Chapter 125 - Memories Pt.1

A shudder ran down his spine as he imagined Xi Long's anger if he did manage to burn bridges. For one he could not understand why Xi Long was secure in not knowing anything further or what it is about her that swayed him so. Last night when they were drinking, he did straightforwardly ask Xi Long both as a brother and as an investigator. Yet, the answers gave him vague depictions on how they met to who she was. It seemed that XiXi was aware of every single danger this could bring them but held confidence it would be fine. 

It was rudimentary that Zhuang Wei worried about Xi Long's state of mind. For a man who lived on revenge for years to suddenly be side tracked it was because of woman for sure. When he had initially met "Valentina" he thought she was a very interesting woman but was not aware of her connection to Xi Long. It didn't bother him that Xi Long had not told him in advance either, he knew that once things were confirmed he would be the first to know. It was also a bit hilarious for men in their late 20s to be fanning over romantic situations like this. 

However, his choice of woman was indeed interesting. She sparked his curiosity immediately and almost wondered if she were just an extremely intelligent woman or a spy sent into to steal company secrets. When he had been first notified of the altercation it had been several minutes into it and even then no bothered to inform higher management. Usually matters of people trying to break in was common and there were often scenes where security had to step in. However, the second things escalated to that degree it was procedure to let someone know. He would probably have not found out if not for the whispers of gossip from other employees. There was a wry smile on his face as he considered the amount of staff they paid for and their ability to gossip more than actually work. He wasn't expecting much when he took the elevator down to the ground floor and he could judge too much for hearsay alone. Though if things turned out wrong on their side he would use this chance to have some of those secretaries fired.

It was not like he and Xi Long did not notice their ulterior motives but kept silent as long as they stayed in their place. One of them was especially blatant about her advances even though neither of them had given her the time of day. Just the level of adoration and greed in her eyes grossed them out. It was similar to the eyes of someone seeing their idol or seeing a tasty piece of meat they wanted to grab. Again, bearable feelings, yet it was her confidence on top of those imageries that truly disgusted them. Their corporation is in more than five industries, had multiple branches, and hundreds of thousands of employees. With those numbers and the fact that Xi Long and him had zero scandals with anyone was enough to showcase their chances at succeeding. There were days that he was quite happy to have come out as gay openly since it reduced the amount of delusional people that came his way. Not to say men and some women did not still try to get in contact with him or seduce him, 'I mean it is quite the crime for me to be this handsome, I understand their struggle. I would hit on me too damn.'

However knowing that he was attractive wasn't enough to deter him from ruining anyone who tried. It was actually ridiculous that some of them even thought they had a chance. Being openly gay in this country wasn't necessarily advisable nor was the society extremely accepting but he would not have it any other way. The issue lied in the fact that because he was gay some individuals assumed just any man would do. Or that he was confused and a woman could 'change him.' Which was all toxic and very invalidating for the LGBTQ+ community, for him especially it was more insulting than anything. Even he wanted to find a man for himself but could not bare to trust anyone enough to do it. When he had realized he was gay he was only four to five years old. It then became painfully obvious in his early teenager years, when he was in school and the male physique attracted his eyes. He started to imagine being with a man more and more but never acted on it thankfully. At that age if he had tried anything he would have been bullied or had a hate crime committed against him. 

Everything seemed natural to him and the concept of homos.e.x.u.a.lity was not a foreign concept. Due to his family's status they often took international trips and sent him on an international camp to Europe when he was around fourteen. The books hidden in China and concepts not outwardly talked about where on constant display there. He read as many books secretly and searched as much information he could to educate himself. Once he was secure that what he read was how he felt there was this peace inside of him for finally having a name for it. He was not ashamed but only a little bit scared of how his friends and family would react. By playing random movies with his parents he tried to probe at their thoughts towards it but also laughed it off before he could be hurt too much. Even telling Xi Long was hard but the moment he did was a day he could never forget. 

It was a cloudy day when he had gone over to his house to do homework, this was their usual schedule back then. He didn't even plan on saying anything but apparently his listless nature and "ugly eye bags that resembled a raccoon" were quite the debby downer.