Based on past experience, being caught by Jiang Xiucheng meant a one-hundred-percent chance of being turned back and forth, stir-fried like a molten lava cake for the entire night.
Therefore, Lily had to run right now!
Sang Li didn’t even have time to say goodbye to Jiang Zhi. He fumbled and grabbed his coat, trying to put it on, but because he had a bit too much to drink, he failed to accurately guide his head through the opening.
A ring of fluffy white rabbit fur collar piled up around his neck, and no matter how much Sang Li felt around, he couldn’t find the sleeves. In a terrible temper, he snapped, “Jiang Zhi!”
The bar lights were dim, flickering and dancing across Sang Li’s delicate white face, casting a faint, mottled blush as his impatience flared.
Jiang Zhi looked at his slightly parted lips: “I’m right here, Lily.”
“Don’t call me Lily! We’re not even that close!”
Like a white dumpling that had lost its way in life, Sang Li angrily snapped, “Can’t you see I can’t put my clothes on? Your customer service awareness is terrible, I’m never going out to play with you again!”
Jiang Zhi’s gaze remained steady: “My customer service awareness is actually very good. I’ll definitely make sure you feel good first.”
The music was too loud.
Sang Li didn’t catch a single word: “What did you say?”
“I said this jacket is too difficult, making Lily angry.”
Jiang Zhi stood up and stepped closer, easily supporting him by the waist to make Sang Li stand up on the sofa like a ragdoll. He reached his hand into one of the sleeves and said to Sang Li, “Right here, put your arm through.”
Pouting with reluctance, Sang Li shoved his arm in. When Jiang Zhi grabbed his hand, he immediately protested, “You’re not allowed to hold my hand, I have a hubby!”
Jiang Zhi patiently told him: “Your hubby has a wife.”
Sang Li: “I am my hubby’s wife!”
Jiang Zhi: “Your hubby’s wife stays at home and never goes out.”
Sang Li: “What is this?”
What kind of nesting doll fairy tale logic was this?
Sang Li decided not to argue with this silly man. He kicked out at Jiang Zhi with his foot, put on his hat, picked up his beloved mini Himalaya Kelly bag, and bolted toward the exit without looking back.
Jiang Zhi was stunned for a second and reached out to grab him: “Where are you going?”
The shell hat on Sang Li’s head was sitting somewhat crookedly. He turned his head and said hurriedly, “Drinking with you today was not fun at all. Things have come to this, farewell, brave warrior. Remember to pay the bill!”
Jiang Zhi frowned: “Are you going to look for Jiang Xiucheng?”
Sang Li answered honestly: “That’s right!”
Jiang Zhi didn’t let go, disapprovingly saying, “I already told you, he has a family, a wife, and children. You are…”
Sang Li: “I am…”
There was no time left for him to argue further.
Sang Li hardened his heart, closed his eyes, and let a few wisps of sorrowful, tearful moisture rapidly well up in his pretty eyes: “Stop talking, I understand everything. I’m willing to be the other person!”
Jiang Zhi: “What is this?”
Sang Li tried hard to shake off his hand: “Let go of me quickly! Jiang Xiucheng just texted me, telling me to hurry back.”
Jiang Zhi’s expression turned displeased: “It’s so late, he should have already gone home to his family. Why is he having you go over?”
Sang Li didn’t even blink an eye: “He wants me to go buy condoms for him and his wife! Let go, if I’m late, that brand of condoms he likes will be sold out! Hubby will stir-fry and beat me up!”
Jiang Zhi: “Oh.”
Jiang Zhi was on the verge of going completely crazy.
He gripped Sang Li’s hand tightly, a surge of dark hostility welling up in his eyes that stripped away the youthful charm of a college student: “Sang Li! Do you have any self-respect at all? Throwing yourself at him just to do this kind of thing!”
Sang Li was completely righteous: “Because I love my hubby! There is nothing wrong with love!”
Sang Li squeezed out a tiny tear, but seeing that it was about to drop onto his beloved bag, he quickly sucked it right back in: “Sob, sob, sob!”
Jiang Zhi had never seen anyone so utterly shameless and devoid of a bottom line, yet this person happened to be the one who had occupied the very tip of his heart for so many years.
A fleeting glance during a university New Year celebration many years ago had kept him thinking of him for all this time.
He began to doubt himself, doubt life, doubt the world, and doubt the universe.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Sang Li managed to pull his hand back, poked his head out, blinked, and asked, “Wow, you look extremely disappointed in me. That’s great.”
Jiang Zhi: “What is this?”
Sang Li pressed his palms together like a little cat saying goodbye to Jiang Zhi: “Then please make sure to pretend you never saw me today, we never went out to play, we never came to a bar, and we don’t know each other. Please, please, Lily loves you.”
Jiang Zhi: “What?”
Before Jiang Zhi could recover his emotional equilibrium, Sang Li scurried away at lightning speed.
Late winter and early spring.
The night breeze in City H still carried a hint of chill.
The bar was located in an area where every inch of land was worth a fortune, nestled in an alley not far from the river. Looking far across the river, one could still see the most prosperous night view of the entire city.
That was the scenery that had been within Sang Li’s easy reach for all these years.
Yet it also left him increasingly lost.
What was right?
What was wrong?
What was life supposed to be like?
The smell of alcohol was blown away quite a bit by the wind. Sang Li straightened his little hat, hid behind a streetlamp to check his phone, and saw over seventy WeChat messages from Jiang Xiucheng.
[Hubby: Is the baby bored? Hubby will come over to keep you company.]
[Hubby: Wait for me right there, I’m coming over now.]
[Hubby: Where did the baby go? Are you in the restroom? Do you need hubby’s help?]
[Hubby: Where did Lily go?]
[Hubby: Where are you and Jiang Zhi? What are you doing?]
Now, even the last trace of drunkenness vanished.
Looking at his continuously ringing phone with a mixture of distress and worry, Sang Li hesitated for a few seconds, but still didn’t dare to answer it.
He was far too afraid of being punished by hubby.
Because Sang Li had once earnestly chased a celebrity’s concert and then went backstage for group photos and autographs, causing him to come home much later than usual, he had been fiercely bullied by Jiang Xiucheng with strange things that time.
Lily really didn’t want to be punished again.
Lily needed to think of a way!
Unfortunately, Sang Li’s social circle was so pitifully narrow.
After much deliberation, he checked the time on his phone, a little past twelve midnight, which was prime study time!
He loved learning!
Sang Li placed a call directly to the headmaster of Jiang Yun’s school.
The poor sixty-something old man received a midnight terror call, thinking it was a layoff notice, and answered tremblingly: “Hello, hello, is this Jiang student’s father?”
“It’s his Daddy!”
Finding a glimmer of hope, Sang Li spoke in a cheerful tone, “Principal, do you have that expert from today, the one named…”
He hadn’t even remembered the man’s name.
The principal sighed: “Professor Ji Boting?”
Sang Li: “Right, right! Do you have his phone number? I have parenting questions I’d like to consult him about.”
The principal hesitated slightly: “Student Jiang’s father, although Professor Ji came to the school to give a lecture, his specialty isn’t actually child psychology, but rather sociology and philosophy.”
Sang Li felt sad: “Oh.”
Quickly learning from the afternoon’s experience, Sang Li said, “Then I’ll have my hubby call you for it, okay?”
The principal: “Ah!”
The principal’s soul left his body: “Although I don’t have Professor Ji’s phone number, I have his assistant’s number. You can contact his assistant directly.”
Sang Li was grateful: “Thank you, thank you! You truly are the people’s principal! Lily loves you!”
The principal hung up the phone with a weathered soul.
Five minutes later, Professor Ji Boting’s fresh phone number was sent to Sang Li by the assistant.
As usual, Sang Li replied to the assistant with a message expressing “Lily loves you,” while also conveying “Professor Ji is truly such a wonderful person, willing to accept consultations even this late.”
The assistant: “What is this?”
The assistant recalled Ji Boting’s attitude when she had asked him about it earlier.
“Don’t give it to him. Aside from acting coquettishly with his husband, what serious business does he have?”
“His lectures consist of either sleeping or playing on his phone.”
“No need to bother with someone like that.”
“Give it to him.”
Sang Li was completely oblivious to these hidden details.
Without a single shred of phone call anxiety, he dialed Ji Boting right away: “Professor Ji?”
“Speak.”
The man’s voice was cold, extremely economical with his words.
Sang Li: “I have encountered some parent-child family crises, and I’宁 decided I need a deep session of youth ideological study.”
Ji Boting: “What is this?”
Sang Li was fearless in the face of difficulty: “I’ve decided to immediately start learning normal family relationships. Do you have any exam papers at your house? I want to come over and grind through a few sets of tests.”
Ji Boting: “…”
Silence hung over the phone for a long time.
Sang Li’s heart began to beat a little faster: “Professor Ji? Ji Boting? Ji…”
Ji Boting took a deep breath: “Mr. Sang Li, visiting someone’s home in the middle of the night is extremely impolite.”
Sang Li had never been spoken to like that by anyone.
Feeling a bit wronged, he shivered slightly under the streetlamp, sniffled, clutched his rabbit-fur scarf, and stammered: “But I love learning.”
There was the sound of wind over the phone.
Ji Boting: “Where are you right now?”
Sang Li pulled up his hat, flipped the camera, and took a particularly artistic selfie.
A reddened nose tip, tightly pursed lips, brows drooping downward in a discouraged slump, the shadow of the streetlamp stretching out behind his solitary and lonely silhouette.
Without forgetting to edit the photo, Sang Li applied a detached, melancholic, and mournful filter to himself, and even though he didn’t have WeChat, he stubbornly used MMS to send it to Ji Boting.
“It’s so cold.”
Sang Li pouted, persisting stubbornly, “However, for the sake of learning, none of this matters.”
Ji Boting: “…”
Probably a few minutes later, Ji Boting sent an address: “Take a taxi over, and tell the guard at the gate to contact me.”
Hehe.
Sang Li patted off the dust and hopped out from behind the streetlamp: “Alrighty, Professor Ji, wait for me!”
Ji Boting’s house wasn’t too far from there. It belonged to an old-established villa neighborhood for intellectuals and scholars, quiet amidst the bustling city.
In consideration of the fact that he was coming to the rescue, Sang Li decided to forgive Ji Boting for not driving out to pick him up, and covered the taxi fare himself.
Roads in the middle of the night were always clear and unobstructed.
Sang Li arrived at his destination in a flash.
The moment Ji Boting opened the door, Sang Li felt right at home.
Without standing on ceremony, he quickly took off his coat, removed his rabbit-fur shell hat and scarf, set down his bag, and slipped into a pair of men’s slippers belonging to Ji Boting.
Ji Boting looked with a cold face at the clothes scattered all over the floor: “…”
Sang Li was exceptionally cheerful: “Professor Ji, I’m ready. Where are the test papers?”
Ji Boting pointed toward the bar counter: “On the table.”
“Oh, oh.”
Stepping in Ji Boting’s slippers, Sang Li pattered over.
The bar counter was quite high; he had to give a little hop to get up onto it, and then he propped his feet on the stool, swaying back and forth as he hovered in front of Ji Boting.
Sang Li had all the bad habits of a poor student when doing problems.
He chewed on his pen and loved to read things out loud: “Recite the Eight Honors and Eight Shames and the Core Socialist Values.”
Sang Li looked up from the sea of questions: “Professor Ji, is this really a parent-child family relationship question?”
“No.”
Ji Boting was originally busy picking up the clothes Sang Li had thrown around at random. Hearing this, he crossed his arms and stood in the doorway, looking down from above.
Sang Li: “What is this?”
Ji Boting: “These are foundational theoretical questions designed to help you establish a correct worldview.”
Sang Li: “What?”
Before he had a chance to retort, the door to Ji Boting’s house was knocked on from the outside again.
Ji Boting furrowed his brow, hung up Sang Li’s clothes, walked over, and pulled the door open.
Jiang Xiucheng was standing in the doorway.
Sang Li: “Oh no!”
Jiang Xiucheng was still wearing his outfit from the evening banquet. He probably hadn’t had time to change, and because he had walked in a hurry, it radiated an indescribable sense of gloom.
He looked past Ji Boting straight at Sang Li.
Sang Li froze, then immediately broke into a bright, attractive smile, hopped off the stool in a flash, ran toward Jiang Xiucheng, and cried out crisply: “Hubby!”
Running right up to Jiang Xiucheng, Sang Li leaped onto him like a little cat, looped both arms around his neck, and wrapped his legs around his waist as well: “Hubby, you finally came to pick me up! I’m earnestly doing parent-child relationship questions right now! It’s so hard!”
Draped over Jiang Xiucheng, the slender legs belonging to Sang Li exposed a section of fair, tender ankles due to the posture.
Right in front of Ji Boting.
Sang Li blinked his eyes and kissed Jiang Xiucheng: “Hubby, hubby, Lily loves you!”