One.

Gu Yanting found that he and Tang Yi hadn’t quarrelled for a long time.

This started a month ago.

Weiwei was officially picked up by Zhou Hao a month ago. Gu Yanting had already put his affairs in order before; Huayuan set up an office in T City, and he became the field commander of the office. Although the daily workload was huge, the degree of freedom was quite high. So he also worked as a nanny, cook and driver for Tang Yi and Weiwei for more than three months.

However, even so, the two bickered a lot in front of the child.

Under normal circumstances, no matter what the reason was, the family war would end with Tang Yi’s victory. Of course, Gu Yanting deliberately gave in to the opponent, because every time Tang Yi won, he would be good-natured enough to cooperate with him in this way and that, whether out of compensation or pure joy. Gu Yanting was pretty happy to exchange that for his face.

But since Weiwei was picked up, Tang Yi stopped arguing with him.

Sometimes Gu Yanting would deliberately be lazy and throw a smelly sock on the sofa, or the changed pants would not be put in the laundry basket but thrown directly on the floor of the bedroom. Tang Yi didn’t even make a sound, just gave him a look and silently put them away for him.

At the beginning, Gu Yanting was quite happy, and the second and third time, he started to rejoice. When the fourth and fifth time came, he suddenly shivered and a terrifying speculation came to his mind – this was obviously more like the calm before the storm than the sweet life of a husband and wife.

When this idea first came, he was writing a report at work, and the little thought quickly took root in his mind, but it took a while for the branches and leaves to occupy his brain capacity. Gu Yanting’s body jolted and, after regaining his senses, he hurried back in horror. Even the sweat on his forehead was spelling out a line of large characters “Tang Yi wants to break up with me.”

The house was cleaned up and all the shoes by the entrance were put in the shoe cabinet. The sofa cover was stretched without a single wrinkle and all the things in the trash basket were taken away. Gu Yanting was in a daze. He obviously tidied up the house himself, but now he could see that there was something unusual about it, something dangerous.

He wiped away his sweat and hurriedly trotted into the bedroom. They both had their documents in a small transparent box on the bedside table. Gu Yanting hurriedly pulled it onto the bed and shook the transparent box upside down. After everything fell out, he took a deep breath and felt that his heart was about to stop.

— Tang Yi’s ID card and passport were not there!

How could they not be here? Was he carrying them with him? Or did he hide them somewhere else? Would Tang Yi not come back today?

Calm down, calm down!

After Gu Yanting was in a frightened daze for a moment, he calmed down. While quickly recalling the morning episodes to see if there was anything unusual, he dialled Tang Yi’s mobile phone number.

The phone was quickly connected and Tang Yi’s smiling voice came from the other end of the phone, seemingly in a good mood, “Yanting? What happened?”

“Ah, it’s okay,” Gu Yanting coughed lightly, carefully clutching the phone, and said, “Are you busy now?”

“Not busy.” Tang Yi smiled.

“…Oh,” Gu Yanting paused, and after chatting for a long time, he pretended to ask inadvertently, “Where’s your ID card? I didn’t see it when I cleaned up the house today.”

His tone was slightly hurried, and he couldn’t even breathe nervously after he finished.

Luckily, Tang Yi was very quick to say, “It’s in that black bag, I just put it in yesterday.”

The black bag was given to Tang Yi by Gu Yanting last time. Tang Yi didn’t use it often, let alone put the ID card into it. Gu Yanting was very happy to hear it, and when he breathed a sigh of relief, a little man sprang up in his mind, pointing at him and laughing, gloating like a fool.

But after a while, another little man appeared, nervously reminding him, “Gu Yanting, Gu Yanting, you can’t be careless. Just because Tang Yi didn’t leave today doesn’t mean he won’t leave in the future. Otherwise, what is he doing with his documents? Have you forgotten how you broke up at the beginning?”

Gu Yanting gritted his teeth and sighed.

How could he forget? Tang Yi broke up very quickly, just like that. After taking his ID and wallet, he left without waiting for Gu Yanting to digest it. He didn’t want his clothes, he didn’t want his bed sheets, he didn’t want his savings, he just wanted to leave in style.

Gu Yanting didn’t know if his own reflex arc was too long, or if the Tang Yi-style break-up wounded him so much that left him with sequelae.

He was really scared. When other people broke up, they would cry and yell. First the prelude, then the main drama, and finally the climax. But not Tang Yi, ah. If he was not satisfied with his life, he could pack up at any time and leave with his documents.

The little man who was nervous and sweaty in his mind was victorious. Gu Yanting patted his head, found a black plastic bag very cleverly, put the documents of the two of them in the bag together, and then looked all over the house. After a circle, the bag was put in a place that Tang Yi would never have thought of. 

Without documents, Tang Yi couldn’t take a car, take a plane, stay in a hotel… even if he was angry, he would just have to punch Gu Yanting and vent, hehehe. Gu Yanting praised himself very arrogantly, recalled his various “sinful” and dangerous actions for days, and began to clean with the idea of atoning for his sins.

So when Tang Yi came home from the company, he saw a long row of underwear floating all over the balcony, including a few t-backs…

“Gu Yanting,” Tang Yi was shocked by the scene he witnessed before he even put down his bag.

Gu Yanting had just finished setting up the dishes when he saw Tang Yi’s expression and his heart fluttered for a moment. He was overjoyed in his heart, but his face was still demure, and he didn’t respond until he walked up to Tang Yi, “En?”

Tang Yi took a breath slowly; his beautiful eyes moved to Gu Yanting’s face and he asked in disbelief, “Did you make a mountain of them and jerk off on them?”

“……”

Gu Yanting was taken aback, “Who jerked off? I didn’t, where did I…” He followed Tang Yi’s gaze to the balcony and paused, “I just washed all our underwear.” 

“……” The corners of Tang Yi’s mouth twitched, but he quickly put the matter aside and instead talked about another more important matter, “I won’t go to the company tomorrow. I’ll go to Fat Sod first to help him with something. At noon, we will go to the airport straight after lunch.”

Gu Yanting was dumbfounded for a moment, “Go to the airport?”

“That’s right,” Tang Yi glanced at him strangely as he walked to the bedroom, “Didn’t we decide last week to go to Xi’an this weekend? By the way, don’t forget to put your ID card in that black bag and take it with you when you go out tomorrow.”

Gu Yanting stood still for a while, before he thought in a daze, Xi’an? Yes, he and Tang Yi were going to Xi’an and then to Dunhuang, so they left the dog with his parents. It was just that in the past two days, he had messy thoughts in his heart and had forgotten about it.

Gu Yanting breathed a sigh of relief, and when he turned around, he was suddenly taken aback.

He put away both his and Tang Yi’s ID cards. But… what was that place that Tang Yi absolutely couldn’t think of?

—

Two.

Nonsensical Ning Zeyu Extra

Classmate Ning Zeyu felt very desperate about this turbulent world.

However, despair is useless. Who made him a completely straight socialist young man while the good friends he had made since kindergarten were all little gays!

In the words of Ning Zeyu’s mother, this was either a gift or he was just good at it.

After seeing all kinds of simple or complicated families of his little gay friends, Classmate Ning Zeyu deeply understood one truth: the gift was his own mother. To think about it, he’d lived for more than twenty years and was about to reach thirty but had never seen anyone’s mother screw up her son like this.

“Er, you say that you have no one in your twenties. Do you fail to recognise yourself correctly?”

Ning Zeyu looked at his mother with a straight face, pretending not to understand the subtext, “I recognise myself very thoroughly, thank you.”

“Oh,” Mom Ning took a breath, “Then is there something you haven’t communicated with your mom about…”

“I personally think we communicate very well, thank you.”

“Then why don’t you have anyone yet?” Mom Ning blinked and still didn’t let him go. “How come there are no men or women?”

“……” Ning Zeyu wiped his face, “I don’t know…”

“Neither the old nor the young…” Mom tsked and was cut in the middle of the sentence; the good-natured Ning Zeyu finally couldn’t endure, and hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, “Lao Ning!”

Someone upstairs responded with the same loud voice, “Yes…”

“Take care of your wife!”

“Can’t control her…”

Ning Zeyu, “……”

Mom Ning gleefully demonstrated a scissor hand, “I haven’t finished speaking yet. You haven’t brought home neither the old nor the young ones, obviously you have a problem! When you were little, I told you to have a good relationship with your female classmates, but you just didn’t listen. Now that you are single, you still won’t admit it. Really, it’s too embarrassing for your mother. But I only have one son like you, so I’ll reluctantly give you a little advice…”

Ning Zeyu was in excited spirits and as soon as he was about to refuse, he saw his mother hand over two photos head-on, “The children of the old Qin family, better than you in every way!”

Ning Zeyu looked at the photo. It was a pretty girl, not bad. When he was about to accept it, the photo behind it also fell out.

“…why are there two people?”

“Take a look at both of them!”

“No,” Ning Zeyu was about to collapse, “I mean, why is there a man and a woman!”

For Ning Zeyu, the most miserable thing in the world was not that he was gay and couldn’t come out of the closet to his family, but that he was straight like a telephone pole, and the whole world thought he was gay.

Speaking of this, you can’t blame others. Among Ning Zeyu’s friends, nine out of ten were gay. When he was still in kindergarten, he comforted his childhood friend, his best friend Xiao Shi. Classmate Xiao Shi was laughed at by his classmates because he liked to wear girl’s clothing. Ning Zeyu patted his chest righteously and asked Mom Ning to buy him a tutu skirt to wear with Xiao Shi.

When he was in elementary school, his deskmate gave a boy a note that was rejected, and ended up crying uncontrollably. Classmate Ning Zeyu was overfilled with compassion and after following the sad girl for half a day went home to consult with Mom Ning on how to write notes to boys.

He didn’t remember what a tangled and complicated expression Mom Ning had at that time but he remembered that after that Mom Ning added one more sentence to her routine greeting when he got home.

It used to be, “Xiao Yu, are there any little girls you like at school?” Ning Zeyu shook his head and she didn’t ask anything else.

Later it was, “Xiao Yu, are there any little girls you like at school?” Ning Zeyu shook his head, and Mom Ning said, “What about little boys?” Ning Zeyu shook his head.

So Mom Ning would breathe a sigh of relief and say wisely, “If there is a little girl you like, you can talk to each other. With a little boy you shouldn’t.”

Classmate Ning Zeyu was surprised and asked her, “Why?”

Mom Ning looked serious, “Because little girls grow up and become more beautiful, and little boys grow up and become uglier. So you have to get to know a girl as soon as possible, but boys must wait until you become an adult.”

Ning Zeyu was suddenly enlightened, so he took these words to comfort a good friend he met in junior middle school. And for a long period of time afterwards, he regarded that instruction as the golden rule.

Not because of anything else, but because when he looked at himself in the mirror, it really did prove the saying that the more a boy grows, the uglier he becomes – when he was in primary school, his relatives were stroking his head and saying how cute he was. However, when he started high school, everyone’s gaze changed, filled with a mixture of shocked sympathy and words like “poor thing”, which repeatedly made Ning Zeyu wonder if he had experienced some great misfortune.

But as the ancients said, there must be gains and losses, and there must be gains if there are losses. Although Ning Zeyu was a little dark-skinned, a little skinny, and his face looked a little old, his popularity was exceptionally high and it was not an exaggeration to say that he had friends everywhere. He was loyal and broad-minded, and more importantly, no buddy was afraid that his girlfriend would fall in love with Ning Zeyu after seeing him.

These deep friendships allowed him to have his friends to help him in many exams, and he had never failed a subject since he was a child. Even when he graduated, a classmate handed him a job offer early on and helped him get his first order after he had successfully joined the company.

Ning Zeyu was very moved and went all the way to thank this classmate. As a result, he didn’t expect the other party to be drunk that day, hug him and gnaw on him.

It was really gnawing. Ning Zeyu’s first sensation at the time was pain and he supposed his skin was broken. His second reaction was: Lao Tzu’s first kiss was gone!

And then…

There was no more. The extremely irresponsible classmate took two bites. He probably felt that the taste was wrong, so he fell asleep with a grunt. Ning Zeyu had never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, so he was scared out of his wits by this gnawing and scurried back to T City overnight. The next day, his classmate called him. He had obviously forgotten everything about it and laughed at Ning Zeyu for being impolite and not staying even for a day.

Ning Zeyu wanted to remind him of what happened last night. But after thinking about it, he felt awkward and hung up.

It was just that his luck didn’t get better after that. Even though his appearance had changed a lot since he started working out, his height had increased, his muscles had grown and his face had become more angular, but he still couldn’t attract any human beings.

The two photos that Mom Ning gave him were simply the best-looking single people he had ever seen in recent years.

Ning Zeyu subconsciously wanted to throw away the picture of the young man, but after thinking of the kiss when he had been gnawed, his hand stopped.

What if it is an opportunity? 

What if you’re not so completely straight?

Well, go and have a look…

THE END

Translator’s note: Well, the story is over. I feel a little sad because I really liked it so much, I feel there will be no other like that. It was challenging but it also gave me so much as a translator; not to mention how dear to my heart Tang Yi and Gu Yanting are.

Big thanks to Blood for her comments and support, I can’t describe how important they were for me!!!

If you enjoyed the story, please leave a positive review and/or good rating on Novelupdates 🙂

Also, you can support me on Ko-fi 🙂

Previous / ToC

As autumn went and winter came, the weather gradually turned colder again. Gu Yanting had insisted on buying a carpet since the previous year, but was stopped by Tang Yi. This year he didn’t give up.

“Wife, let’s spread a carpet at our home, too!”

“What’s the point of having it? It’s too troublesome.”

“It’s not troublesome, I’ll do it when the time comes and let you watch it.”

“No, it won’t look good at our home.”

“You can choose the style, right? My wife’s aesthetics are the best, great!”

“Won’t choose.”

“Tang Yi… Xiao Yiyi…”

“Shut up!“ Tang Yi finally couldn’t bear it and kicked him far away, “Gu Yanting, who did you learn from to be so coquettish?! Disgust me again and you can scram as far as you can!”

Gu Yanting didn’t give up, and when the two of them finished their bed exercise, he said with a serious expression, “Tang Yi, I have something to tell you.”

“En?” Tang Yi yawned, lazily propped up his eyelids and barely glanced at him.

“I want to buy a carpet.” Gu Yanting said with a stern face, “This time you have to agree if you agree, and you have to agree if you disagree.”

“Oh,” Tang Yi closed his eyes and turned around, “Then remember to learn from Oreo.”

“Learn what?” Gu Yanting was taken aback.

Tang Yi sneered, suddenly arched his back and made a wretched gesture. That obviously meant: if you buy it, if you have any needs in the future, just use the carpet to solve them.

Gu Yanting was so angry that his face was black and even his little brother softened.

But he didn’t want to give up, and he always mentioned it intentionally or unintentionally, waiting for Tang Yi to agree in case his brain farted one day.

Tang Yi was surprised by this, “Gu Yanting, how obsessed are you with carpets!”

When he said this, the two of them were sitting on the sofa watching a movie. Gu Yanting ordered two hot and sour noodles in order to match the snowy atmosphere outside. Tang Yi was so sweaty from eating them that his pores were opened and his tone softened.

Gu Yanting took a mouthful of noodles and hummed vaguely.

Tang Yi squinted at him in the dense heat, and saw that the latter swallowed slowly and then said with a little resentment, “A carpet is good, ah. Fat Sod has one at home! You can step on it barefoot at home in the middle of winter.”

“Tsk, didn’t Fat Sod get it for his daughter?” Tang Yi raised his brows disapprovingly. Fat Sod’s daughter had just learned to walk last year, and she struggled to get off the ground on her own. When she was on the grass, it was okay, but when she got home, Fat Sod’s wife mopped the floor and the little one was restless. 

Fat Sod’s house originally had a tile floor. When it was renovated, he didn’t care about these details. The decoration team picked out the beautiful and slippery tiles for them. Later, it was discovered that as long as there was a little water on the floor, people with a slight lack of balance would slip immediately. When Tang Yi and Gu Yanting visited them, Gu Yanting slipped and fell, which was filmed by Fat Sod and used as blackmail material and laughed at for half a year.

Now, seeing his own daughter jumping up and down like a monkey, Fat Sod ruthlessly found someone to lay a carpet, and for the sake of environmental protection, it was specially chosen to be a high-quality one. Gu Yanting came to visit and saw it once. After that, he talked to Tang Yi about it for a full year.

Tang Yi was not stingy; he just didn’t think it was necessary to spend that money. This was an old house. They didn’t decorate it at the beginning. The cement walls were painted white when they moved in. The TV cabinet was from the second-hand market. The living room was full of miscellaneous things. It was not enough to buy a carpet to make it look good. In addition, there was a dog at home and it would be even more troublesome when the dog hair was all over the carpet.

Gu Yanting was already about to give up this time, just muttering incoherently, “His family can buy it if they have children, but our family can’t buy it if we don’t have children. Tsk, are you discriminating against me for not being able to give you children!”

Tang Yi sprayed a mouthful of the soup. After a long time of fun, he nodded solemnly, “You can’t have a child even if you could.”

Gu Yanting was taken aback for a moment and didn’t react.

Tang Yi sighed and said, “You won’t let me fuck you. The tadpoles of the old Tang family can’t be planted.”

“……”

Gu Yanting nearly choked to death. He coughed for a long time with a flushed face, and gave Tang Yi a thumbs up, “You good! You’re playing… ahem… the level of rascality is real…”

He didn’t say the next half sentence, and the chilli stuck in his throat sent him directly to the bathroom.

The next day was Christmas. Tang Yi bought a lot of small gifts for Fat Sod’s girl and put them in a special large gift stocking.

They agreed with Fat Sod a week ago that they would spend the holiday together. Fat Sod’s wife was excited for two days, saying that she wanted to show off her cooking skills and let people try her new cuisine. As a result, Tang Yi caught a cold when he got up that morning.

Gu Yanting touched his forehead; it wasn’t really hot, but his face was frighteningly red.

“Is it going to be okay?” Gu Yanting was a little worried, stretched out his hand to gently touch Tang Yi’s face and said, “Why don’t we not go, I’ll go to the hospital with you first?”

Tang Yi shook his head, buried his face in the pillow and rubbed it, and said, “What hospital? I just slept restlessly and kicked off the quilt. I don’t have a fever or cough, I’ll just take some medicine.”

He wrinkled his nose, “I still want to sleep for a while, so you can go there with the gifts first.”

Gu Yanting wanted to say something else, but Tang Yi stretched his foot and kicked him through the blanket, “People have been preparing for half a day, don’t stand people up. Just make me breakfast and leave it there, I’ll warm it up myself when I get up.”

Gu Yanting could only go to cook. Before leaving, he was not at ease. He took out Tang Yi’s mobile phone and put it on the bedside, and then moved his number so that Tang Yi could dial it at any time. Then he turned and left.

Fat Sod’s home was very festive, but Gu Yanting was so concerned about Tang Yi that he forgot to step on the big carpet that he had always liked. He sat motionless and sent messages.

Fat Sod hugged his daughter and came over to pester him. The little girl struggled to get down and ran. After running two steps, she accidentally fell forward. Gu Yanting hurriedly put down the phone and went to help her, and saw the little girl giggling and getting up again.

Gu Yanting took a look, turned and asked Fat Sod, “It really doesn’t hurt to fall like this, does it?”

Fat Sod threw a chestnut in his mouth and let out an “ahh”, “No, it’s very thick.”

Gu Yanting nodded, his attention finally attracted, and asked him, “Is there a thicker one then? How about the kind with long hair?”

“I don’t know,” Fat Sod gave him a surprised look, “You haven’t given up yet?”

Gu Yanting looked enviously and sighed.

He left early after eating, and before leaving, Fat Sod persuaded him, “It’s very troublesome to lay it. You have to clean it up frequently. The floor tends to accumulate dust. Besides, the wooden floor of your house is also very good. If Sister-in-law doesn’t agree, you should hurry up and give up, haha.”

Gu Yanting looked back enviously again, thinking to himself: winter is almost over, and even if you don’t want to give up, you still have to give up.

On the way back, he sent a voice message to Tang Yi, saying that he would come back soon. When he was halfway through the drive, he remembered that he had nothing prepared for Christmas, so he turned around and bought a bottle of red wine and a bunch of snacks for the evening. It was half an hour later that he got home.

When Gu Yanting parked his car and turned to walk home, he saw a dark figure at the entrance of the building.

“Tang Yi? Why are you here?” Gu Yanting was taken aback and ran over in a few steps. When he grabbed Tang Yi’s hands, they were cold.

“Didn’t you just say you would be there soon,” Tang Yi sighed, “I went downstairs to pick you up.” After receiving the message, he put some clothes on and came down. After standing for more than forty minutes, the skin on his face was frozen red.

Gu Yanting opened his mouth and didn’t say anything. Tang Yi rarely went downstairs to pick him up before. Today, he was a little confused why Tang Yi went down. But his attention quickly shifted to other places.

The coat on Tang Yi’s body was given by Mom Gu, who said it was made of otter and rabbit fur. It was just that after Mom Gu bought it, she saw a video about boycotting fur. Tang Yi was holding a piece of real fur and watched the old lady crying her eyes out. When she came back to her senses, she was really upset and said she wouldn’t wear anything and would give it away.

Tang Yi’s bearing by itself was outstanding. When he tried the coat on, Gu Yanting’s eyes crossed and even Dad Gu nodded again and again, saying that he looked good. At this moment, Tang Yi was wearing it for some reason; Gu Yanting’s gaze fell on his face, and the words “face like a jade” came to his mind with a little flourish.

He grabbed Tang Yi’s hands and rubbed them. After a while, he became distracted. After checking that there was no one around, he couldn’t help but lean to Tang Yi’s ear and whisper, “You look so good in this. I’m charmed.”

Tang Yi glanced at him with a smile and gave a low hum.

Gu Yanting felt very good hearing this voice that sounded like a cat’s purr. He stretched out his hand through the gap between the concealed buckles of the coat. Tang Yi’s body stiffened for a moment but then he took the initiative to press closer to him.

Gu Yanting was surprised at first, and after the feeling of the smooth, warm skin under his fingers reached his mind, he opened his mouth and stammered stupidly, “Crap! You… you you!”

His mind was still digesting this seemingly outrageous fact, but his body reacted quickly. Gu Yanting picked Tang Yi up nervously without saying a word. Before Tang Yi could react to what was going on, Gu Yanting rushed up to the fourth floor like a whirlwind. Then he opened the door very violently and pushed him in.

Tang Yi was completely naked!

He was wrapped up in a big, loose fur coat and went downstairs to pick him up without wearing anything! What the hell! The fur had only three concealed buckles, and the hooks were hooked from the inside, so it would easily come loose if he moved a little!

Gu Yanting slammed the door shut, breathing a little unevenly. Tension, shock, stimulation and sudden arousal left his brain blank.

The light in the afternoon was very soft. Tang Yi stretched out his hand and waved in front of his eyes, smiling like a little fox who got his way, then leaned forward with a smile and kissed the corner of Gu Yanting’s mouth, asking as he kissed, “Why, silly?”

Gu Yanting stared straight at him. When Tang Yi was about to speak, the world swayed around him, and then his body was suddenly raised. Gu Yanting pressed him against the wall and kissed him silently.

Gu Yanting pressed him tightly, pinching Tang Yi’s chin with one hand somewhat roughly, turning his face to one side and nibbling his exposed neck and chin. The other hand slipped directly inside the coat and moved all the way between Tang Yi’s legs, where it rubbed and kneaded heavily.

The area on the inner sides of his thighs was one of the most sensitive places for Tang Yi. When the two were at the peak of their arousal, Gu Yanting’s kiss there was too much for Tang Yi to bear. Not to mention that he deliberately rubbed it with his slightly callused thumb at this moment.

Tang Yi endured it, and finally gasped, “Don’t do it here…”

“No,” Gu Yanting breathed heavily in his ear, “I can’t stand it anymore.”

“The living room…” Tang Yi gritted his teeth and said with a flushed face, “On the carpet…”

The living room had been covered with a thick wool carpet, but it was not covered fully and the entrance and dining room were empty. But even so, there was a large open space in the living room, enough for two people to toss and turn.

Tang Yi knew exactly what Gu Yanting had in mind from the start, and he suspected that even Fat Sod knew but pretended not to understand. After all, a guy like Gu Yanting, who didn’t have children or the elderly at home, repeatedly confirmed that the carpet was soft enough and wouldn’t hurt the knees. Even a fool would have suspected that his purpose was impure.

When Tang Yi secretly selected the carpet, he had a funny feeling that he was a fish choosing its own seasoning. At this moment Gu Yanting turned in surprise, and his face became even hotter.

Gu Yanting didn’t look at it for a long time. He gasped, bit Tang Yi’s earlobe and said in a deep voice, “Is it a gift?”

Tang Yi gritted his teeth and let out an almost inaudible “en”.

Previous / ToC / Next

When Weiwei first arrived at Tang Yi’s house, he was not familiar with Gu Yanting. He vaguely understood that this home was shared by Uncle Tang and Uncle Gu, but after a few days of careful observation, he found that Uncle Tang was in charge of the family, so he still habitually stuck to Tang Yi. But looking at Uncle Gu’s face that resembled his father, the child was a little curious.

Once or twice, he would blink his eyes intentionally or unintentionally and secretly sneak a peek at Gu Yanting.

For this reason, Gu Yanting was very proud and showed off to Tang Yi when he went to bed at night, “How about it, isn’t Uncle handsome! The little boy was so dazzled that he turned his head, tsk.”

Tang Yi glanced at him coolly, a little speechless, “Can you have some face?”

He knew in his heart that Weiwei was probably curious because Gu Yanting looked similar to Zhou Hao, but the child didn’t like to talk nonsense and would keep any thoughts to himself. Tang Yi paused, remembering that tomorrow was a rare weekend and he promised to take Weiwei out to play; but he had an appointment with Kaisheng’s boss tomorrow, so he couldn’t go again.

Thinking of this, he hesitated for a moment, turned his head and asked Gu Yanting, “Tomorrow… can you take him out for a walk?”

“Okay. ”

“Can you put my mind at ease?” Tang Yi looked at him with a smile, “I’m a little worried.”

“Hey, what are you talking about? Would I bully a child, am I that kind of person?” Gu Yanting squinted at him, “Besides, this kid is so dumb, he doesn’t say much. He’s not as good to bully as Fatty’s little girl.”

Tang Yi glanced at him and smiled again. Gu Yanting, who had been laughed at, felt angry, rushed over and nibbled on his mouth.

When Tang Yi went out early the next day, Gu Yanting woke up and remembered that he hadn’t asked Tang Yi whether they were going to the zoo or the botanical garden when he said go for a walk. But this was not a problem. There was a shopping mall not far from home, so it was not bad to go there.

There was nothing fun in the park. Weiwei didn’t like to talk, and it would definitely be awkward for the two of them to go there, while there was an indoor children’s playground on the fifth floor of the mall. You can go there, throw the child inside and wait for him to come back after playing enough.

The idea was very good but when Gu Yanting dragged Weiwei to the fifth floor, he found that the playground had been closed for renovation. Fortunately, the child didn’t say anything; he turned his face when he saw the toy store nearby, and kept turning his head to look at it from time to time as he walked by.

Gu Yanting asked him, knowing the answer, “Do you want to go there to play?”

Weiwei hesitated for a moment, nodded heavily, pursed his mouth and glanced at Gu Yanting embarrassedly.

Gu Yanting tsked and led him over there.

There were a lot of things in the toy store, and a lot of educational things according to the age range. Weiwei didn’t even look at the front ones but went towards the two rows of Transformers in the middle.

The toys there were very expensive, and the child’s eyes were shining. He couldn’t even move his feet as if glued to the floor. 

Gu Yanting was also very curious to look at them, but he felt that things were too expensive, a palm-sized autobot costing several hundreds. But now they walked in, he had to buy one to coax the child. So he leaned over and pointed to a small yellow box and asked Weiwei, “Do you want this?”

Weiwei glanced at the price tag, then pursed his mouth and shook his head.

Gu Yanting didn’t expect him to refuse, so he was taken aback and pointed to the blue one above, “How about this one?”

Weiwei still shook his head.

After pointing at seven or eight things in a row, Gu Yanting saw that Weiwei’s eyes were almost glued to the toy but he kept quiet, not saying that he wanted it. The child was obviously saving money for him and Gu Yanting’s heart turned a little soft unconsciously.

It was not that he was stingy; it was just that the price of these things was a clear rip-off. But the fact that Weiwei was saving money for him made him feel quite comfortable.

Gu Yanting’s heart warmed, and after looking at it, he simply pointed to the largest toy box in the row and said proudly, “This one, right? Uncle brought the money, let’s buy it and play with it.”

Weiwei didn’t shake his head this time. He stood still and looked at the toy with his face tilted up for a long time before blinking at Gu Yanting and saying, “But Uncle Tang said you can’t spend money indiscriminately. He will be angry.”

“It’s okay, I’m in charge at home.” Gu Yanting said with a smile, “What is your Uncle Tang? Let’s just buy it!”

He said so, but Weiwei didn’t move. His big round eyes matched his pursed mouth. “I don’t believe it” was written all over his face.

Gu Yanting was amused, thinking that it was still a child in the end, so he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and pretended to put it to his ear, coughed and shouted very vigorously, “Hey, Tang Yi, it’s me. I’ll buy a toy for Weiwei, it’s just to let you know, okay? Well, yes, just be good.”

Weiwei’s eyes were round and he stared at him for a moment.

Gu Yanting twisted his eyebrow at him very confidently, then pretended to hang up and shook his mobile phone at him, “Look, I called your Uncle Tang, and he said yes.”

Tang Yi had said yes, and naturally everything was fine. Weiwei suddenly jumped up with joy, his eyes lit up and two small dimples appeared when he smiled.

Gu Yanting took the box and looked at the label, 1799. Although it hurt a little, he looked at Weiwei’s little face flushed with excitement and felt that it was particularly worth it. He swiped the card without saying a word.

In fact, both he and Tang Yi had a lot of income, but they didn’t have the habit of spending money in a big way. Especially Gu Yanting; he recently wanted to save money to buy a home for Tang Yi. The community was relatively high-end and not far from where Tang Yi worked. It was a one floor one household place, and the privacy was very good. He had taken a fancy to it a long time ago but the apartments over there were very large. The smallest area without a sea view was 210 square metres, and the smallest with the sea view was 260. The money in his hand was almost close to being paid in full. The point was that if they bought that house, they would have no savings.

This 1799 was really the biggest sum Gu Yanting had spent in the past two months.

Gu Yanting stared at the numbers on the card slip painfully for a while, thinking to himself that he had finally coaxed the child. This toy could be played with for a year, and the child was so sensible, it was worth buying one.

He put away the slip with relief, ready to turn around and call Weiwei to go. Who knew that when he turned his head, he would be stunned.

Weiwei was four or five steps behind him, smiling like a little fox, with another model of autobot in his hand.

“……” Gu Yanting was taken aback. He saw Weiwei raise the extra one in his hand and say to him seriously, “Uncle Gu, this is the fallen titan level fierce marshal of Cybertron. The shop assistant sister said that the material is very good. The weight of the bare body is nearly five kilograms, and the soldier one can also be put in the chest cavity of the fierce marshal…”

“……” Gu Yanting was a little confused and asked after a moment, “Ah, then what…”

“You can call Uncle Tang again.”

“……”

Gu Yanting only returned home with Weiwei in the evening. Tang Yi didn’t come back, but Gu Yanting was so tired that he didn’t even want to cook. On this day, Gu Yanting finally realised what it meant that silence was gold. Weiwei, the bear child, slaughtered him for four thousand yuan without saying a few words in a day.

Two of the sentences were exactly the same: “Uncle Gu, you can call Uncle Tang again.”

Gu Yanting couldn’t bear it for the last time, so he coaxed him in a muffled voice, “Your Uncle Tang said that you can’t spend money indiscriminately.”

Then Weiwei blinked and nodded happily to indicate that he wouldn’t buy it. Before Gu Yanting could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard the child conclude lightly, “So Uncle Tang is still in charge of our family, ah.”

Gu Yanting felt bitter and nearly vomited blood for a long time. He waited for Tang Yi to come back before he felt better.

Tang Yi didn’t say anything when he saw that he wasn’t cooking; instead he smiled and went to the kitchen himself. Gu Yanting saw that Weiwei was addicted to fiddling with toys in the second bedroom, so he went to the kitchen to look for Tang Yi with a bitter face and wrapped his arms around the latter’s waist silently for a long time.

Tang Yi glanced at him with a smile, cut the tomatoes and tore the mushrooms into small pieces. Finally, when he was about to light the fire under the pan, he turned his head and nudged Gu Yanting, “I’m about to stir-fry, you can step back, or the oil will burst.”

Gu Yanting reluctantly let go and sighed melancholy when he exited the kitchen, “I spent a lot of money today and I’m not very happy. Will you dislike me for being stingy?”

Tang Yi said without looking back, “No.”

“Ah, I spent more than four thousand.” Gu Yanting gritted his teeth, “I bought all the toys.”

“En.”

“But I don’t even understand why I bought them.”

“I know.” Tang Yi threw things into the pan and the fragrance quickly floated out. Gu Yanting wrinkled his nose and sniffed, then heard Tang Yi sigh, “Didn’t I say it yesterday? I’m a little worried about you.”

“……” Gu Yanting slowly recovered from the scent of the food and asked in disbelief, “…worried about whom?”

“You,” Tang Yi couldn’t help smiling and glanced at him, “What did you think?”

—

Gu Yanting later became familiar with Weiwei and realised that Weiwei privately had given Tang Yi the money for the toys he bought on that day.

Every month, Secretary Zhao would give Tang Yi a sum of money for Weiwei’s living expenses, a large amount, which was more than what the two adults spent. Tang Yi knew that the boy would not live with him for long and was worried that he would not have any idea of how much money to spend in the future, so he drew a stack of cash coupons for Weiwei. Each coupon had a denomination of one hundred, and from the third day of Weiwei’s arrival at home, he had to hand the coupons over to Tang Yi every time he spent extra money. Anything he wanted to buy himself and any wishes he wanted to fulfil also had to be based on the number of coupons he had.

Gu Yanting expressed his surprise and couldn’t help asking him, “Then why did you buy so much that day?” 

In fact, buying one would have been enough to play for a long time, and looking at the boy’s face, it was probably quite painful when he counted out forty coupons and gave them to Tang Yi.

Weiwei tilted his head, thought for a while and sighed, “Hey, I was young and ignorant at that time.”

Gu Yanting was choked and looked constipated. He thought to himself: I won’t take the children of my family to watch dog blood TV series in the future.

Weiwei looked at him, and then said softly after a while, “There is another reason.”

“What?”

“I really liked seeing your expression.” The child paused, then opened his mouth to make an o-shape, then widened his eyes and stared until his eyes showed whites before settling down in a very exaggerated expression of horror.

“……” Gu Yanting was stunned for a long time before he groaned, “Damn, you bear kid, do you still want to mess around!”

—

The relationship between Gu Yanting and Weiwei warmed up very quickly, and the movements of one big and one small guy were synchronised a lot of the time. Even Tang Yi was surprised. The only thing that Gu Yanting didn’t understand was why Weiwei especially liked his exaggerated expressions. Whether he was laughing or occasionally grinning coquettishly in front of Tang Yi, Weiwei would stare at him with shining eyes, and Gu Yanting didn’t know why.

It wasn’t until the day when Weiwei was picked up that Gu Yanting suddenly realised.

That day, he saw Zhou Hao.

If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a family moving when Zhou Hao came to pick up the child, and a rather large dressing mirror was standing not far from Zhou Hao, and when Gu Yanting came out with a reluctant Zhou Weiwei in his arms, he saw himself in the mirror before he saw Zhou Hao, he would never have realised that he and the other party looked so much alike.

Many times people have a vague impression of their appearance. Gu Yanting didn’t notice anything strange at all when he found Zhou Hao’s photo on the Internet. Now he looked in the mirror, looked at Zhou Hao again, and then looked in the mirror before standing still as if struck by lightning.

Zhou Hao was obviously much calmer than him. After nodding slightly at him, he moved the corners of his mouth and said very politely, “Weiwei has caused you trouble during these days.”

Gu Yanting didn’t know if he was smiling. On the face that looked very similar to his in the mirror, the arc of the lips was really negligible. He was taken aback for a moment, and when he saw Tang Yi also coming out of the building, he thought to himself that he couldn’t be put to shame, so he curved the corners of his mouth in an arc, too.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…”

Zhou Hao: “……”

After Tang Yi came over, he glanced at the two of them and saw that the expressions of both of them were not good. He pretended not to notice and asked Zhou Hao, “Why are you coming today?” In the past, it was always Secretary Zhao who came over, and this time Weiwei was picked up and would never come back, and there were a lot of big bags and small things.

Zhou Hao said, “He has other things to do today. Besides, Weiwei has been bothering you here for so long. I, as his father, should come to thank you personally.” His tone was peaceful and gentle, and his eyes were faintly doting.

Gu Yanting frowned and hurriedly moved, blocking Tang Yi from speaking and saying on his behalf, “You’re welcome.”

Zhou Hao raised his eyebrows slightly, still looking at Tang Yi, and asked in a gentle voice, “It’s been a long time since I saw you. How are you doing lately?”

Tang Yi moved to the left but before he could make a sound, Gu Yanting who was holding Weiwei moved a step closer and said impatiently, “It’s good, it’s great.”

Zhou Hao: “……”

Tang Yi coughed slightly and poked Gu Yanting from behind. The atmosphere at the scene was a little awkward, and Gu Yanting felt a little evil in his heart. He thought that the man in front of him had persistently chased Tang Yi for two years, and finally succeeded in kissing him, and his whole being felt as if he was going to be drowned in vinegar.

Weiwei hadn’t made a sound since he went downstairs. Now that he saw the three adults with different expressions on their faces, he suddenly raised his hand and said loudly, “Dad! Uncle Tang and Uncle Gu are fine, I testify!”

Everyone was taken aback for a moment. Although Weiwei’s meaning was only superficially good, Gu Yanting immediately felt wonderful.

Tang Yi didn’t hold back laughing when he saw it. While pinching Weiwei’s face, he patted Gu Yanting, took the coat from his arm and draped it on him, saying helplessly, “Put on your coat. Be careful of catching a cold.”

Gu Yanting happily put the child down and put on his coat with a sweet expression on his face. After Tang Yi finished serving him, he turned and nodded to Zhou Hao, glanced at the trunk and said, “There are a lot of things, Yanting and I will help deliver them for you.”

Zhou Hao changed his residence in T City. Tang Yi learned later that Zhou Hao had completely separated from Zhou Dongchuan’s company in the past three months and returned all the assets under his name related to Zhou Dongchuan to the other party, including his house in T City.

Zhou Hao had always known that he had a half-brother. When he was just one year old, his father went south and started from scratch in Shenzhen, relying on his quick mouth and another woman.

Zhou Hao’s mother was Zhou Dongchuan’s wife who was introduced by someone in C City. The two were not familiar with each other but Zhou Dongchuan was interested in the power of his wife’s family, while Zhou Hao’s mother was interested in the property of the Zhou family. Who knew that after getting married, Zhou Dongchuan made it clear that he would not participate in the battle for the family business and was going to start another business. That time, Zhou Hao’s mother’s hopes fell through, and Zhou Dongchuan looked inconspicuous, so she made it clear that she would not burden her family and would not give him a penny.

Afterwards, it was impossible to know if Zhou Hao’s mother regretted it. It was just that since Zhou Hao could remember, his family had been richer than any of his peers. His father would send money back every once in a while and it wasn’t until Zhou Hao was six years old that he actually met this father.

During the repeated quarrels between his parents, Zhou Hao gradually understood that his father had a young mistress who gave birth to his younger brother. At that time, he was sent to a boarding school. He didn’t know the specifics but Zhou Dongchuan stayed in C City for more than a year. Although he quarrelled with Zhou Hao’s mother many times, he never mentioned divorce.

The matter of illegitimate children was not unusual in the entire environment of the Zhou family. After knowing about Gu Yanting, Zhou Hao also found someone to inquire about what happened back then. The matter was not complicated. Zhou Hao’s mother did stop Zhou Dongchuan when he was about to bring his mistress, but the root cause lay in Zhou Dongchuan himself. He returned to C City, his hometown, in a dignified manner but that woman had seen all his embarrassment and his wretchedness. So in fact, the tragedy of that year happened through his acquiescence or even personal contribution.

Therefore, when Zhou Dongchuan felt regretful and wanted to acknowledge Gu Yanting, Zhou Hao withdrew from his company, and then when Zhou Dongchuan relaxed, played a great game of justice – embezzled most of Zhou Dongchuan’s properties in a short span of three months, and the methods he used were more ruthless than Zhou Dongchuan had ever used.

“Objectively speaking, Gu Yanting also has the corresponding right to inherit property. So I made a tally on my father’s property before. Gu Yanting and his mother’s share is here and he can take it any time he wants.” Zhou Hao pointed to the document bag in the back seat and gestured to Tang Yi to open it.

Tang Yi glanced at it, but just smiled and didn’t move. Zhou Hao had a purpose, and now he had both benefited and delivered on his promise. 

With Weiwei living with them, Zhou Hao could focus on the company’s affairs wholeheartedly and strive for the maximum benefits without distractions. Of course, he didn’t take advantage of Gu Yanting. Even if there was not much left in Zhou Dongchuan’s hands, Zhou Hao still calculated Gu Yanting’s share according to Zhou Dongchuan’s previous net worth.

This could be regarded as fulfilling his previous promise; if it was Zhou Dongchuan who gave this property, there would likely be a lot of conditions involved. Regardless of anything else, the most basic premise would be that Gu Yanting had to recognise his father.

And now Zhou Hao brushed it aside with this gesture of giving Gu Yanting what he deserved, and whether Gu Yanting accepted or not, he wouldn’t receive any interference or blackmail of any nature.

Among them, Zhou Hao benefited, and Gu Yanting would not suffer. The only one who fell was Zhou Dongchuan.

Tang Yi smiled and shook his head. He really couldn’t imagine this kind of thing, but Zhou Hao was magnanimous and still called Zhou Dongchuan his father when mentioning him. It seemed that everything was a matter of course.

Zhou Hao glanced at Tang Yi in the rearview mirror and was a little surprised to see that he didn’t take it, “What’s wrong?” 

Tang Yi smiled, “It’s nothing, but this still depends on what Yanting wants.”

This was a lot of property, and he and Gu Yanting were not exactly aristocrats. If Gu Yanting accepted it, Tang Yi would naturally support him; if the latter refused, Tang Yi would also be happy.

“Ask him?” Zhou Hao retracted his gaze and raised his eyebrows, “Are you unable to decide for him?”

“En,“ Tang Yi turned his head and looked at the car behind him, “He is the boss in our family, and I listen to what he says.”

The conversation ran out of steam for the time being. Zhou Hao wanted to say something and saw that Tang Yi still sat, turning back and not moving.

In fact, Tang Yi was wondering in his heart. He offered to help Zhou Hao deliver things and his original intention was to finish the move in one trip, so as not to make Gu Yanting feel awkward anymore. Gu Yanting’s nervous and jealous look when he was downstairs was really funny and made Tang Yi feel soft-hearted. But he didn’t expect that when Zhou Hao offered to take his car, Gu Yanting would hesitate for a while but wouldn’t object.

This was so unbecoming. Shouldn’t he theoretically be jealous?

Zhou Hao glanced at Tang Yi again, and after seeing that he had something on his mind, he concentrated on driving and stopped talking. Tang Yi paused and couldn’t help but take out his mobile phone to text Gu Yanting.

— How are you?

—

Weiwei was holding Gu Yanting’s mobile phone to play, and when the message came in with a ding, he just poked it open.

“Uncle Gu, Uncle Tang sends a message!”

Gu Yanting glanced at the traffic light in front of him, turned his head and asked, “Ah, what does he say?”

“……” Weiwei lowered his head and looked seriously for a while, then scratched his head bitterly, “…I don’t know…I only know Uncle Tang’s ‘Tang’…”

Gu Yanting was happy, hurriedly turned to take a look and waited until the red light on the next intersection to reply, “Pretty good, almost there, why is this guy’s house so far away?”

Tang Yi returned him an ellipsis. A moment later, he sent another one over, “One more intersection and we’ll be there.”

He originally wanted to ask Gu Yanting: why are you so comfortable with letting me get in his car? Finally, after thinking about it, he deleted it for safety reasons.

It took more than thirty minutes to drive this time, crossing the two districts of T City.

An auntie from Zhou Hao’s family came down to help, and everyone simply moved in. When Weiwei first got home, he was quite excited. He looked back and forth here and there, and only reacted when Tang Yi and Gu Yanting were about to leave. He began to cry without saying a word.

Gu Yanting was about to squat down to coax him, but when Tang Yi pulled him back, he saw that Zhou Hao had already bent down to pick up the child.

“Why is a man crying,” Zhou Hao was obviously not very good at comforting children, frowning and only saying one sentence.

The more Weiwei cried, the more aggrieved he was, and finally he grabbed Zhou Hao’s collar and sobbed: “I… will I see you in the future… I won’t see Uncle Gu and Uncle Tang anymore.” He took a breath and cried, “It’s all your fault for moving… so far away.”

Gu Yanting looked distressed and hurriedly comforted him, “Weiwei is good, you can come to our place and play often in the future, just let your Uncle Zhao send you there.”

Weiwei flattened his mouth and said sadly, “Then, can you come to see me often?”

Gu Yanting agreed very happily, “Yes.”

“What about Uncle Tang?” With tears in his eyes, Weiwei asked seriously, “Can Uncle Tang come to see me often?”

Zhou Hao rubbed his brow and said in unison with Gu Yanting, “Yes. ”

After the two of them finished speaking, they were taken aback and glanced at each other very unpleasantly, crackling as if sparks were about to fly.

Gu Yanting paused, “Can’t, then.”

“……” Zhou Hao silently turned his head away.

“It depends on my mood.” Gu Yanting tsked, stretched out his hand and poked Weiwei’s dimple, “You have to be obedient, get it?”

Weiwei wiped away tears, immediately stopped crying and nodded heavily.

It was already evening when Gu Yanting drove back home. The traffic jams at the end of the day were so bad that it took them two hours to get home. Gu Yanting didn’t say much on the road. During the three months Weiwei was there, he spent more time with him. At first, the child was still clinging to Tang Yi in everything, but it didn’t take long before he shifted sides. Not to mention anything else, Gu Yanting threw things around many times and half of the blame was voluntarily taken by Weiwei with a straight face, and the remaining half was pushed by Weiwei to the innocent Oreo very ungentlemanly.

Occasionally, Gu Yanting had a tussle with Tang Yi and if one of the two raised his voice slightly or had an anxious attitude, Weiwei would run over and hug the person’s thigh, and then beg, “Don’t be mean to my Uncle Gu (Uncle Tang), okay?”

He didn’t feel it when he was dropping off the child but when he was going back now, and he and Tang Yi were the only two people in the car, Gu Yanting felt more and more sad.

He drove slower and slower, and sighed for a long time when he was stuck in traffic, “Will Zhou Hao treat Weiwei badly?”

Tang Yi turned to look at him, thought for a while and said, “No, Weiwei said that it was just his grandfather and grandmother who had a bad temper.”

“Oh,” Gu Yanting replied, nodded, and said after a while, “Then the child will have to stay at home by himself during the holidays, right? With such a little child, do you think Zhou Hao can take care of him if he is busy?” 

“If he can’t, there will be aunties or housekeepers, and if not, the secretary.”

“Then how can you rest assured? The child is about to have a rebellious period.” Gu Yanting frowned.

“Five years old is not yet in the rebellious period.” Tang Yi smiled helplessly, stretched out his hand and touched Gu Yanting’s neck, “If you’re really uneasy, just turn around and go back.”

His fingers were a little cold and when they traced behind Gu Yanting’s ear, the latter became excited.

Gu Yanting’s attention was diverted quite a bit, and only after the tingling sensation had passed did he cough and ask, “Turn around for what?”

“Go grab the kid.” Tang Yi said with a smile.

“……” Gu Yanting was taken aback, turned his face and smiled, “Fuck!”

Kidnapping the child was out of the question. Gu Yanting was just a little lost for a moment. But this loss was half interrupted by Tang Yi. They hadn’t been together for several days. The moment Tang Yi touched him with a smile just now made him suddenly a little giddy. 

Tang Yi didn’t know what he was thinking but after he got home, he saw that Gu Yanting was tired from driving, so he actively went to the bedroom to change clothes, planning to get two bowls of noodles to cushion their stomachs. When the clothes were halfway changed, Gu Yanting walked in and hugged Tang Yi’s waist from behind.

“Hey, let go.” Half of Tang Yi’s shirt was pressed by him and his arm couldn’t be pulled out. Gu Yanting hugged him too tightly. Tang Yi intuitively felt there was some bad intention and hurriedly said, “You get out of the way first, I’ll get some food to eat.”

“Won’t let go.” Gu Yanting grunted, “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll give you something to eat.” Tang Yi said.

“Oh, okay.” Gu Yanting kissed him on the back from behind, “I’ll give you something to eat too.”

Previous / ToC / Next

When Gu Yanting was about to get off work, he received a call from Mom Gu.

“Yanting, where’s Xiao Yi? I called him and it said his phone was turned off.”

“He is going on a business trip today, he’s probably still on the plane at this moment.” Gu Yanting smiled and raised his wrist to look at the time, “But it’s estimated that it’s almost landing. He’ll be there at six o’clock. Mom, are you looking for him for something?”

“Nothing, what can I look for him for?” Mom Gu said with a smile, “Doesn’t he like to eat acacia flower cakes? Today your dad went fishing and happened to pick a lot of them. I thought Xiao Yi could come home on the weekend. You can also take some back when you are done eating.”

Gu Yanting let out a sigh, and after a while he said, “Why don’t I come and get them? He won’t be back until the day after tomorrow, so he may not have time to come.”

“Oh so,” Mom Gu was a little lost and sighed after a while, “Okay, you come when you can come.”

Tang Yi had gone on an urgent trip this time and would actually be back tomorrow. Gu Yanting subconsciously refused on his behalf. He didn’t mean anything else; it was just that Mom Gu had invited Tang Yi home too often recently. Not to mention the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival, this year, even the Arbour Day and the Qingming Festival were not missed. In addition, picking wild vegetables also resulted in calling Tang Yi, and the seasonal acacia flower cakes was an even more righteous reason.

Gu Yanting was going to worry to death.

In the evening, Tang Yi sent him a message after arriving at the hotel. Gu Yanting simply called back. When he heard the low smiling voice on the other end, he rarely didn’t flirt but sighed for a long time.

“Tang Yi, my mom is calling you home for dinner again.”

Tang Yi smiled and hummed, a little surprised when he heard this, “Didn’t I… just go there last week?”

“Yeah, the old lady said she wanted you to come to eat acacia flowers,” Gu Yanting tsked, rather unpleasantly, “is she my mother or your mother, ah? I said I’d come for you, she was quite reluctant.”

Tang Yi only smiled and didn’t reply. When Gu Yanting sighed enough, Tang Yi said seriously, “This is quite normal, isn’t it always like this?”

“Huh?” Gu Yanting was taken aback for a moment.

“The more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more pleasing he is to the eye.” Tang Yi smiled, “What do you think?”

“……” Gu Yanting paused, but did not refute.

Tang Yi raised his eyebrows, and just when he was about to tease him with a few more words, he heard Gu Yanting say nervously, “Husband.”

“……”

Tang Yi was dumbfounded.

“I think,” Gu Yanting paused, then took a deep breath and said, “My mom… maybe, she already knows about our relationship.”

—

Gu Yanting had always wanted to come out of the closet before, and most of the time he was just silently calculating. His original intention was to give Tang Yi a name and status, so he never said anything to Tang Yi and even thought about sneaking home and confessing the matter when Tang Yi was on a business trip.

But after all, this matter required courage. He hesitated many times, and on several occasions he went home but never said those words and went back to T City.

Until Tang Yi found out and stopped him.

That was a year ago, before Weiwei had been picked up by Zhou Hao. Weiwei had stayed with them for a total of three months. During those three months, the atmosphere at home was happy and harmonious, and the child was exceptionally well-behaved and sensible, naturally likeable.

At the end of the year, Zhou Hao was going abroad and couldn’t come back for the New Year, so Gu Yanting happily took the child and went home for the New Year.

The direct consequence of this incident was that Mom Gu liked the child so much that she lovingly hugged Weiwei and piled up all the delicious food in the house in front of him while, as if she had suddenly woken up, she began to question Gu Yanting about his lifelong commitment.

At that time, Tang Yi was one step behind them. When he pushed the door open, he happened to run into Mom Gu who leaned forward and asked Gu Yanting in a gossipy voice, “Didn’t you say that there was a girl you had a crush on? What? Is she still there?”

Gu Yanting: “!!!”

Tang Yi turned his face slightly when he heard the words, but he still faintly smiled calmly. Gu Yanting’s heart gave a jolt; he hurriedly straightened his body and explained to Mom Gu hastily, “Mom, there’s no such thing as a girl! You remember it wrong!”

“Do I, ah?! The one called Ling? Didn’t you mention her before?” Mom Gu said it with a certain look on her face; but when she saw Weiwei blinking curiously and looking up, her lips twitched and she swallowed the rest of her words.

She rubbed Weiwei’s hair and turned to say, “You are also a big boss, and sooner or later you have to start a family. Your father and I bought this house for you as a wedding house. When you find a wife, the two of us will live over there, not with you.”

Gu Yanting had also thought before about what he would say when he was urged to get married by his parents. He knew that this was a hurdle that could not be overcome, and he would have to face it sooner or later. But when the things really happened, the set of doctrines he had originally prepared couldn’t be used.

On the other hand, Dad Gu had already happily brought out the chessboard and called out to Tang Yi to set it up on the small table. Gu Yanting glanced worriedly at Tang Yi and finally frowned, saying dryly, “Mom, I know what I’m doing. Now I have no plans to get married. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

“Hey, you say that, if I don’t worry about you, who can I worry about? Can I pull someone from the street for me to care about?” Mom Gu glanced at him and sighed, “Your dad and I don’t ask for much. It doesn’t matter whether the girl’s family conditions are good or bad, whether she is ugly or pretty, as long as she’s a decent person and you like her. If you think this house is too dilapidated, you can sell it in two years and go live in the city. Your dad and I both have pensions and we won’t be a burden to you.”

Mom Gu was a loving mother at home, and she rarely forced Gu Yanting to do anything. This time, her words were also very mild, but they made Gu Yanting’s heart torn.

After the New Year’s Eve dinner, it was the Spring Festival Gala as usual. Dad Gu took Tang Yi to play two games of chess and went to sleep. It didn’t take long for Mom Gu to carry Weiwei, who was asleep, into the master bedroom. When Gu Yanting heard the sound of the bedroom door closing, he reached out and grasped Tang Yi’s hand. After turning it over and clasping it, he whispered, “Tang Yi, I want to come out of the closet.”

Gu Yanting had thought about many scenarios of coming out, and had even been thinking about what the worst consequences would be, but there was no definite answer. There were all kinds of people in this world, all of them had different personalities and different opinions, so naturally they reacted differently to the same thing. There were people around Gu Yanting whose families turned against them because of coming out of the closet, and there were also people who happily got along with their parents. There was a guy who even had a relaxed atmosphere at home. His parents were not shocked, didn’t say they were disappointed, nor did they have hysterical quarrels and scolding.

That was the best result Gu Yanting could think of. He hoped so, but he also knew that with Mom Gu and Dad Gu, who had traditional values, there was almost no such possibility.

Tang Yi let Gu Yanting hold his hand and didn’t move, nor did he make a sound. After waiting for a while, he sighed and touched Gu Yanting, “Don’t.”

Gu Yanting grasped his hand tightly.

“I know it’s not easy, but I don’t want to keep sneaking around and I don’t want you to suffer because of this,” Gu Yanting said in a low voice, “If my dad hadn’t asked you to come on for the New Year, would you have planned to come over? We have a long future ahead of us, so we can’t keep hiding like this and always be away from each other during the New Year and the holidays.”

Tang Yi was cautious in his heart, afraid that Dad Gu and Mom Gu would see the clues if he came often. But he was also afraid that Gu Yanting would be in a difficult situation choosing between him and his parents, so he shooed the latter home every holiday and festival. Gu Yanting had always seen it clearly and felt distressed for him, so he could only go home twice as much as possible but reduce the time he stayed each time. The only comfort now was that the house did get a lot livelier with Weiwei and Tang Yi wouldn’t be alone if Gu Yanting wasn’t at home.

“Yes, we will have a long life ahead of us,” Tang Yi smiled, “so be filial to your parents first.” He was silent for a while, and then said softly, “We are under some pressure now, but it’s not that we can’t get through the difficulties. It’s easy to come out of the closet, but if it doesn’t work out, what happens later? We can’t predict how much they will suffer and the consequences.”

Gu Yanting opened his mouth, and finally closed it tightly without speaking.

Tang Yi turned his head and smiled, reached out and patted Gu Yanting’s face lightly, admonishing: “For the New Year and the holidays, you should come to stay with your parents more, and Weiwei will accompany me at home.”

“En,” Gu Yanting said after a while of silence, “I know what you are worried about.”

“Oh?” Tang Yi smiled.

“My parents always thought that I didn’t remember the past at all. Just as I was worried that they would not want me when I was a child, they are also worried now, afraid that one day I will see my biological father or biological mother and have other thoughts.” Gu Yanting exhaled softly, “I have been hesitant to tell them about the Zhou family. In fact, you are afraid that they will be more upset about it and would prefer me to maintain the status quo, right?”

For him to come out of the closet, it was both difficult and easy. The measure was simply how ruthless he could be – ruthless not towards himself, but towards his parents. Whether it was the matter of his birth, or the hidden worries of Gu’s parents, the two elders couldn’t take too strong an attitude or approach towards him.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t upset. They had always regarded Gu Yanting as their own son and did not want to wrong him in the slightest, and had put in no less effort into him than any other parents. However, they were destined to lack the layer of blood ties between them. Other parents and children were connected by flesh and blood, but not them. What they had always been afraid of in their hearts was that if they really quarrelled with their son and he decided to break up with them, it would be over.

Tang Yi didn’t want Gu Yanting to tell Gu’s parents about Zhou Dongchuan exactly for this reason. Even if Gu Yanting could express his attitude with a bellyful of heartfelt words, it was impossible for Gu’s parents not to worry in front of the Zhou family that was so different.

But if Gu Yanting insisted on coming out of the closet and confessing, when he got emotional, it was inevitable that he would come up with the biggest argument against “getting married and having children to carry on the family tradition” – I am not your biological child.

The living room was quiet, and the TV was in the middle of a program switch. The next program was an annual family sketch. The host passionately read homesick letters from frontier soldiers. On the big screen behind the stage, there were videos recorded by the families of several soldiers.

Boiling water, dumplings in the pot, flames burning in the wood stove, wrinkles on the old man’s face and his slightly bent back…

“Let them be well, Yanting.” Tang Yi, who was watching TV, turned his face slightly and said softly, “Actually, I envy you for having such good parents. So I won’t feel wronged.”

Tang Yi said it sincerely and later handled things according to his words all the time. If there was a conflict of interests between his affairs and those of Gu’s parents, he would definitely let Gu Yanting take care of the two elders’ side first.

Gu Yanting was touched and distressed. Once his father was seriously ill; he went home to visit and was always distracted sitting by the bed alone. When Mom Gu handed him the porridge, he held the bowl and didn’t move for a long time. Mom Gu asked him what was wrong. Gu Yanting shook his head, lowered his head and said, “Tang Yi had pneumonia and fever when I left. I don’t know if he has a bowl of porridge to drink at this moment.”

After he finished speaking, he suddenly returned to his senses, looking up with some regret at his mother’s expression. Fortunately, the latter didn’t hear anything wrong, just hesitated and patted him, “Why don’t you go back and have a look?”

Mom Gu was soft-hearted, and when Gu Yanting came home later, she always asked about Tang Yi’s situation. Sometimes she’d ask about work, sometimes she’d ask about his health. When Mom Gu first met Tang Yi, she also liked him very much, but at that time, she mostly got him a copy of what Gu Yanting had and was sympathetic and polite. It wasn’t until last year that she really took the initiative to get to know him.

Gu Yanting was not the same bratty kid fresh out of school and speaking without any restrictions. He and Mom Gu talked in detail about Tang Yi’s past, Tang Yi’s present, and the many trivialities of his and Tang Yi’s lives.

Although he didn’t come out of the closet, he wanted his mom and dad to understand how much Tang Yi meant to him. Whether they understood it as a friendship, a brotherhood, or something else.

—

“Then let’s go this weekend.” After listening to Gu Yanting, Tang Yi was silent for a while before saying, “Let’s be together.”

“Then,” Gu Yanting paused and said, “if the speculation is true, should I come out of the closet? Confess?”

Tang Yi took his mobile phone and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel, looking outside quietly. As soon as Gu Yanting’s words were said, the street lights not far away all lit up with a snap.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter.” Tang Yi looked into the distance, smiled and said, “Many things don’t have to be said clearly, we just understand them all.”

For example, the master bedroom door that was not closed on New Year’s Eve, or the two childhood photos of Gu Yanting that Mom Gu gave him.

Sometimes the difference is just a layer of window paper. If you can find a comfortable and decent distance from each other, there is no difference whether this layer of paper is pierced or not.

Previous / ToC / Next

Tang Yi had imagined many kinds of scenarios when he talked to Gu Yanting about his origin. No matter what, it made him nervous and sad. He couldn’t predict Gu Yanting’s reaction, let alone the impact and shock the latter would feel. As a result, he was dragging this matter, but he didn’t want Gu Yanting to be kept in the dark or to be told and used by people with ulterior motives.

He hesitated for a long time, and finally after Christmas, he revealed everything he knew.

The cause was Gu Yanting’s conversation he overheard when he passed by Weiwei’s door that night. Gu Yanting became interested in the fish tank in Zhou’s house at that time. Tang Yi smiled and shook his head after hearing a sentence. As soon as he was about to walk away, Gu Yanting asked Weiwei in a low voice, “Weiwei, is that right?”

His voice trembled a little but was still clear, “Are there two peach blossoms on the base of that fish tank?”

“There seems to be…” Weiwei said, “The flowers are this big.”

“Yes, they are blooming like that, right?” Gu Yanting’s voice rose a bit, then dropped again, “No, like this, folded…”

Weiwei’s vocabulary was not big, and many times he could only understand something vaguely. Gu Yanting then repeatedly changed various statements so that the child could understand and compare.

The texture of the fish tank, the size, the colour of the base, the carved pattern, the position of the notched corner, and… the simple lines drawn on it of the small fish and the little sun.

He talked more and more slowly, until no detail was left out.

By the end of it Weiwei had forgotten what he was crying about; he blinked and tilted his face in amazement and asked Gu Yanting, “Uncle, what you said is exactly the same. Hey, did you have one too?”

Gu Yanting didn’t say anything.

After a long time, Tang Yi heard him sigh softly and answer in a low voice, “En.”

—

Tang Yi couldn’t tell if it was because of the faintly discernible choking in the low-pitched response, or if the pressure from the secret had become too much for him to bear, and he hadn’t even had time to prepare himself and make a rough draft before Gu Yanting came out of the second bedroom. He just abruptly pulled him and said, “Let’s talk.”

They had a good talk.

Gu Yanting was silent the whole time. Tang Yi couldn’t bear staring at his expression as he spoke, so he watched his Adam’s apple rolling up and down and his right hand trembling until he could hardly hold the cup.

When Tang Yi finally finished speaking, Gu Yanting suddenly smiled.

He said, “Hey, I’m fine.”

Tang Yi couldn’t help being a little surprised, and heard him say again, “It’s almost New Year’s Day, will you come home with me, okay?”

Okay? Naturally it was okay.

Gu Yanting had been away for two years and had only called home on New Year’s Day during this time. When he returned from his business trip this time, he had gone home for half an afternoon to see Mom and Dad Gu, and then hurried back to the city in the evening.

At that time, Tang Yi had a sense of guilt that Gu Yanting “married his wife and forgot his mother”. At this point it made sense to go back home together.

So he quickly bought a massage seat and a foot bath and had them delivered by the manufacturer. Then he called Secretary Zhao to come and pick up Weiwei. When everything was packed and loaded into the car, Tang Yi suddenly hesitated.

He slowly selected clothes one by one, and then pulled Gu Yanting for advice, and finally it took him half an hour to choose the clothes. Gu Yanting was immersed in the joy of going home, and seeing that Tang Yi was dressed, he went downstairs first on his own. Who knew that as soon as he went downstairs and touched the car door, Tang Yi leaned out from the balcony and called to him, “Come up here again.”

Gu Yanting could only lock the car and go upstairs again. Tang Yi was frowning when he opened the door, saying, “Is it okay for me to wear this?”

“……” Gu Yanting didn’t dare to be impatient and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, “Okay!”

“Is it too formal? In a suit and tie, it’s like going to negotiations.“ Tang Yi stood in front of the mirror again, and finally said decisively in front of Gu Yanting’s stunned eyes, “You wait a while, I’ll change again.”

……

Tang Yi was very nervous. In the past two years, he had actually sent a lot of things to Gu’s family, but most of them were through the hands of others. On a formal level, the last time he and the two elders of the Gu family met was the time he broke up with Gu Yanting. 

Fortunately, this tension didn’t last long. When Gu Yanting drove him back, he introduced the scenery on both sides of the road along the way, counting the increasingly scarce street lights and trees, and then stopped in front of a staff dormitory in the tube-shaped building.

Few people lived in this area anymore, and only a few families were drying towels or clothes on the balconies with peeling walls.

Tang Yi was taken aback for a moment, and then saw Gu Yanting point, prompting him: “Look, that’s my home.”

Tang Yi turned his head sideways and finally under Gu Yanting’s guidance found a dark balcony. Gu Yanting smiled and said after a while, “When I was sent here, my first reaction was that it was a really old place.”

“At that time, I was still a little bastard, and I don’t know if I said anything unpleasant or did anything assholish. But I’m afraid it was not much better.” Gu Yanting propped his arm against the window of the car, squinted his eyes and smiled, “My parents were really kind not to throw me out, too.”

Tang Yi didn’t expect him to take the initiative to mention these things, and he was stunned for a while and didn’t know what to say.

Gu Yanting didn’t pause for too long. He glanced outside and said, “He has a wide network of people and a lot of money. If he really wanted to find a lost mother and son, he wouldn’t have no news for so many years. It’s not like it’s difficult. So most likely he didn’t want to find. Back then, my mother should have been the mistress he raised in the south. Regardless of whether she knew it or not, this relationship was ultimately wrong.”

“When I was in middle school, I was sensitive and had low self-esteem, which gradually developed into autism. Mostly it had to do with that. I was five or six years old when I was put up for adoption, the age of full understanding. My own biological father and mother disappeared one after the other, leaving me alone to be tossed around and finally enter a family that was completely unfamiliar. That kind of feeling, I’m sure, must have been very uncomfortable.”

Tang Yi didn’t speak, reached out and grabbed Gu Yanting’s hand, giving it two firm shakes. He remembered the time when Gu Yanting had sent pathetic text messages when he was on a business trip.

“I just want you to know my past,” Gu Yanting also grabbed Tang Yi’s hand with a reverse grip and finally interlocked their fingers, “to know what I think.”

“I know.” Tang Yi smiled.

Gu Yanting also smiled, and looked outside with him for a while. When it was almost dark, snowflakes suddenly floated in the sky and fell quietly in large swathes. Gu Yanting rubbed his hands, restarted the car and drove away.

When the two of them arrived at Gu’s house over the potholed road, it was completely dark. Mom Gu cooked a table of dishes and waited at home with Dad Gu. When Gu Yanting and Tang Yi knocked on the door, they saw the two elders wearing brand new clothes as if it was the Spring Festival, coming to greet them.

The massage chair manufacturer had already delivered it in advance, and it was placed in the most conspicuous place in the living room. While Mom Gu blamed Tang Yi for spending money indiscriminately, she happily pushed Dad Gu to demonstrate it to Tang Yi.

The meal with jokes and chatting was eaten until nearly ten o’clock. Gu Yanting rushed to wash all the dishes and chopsticks, and then pushed Mom and Dad Gu to the bedroom to let them sleep first, before carefully going to the second bedroom.

Tang Yi was sitting at the small desk reading a book, and when he looked up, he smiled slightly.

Gu Yanting also smiled at Tang Yi. He didn’t rush forward but stood still, looking at Tang Yi’s profile carefully in the light of the table lamp.

The corners of Tang Yi’s mouth curled slightly; when he was in a good mood, his lips would make a very beautiful arc. In Gu Yanting’s heart, it was a perfect lip shape; even with the quiet, serene expression at this moment, he would feel his heart soften as he looked from a distance.

He remembered what Tang Yi looked like when he asked him with a smile, “Let’s give it a try?”

It was an autumn afternoon. Tang Yi was walking solemnly along the ginkgo road of the university. The golden leaves fell to the ground. There were many students taking pictures on the road. Gu Yanting followed Tang Yi and looked at him secretly. Who knew that Tang Yi would suddenly stop when he reached the corner. Gu Yanting followed closely and almost bumped into him.

Tang Yi curled his eyes in a smile at that time. Gu Yanting blushed unconsciously and took a step back, but Tang Yi caught him.

“Gu Yanting, will you give it a try with me? If it doesn’t work, we’ll part again.”

“Okay.”

They had both been through trials and tribulations and had missed each other, and now there were still all sorts of present or impending unpleasant things waiting for them. But that didn’t stop them from finally coming together again and nestling cosily in this little room.

It was snowing heavily outside, and a layer of water vapour quickly condensed on the bedroom window.

Gu Yanting leaned over with a smile and kissed Tang Yi lightly at the corner of his mouth, “What are you doing?”

“Reading,” Tang Yi smiled and pinched his face, and turned to the last page to show him: ”Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.”⁽¹⁾

1. Henry David Thoreau, ‘Walden’

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Tang Yi,

By the time you read this letter, with 80% probability I will no longer be here. Probably gone to the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, or met the Queen Mother of the West to eat a peach⁽¹⁾, or maybe slapped into hell, rolling in a frying pan and wading through a sea of fire, just so I wouldn’t have to drink that bowl of Meng Po Soup⁽²⁾.

Of course, the most likely scenario is to be put in a small, square box, a big man of 1.85m (might shrink a bit in the old age) leaving no more ashes than a log would. Gee, it makes my teeth ache to write this, and suddenly I don’t want to die.

I forgot to introduce myself; I am twenty-eight years old at the time of writing. Today you told me about my origin and you spoke very slowly and clearly about Shen Fan and every bit of information you found. I don’t know what my performance was like today, I suppose I should’ve been very calm. Because I guessed it a long time ago. 

It’s just still sad.

I don’t remember most of the things from when I was a kid. I was not badly injured in the car accident, but my brain must have been knocked out. I can’t remember many things, but there are some intermittent bits and pieces. For example, I remember very clearly when a kid scolded me, calling me a bastard. I also remember the expressions of my parents when I first got home.

I vaguely knew that I was adopted by my parents, but they were really good to me, and were good enough to fix all my shortcomings. When I was a kid, I was always given first dibs on the rib stew, and when I didn’t have enough points to go to high school, my dad borrowed from all over the world to buy me a place. It’s not that I didn’t think about my biological parents, it’s just that when I thought about them at the time, I was hoping that I would earn money in the future to give my parents a good life, and then when those two came over to claim me, I would throw the money in their faces and tell them to get lost.

But I got to know it today and found that I didn’t know how many times I had rehearsed the scenario in my head and couldn’t do anything about it.

I have an impression of the fish tank that Weiwei described today.

The same fish tank that appeared in my dreams countless times was an absurd story. There was a middle-aged man with a gentle face, whom I called Dad, who would cook for me, who would teach me to read and write, and who used to trot over to lift me up, spin me twice high and then, as if coaxing a little girl, pull a big white rabbit milk candy out of his suit pocket and give it to me.

I can’t be sure if he was who you said he was, and no matter whether he was or not, it feels ironic.

I knew what you were going to say when you said the first sentence, but when you said the words  ‘Zhou Dongchuan’, I still couldn’t help but get chills on my body. At that time, I opened my mouth and asked you for a cup of water to drink. You were stunned for a while, and then I realised that the cup was in my hand and there was only half a cup of water left as the cup trembled, tilted to the point of overturning.

At that moment, the words ‘biological father’ became more vivid and real than ever before, and were also more repulsive than ever before.

I don’t want to acknowledge him, nor do I want to hate him. But my heart is still blocked and sad.

However, after I calmed down, those strong emotions slowly dissipated, and I began to rejoice again. I am glad to have met my current parents, and I am also glad to have met you.

This is also the reason why I am writing this letter to you.

Because you were carefully observing my expression tonight, but you didn’t know how painful your own expression was.

You were taking care of my emotions, and you even considered what if I didn’t want to recognise the other party and the other party forced me; or what if I wanted to recognise him and someone obstructed it. You said that you already had your own independent small company, and you were not afraid of anyone’s blackmail. As long as I am happy, you will take the entire company and go with me, carrying the sword if I want to attack and guarding my back if I want to retreat.

Only then did I understand why you suddenly wanted to acquire this subsidiary. When you said this, your expression was indifferent, but I laughed sadly.

You asked me what’s wrong.

I said that you are like a domineering male lion at this moment. In order to protect me, you have carried all your belongings with you as if you were going to die, ready to get killed with the enemy at any time to protect me.

You laughed, dumbfounded, but my eyes were wet when I lowered my head.

At that time, I thought that the only regret in my life was that I couldn’t write the words ‘Tang Yi’ into the spouse column on my household registration.

The matter of my biological father had long since been put behind me, and all the emotions of frustration and helplessness were replaced by an even greater sense of trepidation. I was more afraid of losing you than ever before, and more afraid that you would be wronged.

So I am writing this letter while you are asleep.

As long as I am here, I will do my utmost not to let you suffer in any way. If, one day, I were to leave first, Tang Yi, the following things are all I have. This may be the last thing I do for you, but don’t feel bad, I love you no matter where I am.

[My surname is Gu, my first name is Yanting, I am 28 years old, my place of origin: T Province. There is only one lover in my life, whose surname is Tang and his name is Yi.

I have the following properties under my name: bank fixed deposit 3,200,000; stock account balance 850,000; one real estate: Apartment 6#402, Green Garden Community, No. 28 Jianghuai Road, T City Centre, with an area of 88 square metres. One motor vehicle, Volvo S60.

If I unfortunately die due to illness or accident, all my property will be given to my lover Tang Yi unconditionally.] 

I only wish you a smooth and safe life.

Gu Yanting

December 26, 200X

1. A Taoist goddess, peaches of immortality grow in her garden
2. ‘Old Lady Meng’, the goddess of forgetfulness in Chinese mythology who serves Meng Po Soup on the Bridge of Forgetfulness or Naihe Bridge. This soup wipes the memory of the person so they can reincarnate into the next life without the burdens of the previous life.

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Weiwei used to stay out for half a day when he was taken away. If he left in the morning, he would be sent back by Secretary Zhao at noon. If he went out at noon, he would be back before dinner. At first, he was a little restrained and every time he went back, he would carefully observe the faces of Tang Yi and Gu Yanting. Tang Yi knew it was his inner sensitivity. When Zhou Hao had come to pick him up, Weiwei understood that he was superfluous to his mother, and probably to his father as well. Therefore, Tang Yi did not dare to ask him the real reason for running away from home.

This Christmas was a rare occasion when Weiwei spent two days with Zhou Hao and came back dressed in a Santa Claus outfit, carrying an oversized sack, eager to hand over presents to Tang Yi and Gu Yanting, proudly saying that they were from his dad.

Tang Yi was not there. What they had done in the past two days was a bit crazy, and they didn’t even spare the kitchen and the balcony. Gu Yanting got to know the taste and could be in estrus at any time, like a moving jar of aphrodisiac. Yesterday, he just pulled Tang Yi to the outskirts of the city and made the car shake. Tang Yi had a sore waist when he got up in the morning and finally slipped to the company while talking about Weiwei coming back soon.

Weiwei’s bag was filled with remote control toys for children, which he obviously liked. Gu Yanting came up to him in a very dignified manner and took an exaggerated look into the bag, “Yow, so many goodies!”

His voice was loud and his expression was exaggerated enough. Weiwei giggled happily. Then he took Gu Yanting’s hand like a treasure and whispered, “Uncle Gu, choose one, choose the one you like best!” 

Gu Yanting raised his eyebrows and glanced at him, pretending to be in difficulty and scratched his hair, “Can it be only one?” He reached out for a model aeroplane and touched a remote-controlled car, “They both are good.”

“Then, why don’t you choose two?” Weiwei was obviously very reluctant, but he still put up two fingers and carefully looked at Gu Yanting’s face.

Gu Yanting looked at it again, and then heard Weiwei say, “Three are fine…”

There were only four toys in total and Weiwei had three bigger ones taken away by Gu Yanting, in the end leaving only one and the smallest one. He was very reluctant, but he didn’t want to favour one man over the other and leave Tang Yi without a present, so he gritted his teeth and decided to leave the last one to Uncle Tang. Fortunately, Gu Yanting was generous this time, stopped him and said, “Don’t give it to your Uncle Tang, I’ll share one with him later.”

Weiwei was entangled in his heart for a long time, still a little worried, “Then what will you give to Uncle Tang?”

Gu Yanting was taken aback for a moment and replied without changing his face: “The big aeroplane.”⁽¹⁾

Weiwei nodded, moved, naturally not knowing that Gu Yanting was never planning to let Tang Yi touch Zhou Hao’s things. Gu Yanting had not been broad-minded earlier but completely lacked the courage to ask about Shen Fan and Zhou Hao’s affairs. Tang Yi’s character was irritable when he was messed with, and Gu Yanting was afraid of being thrown out again in case he poked Tang Yi’s sore spot.

In the past two days, the lives of the two of them had been harmonious and sweet, and Gu Yanting naturally began to secretly become jealous again, making Zhou Hao, who had almost achieved his goal, the number one enemy; the state of alert was also raised to the highest level.

It was just that Tang Yi usually never mentioned Zhou Hao, and there were very few reports and interviews about Zhou Hao in magazines and newspapers. Gu Yanting took advantage of Tang Yi being at work and searched for a long time before he found a photo of Zhou Hao attending a charity party on the Internet. The photo was not very clear, obviously taken secretly, and the light was dim, so Gu Yanting could only see the man’s chin, hard but perfectly shaped.

Gu Yanting squinted hard at the blurred photo for a long time and couldn’t make out anything, so he could only talk to Weiwei before Tang Yi came back.

Weiwei had a very close relationship with him these days, and almost all his questions were answered. Even so, Gu Yanting was talking nonsense for a long time before he got back on track. While looking at Weiwei’s remote control car, he pretended to ask inadvertently, “You’ve been with your father for the past two days?”

Weiwei’s attention was almost entirely on the little silver-grey car in front of him, and he nodded without thinking.

“Oh, so where have you been playing?” Gu Yanting leaned forward and directed, “Right turn, right turn, coffee table leg!”

The little car avoided the coffee table leg without a hitch and spun around to run back. Weiwei slowly sighed in relief and thought for a moment before saying, “In the hotel, swimming during the day and sleeping at night.”

Previously, Tang Yi deliberately avoided questions about Zhou Hao, and Gu Yanting never thought of asking Weiwei what he would do when he saw his father. At this moment, Weiwei mentioned the hotel, and Gu Yanting’s eyes flashed suddenly as he remembered that many people went out to meet their little lovers under the pretext of watching children. He straightened his back hurriedly and leaned forward even more, “Then what? ”

“What?” Weiwei turned his face to take a look at him, and when the car ran to his feet and stopped, he blinked blankly, “What then?”

“Then, were there any beautiful big sisters, ah, or big brothers, ah?” Gu Yanting looked at him, “Your father’s friend or something, did you go together?” 

“No.” Weiwei’s mouth flattened and he shook his head firmly, “No one but Uncle Zhao was there.”

“……” Gu Yanting was taken aback, “Then why did you go to the hotel to stay?”

Zhou Hao had a house in T City and a family home in C City. Going to a hotel was purely superfluous. Gu Yanting didn’t know much about Zhou Hao, so he thought he took the opportunity to have a romantic relationship, but who knew it wasn’t so.

Weiwei lowered his eyes when he heard this, and it took a while before he said, “I don’t know.”

—

Until Tang Yi came back in the evening, Weiwei’s mood didn’t improve again. Gu Yanting had a hunch that it had something to do with the child’s troubles, but he didn’t know how to comfort him. Tang Yi also sensed that something was wrong, yet Weiwei was so obedient that he would just blink and listen carefully to everything he said to him.

In fact, after spending these days together, Weiwei’s fondness and dependence on Gu Yanting became even greater. Who knows if it was because of his blood ties or because Gu Yanting drove him to and from school every day and had fun with him like a big child, but after Tang Yi had coaxed him to talk for a while and Weiwei still didn’t look in high spirits, Tang Yi had to let Gu Yanting try again.

Finally, at bedtime, Weiwei opened his mouth, somewhat confused.

By then Gu Yanting had already dismissed the idea of asking about the topic of Zhou Hao and was vaguely regretting his actions during the day. Since Zhou Hao could agree to the child living with him and Tang Yi, he probably didn’t have deep feelings for Weiwei. The child was sensitive, and Gu Yanting had grown up carefree, with a loving father and loving mother, so naturally it was difficult for him to understand the feeling of being thrown around by his parents like Weiwei. But he knew very well that when he was five years old, he was still pissing on the mud⁽²⁾ and in any case, he had never been so sensible as Weiwei.

He saw Weiwei climb onto the bed using a small stool and obediently get into the quilt, so he turned off the light and tucked the quilt for him, ready to walk away.

Weiwei grabbed his hand at the last second. Gu Yanting looked back at him in surprise and saw tears in the child’s eyes. Weiwei asked him in a low voice, “Uncle Gu, have I not been good today?”

The light from the living room leaked in obliquely from the doorway, illuminating Weiwei’s expression. Gu Yanting’s heart softened; he turned and squatted down, looked at Weiwei solemnly and said, “No, Weiwei is very good.”

Weiwei bit his lip.

Gu Yanting grabbed his little hand and squeezed it, smiling, “Weiwei is the best behaved. It’s Uncle’s fault today, from now on Uncle won’t ask random questions, okay?”

Weiwei didn’t say yes or no, he just clenched Gu Yanting’s hand, releasing it for a moment and then squeezing it tighter, as if he was hesitating about something. Gu Yanting stretched out his other hand to stroke his head, and was just about to coax him to sleep when he heard Weiwei suddenly say, “It’s not Dad.”

“En?” Gu Yanting was taken aback for a moment.

“It’s not Dad who doesn’t want me. It’s Grandpa and Grandma.” The child bit his lip hard, and after saying this, he suddenly blinked his eyes, then quickly wiped them with the back of his hand, and said in an aggrieved nasal voice, “Grandpa and Grandma don’t like me. I don’t want to live with them. Grandma often… scolds my mom and Grandpa hits her… and he hit me.”

He could barely suppress his sobbing when he said the second half of the sentence, sniffling and twitching. Gu Yanting’s heart ached and he was afraid that Weiwei would choke while lying down, so he hastily sat down on the edge of the bed to pick him up, gently patting his back and coaxing him for a while.

Weiwei rarely cried, and Tang Yi had only seen him crying two or three times. When his mother lost him, he would wait quietly in place, or nervously go to the service desk by himself. The first time he cried was when Zhou Hao came to pick him up, when he felt that his mother didn’t want him.

This time he sobbed very quietly but cried intermittently for a long time, as if he had been depressed for a long time. His little face was buried in Gu Yanting’s chest and his posture was much more intimate than when he was with Tang Yi. During this time, Tang Yi quietly brought in a cup of warm water and put it on the bedside table. Seeing this scene, he felt quite uncomfortable.

For a while, he felt that the little cutie he brought home defected too quickly; and for a while he wondered when he would be able to tell Gu Yanting about his dog blood origin; after all, Weiwei might be his nephew.

The two people in the room didn’t know this. After Weiwei sobbed and cried, he wiped his nose somewhat embarrassedly before telling Gu Yanting the whole story.

The Zhou family’s grandparents didn’t like him. When Weiwei was first brought back, the two old people were gentle for a while, but who knows why they gradually became impatient. The relationship between his grandfather and his grandmother was not good, so the atmosphere in the family was often tense, there were often fierce fights with chicken flying and dogs jumping. Zhou Hao’s attitude towards Weiwei had always been very stable, but he was someone who wasn’t home five days a week. The child was nervous and scared, staying there all the time.

This situation lasted for two years, until a while ago something happened to the fish tank at home, and all the goldfish inside went belly-up. All the blame was put on Weiwei.

There were no pets in Zhou’s house. Those goldfish were the only living things except for a few people. Weiwei liked to lie quietly next to the fish tank and watch them, until one day he found that the goldfish inside were all dead and nervously called the housekeeper.

The housekeeper’s face turned pale at the time, and he asked Weiwei directly if he killed them. The housekeeper’s voice was a bit loud, and Weiwei was scared stiff.

He later denied it, but he didn’t know why Grandma finally decided that he did it. Grandpa was furious over the goldfish, and beat and scolded Grandma, while Grandma picked up something and beat Weiwei, scolding him and calling him a bastard kid.

This kind of thing had happened several times before, and Weiwei, who was frightened by being beaten at first, later switched to being able to escape and avoid it. The only thing he was fortunate about was that when Grandma started, Grandpa would relent, and he didn’t suffer too much injury.

Until that last time when the one who beat him was his grandfather.

At that time, Weiwei watched his grandfather get furious; his bloodshot eyes seemed to be filled with the intention to kill. Weiwei ran away in fright and as he escaped from Zhou’s house, he heard his grandmother sneering, still mocking his mother.

Later, he climbed into a bus while people were not paying attention, and thanks to his good luck, this bus arrived at T City he was familiar with.

When Gu Yanting listened to Weiwei’s somewhat chaotic words and slowly summed up the general idea, the shock in his heart far exceeded his anger.

He never thought that there would be such a perverted old couple!

He comforted Weiwei quickly, and at the end he said: maybe your grandfather’s fish tank was too expensive. This old man was stingy and so distressed that he went crazy.

Weiwei had slowly calmed down, shook his head after hearing that and said, “It’s not expensive, that fish tank is not good.”

Gu Yanting was taken aback when he heard Weiwei say, “That fish tank is also quite small, but there is a beautiful stone seat with small fish and little sun painted on it.”

Gu Yanting smiled, “Little fish and little sun, what are they doing?”

“It’s just the little fish and the little sun. There are several little fish next to the sun, and they are all spitting bubbles.”

A very faint sense of familiarity put Gu Yanting into a daze, and a thought flashed through his mind quickly. He didn’t even have time to think about it and suddenly asked, “The little red fish… and the green sun?”

He paused and murmured, “Does the little fish all have three eyes?”

1. Well, as everyone who read The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System knows, the aeroplane is a euphemism for… 🙂
2. Seems to be pissing on the mud to get it wet to play with when there’s no water around. Yuck 🙂 

Previous / ToC / Next

There were a lot of people coming and going on the street. Lin Rui didn’t expect that after he took the initiative to come to Gu Yanting against the cold wind, the treatment he received would be discussing cotton pants with him! For a while, he didn’t even know whether he should complain about who was still wearing cotton trousers these days or condemn Gu Yanting for using cotton trousers to get rid of him. These two things were equally incredible, and it was extraordinarily hard to accept when they came from Gu Yanting.

He took a deep breath, his shock far surpassing embarrassment. The bag in his hand was thrown back at Gu Yanting violently. It took Lin Rui a long time to ask in disbelief, “What did you just say?”

Gu Yanting let out an “ah?” of incomprehension, not speaking again.

“Don’t you know whether my leg hurts from the cold?” Lin Rui asked in a sharp voice, watching Gu Yanting turn his head, staring around. Gu Yanting glanced at him as if he wanted to say something; then he saw that Lin Rui’s face was pale and swallowed the words.

This was not the result Lin Rui wanted and to talk to Gu Yanting harshly was against his original intention. So he took a few deep breaths and waited until the cold air pierced his airways to the point of hurting. Finally he suppressed the distant anger and murmured, “Gu Yanting, are you avoiding me? You, are you annoyed with me?”

“No…” Gu Yanting frowned and said, “Don’t think too much, I’m not annoyed with you, I just…”

Lin Rui looked at him with a pale face.

Gu Yanting opened his mouth, and after a few seconds, he coughed lightly and told the truth, “…a little bit.”

When Gu Yanting said “a little bit”, he really only meant a little bit. He was not good at concealing things, or rather didn’t want to conceal. However, for Lin Rui, this “a little bit” was also a difficult thing to accept. He could even convince himself that Gu Yanting was frightened by him in the coffee shop last time, that was why he didn’t react to his gesture of affection. Even though Gu Yanting said that he was afraid of AIDS, Lin Rui could interpret it as Gu Yanting being inexperienced and being secretly scared.

However, no matter what, there should still be a place for him in Gu Yanting’s heart. It was Gu Yanting who said he liked him. It was Gu Yanting who said he would wait for him to return to China. It was Gu Yanting who didn’t hesitate to break up with Tang Yi two years ago. Wasn’t it also for his sake?

Lin Rui stood still, his lips moving as if it had taken him a long time to digest Gu Yanting’s meaning. He couldn’t accept Gu Yanting being annoyed with him at all, even a little bit! Lin Rui’s face changed uncertainly and after a while he asked confidently, “You don’t mean that, do you?”

Gu Yanting was startled, not understanding what he was talking about.

Lin Rui looked at his expression and sneered in his heart. He roughly came to the conclusion that Gu Yanting had changed so much because all this was forced by Tang Yi. It must be Tang Yi who made Gu Yanting to do this. Gu Yanting himself would not say such a thing; what kind of outsider, he had never said that before!

This thought made Lin Rui more and more angry, and he even looked at Gu Yanting with some resentment and sympathy in his eyes. Gu Yanting felt that something was wrong and hesitantly called out to Lin Rui, eager to go. Who knew Lin Rui would be the first to say, “Can we talk?”

After saying that, he didn’t wait for Gu Yanting to agree and quickly walked to a dessert shop on the corner, “Just a few minutes, I have something to tell you.”

When Gu Yanting went out, he told Tang Yi that it would take no more than ten minutes to deliver the bag. Tang Yi glanced at him with a smile, shook his head and said that it might not be possible.

Now it seemed that it was really impossible.

Lin Rui was crying in front of him with pearl-like tears.

He lowered his head slightly, and strings of tears fell on the table with a patter. He didn’t make a sound, just quietly looked down and bit his lower lip, staring at the table. Lin Rui’s eyelashes were very long and the way they gently covered the charming peach blossom eyes was very appealing.

It was a pity that Gu Yanting was not in the mood to appreciate it at all. He saw the girl in the dessert shop have a tangled expression, as if she was afraid that they would affect the business, so he hurriedly bought some bread to take with him and packed it with embarrassment.

He was not good at comforting people. He didn’t have a mobile phone with him at this moment. He could only vaguely remind Lin Rui to say something quickly, “Lin Rui, don’t you want to talk? What do you want to talk about?”

“It’s nothing,” Lin Rui stopped his tears when Gu Yanting went to buy the bread. After slowly calming down his emotions, he suddenly asked, “Yanting, don’t think about anything else now, don’t think about Tang Yi. I’ll tell you that I’m in good health and I’m single now. Would you like to be my boyfriend?”

He stretched out his hand and grasped Gu Yanting’s hand on the table, paused, his cheeks flushed as he gritted his teeth and asked, “Or my husband?” The last slightly ambiguous term made Gu Yanting give him a sharp look. After his eyes were fixed on Lin Rui’s face in a daze for a few seconds, he hurriedly tried to pull his hand back.

Lin Rui held it tightly.

Today was the second time he had expressed his thoughts and attitude so directly. Neither his self-esteem nor his long-standing confidence in Gu Yanting allowed him to lose this time and let Gu Yanting go.

Gu Yanting didn’t pull away again, afraid that the movement would be too loud to alarm the shop assistant, so he blushed and whispered, “Lin Rui, you are crazy! Let me go!”

Lin Rui bit his lip, shook his head slowly and asked relentlessly, “I’m telling you now to be my boyfriend and not consider Tang Yi, do you agree?”

“Why not consider Tang Yi?” Gu Yanting only felt incredulous.

“He has only known you for a few years, and I have known you for longer!” Lin Rui’s voice was a little anxious; he paused and sneered, “You and I have known each other since our first year of high school. Leaving aside the three years we haven’t seen each other in high school, that’s four years earlier than Tang Yi! You liked me first! He was the one who came later!”

Gu Yanting was confused for a while, “What do you mean?” He opened his mouth and said after a while, “But you didn’t like me either?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like you!” Lin Rui grabbed his hand and clenched it tightly, leaning closer to say, “Let’s not talk about the past, Yanting, I don’t believe you don’t have feelings for me. When you sent me abroad, you said you would wait for me. Now I’m back, and then what? You were able to rush from Hangzhou to Sanya for me two years ago. You obviously care about me!”

“……” Gu Yanting was silent.

“You also said that you would always take care of me and protect me all the time,” Lin Rui said slowly. “You were doing morning exercises for me for three years. You were nervous as soon as I got injured. You would carry me back to the dormitory when I went for a physical examination and got dizzy. As long as I called you, no matter which bar or KTV I was in, you would come. Have you forgotten all this?”

He spoke very slowly, and Gu Yanting’s hand that he grasped no longer struggled. After a while, he heard Gu Yanting sigh softly.

“I haven’t forgotten. ”

“……”

“But I’m not a fool.” Gu Yanting closed his lips tightly; his jaws slowly clenched and then slowly loosened after a while. He wiped his face with his free hand, and when he looked at Lin Rui again, his eyes softened a little, somewhat apologetic, “I didn’t want Tang Yi to know about these words. So, I didn’t intend to say them either. But since you had to ask me once and twice, there is no way I can hide it.”

Lin Rui’s eyes suddenly lit up, his lips opened slightly as he looked over with some hope.

“Lin Rui, actually I… I don’t like you that much.”

“…what do you mean?”

“I admit, I liked you at first. You are beautiful and excellent in every way. It’s hard for you not to arouse the interest of others. I was attracted to you at first glance, and then because of your presence, I slowly stopped being autistic, so I am very grateful. Later, when I met you at the university, I didn’t look at anyone else anymore. At the beginning, I did like you, in a holy kind of way.”

Lin Rui’s voice trembled but he still couldn’t help asking, “Then what?”

“Then, you started to socialise with a lot of people. Or rather you have always been like this, I just found out then.” Gu Yanting raised his eyes and looked at Lin Rui, and then quietly cast his gaze elsewhere, “I didn’t like you enough to have an exclusive interest in you, I was just a little envious of them in my heart. But…

“But then you repeatedly compared me to them. It was not even a real comparison, just for fun. When you had a luxury car to pick you up, you would go out by yourself. If you didn’t have a luxury car, you would just say you were worried about safety and let me accompany you. But when I went, your friends would be picking on my clothes, shoes, hairstyle… I’m a poor guy, I have no taste and I’m worthless. At that time, heh, it was pretty hard anyway.”

Lin Rui was startled suddenly, a little flustered in his heart. Some of these things he remembered, some he couldn’t remember. To him, Gu Yanting seemed to be standard like a textbook when he was at the university, so he took it for granted that he enjoyed Gu Yanting’s affection and didn’t have to take into account Gu Yanting’s feelings.

Gu Yanting noticed his expression, was silent for a while and said, “So, since then, I have hated you a little bit and been a little resentful.”

When Lin Rui asked him in the coffee shop two days ago if what he said counted, Gu Yanting went to review and analyse his emotions for the first time.

The results weren’t very rosy.

He knew that everyone thought he liked Lin Rui and wanted to repay his kindness eagerly, so he would say when Lin Rui was leaving that he would wait for him to come back. And he would also show more enthusiasm than a normal classmate should when Lin Rui returned to China.

These were the triggers for his break-up with Tang Yi. Tang Yi thought that he had his old feelings for Lin Rui, and so did Fat Sod and Skinny Monkey, and even Lin Rui was confused by such pretence. But Gu Yanting alone understood from the bottom of his heart that this was far from the case.

He had liked Lin Rui, the holy kind of liking towards a god or a goddess.

He also thought about deepening his liking further, so he would go to great lengths to run errands at the university. He brought hot water, bought food and guarded a seat, and even lent Lin Rui various assignments and accompanied him to buy clothes.

However, no one’s feelings can be pure all the way to the end. When long-term dedication was not rewarded, Gu Yanting’s liking faded, replaced by a deeper resentment.

People turn a blind eye to what they have in hand, and they are brooding about what they can’t ask for. After all, this is a kind of an inferior human nature, and Gu Yanting was not immune to it in the end.

The change in his feelings was not without warning. He had fallen for Lin Rui at the beginning because when he was rejected and ridiculed by many boys with superior conditions in high school, the equally excellent Lin Rui showed him a smiling face. Gu Yanting was grateful and liked Lin Rui for this. However, when three years later he was put into the same situation because of Lin Rui, that vague incomprehension and resentment became even stronger.

The liking had not completely faded, and the gratitude for kindness would not stop abruptly. In the process of getting along with Lin Rui after that Gu Yanting’s mood was entangled, but he could no longer be pure.

He never thought about living with Lin Rui, so he didn’t mind the latter’s private life. But resentment and humiliation tormented him again, an unfinished conquest, an expectation of a word of admiration and approval from Lin Rui’s mouth, and even the latter’s worship and begging.

In his daydreams for the past three years, whether it was Gu Yanting transformed into a rich and handsome man and Lin Rui crying and begging him to be together, or whether it was Lin Rui bullied by his old man and Gu Yanting falling from the sky at a critical moment, the hero saving the beauty, the foundation he built had never been for Lin Rui’s sake, but only for his own selfish desires.

This was really an obsession.

Gu Yanting said before that they would be together when Lin Rui came back. In fact, if Gu Yanting hadn’t met Tang Yi and really waited until Lin Rui returned from Australia to be with him, the final ending would hardly be wonderful.

There are many phenomena similar to this. There are many men who have waited for many years to finally get their goddess, only to end up in divorce full of anger and resentment.

Gu Yanting happened to encounter such things when he was working. When he helped the personnel assistant recruit people at his first job, the company was very small, and when he called back applicants to tell them that they had failed the interview, he always met people who were very persistent in asking why they had not passed.

These people were sincere in their words and sincere in their attitude. The company was recruiting salespeople at that time, and what they needed most was someone with such energy, so Gu Yanting happily told the other party that they could be accepted as an exception.

In fact, none of these people were able to stay until the end, and they often left without waiting for the training period to be over. The manager of the personnel department later sighed saying that people were often unwilling to be reconciled. They didn’t have to be in this company; all they asked for was psychological balance. After those people found a sense of existence here, they would leave very resolutely, as if to retaliate for not choosing them at first glance.

Gu Yanting digested it in a daze for a long time, and he thought of his promise to Lin Rui for the first time. It was just that he didn’t dare to think deeply at the time.

“My feelings for you were not as deep as you think. Indeed, I cared about you very much before.“ Gu Yanting looked at Lin Rui’s dazed expression and slowly withdrew his hand. While rubbing the place bruised from Lin Rui’s fingers, he whispered, “Some of it was just habit. I do appreciate the help you once gave me. But I still regret that trip to Sanya.”

Lin Rui’s eyes were red as he nodded slightly, gesturing for him to continue.

“At that time, Tang Yi and I had been in a cold war on and off for half a year, and I had always felt frustrated in my heart. When you called, my liking for you had a momentary resurgence. This was the thing I regretted the most. When I saw Tang Yi at the hospital, I panicked.

“Tang Yi asked me that night, what if it was him who had an accident? My mind was blank at the time, but I suddenly thought: he can’t have an accident. If he has an accident, I’ll pay for it with my life. If it’s not enough, I will drag others with me,” Gu Yanting said slowly but firmly, “including you.”

After some things have passed, it is impossible to judge them. There will be a hundred looks in the eyes of a hundred people. After returning from Sanya, Gu Yanting was slow to accept the fact that Tang Yi broke up with him, but in his heart he calmly told himself that it was true. However, because he and Tang Yi had been in a cold war for too long before that, he didn’t fully understand Tang Yi’s thoughts at the time.

Lin Rui was the only one Tang Yi’s contradiction from beginning to end. However, in Gu Yanting’s case, there were many more, such as their disparate career achievements and family status, such as the two different styles of doing things, such as the gossip of his friends about him eating soft rice (a man living at the expense of a woman). In fact, although Gu Yanting’s income at the time was not as good as Tang Yi’s, he was fully able to cope with the expenses of the two of them.

But he was afraid and had low self-esteem.

He hadn’t thought about whether he loved or not at that time. In his opinion, Tang Yi and him being together was the best arrangement. It wasn’t until this arrangement was disrupted that Gu Yanting was completely at a loss.

The night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, when he let go of all his pride and self-esteem and begged Tang Yi to stay, he even let go of his tangled emotions. Thinking that as long as Tang Yi agreed, as long as he said yes, he would always listen to him in the future. He could be educated for the rest of his life, and it didn’t matter if he was rumoured to eat soft rice. He could also completely let go of Lin Rui, as long as Tang Yi agreed.

Tang Yi rejected him calmly and indifferently at that time.

Fortunately, two years later, he accepted him again.

Gu Yanting didn’t expect Tang Yi to accept him so easily. His forceful arguments were not enough to impress Tang Yi and his bitterness was based on Tang Yi’s only remaining warmth for him, so when Tang Yi said that he was willing to give him another chance, Gu Yanting was very excited. 

At the same time, he was also very scared.

After all, many of the problems between the two had not been properly resolved in essence. He hadn’t had time to do something to prove himself; and the first problem was Lin Rui.

As Gu Yanting said, he did not have any dislike or disgust for Lin Rui. He was the one who liked Lin Rui before, but later he was also the one who became obsessed with his twisted feelings. For the sake of Lin Rui’s kindness, he might be able to help him when necessary. But the premise of all this was that Tang Yi couldn’t be made uncomfortable.

And Lin Rui’s current approach had obviously crossed the line.

When Gu Yanting hung up for the first time in the morning, he texted. After receiving no reply to the text messages, he continued to call again and again. Gu Yanting could only tell Tang Yi that he was most worried about whether Lin Rui should be there or not if his leg hurt.

It was good Tang Yi told him that when Lin Rui went to him yesterday, he said that he didn’t hurt abroad, nor in the south, but only in T City. It was not really possible to explain this situation other than the leg pain caused by the cold. So Gu Yanting took out a pair of cotton trousers.

Gu Yanting finished speaking slowly, trying to express as softly as possible: “I don’t hate you, you are fine, really. But after all, I have a family. Whether Tang Yi cares or not, Tang Yi minds or not, there are many things I’m not too comfortable about.”

Lin Rui hadn’t spoken for a long time. Gu Yanting glanced at him and was silent for a while, then picked up the bread he had bought. When he was almost at the door, Lin Rui stopped him, “If, if I have a recurrence of my leg injury, will you accompany me?”

“…not necessarily. ”

Gu Yanting didn’t look back and said somewhat apologetically, “So you’d better take care of yourself.”

—

After all, Gu Yanting’s cotton trousers failed to be delivered. He had to go to the apartment to get the documents and bring home the forgotten Oreo. Naturally, he had no time to interpret Lin Rui’s weepy look behind him.

Oreo turned the apartment into a mess, and Gu Yanting was busy for a long time before going back, and naturally he didn’t mention Lin Rui’s incident. It took a year for Tang Yi to learn about this conversation from Lin Rui. At that time, Lin Rui was sick, and he really fell to the point where there was no one to take care of him. He didn’t expect Tang Yi to visit him, because shortly before that Gu Yanting had deleted his number.

He thought Tang Yi came to gloat and ridicule him, but who knew that the latter just put down the fruit basket and peeled an apple for him carefully. Tang Yi was smiling quietly, but his words of gentle instruction were nice and sweet to Lin Rui’s ears. After taking the apple, Lin Rui took a bite and couldn’t help but whimper.

The only thing he was thankful for was that he hadn’t really hurt Gu Yanting and Tang Yi.

He repeated Gu Yanting’s words to Tang Yi that day. After listening to them, Tang Yi was slightly lost in thought for a moment, and Lin Rui saw him take off his glasses, tilting his head and smiling slightly with his eyes closed.

“Actually, I was ready for it at that time.” Tang Yi wiped his face with one hand and said slowly, “No matter what he did, I was unwilling to let go of him.”

—

Things in Tang Yi’s company had finally made progress, and everything was just waiting for the approval of the change of registration. Secretary Zhao had come over several times in the past few days to complete the transfer procedures for Weiwei. Gu Yanting put together the annual leave and the other two holidays and prolonged them till New Year’s Day. When Tang Yi was busy, Gu Yanting became a dedicated person to take Weiwei to and from school.

Secretary Zhao did regularly transfer Weiwei’s daily expenses to Tang Yi’s account. The amount of these expenses was not small, and it was more than enough to hire an auntie. Tang Yi mentioned it several times, but it was strongly opposed by Gu Yanting.

“Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I don’t have any trouble picking up the child.” Gu Yanting rubbed Weiwei’s hair for a while and pinched his neck for a while.

Weiwei was sitting quietly eating, taking small sips, seemingly used to such delicate movements.

Tang Yi was also a little hesitant. When he brought Weiwei home, it was mostly out of sympathy. Although after Gu Yanting agreed, the two of them also made some preparations, they didn’t think everything through.

For example, Weiwei was still in kindergarten now. The kindergarten that Secretary Zhao found for him took into account their opinions and was the one closer to their residence, but then the problem was that the conditions of this kindergarten were ordinary. The child was there for a week when Tang Yi remembered one day and asked him what the teacher taught them. Weiwei only said that they were taught to play games.

It was just games; there was no teaching of word recognition or addition and subtraction. Tang Yi had never been to a kindergarten, so he didn’t know whether this was normal or not, but he knew that there were foreign teachers in the kindergarten where Weiwei had been. If Weiwei continued to live in T City, it would be a problem whether to choose a primary school closer to home or one with better conditions.

What’s more, Gu Yanting’s current job was still in another city. Now he had time to pick up and drop off Weiwei during his vacations. When Gu Yanting went back to work in the future, if Tang Yi got busy, did he want to hire a nanny? Nannies took care of children but he was not very comfortable with them.

What was even more inconvenient was that he and Gu Yanting had been separated for two years. Now that they were reconciled, they couldn’t wait to get close and kiss and hug each other, and go roll in the sheets when they had time. But Weiwei was a child, and Tang Yi didn’t want him to be exposed to these things prematurely, for fear that it would have a bad impact on the child. Therefore, they had to pay special attention to their usual behaviour.

Once on Saturday, Tang Yi went out on business, and halfway through the trip, he remembered that something had been left behind, so he turned back to get it. It happened that Secretary Zhao picked up Weiwei in the morning, and Gu Yanting was taking a shower after cleaning up the house. Tang Yi’s spermatozoa followed the sounds in the bathroom and led him in. The two of them tossed and turned frantically in the bathroom for a long time, and finally both came out naked. As a result, when they walked to the living room, they heard Weiwei’s voice saying goodbye to Secretary Zhao. The two of them were shocked and pale. They both scurried into the bedroom as if they had been caught in adultery and  began to dress in a frenzy.

There was another close call when Tang Yi saw Gu Yanting, who was cooking in the morning, and went beastly, laughing and playing tricks on his back. Who knew that as soon as he’d say a few vulgar words, Gu Yanting would anxiously block his mouth with a radish and then kick him out. When Tang Yi went out, he happened to bump into Weiwei who came out of the bathroom; Weiwei didn’t go to kindergarten that day because his stomach was upset. Fortunately, the child didn’t understand and said innocently, “Uncle Tang, this radish is so spicy.”

Tang Yi half-bowed his waist to hide his flag-raising embarrassment and only after arriving in the bedroom did he feel that his teeth faintly ached.

It was just that he seemed to be the only one who was worried about this. Gu Yanting’s enthusiasm for puppies and children in their family far exceeded Tang Yi’s expectations. Oreo’s temperament gradually stabilised. Although naughty, he was domesticated enough so that he could almost understand human language. When Gu Yanting came home, Oreo would take the initiative to put the slippers under his feet. Weiwei and Gu Yanting were even more affectionate, the big one and the little one often playing and chatting on the floor mat, leaving Tang Yi alone to watch TV.

Tang Yi vaguely felt frustrated that he had dug a pit for himself, and it was not until Christmas that this emotion eased.

On that day, the company’s approval finally came, and Tang Yi used most of his savings in exchange for independent control of this small company. At this moment, the cooperation on the Xinkai project came to an end. The cooperation was very successful. Kaisheng did things in an authentic manner. Tang Yi also wanted to keep in touch with the other party, so he was invited to have a drink with Kaisheng’s boss at noon.

He didn’t drink a lot but he hadn’t been to a drinking party for a while. This time he drank a bit too much and was a little dizzy in the afternoon, so he called Gu Yanting to pick him up.

It happened that Secretary Zhao came to pick up Weiwei that day; Gu Yanting was a bit late because he had to dawdle for a while before he could let the child be taken away. Everyone in the company had already left and only Tang Yi’s office was lit on the entire floor. Gu Yanting swiped his card and entered the office, then walked quickly towards the light. When he opened the door of the office, he found Tang Yi asleep on the sofa with his clothes on.

The central air-conditioning in the office building was turned off at 6 o’clock in the evening. Gu Yanting arrived just in time for a traffic jam. The temperature in the room had already dropped and it was somewhat cold.

He lightened his steps, took off his coat and covered Tang Yi with it, and at the same time turned off the lights. The lights of billboards shone in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Gu Yanting squatted down gently, watching Tang Yi’s clean eyebrows and the eyelashes that trembled in his restless sleep. After a while, he gently kissed him, and at the same time, his big hand touched Tang Yi’s crotch all the way under the clothes that covered him, squeezing it gently through the soft fabric.

Tang Yi felt that he had had a charming spring dream. He couldn’t see the face of the man in the dream clearly, but the man who slowly approached him was full of a familiar aura. The other party first kissed his forehead lightly, then moved down, his wet tongue licking Tang Yi’s mouth erotically and domineeringly, finally sweeping inside fiercely. Tang Yi was mesmerised by the kiss, but his body was cold and chilly. He subconsciously leaned towards the man’s hot arms, his body soft like a snake, wrapping itself tightly around the man. Obviously, this man knew how to have fun very well. He touched Tang Yi’s sensitive area a few times, pulling it a little and teasing it carefully. Tang Yi couldn’t help but let out a groan, and subconsciously cried out, “Yanting…”

Tang Yi usually wasn’t someone who couldn’t let go in this aspect; however now because there was Weiwei at home, he even had to suppress his voice at night and Gu Yanting also didn’t dare to get too insistent. The sound of this moan was quite loud, and the aftermath carried a vague sigh of relief. Tang Yi felt the man opposite him stiffen abruptly for a moment, and then a chill ran through his body as the man released him.

Tang Yi shivered from the cold, and when he opened his eyes in a daze, he saw a dark figure standing in front of him, taking off his pants. He was so scared that he was about to kick the guy between his legs but fortunately the man, who also noticed that he was awake, quickly shouted, “Tang Yi!”

It was Gu Yanting.

The charming scenario in Tang Yi’s dream just now suddenly disappeared, and even his little brother became soft. He hadn’t fully figured out what was going on. He was just a little annoyed and wanted to ask Gu Yanting if he was sick to take off his pants when Gu Yanting bent over and put his arms around his waist. Then Gu Yanting picked him up horizontally and placed him on the huge boss table.

Tang Yi was stimulated by the cold desktop, and only then did he realise that there was only one shirt left on his body, and he had been ravaged to the point of no return. Gu Yanting stood upright in the dark and looked at him, his eyes deep and frighteningly bright.

Tang Yi would have been really stupid if he hadn’t understood. He pressed the electronic lock without hesitation and all the electric curtains in the office closed, and at the same time he easily pulled out the power cord connected to the surveillance hard disk on the side of his desk. Gu Yanting put his arms around his waist and rubbed his back hard a few times, then slowly knelt down and took him in.

Tang Yi was quickly overwhelmed by a burst of intense pleasure. The office was surprisingly quiet in the dark, so Gu Yanting’s gulping, teasing sounds were particularly clear. Tang Yi obediently hooked his legs around Gu Yanting’s neck, breathing heavily and moaning. At the last moment, he violently hugged Gu Yanting’s face that he wanted to turn away, causing Gu Yanting to get a solid shot in the face.

Gu Yanting gave a low chuckle but didn’t mean to be annoyed at all. He wiped the traces on his face little by little onto Tang Yi’s behind, then clasped the latter’s chin and nibbled on his lips somewhat fiercely and dominantly. Once Tang Yi was satisfied, he let Gu Yanting do whatever he wanted. At first Gu Yanting held his waist and tentatively pushed in, and only when he suddenly slammed it in to the end did Tang Yi curse “Fuck!”

He groaned out of tune in pain. Gu Yanting slapped his ass harshly and said that he was really tight. The two men’s extraordinarily clear and violent slapping sounds and Tang Yi’s sobbing cries as he was tormented by the intense pleasure and pain continued into the night. During this time Gu Yanting rolled him over and pressed him against the table once; the two of them did it on the sofa once; and the craziest time was when Tang Yi was pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window, and below the building was T City’s Binhai Square, where a lot of people were walking and dancing. Although Tang Yi was on a high floor and the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office building were designed in such a way that there was absolutely no need to worry about people outside being able to see them, the shame and tension that resembled complete exposure still brought them to the peak of their madness at the same time.

Later, both of them were a little tired, and their clothes were scattered everywhere. After Gu Yanting cleaned up the office, the smell persisted for a long time. Tang Yi could only rub his sore waist and open the window for ventilation.

When he opened the window, Gu Yanting leaned over him from behind, hugging him and humming an unknown tune. The evening breeze was slightly cold, and when it blew away the fishy smell in the room, it also cleared their minds a lot.

Tang Yi was hugged a little tightly, patted Gu Yanting’s hand and waited for him to relax slightly before suddenly saying, “Shen Fan and I, there was nothing.” He obviously felt the body behind him stiffen, smiled and said, “With Zhou Hao, there was nothing either. The night before you came back in October, I just promised to date him and, well, we kissed once.”

Gu Yanting let out a slow breath behind him, and then Tang Yi felt him lower his head, his forehead pressed against his back.

“I guessed it.” Gu Yanting said in a muffled voice.

Tang Yi paused and smiled, “Because of that bottle of lube?”

“Well, that was the one I bought. It has a shelf life of two years.” Gu Yanting was still a little excited. After calming down, he sniffed, raised his head and kissed Tang Yi’s neck. 

“I could go out, ah, and book a room.” Tang Yi turned his face to look at him, his eyes full of laughter, “Why were you so sure?”

“I was not sure,” Gu Yanting looked at him solemnly, “That’s why I said I guessed. I wasn’t sure.”

The news apparently had a bit of a backlash, and Gu Yanting started to get excited again after a moment of hugging, and was quickly held back by Tang Yi who didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. Gu Yanting arched his head against Tang Yi’s hand and was patted for a long time before giving up.

When Tang Yi saw that he had finally quieted down, he suddenly smiled and asked, “What was the tune you were humming just now? I haven’t heard you sing it before.”

“I don’t know,” Gu Yanting said in a low voice as he leaned down on his shoulder, “Weiwei sang the beginning the other day and I somehow managed to hum the second half, maybe it’s a children’s song?”

He softly hummed a few more lines and said in a slow voice, “It just felt quite familiar, and humming it has quite a happy feeling.”

Previous / ToC / Next

Lin Rui had thought about how he should behave this time. He thought that he had Shen Fan’s support behind him, and Tang Yi was promoted by Shen Fan, so there was basically no doubt about snapping a good position for himself. Before the meeting with Tang Yi, he proudly said to his colleague, “If I have time later, I will mention you in passing.”

The colleague understood what he meant and poured him water and served tea several times since then. Who knew that when they entered the office, the things would be completely different.

The colleague tried to speak for Lin Rui, but the latter’s face instantly turned black. Tang Yi glanced at them with interest and then averted his eyes, as if these two were just a pair of clowns singing in harmony. Lin Rui finally couldn’t bear it, turned his head and said to his colleague rather unkindly, “You go out first! I have something to discuss with Mr. Tang.”

This colleague’s original position was not as high as Lin Rui’s. Although he was unhappy, Tang Yi had already expressed his attitude clearly, so the man frowned and left first. Lin Rui waited for a long time after the office door closed, then stood up, shoved his hands in his pants pockets and walked straight to Tang Yi’s desk.

“Mr. Tang, actually, I’m here mainly for work.” Lin Rui lowered his head slightly and coughed softly, “I know you may have some misunderstandings about me, but I still hope to have a decent position in the company. Of course, I don’t care if I have real power or not. My mother needs my care now. I need to stay in T City.”

“Oh? “Tang Yi glanced at him and said calmly, “But there is no place for you here. What’s more, there are so many companies in T City, so why should you succumb to me?”

His expression was indifferent. Lin Rui glanced at him but couldn’t get any useful information. He couldn’t even speculate on Tang Yi’s intentions. He could only pause and continue to explain, “My salary in ER is something that other small companies in T City can’t afford. I can’t get into a big company either. Besides, I have been working for ER for two years and I really don’t want to go to another company to start from scratch.”

“So what? ”

“So, Mr. Tang, just give me a position at will. Anyway, the salary is paid by the headquarters, and I’m not picky.”

Tang Yi nodded and asked suddenly, “Is your mother’s health good?”

Lin Rui was taken aback for a moment and replied vaguely, “She’s okay.”

“It’s a good thing she’s okay.” Tang Yi leaned back in his chair and said softly, “Otherwise, she would be used by her son time and again, claiming that she is critically ill at every turn. And every time, a little bit of her blessing would be gone.” He narrowed his eyes and said with amusement, “Lin Rui, do you really think the whole world owes you? You want to get into the company, you want to ask for more money, you don’t want to go anywhere…”

Tang Yi tsked, “Don’t think so, no one cares about your wishes.”

Lin Rui was taken aback for a moment, and it took a while before he reacted. At that time when Shen Fan called Tang Yi, he was next to Shen Fan. Naturally, he heard Tang Yi’s unwillingness and anger clearly, but there was no way for him to refuse. Shen Fan pressed Tang Yi down, and Tang Yi had to provide for him even if he didn’t want to.

Lin Rui came back this time with a sense of superiority. He had been parachuted into Tang Yi’s department two years ago, and when he was kicked out by Zhou Hao, everyone knew it was because Tang Yi couldn’t tolerate him. He had no face at that time and had to work for a long time in the head office with his tail between his legs before he slowly climbed up. This time he had Shen Fan’s backing, so he naturally came back full of vigour and confidence. How could he have expected that Tang Yi would change his mind in just two days?

After a long time Lin Rui opened his mouth and said, “It was Mr. Shen’s intention for me to come back. You agreed before…”

“Yes,” Tang Yi said blankly, “just to toss you.”

When Tang Yi left the company, the sky outside was completely dark, and the north wind greeted people like a slap in the face. He wrapped his coat tighter around him. Thinking of Lin Rui’s anger when he left the company in the afternoon, he shook his head speechlessly.

Two years ago, Tang Yi would not have spoken so simply and rudely. At that time, Lin Rui and he had conflicts and repeatedly had disagreements at work, and Tang Yi was always justified in giving Lin Rui a clear explanation, even hesitating when Zhou Hao wanted to kick him out. If it were before, today’s dialogue would most likely be a different story. For example, Tang Yi would talk about Lin Rui’s work performance, or make it clear that the company was about to break away from the head office and tell him to fend for himself.

But now it was different. Lin Rui should not have taken him for a fool after he said those things to Gu Yanting, thinking that he didn’t know anything.

In the evening, Tang Yi got home a little late, and Gu Yanting had already prepared dinner and waited for him. Weiwei woke up once in the middle of the day, and after staring at Gu Yanting for a long time, he only asked, “Where is Uncle Tang?” For the first time in more than 20 years, Gu Yanting learned to speak in the soft tone of talking to a child and lisped, “Susu has gone to work to earn money, he will be back tonight.”

Weiwei and Gu Yanting stared at each other for a while before Weiwei nodded solemnly.

“Then what?” Tang Yi took a bite of food and asked quietly with a smile.

“Then he went to pee, and after peeing, he went back to sleep. I’ve just glanced at him and he hasn’t woken up yet.” Gu Yanting was a little excited and said in a suppressed voice, “Hey, how did I manage to make such a contact with this kid?” 

Tang Yi was taken aback. He didn’t know if Gu Yanting and the child had made contact, but they were quite close by blood. He was silent for a while and unconsciously stopped eating. Almost everyone knew about Gu Yanting’s biological parents now, but the man himself was the only one who was kept in the dark. Tang Yi wanted to talk to him and opened his mouth but didn’t know how to start.

Seeing that he was not in a good mood, Gu Yanting consciously stopped talking and waited until they were about to go to bed before stroking Tang Yi’s brow and asking with some anxiety, “Are you troubled?”

Tang Yi paused and nodded slowly.

Who knew Gu Yanting would misunderstand. He withdrew his hand and rubbed it a little uneasily, then put it back and continued to massage. After doing so many times, he said uncomfortably, “Actually, actually I’ve read the email you said.”

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Tang Yi carefully but didn’t continue.

Tang Yi looked up at him, and it took him a while to realise what Gu Yanting was talking about, “The email?”

“En,” Gu Yanting touched his nose and gave a muffled grunt.

Tang Yi looked at him for a while, then nodded half-heartedly. He knew that with 80% probability Gu Yanting’s reaction was like this because he had no explanation and the meaning of the letter was similar to what Tang Yi had thought. It was just that after many years, there was no practical point in pursuing it. The reason why he mentioned it was just to get rid of the suffocation in his heart, so that Gu Yanting could understand where his distrust came from.

Gu Yanting frowned, as if very worried.

Tang Yi sighed, stretched out his hand and patted him without speaking, then heard Gu Yanting whisper, “I don’t know what I thought at the time, I just said that. But I didn’t really dislike you. I just, just said that.”

“I know. Go to bed first.”

“No, hey, I don’t know how to say it.” Gu Yanting’s voice was a little anxious, “Actually, I was very happy at the time, and I didn’t mean it that way.”

Tang Yi nodded. As soon as he wanted to say “I know”, he saw Gu Yanting turn over and take the phone from the side, poking it twice in a hurry.

“Actually, in fact, I still have several letters behind it.” He swallowed nervously and pushed the phone forward, “Why don’t you read it all again, and then beat me up and vent, okay?”

“I won’t hit you, it’s all in the past.” Tang Yi was a little helpless but when he glanced at the emails in a row on the phone screen, he couldn’t help being stunned.

So many?

Five minutes later, Tang Yi was reading all the emails, including those that he hadn’t read earlier, with a self-abusive mentality, and then half an hour later, Gu Yanting finally failed to escape the fate of being beaten.

The content of Email 1 was the one that Tang Yi had seen.

Tang Yi skimmed through it and scrolled down, then saw Email 2.

Email 2: I went shopping with him today. Hey, he had to buy me a down jacket, do you know? More than three thousand yuan swiped in one click! Damn it! Don’t you know that this lord doesn’t like down jackets?! It’s ugly as hell.

Email 3: Hey, let me tell you, he quarrelled with me today, just because I didn’t go with him to book a room. How pretentious is it? You have to book a room for the holidays, and not just any room, you have to go to a five-star hotel. Do you know how much it costs for one night? Two thousand yuan! Damn it! Sleep for two thousand yuan for one night! Hey, let me show you…

Email 4: A bit annoying today. He insisted on buying me a cake and I didn’t let him. As a result, he was angry with me…

Email 5: Fuck! Lao Tzu saved up half a year’s salary to buy him a watch and he actually said it was ugly ugly ugly! What’s ugly? Almost 20,000!

……

Tang Yi hadn’t really expected Gu Yanting to give him an explanation that would completely relieve him. No matter how beautiful the words were, the damage had been caused after all, and the estrangement and the rift started with an email, gradually widening over the years and finally reaching the point of no return.

But looking back again at that moment, the same email had a completely different intention and meaning. Just like the same sentence “Go to hell” could be a soft, sticky one when lovers flirt with each other, or “Go to hell” said with your finger on the trigger when meeting the enemy. The semantics of the same expression could be diametrically opposite. How to understand it depended on the setting and the environment. Of course, Gu Yanting saying such stupid words could make anyone grit their teeth, but Tang Yi’s problem was that he already had a preconceived impression, and even when he saw the email, he held on to his pride and arrogance and refused to seek an explanation on the spot.

Tang Yi didn’t hit him really hard. He was just a little annoyed but didn’t know how to express it. After Gu Yanting waited for him to finish, he kept turning his head to look at him, then waited for him to lie down to sleep angrily before wrapping himself around and hugging him.

“Actually, I didn’t mean I disliked you.” Gu Yanting, who regained his senses, rubbed Tang Yi’s back, whispering in his ear, “I think I might be a bit of a show-off.”

Tang Yi was still angry, “What’s to show off about here?”

“He used to show off, show off his computer, his mobile phone, how much he spent on a trip with someone, and he always compared it to my things.” Gu Yanting said slyly, “Later on, I just wanted to earn some face back.”

Tang Yi nudged him speechlessly but without real force. He suddenly remembered the incident when Lin Rui had just returned to China. A tiny thought flashed in his mind, and finally he asked quietly, “When he approached you yesterday, why didn’t you invite him to a better cafe?”

“What?” Gu Yanting was taken aback, “It wasn’t that bad, it cost more than fifty.”

“Fifty is not that bad? You must have spent thousands on a meal for him.”

“……” Gu Yanting was silent for a while, and finally said slowly, “Actually, that day… I just wanted to pretend to be cool. But I regretted it at the check-out. I was so distraught I had to ask for the receipt to scratch the prize… didn’t win.”⁽¹⁾

When Gu Yanting said “didn’t win”, his voice was weak. Tang Yi felt angry and funny, and his heart ached until he fell asleep.

No one knew better than Tang Yi how cool Gu Yanting used to be. For example, asking for receipts and packing leftovers, two seemingly trivial things, Gu Yanting had never done them, nor had he let Tang Yi do them.

Back then, Tang Yi simply liked Gu Yanting, and that kind of liking, not yet fused with the trivialities of oil bottles and salt shakers, was rather sober. He could even list the other party’s faults and shortcomings one by one. At that time, Gu Yanting’s biggest shortcoming in Tang Yi’s eyes was how important his face was for him, so much that Tang Yi was often embarrassed on various occasions.

For example, the two of them went to the luxury shopping mall in the centre of T City together for the first time. Tang Yi had been there before. Later, a dessert shop opened on the second floor of that shopping mall and he called Gu Yanting on a whim to spend Valentine’s Day there. They had just started working at that time, and neither of them had the conditions to be able to go to such places often. Tang Yi’s original intention was to treat Gu Yanting and satisfy their little vanity at the same time. Who knew that Gu Yanting would arrive and the first sentence he said would make Tang Yi embarrassed.

When Gu Yanting saw Tang Yi from a distance, he walked over with a solemn face and asked, “Why are you waiting for me here?”

Tang Yi was taken aback for a moment; then he heard Gu Yanting sigh and say in a rather loud voice, “Damn, Wang Gang told me that he bought XX shoes today and spent more than five hundred. This loser.”

The guy called Wang Gang had not contacted Gu Yanting for a long time. Five hundred shoes was something Tang Yi and Gu Yanting couldn’t dream about, but in the luxury shopping mall this number was nothing. Tang Yi rubbed his face in embarrassment but Gu Yanting was unaware of it, bragging like his friend was a tycoon.

Tang Yi was very depressed, but when he saw that Gu Yanting was wearing a set of early autumn clothes, he felt a sharp pain in his heart: it was Gu Yanting’s most expensive outfit, but it was very thin. The north wind in T City in February still smelled of ice. This suit didn’t block the cold or the wind. The reason why Gu Yanting chose it was probably because he was afraid of being shabby and embarrassing.

Gu Yanting was afraid of losing face, and therefore was afraid of being looked down upon. Whether it was him wearing out-of-season clothes or talking about things as if he feared that others would think he had no money, it was actually just a sign of weakness. There is a saying that “the more a man emphasises something, the more he lacks it.” Tang Yi thought a lot and only when he applied it to Gu Yanting did he realise that Gu Yanting actually cared about money very much.

Many people made various comparisons between the children of the poor and the children of the rich, and there were many experts from all walks of life who published articles on equality or inequality in life. Tang Yi thought that he had climbed up from the bottom of the ladder and he often disdained such topics. In his eyes, most of those who liked to talk about it were big losers who made excuses for their failures and didn’t work hard. So whenever he saw a similar topic, he felt a deep sense of contempt and superiority.

But when Gu Yanting stood there, a little formal and pretending to be awesome, while a young lady gracefully made an order not far behind him, Tang Yi realised that the gap really existed.

In a luxury shopping mall or a high-end club, his and Gu Yanting’s first reaction was never to enjoy themselves elegantly and comfortably but self-examine with restraint and low self-esteem whether it was appropriate and whether they would be embarrassed.

It was just that Tang Yi was used to being restrained, while Gu Yanting didn’t know how to hide it.

Tang Yi was repeatedly embarrassed by this, but strangely felt defensive about Gu Yanting, out of empathy. Later, the salaries of the two of them gradually increased; they bought a house and a car, and they had money and cards in their bags when they went out. Gu Yanting stopped saying “I have a classmate” and “I have a friend.” It was just that Tang Yi didn’t expect that Gu Yanting’s true meaning in the email was a change in form but not in content and what he said was “I have a boyfriend”.

However, if Gu Yanting could ask for a receipt in front of Lin Rui after eating in order to get a ten or a fifty yuan prize… It really hurt.

—

Gu Yanting didn’t ask for leave when he came back this time. He stayed with Tang Yi till Wednesday. When he got up in the morning, he received a call from the company. The colleague’s tone was very nice and he even said to him slightly teasingly, “Mr. Gu, are you running to the tender land now and can’t be bothered? But it’s December, so at least you should hold on to get your year-end bonus.”

Gu Yanting coughed a little and only then did he realise that two days had passed in a flash.

The colleague smiled with understanding and after a long pause added, “But it’s okay. You saved up a lot of vacation time before, it will be useless later anyway. Just come back and get a leave slip.” Gu Yanting had worked very hard before, and he hadn’t even used two weeks of annual leave. This colleague had a good relationship with him. He thought Gu Yanting was chasing a girl, so he kindly suggested that he use his annual leave, otherwise there would be no chance after this month.

Gu Yanting was suddenly enlightened; but after he chatted for a short while, he felt his mobile phone vibrate and another call came in. He took the phone away from his ear and glanced at it. He didn’t want to see it so much that he almost hung up on his colleague’s call.

“…she’s just agreed to it. Anyway, the leave slip can be arranged later. By the way, don’t forget to fax me those two documents.” The colleague said with a smile. After listening to silence, he called, “Lao Gu?”

Gu Yanting hurriedly returned to his senses, “Ah, ah, I see.”

“Don’t forget.” The colleague said, “I’ll hang up first.”

The colleague hung up, and at the same time Lin Rui’s call was also hung up.

As soon as Gu Yanting breathed a sigh of relief, he saw the mobile phone screen flashing, and a text message came in, “Is it convenient to accompany me to the hospital?”

—

The winter morning sun did not bring much warmth, and until eight or nine o’clock Lin Rui couldn’t even see a single sunray. He didn’t wear much today; the off-white cotton t-shirt and a light grey jacket made a fresh and fashionable look. When he stopped on Jianghuai Road, the attention he attracted was directly proportional to the cold wind he encountered.

When Gu Yanting ran over from afar, Lin Rui was smiling and rejecting a girl’s accost. When he turned, the smile on his face hadn’t receded, and he said to Gu Yanting very naturally, “I thought I was disturbing your rest.”

“No.” Gu Yanting wrapped his clothes around himself tighter. There was a handbag hanging on his arm, bulging. He glanced at Lin Rui up and down, and then asked, “Are you going to the hospital?”

Lin Rui let out a sigh, and after glancing at Gu Yanting, he pursed his lips and lowered his head. He often made such a gesture, which generally meant that it was a little difficult to answer, or he was a little sad. Gu Yanting didn’t know if it was the former or the latter this time, so he could only jump on the spot twice to keep warm.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Lin Rui to lower his head enough and finally give the answer. He raised his eyes and said with a somewhat bitter smile, “My mom is having a re-examination today and I… I don’t want to go alone.”

“Ah, that’s it.” Gu Yanting rubbed his hands and asked with concern, “Then did you tell your dad, or your uncle, aunt, grandpa, ah, them, ah?”

“…not yet.”

“It’s better to tell them.” Gu Yanting said, “The situation is definitely good, don’t worry. And in case it’s not good… it’s time for the family to be prepared.” He paused, and then popped out a very awkward one-liner, “Besides, I’m an outsider and can’t help much.”

The last sentence he said was not as fluent as the previous ones, but the meaning was very clear. Lin Rui was taken aback. After a while, he smiled embarrassedly and explained, “Going to see my mother is just one thing. My leg also hurts a little bit. I want you to accompany me to have a look.”

He rarely brought up the matter of his sore leg, but whenever he did, Gu Yanting would definitely listen. Lin Rui’s original intention today was to have Gu Yanting accompany him to the hospital to see his mother, then stop by for lunch and reminisce with him about the university. He even thought of what he would talk about during the dinner to best evoke Gu Yanting’s previous feelings for him and how to subtly show that he had been given a hard time by Tang Yi at the company.

Who knew that Gu Yanting wouldn’t immediately agree to go with him. Lin Rui was a little lost and his expression was aggrieved and uneasy. He was afraid that Gu Yanting had not heard him clearly, so he deliberately gently held his knee.

Gu Yanting really looked over in agitation.

Lin Rui bit his lower lip and looked at him sadly, and then he heard Gu Yanting ask, “Does your leg hurt? Did it hurt recently?”

Lin Rui nodded.

Gu Yanting looked at his leg hurriedly in concern and said, “It hurts after returning to T City, right? Was it okay before?”

“Yeah, what’s the matter?”

“Tang Yi said your leg hurts here but I didn’t believe it,” Gu Yanting breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly handed over the bag in his hand, “Tsk, here you are, take it.”

“……”

“Cotton trousers,” Gu Yanting saw that Lin Rui didn’t take the bag and pushed it forward. After putting it in Lin Rui’s hands, he sighed and patted Lin Rui on the shoulder, “We’ve been looking into it for a long time, and the winter leg pain is from the cold! Look at you, you’re so weak, it’s going to be even worse when you get older. This is a pair that Tang Yi bought but it was too small, I never wore it, so I’m giving it to you.”

1. Some receipt-based lottery. This is how the process is described now: “How do I scratch the receipt? Click on the home page of Alipay, click on Swipe, scan the QR code on the receipt, the information of the receipt will pop up, confirm the information is correct, click on Start Shaking, you can participate in the prize receipt scratching.” But since the story is set in the 2000s, it was likely done differently then.

Previous / ToC / Next

In the end, Secretary Zhao sent Tang Yi and Weiwei back. Zhou Hao saw Gu Yanting when he checked the surveillance, so he consciously avoided going and asked the secretary to drive to deliver them. Secretary Zhao had become familiar with Tang Yi in the past two years. When he was on the road, he wanted to start talking a few times and stopped, but finally couldn’t help but say, “Mr. Zhou, he has been unhappy recently. I feel as if he is getting old.”

Tang Yi glanced up at him and smiled, “Mr. Zhou has just reached his prime, how can he be said to be old?”

“It’s true. At the meeting the other day, I saw that he has grey hair.” Secretary Zhao sighed, “Weiwei will cause you trouble in the future. Mr. Zhou has already instructed me to pay you a monthly fee for Weiwei’s daily expenses. He attaches great importance to this child. I don’t know if Mr. Zhou has mentioned it to you before. He has no plans to marry and have children. In the future, whether Weiwei wants to accept Mr. Zhou’s company or not, Mr. Zhou will support him and will only have this son.”

The people of the Zhou family were flirtatious, with no morals or shame to speak of, sowing seeds everywhere. Who knew that Zhou Hao, the most outstanding of his generation, would become a special existence, almost going against the Zhou family’s philosophy.

Tang Yi looked sideways at Weiwei, who was clutching the corner of his coat and not sleeping too soundly, and said lightly, “That’s rare.”

Secretary Zhao looked at Tang Yi with some regret. Tang Yi heard his subtext, which was nothing more than to show that Zhou Hao had no plans for a business marriage. Zhou Hao was now successful in his career and clean, and the only one he had a deep affection for was Tang Yi. Tang Yi’s separation from him undoubtedly made everyone who knew about it feel puzzled, and it was only natural to guess that it was because Tang Yi was afraid of being abandoned.

Tang Yi was not. If there was one thing he was uncomfortable with, it was the “matter of course” nature of the situation in the eyes of everyone. The difference between the two of them in terms of origin, experience and present-day status was too great. Zhou Hao didn’t appear to be condescending when he was with Tang Yi, but that didn’t stop the others from seeing it clearly. Those others were almost everyone except the parties concerned, even including Shen Fan.

Those people came to remind and caution him with different purposes and intentions, with gazes of envy, worry and pity, which made Tang Yi extraordinarily uncomfortable. Apart from the many philosophical inconsistencies between the two of them, these remarks from outsiders indeed affected him.

He knew it, and Zhou Hao knew it, and more importantly, they both had failed to come first in each other’s hearts. They were used to bargaining and it became easier to give up.

Tang Yi smiled and said nothing. When the car drove smoothly to the intersection of Jianghuai Road, he said to Secretary Zhao, “I have moved. Just turn left at the next intersection and go straight.”

Secretary Zhao nodded dutifully without asking more questions.

Instead, Tang Yi leaned back and said with a smile at the corner of his mouth, “My lover’s house. ”

Gu Yanting was in a particularly tangled mood when he received a call from an unfamiliar number again. The call was made by Tang Yi, who simply told Gu Yanting that he had gone to their original home and brought a child. He asked Gu Yanting to bring his mobile phone charger over, along with a few documents.

Gu Yanting’s mood throughout the day was complicated, jealous, worried, sad and distressed. All kinds of emotions piled up together, so that after he got up alive and kicking, he plotted how to sell pity and complain about Tang Yi’s behaviour of not coming back last night, using it to ask for some benefits. It didn’t take long for the plan to brew. After that, he used the mailbox name he asked for from Fat Sod and the password he asked for from Tang Yi to enter his mailbox that had been abandoned for several years.

Then, his whole body collapsed.

……

Gu Yanting was still struggling in his mind when he arrived home carrying a small bag, messily filled with the things Tang Yi wanted.

Tang Yi cleaned up the bed in the second bedroom, and took out a new set of bedding from a sealed bag, making it soft and fluffy before coaxing Weiwei to sleep. Weiwei was a little restrained from the moment he followed Tang Yi inside. His eyes were wide open as he stayed motionless wherever Tang Yi pointed, even falling asleep very fast.

Tang Yi felt sour when he saw him like this. He sat on the sofa, frowning and thinking about things. When he heard the sound of Gu Yanting opening the door, he looked up and was stunned.

Gu Yanting had something on his mind and came wearing only a woollen sweater. In addition to his hair being blown into a rooster’s comb, his cheeks were also flushed with two round red stains.

Tang Yi frowned and walked over without waiting for him to change his shoes. He covered Gu Yanting’s ears and rubbed them first; there was some reproach in his expression, “It’s so cold outside, why didn’t you wear a coat?”

Gu Yanting only pursed his mouth tightly and didn’t speak, as if he didn’t hear a word. Tang Yi also didn’t let go, rubbing his ears a few times before withdrawing his hands and rubbing Gu Yanting’s face. After a while Gu Yanting opened his mouth to say something, but finally lunged forward, hugged Tang Yi’s waist and didn’t move.

Tang Yi smiled and patted his back, “Is it a bitter ploy again?” 

“No,” Gu Yanting inhaled, “I forgot to wear it.”

“’No’ breaks my heart, too,” Tang Yi sighed, “Accompany me to get some sleep. I have to go to work in the afternoon. I haven’t closed my eyes much since I watched the kid last night.”

“En,” Gu Yanting reacted a bit slowly and his tone was a little higher, “I’m freezing to death.”

“Then hurry up,” Tang Yi turned his face and stretched out his hand to tug Gu Yanting’s ear, rubbing it again, “The radiator in the bedroom is the hottest, and it will be fine in a while.”

It turned out that the fastest way to warm up was not by stomping your feet or by the radiator. Gu Yanting changed his shoes and hugged Tang Yi all the way to the bedroom, beginning to get hot all over. Tang Yi’s words undoubtedly dispelled his vague worries and concerns, so while digesting the subtext, he began to arch and twist with wicked intentions.

Tang Yi’s old back was about to break from the pressure, and Gu Yanting’s hair was brushing against his neck, itchy. Along the way, he had to lower his voice to warn Gu Yanting to be careful in case Weiwei opened the door in that room.

This level of warning was not powerful enough for Gu Yanting to stop, but he also knew that there was a child at home and this was not the time for the daytime lust, so after the two of them rolled on the bed, he wrapped his long arms and legs around Tang Yi, grabbed Tang Yi’s hand and stuffed it into his pants. His movements were too rapid; the back of Tang Yi’s hand was scratched by his unfastened belt and he couldn’t help but hiss. Gu Yanting’s movements stopped and he was about to lower his head to check when Tang Yi glared at him in displeasure and kicked him into the bed.

The two of them switched to talking under the covers half an hour later. Tang Yi took the quilt and then pulled Gu Yanting, who had his back turned towards him, over and gave him a little relief while smiling. Gu Yanting was quite tense at first, but within a couple of seconds he couldn’t resist pulling Tang Yi over and starting to kiss him, from his lips to the bridge of his nose to his eyelashes, and finally to his neck and shoulders…

Tang Yi was tired and sore in the end, and he didn’t have time to sleep after cleaning with saliva on his face, so he lay face to face with Gu Yanting and touched his cheek, “I should have let you know earlier last night to reassure you. I was negligent.”

“You were angry with me and made my stomach ache.”

“Real pain or phantom pain?” Tang Yi smiled, stretched out his hand to touch Gu Yanting’s stomach and rubbed it, “I’ll rub it for you.”

“…that’s the liver,” Gu Yanting sighed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it, “That kid is the one you used to know?”

Tang Yi and Weiwei had known each other for a long time. Tang Yi hadn’t brought him home but mentioned him several times. Gu Yanting thought Tang Yi liked children and small animals and didn’t care. Only this time did he discover that Tang Yi especially liked this child, and the dog blood thing was that the child was surnamed Zhou, his rival’s seed.

Tang Yi told him the whole story, knowing that anyone would find it difficult to deal with such a matter. Not to mention that Weiwei was Zhou Hao’s child, even if his parents were other people, it would not be a good idea to raise him here.

But it was hard for Tang Yi to sit back and do nothing, even if he was on his own. Many of Weiwei’s circumstances and expressions were like his when he was a child, and the situation he was in now made Tang Yi feel a bit emotional in his heart.

Tang Yi had been taken home for dinner several times by the old headmaster of the primary school. At the beginning, the old headmaster’s family was very enthusiastic, and there was the usual compassion and care in their eyes. Tang Yi tried his best to be polite and sensible at that time. After eating, he would even rush to scrub the pots and pans and wash the dishes, and then go to clean the pigsty.

Who knew that even so, everyone’s attitude changed after a few times, and there was obvious vigilance and caution in everyone’s eyes, and they would even be stingy to give him a smile when they saw him.

Tang Yi was a little puzzled at first, but then one day he went to the old headmaster’s house for lunch as usual and the two mottled red paint doors never opened again. He knocked on several times and no one answered. When he got anxious, he heard clear verbal abuse and the old man’s sighing. It turned out that at some point the old headmaster mentioned that he wanted to adopt Tang Yi as a godson and get an extra set of bowls and chopsticks at home in the future. This point undoubtedly received strong opposition from members of the family. The old headmaster’s wife and the big-bellied daughter-in-law howled loudly to dissuade him, and Tang Yi heard it clearly.

After that, he consciously stopped knocking on the door, only to feel guilty about the old headmaster.

After all, the old man had the idea of taking him in. Tang Yi could even then vaguely understand that it was a matter of love to help and a matter of duty not to help, and that if he had entered a family as an unrelated outsider, he would have caused the latter no less distress than he had suffered.

Tang Yi was in the first grade that year, two years older than Weiwei now.

Tang Yi didn’t want to hide it from Gu Yanting, nor did he want to force his own decision on him, making Gu Yanting conform to him as usual. So he whispered out the various disadvantages of this matter, and even mentioned Zhou Hao.

Gu Yanting looked at him, his expression fluctuating slightly when he heard Zhou Hao’s name, and then returning to calm. He waited for Tang Yi to finish speaking and was silent for a while, but then he reached out and wrapped his arm around Tang Yi’s back, patted him lightly and whispered, “Just raise him.”

He paused for a while, then hummed, “But if Zhou Hao wants to come to see the child in the future, I have to be present. He has to report in advance before he comes. Well, you can also send him a baby-watching coupon, a limited number for one year, once it’s used up, it’s gone. An appointment one week in advance is not possible for holidays, and the right of interpretation belongs to Uncle.”

Tang Yi was startled, and it took him a while to react, “Do you agree?”

“En, I agree.”

“Don’t we need to discuss it further?” Tang Yi hesitated for a moment, and couldn’t help but smile when thinking of the second half of his words, “Look at that baby-watching coupon, you can think of such a thing.”

“I just don’t want you to be sad. But it is also necessary to prevent others from having bad intentions.” Gu Yanting hooked Tang Yi’s leg under the quilt, pinned it with his own leg and suddenly asked, “Am I handsome or is he handsome?”

His mind was jumping so fast; in the blink of an eye, he put the matter of the child aside quite unconcernedly. Tang Yi looked at him seriously and found that at such a distance Gu Yanting’s slightly sunken black eyes reflected him alone. He hadn’t really thought about it, and had never even seriously compared Zhou Hao to Gu Yanting in his mind.

Tang Yi’s eyes curved and without thinking, he said, “You’re handsome. You’re the most handsome.”

When Tang Yi was leaving, he gave Gu Yanting a couple of instructions about Weiwei. Before that, Secretary Zhao had called and expressed that if Zhou Hao needed to see the child in the future, he would let Secretary Zhao pick him up in advance. This was beyond Tang Yi and Gu Yanting’s expectations. Zhou Hao seemed to pay more attention to how to keep their distance without embarrassing each other than they did, and even asked Secretary Zhao to answer the phone on his behalf.

Gu Yanting was completely relieved now, having a rare positive impression of Zhou Hao. After he let go of his worries, he couldn’t help but secretly open the door of the second bedroom several times to see the new member of the family. After Tang Yi went to the company, he received a text message from Gu Yanting “Buy some potato chips for the kid.”

Tang Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but his face was surprisingly gentle and the corners of his eyes seemed softer. This scene made the girl at the front desk want to scream; but she was obviously very professional and suppressed this impulse. After greeting Tang Yi, she whispered, “Mr. Tang, Manager Lin is waiting for you in the lounge.”

Tang Yi paused slightly, “Manager Lin?”

Lin Rui came over today with another colleague from the head office to go through the formalities. He was dressed up with extra care and the smell of his high-class perfume could be smelled for miles away. Tang Yi knew that many people in the circle didn’t like to wear perfume, except for essential business functions and other occasions, and they would even prefer to look like they didn’t know anything about perfume when others talked about it.

Lin Rui acted so high-profile; it likely meant that in addition to not being afraid of criticism from others, he was really confident to a certain extent.

Tang Yi didn’t give him time to show off. He came here in the afternoon entirely because the acquisition of the remaining shares was not going very smoothly. Although Shen Fan agreed, there was still a lot of resistance at the shareholders’ meeting. When the company encountered problems, those shareholders shrank their heads and even prepared to make the subsidiary cannon fodder, but now that it had survived the difficulties and Tang Yi was about to take over, they were holding on to it as if they were robbed of their treasure.

Lin Rui didn’t know yet that Tang Yi was going to acquire the company, and naturally he didn’t know that his information and files had been put on hold. Tang Yi was definitely not a man who would seek compromise. Since he was determined to go independently, he felt it was a waste of effort even to take a look at Lin Rui and naturally he didn’t bother to spend time tossing him around.

After waiting for Xiao Yang to serve tea, he nodded to the two of them in a businesslike manner, saying in passing that there were no suitable positions in the company for the time being and that they might have to contact headquarters again or see if there were any positions in other branches.

This was a rather euphemistic way of speaking, but not very pleasant. When Shen Fan stuffed them in, there was more or less an explicit intention to promote them, but once Tang Yi said it, it sounded like these two people were expelled by the head office and needed to find a shelter.

Lin Rui’s face froze for a moment, but then he smiled and changed the topic, saying, “Brother Tang and Yanting reconciled. The other day I persuaded him, and I hope you two will be good. In the future, I will also settle down in T City and I will definitely keep an eye on him for you.”

The face of the colleague who was travelling with him suddenly changed, and he glanced at Tang Yi and Lin Rui in surprise.

Lin Rui saw that Tang Yi had no expression on his face and his smile became brighter, his tone gentler, “I actually prefer the environment abroad, the air is good, and the people have quality. Of course, Shanghai is also a place to settle for, unlike T City, where it snows heavily every year. I only came back a few days ago and my leg suffered from injury. I may have to go to the hospital soon.”

Tang Yi let out an “oh”, and after signing a document smoothly, he sounded a little surprised, “Manager Lin’s leg is not working?”

“It’s not that it is not working, it’s that I’ve been injured.” Lin Rui said, “Although it’s not very serious, it occasionally hurts when encountering rainy weather. It hurts the bones and affects the movements. Oh, but it’s nothing big, Mr. Tang doesn’t have to worry.”

Tang Yi frowned and let out a chuckle after a while. Although he was strict with his subordinates, he was usually more gentle and polite. It was really the first time that he laughed so openly.

Lin Rui’s smile was a little stiff, but his colleague who was travelling with him was embarrassed and sweating. He couldn’t help but try to smooth the situation, turning to Lin Rui and saying, “Manager Lin is really a good comrade, disabled but with a strong will!” 

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