“I know. I came during non-business hours on purpose,” Sun Ming muttered softly.
“What?” Yuan Zhou asked doubtfully.
“Nothing. Do you remember my birthday?” Sun Ming changed the topic.
“That was not long ago,” Yuan Zhou said.
“That’s not it. Like I told you, my Chinese calendar birthday,” Sun Ming said with an air of confidence.
“What are you trying to do, exactly?” Yuan Zhou got straight to the point. Although he did not remember the exact birthday of Sun Ming, he was still aware that the difference between the Chinese calendar and the Gregorian calendar wouldn’t be so big, spanning a gap of several months in between.
“Hehe, Compass, you are still the one who understands me,” Sun Ming said with a smile while rubbing his plump belly.
“Spit it out,” Yuan Zhou braced himself for the possibility of cooking Sun Ming a meal.
In Yuan Zhou’s opinion, Sun Ming was merely looking for an excuse to get a free meal.
“My request is very simple. Just agree to it first,” Sun Ming said slyly. It was rare to see him acting slyly.
“Tell me what do you want first,” Yuan Zhou’s vigilance flared when he so how Sun Ming was behaving.
Sun Ming was a brother and Yuan Zhou knew him well. He was sure that Sun Ming was definitely trying to ask a big favor of him.
“It really isn’t anything major. I just need to visit your room upstairs,” Sun Ming said.
“No,” Yuan Zhou rejected as he crossed his arms on his chest.
“That is really my only request. I only want to have a look. I promise I won’t touch anything. Only my eyes will be present, not my hands,” Sun Ming promised.
“No,” Yuan Zhou rejected again, not even bothering to ask for the reason.
“Just consider that a gift for my birthday. Compass, I know you are the most loyal to your friends,” Sun Ming said.
This time, Yuan Zhou did not even bother saying anything. He shook his head and proceeded to ignore Sun Ming.
Now, Yuan Zhou was looking at Sun Ming with an odd gaze. What was wrong with this guy? Why would a man want to visit the bedroom of another man?
He couldn’t have shifted his sexual preference after being rejected by his goddess, right? Yuan Zhou shivered when he thought of that.
“Hey, why are you looking at me like that for?” Sun Ming immediately shouted when he saw Yuan Zhou’s odd gaze.
“What do you think?” Yuan Zhou said coldly.
“I only want to have a look. What’s the big deal about that?” Sun Ming mumbled. “You sure are an indecisive man.”
“Sure, if you switch your gender, I will allow it,” Yuan Zhou gave a sharp rebuke.
“Don’t even think about it. All my heart belongs to my goddess,” Sun Ming said as he took a step backward.
Yuan Zhou looked at Sun Ming with contempt but did not say anything.
“Cough, cough. So what is it? Do you agree?” Sun Ming asked again, his expression deadly earnest.
“If this is the reason you came, you can leave now,” Yuan Zhou rejected again, uttering words that were even sharper than earlier.
Yuan Zhou had no intention of letting a man visit his bedroom. If it was a beauty, he would consider it. But since it was Sun Ming, he would not agree, even if Sun Ming was a brother.
“Are you sure?” Sun Ming asked one final time.
“Yes,” Yuan Zhou gave a firm nod.
Sun Ming,” For real?”
Yuan Zhou, “Yes.”
Sun Ming, “Sure?”
Yuan Zhou, “Yes.”
Sun Ming, “You won’t regret it?”
Yuan Zhou, “Piss off now.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you the real reason,” Sun Ming sighed. He had no choice since Yuan Zhou was being so firm with his refusal.
“Say it,” Yuan Zhou said.
“You see, after I recently opened a store, I have been working hard and haven’t been messing around everywhere. I don’t even gamble as much anymore,” Sun Ming first praised himself.
“Continue,” Yuan Zhou gazed at Sun Ming, his expression implying that Sun Ming was bragging.
“I’m telling the truth. I knew my goddess during a school reunion, and I eventually noticed that she would occasionally take a turn and go pass the street in front of my store. Heh heh,” Sun Ming said with a grin.
The moment Yuan Zhou heard that, he found Sun Ming saying he had been working hard recently believable.
Yuan Zhou knew Sun Ming as someone who lacked patience in everything he did. When they were learning in a kitchen together, Sun Ming resigned after only a few months. And after he tried many jobs, he finally ended up opening a clothing store. Even so, he was very lazy with his store and would often close his store for business. As a result, the sales of his store wasn’t too great.
He would often spend his time asking someone out for a meal or gambling. He was from a middle-class family and his parents had naturally nagged him about his behavior. However, he never cared.
He would only stop being lazy when he fell in love with someone.
He had been opening his store frequently to see more of his goddess and he was working hard so that his goddess would one day visit his store.
“And?” Yuan Zhou asked calmly.
“My parents found out about me being hardworking recently, and they had also seen you on the news, finding out about how great you are nowadays,” Sun Ming said.
“Um?” Yuan Zhou was confused. How did this relate to him?
“My parents thought I became so hardworking thanks to your positive influence,” Sun Ming continued, somewhat speechless when he said that.
“They’re smart.” Yuan Zhou nodded and continued, “So?”
“Of course, I was too embarrassed to tell them about my goddess. I haven’t managed to make her my girlfriend anyway. So I agreed to their assumption, and thus, that leads to this,” Sun Ming said.
“What is this?” Yuan Zhou asked.
“Me visiting your bedroom,” Sun Ming said.
“My mom wanted to thank you and told me to see what you need. She will buy something for you and have me give it to you,” Sun Ming said frankly since he had already reached this point.
In truth, Sun Ming was giving Yuan Zhou a simplified version of the story. The longer version was his parents nagging him for a long time, telling him to learn from Yuan Zhou.
They were also saying that even after losing his parents, Yuan Zhou was still able to be such an outstanding person. They told Sun Ming to mingle more with Yuan Zhou, and this conversion led to them feeling pained on Yuan Zhou’s behalf for not having his parents to look after him. And ultimately, they made Sun Ming pay Yuan Zhou a visit to figure out what he needed so they could buy something for him.
Of course, before Sun Ming came, they had also given him a long list of daily necessities one might need in life and to have him take note of those things. The list was so long Sun Ming’s head was hurting from listening to it.
Why was Sun Ming embarrassed to tell Yuan Zhou the true story? He was scared that this might make things awkward for Yuan Zhou. After all, he knew that Yuan Zhou was very sensitive when it came to his past. He himself felt too awkward about it as well. He was an adult, yet his parents were still educating him like he was a child.
Yuan Zhou sank into silence when he heard that Sun Ming was here on behalf of his parents. Sun Ming was in no rush and stayed there waiting for Yuan Zhou’s reply.
“Fine, go upstairs through the back door,” Yuan Zhou said with a nod.
“Sure, no problem,” Sun Ming heaved a breath of relief.
“You don’t think I’m gay anymore, right?” Sun Ming said.
In truth, Sun Ming was right to have those misgivings. If this was in the past, Yuan Zhou would never agree to this. But after experiencing all that had happened this year, he was much more open and was now willing to accept such display of kindness.
“I’m still not sure. Don’t sit on my bed later,” Yuan Zhou said as he looked at Sun Ming with doubt.
“Piss off. I told you it was my mom’s request,” Sun Ming said.
“Um. Give my thanks to her,” Yuan Zhou said after closing the door.
“Don’t worry about it. They always think that you are better than their own son,” Sun Ming shrugged and grumbled.
“Yes, that is the truth,” Yuan Zhou nodded.
“Wow, you are so readily accepting that praise? I only changed because of my goddess,” Sun Ming said.
“I mean, those are the words of your parents,” Yuan Zhou shrugged.
“Then again, you should run your store properly. If one day you manage to establish a clothing brand, or manage to expand your business greatly, your goddess will definitely visit your store. Women love good and comfortable clothes,” Yuan Zhou advised as thanks to Sun Ming’s parents.
Yuan Zhou was clearly trying to smarten Sun Ming up.
“Um, good and comfortable. That’s true,” Sun Ming said as he rubbed his chin with a pensive expression.
“Good,” Yuan Zhou did not say much when he saw that Sun Ming had found a goal to strive for. He continued leading Sun Ming to the back door.