CH 4

Gu Yanting didn’t know how many times he himself had mentioned the break-up, but eventually it all ended up in nothing.

Now that Tang Yi opened his mouth, Gu Yanting’s first reaction was not fear, but novelty.

After all, when he proposed breaking up before, at first Tang Yi would be furious and come to fight him, but later on, probably because he had done it too many times, Tang Yi also got lazy and would just faintly throw the words “don’t even think about it” to cut him off.

Gu Yanting was shocked, but inexplicably wanted to laugh and felt incredulous. So he didn’t say anything, wanting to see what a Tang Yi-style break-up was like.

After Tang Yi said these words, he was silent for a while, then got up and went to the bedroom. In a short while, Gu Yanting saw him move all his things from the large wardrobe to the second bedroom, piece by piece.

The place was bought jointly by the two of them and at that time both of them were still poor guys who had just graduated. Every time they paid off their monthly loan, Gu Yanting would happily put a check mark on the floor tiles, saying ‘this piece of land also belongs to the little lord now’.

Tang Yi put the house in Gu Yanting’s name. In the end, when his salary skyrocketed and he finally paid off all the debts, Tang Yi wrapped his arms around Gu Yanting’s neck and gave him a kiss, saying, “Baby, we won’t be able to get a certificate for the rest of our lives, so why don’t we take the real estate certificate and take a wedding photo?”

In the wedding photo, the two of them were smiling like idiots, cuddling and holding the large property book together.

Behind them were the burgundy curtains of the living room and in front of them was the black lacquered dining room sideboard. With a showy wave of his hand, Tang Yi even added the inscription “Forever Together” and put it there.

When the photo was later printed, Gu Yanting decided that it was too embarrassing and cropped the bottom half of the photo, leaving only the top half in the frame.

When Tang Yi finished moving the clothes and went to get the frame, Gu Yanting finally caught a whiff of real danger and his face suddenly changed.

He jumped up violently from the sofa, knocking over quite a few things along the way, and when Tang Yi’s hand was about to touch the brown frame, he took it away and hid it behind himself.

“This, you can’t move this!” Gu Yanting eyed him like a great enemy.

Was this for real?

Then he definitely couldn’t take it!

Tang Yi would probably ask him why he couldn’t take the photo, right? Then he could say, our relationship hasn’t broken yet, so why do you want to break up? Lin Rui’s matter is easy to discuss, ah, I just take him as a brother…

Gu Yanting felt his IQ at this point was simply explosive. He stood up straight, sucked in his belly and stared intently at Tang Yi, waiting for him to speak.

“I…” Tang Yi said, rubbing his brow. “I don’t care, you can keep this stuff if you want it, or throw it away if you don’t. It’s just that my things are going to be put in the second bedroom. I’m afraid that if someone who shouldn’t be here comes here, they’ll be upset when they see it.”

Gu Yanting: “……”

“The house is owned by you, but at least I still have the right to use the second bedroom. Let’s get along well. If you bring someone here later,” Tang Yi pointed to the picture frame hidden behind Gu Yanting, “don’t forget to keep this face down, otherwise it will dirty my eyes.”

Gu Yanting: “……”

Tang Yi: “I’m leaving.”

Tang Yi then took his phone and his wallet, grabbed a coat and just left.

Except for a sneer and a yell at the beginning, Gu Yanting looked like a fool the entire time tonight, nearly silent.

Not a single word of his high quality script came out.

The whole person looked like he had been struck by lightning.

In fact, not only Gu Yanting, but also Fat Sod who received a phone call in the middle of the night almost sent his phone flying, “Ah ah ah ah? The break-up? What did Sister-in-law say?”

Fat Sod yelled unreservedly for a long time, and finally came up with a sly, “Boss, you’re teasing me in the middle of the night, right?”

Gu Yanting kicked the coffee table in annoyance, “I have nothing else to do but to tease you! I just fucking got home, I don’t know anything, and then he comes up with this, confusing me like that!”

Gu Yanting’s senses finally returned, and he roared in anger, “How dare he fucking break up with me! How dare he break up with me! Fuck it! Let’s break up!”

“Yes, let’s break up!” Fat Sod shouted after him, “Boss, you wanted to break up for a long time anyway!”

“Bullshit!” Gu Yanting was furious.

Fat Sod shut his mouth and didn’t make a sound. Gu Yanting closed his eyes and stopped talking too.

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After a while, Fat Sod sighed and asked, “Boss, are you still in love with Lin Rui?”

Gu Yanting was confused by this sentence and mumbled for a long time, not knowing whether to say yes or no.

From the bottom of his heart, he had loved the man wholeheartedly for four years, how could he just say he had forgotten?

In the three years he had been with Tang Yi, although he hadn’t looked at other guys, he still daydreamed a lot.

For example, he, Gu Yanting, transformed into a rich and handsome man, and Lin Rui came crying and begging him to be together.

Another example was that Lin Rui was bullied by his old man. At a critical moment, he, Gu Yanting, fell from the sky and was a hero that saved the beauty.

But Gu Yanting also knew that this was an obsession. As good it was to keep it in your heart, as bad it was to bring it out.

It was as if you heard in your dream, “There is a fish in the North, its name is Kun, and Kun is so big.” And then reality tells you, “Make grilled fish, it can feed thousands of people, it’s slightly spicy, don’t use onions, put coriander on it”.

Tang Yi was his reality, sweet and sour, bitter and salty.

Lin Rui was the fish of the North in his dream, as big as he wanted it to be.

Today, when Tang Yi wanted to break up, in addition to being surprised, Gu Yanting was also a little angry after being exposed to the facts.

“I don’t know but… I really didn’t… really never thought about separating from Tang Yi.”

Gu Yanting looked like a balloon that had been punctured and deflated, “Fat Sod, I’m going to Hangzhou tomorrow on a business trip, I’ll leave the keys at your place.”

Fat Sod let out a sigh, “Why are you going away again?”

“The company arranged it, I happened to agree as well.” Gu Yanting said breathlessly, “You help me, um, take care of your sister-in-law.”

Fat Sod: “……” 

Tang Yi was a man who would make them feel guilty even if they smoked a cigarette; there was no need for him to “take care”.

“You want me to keep an eye on Sister-in-law, huh?”

Fat Sod shook his head a little unkindly and sighed, “Sister-in-law is so good, if he really starts something, how can I, an ordinary human being, stop it? Boss, you can’t be so unrighteous, in case Sister-in-law finds out I’m stalking, maybe you’ll have to go to the moat to fish me out when you get back.”

“I’ll fish,” Gu Yanting said after a pause, “it’s brothers dying together.”

Fat Sod didn’t swallow a mouthful of water and snorted it straight out of his nose.

Come on, what else can you say, let’s just die together.

He thought a little irritably, Tang Yi, Tang Yi, be merciful.

Gu Yanting was regarded as a popular figure in school, but in fact he was very straightforward and did not like to use his brains. Later Lin Rui became a famous gay in school, and Gu Yanting followed Lin Rui every day, and became involved in various rumors.

Gu Yanting was so stupid that he was not even aware of it and thought that his friends were always so nice to him. In fact, Fat Sod heard many people disparage him behind his back, faggot, butt-fucker, selling chrysanthemums… as bad as that.

Later, Gu Yanting met Tang Yi.

Then later, those who gossiped stayed away. Although they couldn’t refrain from saying something behind their backs, at least they didn’t dare to be two-faced and coax things out of Gu Yanting’s hands anymore.

From that time onwards, Fat Sod was somewhat afraid of Tang Yi.

Tsk, Tang Yi had kicked the boss’s ass!

Fat Sod hung up the phone, thinking in a daze. When he was about to fall asleep, five more big words popped up – how can it be possible?

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Tang Yi’s act of sneaking out of the hospital without permission was finally condemned by the little nurses en masse.

He made a righteous promise saying that he would never sneak out next time and he would definitely ask for a leave if he went out. As a result, he received a fatal series of calls from Soy Milk the next day.

Soy Milk was a cute little boy with a tiger head and a tiger mind (looking dignified and strong). His original name was Weiwei, and Soy Milk was the nickname Tang Yi had given him.

Tang Yi also had a fate with this child. The first time Tang Yi and this child met was when Tang Yi went to the shopping mall to talk about cooperation and saw a small red cotton-clad ball standing in the crowd, staring blankly with big eyes.

Tang Yi went over and carried him to the service centre, waiting to make sure the service desk had found his mother before leaving.

Six months later, he dined at the Yilong Court and bumped into the child again, beaming and teary-eyed, perched by the door.

After that, Tang Yi and he became friends, and Tang Yi also met the child’s unreliable mother.

The child’s mother saw that he was handsome and was in a high-end consumer place, so she immediately decided that Tang Yi was not a bad guy and let the child follow him to eat and drink.

Occasionally, the child missed Tang Yi. As long as Tang Yi was free, his mother immediately threw the child at him without saying a word.

“Tang Susu, can you come out(1)?” Soy Milk’s voice was tinged with tears, “I… can we meet at the usual place?”

Soy Milk’s mother was unreliable, but Soy Milk was very sensible. Usually when contacting Tang Yi, he would send a message, saying hello, I just miss you. Tang Yi was not always able to say yes, but five out of ten times he went to the appointment.

Today, this child called repeatedly as if his life depended on it, and Tang Yi’s first reaction was that something had happened.

“I’m free, where are you now, Soy Milk? Stay put, Uncle will find you.”

Tang Yi grabbed his phone and went to the nurse to ask for a leave. The nurse rolled her eyes speechlessly and granted it to him anyway.

The usual place Soy Milk had mentioned was a small park, the place where Tang Yi had taken him out to play for the first time. When Tang Yi arrived in a taxi, the little guy was sitting on a bench with a newspaper in his hand in a decent manner.

Tang Yi smiled helplessly, and only when he got closer did he find that the little guy was crying and sobbing. When he saw Tang Yi’s tall shadow falling on him, he threw the newspaper aside and, with a ‘wah’, hugged Tang Yi’s leg and cried.

Sure enough, something had happened.

The autumn noon sun was hot, and Soy Milk cried for a full ten minutes, his head covered in sweat. His eyes were red, and his long eyelashes were wet with tears and tangled.

Tang Yi wiped the sweat from his head with his hand and waited until he stopped crying with a sob before sighing, “What’s wrong? Can you tell Uncle what’s wrong?”

Soy Milk deflated and his eyes reddened again.

“Good boy, it’s good to cry when you are aggrieved. But it can’t be endless, can it? Otherwise the big monster will come and you’ll keep crying and crying and who’ll go and call Ultraman?”

“En!” Soy Milk wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, “I’ll go call Ultraman and beat them up!”

Tang Yi nodded and smiled, pinching Soy Milk’s bulging cheeks, “Who are them?”

“My… my dad.” Soy Milk clung to Tang Yi’s clothes as if he was afraid Tang Yi would run away. A pair of eyes as black as obsidian suddenly filled with tears again, “Mom said that Dad is going to take me away and won’t let me stay with her.”

……

Soy Milk’s mother was a very unreliable woman.

Tang Yi felt that he probably wouldn’t be able to have children in his life, so he had a special softness for children.

Sometimes when he led a team in negotiations and saw the other party bringing a child or talking about their children with a face full of tenderness, he would even be slightly more lenient.

In his opinion, Soy Milk’s mother was not a good mother.

She repeatedly left her child behind to go shopping or go out with men. Again, from time to time, the child was allowed to go out on his own to buy things or come out to find him.

In a small park like today, if someone had a crooked idea, Soy Milk would be lost just like that.

Tang Yi sighed, “Do you still like being with your mother?”

“Not really.”

Children’s emotions come and go quickly. He was happy when Tang Yi sat on the bench and took him in his arms.

“I don’t have a lot of ways,” Soy Milk bit his lip and whispered, “Mom is going to have a new Dad, and the new Dad… will have a new Mom too, right?”

What he said was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the meaning was very clear. When Soy Milk’s mom was dating her boyfriend, she was troubled by the fact that the boy was a liability. Although small, children are extra sensitive to adults’ emotional perceptions.

Soy Milk knew that he was a nuisance to his mother and was naturally worried that he would be labelled as being “an oil bottle” (child from a previous marriage) to his father whom he had never met.

Tang Yi’s heart ached as he rubbed Soy Milk’s head, “It’s okay, there is Uncle.”

“Yes,” Soy Milk nodded fiercely. “If only Susu could be my father.”

Once Soy Milk was coaxed, Tang Yi led him to walk along the park. As they walked, he taught him twice what each of the flowers and trees were called.

Not even two laps around, Soy Milk’s little mobile phone rang.

“Weiwei, you dead… hey, it’s Mr. Tang…” the woman said with a smile, “I said that Weiwei must have gone looking for you. His father still doesn’t believe it!”

Tang Yi frowned as he held the phone, “Well, Weiwei is with me.”

“Hey, that’s right. Weiwei’s dad came to pick him up, and just as we arrived at the restaurant, the kid ran away while we were parking. I almost died. So, Mr. Tang…”

The woman coughed lightly, “Could you, please, do a good deed and send the child over?”

Soy Milk clutched at Tang Yi’s clothes from the time the phone rang, like a wounded fawn.

Tang Yi looked at him and sighed, “Okay.”

Tang Yi held Soy Milk’s little hand all the way. Soy Milk couldn’t help but cry again, but this child also knew how to behave, still following Tang Yi while crying.

“Soy Milk, Soy Milk, listen to me,” Tang Yi saw that they were about to reach the place and stretched out his hand to wipe Soy Milk’s tears, “In a moment, Uncle will sit there and wait for you, don’t be afraid, okay? Uncle is with you.”

Soy Milk bit his lip and nodded, almost unable to catch his breath from crying.

The boy’s mother definitely didn’t want him anymore. As for his dad… who hadn’t come to see him for three years, it was hard to say…

“If,” Tang Yi hesitated, “they all don’t want you, Uncle will want you, okay?”

Soy Milk froze for a moment, and then his eyes lit up.

Tang Yi led him to the restaurant the woman mentioned, and when he reached the third floor, he found a spot directly opposite the stairs, then let go of Soy Milk’s hand and let him follow the waiter on his own.

To his surprise, it hadn’t been ten minutes before Soy Milk came running back happily.

“Susu, Susu, I’m back!” The child still had tears on his face, but at this moment his swollen eyes could not contain his smile, “My parents don’t want me, let’s go!”

“……” Tang Yi: “Where is your dad?”

“Just back there.” Soy Milk happily went to take his hand, “My dad is so easy to talk to! I said someone wanted me, and he said yes.”

Tang Yi was taken aback for a moment, and when he looked up again, his gaze bumped into a cold, solemn and handsome face that appeared every year at the annual meeting.

“…Mr. Zhou?”

Five minutes later Tang Yi carried Soy Milk to the Hummer parked in front of the restaurant, followed by the woman who waved happily at them and drove off in a mini.

Fat Sod hiding in the car watched in a daze for a long time until he got a good look at the tough-looking man in the driver’s seat and then let out an “oops” and texted Gu Yanting in a hurry.

“It’s over, boss! My sister-in-law has been picked up by a warhorse! The man in the front looks like you! No! Even more handsome than you!!!”

Gu Yanting was on the construction site, and after plucking the contents out of Fat Sod’s pile of exclamation marks, he exploded and dialled without thinking.

“What horse? Did Tang Yi go to the horse farm? Holy shit! Why does he need a horse? I’ll give him a whole platoon when I get back!”

Fat Sod was so angry at this bullheaded comment that his teeth ached, “Hummer!(2) A car! Boss, don’t be embarrassing, okay?”

“……” Gu Yanting froze, “A car? What do you mean?”

Fat Sod gave a full description of what happened today when he saw Tang Yi with a man and a child.

Gu Yanting: “What the fuck does he think he is? Driving a Hummer in the city, he’s either a coal miner or an upstart! Dumbass is squeaky clean, right? Must’ve never been out of the city. Comes from some desakota(3), bumps into a Phaeton on the road, thinks it’s a Passat(4) and says ‘Lao Tzu is better than ten of you’, right, try bumping into it…”

“…… ” Fat Sod couldn’t listen to it anymore.

Gu Yanting: “……”

Gu Yanting: “I’ll go buy a ticket, wait.”

The author has something to say:

Little Theatre

Gu Yanting: Wife, what kind of animals do you like?

Tang Yi: Horses.

Gu Yanting: (Angry) You’re not done yet, you’re still thinking about that guy, right? What’s the big deal about a shitty Hummer?

Tang Yi: Horse, herbivore, mammal, odd-toed ungulate(5).

Gu Yanting: (⊙＿⊙) Oh, I like them too.

Tang Yi: ……

Gu Yanting: I also like asses (⊙＿⊙)…

Tang Yi: Get lost!