CH 30

Ye Yao also didn’t expect his students to come bumbling in not long after he moved in, saying they couldn’t afford to waste every minute of study time.

The learning spirit was commendable, but it was getting late and Ye Yao finished the day with some basic content and a few questions for Wang Xue.

Wang Xue was still reluctant to leave, propping herself up against the wall with one hand, clutching the book with the other, and sucking in his chest, making herself look like he could show him the outline of his abs under his clothes.

The teasing from an underage male made Ye Yao’s heart stop: “Memorise everything I’ve scratched out for you tonight, and if you think you can finish it even if you waste time here, I can make a cup of tea and continue watching you perform for another half hour.”

Wang Xue : “……”

Pretty tutor is really mean, how come his temptations didn’t work at all!

Wang Xue entered the lift with his head hung in despair, and as he watched the lift close and the numbers start to jump down, Ye Yao turned around and went back inside.

*

The door slams shut, cutting off Lu Xun’s view.

Ye Yao disappeared from his sight again.

Lu Xun slowly closes the door, his hands covered in cold sweat.

Ye Yao’s words made it clear in time that the man was one of Ye Yao’s students, and he was able to restrain himself from pushing out the door and carrying the strange man away.

Ye Yao was already alienating him and he had to be careful to try not to make moves that would push Ye Yao further away.

Even though he hates gay men, and even more so Ye Yao, who spends a lot of time alone with others, it’s Ye Yao’s job and Ye Yao is just using his work ethic to get along with people.

He engages in patience, looking for opportunities to draw closer until the day the string in his head breaks, or he figures it out.

Lu Xun waited until the next day.

Knowing Ye Yao’s routine, he went to the door and waited at the cat’s eye as it was almost time for Ye Yao to eat at noon. After a short wait, he saw the damn high school boy come out of the house, and after a short wait, he saw Ye Yao, fully dressed and ready to go out to eat after his morning work.

Lu Xun immediately took out his mobile phone and called Ye Yao, when the call was answered, he softened his voice: “Have you eaten? I’ll come over to your place and have lunch with you?”

Ye Yao replied to Lu Xun as he closed the door and walked out : “Well, I’ve already eaten.”

Lu Xun’s breath stopped for a moment as he watched Ye Yao out of sight, Lu Xun continued to ask softly, “Why are you eating so early today?”

“Meal times will change with the make-up time, so it’s not quite the same as before.” Ye Yao pulled the conversation away from herself, “Have you eaten yet? You have to eat well even if I’m not with you, you know?”

“I …… I haven’t eaten yet.” Lu Xun continued to speak with difficulty, “What did you have for lunch today? I want to eat the same as you.”

“Eat cassoulet rice, I remember there is a cassoulet rice in the school that does well too, you go there?” Ye Yao said.

“Yes, I’ll have cassoulet and rice too.” Lu Xun said softly.

They chatted for a few more minutes, and when they thought Ye Yao had taken the lift downstairs, Lu Xun opened the door carefully.

Outside, Ye Yao is nowhere to be seen. Lu Xun pulls his hat and mask back on and presses the lift button.

It was the lunchtime rush and it took some time for the lift to come up and go down again, so Lu Xun didn’t even see Ye Yao when he went down. He went to a nearby cassoulet restaurant to eat, as he had agreed with Ye Yao, where he saw him sitting alone in the corner.

A heavily armed Lu Xun orders his meal and sits behind a green plant, with one part of his mind on the sizzling chicken and nine parts of his mind on Ye Yao.

Ye Yao would rather eat alone than with him.

What really happened to …… and how did it come to this?

*

In the evening, Lu Xun continued to ask Ye Yao to dinner, but he was still politely refused.

“How tired you are running around just to have a meal with me.” Ye Yao said, “And I’m going back tomorrow, do you have anything you’d like to eat from the central area? I’ll bring you one back.”

Lu Xun lowered his eyes: “It’s good that you’re back, so you don’t have to queue up to buy it.”

Lu Xun asked him out for two days in a row, but Ye Yao declined for various reasons.

Sunday night’s dinner date also fell through, so Lu Xun sighed hard, rubbed his face and left the house to return to the dorm early, telling the others not to tell Ye Yao that he was away for the weekend.

Ye Yao returned to the hostel after 9pm, but he still brought Lu Xun a small snack.

Lu Xun would eat anything that Ye Yao brought back. He sat down against Ye Yao and said softly as he ate: “I knew Brother Ye was the best to me, always thinking of me, no matter what time it is, he is the best brother in my life.”

Ye Yao responded, his face showing no emotion as he patted Lu Xun’s hand, “I’m going to take a shower first, you take your time.”

As Ye Yao left, the strings in Lu Xun’s head, which had already been taut, tightened.

He also had to continue to endure.

Work hard to be a ten best friend, one day …… Ye Yao will want to make up with him, right?

*

At weekends, Ye Yao continues to go out to stay, and Lu Xun follows.

Before leaving the dormitory Xiao Pang hesitantly asked him if he was having a problem with Ye Yao, but Ye Yao seemed normal again and they didn’t really understand what was going on.

“There’s been some minor friction,” Lu Xun says, “and I’ll try to reconcile that.”

Lu Xun is working hard, but the biggest problem he faces now is that Ye Yao doesn’t give him the chance to work hard.

He still tried to ask Ye Yao out for dinner on weekends, but Ye Yao used various excuses and finally said that the food outside was not clean and hygienic.

Lu Xun has not given up.

“So I’ll buy the food and go make it for you? Find a house with a kitchen and I’ll bring it to the crossroads and you can come out and pick it up.” Lu Xun said, “It will be clean and hygienic, and definitely to your liking. The chef will cook for you today, Brother Ye?”

Ye Yao let out a laugh, “The chef is too expensive, my wallet is not enough to pay Chef Lu for half an hour, I will hire Chef Lu next time when I have money.”

“How can it be high, it’s free, I’m a man who casually whores for nothing.” Lu Xun dismisses this joke-like excuse.

Ye Yao sighed extremely softly, “I’m too busy Lu Xun , I probably don’t have time to eat so formally, I’ll just cook a random noodle to cope, you don’t have to work hard either.”

Even though Lu Xun was trying to relax, the strings in his head were getting tighter and tighter.

Lu Xun said half-jokingly and half-seriously, “How can you be so busy that you can’t even take time to eat? It’s inhumane to work more than ten hours a day. How about I go and fight for you to change to an eight-hour working day.”

“Well, my tutor’s child has fallen behind so much that I’m scrambling to catch him up, and I’m really pressed for time.” Ye Yao said, “Didn’t you have to race against time when you were tutoring him before? He’s just like you and has a much lower foundation than you, and he’s even more pressed for time now than he was when he was tutoring you before. You can imagine him as you were in the past, and you will understand.”

This is not the first time Ye Yao has used the excuse that tutors are busy, but this is the first time he has compared Lu Xun to others.

Same as him.

Lu Xun heard the phrase.

Ye Yao has only been with that high school boy for how long and he’s already like that guy?

What does it mean to ask him to imagine himself as the male high school student, the one who will later become best friends with Ye Yao, just like him?

Ye Yao is unique in his mind and will never be compared to anyone else, and he longs to have the same status in Ye Yao’s heart.

The string in his mind finally snapped as his over-stretched brain couldn’t process too much information.

All his efforts were to no avail and Ye Yao just made up his mind to stay away from him.

” Ye Yao .” Lu Xun took a deep breath and spoke quickly, “I know your employer, I happened to run into her after you left that day, I told her that the two of us were friends and now we were fighting, she gave me the key to the house next door and told me to find a chance to make up with you.”

There was a sudden silence from Ye Yao on the other end of the line.

“I’m right next door to you …… going out now, on your doorstep, would you like to come out and talk to me frankly and openly about it all?” Lu Xun walked out.

Ye Yao is awfully quiet.

“If you don’t come out, I’ll wait here until the end of time.” Lu Xun said coldly, “I just want a reason, a reason for you to do this to me, is that too much to ask of you? Don’t say anything about you not intentionally distancing yourself from me just being busy, I don’t have zero intelligence yet.”

The phone was hung up by Ye Yao, and Lu Xun stood straight in front of Ye Yao’s house, holding the phone.

He didn’t look at the time, and he didn’t know how long he had been waiting, when he finally heard the door slam.

He looked at Lu Xun as if nothing had happened.

He didn’t get angry and question why Lu Xun was following him like that, he just said calmly, “You weren’t supposed to come over, I had arranged it.”

Lu Xun was furious, his patience had been sapped over the past few days and he could not afford to add fuel to the fire. He pushed Ye Yao by the shoulders and marched into the house, snapping the door shut with his back hand and pressing Ye Yao against the wall.

In his anger, he remembered to put his hand on the back of Ye Yao’s head to cushion it, lest Ye Yao’s head come into direct contact with the hard wall.

“You’ve arranged it? You want me to follow your plan every step of the way, Ye Yao?” Lu Xun’s face was horribly pale and the hand he had on the back of Ye Yao’s head pushed a little harder, making Ye Yao look up at him, “If you don’t give me a convincing reason, not only will I live next door to you, I’ll find a way to get closer, and you won’t get rid of me like that.”

Ye Yao does not speak.

“Are you going to say it?” Lu Xun squeezed his voice, “Do you think I have a good temper, Ye Yao, and can be taken at your beck and call?”

Ye Yao is still silent, as if he has suddenly turned into a saw-jawed gourd and lost his speech.

He is also reluctant to meet Lu Xun’s eyes again, instead focusing on the vase of flowers to the side.

Lu Xun was not a gentle person at heart, he knew that very well. In the past Lu Xun had been kind to him and he had enjoyed special treatment, but after today that special treatment would probably be gone.

They were now torn apart, and if he just didn’t tell Lu Xun why today, how long would Lu Xun be able to stick around him with a hot face and a cold ass? Lu Xun is very arrogant at heart and will probably leave before long.

He thought he had arranged the right distance, that he couldn’t bear to be any closer, but in reality the distance was unacceptable for Lu Xun.

Things can never go both ways.

“You’re really not going to tell me anything?” Lu Xun spoke again.

“…… I’ve said what I should have said,” Ye Yao finally opened his mouth, raising his eyes to Lu Xun , “you shouldn’t have come along.”

Ye Yao was struck by the familiarity of the scene, as he had confronted Lu Xun many times in the past.

And every time they have confronted each other, Lu Xun has been the first to give in, and this time it certainly won’t be.

Ye Yao could see the angry look in Lu Xun’s eyes, and then Lu Xun slowly lowered his eyes.

Ye Yao’s waist was wrapped in an arm, and the man who had just confronted him so forcefully, so full of anger, gently embraced him, leaning down and resting his head on his shoulder.

“Yes, that’s how I am,” Lu Xun’s muffled voice sounded in Ye Yao’s ear, a low, weak tone, “do whatever you want, just don’t ignore me and don’t get mad at me, okay?”

Ye Yao felt like he had been punched in the heart.

He was not afraid that Lu Xun would get tough with him, the only thing he was afraid of was Lu Xun talking to him like that.

Ye Yao took a deep breath and pushed Lu Xun outwards, “…… let go.”

Lu Xun held his tighter: “No, I’m an octopus, no bones must stick to you.”

Ye Yao pushed again and this time he gave an excuse: “I’m thirsty and need to get some water.”

Lu Xun finally lets go and Ye Yao walks to the living room and sits on the sofa to pour herself and Lu Xun a cup of tea each, but the teapot is grabbed by Lu Xun.

“I’ll do it, this teapot weighs a lot, the water in it is still a bit hot, don’t burn yourself.” Lu Xun said.

Lu Xun sensitively caught Ye Yao’s faltering as he hugged his and said soft words, and he certainly didn’t miss the opportunity to build on it.

Lu Xun poured a glass of water and held it in front of Ye Yao, who was about to turn back into a silent, saw-jawed gourd.

Ye Yao sipped his water in silence and Lu Xun said in a softer voice, “I don’t know why you suddenly don’t want to talk to me, but is there a problem that we can’t solve together?”

Ye Yao Yao drinks in silence, his lips wet with the watery liquid and turning an aqua red.

The left hand that was resting on the sofa was suddenly gripped, and it was not necessary to think about who was holding his hand.

Ye Yao’s left hand is pulled up by Lu Xun, who wraps it completely in both hands and holds it in his palm.

“I haven’t been able to touch you like this in a long time.” Lu Xun whispered.

Ye Yao didn’t answer, he jerked his hand out and couldn’t pull it out.

“I used to want to carry you around like this for the rest of my life,” Lu Xun continues to whisper, “but then you wouldn’t let me.”

Lu Xun warmed Ye Yao’s hand in its entirety, “I don’t know why you’ve distanced yourself from me, but my heart won’t change. Not now, not ever.”

Ye Yao Yao held his cup of tea without drinking it or moving it.

” Ye Yao , Brother Ye .” Lu Xun’s tone was already considered pleading, ” Ye Yao , what have I done wrong that you don’t like, tell me why, I will change.”

Every word entered Ye Yao’s ears and crashed down the bloodstream to his heart.

The dykes that had been holding up crumbled in a flash.

He would rather Lu Xun and him fight than have Lu Xun face him with this attitude. Wasn’t it anger and rage, why not fight with him, go cold turkey, tough it out and live with him for a few days before getting bored and finally going their separate ways?

Why such a show of weakness and soft words, saying that there are mistakes that will definitely be changed, the unruly and unconvincing one?

Lu Xun’s attitude was such that he could not hide his true feelings.

No one should trample on someone else’s heart.

Ye Yao placed his teacup heavily on the table.

“Okay, I’ll tell you why.” Ye Yao said in a deep voice, “It’s not about you, it’s about me.”

Lu Xun’s whole body tensed up and he covered Ye Yao’s hand and laughed to lighten the mood: “Your problem? How can you have a problem, Brother Ye, even if you’re wrong, it’s still right.”

Ye Yao didn’t smile as he tried again to pull his hand out, still failing.

Let Lu Xun hold on to it until the truth is known, and Lu Xun will release it of his own accord.

“The most intolerable thing you can think of that you can’t stand is the reason I chose to stay away.” Ye Yao’s eyes dropped, “It’s something you’ll draw a line in the sand with me once you know about it.”

The one he can’t stand?

There were many things Lu Xun didn’t like, but only two came to his mind at this moment. Any one of them would make his body go cold and his blood flow backwards.

Ye Yao has already fallen in love and become someone else’s boyfriend, and has even secretly gotten his license and will be getting married in a few days.

Or maybe Ye Yao met a like-minded friend with whom he was incredibly compatible and decided that he was the soulmate, so he got tired of him.

Ye Yao looked at Lu Xun’s stiff expression and slowly curled his lips: “It seems you have already thought of it.”

Ye Yao said, word for word, “Yes, I like men.”

The two mountains that had been weighing Lu Xun down were suddenly shattered, and Lu Xun’s whole body was mentally uncontrollably lightened as bright daylight shone through the cracks in the shattered mountains.

Lu Xun’s heart pounds and his body is wrapped in warmth, so that he can’t help but give a smile.

Great, great, Ye Yao just loves men!