Chapter 33: Life (Part 2)
That night, when Xu Huaiming went to pick up Tan Xilu, he unexpectedly saw Lin Changyu, someone who shouldn’t have been there. Lin Changyu obediently followed behind Tan Xilu, not as assertive as usual. When he saw Xu Huaiming, he hesitated for a moment, then looked away.
Xu Huaiming’s gaze fell on Lin Changyu, and he asked, “Why is he here?”
Tan Xilu glanced at Lin Changyu, shook his head, and said to Xu Huaiming, “It’s a long story.”
After Tan Xilu finished his classes at four in the afternoon, he planned to leave work. However, Li Xuandie suddenly came to his office, saying she knew who the person was that she saw kissing Qin Sizhe in the office.
She was furious, clearly holding a strong grudge against the person who had been intimately involved with Qin Sizhe. She spoke with displeasure, “I don’t know how he dares to show his face here. Does he even realize how much Qin Sizhe suffered because of him, Professor Tan? They were in the gym, you need to go check it out.”
The gym was closed from 4 to 5 pm every day, usually for cleaning. Today, the cleaning staff left early, and Qin Sizhe happened to come to the gym.
After a hundred days of recovery, he had just started walking again and had come to school. The gym was empty, and the sound of his crutch scraping against the floor was piercingly loud. Qin Sizhe couldn’t stand it and angrily threw his crutch forward, then yelled out loudly.
He hated Qin Sizhe, truly hated him. Why was he treating him like this? Why did they have to get married so quickly? Did he find himself repulsive?
Qin Sizhe lay on the floor, remembering the first time he played basketball in front of Qin Sizhe. That man had patted his head and said, “You’re amazing.”
Qin Sizhe had never thought being good at basketball was something to be proud of, but when Qin Sizhe praised him, he was so happy that he almost forgot who he was. He even thought it was a good thing that he knew how to play basketball, a small quality that could match up to him. But in reality, Qin Sizhe didn’t need a boyfriend who could play basketball; he needed a good wife and mother.
Qin Sizhe was never within his criteria for choosing a partner; their sexual orientations were different.
Qin Sizhe took out his phone from his pocket. He realized that he couldn’t see the screen clearly and wiped his face, only to feel wetness on his cheeks. He had been crying.
It was his last chance, his very last chance. If that man came to see him, he would secretly love him, even if he got married and had children, he would love him forever. If he didn’t come, he would give up on him forever.
He dialed Chi Yexing’s number and spoke before the other person had a chance to say anything, “Chi Yexing, please don’t get married. I really like you. I won’t misbehave anymore, and I won’t make you angry. Please don’t be with other women, Chi Yexing, can you do that for me?”
“I really… really like you…”
“I won’t be picky anymore. Even though your fried noodles are really terrible, I can eat them. You’re so clumsy; you can’t even fix a TV. I’ll do the repairs from now on. You like watching cartoons, and I won’t call you childish. Actually, cartoons are quite enjoyable. I know you don’t like it when I eat durian, so
I won’t eat it anymore. As long as you’re happy.”
“Chi Yexing… You hurt me that day. Your kick really hurt, and I felt like my bones were broken. You’re so mean, but I still like you so much. Am I pathetic? My legs hurt so much now. Can you come see me? I’m at the school gym. I can play basketball for you, even though my legs will definitely hurt a lot, but as long as you like it, I can do it.”
Towards the end, Qin Sizhe’s voice was choked with tears. “I love you, I’m begging you, don’t leave me, okay?”
“I’m begging you…”
Qin Sizhe didn’t even have the courage to listen to the other person’s response and hung up the phone immediately.
He just wanted to take a chance, a chance that his feelings would receive some response.
But when he saw that it was Lin Changyu who came to the gym, the small flame of hope in his heart was extinguished completely.
He asked, “Why is it you?”
Lin Changyu walked over to him, squatted down, and looked down at him. “You called me. Qin Sizhe, you look really ugly when you cry. You’re making me lose respect for you.”
Qin Sizhe turned his head to look at him. Lin Changyu was squatting with the sun behind him, and it took a lot of effort for Qin Sizhe to see his face clearly. The light was blinding, and Qin Sizhe felt like his eyes hurt. He wiped his face and realized his cheeks were wet. He laughed self-mockingly, saying, “Yeah, I don’t even respect myself.”
How did he become like this?
“Never mind, cry if you want,” Lin Changyu lay down next to him and touched Qin Sizhe’s head, pulling him closer. “Cry as much as you want. If you ever stop liking him, you won’t need to cry anymore. You’ll eventually forget about him.”
When Tan Xilu arrived, he found the two of them lying together, and Qin Sizhe had cried himself to sleep. Lin Changyu was tightly holding his hand.
Hearing footsteps, Lin Changyu sat up. He was somewhat surprised to see that it was Tan Xilu. He knew that the girl, Li Xuandie, didn’t like him, and she might have gone to find a teacher. However, he didn’t care anymore. The last time, Qin Sizhe protected him and left together. This time, he had to step forward; he couldn’t let Qin Sizhe be bullied again.
“Professor Tan, it’s him,” Li Xuandie pointed at Lin Changyu, her beautiful eyes filled with disgust. She said, “Haven’t you always wanted to know who that person was in the office that day? It’s him.”
Tan Xilu was also shocked to see that it was Lin Changyu. He suddenly remembered that he had seen the clothes Lin Changyu was wearing once before, and now he realized that they matched the person in the photo from the forum, the one with Qin Sizhe in the office.
It explained why they couldn’t find this person; he wasn’t even a student here.
“All right, I understand,” Tan Xilu said to Li Xuandie, “You can go now. Don’t talk to anyone else about this. I’ll handle it.”
Li Xuandie exclaimed, “Huh?” It seemed her expected reaction hadn’t occurred. She had thought Tan Xilu would be very angry, but his attitude was unexpectedly calm. However, she also remembered that Tan Xilu had always handled things in a composed manner, so she nodded and left the gym.
These days, it kept snowing, and there was a fear of slippery roads and accidents. The bus schedule had been reduced, so a few people waited at the bus stop for ten minutes and only one taxi came by. They asked if anyone wanted to take it.
By now, it was quite late, and Lin Changyu was still just a kid, so Tan Xilu suggested they take the taxi.
Inside the taxi, they turned on the heater, and it was comfortably warm. Lin Changyu sat in the back, and Tan Xilu asked Xu Huaiming to sit in the front passenger seat.
After fastening their seatbelts and giving the driver the address, he responded with a simple “Okay” and started the engine.
The strawberry juice that had been ordered was still warm in Xu Huaiming’s lap. He passed it over to Tan Xilu, saying, “Drink it while it’s still warm.”
Tan Xilu was momentarily surprised, probably not expecting that Xu Huaiming had brought strawberry juice for him. Then he took it, raised a corner of his lips, and said, “Thank you.”
T/N: Wishing you all a good September and welcome to Bad End month! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
If you like my translations, feel free to donate to my ko-fi!
I really, really appreciate all the support from my readers <3 It goes a long way and motivates me lots!
Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
Thank you for all your support <3 Leave a comment if you like 🙂 I love reading them!
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