The meal cost three thousand. Xu Siming knew Zhuang Yusheng wouldn’t offer to split the bill, but he hadn’t expected not to hear even a simple ‘thanks for the treat.’ Zhuang Yusheng had simply stood by while Xu Siming paid, acting as if he hadn’t been the one to order those expensive dishes. Beyond the initial impression of him as a con artist, Xu Siming gained a new insight into Zhuang Yusheng: he was very adept at spending other men’s money.
Zhuang Yusheng was in no rush and took the subway back to campus, while Xu Siming took a taxi straight home. He had barely arrived when Shen Mu returned as well, still wearing the outfit from the book signing, a refined camel-colored suit that exuded an air of scholarly elegance, making it hard to imagine him keeping a young lover on the side.
As soon as they crossed paths, they headed upstairs in tacit agreement, following one another into the second-floor study.
Old Master Xu was home that afternoon, and Zhuang Guilan was keeping him company downstairs, basking in the sun. Shen Mu walked to the window, glanced at the pair below, and carefully closed the window before adjusting his glasses and asking Xu Siming, “What did you two eat?”
“Japanese food,” Xu Siming replied.
Shen Mu nodded, and an awkward standoff ensued, neither was willing to speak first. In the end, Shen Mu was the first to break the silence. “Did you give Xiao Yu a hard time?”
“Not really.” Xu Siming didn’t consider taking Zhuang Yusheng out for a meal to be giving him a hard time.
“Before your aunt passed away, nothing improper ever happened between him and me,” Shen Mu said.
Xu Siming believed him. He didn’t think a man who had married into the family would have the audacity for that. Besides, since everyone in the family praised Shen Mu as a devoted husband, he wasn’t inclined to think the worst of him.
“Do you plan to keep going on like this?” Xu Siming asked.
“That should be my prerogative,” Shen Mu replied.
Xu Siming walked unhurriedly to the window and opened the one Shen Mu had just closed. A breeze drifted into the room, carrying the clear sounds of Zhuang Guilan and Old Master Xu chatting about having luffa and fish fillet congee for dinner.
He didn’t say a word, but his message was unmistakable: Do you dare let Grandpa find out?
Shen Mu lowered his voice, though he didn’t seem particularly flustered. “Siming, I was fully prepared for this when I decided to take this step. I’ll tell Dad, but not right now.”
Xu Siming asked, “When, then?”
It was common knowledge that Old Master Xu didn’t have much time left. The doctors had given him a prognosis of six months at most. Had Xu Siming not stumbled upon the relationship between the two men, he suspected Shen Mu would have kept it a secret until the old man passed away.
“In a little while, perhaps.” Shen Mu lowered his head and adjusted his glasses, his tone earnest. “Ruomei has only just passed away, it wouldn’t be appropriate right now.”
“It’s highly inappropriate as it is, Uncle-in-law.” Xu Siming finally got to the crux of the matter. “Zhuang Yusheng is a man. Were you gay all along?”
“Of course not.” Shen Mu kept an eye on the two people downstairs, his voice low and hushed. “I truly loved Ruomei when we were together. But you know her condition, after our daughter died, she lost her mind, sometimes she didn’t even recognize me. You’d understand the torment of caring for a sick person, even the deepest affection can be worn away. I believe I fulfilled my duties as a husband. Now that she’s gone, surely I have the right to pursue love.”
Shen Mu was a writer by trade, after all. He could articulate his reasoning persuasively, even elevating the situation to the lofty concept of love.
Xu Siming found it hard to fathom. “By ‘pursuing love,’ you mean Zhuang Yusheng?”
Shen Mu replied, “Mm.”
“Are you sure you aren’t being taken for a ride? I get the feeling that he…” Xu Siming paused. “…is good for nothing but his looks.”
Shen Mu’s gaze darkened. “I won’t allow you to speak about him like that.”
Although Xu Siming had anticipated this, seeing Shen Mu so fiercely defend Zhuang Yusheng still came as a shock. It seemed Zhuang Yusheng was exceptionally skilled at manipulation, capable of making Shen Mu so utterly devoted.
Yet, he didn’t feel there was any room for negotiation. “Let me say this one last time, Uncle-in-law, what you’re doing isn’t right. Or, you could just move out of the Xu family home. That way, no one could tell you what to do.”
In truth, Shen Mu’s position had been awkward ever since Xu Ruomei’s death. He had never managed the family business. He had always been seen merely as an ‘adjunct’ to Xu Ruomei. Now that the bond between him and the Xu family had vanished, he had become a dispensable figure.
On one hand, his status as a renowned writer certainly brought prestige to the Xu family, on the other, a writer’s work had nothing to do with the family business, it sounded impressive, but offered no practical benefit.
Now, there was an added risk: if news broke that Shen Mu was involved with a male college student, it would tarnish the Xu family’s reputation, regardless of how discreetly he had behaved in the past.
Perhaps it was the mention of harsh realities, or simply Xu Siming’s firm stance, but Shen Mu’s attitude softened. “I’ll cut down on how often I see him. Would that work?”
“No,” Xu Siming said. “It’s best if you don’t see each other at all.”
Shen Mu exhaled, a look of resignation in his eyes behind his glasses. “I understand. I promise, just don’t give him a hard time.”
Shen Mu had mentioned “giving him a hard time” again. Xu Siming found it odd. Why did Shen Mu assume he was making things difficult for Zhuang Yusheng? Being on call at a moment’s notice could be considered a hardship, certainly, but Zhuang Yusheng hadn’t told Shen Mu about that, at least, not in their WeChat messages.
Suddenly recalling the “sobbing” emoji Zhuang Yusheng had sent, Xu Siming realized with a jolt just how devious some people could be.
That was clearly a way of telling Shen Mu he was being mistreated.
“By the way,” Shen Mu asked suddenly, “how did you find out about me and him?”
Xu Siming didn’t intend to mention that he had overheard their conversation; he would have found out regardless.
“He likes you so much,” Xu Siming said. “He spent almost the entire book signing praising you, his admiration was obvious.”
“Is that so?” Shen Mu adjusted his glasses again and chuckled softly. “Xiao Yu is a good kid.”
Xu Siming looked at Shen Mu. Shen Mu: “Don’t worry, I won’t see him again.”
As Xu Siming came downstairs, he ran into Old Master Xu, who was just coming back inside after sunbathing. Noticing him, the old man dismissed Zhuang Guilan to attend to her chores and beckoned him over: “Siming, wheel me back to my room.”
Since his mobility had become impaired, Old Master Xu’s bedroom had been moved from the master suite on the third floor to a guest room on the ground floor, right next to the living room. Because even the slightest noise could disturb his rest, the living room TV was never turned on anymore, and the house saw no guests. The only sounds were the occasional noises of Zhuang Guilan going about her work.
Xu Siming wheeled the old man back to his bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Old Master Xu asked, “What have you been busy with lately?”
Xu Siming replied, “Working on primary market investments with my mentor.”
“You have your own family business to run, yet you insist on investing in other people’s companies,” Old Master Xu grumbled, bringing up an old grievance. “If your father had stayed by my side to help me back then, the family wouldn’t be in the state it is now.”
Xu Siming had heard this nagging countless times and had long since become immune to it: “Then I wouldn’t exist, Grandpa.”
Old Master Xu sighed helplessly and spoke earnestly: “Stay, child. If you stay, Grandpa will leave his entire inheritance to you.”
Xu Siming had no interest in that: “But I don’t know how to manage a hospital.”
That was a secondary issue. Xu Siming was much like his father. Having grown up in affluence, he had little desire to make money and simply wanted to do what he enjoyed. Xu Siming liked investment work, not because helping companies grow gave him a sense of accomplishment, but purely because he enjoyed playing the benefactor, relishing the feeling of others being deeply grateful to him and the sense of controlling the big picture.
This quirk stemmed from an experience with a neighbor years ago.
Xu Siming’s family income had surged after his father became a corporate executive and his mother gained fame, allowing them to move into a more upscale neighborhood. On their first Halloween, Xu Siming, like the other children, dressed up as a ghost and went door-to-door asking for candy. A white male neighbor gave candy to all the children, except for Xu Siming, who was Asian. Xu Siming was young at the time, yet he realized that this neighbor resented his family for “polluting” the neighborhood. Although he hadn’t received a “treat” from the man, he politely refrained from playing any “tricks” on him either. He simply kept his distance during any future encounters.
Eventually, the neighbor became embroiled in a lawsuit, and the opposing counsel happened to be Xu Siming’s mother. The man finally humbled himself and begged for a settlement, but Xu’s mother had no intention of showing him any leniency. She helped her client sue him until he was financially ruined. In the end, it was he who moved out of the neighborhood.
Later, while hanging out downtown, Xu Siming spotted a homeless man sleeping by the roadside who looked familiar, it was that very neighbor. The man recognized him too but rolled over, pretending not to see him. Xu Siming called out to him and tossed twenty dollars at his feet. The man turned his head, gave Xu a look filled with complex emotions, muttered a “thank you,” and huddled over to pick up the bill.
It was in that moment that Xu Siming experienced the thrill of bestowing charity.
However, that didn’t mean he enjoyed philanthropy in general. He certainly didn’t like situations where someone like Zhuang Yusheng shamelessly spent his money.
While investing also involved scattering money around, the recipients at least provided a return in the form of emotional and economic value. Consequently, Xu Siming preferred running his own business ventures over managing a hospital.
“Managing a hospital isn’t hard. You’re smart enough to pick it up in no time,” the Old Master Xu said, refusing to give up on his persuasion. “The professional managers the board hired don’t seem to have much talent. We’d be better off putting one of our own in charge, someone from the family would at least care more than an outsider.”
“In that case,” Xu Siming said, “my uncle-in-law could do it, couldn’t he?”
“He’s a novelist, what does he know about running a business? If your aunt hadn’t been dead set on marrying him, he never would have set foot in the Xu family.”
Speaking was already an effort for the Old Master Xu, yet whenever the conversation turned to the past, he seemed to possess boundless energy, capable of talking endlessly.
He went on to complain about how neither of his children gave him any peace of mind: one had run off abroad and rarely kept in touch with the family, while the other had rejected an arranged business marriage to marry a writer, thereby squandering a prime opportunity for a major business partnership. If only those two had the family’s best interests at heart, the Xu family business would have expanded across the entire country long ago. Instead, they were content to stay put and coast on past glories.
“Your uncle-in-law is a dutiful man, certainly, but he lacks a sense of priorities.” Old Master Xu’s voice grew weak, and he coughed twice. Xu Siming patted his back, and he continued, “There’s a charity event at Qingshan Hospital next Saturday that would be perfect for him, reading to the patients and the like. But instead, he’s busy promoting his new book. He claimed he had a literature lecture at your school and turned down the hospital event.”
Xu Siming’s attention had wandered after listening to the complaints for so long, but he caught the key phrase: “At our school?”
Old Master Xu: “A lecture organized by some literature club.”
Xu Siming let out a soft breath. It seemed severing the connection between those two wouldn’t be easy after all.
Old Master Xu added, “You go to the hospital event instead. There will be media coverage. It wouldn’t hurt for you to make an appearance.”
Xu Siming had absolutely no desire to go. He was currently conducting corporate background checks and was swamped with report writing. He didn’t want to waste his time on something like this.
Deep down, he shared the same blood as his father and aunt, stubbornly refusing to do anything he didn’t want to do. However, unlike his elders, he couldn’t bear to upset Old Master Xu, who was critically ill. He had no choice but to compromise: “Alright, Grandpa.”
Only then was Old Master Xu satisfied. He waved his hand to dismiss Xu Siming, preparing to take his afternoon nap.
Xu Siming stepped out of the bedroom and took out his phone to message Zhuang Yusheng: [Come with me to Qingshan Hospital next Saturday.]
He hadn’t changed Zhuang Yusheng’s contact nickname. Zhuang Yusheng’s WeChat display name was just a symbol, making it stand out quite noticeably among the rows of chat conversations.
[[Sun]: ?]