CH 83

Episode Ten – The “Basics” of Love Life (4)

Just after the two of them established their relationship, they had encountered the incident with Mr. Li. It was a reminder to Xia Zhi of the following: that his man had countless money-throwing slaves. Furthermore, he was so hot and sexy, how could he even compare?

This issue became smaller over time, until it gradually faded away. The important thing was that he knew the real Ye Qia, and Ye Qia knew the real him. They didn’t have a client-provider relationship, but were two individuals truly in love.

Wasn’t that great?

Thus, Xia Zhi felt that he no longer cared should another “Mr. Li incident,” arise. Nevertheless, in the face of reality, he found that he had no control over his temper.

“Did you tell him clearly?”

“What do you think?” Ye Qia’s eyes were filled with profound frustration. “This one is too persistent. I already warned him many times. Originally, I didn’t want to take any new clients, but his benefactor is Wang Ke, so I couldn’t turn him away.”

“Then, are you not able to stop servicing him?”

“I already stopped a week ago, and Wang Ke had a few words with him.” Ye Qia sighed, “But he only said that now that we don’t have any relationship between master and slave, that he’s free to pursue me.”

Xia Zhi was unable to bear it any longer, shedding all pretenses of “Client Confidentiality,” as he demanded forthrightly, “Who is it?”

“Bai Min.”

Just hearing this name caused Xia Zhi to feel a huge crisis: this was an out-of-the-closet major film director!

The film director part wasn’t the important thing. Ye Qia had clients from all walks of life. The main thing was that this guy was openly gay! Bai Min could publicly woo Ye Qia, but he couldn’t!

All of Xia Zhi’s courage immediately dissipated, and he hesitated to ask, “Does… he know about me?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already warned him. He doesn’t dare involve you.”

Xia Zhi kept quiet for a while before he laughed mockingly, “Actually, it’s fine if he does. My mother never believed I’m gay.”

Ye Qia was shocked, “You’ve come out before?”

“Yeah, I said it before and my mom passed out. Afterwards, I didn’t dare to say it again.” Xia Zhi continued depressingly, “Either way, I didn’t want my mom to suffer.”

Ye Qia stayed silent in understanding before he asked, “Your mom isn’t pushing you to marry?”

“Well, I think she actually understands, but didn’t say anything and continues to trick herself.” Xia Zhi stated, “It’s just to maintain the status quo. Anyways, if she doesn’t push me, I’ll just keep pretending. It’s just awkward during New Year. She feels awkward, and I feel awkward, so I don’t want to go back. Plus, she’s with my aunt and they get along well, so I’m not worried.”

“Don’t think too much. Your mom is in a better place anyways.” Ye Qia consoled, “I won’t let him turn this into a big deal.”

Although Ye Qia was very capable, Xia Zhi felt a strange premonition. And sure enough, a few days later, he caught sight of a headline in the entertainment portion of the newpaper: Major News, a Well-Known Director Suspected to Be Homosexual, Prepares to Propose After Many Years. The man in the news was, without a doubt, Bai Min.

He bellowed in rage while tearing the paper in half and, under the “concerned” gazes of his silent co-workers, pressed his head against his desk. 

This was too much!

Wasn’t it just a matter of coming out?

Just coming out…

Just…

Xia Zhi gloomily laid on his desk for a long time without thinking of any solutions. As he laid there despondently, his phone rang and he picked it up to see it was from Ye Qia.

He really didn’t want to pick up Ye Qia’s call for the time being. He felt that, as a boyfriend, he had lost face. He couldn’t publicly protect his own lover, and didn’t dare to come out. Even though Ye Qia also didn’t come out to his parents, he was out in his ordinary life. He, on the other hand, was not. And after the experience with his mother, he knew just how much trouble his sexuality would bring about.

Weakly answering the phone, he asked, “What’s up?”

“Don’t come home tonight.”

“Why?”

“Some reporters got our address.”

“Fuck!” Xia Zhi hollered, “Is Michelle Junior still at home? They won’t do anything to him, right?”

“…”

The call was disconnected, and Xia Zhi stared blankly at it for two whole seconds before he reacted and hastily called back, whispering, “I got too excited.”

“So you said exactly what was on your mind?”

“No, definitely not.” After a momentary silence, he continued, “What I want to say is, I’m…”

“Upset?”

After some thought, Xia Zhi said with extreme reluctance, “You said you could handle your work affairs.”

There came a sigh from the other end of the phone as Ye Qia said in a tone of rare dejection, “I’ll take care of it as soon as possible. Don’t come home these days. I’ll take care of Michelle Junior, you take care of yourself. I already put some money on the card for you. If there’s nothing urgent, don’t call me. Okay?”

This made Xia Zhi’s ominous premonition even more intense. When he got off work, he checked the card to find 500,000 on it. His entire being was menacing, filled with dark clouds and thunderstorms. 

Just what exactly is going on?

This couldn’t even be considered in line with breaking up, this was more like parting for life!

What happened? Was it something that even Ye Qia couldn’t handle? Did something big occur? What kind of background did the other party have?

The more Xia Zhi thought about it, the more fearful he became. All kinds of dreadful scenes popped in his mind. That night, he randomly found a hotel, but was unable to sleep. First, there was no Ye Qia’s thigh for him to feel up. Second, he kept thinking about what to do if worse came to worst.

It was at this time, that he finally understood that he needed to plan ahead, just like Ye Qia had told him. If he was unprepared, he could only weather the storm as he was. Several times, he wanted to call Ye Qia but forcibly stopped himself, for fear of disturbing Ye Qia’s plans.

He tossed and turned all through the night, and woke the next day with a set of big dark circles around his eyes. His person was soulless, and after dialing the wrong number for the third time, he arduously got through to the snarling debtor and said, “Please send me seven orders of three-cup chicken…

Eventually, his director noticed something was amiss and pulled him into the office.

Ever since the last time they had a familiar exchange regarding “Self-Inspections for Sexually Transmitted Infections,” the relationship between the two had made leaps and bounds, and there was already a rumor circulating the office of a “clandestine affair” between the two.

“Xiao Xia, it’s not good for young people to lack drive.”

Xia Zhi had his head bowed, nodding like a pecking chicken. 

“If you have any difficulties, you need to overcome them.”

After a period of silence, Xia Zhi asked, “Director, if your girlfriend was being chased by a wealthier, more handsome man, and she said she could handle it herself, and told you not to go home, and gave you some money, what would you do?”

The director replied with deep concern, “Xiao Xia, is your head broke? Isn’t this called breaking up?”

As soon as he heard this, Xia Zhi was thunderstruck. His eyes became round. “D-Director, actually, I think he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t…”

“Then why didn’t she just throw you out?”

He suddenly recalled: Right, he couldn’t go publicly, but he could go privately! Let’s go meet that Bai Min!

—–

Neirith: Fuck’em up Xia Zhi! Tell him who’s boss!