Cheng Xiao was completely oblivious to what he had said. When he came out of the restroom again, Li Sheng was nowhere to be seen, and he muttered curses under his breath about Li Sheng being unfaithful to friends by leaving him behind alone.
Li Sheng was roughly and horizontally scooped up and carried into the car by Yuan Ye. Watching Li Sheng mumble unclearly in complaint, Yuan Ye couldn’t help adjusting him into a more comfortable position. Yuan Ye sat inside the car for a long time, then slammed his fist hard against the steering wheel, the honk startling a pedestrian across the street. He lit a cigarette and paced back and forth outside the car.
Actually, Yuan Ye himself didn’t understand why he was so furious just now. Was he angry because of the sense of being ignored by Li Sheng, or because he felt he wasn’t important enough? Yet, deep down, Yuan Ye knew very well that these were merely contributing reasons. From the very first moment he saw Li Sheng, he had known that all talk of tricking Li Sheng into working for him was just an excuse to fool Du Yu into finding him a pretext. If it were truly just about work, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to invite him—there were plenty of people hundreds of times more capable than Li Sheng, and he could have effortlessly hired someone extremely satisfactory. But he knew he couldn’t; what he wanted was simply Li Sheng.
Yuan Ye knew he wasn’t gay. He had even prepared an ideal candidate for marriage in mind. Yet, as luck would have it, he happened to cross paths with Li Sheng—this person whose single glance could hook his soul away.
After pondering for a long while, Yuan Ye turned around intending to get back into the car. Reaching into his pocket, he unexpectedly found a piece of candy still inside. He looked at it, tossed it into the trash can, and then called Du Yu.
It took a long time for Du Yu to answer whatever he was doing, his voice sounding breathless. “Big Brother, what is it in the middle of the night?”
Yuan Ye sighed. “Take care of your health, you need to exercise some restraint.”
“Damn it, I wasn’t…”
Yuan Ye hung up the phone abruptly. Seeing that Li Sheng was sleeping soundly in the car, he sighed and drove home. Li Sheng slept like a log all the way upstairs. Yuan Ye carried him up, stripped off his clothes, and gave him a bath. During this entire time, Li Sheng didn’t wake up at all, occasionally mumbling in his sleep, complaining about something with a tearful choke in his voice. Yuan Ye couldn’t catch a single word clearly, but he knew it must have been about Wei Heng. He knew nothing of Li Sheng’s past, nor of Wei Heng’s past; he couldn’t control their romance, nor could he sever those memories, even though those memories were painful, as they still occupied the entirety of Li Sheng’s thoughts.
Yuan Ye twirled the strands of hair stuck to Li Sheng’s forehead, gently stroking his brow and eyes. There were deep crease marks between Li Sheng’s brows—perhaps his first half of life had been too turbulent, as he always wore a burdened, preoccupied look, wearing a pair of glasses that hid his attractive eyes behind them for spying and probing. This face wasn’t pleasing enough, nor endearing enough, nor particularly attractive to women. He couldn’t be called handsome, but he had a look that grew on you, especially his eyes—just a single glance gave one the feeling of falling right in.
Perhaps the water had grown a bit cold; Li Sheng shifted uncomfortably in his sleep. Yuan Ye withdrew his gaze, wrapped Li Sheng up in a blanket, and laid him gently on the bed. After a simple wash-up of his own, he lay down right beside Li Sheng, wrapping his arms tightly around him in his usual possessive embrace.
When Li Sheng woke up, his head was spinning heavily. Yuan Ye was no longer on the bed. He didn’t remember at all how he had gotten home, nor how he ended up lying in bed, but he knew clearly that Yuan Ye must have helped him bathe and change his clothes. Letting out a slight sigh, he marveled at what a thoroughly qualified lover Yuan Ye was. After lingering in bed a bit longer, he slowly sat up and prepared to get up.
Yuan Ye must have already gone to the company; there was freshly prepared breakfast on the table, still warm, indicating he hadn’t been gone for too long. Dragging his heavy body toward the bathroom, just as he started brushing his teeth, his phone rang.
“Little Sheng, why’d you ditch me? The moment I turned around yesterday, you got whisked away by some handsome guy. Damn, you’re way too unreserved.”
“Tsk, how am I unreserved? Am I not allowed to have a new flame?”
“Forget it. When you were hugging the guy and crying out for Wei Heng while his face remained completely deadpan, it didn’t look like you had a new flame at all—you looked like you had a designated driver.”
“You were completely wasted, how do you even know I called out for Wei Heng?”
“The whole street could hear it. Even if I blacked out, I’d still remember a moment that was dramatic! But that dude was pretty funny—does he know Wei Heng? He understands you guys inside and out, and even imitated your little habits. What is this, some kind of roleplay kink?”
“What little habits?”
“Feeding candy, of course! The guy even matched the mood and bought a White Rabbit.”
“And then I called out for Wei Heng?”
“Yeah! After that I don’t remember anything else, nor do I remember how I even got home.”
“I’m hanging up, I still have to go to work.”
“Fine, fine, Mr. Busybody.”
Hanging up the phone, Li Sheng stood in front of the mirror for a long time. Recalling the conversation he had overheard outside Yuan Ye’s office that day, he let out a cold snort and muttered, “If you’re going to put on an act, you might as well commit to the whole script.”