After Zhang Yuze took Shen Mo to the bathroom, Old Bi no longer cared about that little lover of his. While others were busy cleaning up the mess, he approached Xu Li, coughed, and asked: “Oh, brother, where did you find that person? Such a gem?”
Xu Li snorted coldly and answered casually: “I picked him up.”
“Yo-yo-yo, don’t be kidding with your brother. From where did you pick him up? Tell me so I can go find one for myself as well.” Old Bi licked his mouth, and his eyes flashed obscenely, squeezing into a ball. “Seriously, I really like that boyfriend of yours. How about you give him to me? No matter what problem you have in the future, you can be sure I’ll remember this favour and help you with it.”
Xu Li raised his chin and restrained his smile, but directly showed his impatience. He stretched out his hand, knocked on the table, and casually said: “No, I really like this one.”
“Don’t be so stingy.” Old Bi put his hand on Xu Li’s shoulder and continued: “You never cared about this before. Just do me a personal favor, can’t you see I still don’t have a stable partner at my age? Can you bear to see me suffer like this?”
“Stop, stop!” Xu Li raised his volume, and his eyebrows already looked quite fierce, not hiding the warning and provocation in his eyes. He said coldly: “Dr. Zhang is a rare serious person. Don’t fucking try to ruin him and go to that Shen Mo of yours. Also, it doesn’t matter how I used to be before, this one Brother Xu likes and intends to keep for himself. There’s no need to carry on with this conversation.”
Lao Bi hissed, and the irritable energy of a street hoodlum raised to his head, making his fists itch. However, Xu Li only took a single glance at him, raised his glass of water, and continued calmly: “Old Bi, I never tried to mess with you before, but I know all of the bad things you’ve done over the years. You can weigh it yourself whether it’s worth to touch my man.”
Now Old Bi was truly dumbfounded. About seven or eight years ago, when Xu Li was still in college, he worked in some of the biggest bars in order to earn a living for his family. It was at that time that he met their group of drinking buddies.
Although they weren’t hanging out together back then, Xu Li watched them every day, and not a single one of their immoral behaviors escaped his eyes. It’s just that he was too lazy to care.
Thinking of that, Old Bi still decided to pull down his temper, but not before twitching the corners of his mouth a few times. Patting Xu Li on the shoulder, he gave up and said: “Okay, okay, I was just joking with you. You two look good together… It’s just that, when you get tired of playing with him, inform your brother so I can get in line. That’s all I’m asking.”
With Old Bi’s understanding of Xu Li, he was never serious about someone in the past. Saying he truly liked this boyfriend probably meant he was close to breaking up with him in the next couple of days. All he had to do was patiently wait and pick up the crumbs.
Unexpectedly, Xu Li never thought like that. When he heard those infuriating words, he closed his eyes and retorted with anger: “There’s no way I’ll ever get bored of playing with him! Don’t fucking think about it!”
…………
Zhang Yuze helped Shen Mo up, and both of them staggered to the edge of a sink. Shen Mo was still vomiting heavily, with his whole body buried in the sewage, not even looking like a human anymore.
As for Zhang Yuze, he took the glass of warm water from the waiter’s hand, patted Shen Mo on the back, and said: “Judge the symptoms yourself. Do you need to go to the hospital for gastric lavage?”
Shen Mo raised his face and stared at Zhang Yuze through the mirror in front of him. His eyes were full of blood, looking haggard and resentful. “Brother Yuze, how could you change so much?” He asked in a very hoarse voice.
Zhang Yuze’s hand holding the cup tightened for a moment but quickly relaxed. He asked with interest: “What do you mean I’ve changed?”
“You did…” Shen Mo spit out again, wiped his mouth, and straightened his waist. “You ignored me, never looked at me, and you didn’t even help block the alcohol for me.”
Zhang Yuze felt… Well, ironic.
The saying that “people who commit evil are the first to feel wronged” was probably true. Back in those years, he chased after Shen Mo all over the place, begging him for an explication and apology. However, Shen Mo never turned back or looked at him, not even thinking to answer his calls.
So many years have passed, and the past should have been forgotten, long turned to dust. Instead, Shen Mo dared to open his mouth and blame him for changing.
Zhang Yuze put down the glass of water in his hand, and his eyes were quiet, seemingly filled with helplessness and relief. “Shen Mo, I don’t know if you remember how many times I’ve blocked drinks for you in college.” He whispered in a deep voice.
Shen Mo looked stunned.
Anyway, since those words were already out, Zhang Yuze didn’t mind tearing open his former wounds and showing them again. He was silent for a few seconds and then continued: “I don’t know why you suddenly had to attend so many drinking parties in the third and fourth years of college. Every day you had to meet different people and have fun with all kinds of men. You said that it was good for your work, that they were all seniors from the same school. And I believed you.”
His stomach was burning. Shen Mo threw himself into the sink and vomited bitterly once again, staring at Zhang Yuze with tears in his eyes.
However, Zhang Yuze didn’t pity him. He continued calmly: “I knew that you had a bad stomach and it was bad for you to drink, so I stood in front of you and helped you drink it all pot by pot. Even if my own body was in pain, it never mattered to me. But later, I realized that those people were all men you’ve hooked up with, just to take shortcuts in life and solve your problems.”
“I had no other choice!” Shen Mo’s eyes were scarlet, with tears washing both of his cheeks, looking truly pitiful. And yet, those tears no longer moved Zhang Yuze. He just pushed the glass of water on the table in front of Shen Mo, with no emotional fluctuation at all. He said indifferently: “It’s a pity that I don’t want to know about you anymore. Since you don’t need to go to the hospital, just drink warm water. When you go back, ask your boyfriend to buy you some medicine. If you have any symptoms, seek medical attention in time. I’m leaving.”
And just like that, he turned around without any hesitation. The doctor’s work was completed, so there was no need for him to stay there with Shen Mo and recall the past.
What a load of bull crap. His body, mind, and soul were finally at peace.
“Brother Yuze!” Despite the smell of alcohol that surrounded him, Shen Mo hugged Zhang Yuze tightly from behind, pressing his entire body against the man’s tall back. “What kind of good man is Xu Li?! Do you want me to tell you how he used to act before?!” He cried.
At that moment, Shen Mo’s emotions finally collapsed under the double catalysis of alcohol and depression. He was like a person who was about to drown, but before his death, he wanted to curse everything and also drag Xu Li into the water.
Zhang Yuze was stunned for a moment, feeling his heart move slightly. However, it wasn’t because of Shen Mo’s sudden hug but because… He felt sorry for his coat. Such a good, new coat that he only managed to wear a single time, was now forced to smell like alcohol and vomit.
“Shen Mo, don’t waste your efforts. I know Xu Li better than you do.” Zhang Yuze used a little force to peel Shen Mo off his back.
Shen Mo raised his hands, looking to be at a loss. And yet, Zhang Yuze gently pursed his lips and meticulously sorted out his messy clothes, not hiding his disgust at all. In the end, he said indifferently: “I know he’s an asshole, but I’ll still choose him over you any day.”
……………
By the time Zhang Yuze and Shen Mo returned from the bathroom, Xu Li had already put on his coat and was ready to leave the bar. “How is he?” He asked.
Zhang Yuze: “He’s fine. He drank too much and needed to spill it out.”
At that time, Old Bi remembered that he still had that little lover. He reluctantly hugged Shen Mo and taught him: “You can’t drink too much from the start. Let me tell you, this is a lack of practice. Wait for me to take you out a few more time and you’ll get used to it eventually.”
Zhang Yuze had originally planned to leave, but unfortunately, his noble medical ethics didn’t allow him to ignore the sheer stupidity surrounding them. “Shen Mo has congenital gastric dysplasia. He can’t drink alcohol and it has nothing to do with lack of practice. If he drinks like this in the future, he might die.” He turned around and reminded.
Every time Dr. Zhang opened his mouth, he said such serious words. However, Old Bi still didn’t care about Shen Mo. He licked his lips, nodded, and mindlessly agreed with the handsome man in front of him: “Okay, Dr. Zhang is the expert. We’ll listen to you. Don’t worry, he won’t come back next time.” As he said that, he stretched out his claws, wanting to take the opportunity to touch Dr. Zhang’s beautiful hand again.
However, Zhang Yuze just glanced at it, pretending not to see it.
In the end, Old Bi had to embarrassingly withdraw his hand, turning to hold Shen Mo instead.
Zhang Yuze turned around and left. Xu Li stood by the door of the bar and raised his hand in front of him. Dr. Zhang looked at it and sighed from the bottom of his heart, but still stretched out his own hand and clasped their five fingers together.
Xu Li took Zhang Yuze’s hand and put it in his pocket with a smile, but not before turning around and looking at Old Bi provocatively. And just like that, they walked out of the bar, leaving only a pair of dashing backs for the others to admire.
Shen Mo lifted his eyelids weakly, only feeling that their entangled hands were hurting his eyes. After they left, Old Bi’s smile cooled down, and he scolded: “Bah, what’s wrong with them?!”
…………
On the way home, Zhang Yuze remembered the way Old Bi looked at him just now, making him feel disgusted, and his stomach full of anger. He suppressed the discomfort and asked: “Where did you even meet those people?”
Xu Li turned his head and said lazily: “Oh, I met them during the time I worked at the bar. As long as you have a good relationship with them, they will not embarrass you. At some point, I even considered them my friends.”
“A part-time job?” Zhang Yuze was puzzled.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Xu Li smiled frankly and continued: “You know the situation in my family, how my father left home for some rich woman. My mother had no job, so when I was in college, I could only work and study at the same time. I almost dropped out of school.”
“That’s really hard…” Zhang Yuze lowered his head and carefully thought back to the original novel he’d read before transmigrating, wondering whether Xu Li as a book character was also that miserable.
However, that stupid book made him feel so confused, so it’s a pity that he could no longer remember such details.
Xu Li raised his neck and his throat rolled a couple of times as he took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “It definitely was hard work. It was between working a few night jobs and selling my ass if I still wanted to continue to go to school.”
Zhang Yuze glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and commented: “So selling your ass did cross your mind at some point.”
Xu Li hissed, smiled angrily, and replied to him: “Are you talking about me like that? I haven’t betrayed my principles to that point!”
By the time they got out of the taxi and went upstairs, it was already past midnight. Zhang Yuze was so sleepy that he staggered. At the thought of waking up in a couple of hours and going to work, he felt dizzy and uncomfortable, and his stomach hurt faintly. Taking off the coat that had just been stained with alcohol by Shen Mo, he simply threw it to Xu Li and said: “Help me wash my clothes and hang them up tomorrow,” sounding just like an emperor ordering his eunuch around.
“Am I your servant…” Xu Li acted angry for a while, but he still honestly helped Dr. Zhang tidy up his clothes.
Even at such a late hour, Zhang Yuze’s OCD still drove him to take a shower, and then finally lay down in bed and shrink into a ball. Xu Li turned off the light and fell asleep on his right.
Zhang Yuze tried to close his eyes and fall asleep as soon as possible, but it soon became obvious that he couldn’t. His stomach, which had been faintly painful since just now, suddenly began to hurt more and more, even showing symptoms of burning pain. In the end, even his breathing turned unstable.
In the dark, Zhang Yuze hissed gently, raised his hand to his stomach, and simply rubbed it. His only hope was to relieve it as soon as possible, so as not to delay his sleep and work tomorrow.
The bedside lamp turned on.
Xu Li sat up slowly and supported his arms to check his condition. He frowned slightly and looked worried, asking softly: “Is it uncomfortable?”
The author has something to say:
Xu Li from the past: Who is such a fool to play pure love?!
Current Xu Li: [Puppy protecting its food] Let’s see who dares to touch my man!
