Translator: Lynn
Li Weidu spoke on the other end of the phone, but Ji Kai initially couldn’t make out his words.
In addition to being hungover, he suffers from tinnitus, which makes him appear to have forgotten some of the events of the previous night. As he tried to piece together fragments and blanks that had been blurred by alcohol, he struggled.
Zuo Yan snatched the broken cell phone with a hands-free function. The lawyer had a professional habit of pressing the record button and placing it back on the table. He raised a finger to signal everyone to keep quiet.
Ji Kai remained bewildered, wondering, “What did I do last night?” Why does the whole house look like it has been ransacked by thieves, with cabinets and boxes rummaged through and the floor strewn?
Zhu Ling’s clothes and shoes were strewn all over, some even hanging on refrigerators and… chandeliers? There were sporadic scenes of a group of people getting drunk and going wild, breaking and looting throughout the house.
Everything was chaotic.
…
In the wreckage, seemingly struck by a tornado, several items were neatly arranged.
A stack of divorce papers, surprisingly not in disarray but signed. Ji Kai flipped through them and found his signature on every one of them. However, it was hard to say whether he had actually signed them. Some appeared to be his handwriting, while others were questionable. There was also the crooked handwriting of Ying Jian, the owner of the barbecue shop, resembling the trail of an earthworm. He had written “liar Zhu Ling, divorce!” in a grandiose hand. This was likely a product of the chaos last night when someone slipped him an IOU. It seemed that everyone had signed it.
Next to the divorce agreement were copies of ambiguous chat records, ring invoices, and a series of formidable “court evidence,” all neatly stacked. This was probably another occupational quirk of lawyers, lining them up with the significant gash on the dining table, likely caused by a knife the previous night.
… everything seemed prepared as if a showdown was imminent.
Ji Kai, to be honest, had been calm for several days but was nearing his breaking point.
Just as he contemplated whether to rush to City C with the agreement and confront Zhu Ling, the video call of Zhu Ling and Ye Yin, the loving couple, seemed to be improving on the other end of the screen.
Life’s black humor is sometimes strikingly precise and timely—just when you’re searching for a bridge, someone steps forward to pave the way.
“Damn…”
The barbecue shop owner was furious, his face redder than a beet. His anger got the better of him several times, and he rolled up his sleeves, ready to pounce. Zuo Yan, with an expressionless face, promptly restrained him, guiding him back to the sofa.
After Ji Kai finally said, “I’ll help you,” he brought his face up to the phone screen and shouted, “Damn you, Zhu Ling! If you’re brave enough, come back today and watch me stab you to death with a skewer used for grilling leeks!”
The crowd was incensed, to the point that when Zhu Ling finally found his voice and explained, “Brother Kai, Brother Kai is not like this,” it was drowned out by the cacophony of furious shouts and roars.
Zuo Yan inquired, “Did you coordinate this with the little troublemaker’s boyfriend beforehand?”
Ji Kai shook his head. Li Weidu had always been unpredictable, so who knew what was going on in his mind? But regardless, after these past few days of back-and-forth, Ji Kai was no longer afraid.
The real damning evidence lay in the old cell phone and the ring invoice. The phone call was merely an added layer of evidence.
After Li Weidu hung up, Zhu Ling began making a series of frantic calls on Ji Kai’s mobile phone.
“Answer it, Brother Kai, we won’t give in! I’ll curse him to death!”
Ji Kai shook his head, allowing Zhu Ling’s call to keep flashing on the broken screen without answering, letting him stew in frustration.
These past few days had been a battle of wits.
…
“Do you guys really not want to leave?”
The remnants of melon seeds strewn on the coffee table.
After last night’s ordeal, the entire household had already reached a chaotic state that not even the gods could salvage. After enduring another two hours of being turned upside down by several grown men, it had reached a point of complete disarray. The sofa was half covered with clutter and half occupied by people. Zuo Yan had no choice but to sit at the dining table.
Ji Kai felt like his home had been overrun by giant Gargantels due to the lack of greenery.
Zuo Yan said, “I’m not leaving. I have a day off today. When Zhu Ling returns later, we can address the legal matters face to face. My standard consultation fee is fifteen hundred an hour. You can think of it as gaining some friendship for free.”
Ji Kai sighed in response.
“Then, I’m not leaving either,” the barbecue shop owner sneered. “My shop only opens at night, so I have nothing to do during the day. I’ll just hang around at your place. You can pretend I don’t exist. It’s that simple.”
Ji Kai finally realized the owner of the barbecue restaurant was, in fact, an honest person, unlike Zuo Yan, who provided a more elaborate excuse. He was just there to watch the excitement and had no qualms about admitting it.
“Where are you going?” Ji Kai asked, looking at the others with a wry smile. “Civil servants daring to skip work? Is this appropriate?” Several people felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and they quickly made excuses to leave.
After some pushing and shoving, there was a knock at the door.
“Didn’t you say you were leaving?!” Ji Kai exclaimed.
“I ran into a fruit vendor downstairs and saw some nice durians. I know you like them, Brother Kai, so I brought two for you,” the newcomer said.
“I never eat durians!” Ji Kai protested.
“We’ll eat them then. Eat up, Brother Kai. Do you have anything to drink?”
Ji Kai realized he had picked the wrong friends and was living a completely absurd life.
However, just fifteen minutes later, he discovered the newfound vigor he had gained from two bottles of salt soda. It had been worth it.
…
The drive from City C to City S typically took about two hours.
Zhu Ling didn’t waste a second, making it back in two hours and ten minutes.
From the moment he saw the chaos inside his home, he was utterly bewildered.
He began to grasp the gravity of the situation.
While he had witnessed Ji Kai’s anger before, he had never seen such a chaotic scene with tables and chairs overturned, the floor in disarray, shattered picture frames, and the entire house in shambles. This hadn’t happened in the three years they had been together, and in Zhu Ling’s understanding of Ji Kai’s temperament, it was something that should never occur.
Ji Kai was adept at handling conflicts and occasionally had a bad temper, but after five years together, their disputes and arguments had always ended with “let’s talk about it calmly.” The most extreme thing was stabbing the dining table with a knife. He had never seen Ji Kai act so hysterically, let alone with a group of imposing men in the house.
This was no longer a mere dispute; it was a full-blown confrontation.
Zhu Ling didn’t show his panic on his face, but his heart was in turmoil.
Though he had been anxious and uncomfortable on his way back, he had assumed it was merely a matter of coaxing Ji Kai, as he had done in the past. Unexpectedly, Ji Kai seemed genuinely unwilling to reconcile this time.
…
No, calm down. Stay calm.
This can’t be resolved with just one phone call, so it doesn’t make sense to overthink it.
Ji Kai knows him. He should realize that he was simply angry and had been manipulated by Li Weidu. He should understand.
“It’s just perfect,” Jiang Xiaobai, the newbie among their gay friends, said. Known for being low-key, he had somehow managed to survive in the civil service despite his unassuming nature. Today, he displayed the same spirit. As soon as Zhu Ling entered, he checked his watch and said, “The Civil Affairs Bureau closes at 5:30, and it’s not even 3:30 yet. They told me that people queue up in the morning, but it’s empty in the afternoon. He’s right on time.”
Zhu Ling felt like he’d been stabbed in the back. The words “Civil Affairs Bureau” and “solving it today” echoed in his mind. Slowly turning his head, he shot an intense, resentful glare at the seemingly innocent young man on the sofa.
I have no issues with you! Why are you gloating at this?
…
Out of Ji Kai’s friends, Zhu Ling genuinely liked only Lei Nanyu. Lei Nanyu was warm-hearted and never indulged in gossip.
Zuo Yan was self-righteous and enjoyed meddling in other people’s affairs. Ying Jian was a good-natured and somewhat naive barbeque seller. As for the young man who had just spoken, Zhu Ling finally remembered who he was.
He had met this guy at Ji Kai’s birthday party a year ago. He had been overly eager to please and had acted all cute and silly the entire time. Wasn’t he the one who wagged his tail and fawned over Ji Kai?
Now, with a pounding headache and blurry vision, Zhu Ling realized that the little fox before him was that same guy. At that moment, the guy seemed terrified. He looked up with innocent, pitiful eyes and called out to Ji Kai as “Brother Kai.”
Zhu Ling was so furious that he lunged at the guy and hoisted him off the sofa. He felt an intense urge to put an end to this little schemer.
“Little fox, it’s been a year since I last saw you. Have I aged? Have you become more capable?” Zhu Ling growled. “Who do you think you are, sitting in my house?”
Jiang Xiaobai trembled like a fragile flower in the wind, his face adopting an innocent look. “Brother Kai, Brother Kai… it’s scary! Do you care about him?”
Zhu Ling shouted, “Let go!”
The force of his outburst shook the room, but Ji Kai’s commanding tone halted his intentions.
Ji Kai suddenly realized that this was just like the night of their anniversary when he had playfully pushed Jiang Xiaobai. At the time, Zhu Ling seemed worried as he rushed over to check on him.
Sometimes, life has a way of turning things around.
Jiang Xiaobai was, in fact, a straight man. He was the only one in their group who couldn’t seem to build muscles, no matter how hard he trained. With his fair complexion and delicate skin, he didn’t fit the typical image of a straight male civil servant in a government office. He exuded an air of coquettishness that made him appear like a playful little fox.
Malice crept into Zhu Ling’s heart. “I’m just protecting him. What’s wrong?”
Feeling cornered, Zhu Ling was like a drowned rat or a mute person who had swallowed a bowl of coptis. His entire body ached, but he didn’t dare to attack.
He suppressed his emotions and trembled, “Brother, Brother Kai, I know you’re mad at me…”
Ji Kai’s calm voice cut through the air, “Yes, I understand.”
This gave Zhu Ling a glimmer of hope. He carefully looked at Ji Kai, hoping for a sign of reconciliation.
“Even if you’re tired, Brother Kai, can we stop this act? You know I was just angry, and those words didn’t mean anything, right?” Zhu Ling pleaded.
Ji Kai’s response caught him off guard, “Acting? Zhu Ling, can we stop pretending? You think you can deceive me?”
Zhu Ling was bewildered by the word “acting.” He couldn’t comprehend Ji Kai’s intentions. Was he accusing him of deceit? Where had he lied?
He was pushed against the cold wall, unable to move. Ji Kai’s expression was terrifying; his face was devoid of emotion, but his eyes were filled with a cold and cruel intensity.
Zhu Ling was devastated. He wondered why Ji Kai wouldn’t forgive him, especially when he knew the words had been spoken in anger. Wasn’t he the one Ji Kai cherished the most, the one he adored, the one who was supposed to be unique and irreplaceable?
Ji Kai’s voice broke the silence, “Listen carefully, Zhu Ling. I’ll say this only once.”
“Our relationship ends here. There’s no need for any further explanations or attempts to deceive. I won’t trust you anymore. Never again.”
Zhu Ling was shocked. He wanted to protest and say it wasn’t true. But the words got stuck in his throat. He was rendered speechless.
Ji Kai’s grip on his sleeves tightened, and he was pulled towards the door. Zhu Ling noticed that Ji Kai purposely avoided any contact with his fingertips as if they were contaminated.
Zhu Ling desperately tried to free himself but was held by the collar and pressed against the wall. He was pushed into a terrifying corner, with Ji Kai’s unrelenting gaze bearing down on him.
“Why, Ji Kai, baby bear, I don’t believe this!”
His knees hit a chair leg, making a loud noise. Ji Kai heard it but paid no attention, continuing to drag him mercilessly.
Zhu Ling felt a sense of urgency as he was pulled further across the living room. His desperation grew, and he tried to break free, but Ji Kai grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.
Facing him was the fiery aura of a highly aggressive male. It was no longer his bear cub but a terrifying creature with stern eyes that pounced on him to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
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