.

Zhou Lan countless times wanted to hold his legs and make him stay at home safely, but every time he silently helped him pack his bags.

Fortunately, Shen Yun said that he would start working in the second half of the year, and although he would still be very busy, Zhou Lan would be able to see him every day if he wanted to.

Zhou Lan rubbed his head that was still aching from the hangover. He missed Shen Yun too much.

If Shen Yun was at home, not only would there be sobering-up soup but he would also use his long fingers to rub Zhou Lan’s temples.

He would put Zhou Lan’s head on his white, soft thighs and let him eat a little tofu (hehe :)).

Zhou Lan missed him too much and couldn’t bear it anymore.

Without hesitation, he got up and booked a flight ticket.

At this moment, Shen Yun was sitting on the beach after a busy day of work.

The yellow sand was fine and soft, with residual warmth, and burying his toes in it was very comfortable.

On a weekday evening, there were not many people on the beach.

The beach in early summer was still a little cool, and the sea breeze with the fishy salty breath brushed back his smooth hair.

Someone had thrown a half-broken sand shovel beside him casually.

Shen Yun got up and picked it up, squatted down and dug up the sand with the shovel.

The sand pit was dug out and slowly filled with the sea water. The dug-up sand was used to build a high mountain and a castle…

Shen Yun played happily, not noticing that there was a person behind him watching him for a long time.

His phone rang. He got up and slapped off the sand on his hands, and fished the phone out of his pocket.

When he saw the caller ID, the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curl up, and he happily picked up the phone and said, “Zhou Lan.”

After being patted on the shoulder, Shen Yun turned his head and saw Zhou Lan standing behind him, smiling at him.

The huge surprise made him jump up like a child, wrap his arms around Zhou Lan’s neck and wrap his legs around Zhou Lan’s waist.

Zhou Lan, infected by his joy, laughed out loud, holding his buttocks with both hands, spinning him around a few times before lowering his head and kissing him fiercely.

After the initial fierceness, there was a long period of tenderness, with a strong sense of longing.

The two people kissing were breathing hard, and their lips parted reluctantly.

Shen Yun asked with a smile, “Why are you here?”

Zhou Lan watched the slight blush on his cheeks, and lowered his head again, his lips pressed against Shen Yun’s lips, gently rubbing them, “Missed you.”

His voice was a little dark and hoarse, like a fine wine that had been sealed for a long time, intoxicating.

The two girls next to them couldn’t help but raise their mobile phones to secretly take pictures.

One exclaimed, “Wow, both are so handsome.”

Shen Yun heard this and graciously turned his head with a smile.

The smiling face full of happiness was permanently caught in the photo.

Shen Yun pulled Zhou Lan towards the reef blocking people’s sight.

The two hugged each other tightly again and kissed non-stop.

Shen Yun pointed to the hills in the distance and said with a smile, “There are a lot of fireflies on the hills over there, let’s go see them in the middle of the night.”

Zhou Lan, however, licked his ear and said in a light and slurred voice, “If you can still get up at that time.”

Shen Yun blushed as he pursed his lips, “Then we’ll go see them tomorrow night.”

There was a bit of naivety in his expectation. Zhou Lan looked at him, and his heart softened into a mess.

He didn’t let him talk anymore, only greedily taking his lips and tongue into his mouth again.

“As long as you want to, wherever you go, I’m willing to accompany you. As long as it is you,” he murmured softly in his ear.

Previous / ToC / Next

The farce for the general public was just a little topic to talk about after dinner.

But for the people involved, there were hundreds of flavours, each with its own differences.

After months of suffering, the dust had finally settled.

On the surface, the calmest person was Shen Yun. He seemed to have done nothing, only silently and quietly watching, unperturbed like a spectator.

So confident and unmoved as if all this had long been anticipated by him.

It was just that if something went wrong in the middle of the process, the price he had to pay was Niepan, his reputation and his career.

He had thought about it over and over again. This was his bet, and if he was willing to bet, he had to be willing to lose.

He was willing to gamble, and there was no gamble in the world that was without risk.

But even if he won, what could he do?

In this game, the sword in his hand was Zhou Lan, and there was no joy in winning.

The one who was least affected should be Lin Jianyang.

But when Lin Jianyang, who was on the filming set, heard Zhou Lan’s words, “My love Shen Yun,” he couldn’t help but close his eyes.

When Zhou Lan had come to him, he was pleasantly surprised, but before he had time to be coquettish, he saw the surveillance video.

Everything that happened at BOBO was silently recorded by the cold camera.

In it, Shen Yun had become the white lotus flower, and he had become the villain.

Lin Jianyang’s mouth was agape. He wanted to deny, wanted to argue, wanted to say that it was just because he loved Zhou Lan too much and wanted to teach the other side a little lesson.

But all these words were shattered into pieces by Zhou Lan’s cold tone.

Lin Jianyang swallowed back those unsaid words.

Zhou Lan said, “For the sake of you being by my side for many years, I let you go this time. If there is another time…”

He didn’t make it clear what would happen next time, but Lin Jianyang understood.

He was an actor. Being an actor was beautiful, but he couldn’t afford making mistakes the most.

Lin Jianyang collected Zhou Lan’s breakup fee, which was a lot of money, but he still wanted to have both the fish and the bear’s paw (bear’s paw was considered high-end food in the past), which was a violation.

What a simple truth, but he got himself to the point where he didn’t have any decency at all before he realised it.

Zhao Chun, on the contrary, was the most tranquil one in this farce. He had the same idea as Shen Yun: there were risks if you wanted to bet.

Either you win everything or lose everything.

From the day Gao Xi died, he realised that he had no chance of winning.

While Gao Xi was alive, Zhou Chun could still drip water on the rock, slowly grinding Xu Moran, but when Gao Xi died, his status could no longer be shaken.

He didn’t want it, he didn’t expect it.

But he also had no regrets. From the beginning to the end, he was very calm.

In fact, from beginning to end, he couldn’t say that he hated Shen Yun. He was just unwilling, unwilling to live in the shadow of Gao Xi.

Unwilling to be a step late.

Never willing to give up in the end, he left quietly.

Xu Moran came to find Shen Yun before he left, and he didn’t go upstairs.

Shen Yun was wearing a black shirt, his face was white and his eyes were bright.

Xu Moran couldn’t bear to look at him.

He had lost a lot of weight, was haggard and old, and not a good match to Shen Yun.

At that moment, he was terrified in his heart.

There were tears in his eyes, and he said he just wanted to keep Moxi and the past they had together.

He said he didn’t expect Shen Yun to hate him so much, so much that he had to destroy Moxi.

With a cigarette between his lips, Shen Yun squinted and lowered his head to light the fire.

The fire shone on his face, and his eyelashes were a little wet.

His lips also trembled a little, and after a long time, he exhaled a mouthful of blue smoke and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Xiao Xi.” Xu Moran said desperately, “I lost you!”

Shen Yun smiled bitterly. He glanced up and said, “My parents asked me to tell you something. They don’t hate you anymore. You know, we are not ruthless people, but we are not people without a bottom line. If we don’t hate you, it doesn’t mean we forgive you.”

After more than ten years of entanglement, Xu Moran already penetrated deep into his bones and blood. He continued: “Goodbye, take care.”

Xu Moran wanted to reach out and touch him, but Shen Yun took a step back quietly and said again: “Goodbye.”

His gaze was light, the emotions in his eyes buried deep.

He’s sending off a guest, Xu Moran thought.

He bit his lip, “You’re sad too, aren’t you?”

Shen Yun raised his eyes sharply. Sad? How could he not be sad?

Like a fine piece of porcelain, if it is flawed in itself, it will be broken when it is mishandled. But if something that is extremely beautiful suddenly breaks, this kind of sadness… even after years, when you think of it, you will have regrets.

Not to mention, all those years, the most emotionally charged youthful years!

Xu Moran nodded. He finally looked at Shen Yun and said, “If in the future I die first, I will wait for you over there.”

Shen Yun didn’t say anything. This was Xu Moran’s choice, he had no way to interfere.

A little spark between his lips was extinguished, like an unfinished speech.

Xu Moran’s back gradually disappeared from sight, and Shen Yun lowered his head in silence.

***

Niepan was on the right track. Not only didn’t the studio suffer the effects of the previous incident, but instead became famous in one fell swoop.

Shen Yun took over two large hotel and supermarket projects in a row, and was very busy.

Home design was left to other designers as much as possible, but no matter how busy Shen Yun was, he still insisted on personally doing Songmu’s projects.

He used his actions to express his gratitude to Zhuang Yan.

Zhou Lan had never looked for him, and he had never looked for Zhou Lan.

All of Zhouquan’s projects were now handed over to another large design studio.

Shen Yun thought, Zhou Lan was so smart, how could he not know what he had done?

Maybe he would never come.

When the first snowfall of winter came, it happened to be a Friday, and when he got off work in the afternoon, Shen Yun was picked up by Xiao Bo and went to the bar.

The snow was particularly heavy, and the bar was as warm as spring. They leaned against the window to drink and watch the snow.

Shen Yun drank too much, leaned on the table and asked Xiao Bo for a drink.

Xiao Bo was also very drunk, and the two slumped on the table and talked face to face.

Iceberg Face’s face got colder and colder. He looked at the snow outside as if hesitating whether to throw Shen Yun out.

In a daze, someone stopped in front of their table and a familiar voice said, “I’ve come to take you home.”

Shen Yun barely opened his eyes and saw Zhou Lan’s figures, overlapping with each other, making him dizzy.

He thought it was a dream, but his eyes still flooded with sourness.

The figures bent over and picked him up, heading out the door.

Zhou Lan carried him into the car, closed the door, and looked at Shen Yun’s drunken face in the light.

Long eyelashes covered his eyes, his cheeks were flushed, and his lips were red and slightly open.

Zhou Lan’s hand reached out to his hair and rubbed it, then slowly slid down from his silky hair, past his earlobe and onto those lips, gently rubbing them.

Shen Yun was bothered in his sleep, grunted and turned his head away.

Zhou Lan laughed and pulled his face over, leaning down to kiss his lips.

A hot and sticky kiss, kissing Shen Yun breathless.

Shen Yun opened his eyes in a daze, saw Zhou Lan’s dark eyes very close and smelled the familiar smell.

He couldn’t help but raise his arms and hug his neck, pressing himself into his arms.

Zhou Lan’s breathing became heavy and his hand probed into Shen Yun’s clothes, kneading his waist.

While kneading, he coaxed, “It’s cold outside, let’s go home.”

He raised his head from this kiss and looked at Shen Yun. His lips were swollen from his nibbling, and wet, his eyes were misty, and he hummed softly though his nose in dissatisfaction.

Zhou Lan felt that his whole heart was warming up. He sighed and started the car.

They started tearing off each other’s clothes from the moment they entered the front door. The buttons scattered all over the place, their clothes littering the floor from the doorway straight to the sofa.

The two were intertwined in the throes of passion.

Shen Yun formidably took the initiative, but it didn’t take long for Zhou Lan to take over.

He rubbed Shen Yun in his arms and kneaded him into a ball. Shen Yun could only gasp for breath as if he was melting.

He had drunk too much, his head was dizzy, the kisses from above and the junction below him made him feel as if he was confined.

Struggle, can’t struggle, escape, can’t escape.

He hummed, holding Zhou Lan’s face and looking at it for a long time before calling out, “Zhou Lan.”

Zhou Lan kissed him, “I’m here.”

He was a little rough, and Shen Yun complained in a daze with red eyes, “It hurts.”

Zhou Lan gritted his teeth and said, “Endure.”

Shen Yun flattened his mouth, aggrieved. Zhou Lan’s words were hard, but his movements still became slower.

The toss sobered up Shen Yun a little. He gasped and looked at Zhou Lan with some confusion.

As if he was checking whether it was a dream or not.

Zhou Lan’s eyelashes were wet with sweat, and the beads of sweat rolled down from the tip of his nose and hit Shen Yun’s collarbone.

He pursed his lips and traced Zhou Lan’s mouth, panting, asking, “Why did you come back?”

Zhou Lan didn’t answer, picked him up and headed for the stairs, each step a punishment for him.

Shen Yun’s weight was concentrated in one point, and he bit Zhou Lan’s shoulder, his toes curling tightly behind Zhou Lan’s waist.

Like a small animal that had been bullied badly.

“Why shouldn’t I come back?” Zhou Lan bit his ear, his hot, wet breath spraying into the depths of Shen Yun’s cochlea, making him shudder.

Shen Yun whimpered and winced, unable to say a word, resting his head against Zhou Lan’s shoulder, panting sharply.

“Because you lied to me? Because you used me?” Zhou Lan asked.

Shen Yun was startled, and Zhou Lan pressed him tightly onto the bed.

“Am I good to use?” He asked.

Shen Yun blinked, and a little of the sweat on his forehead trickled into his eyes, making them sting and hurt.

Zhou Lan pressed his legs against his chest, his entire body almost folded in half, then lowered his head to kiss him.

Shen Yun opened his eyes to look at him, his eyes covered in a layer of wet mist.

Zhou Lan looked into those eyes as he said, “I’m very angry.”

Shen Yun pursed his lips and looked at him, and Zhou Lan continued, “I’m angry you didn’t say anything. Why did you suffer by yourself?”

Shen Yun raised his head, caught Zhou Lan’s face and kissed his lips ingratiatingly.

Zhou Lan suddenly gasped and whispered in his ear, “Gao Xi.”

Shen Yun’s eyes widened in shock. He had a splitting headache and was covered in sweat, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he was hallucinating.

He regretted that he had drunk alcohol tonight, and even his mind was not clear.

He looked at Zhou Lan with a white face, and Zhou Lan’s dark eyes were also staring at him intently, as if they were wrestling with each other.

“Who are you?” Zhou Lan asked.

Shen Yun’s mind went blank; his body was on fire, so sensitive he was shivering.

But his heart cooled down a little, contrary to the body.

“Tell me, who are you?”

Shen Yun looked at him blankly, “Don’t you already know?”

Zhou Lan had come up with the idea of checking Shen Yun in order to find out about the design drafts, but he hadn’t expected to have other findings.

Too many clues were pointing in an impossible direction.

Shen Yun’s actions always had a motive, and he had put a lot of thought in them.

Shen Yun’s design talent, his style similar to Gao Xi, his targeting of Moxi, his entanglement with Xu Moran, and his interactions with the Gao family… 

With these things strung together one by one, Zhou Lan couldn’t find a second possibility.

Even though he had guessed it long ago, these words still made him close his eyes fiercely.

He recalled Gao Xi’s appearance, a stunning man, whether it was his face, figure, temperament, or smile.

He loved to smile very much, and those smiles came from the heart, from the heart to the eyes to the corners of the mouth.

He seemed to be very coquettish. Zhou Lan remembered once waiting for the elevator and seeing him and Xu Moran in the stairwell.

For some unknown reason, Xu Moran was angry.

Gao Xi was endearingly calling him “Brother” in Xu Moran’s ear. After a few words, Xu Moran couldn’t help laughing and leaned over to kiss him on the lips.

Proactive and enthusiastic.

That kind of natural, pure joy flowed out of his eyes, making people feel happy and wanting to smile just by looking at him.

They hadn’t seen each other very often, but Zhou Lan remembered him because he was so attractive.

He took Shen Yun into his arms tightly, as if to imprint him into his body.

Shen Yun asked with difficulty, “Aren’t you afraid?”

Zhou Lan’s eyes reddened: “I just feel… feel distressed.”

What made that kind of a person become such a person? He didn’t even dare to ask.

Shen Yun closed his eyes as he finally let go of himself and went to kiss Zhou Lan furiously.

They were entangled, and Zhou Lan held him in his arms, never having enough.

Zhou Lan said with red eyes, “Call me Brother.”

Shen Yun cried, “Brother, brother, good brother…”

The next day, Shen Yun couldn’t get out of bed with a sore back. He buried his face in the pillow and smiled, his blushing face very cute.

The snow outside the window was very thick, and Shen Yun said, “Zhou Lan, it seems to snow every time after I’m with you.”

Zhou Lan said while helping him put on his clothes, “It used to snow before too, it’s just that you didn’t freeze before and don’t remember.”

When he said this, he couldn’t help rubbing Shen Yun’s hair with pity.

He said, “In the future, I won’t let you freeze again.”

Shen Yun blinked and raised his head to kiss him.

Zhou Lan cooked the dumplings, and Shen Yun pursed his lips and smiled at the strange shape of the dumplings.

Zhou Lan took one and fed it to his mouth, and Shen Yun took a bite. The sound of metal touching his teeth made his teeth ache.

He took the thing out of his mouth, amused, and said vaguely: “No, it’s not New Year’s Eve, you pack coins…”

He didn’t finish his words, stunned. In his hand there was a ring.

Shen Yun held the ring in his palm, biting his lip.

Zhou Lan opened his palm, took the ring out, cleaned it up and put it on his ring finger. The size was just right.

“Let’s get married,” he said, “You didn’t answer me last time.”

After the first snowfall of winter, they sat in the warm room with hot dumplings on the table.

This man said that he would never let him freeze again.

Shen Yun looked at him, his eyes smiling and a little moist.

Zhou Lan asked, “Okay?”

Shen Yun nodded and planted a kiss on his forehead, “With pleasure.”

Translator’s note: This ends the main text 🙂 There are four more extras 🙂

Previous / ToC / Next

Shen Yun sat in front of the window, holding Philip in his arms. Philip grew older and much lazier.

“Philip,” he said, “perhaps I did give him my heart without noticing…”

So, what do you think about being just a substitute?

Shen Yun, you are not a substitute, you are no one’s substitute.

Lin Jianyang and Zhou Lan’s voices echoed alternately in his mind, and Shen Yun was silent.

If there was no such an incident, would he really have the courage to try?

He called softly, “Philip…” with an unspeakable world-weariness and heartache in his voice.

Philip: “Meow…”

Shen Yun lowered his head and continued to smooth Philip’s fur. A figure outside the window was getting closer and closer. Shen Yun smiled: “Philip, your big brother is here.”

Ding Ning sat opposite Shen Yun, looked at Philip on his lap, and pursed his lips: “You still have the heart to fuck with the cat?”

“Yes.” Shen Yun asked, “Why not?”

Ding Ning laughed angrily, “Shen Yun, do you know how panicky the company’s atmosphere is right now? But you’re doing well, you’re living a good life.”

Shen Yun raised his eyelids, “It’s only been a few days and you guys are panicking, tsk tsk…”

He made a strange purring sound, like a cat in its sleep.

Philip really liked the sound, butting his head against Shen Yun’s chest.

Shen Yun smiled, his eyes curved and his teeth snow-white.

Ding Ning looked at him; Shen Yun seemed to be fine, and the tension in his heart inexplicably eased.

He took a sip of coffee and asked, “How can your teeth be so white when you’re so addicted to cigarettes?”

Shen Yun blinked and laughed, “The leaps in your thinking process are too big.”

“Tell me.” Ding Ning said coquettishly.

Shen Yun smiled, “It’s a secret.”

Ding Ning pursed his lips again. Then he remembered something else:

“By the way, I met Moxi’s former colleague at Meng’s two days ago, and Moxi is also unstable now.”

“Eh?” There was a rare fluctuation in Shen Yun’s mood.

“I heard that Wang Kai was fired by Teacher Xu, and Teacher Xu and Teacher Zhao separated.”

Shen Yun nodded, “Oh.”

Ding Ning said with emotion, “What do you think is going on here? Isn’t Moxi doing well, how come it’s going down?”

After he said this, he quickly took two sips of coffee, remembering that the one in front of him specialised in stealing Moxi’s clients.

He blinked and wanted to say a few words to please the boss. Who knew that Shen Yun didn’t care: “Do your job well and take less care of other people’s affairs.”

Ding Ning was also very aggrieved: “In this situation, it seems that I still have a lot of work to do.”

Shen Yun smiled, “Tomorrow go to President Zhuang’s place, get the information of the next few projects and by the way, talk with the old man about the project in front.”

Ding Ning wilted: “My good boss, go by yourself, President Zhuang, this old man, I can’t serve him!”

Shen Yun pursed his lips and smiled, “You still know I’m your boss?”

Ding Ning’s face was bitter. Who said Shen Yun didn’t hold grudges!

***

The nights of late spring and early summer were the most comfortable.

A family of four finished their meal at the restaurant chosen by Gao Yuan and came down from upstairs, holding each other’s arms and casually wandering around.

Shen Yun was holding his mother, and Gao Yuan was holding her father, and the two of them occasionally exchanged a word or two.

They were planning to accompany Mom Gao to look at jewellery when Shen Yun felt a little uncomfortable inexplicably.

He instinctively turned his head to see, and Qu Yuan was standing not far away from the flow of people, looking at them.

Shen Yun paused, said a few words to his family, and then walked over.

Qu Yuan looked at him with a cold smile: “Why, the family is really happy?”

Shen Yun frowned, thinking he had noticed something, but Qu Yuan’s next words made him realise that he had misunderstood it.

Because Qu Yuan said, “I didn’t see it, you really like women. Is it meeting the parents? What, are you going to get married?”

Shen Yun smiled and didn’t intend to explain. He wanted to light a cigarette, but after knocking it out, he glanced towards his parents and pressed it back.

Qu Yuan was even more angry at this action and said cynically, “Zhou Lan is really blind to have a crush on you, a white-eyed wolf.”

How much effort did Zhou Lan put into getting him to quit smoking in the first place, and what happened? This guy was getting worse and worse.

Now, someone else looks at him and he obediently puts it back, sweet and attentive.

Qu Yuan’s little good attitude towards Shen Yun also dissipated. His friend deserved better!

He was different from Fang Qin, and he had always held a disapproving attitude towards Shen Yun.

In his eyes, Shen Yun could follow Zhou Lan to get some things, and he could also follow others to get other things.

But then Shen Yun pulled Zhou Lan out of the vortex of Wei Chen, and Qu Yuan thought he might not be that bad.

As long as he was willing to live a good life with Zhou Lan in the future and as long as Zhou Lan liked him, as Zhou Lan’s friends, they had nothing to worry about.

It was just that this scene today really made him feel angry and feel Shen Yun was unworthy.

One person was still struggling in pain, and the other person had already stepped into a new life.

On what grounds?

Shen Yun raised his eyes, “President Qu says this, why am I a white-eyed wolf?”

When Qu Yuan heard him say such brazen words, he couldn’t wait to swing his fist at this handsome face.

But the family of three waiting for him was obviously concerned about the situation over here.

They must have also seen that the situation over here wasn’t quite right, and they were all discreetly looking this way.

So Qu Yuan resisted his impulse and only said in an airy voice: “It’s not unusual for such shameless words to come out of your mouth. Are you not afraid that I will tell the girl over there and her parents about your true face?”

Shen Yun didn’t know why Qu Yuan hated him so much. Seeing that he didn’t have anything substantial to say, he frowned and said, “My family is still waiting for me, I’ll go first. If President Qu hasn’t finished scolding me yet, let’s talk about it next time we meet.”

Seeing that he was leaving, Qu Yuan didn’t stop him. He thought it was a shame that Zhou Lan cared about this little lover here, but since he cared, it was better to make some things clear at once, so he said coldly: “We don’t need to meet. I hope you can be honest in the future and stop messing with Zhou Lan. He was willing to break it off with Wei Chen for you, willing to turn his back on his old man, willing to see a psychotherapist, and what have you done for him? You just suck blood from him, and you can leave when you’re done, okay! But when you starve to death in the future, don’t think about this piece of fat meat again.”

Shen Yun’s steps paused. He narrowed his eyes, his already white face paled, and his eyes seemed especially black in contrast: “What did you say?”

Qu Yuan snorted coldly: “Nothing has anything to do with you anymore.”

Shen Yun lowered his head and thought for a while, then nodded, turned and walked back to his parents.

Qu Yuan watched him with cold eyes, seeing that he showed a smiling face to those three people not long after.

He turned around with a grim face and dialled a phone number.

When he went back, Shen Yun didn’t follow his family upstairs. He went straight back to his place, showered, and sat in the living room to smoke.

He habitually puffed out his cheeks and exhaled smoke rings, letting one chase the other and gradually dissipate in the air.

He squinted his eyes, like a fish spitting out a string of bubbles.

Qu Yuan’s words replayed over and over in his head.

They weren’t really that complicated, but he took them apart sentence by sentence and chewed on them slowly.

Until his tongue was filled with a bitter taste.

His heart was in turmoil, and for the first time, he realised that maybe there was something misplaced when he didn’t know it.

He thought about Zhou Lan, frowning for a moment, smiling for a moment.

Zhou Lan, he could not be considered a piece of beautiful jade, he might be a stubborn stone.

Although beautiful jade was good, the stubborn stone sheltered you from the wind and rain.

Zhou Lan, he did use his own way to be gentle to him.

Entanglements and constrictions were drawn into silk threads in the heart, and finally woven into a big net.

To net him in.

***

Zhou Lan stood outside the door of BOBO. The lights were on and BOBO was already packed, its business not worse than that of the Constellation Mile.

He had come here to pick up Shen Yun a few times, waiting in the car each time not to be exposed.

He stepped in and walked towards the bar counter, where a tall man was mixing drinks with his head down.

As soon as he approached, the other man raised his eyes keenly, but the movement of his hand didn’t stop, dazzlingly dexterous.

Zhou Lan was stunned as he looked at the face in front of him, “Young Master Zhao, how come it’s you?”

Young Master Zhao was the son of a certain minister with a deep background, and him appearing here in this image couldn’t help surprising Zhou Lan.

What was even more unexpected to Zhou Lan was that the iceberg-faced Young Master Zhao said with a serious expression, “This is my lover’s bar.”

Zhou Lan smiled, and his smile even carried a bit of unconscious envy.

There was a slender figure in the shadows, holding a cigarette, and when the man saw Zhou Lan, he slowly walked out of the shadows.

Beautiful eyebrows, high nose and red lips; very handsome appearance, but an unorthodox smile.

Zhou Lan met Lin Jianyang, and then went to Meng.

Things reversed very quickly.

Zhouquan and Meng simultaneously took Moxi to court.

It was said that there was conclusive evidence that the design drafts were produced by Niepan.

But they were stolen by Moxi through improper means and used for Meng’s project.

Meng was the most innocent. Its reputation had been violated, and all the best-selling apartments had to be withdrawn to start all over again.

Redo the design, redecorate, negotiate the design with the customers who had already bought, compensate the customers…

On top of that, there was the pressure from Zhouquan.

The break with Moxi was imperative.

For a while, there was a lot of discussion on the Internet about the reversal of this incident.

Zhou Lan, general manager of Zhouquan, officially disclosed the internal details in an interview.

Although some people’s names were hidden, it aroused the curiosity of the public even more.

Zhou Lan formally apologised to Niepan on behalf of Zhouquan, apologising for the past statements released without checking the truth.

He also said that he didn’t mind making financial compensation to Niepan.

At the same time, Zhou Lan said, “I would also like to apologise to my love, Shen Yun, in my personal capacity.”

There was a momentary uproar!

My love Shen Yun!

Shen Yun didn’t know how to describe his mood. Zhou Lan used all his strength and dominance to announce everything.

Fortunately, he was just an ordinary person, and netizens were unable to get a clear picture of him in the end, so he was not disturbed too much.

But among the wind and waves, he didn’t dare to go to the company, and public occasions were also avoided as much as possible.

Every day he could only stay at home with Gao Yuan to watch movies and eat melon seeds.

Moxi had really fallen. Xu Moran and Zhao Chun became a joke in the industry, and their reputation no longer existed.

After this incident, it was no longer possible for them to enter the circle of high-end design.

Even if they left the city, they could only play at the bottom level.

But in this circle, the lower the level, the more difficult it was to do it.

Ordinary people didn’t understand aesthetics, most of them wanted the same thing.

Good designers would have no way to utilise their talents.

They would be gradually overwhelmed and worn out, and would only need a single template to decorate thousands of identical homes.

Shen Yun was stunned for a while when he got this news.

He had been working hard for this goal, but when it really came to this day, he couldn’t help but cover his eyes with his hands.

No one could comfort him, and he didn’t need comforting.

It was a piece of rotting flesh in his heart, and as it was dug out, it was hard to avoid the pain that went to the bone marrow.

This farce went on from spring to late summer and early autumn.

Previous / ToC / Next

“Sit down.” The old man said casually, blowing on the hot air over the bowl of tea.

Zhou Lan sat on the opposite side of the table and got right to the point: “When Zhouquan was handed over to me, what did you promise me, remember?”

The old man raised his eyelids: “You are solely responsible for all the affairs of Zhouquan, and I will not interfere anymore.”

“So?” Zhou Lan stared at his father. “What are you so crazy about this time?”

Old Man Zhou snorted coldly: “If you could be rational, would you still need me to take action?”

He took a sip of his tea, “You’re treating Zhouquan like a child’s play just for the sake of a toy? Have you forgotten what I taught you in the past?”

Zhou Lan narrowed his eyes and said word for word: “He is not a toy.”

“Look at you.” The old man hated iron for not being made of steel, “Then what is he? He came to you with a purpose, don’t say you don’t know.”

Yes, he had a purpose, but what did he ask for? Just an opportunity.

Shen Yun didn’t ask for a single yuan; Zhou Lan didn’t lend him a single yuan.

He stayed by his side for two years, just because of that playful sentence “until I get tired of you”.

He didn’t treat him as a human being back then, and Shen Yun didn’t treat himself as a human being.

Just for an opportunity, two years of companionship; Zhou Lan had already profited too much.

He couldn’t help but want to laugh, an opportunity… Who would believe it?

Everyone who knew about their relationship thought Shen Yun had an agenda; who knew he only needed an opportunity?

Just because no one would believe it, he couldn’t say it anymore.

If he said it, others would only think that Shen Yun was playing a long game to catch a big fish.

But Zhou Lan knew he was not. If he was that kind of person, why should he live so hard and endure it?

In the past few years, Shen Yun had lived through a lot of embarrassment and hard work, Zhou Lan could see it with his own eyes.

He clenched his fists, and said coldly and firmly, “Even if he has a purpose, I’m willing. What qualifications do others have to make judgments?”

He didn’t want to say any more: “I came here to tell you that he didn’t do this thing! Please stay out of it in the future as well.”

Old Man Zhou froze and smiled coldly, “He didn’t do it? He told you that? And you believe it?”

“I believe it!” Zhou Lan said decisively. “I believe him.”

“Back then, you also believed that Wei Chen loved you, but what happened?”

The old man went for a kill: “Although I agreed to you being with a man, not all the goods can do!”

“Don’t mention Wei Chen to me.” Zhou Lan’s eyes reddened. “Back then, you also played a part in Wei Chen’s affair, don’t think I don’t know.”

“You interfered with Wei Chen, fine, I was young and ignorant, I admit it! But Shen Yun’s matter, you don’t want to interfere anymore.”

“Since my mother died of anger because of you two, you are no longer qualified to meddle in my affairs. Including the matter of Zhouquan, if you interfere again, don’t blame me for spilling the beans.” Zhou Lan smiled coldly, “Doesn’t your cheap son want it? Give it to him! Your family of three being happy and harmonious has nothing to do with me, Zhou Lan, anymore.”

The old man trembled with anger, and the wrinkles on his face became sharp. He picked up the tea cup in front of him and threw it without a second thought.

The blue and white porcelain tea bowl hit Zhou Lan’s head, and the warm tea flowed down his hair, condensed into drops on his eyelashes, and then rolled down one by one.

The old man pointed at him and scolded, “You are possessed by a ghost and have gone crazy!”

Zhou Lan said solemnly, “You only know I’ve gone crazy now? I’ve been crazy since Wei Chen left, and if Shen Yun also leaves, I won’t just be crazy!”

As he said that, he turned around and walked out the door, breathing in the fresh air outside with a big burst of pleasure coming from his chest.

I wanted to do this a long time ago, I should have done this a long time ago!

He calmed his emotions, fumbled for the phone and dialled it, “Go check Shen Yun’s movements since he took over Lanhu, every single day!”

***

Shen Yun had just hung up the phone after talking with Shen Qing and leaned against the window to light a cigarette.

There were slight footsteps behind him. He hastily extinguished the cigarette and turned back as if nothing had happened.

Mom Gao walked to his side and sniffed: “Smoking again?”

Shen Yun smiled and hugged his mother, “Come, let’s go to the living room.”

Mother and son sat on the sofa, Shen Yun put his head on his mother’s lap, and Mom Gao used her fingers to straighten his hair, “Shen Qing cried again?”

Shen Qing saw the news of Niepan’s accident on the internet and was so worried that she couldn’t sleep well and kept begging to let her come back.

Shen Yun promised to call her every morning and every evening to coax her.

“Yes.” Shen Yun said, “Mom, did I raise her too delicate?”

Mom Gao smiled and said, “Delicate is good, girls have to be delicate, not everyone can be like Gao Yuan.”

As Mom Gao said that, she picked up the chestnut cake on the table and fed it to Shen Yun.

Shen Yun took a bite and just as he was about to speak, he felt a warm liquid hit his face.

Shen Yun got up quickly in fright, put his arms around his mother and smiled: “What’s the matter? I just mentioned Shen Qing, are you crying now?”

Mom Gao wiped her eyes in embarrassment: “I used to think you were unstable, but now you are stable, and I…”

After her son came back, his whole personality was different from before. He used to be quirky, funny, and had the sun in his eyes.

Now he was terribly quiet, and addicted to smoking. Although he always smiled, this smile was very restrained.

After he came back, his parents secretly inquired about what happened to him in those two years.

Mom Gao cried secretly for several days, feeling that her heart was broken, and she couldn’t wait to rub him in her arms and never let him out again.

Shen Yun patted his mother, “Mom, look, I’m back, the past is over.”

“Mom just thinks that it would be great if Mom could bear those sins for you. If she could do it for you, Mom would feel more comfortable.”

Shen Yun pulled his face, “Mom, look, look, I’m a few years younger than I used to be… a thousand gold can’t buy you, can it?”

Mom Gao looked at him pulling his own face, couldn’t help but push his hand down, half-angry and half-doting: “You child.”

Shen Yun lay back in his mother’s arms again, eating chestnut cake, and said: “Mom, do you think I’ve become bad?”

His mother rubbed him: “How is it possible? My son is the best.”

Shen Yun stopped talking, Mom Gao rubbed him and carefully asked, “Are you serious about that Zhou Lan?”

Shen Yun’s mouth was stuffed with chestnut cake, and after a while of silence, he said, “Mom, I don’t know, let’s wait until these things are over.”

“Alas, you and Gao Yuan, I can’t stop worrying about you.”

Shen Yun buried his face in her lap and pouted: “Mom, talk about Gao Yuan, why are you dragging me into this?”

His mother was rubbed into laughing: “Who is to blame that you’re the elder brother? The elder brother doesn’t have a good brain, what can be said?”

Shen Yun closed his eyes: “Mom, look, I can be several years younger than Gao Yuan now, I am the younger brother, in the future count Gao Yuan first.”

He rolled over, “Mom, I’ll sleep for a while, call me later, I’ll go to Xiao Bo’s place tonight.”

He fell asleep, and the shadow of worry covered Mom Gao’s face again.

She didn’t know what kind of pressure this child was under.

Still able to be coquettish and joke around here like nothing was wrong.

He didn’t mention it, and they didn’t mention it either, but their hearts were always clenched.

***

Shen Yun came back late at night, slightly drunk.

He passed by his own door and turned a corner on the stairs, intending to go upstairs to take a look at his parents’ home before coming down to rest.

He rarely stayed overnight at his parents’ place; after all, Gao Yuan was still an unmarried girl, and he couldn’t admit his identity.

Although Mom Gao always wanted him to stay at home, he never agreed to it for fear that it would affect Gao Yuan’s marriage and reputation.

As soon as he took two steps up, he stopped.

He had just walked in a hurry and had drunk alcohol that made his brain slow to react, and only at this moment could he see that there was a person leaning against the door of his apartment.

Zhou Lan looked at him and asked, “Isn’t this your place? Where are you going?”

Shen Yun walked back and asked, “Why are you here?”

There was a light lipstick mark on Shen Yun’s collar, not obvious, but Zhou Lan saw it.

In the bar, a group of young kids gathered in the corner to play a game.

One girl lost and shyly walked over to Shen Yun with a red face and asked if she could leave a lipstick mark on his collar.

Shen Yun saw that the girl was about the same age as Shen Qing, and her shyness was a bit similar, so he softly said, “Yes, just be light.”

Shen Yun had already forgotten about this little episode, and Zhou Lan’s gaze fixed there made him duck uncomfortably.

Zhou Lan smelled the faint smell of alcohol on him and asked, “Went out to play?”

Shen Yun nodded, “There’s no work, so I went out to relax and unwind.”

Zhou Lan stood up straight and forced him to the corner. Shen Yun frowned: “What are you looking for me for?”

Zhou Lan reached out and lifted his jaw, asking, “Aren’t you going to invite me in to sit down?”

Shen Yun tilted his head, “If there’s something, let’s talk about it here.”

Zhou Lan pressed his hand harder, “Are you sure?”

While saying this, he stretched out his other hand to stroke the lipstick mark on his collar.

Shen Yun misunderstood, was startled and couldn’t help but be shocked and angry, shouting in a low voice, “Zhou Lan!”

Zhou Lan’s hand didn’t stop.

Shen Yun was afraid, afraid that the neighbours would see, afraid that his parents would hear. He grabbed his hand and compromised. “Let’s go in and talk.”

As soon as the door closed, Shen Yun was pressed against the door. He didn’t resist, just asked patiently, “What is it, say it.”

Zhou Lan looked at him seriously, “I came to tell you some words, the words that must be said in person.”

Shen Yun avoided his gaze and pursed his lips, “What words?”

“I believe you.” Zhou Lan said solemnly.

Shen Yun’s expression was puzzled as he looked at him, “You believe me?”

“Yes, I believe you!”

“Why?” Shen Yun asked. “Didn’t you not believe? What makes you believe now?”

Zhou Lan lifted his jaw and gently kissed his lips, soft and sweet with a little scent of alcohol.

That little bit of alcohol intoxicated him, and his breathing became heavier, “What do you think?”

Shen Yun bit his lip, his lowered eyelashes fluttering lightly. He felt ironic. Why did he believe him?

His heart sank, as if there was a heavy weight in it: “You said it, I listened, now you should go, right?”

Zhou Lan leaned over and continued to kiss his lips. Shen Yun pushed him away, “You should go!”

Zhou Lan hugged him, “Shen Yun, don’t try to push me away, I’m not tired of you yet.”

Shen Yun’s body froze for a moment as he let out a soft laugh, pushed him away and reached out to unbutton his own clothes.

One by one, the buttons were undone, revealing his snow-white chest and tight waist.

There was anger in his eyes, but the corners of his lips were raised in mockery, and he asked mercilessly, “Isn’t this what you want? I’ll give it!”

Zhou Lan’s gaze burned like fire on his body.

He pushed him down to the floor impatiently and rudely took off his clothes.

He pressed down on him, watching him close his eyes, bite his lip, not saying a word, as if it was the same as that first night, when Shen Yun endured patiently, sweating all over; the corners of his eyes were red, and his lips were bitten white.

Stubbornly fighting against the desires of his body.

Zhou Lan lowered his head and bit his Adam’s apple, slowly exerting force. He felt the Adam’s apple between his teeth roll uneasily as he increased his strength.

He moved down with his lips until taking Shen Yun into his mouth. His mouth was gentle and mercurial, his tongue flexible and powerful.

Shen Yun’s eyes widened in shock, and he reached out to pull his hair, “Zhou Lan, you’re crazy.”

He could no longer control himself; his entire body softened, surrendering to instinct.

He was still biting his lip, but sweet hums kept escaping from his nostrils, smashing into Zhou Lan’s eardrums.

Desire, struggle, entanglement, compromise, surrender…

Zhou Lan raised his head from him, and Shen Yun looked at him with wet eyes.

He swallowed what was in his mouth as his Adam’s apple moved under Shen Yun’s gaze.

Shen Yun’s face was so red it could drip blood and so hot it could burst into flames.

He called out to Zhou Lan, the ending tone trembling and dragging, and he closed his eyes again in shame.

Zhou Lan’s low laughter exploded in his ears as he put his hand on Shen Yun’s heart. 

He felt the heart beneath the thin skin hit the palm of his hand, pounding.

He said, “I not only want the person, but also want the heart.”

“I don’t care what kind of relationship you have with Xu Moran, I don’t care what you’ve had with other people in the past, but in the future you can only be mine.”

He stroked back Shen Yun’s bangs and looked at the peach blossom mole at the corner of his eye, but he didn’t dare to kiss it again and only pressed his lips to the little widow’s peak.

Gently murmuring in his ear again, “Hear that? I want your heart!”

“My heart?” Shen Yun frowned slightly. He remembered Xu Moran in his dreams. He handed over his heart and it was crushed mercilessly.

He narrowed his eyes. He didn’t dare to hand over his heart. He asked softly, “Then, President  Zhou, where is your heart?”

Zhou Lan kissed him, “My heart, I handed it over to you a long time ago, did you not receive it?”

Shen Yun closed his eyes in pain as he shook his head.

Zhou Lan cupped his face, “Shen Yun, you are not a substitute, you are no one’s substitute!”

Shen Yun looked at him in confusion. He wanted to believe it but he couldn’t. The battle between reason and emotion gave him a splitting headache.

He held his head, frowned and closed his eyes. After a long time, he sighed:

“Zhou Lan, don’t come until you and I, Niepan and Zhouquan, have settled our rotten scores, please.”

Zhou Lan looked at the expression of pain on his face and didn’t utter a word.

Previous / ToC / Next

On the evening of New Year’s Eve, snowflakes floated in the sky.

Shen Yun took Shen Qing to spend New Year’s Eve at the Gao family’s home, and after the New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone sat down to watch the Spring Festival Gala to observe the New Year’s Eve tradition.

At nearly twelve o’clock, Shen Yun’s phone rang, and it was Zhou Lan.

The living room was too noisy. Shen Yun went to the balcony to pick up the phone, and Zhou Lan’s voice came: “Come down, at the door of the billiard room.”

Shen Yun put on his coat and went downstairs. There was already a thin layer of snow on the ground.

The winding path was like a jade belt, stretching silently into the distance.

Fireworks exploded in the distance in the black night, snowflakes danced gracefully in the air, and everything was beautiful like a fairy tale.

Shen Yun started running. He ran out of the neighbourhood and crossed the road.

Zhou Lan’s tall figure was leaning on the car door, a sparkler flickering in his fingers.

Shen Yun stopped with a slight gasp and asked, “Why are you here?”

The new year had arrived. Countless fireworks exploded in the night sky, and his voice was drowned in the noise.

He raised his head, and fireworks burst out in front of his eyes.

Zhou Lan leaned down and kissed him, lips and tongue intertwined, with a faint scent of tobacco.

The sky was too beautiful, and Shen Yun didn’t want to close his eyes.

Zhou Lan smiled and said, “I said I want to kiss you first thing in the new year, and I did.”

The kiss slowly deepened. Shen Yun hooked his arms around his neck, and thousands of fireworks exploded behind him, like a torrid song of joy.

“Zhou Lan,” the words poured out between Shen Yun’s lips and instantly disappeared into Zhou Lan’s mouth, “Happy New Year.”

I don’t know if you’ll be happy, but I still want to wish you happiness.

The executioner is me and the executioner is you, but I still wish you a happy new year.

The construction of Xincheng was going faster than that of Lanhu. Ding Ning came to Shen Yun’s office with this information. “What is Lanhu waiting for?”

Shen Yun didn’t answer. He held a cigarette between his lips, his brow smooth, his fingers moving quickly on the keyboard.

He asked: “Ding Ning, if one day Niepan is in your hands, can you carry it?”

Ding Ning frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

Shen Yun shook his head, smiled, and said, “Forget it, pretend I didn’t ask.”

Xincheng progressed all the way ahead of Lanhu and the day the showflat opened reaped countless positive reviews.

Zhou Lan was out of town inspecting a project at that time, and the pomp over Xincheng reached his ears, but he didn’t take it to heart.

Zhou Lan was never afraid of comparisons. Although the two properties were similar, Zhouquan had always taken the high-end route, and Meng’s was still a level behind.

In essence, both the positioning and the consumer group were different.

The opening time of the Lanhu showflat was one week later than that of Xincheng, and on that day Shen Yun called to ask Zhou Lan if he wanted to come back.

Zhou Lan said, “I can rest assured if you are here.”

It was already the third day when Zhou Lan came back.

Shen Yun saw the light in the room when he was still outside the door.

He lit a cigarette and stood at the door to finish smoking quietly before lifting his hand to loosen the tie around his neck and walking in.

Zhou Lan was sitting on the sofa, holding a stack of photos in his hand, his brow furrowed, his eyelashes hiding all the emotions in his eyes.

Afraid that Shen Yun abandoned him and would never come back, but also afraid that he would come back, and then he would have to face such a lose-lose situation…

When he heard the door slam, Zhou Lan’s body shook, but he kept his head down, only his voice was incomparably dark: “You still dare to come back?”

The internet had blown up with Zhouquan’s Lanhu copying Meng’s Xincheng.

Some netizens had posted a comparison chart. With some room configurations, apart from certain subtle differences, the overall design was exactly the same.

Even the colour scheme was not the slightest bit different.

And Xincheng was ahead of Zhouquan both in terms of construction and opening to the public. Under normal circumstances, it was indeed Zhouquan that had the bigger problem.

This matter was initially like a small stone dropped into the centre of the lake, causing slight ripples.

But then the ripples grew bigger and bigger, all kinds of questions, doubts, and ridicule pouring from all sides.

Zhouquan had been the leader of real estate for many years and had long been at the heart of the storm.

Once the wind started, arrows from the dark came from all directions. It was normal; the higher you were, the more people wanted to pull you down and step on you.

Zhou Lan contacted Meng Xiang and asked where the design drafts came from.

Meng Xiang was also confused and said: “Moxi handed them over. It has been this way since then. It is my favourite style, and I haven’t even changed it.”

Zhou Lan also asked the time when Moxi handed over the plans, which was later than Niepan.

These designs did come from Shen Yun’s hand, just how did they end up going to Moxi?

But immediately after Zhou Lan received the photo that seemed to be trying to give him an answer how such a coincidence could have happened.

In the photo Shen Yun was standing against the wall, and Xu Moran was kissing him with his head down.

The two slender silhouettes overlapped under the moonlight, like a painting.

Zhou Lan recognised that this was the downstairs of Shen Yun’s previous house.

Shen Yun changed his shoes and looked up, “Why wouldn’t I dare to come?”

Zhou Lan coldly threw the photos in his hand in his face. Before the photos reached Shen Yun’s eyes, they drifted down in a scattered mess.

Xu Moran holding Shen Yun kept spinning in the air before falling down onto the carpet.

Zhou Lan’s eyes were ice-cold: “Did you give the design drafts to Xu Moran?”

Shen Yun bent over and picked up the photos, holding them in his hands and looking at them carefully, “Why would I give them to him?”

Zhou Lan asked in a cold voice: “Then I’ll ask in another way, what exactly is your relationship with Xu Moran?”

At the end of his question, even his voice trembled.

Shen Yun let out a light laugh, “Doesn’t President Zhou know? He, ah, he is the same as you.”

Zhou Lan’s chest rose and fell as he slowly approached Shen Yun, full of anger, but stopped abruptly at Shen Yun’s next sentence.

Shen Yun said softly, “You both use me as a substitute.”

He raised his face to look at Zhou Lan with an innocent yet cruel smile.

One of his eyebrows was slightly raised, as if asking, “Isn’t it so?”

Zhou Lan’s heart jumped heavily. No emotions could be seen on his face, but his lips were pursed extremely tight: “Who did you listen to and what did they say?”

Shen Yun knocked out a cigarette but didn’t answer, as if he had no intention of continuing to dwell on this.

White smoke slowly escaped from his red lips, the beauty of it heartbreaking.

He pondered, and only after a long time did he say, “This thing, I didn’t do it.”

“Then why did you want Lanhu, why did it have to be Lanhu? How can you make me believe you?”

Shen Yun didn’t explain, avoided him and walked upstairs, “I came here today to tell you this, but it’s up to you to believe me or not.”

He found a small suitcase and started to pack his things.

Packing up, he realised that there wasn’t much of his own stuff here in the first place.

A few stacks of designs, a few books, a few changes of clothes, other than that, everything here had nothing to do with him.

More than two years of his life had been condensed in this small suitcase.

His hands were light, but his heart was heavy.

He ripped the tie off, casually threw it into the trash can, and left without looking back.

Zhou Lan stared at the trash can, swallowed, looked down again and held the tie in his palm.

He bought it for Shen Yun. It still carried his body temperature, but he easily threw it away.

Like throwing him away.

This incident alarmed Old Man Zhou, who had long retired from the scene.

The old man acted resolutely and released a statement as soon as possible.

The statement pointed out that the incident was all caused by the designer Shen Yun’s double selling of drafts and violation of professional ethics, and that Zhouquan was actually a victim.

It called on the industry to completely block Niepan, a design studio without professional ethics.

Immediately after that, Lanhu closed the just-opened showflat.

And quickly collaborated with other design studios to come up with a new plan, and everything that had been done before was completely overturned and restarted.

Regarding the damages, in addition to financial, there were also reputational ones, and Zhouquan was prepared to hold Niepan accountable.

By the time Zhou Lan was notified, there was no room for recovery, and the controversy over Shen Yun had already reached the top of the hot search.

Shen Yun’s professionalism was questioned, and his partners turned to the sidelines one after another. Niepan was in trouble.

At this moment, the only one who spoke out for Niepan was Zhuang Yan.

Through social platforms, Songmu once again expressed its trust in Shen Yun and Niepan.

Zhuang Yan also emphasised that the other party had never done anything that violated ethics and the law even in the most difficult times, and this time there had to be a reason for what happened.

He strongly urged everyone to remain rational and wait for the results of the investigation instead of following the crowd.

He also expressed his determination to keep working with Niepan.

Finally, he also condemned the behaviour of certain partners who shirked their responsibilities without finding out the truth.

This was clearly directed at Zhouquan.

It was also a slap in Shen Yun’s face: look what kind of person you’ve followed!

When Zhou Lan pushed open the door of the Zhou family’s house, Old Man Zhou was sitting in the hall waiting for him.

The steam curled up over the blue and white porcelain tea bowl.

The father and son looked at each other, clearly at odds.

The difference was that Zhou Lan’s eyes were red, but the old man looked calm.

Previous / ToC / Next

Shen Yun seemed to have changed, at least in Zhou Lan’s eyes.

His smile became more frequent, lighter, and more sincere.

He smoked less, and the lollipop he once discarded was in his mouth again.

He slowly handed over his work matters and spent more time at home.

Zhou Lan used to rush home every day after work, but now it was the other way round.

Often when he opened the door, there was a table of steaming food waiting for him.

When Zhou Lan saw the food on the table for the first time, his eyes widened in shock: “Shen Yun, you can cook?”

Shen Yun took off his apron while hooking his lips in a smile, “How can a child who grew up without a mother not know how to cook?”

He was lying. He and Xu Moran had lived independently for so many years, how could they not know how to cook?

Both of them could do it, and both of them did it very well.

But from the real Shen Yun’s point of view, what he said was true again. How many children who were used to hard work didn’t know how to cook?

Zhou Lan’s eyes were glistening when he heard it, either because he was moved or distressed.

He hugged Shen Yun tightly and took a vigorous bite on his white tender face.

Shen Yun wanted to push him away, but Zhou Lan hugged him tightly, and his voice was low: “You have cooked for me for the first time.”

He kissed his lips: “But I want to eat you first, what should I do?”

Shen Yun pushed him away in amusement: “Then I won’t dare to cook for you in the future.”

While they were eating, Zhou Lan looked at the red mark that had been bitten on Shen Yun’s face, pursed his lips and smiled.

Shen Yun turned his head to light a cigarette, then propped up his cheeks with his hands, his eyes curved in a smile: “I really won’t cook anymore.”

He was wearing a pink sweater, his whole posture was quiet and well-behaved, and his smile was sweet.

Zhou Lan stretched out his hand and rubbed his other cheek: “Another bite on this side? For symmetry.”

After the meal, they would go out for a walk together, and Shen Yun would put on a hat and scarf.

The scarf covered his mouth and nose, revealing only a pair of eyes, exceptionally bright.

A long down coat wrapped his body, and when it was windy, Zhou Lan would open his placket and then wrap him in his arms.

They didn’t say much, just quietly snuggled up to each other and walked slowly on the silent road at night.

It was cold, and few people passed by, as if this was their own world.

Snowflakes drifted in the sky, swaying in the wind under the streetlights.

Shen Yun remembered the night when he first met Zhou Lan, also a snowy night.

It’s been more than two years, ah! He was a little emotional, looking up at the snowflakes and stopping in his tracks.

He was not sensitive to the passage of time, and the way he recorded time seemed to be all about one project after another.

After finishing a project, he had to pick up another one, and one by one, years passed slowly at his fingertips.

For two years, he had nothing to lose, only to gain.

Zhou Lan was also watching the snow, and Shen Yun smiled and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

Shen Yun was neither tall nor short, barefoot exactly 178 cm, wearing shoes 180 cm.

But Zhou Lan was very tall, and Shen Yun had to kiss him on the tiptoes.

He liked this feeling, warm yellow street lamps, the snowflakes in the sky, him wrapped in Zhou Lan’s arms, being kissed deeply.

After the kiss, his rosey lips were wet under the street light, glistening seductively, and he was still smiling.

Fresh and cute like a teenager.

Zhou Lan greedily wanted to keep all the warm light of the street lamp, the smile on his lips, and the romance of the snowflakes to himself.

They both were breathless from kissing, gasping, separating, gazing at each other.

Zhou Lan once again lowered his head, but Shen Yun buried his head in his chest and didn’t look up.

Zhou Lan then kissed the little bit of bangs that were exposed under the brim of his hat, very gently.

He said, “Shen Yun, promise me to never leave.”

Shen Yun didn’t say anything, closed his eyes and hugged him tighter.

Zhou Lan’s chuckle exploded in his ears, low and pleasant, like the most beautiful music.

A thin layer of snow fell on his shoulders, and the two of them walked home together.

They went to watch a movie together for the first time. It was a weekday afternoon, and there were very few people in the theatre.

Shen Yun was holding a large bucket of popcorn, Zhou Lan was holding two glasses of coke, and the smile at the corner of his lips was simple and straightforward.

They sat in the last row, and when the lights dimmed, Zhou Lan took Shen Yun into his arms.

The movie was about a dead person who stayed in the world and kept wandering, looking for his former lover.

But as the years went by, no one in this world remembered his existence, and his lover had long disappeared in the vicissitudes of life.

He sat on the seashore, watching the waves roll in one by one, the loneliness and isolation in his eyes painting the world into black and white.

Sometimes, a parting is like a past life, never to be seen again.

It was a very niche artistic film. Shen Yun leaned on Zhou Lan’s shoulder, frowning and with his eyes wet.

Zhou Lan lowered his head and kissed his eyes with pity, and for a moment, Shen Yun even felt that Zhou Lan understood him.

That ridiculous feeling flashed by, and he sank into Zhou Lan’s arms and slowly curved up his lips.

This year’s New Year was in February, and in the middle of January Shen Qing returned on her winter vacation.

In just a few months, she had changed completely.

New environment, new life, broader horizons made Shen Qing look beautiful and energetic.

Shen Yun moved to his parents’ neighbourhood before she returned.

An old neighbour downstairs happened to move with his family to Shanghai, so his parents bought the apartment.

When Shen Yun was not at home, he entrusted Shen Qing to her parents.

Shen Qing’s three meals a day were basically in the Gao family, and Shen Yun only said that he paid the food expenses.

Shen Qing was simple and didn’t think much about it. It was just that sometimes when she saw Shen Yun and Gao Yuan interacting, she would get jealous.

Although she also felt it was embarrassing.

For some reason, she always had a feeling that this family fit so well with her own brother.

That kind of tacit understanding gave off a natural feeling.

In particular, the doting way Mom Gao looked at her brother was even a little abnormal.

That day, Shen Yun took Shen Qing out to buy more clothes, and when the brother and sister were sitting in the restaurant waiting for their meal to be served, Shen Qing finally asked.

“Brother, you and Sister Gao Yuan, are you getting married?”

“What?” Shen Yun’s eyes widened, then he couldn’t help but laugh out loud and reached out to rub Shen Qing’s hair, “What are you thinking about?”

Shen Qing blushed, “But you guys…”

Shen Yun smiled and thought about it. Gao Yuan’s character was cheerful and she never treated her brother with formal courtesy.

Watching TV, she would often squeeze next to him, or put her feet on his lap, or worse, would be reading a book while letting Shen Yun cut her nails.

Shen Yun thought about that picture; no wonder Shen Qing thought too much.

He rubbed his forehead, just about to explain, when Shen Qing added: “And the way Auntie looks at you…”

She pursed her lips, “Don’t they all say that the more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more she likes him?”

Shen Yun laughed for a while; the more he thought about it, the more interesting it became, and he realised that he hadn’t explained it properly to Shen Qing.

“Adoptive father and adoptive mother?” Shen Qing looked at Shen Yun.

“Yes.” Shen Yun propped up his cheeks. “Didn’t you hear Brother call them Mom and Dad?”

Shen Qing frowned; she really didn’t hear.

Shen Yun didn’t come home often; he occasionally went to his parents’ place, but Shen Qing wasn’t there much at the time.

As soon as Shen Qing came, he habitually adjusted his state and distanced himself a bit from his family.

Only Gao Yuan didn’t take these mundane things to heart, it was just the way it was.

Shen Qing blushed: “But you and Sister Gao Yuan are still very close.”

She couldn’t deny that what she cared more about was the relationship between Shen Yun and Gao Yuan.

“I thought Brother wouldn’t want me anymore?” Shen Qing said in a distorted voice.

Shen Yun stopped his hand that was bringing food to his mouth and wondered what the young girl was thinking, “How is it possible?”

He even began to reflect on himself, whether he had been too cold to Shen Qing.

But actually, no, Shen Yun cared about Shen Qing’s feelings.

In the Gao family, as long as Shen Qing was there, Shen Yun always put her first.

Shen Yun’s heart ached for Shen Qing’s loneliness since her childhood, so he doted on her much more than on Gao Yuan before.

He and Gao Yuan used to fight and bicker, but he wanted to hold Shen Qing in the palm of his hand and was unwilling to say a heavy word to her.

He and Gao Yuan were brother and sister who grew up together, but Shen Qing was the one he raised and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was both a father and a brother.

Needless to say, there was a lot of pocket money, and clothes and snacks were often bought and sent to school.

After his economic situation improved, even the electronic gadgets bought for her were the latest and the best, for fear that the child would have low self-esteem.

He thought, maybe because he was her only family, she was more dependent than others.

Thinking this way, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit at a loss. One moment he was afraid to neglect her, and another moment he was afraid to spoil her.

Shen Yun couldn’t help teasing her while serving her soup: “You will marry in the future. Maybe it won’t be your brother who doesn’t want you, but you won’t want your brother anymore.”

Shen Qing’s blushed, beet-red, “I won’t marry, I’ll just live with my brother for the rest of my life.”

Shen Yun almost burst out laughing. He remembered that the heroine in the costume drama always said, “Daughter doesn’t want to marry, daughter wants to stay with Father and Mother for the rest of her life.”

It was quite a bit of a feeling that the daughter in his family was growing up.

Shen Yun didn’t take this seriously.

But he knew that Shen Qing really cared about him.

Shen Qing wanted to study law very much before, but because Shen Yun almost died, she chose medicine.

Just for the sake of her brother, she gave up the ideal she always had.

After Shen Yun went back, he told Gao Yuan not to be so lovey-dovey in front of Shen Qing.

Gao Yuan laughed: “Then I won’t be lovey-dovey with you, I’ll be lovey-dovey with her.”

This matter was resolved so easily, and in the end Shen Qing secretly asked Shen Yun if he had said anything to Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan was so good to her, making her feel ashamed of the fact that she had once been jealous of Gao Yuan.

Happy days always pass especially fast. There were still two days before New Year’s Eve. Shen Yun and Zhou Lan went to the supermarket to buy New Year’s goods.

Shen Yun prepared a little of everything he needed daily, and then bent over to choose snacks.

The thin jumper shrunk up a little, revealing his slim waist.

Zhou Lan, who pushed the shopping cart and followed behind, suddenly had a very down-to-earth happy feeling.

He took advantage of people not paying attention, reached out to this thin waist and gently rubbed it with his thumb.

Shen Yun smiled and dodged, saying, “I’ll wrap some dumplings for you at home to put in the fridge, so you can eat them on New Year’s Day.”

Zhou Lan froze and his mood dropped.

Shen Yun was going to spend the New Year with Shen Qing as in previous years.

In addition to his father Zhou Xiang, Zhou Lan’s family consisted of his stepmother and the son of his stepmother.

Since his mother’s death, he had not been home for the New Year.

He looked dazzling on the surface, but the most important holiday could only be spent by him alone.

Seeing that he was unhappy, Shen Yun smiled and coaxed him, “I’ll come to spend time with you on the second day of the New Year.”

Shen Yun did what he said, went home and washed meat and vegetables, chopped radish and beef stuffing and celery and pork stuffing.

Zhou Lan cooked and he made dumplings. The kitchen was steaming hot, and the two worked and chatted.

This little bit of smoke and fire of the human world and smell of greasy food infiltrated into their hearts, happy and stable.

Zhou Lan brought the food to the table, and Shen Yun finished wrapping the dumplings and put them into the freezer.

When Shen Yun washed his hands, Zhou Lan hugged him from behind, gently biting the blue veins on his neck.

The warm big hand pulled up the hem of his shirt and reached into his clothes.

“Shen Yun, let’s spend the New Year together, I want to kiss you first thing in the New Year,” he said. “Let Shen Qing come along.”

Shen Yun’s fingers were white and slender, his nails neatly manicured and pink, delicate and lovely.

The water hit them and splashed with tiny splashes, lively and animated.

But the atmosphere in the room was very different, turning cold.

Zhou Lan hugged tighter. Shen Yun finally turned his head, smiled and kissed him, “Let’s go eat first.”

At night on the master bedroom’s large bed, hot breaths intertwined with short grunts, and Shen Yun’s skin was adorned with tiny beads of sweat.

He sat on Zhou Lan, and Zhou Lan’s hands squeezed his thin, narrow waist, rocking him as if he were a small boat drifting in the storm.

His hands couldn’t grasp anything, and he clenched them helplessly into fists, his knuckles white.

His head was slightly raised, revealing his slender neck; like a lamb about to be slaughtered.

Huge waves hit one after another, and a series of soft chants escaped his slightly opened lips.

Zhou Lan looked at his appearance of being slaughtered, and the fire in his heart was burning hotter and hotter.

He rolled over and pressed him underneath, gasping and whispering in his ear, “Let’s get married.”

Shen Yun’s rapid breathing jerked to a halt, and he squinted, his eyes sparkling.

Instinctively, he wanted to ask, “You and me?”

But also instinctively, he swallowed the words, and without saying anything swayed his hips.

Zhou Lan stifled a grunt at his teasing, holding his waist and working hard, and soon Shen Yun was sobbing.

“Call me Daddy!” Zhou Lan said in his ear.

“Brother, good brother…” Shen Yun didn’t call him Daddy, and called him Brother straight in his ear.

Zhou Lan’s heart jumped wildly; he leaned over to him, kissed his lips and gasped, “You’re really killing me.”

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“Child, child…” Mom Gao’s cries were cut off by the door. Gao Yuan decisively picked up Shen Yun’s coat and chased after him.

She called Shen Yun’s name and ran after him to the entrance. There was a lot of traffic and people came and went, but where was Shen Yun?

Panting, Gao Yuan took out her phone and dialled, and Shen Yun’s phone rang in his coat.

She returned to the house, and when she opened the door, she saw Xu Moran kneeling in front of her parents, and her mother crying in her father’s arms.

Gao Yuan froze in place.

Shen Yun didn’t go far. He sat on the edge of the flower bed in the neighbourhood, hanging his head.

He felt that he had messed up everything.

He didn’t expect to be recognised.

After all, this kind of thing was too unbelievable, he only thought that he could use Gao Yuan to get close to his parents.

Just to relieve the pain of longing.

Even if he really wanted to confess to your family, he had to wait for the right time, after the storm had passed.

Instead of the stormy time like now.

But everything went off the rails in an unexpected way.

Maybe it was that ineffable bond between family members that made everything happen so naturally.

If only he hadn’t gone to fix the TV.

If only he had looked at the tears on his mother’s face after fixing the TV and had been able to control his emotions and act surprised.

If only…

If…

But how could he have done that?

Even if they hadn’t said anything, he’d have a hard time holding back his own tears.

He shouldn’t have come, he shouldn’t have come!

But what was wrong with that? Wasn’t this what he had been thinking about day and night?

He covered his face with his palms, silently thinking of the tears on his mother’s face, the tears in his father’s eyes, and Gao Yuan’s reddened eyes.

What was the point of just leaving?

His thoughts rolled in his mind; on such a cold day, someone so afraid of cold, he didn’t even feel a little chilly.

All the energy was concentrated in his brain, no time to care about anything else.

He only felt that his heart was gripped by something, and was pulled out, taking away his breath.

Shen Yun stood up and ran towards the door again.

The one who opened the door was still Gao Yuan. Except for her, everyone else was in a sorry state.

Xu Moran’s cheeks were swollen, and his father was still comforting his mother, who was crying bitterly.

Mom Gao cried in her husband’s arms, and when she saw Shen Yun enter the door again, she couldn’t stop staring at him.

Mom Gao was very beautiful. Before Gao Xi’s accident, she still had black hair and red lips, had a cheerful personality and loved to laugh.

At the moment, her hair was mixed with strands of grey, and the corners of her lips and the ends of her eyes were tinted with sadness.

She had aged ten years since two years ago.

Shen Yun walked step by step to them, and knelt down with a thud.

Mom Gao took a step forward and put her arms around him, whimpering and asking, “You are really, you are really…”

She couldn’t say it, she only felt shocked and happy, and was afraid that her hopes would be dashed. She was holding her breath, just wanting to beg for relief.

She looked at her husband with tears in her eyes, hoping that he would nod to her.

Dad Gao’s clear, serious face was also cracked. With pursed lips, he looked at Shen Yun.

Shen Yun glanced at Xu Moran and asked his parents in a trembling voice, “Can we go inside and talk?”

Mom Gao’s heart sank. This was not like her child, why would Gao Xi ask this?

He had always been pampered and coquettish, with no scruples, pulling her around with a smile on his face any way he wanted.

But she still immediately helped him up, “Come, come, let’s go inside.”

The door closed, and Gao Yuan looked at Xu Moran: “Is it all true?”

Xu Moran pursed his lips and looked at the tightly closed door, “I didn’t confirm it one hundred percent until today.”

Gao Yuan said coldly, “I’m asking about the bastard things you did.”

The expression on Xu Moran’s face became even more gloomy.

Gao Yuan understood and said crisply, “You go. In the future, you and my brother, as well as the Gao family, no longer have anything to do with each other.”

Xu Moran’s teeth were clenched, and he sat in silence on the sofa, motionless like a mountain.

Shen Yun knelt on the floor, as he had downstairs, and told the story in short.

Dad Gao, though in tears, was still cautious and asked him if he remembered some things from his childhood.

Both parents were university teachers, and it was unique enough for them to believe it at all.

So his father’s request for verification was sort of expected.

Mom Gao helped him up and held him in her arms without letting go. The poor woman already believed that this child was her son.

Shen Yun thought for a moment and said a few things.

One: Gao Yuan drowned when she was eight years old, and there was no one around, so Gao Xi pulled Gao Yuan up, but sank under the water himself.

At that time, Gao Yuan was scared and just cried on the shore. Gao Xi sank to the bottom and thought he was going to drown. At that moment he opened his eyes under the water in despair and saw a few large stones piled on the bottom of the river, so he held his breath and slowly climbed to the shore holding onto these stones.

This was an old story of more than twenty years ago; even if someone knew about this incident, it was unlikely to remember the details so clearly.

Second: when Gao Xi and Xu Moran bought the house, because they were tight for money, his parents quietly stuffed more than 300,000 yuan to him.

Because Xu Moran had a strong sense of self-esteem and was sensitive, his parents also specially instructed Gao Xi not to tell him about this.

Forget about the first thing; even Gao Yuan didn’t know about the second thing.

The only ones who knew about it were the three people here, and after Shen Yun finished, his parents had no more doubts.

Mom Gao held Shen Yun in her arms, her heart throbbing with pain.

Dad Gao also spread his arms and hugged the mother and son. A man who had never shed tears in his life at this moment was also crying.

Shen Yun also explained his current situation to his parents, skipping all the hardships he had suffered in the middle.

Until he finished, Mom Gao still held him in her arms and cupped his face to look at him, unable to look enough, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

It was his father who thought a bit further and asked him what he was going to do with Xu Moran.

When he ran out, Xu Moran knelt down and explained everything that had happened before.

Shen Yun pursed his lips and said, “Dad, Mom, me and him, we are over.”

His parents nodded again and again.

After hesitating for a long time, he added, “In the future, Gao Xi’s identity can’t be used anymore either.”

Mom Gao asked in surprise, “Why?”

Dad Gao nodded in understanding, “It’s enough for our family to know about this matter. In the future, we’ll say that Shen Yun is the adoptive son I accepted.”

“……”

When the family went out, Xu Moran was still sitting in the living room, and Gao Yuan sat next to him with a very unsightly face.

When Xu Moran saw them come out, he knelt down once again, “Dad, Mom, no matter what you think, I can’t give up Xiao Xi, I beg you, give me another chance.”

Gao Yuan was about to say, “Then why didn’t you die when my brother died?”

As the words almost came out of her mouth, she remembered that Xu Moran really tried to commit suicide once.

So she said, “If you really want to be good to him, just let him go. He had such a hard time but didn’t confess to you, why do you think is that?”

Xu Moran pursed his lips. Shen Yun squatted down, looked into his eyes and said, “Xu Moran, everything is finished, stop it, you’re not young anymore.”

Xu Moran stubbornly looked at him, “But we agreed to be together for the rest of our lives. You can’t have someone else!”

Shen Yun smiled shyly, “I was with you for the rest of my life. It’s you who didn’t keep your promise. It’s you who had someone else!”

He said softly, leaving a little face for the other, “That life is over, Gao Xi is gone. Xu Moran, I don’t want to hate you anymore, let it go.”

“It was only that one time.” Xu Moran cried bitterly, like a child. “It was only that one time. Leave Zhou Lan, okay? You want Moxi, I can give it to you, anything, anything, as long as you come back.”

“I don’t want Moxi.” Shen Yun said. “What I want, I’ll take myself. Xu Moran, even without Zhou Lan, we can’t go back. Even if Gao Xi lived, we couldn’t go back, don’t you understand?”

Shen Yun still went back to Zhou Lan’s place that night, and Gao Yuan drove him to the door.

When Shen Yun was about to get out of the car, Gao Yuan asked, “Brother, you and Zhou Lan, do you really like him?”

Shen Yun pursed his lips. He didn’t know what to say.

He thought for a while and said, “Just trying to get around together.”

Gao Yuan nodded, “Brother, if you’re short of money, there are savings at home, and I have some of my own.”

Shen Yun hugged Gao Yuan, “Got it, good girl.”

There was nothing warmer than family. He pressed his lips on the top of Gao Yuan’s head, full of gratitude.

Today he realised that the heavens treated him so well, so well that he panicked.

All the suffering he had endured in the past seemed to be nothing.

When he pushed the door in, Zhou Lan was sitting on the sofa, holding a mobile phone and reading intently.

Surprisingly, he was a little confused when he saw Shen Yun. He stood up, his eyes slowly filling with joy.

He hugged him, holding him tightly in his arms before Shen Yun had a chance to change his shoes.

“My baby is back.”

Shen Yun smelled the familiar perfume on Zhou Lan’s body and sank into his arms without moving.

The two stood for a while. Shen Yun smiled and pushed him away, “I’ll change my shoes first.”

Zhou Lan looked at him, “In a good mood today?”

Shen Yun pursed his lips and smiled, “Hmm.”

He wanted to tell him that he had seen his family, but he couldn’t.

He had the urge to share it with Zhou Lan, but he couldn’t say it, and this desire and repression once again reminded him of the unrelieved conflict between them.

Still, he hooked Zhou Lan’s neck and said with a smile, “Zhou Lan, I’m really happy today.”

Zhou Lan had taken a few more plots of land at the end of the year. He said that there weren’t any good plots of land left now, and that the government’s control over land would be stricter in the coming year.

So take advantage of this year to get a few more pieces.

In addition, he was also busy investigating investments in the film and television industry as well as game development.

At the end of the year, there were many meetings, and Shen Yun heard Li Huan complain more than once that Zhou Lan’s schedule was too tight.

But as long as he came home, Zhou Lan would be waiting at home.

Preparing meals for him, hugging him and saying something irrelevant, as long as he wanted, Zhou Lan seemed to be willing to give him everything.

If he didn’t know the truth, he would really be touched, and even now, he still had the illusion that the other party was sincere to him.

He kissed Zhou Lan’s lips, not wanting to think about it anymore. He had no regrets, he had his family behind him.

He felt so happy that he could kiss this man with confidence.

The days of having the opportunity to kiss him were numbered.

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