CH 4

Xiao Ke had never before been afraid of anyone at a KTV since he came with his own aura. Every time Fang Qimiao heard him sing, he would call him “Grandpa Xiao.” 

After all, when Xiao Ke was at a young and tender age, he had participated in a talent show where he had sung a song that got him a direct ticket to the top 300 singers in the country. At that time, he heard his roommate talk about it which made him run to join in on the fun, and they allowed him to continue performing until he did not want to. He had tickets in his pocket for two and a half days before he rushed to withdraw from the competition.

He was very clear on how skilled he actually was. Who didn’t have two or three songs that they were good at? He could bluff his way into the top 300, but he thought that he would get eliminated since he refused to continue as a spare. However, his singing was better than those around him. 

Xiao Ke went upstairs following the address given to him by Fang Qimao,and he immediately heard Fang Qimao’s loud voice when he pushed open the door to the private room, “Hey, Master Xiao is here! Whoever it was that just said that they sing well, come out immediately and kowtow!”

“Xiao Ke is here?” Someone came over to grab Xiao Ke’s shoulder as they greeted him with, “Hello.”

The room was a little dark and Xiao Ke had just come in from outside so he could not figure out who was who, but the voices did sound familiar. This group of people should be Fang Qimao’s high school classmates who were part of the rich second generation that gathered together. Even though they were usually distanced from each other, they were still a very small and united group which was absolutely wonderful.

Xiao Ke had a good relationship with Fang Qimiao so he would occasionally join their hangouts. After so many years, they all pretty much knew each other.　

“Who just pretended to be a grandson with me? Kneel down immediately and call me dad, or else  your boxers will not be left alone later on! Go back butt-naked!” Fang Qimao was still shouting.

Xiao Ke walked over with his hands in his pockets and kicked Fang Qimiao. “What are you doing?”

Fang Qimiao turned around and hugged him. “Master Xiao! I’ve already lost more than 10,000! Help me destroy them!” 

Xiao Ke was a bit confused. “How did you lose?”

“I lost by singing!”

“…” Xiao Ke was speechless. It took him a while to understand that these brainiacs had just gambled based on the points given by the KTV system. It wasn’t surprising that Fang Qimao had lost due to his singing voice so Xiao Ke pulled a handful of his hair while scolding him in a whisper, “You’re stupid, aren’t you? You’re scoring blindly! Even if you sing well, you won’t necessarily be given a high score. What’s wrong with your brain?”

Fang Qimao also whisper-shouted as he exclaimed, “Anyway, I can’t get a high score if I don’t sing well, but you’re definitely better than me, Master Xiao! You just come on and lose, then I just let you out to take a break and roar a little. Do you really think I asked you here to help me sing?” 

Xiao Ke laughed, and then told him, “Fine. Why were you willing to let me suffer?”

“Got it!” Fang Qimiao jumped up to choose a song for him. He knew how Xiao Ke did things.《Why Were You Willing to Let Me Suffer?》1 was his warm-up song. It was one of the songs that he was especially good at, and he had also sung this song when he had gone to attend the survival show. 

However, Xiao Ke hadn’t sung it in a while. This song only sounded good if real emotions were put into it which was why  he hadn’t dared to sing it after he had broken up with Lin An. It was not that he was scared to sing it with his real emotions, but rather that he was scared that everyone would think too much into it. After all, the title of the song and the lyrics both seemed to say that he couldn’t forget or let go of his old lover.

It was never Xiao Ke’s style to retain the other party with whining. From the beginning of the breakup, Xiao Ke did not think of returning one day. Fang Qimao had remarked that he was actually quite cold-hearted, and Xiao Ke agreed. He also appreciated this aspect of himself.

Living in this manner was very chic, and it ensured that he wasn’t pitiful.

Xiao Ke only got 85 after one song, but it was enough to help Fang Qimao get some money back. Someone on the sidelines said, “You guys are such cheaters, looking for outside help!”

“Then you find help too. No one’s stopping you.” Fang Qimiao stuffed an apple slice into Xiao Ke’s mouth. “Come rest your throat, Master Xiao.”

That day, Xiao Ke sang a total of three rounds which was just three songs that helped Fang Qimao come out even though he didn’t allow him win any actual money. However, that was not important as Fang Qimao did not really care about the money. After all, listening to Xiao Ke as he sang love songs was really quite enjoyable.

Xiao Ke did not drink a sip of liquor, and instead drank a glass of juice. The two people went home together, and when Fang Qimao was finally left alone with him, he flopped on the passenger side as he hummed while saying that he was going to Xiao Ke’s house.

Xiao Ke didn’t care since they both knew each other from junior high school and had grown up together, so he often took Fang Qimao in whenever he was drunk.

That person cleaned up before he flopped down on top of the sofa. In the middle of the night, Xiao Ke leisurely took a shower before he laid down. Last night, he had three hours of sleep while today he went crazy till midnight. He was a little too old to cope with this. He was no longer the young man with unlimited energy from his early twenties, but rather he was at the age where he really couldn’t stay up all night. Before going to bed, he decided to do a facial mask since he had gotten up.

Fang Qimao spent the night on his couch and slept quite well. When he opened his eyes, he found that the sky was bright so he reached over for his phone on the coffee table to find out that it was eleven o’clock.

“Xiao Ke?” He yawned before shouting again, “Master Xiao?”

“Here.” Xiao Ke walked in from the patio while carrying a watering can. “The God of Sleep has awoken?” 

“Fuck, I didn’t know it was eleven o’clock. I thought it was only seven or eight o’clock.” Fang Qimao rubbed his eyes. “Why did you let me sleep on the couch again? I don’t understand you anymore. There’s obviously a room for me, why the couch?”

Xiao Ke put down the watering can and said, “I’m afraid you’ll throw up on the bed, and then I’ll have to wash it.”

“That’s logical,” Fang Qimao said as he stepped into his slippers so he could empty his bladder in the bathroom. “Then you should be glad I didn’t throw up. If I had really thrown up, you could wash the sheets, but would you be able to wash your couch if I throw up? Were you going to take it apart?”

“I ain’t taking apart a damn thing.” Xiao Ke smirked at him. “I was eager for you to throw up on it so I could get a new one.” 

Fang Qimiao spoke while peeing, “So you were waiting for me to come here.”

Xiao Ke had in fact only been awake for a short while, but he was so sleep-deprived that it was past ten o’clock when he ended up opening his eyes. He didn’t bother to make breakfast, so he directly ordered takeout and the two of them had just finished cleaning up when it was delivered.

Fang Qimao ate youtiao as he chatted with Xiao Ke, and he asked him if the project was finished.

Xiao Ke replied that it was almost there.

The two of them hadn’t seen each other for a while since Xiao Ke couldn’t get away from his experiments which made him busy like a dog every day while Fang Qimao who was an idle person in a government-owned enterprise was living in style. He said to Xiao Ke, “Why are you doing this? I told you to start a company with me, but you didn’t want to. You had to go on to become a stupid teacher. What was the point of it?”

“All I’m able to do is experiment, so I would only be able to start a ghost of a company with you.” Xiao Ke expressionlessly sipped his soy milk. “You’ve developed yourself fine, and I’ll rely on you if I run out of food.”

“I’m not going to do shit, but my dad is pressuring me to go back to the company every day, and he’s also pressuring me to get married.” Fang Qimao said with a frown on his face. “The last two years have not been like the olden days. It sucks.”

Xiao Ke could not intervene on this topic, because he did not have any of these problems. Although he was not of young age, his family would not force him to marry. He could only silently drink his soy milk, and said after a while, “Or you can also come out of the closet to your family.”

“Fuck, can I live after that?” Fang Qimao shuddered when he thought about the potential consequences. “Do I not want these legs anymore? My father would kill me. Besides, I’m not the same as you.”

Xiao Ke nodded, “Yeah.”

“I’m not…It doesn’t have to be a guy, I love pretty girls too. I just haven’t had enough fun yet. I hope that day will come later on when I’ve had enough and I’m ready to get married.”

Xiao Ke did not know what to say, so he did not say anything more. Fang Qimiao asked him what he was planning on doing tomorrow. Xiao Ke said nothing.　

“Then will you walk with me to the street?” Fang Qimao asked him.

“No, thank you,” Xiao Ke couldn’t help but laugh. “Two gays walking the street will burn their eyes. Are you my little sister?”

“That’s funny, who can tell that we’re two gays when we go out? I am more manly and you are more handsome ah, and it’s not like we’re  going shopping to buy clothes or do our nails, right? I need to find a fucking place to get a tattoo.”

Xiao Ke raised his eyebrows. “Who wants a tattoo? You?”

“Yeah, me.” Fang Qimao said, “I asked a few people to introduce me to a place, but all the fuckin’ waitlists are for months later, and I don’t know why there are so many tattoos happening now, but they are all just piling up. Some of the famous people have to make an appointment in advance, and I don’t want to make a fucking appointment, I want it tomorrow. Let’s walk the street and if we see any stores, we will go in. It doesn’t matter if the tattoo is good or bad anyway, I can’t see it so others won’t see it.”

Xiao Ke asked him, “Where are you planning to tattoo where no one, including yourself, can see it?”

Fang Qimao lowered his head to snicker for half a day before he looked up and said, “Tattoo on my butt. I want a tattoo of a doge dog, or a cute dog head. I’ll give a [doge] to anyone who wants to fuck me when we’re dating, and I’ll let him shrivel up from taunts until I can fuck him.”

“…” Xiao Ke opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. Sometimes, he really couldn’t understand Fang Qimao’s thought process. He was not called this name for no reason since he was in fact originally called Fang Simu, but he himself had changed his name because he thought it sounded too fanciful.

“Even I think it’s very bizarre. Pretty interesting though, right?” Fang Qimiao stood up after eating and said, “If you won’t accompany me, then I’ll go walk around by myself. But I’m scared that my butt will hurt after the tattoo. If I walk around while holding onto my butt, I’ll look too feminine.”

Xiao Ke finished the last of his soy milk before clearing the boxes and the paper bag off of the table. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth before he said, “A tattoo artist, right? I know one.”

Fang Qimiao was slightly surprised. “When did you know one? Why haven’t I heard about it?”

Xiao Ke looked at him and smiled, “The day before yesterday. An encounter with a beauty.”

“The…fuck?” Fang Qimiao blinked.

Xiao Ke blinked at him as he said, “We drank together.”

“Has Master Xiao become a stray monk? Is he not staying at his school being a monk anymore? After drinking…he went for a round?” Fang Qimao was still a bit confused, as this word that came from Xiao Ke’s mouth was really a mind-blowing one. “What kind of person, ah?”

Xiao Ke once again remembered that man who said his name was “Zhou Zui, Zui for sin.” The person who said that, took the cigarette out of his mouth before he threw it away, but at that time, the cigarette bounced on the ground.

Xiao Ke cocked an eyebrow and smiled as he said, “A really cool one…Looking at him makes me feel comfortable.”