“Is something wrong?” Qi Jinran answered the phone.
“Are you free at night? Come and drink with me.” Yu Heng’s voice was dull, as if he was worried about something.
“What happened?” Qi Jinran intuited that there was something in his words.
On the other side, Yu Heng looked at the messy bed in the room, picked up the black velvet box that the man had forgotten on the ground, and flicked his finger. The lid of the box popped open, and a dazzling pink diamond appeared in his field of vision.
“Last night, Luo Haoxin was drunk and came to my place.”
Qi Jinran frowned, waiting for his next sentence.
Yu Heng squatted on the ground, holding the diamond. His forehead was still aching, and a trace of embarrassment and self-mockery appeared in his eyes.
“I slept with him.”
Qi Jinran was shocked. “Are you kidding me?”
Yu Heng smiled wryly. “Why am I kidding you about this kind of thing… To be honest, I can’t believe this happened to me either…”
—–
Ten hours ago.
Ning Shu threw the portrait of Qi Jinran on the passenger seat of the Maserati, started the engine, stepped on the accelerator hard, and drove out of the community.
Holding the steering wheel, he looked at the straight road ahead with pain and sadness in his black eyes. Qi Jinran’s words dashed his last hope. He once again humiliated himself, and tasted the evil that he had sown in the past.
When he was with Qi Jinran, he was at his most talented, and was just starting to emerge in the oil painting industry. At that time, his eyes were higher than the sky. He was proud and arrogant, and his vision for picking his partner was extremely harsh. Qi Jinran was the only man who met all his ideal standards. Whether it is family background, appearance, speech, knowledge, or demeanor and etiquette when dealing with people, Qi Jinran was impeccable and perfect. The only imperfection was his mutilated right leg.
At first, he thought he didn’t care. He enjoyed the feeling of being praised and envied by everyone when he stood with Qi Jinran, but when he overheard people talking about Qi Jinran behind his back, his confidence was shaken. Yes, no matter how perfect Qi Jinran was, he was still a disabled person with a missing leg. The more excellent and beautiful he became, the more difficult it was for him to ignore this disability.
He began to persuade Qi Jinran to give up his cane and wheelchair, and wear a prosthetic leg whenever they were together. He hoped that Qi Jinran could live like a healthy person, and that no one would pay attention to his disability. Then they would be an enviable and impeccable couple. He was too young and self-righteous at the time, and didn’t know how much damage these rules he laid in the name of love did to Qi Jinran’s heart. By the time he realized he was wrong, everything was beyond regret.
That night, Qi Jinran let him touch his stump. He had never seen Qi Jinran’s right leg, and was very frightened. That part was really deformed and ugly, as if it should not appear on someone like Qi Jinran at all. This huge sense of contrast and discord made him completely unable to face Qi Jinran. He even felt nauseated, and wanted to escape from the man in front of him.
When he knew what happened to Qi Jinran on that rainy night, his bowels were full of regrets. He hated his impulsiveness and hastiness, but he didn’t dare go to the hospital to see Qi Jinran, and could only go abroad with guilt. He has been seeing a psychiatrist in the last 3 years and also volunteered at a home for the disabled. The psychological shadow of the stump has been long overcome, but he still didn’t dare return to China because he doesn’t know how to face Qi Jinran. He hurt him so badly and maybe the man would hate him for the rest of his life.
If Qi Jinran still hates him, that’s fine. At least he still has a chance to make up for it… However, Ning Shu never thought that Qi Jinran already had a beloved person, and now he neither loves nor hates him, just treating him indifferently like a stranger. It was like he was the only one suffering from endless regrets and guilt in the last 3 years, as if his past with Qi Jinran was not worth mentioning.
Ning Shu couldn’t describe this huge frustration. He knew that he would never find someone like Qi Jinran again. In the past few years, many suitors have come and gone, but none of them can compare to Qi Jinran. Even Luo Haoxin, who is the best so far, is far from Qi Jinran…
Ning Shu drove home in a daze and took out all the red wine in the wine cabinet and placed them on the table. He numbly drank bottle after bottle of red wine, the alcohol burning in his stomach, but it still didn’t relieve his pain.
He called Luo Haoxin drunkenly and asked him to come and drink with him. Luo Haoxin came quickly, he thought to himself. This man is really like a dog, he will come and go when he is called. He despised him, but he couldn’t help asking him over when he was empty and lonely.
He was so drunk that when he saw Luo Haoxin’s distressed face, he thought for a moment that it was Qi Jinran who appeared in front of him. Suppressing his disturbed emotions, he couldn’t help pulling on the man’s sleeve, begging, “Jinran, don’t leave me… I was wrong, come back to me, okay?”
He didn’t know what Luo Haoxin’s expression was at that time, only that he stood there, motionless. After a long time, Luo Haoxin turned around and left, leaving him alone, living and dreaming in the dark.
…
“…then Luo Haoxin came to my place. He knocked on my door like a lunatic and asked me if I wanted to sleep with him. I thought he was joking with me, but he rushed over… You know, I was busy with projects some time ago, and I had few outlets, so I couldn’t hold back for a while… cough.”
“In the end, it’s Ning Shu’s fault. Damn, insisting on hanging Luo Haoxin! Why does he have to harm people like that!”
Qi Jinran held his forehead, feeling a painful throbbing at his temples. He never expected that Ning Shu’s suitor would have a relationship with Yu Heng.
“Then what are you going to do next?” Qi Jinran asked him.
“What else can I do, this thing is too shameful. Don’t you dare tell a third person. I panicked, and couldn’t help but want to talk to someone. Anyway, Luo Haoxin left early in the morning. His clothes are gone, I guess he also wants to pretend that nothing happened.”
“I’m afraid the third person has already heard it.” Qi Jinran glanced at Wen Yuan next to him, and said helplessly. “Wen Yuan is right next to me, you were too lout just now, and he heard everything.”
“F*ck! Why didn’t you f*cking say so earlier?!” Yu Heng paced the room irritably with a cigarette in his mouth. “Forget it, sister-in-law will know, anyway. You two are husbands, it’s the same if one knows.”
Hanging up the phone, Qi Jinran looked at Wen Yuan. “Did you hear?”
Wen Yuan nodded, his eyes were full of shock and surprise, and he couldn’t digest the information he just heard after a long time. “Yu Heng and Luo Haoxin… This development is really very unexpected.”
“Life is always full of unknowns, but these two people are likely just impulsive, and there will be no follow-up.” Qi Jinran stood up and adjusted the collar of his shirt. “I’ll go take a look first.”
“I want to go with you.” Wen Yuan couldn’t sit still at home, and he followed him out.
“No, rest at home and don’t run around.” Qi Jinran glanced at him. Frowning, he suddenly walked back, and buttoned the top button of his shirt collar.
“Practice writing seriously, I’ll come back and check later.” Qi Jinran’s tone was serious.
Wen Yuan sighed helplessly. “Okay, Teacher Qi.”
He promised, but as soon as Qi Jinran left, he took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Ji Hong. “The King’s Canyon1mobile game 2v2 now?”
After a long time, Ji Hong finally replied to his message.
—Why didn’t you come to class today? You can’t get out of bed because of that guy from your family again? Tsk tsk tsk.”
Wen Yuan: Bah, I didn’t set the alarm clock and went to bed late. Anyway, it was too late to rush over, so I simply asked for leave.
Ji Hong: Tsk, only a ghost will believe you. That said, you and the male god have been very popular on the school forum recently.
Wen Yuan: ??
Well… YH and LHX did it. Huh.
Consider supporting AMWDT and get faster updates by buying me a ko-fi~ Thank you! Progress for add’l releases are tracked on my ko-fi page.