CH 37

At this moment, a woman suddenly appeared at the door. Her eyes were red, her expression was poor and her hair was dishevelled as she shouted loudly, “Zhong Yiming! Get over here!!”

Her shrill voice caused the originally rowdy classroom to fall silent in an instant.Everyone turned to look at Zhong Yiming.Zhong Yiming slowly stood up and, as if he seemed to have realised something, his face turned pale.After Zhong Yiming left the classroom, he called the woman ‘mother’ and asked, “Why are you here?”Zhao Yi sneered, “What? I can’t come to your school now? After everything I’ve done to support you and your studies, this is how you’re treating me? If I hadn’t gotten the computer repairman to check your computer, I wouldn’t have known that you’re actually a pervert!!”Zhong Yiming’s face was finally void of any colour. His voice trembled, “You searched my computer?”Zhao Yi gave him a fierce slap and began to cry, “I really raised you in vain. How could you treat me like this? How could you and your father treat me like this?!”Her cries attracted the attention of many of his classmates. Those curious looks made Zhong Yiming’s expression turn bad. His eyes similarly turned red and he tried to coax the emotional Zhao Yi, “Mum, let’s talk about this at home, okay?”Zhao Yi started to scream, “What? You’re now afraid of being an embarrassment?! You can actually be embarrassed? Your father and I are normal but how did we give birth to a pervert like you?!”The word ‘pervert’ punctured his eardrums again and again. Zhong Yiming’s face was pale and his eyes were red. He raised his voice, “Mum!”, before lowering it back down again and pleaded, “Mum, let’s talk about this at home. I’ll listen to anything you say. Don’t make a fuss at school, okay?”“You’re telling me not to make a fuss? You think I’m making a fuss? Even if you want me to go home, I’m not going home!” After saying that, she beat her chest and cried, “What kind of sin have I committed in my past life for my own son to like men?! Men!! What’s the point of living anymore? I should just go and die!”All the blood in Zhong Yiming’s body seemed to have rushed into his head. Both his face and eyes were red and filled with despair. His ears were roaring so loudly, he could no longer hear the voices of other people, “Mum…..”With trembling lips, he called out to Zhao Yi.Zhao Yi shouted back, “Don’t call me mum, you disgusting thing!”“You’re disgusting. How could you even like men?! And you watch those kinds of things too! I’m ashamed of you!”

“You have the courage to do it but you’re afraid of becoming an embarrassment? The more you don’t want me to say it, the more I will do it. Why can’t I say that my son is gay? How could I have a son like you?! If your father knew about this, he would blame this on me! You pervert! You were the reason for our divorce! Your father must have already discovered the fact that you are gay and that was why he left us!”Zhao Yi continued to wail loudly. She had completely lost her usual refined demeanour.Facing Zhao Yi’s barrage of insults, Zhong Yiming could only feel his heart racing fast and his entire body growing weak. The whispers of his classmates that ranged from surprise to disbelief to mockery all entered his ears. This secret of his had been ruthlessly stripped bare and exposed to the public by the person closest to him, turning him into a laughing stock.In his dizzy state, despair overwhelmed him like a surging tide. He even considered taking his life as a way to escape from this. His gaze fell onto the balcony before him. They were on the fifth floor. As long as he jumped off, he would be able to escape from Zhao Yi’s vicious insults and those knife-like stares. As long as he jumped off, he would be able to preserve his final shred of dignity…..His gaze travelled through the crowd, stopping on Xie Zhongxing’s beautiful and calm face. There were no signs of disdain or contempt on his face. He was still as calm as ever.This calmness helped Zhong Yiming calm down too. His mind cleared up somewhat.At this moment, a tall figure squeezed out from amongst the crowd. With the sun shining on him, coating his handsome face with a golden light, he looked particularly handsome. His appearance immediately attracted everyone’s attention. He loudly interrupted Zhao Yi’s insults, “Aunty, what you said is wrong! What’s wrong with homosexuality? Is being gay abnormal? Who are you to decide whether something is normal or abnormal?”Everyone had only been watching on. They hadn’t expected someone to jump in. Everyone’s eyes were focused on Qin Zhongyue.Zhao Yi also stopped with her insults. As her eyes were covered in tears, she couldn’t see Qin Zhongyue’s face clearly, but his words stimulated her, “You’re only saying that because it doesn’t involve you! Would you be able to say those same words if your son was gay? These types of people are perverts!”Qin Zhongyue responded angrily, “How is it perverted? What about it is perverted? Sexual orientation is a choice. Others can choose people of the opposite sex but he can’t choose people of the same sex? You’re being unreasonable. And even if you think he’s a pervert, couldn’t you have talked about it at home? There are only a few days left until the college entrance examinations yet you’re verbally attacking your own son in front of so many people like this. Is he really your son? Are you actually his stepmother?”Zhao Yi was furious, “What are you on about? He’s my son! I gave birth to him!”Qin Zhongyue, “If he’s your son then he’s your son, why are you acting so nervous? Those who don’t know the situation would think you’re his stepmother deliberately trying to sabotage him.”Zhao Yi’s thoughts were almost led astray by him, “….Who are you?! Why are you getting involved when I’m teaching my son a lesson?!”Qin Zhongyue puffed up his chest and announced, “I’m your son’s classmate! His business is my business. Aunty, your views about homosexuality is too narrow-minded and extreme. What’s wrong with liking a man? Let me tell you this! I also like men!”When he said those words, his eyes were clear and bright and he even seemed a little proud.

Zhao Yi, “……”Zhong Yiming, “…….”He looked at Qin Zhongyue in disbelief, his eyes glistening with tears.Xie Zhongxing also stood up and cleared his throat, “I also like men.”As soon as he finished saying that, several other male classmates also stood up one after another. What started off as a joke somehow grew into a supportive force as more and more people spoke up.“I like men too!”“Yeah! Me too!”“What’s wrong with being gay? It’s fine as long as they’re happy. It doesn’t affect you anyway.”“I think I also like men!”“Men are great. There’s no need to buy makeup or bags so you save a lot of money.”“Bullshit. Men require more money. You’ll need to buy them a car to make them happy.”“Hahahahaha. That’s true.”Zhao Yi looked at these people talking and screamed, “You’re all crazy? Do you think liking a man is an honourable thing? Those types of people are perverts, a scum of society!”Qin Zhongyue said, “Aunty, with this kind of thinking, wouldn’t you go crazy when same-sex marriage is legalised later in the future?”Zhao Yi, “Impossible! Stop dreaming, how could two men get married? You’re just making a ridiculous joke!”Qin Zhongyue clicked his tongue, “Wait a second.”He pulled out his phone and began to skilfully search for something. Because he was fast, he was able to read from his phone before Zhao Yi could interrupt, “In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association officially announced that homosexuality will be not be classified as a mental disorder. In 1990, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders and even set May 17th as ‘International Day Against Homophobia’. Even in our country, it was removed in 2001.”

He lowered his phone and looked around him before stopping on Zhao Yi, “Homosexuality is not an illness, it is a natural choice. If you don’t understand, you should read more about it and once you know more, you wouldn’t have such a narrow-minded attitude towards homosexuality. You doing this won’t make your son become straight, but will expose your ignorance and prejudice. I don’t believe uncle divorced you because of Zhong Yiming. Everyone has seen what a good person he is and uncle will surely be proud of him. He wouldn’t force him into a dead end like you.”Zhao Yi screamed, “Nonsense! What are your parents teaching you? Who gave you permission to talk to your elders like this?! Where are your manners?!”Qin Zhongyue responded sincerely, “My parents taught me not to treat crazy people with too much kindness.”Zhao Yi was so angry, she almost couldn’t breathe. Qin Zhongyue turned to look at Zhong Yiming, “If you want, you can ask your father what he thinks of this matter.”Zhong Yiming froze. He didn’t move.Qin Zhongyue, “This really isn’t a big issue. Now that everyone knows, you can boldly ask your father. Why not give it a gamble?”Zhong Yiming asked, “Is there any point in that?”Qin Zhongyue, “It doesn’t matter. If your father is fine with it, it can anger your mother. If your father isn’t fine with it……”He paused for a moment, “You can anger both of them?”Zhong Yiming’s eyes were teary but he laughed out loud. He gave Qin Zhongyue a deep look and said, “Okay.”He pulled out his phone and gave his father a call.Father Zhong answered very quickly. His tone was caring, “Yiming, need something?”Zhong Yiming was a little choked up, “Dad, what would you do if I like men?”Father Zhong, “Like men? What do you mean?”Zhong Yiming, “I’m gay.”Father Zhong was silent for a long time before he spoke up again, “As long as you’re happy, it’s fine. I don’t care about these things. There’s no throne for you to inherit in the family anyway. But remember, a harmonious family is most important. Just don’t go deceiving a girl into giving birth to a child for you in the future.”Zhong Yiming’s heart was still beating loudly. He was surprised, “Dad, you won’t scold me?”

Father Zhong, “I won’t scold you. Rather than you, I’m the one with more problems. You should keep this from your mother though and take care of yourself. Don’t doubt yourself because of what people say outside. Just be happy.”He added, “If your mother finds out and cannot accept it, don’t worry about it. You still have another home here. Come to me if you need help.”Zhong Yiming’s tears flowed nonstop but his eyes curved into a smile, “Thanks dad.”He ended the call and looked at Zhao Yi.He had the speaker on just now so everyone heard the exchange.Zhao Yi’s chest rose and fell. Her face was pale.Qin Zhongyue, “Hear that? Your father is quite open-minded. So don’t think about those things anymore.”Zhong Yiming was startled. He looked over at Qin Zhongyue.Turns out, he had noticed his intention to end his life just now.His eyes then stopped on Xie Zhongxing. Did he notice it too?Zhong Yiming was ashamed. He had actually wanted to jump off the building because of something like this.If Qin Zhongyue hadn’t stood up for him, would he have actually jumped?He still had a long life ahead of him. He still hadn’t taken his college entrance examination yet and he also hasn’t had the chance to see the world. How could he end his life now?Zhong Yiming was able to finally reach a peace of mind. He looked at Zhao Yi and said calmly, “Mum, I like men. If you can’t accept it, I’ll tell dad and go to his place.”“I will never appear before you again.”He felt like he was filled with courage. This was courage given to him by his classmates who are supporting him as well as his father. He enunciated each word clearly, “Mum, what is your choice?”