Shi Yi’s arm was nudged again.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you think he looks pretty alike?” Ji Jinwei said, still watching the guy, “I felt like he looked a bit familiar from the moment he came in, but I couldn’t place where, just now when he lowered his head slightly, it hit me, isn’t that just you?!”
“Yeah, he really does look like me.” Shi Yi swirled the wine glass in his hand slightly, the faint curve of his lips a sinister smile, different from the flattering smile he gave the hostess.
He looked at the hostess and said, “What’s your name?”
Hearing the two of them talking, the hostess smiled nervously and said, “Young Master Shi, my name is Chen Shi.”
“Chen Shi.” Shi Yi nodded, and picked up the phone sitting on the table, “Leave me a contact number, I’ll give you a chance to make some big money.”
There was less than a month left until his and Lu Huaiqian’s third wedding anniversary, and he’d been racking his brain over what gift to give.
Now he had one.
He just didn’t know what Lu Huaiqian’s reaction would be when he received this gift.
Most likely he’d be so moved and overjoyed he’d be at a loss for words, right?
When Lu Huaiqian got the call from Shi Yi, the meeting had just reached its climax.
Shi Yi said on the phone, “Outdream Bar, VIP Room 1, come pick me up in thirty minutes. If you’re too late, don’t bother coming home tonight, just stay at the office.”
Then, without waiting for Lu Huaiqian to say anything, he hung up right away.
Lu Huaiqian looked at the call that had already been cut off, stood silently at the meeting room door for a few seconds, then pushed the door open, went in, and ended the meeting with a couple of sentences.
Then he drove straight to Outdream Bar.
By the time Lu Huaiqian rushed over, Shi Yi was sitting alone in the booth, holding his glass and staring into space.
Half an hour after the hostesses had been called, Ning Qian had stormed into their room, and through a mix of coaxing and tricks, had lured away Ji Jinwei, who valued romance over friendship.
He’d been left sitting alone in the room for the whole afternoon.
Seeing Lu Huaiqian come in, Shi Yi snapped out of his distracted state, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile, “President Lu really is efficient, twenty-five minutes, not bad, not late.”
“Did you not drink much water all day today? Your lips look a bit dry.” Lu Huaiqian, holding a glass of warm water he’d asked the bar for, bent down and brought it to his lips, saying gently, “Drink some water first, then we’ll go home, okay?”
Shi Yi looked up at him and thought about pushing the glass away.
He actually was a bit thirsty right now, so after thinking it over, he leaned in and drank it anyway.
When Shi Yi had drunk about enough and pulled his lips, beaded with water, away from the glass, Lu Huaiqian set the glass down on the table and reached out to steady him.
But he was slapped away by Shi Yi.
“Don’t touch me, if you’re not disgusted, I am.”
Shi Yi hadn’t had much to drink today, the aftereffects of drinking too much yesterday had left him feeling a bit rough, and today he’d only come out to keep Ji Jinwei company and kill time.
As for calling Lu Huaiqian over, it was only because Lu Huaiqian was more useful than a designated driver, whatever he wanted to make Lu Huaiqian do, he could just order him around.
But seeing Lu Huaiqian in person still made him feel disgusted.
Shi Yi slapped Lu Huaiqian’s hand away, didn’t even spare him another glance, and got up and walked straight toward the room’s door.
Lu Huaiqian followed behind him, reaching out to hover a hand near him to steady him, but realizing he really hadn’t drunk much, he lowered his hand and followed him out.
The two of them walked the whole way without a word.
Not until they reached the Maybach Lu Huaiqian had driven did Lu Huaiqian hurry forward to open the passenger door for Shi Yi, then gently close it after him, before going around to the driver’s seat and buckling Shi Yi’s seatbelt for him.
Only then did Lu Huaiqian speak up and ask Shi Yi, “Do you want to listen to some music? Or would you like to sleep for a while?”
Shi Yi didn’t answer him, but instead looked at him and asked, “Did you see my Moments post from this afternoon?”
Lu Huaiqian’s hand, picking a song, paused for a moment. He raised his eyes, forcing himself to keep his gentleness intact, “Yeah, I saw it. You and Jinwei went out to have fun, right? Just the two of you? Ning Qian didn’t go?”
He’d seen it ten minutes after Shi Yi posted it.
Not only had he seen Shi Yi’s Moments post, but also the comments underneath from his younger sibling and Shi Yi’s mother, and Shi Yi’s replies.
Every single word felt like a poisoned blade, stabbing deep into his chest, and every movement made it bleed and tear at the flesh.
But it wasn’t him who was in pain, it was Shi Yi.
“No.” Shi Yi said, “She broke up with Ning Qian. Jinwei thinks I’m not bad, wants to be with me, and I said yes. She’s my girlfriend now.”
Shi Yi tilted his head slightly, wrapped his arms around his knees, rested his face on them, the smile on his lips innocent and cruel at once, “Husband, what do you think of this girlfriend I found? A friend turned girlfriend, isn’t that pretty good?”
“And her lips are pretty soft, much softer than a man’s. Sweet, soft girls really are the cutest after all, don’t you think so, husband?”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot you’re a pervert who likes men, you don’t like girls.”
Silence. Dead silence.
Lu Huaiqian’s deep, dark eyes trembled, and all the color drained from his face.
It hurt. It hurt so much he couldn’t speak.
After a long while, Lu Huaiqian’s voice, trembling with restrained pain, fell into the car.
He said, “Shi Yi, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, Shi Yi, we, we…”
He couldn’t get the rest of the words out, no matter how hard he tried.
Actually, he’d regretted it ever since they got married, he regretted his own selfishness back then, for making Shi Yi suffer like this.
His original intention had been to give Shi Yi a better life, to let him live better, but in reality he had only dragged Shi Yi deeper into the abyss.
He didn’t know what he could do to escape this predicament.
Shi Yi kept his arms wrapped around himself, still tilting his head slightly and watching him with a smile, ignoring his words, and said, “You saw it, so why didn’t you like it? What, you don’t think I took good photos?”
As if every breath carried thorns, Lu Huaiqian forced himself to bear the pain and said quietly, “Good, you took great photos.”
Shi Yi said, “Right, since you think they’re good, go add the like then.”
“Okay.”
His broad hand, veins bulging and fingertips trembling slightly, pulled the phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, opened Shi Yi’s pinned Moments post on WeChat, and tapped like under that post.
Shi Yi watched his movements quietly, and said with a smile, “The comments from my mom and your brother, did you tell them to delete them?”
Lu Huaiqian’s hand, holding the phone, paused again. He lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Shi Yi, and said a soft “Mm.”
He wanted to say something to soothe him, but opened his mouth several times and didn’t know what to say.
“Why did you tell them to delete them? Was it what they said that upset you, or was it what I said that upset you?”
Silence, still silence.
The air froze bit by bit, the oppressive atmosphere leaving no room to breathe.
Lu Huaiqian’s deep, dark eyes lowered, and after a long while, he said quietly, “Both upset me.”
“Is that so?” Shi Yi’s tone suddenly turned light and cheerful, “Then that’s fine. As long as you’re in pain, I’m happy. My whole goal is to make you suffer.”