After returning home, Zhang Yuze went to take a shower. Xu Li took a paper and a pen, sat cross-legged at the coffee table, and began to study his mobile phone’s contacts list.
Zhang Yuze brushed his hair while passing past him and said sarcastically: “Yo, do you want to call someone over? The type that gets paid by the hour?”
Xu Li didn’t even raise his head while answering: “Today, Ah Huo reminded me. He said that in order to avoid other Little Rainbows coming to bother me again, I should block everyone not important and stop answering random calls.”
“Just don’t add everyone in the future.” Zhang Yuze sat on the sofa, putting his legs straight on Xu Li.
Xu Li: “Can you pay attention and not treat me as a stepping stone?”
Zhang Yuze smiled and wickedly answered: “No, you live in my house. Since you only know how to bring me trouble, I’m free to bully you, understand?”
Xu Li glanced at him but did not push his legs away, honestly playing the role of a stool.
As for Zhang Yuze, he swiped his own mobile phone, feeling bored out of his mind. Seeing that the supermarket downstairs in the community offered mineral water at half price, he kicked Xu Li and asked: “Did we run out of water?”
Xu Li hummed.
Zhang Yuze stood up and continued: “Then I’ll go downstairs to buy some. Remember to take a shower.”
“Oh, I don’t want to wash today.” Xu Li waved his hand and said impatiently. “I’m not sweaty, so why wash?”
Zhang Yuze looked at him indifferently with a not-so-smiley smile.
Thinking that he was still the “Xu Li who lived in his boyfriend’s house, obediently waiting to get bullied,” Xu Li straightened his back and said with a fawning smile: “I understand, I understand. I promise to clean myself and lie in bed waiting for you.”
And so, Zhang Yuze went downstairs with satisfaction. He brought two big drums of water but soon found it difficult to go upstairs. Dr. Zhang walked for a while and stopped for another, finally moving the things up the stairwell. Since he was still living in the old apartment that his mother received from the hospital in the past, the community was too damp and dusty to have elevators.
However, just halfway up the stairs, there was a pig-like scream shaking the whole stairwell, causing the induction lights in the corridor to turn on one after another…
… And the voice sounded just like Xu Li’s.
Zhang Yuze didn’t even think about it. He put down the heavy things in his arms and ran upstairs, jumping steps as he went. It wasn’t that he cared for Xu Li… It was mainly the fear that he would die in his home, affecting the housing prices of the entire community.
“What’s the matter?” Zhang Yuze ran over. Then, he saw Xu Li wearing only a bath towel and running around the hallway like a bullied little girl, pointing pitifully behind him: “There’s a pervert inside!”
However, Zhang Yuze looked at him, silently withdrew his gaze, and reminded: “Your bath towel is not wrapped up. I can see your little brother.”
Xu Li: “Ah ah ah ah ah!”
Zhang Yuze covered his mouth and scolded: “Don’t shout! The neighbors will report you for disturbing everyone!”
At that moment, a person slowly came out of his apartment. He was not tall or thin, and his shoulders were particularly narrow. Even without looking at his face, Zhang Yuze knew who it was.
It was so familiar. Who else could it be if not Shen Mo?
“Why are you here?!” Zhang Yuze was stunned, forgetting that he was still covering Xu Li’s mouth. And so, the two maintained the posture of hugging each other and looking at the uninvited guest in a daze.
Shen Mo’s eyes turned around to their intimate movements, feeling blinded by jealousy. “I missed you so I’ve come to see you.” He lowered his eyes and spoke in a very light tone, his posture extremely low.
However, Zhang Yuze didn’t care. He and Shen Mo haven’t contacted each other for many years since they broke up, and although they had a brief social interaction in the bar last time, Shen Mo was now Old Bi’s lover. What was he doing here, suddenly missing him?!
It looked like Old Bi was about to change his name to Old Lu from now on…1Lu means green since he’s about to get cheated on :))
“Woo-woo!!” From under his hand, Xu Li suddenly began to struggle. Only then did Dr. Zhang realize that he was still, well… Choking his boyfriend. He quickly let go of him, and Xu Li took a deep breath, gasped for a long time, and twitched while complaining with a hoarse voice: “Zhang… Zhang Yuze, you almost killed me!”
Zhang Yuze: “Well, looks like you’re still alive.”
Xu Li exhaled again and continued to cry about his misfortune: “Let me tell you, I was scared to death! I was minding my own business in the shower when suddenly, a man came in, pulled open the curtain, and started touching me! I thought it was you! As a result, when I turned around, it was Shen Mo! How could he still have the key to your house?!”
Although it was not the time to argue, Zhang Yuze still corrected him rigorously: “You thought too much. Judging by the clue that you were touched, it couldn’t have been me, okay?”
Xu Li grabbed at his bath towel, seriously contemplating beating Zhang Yuze with it, even if it meant getting naked in front of everyone.
Shen Mo looked at the two of them “lovingly” talking to each other, and his big eyes turned sour. He said while feeling lost: “Brother Yuze, I’m sorry. I just suddenly wanted to see you, so I came over. I didn’t know you were already living together. Excuse me.”
Zhang Yuze didn’t care to hear his excuses, waving his hand while saying: “Don’t come in the future. I have my life. It’s not appropriate for you to disturb me.”
“Brother Yuze, I know you’re still angry with me.” Shen Mo raised his head with tears in his eyes and continued: “I don’t expect you to forgive me immediately. It was all my fault back then, but I also had my reasons. I had no choice! I still love you, which is enough to see that I treated you with a true heart back then as well. Can you give me some time to explain?”
Xu Li stood on the side, also feeling lost but quite angry as well. He patted Shen Mo’s back and said: “Well, let me remind you that I only have an injured arm. I’m not dead yet. Isn’t it a little too much for me to stand here and watch you confess your undying love to my boyfriend?!”
Zhang Yuze wanted to laugh a little, although the situation asked for him to coldly raise the corners of his mouth and say: Oh, dear ex-boyfriend of mine, you indeed loved me in the past… You loved to ignore me while trying to climb the social ladder, and now you’re here trying to stage some fight with my current partner?!
But he really couldn’t. He just wanted to laugh. Seeing Xu Li’s face simply made him want to laugh.
And so, he forced his expression and looked at Shen Mo calmly, not moved by his love speech at all. He even thought about whether to go downstairs and carry the two drums of water inside, so as not to be taken home by any neighbor who went out to throw their garbage.
If college student Zhang Yuze were to see such a poor Shen Mo, he might even grovel on the ground trying to please him. Maybe, let’s say that his OCD wasn’t that serious and he didn’t care that much about cleaningness… Maybe he might have even forgiven Shen Mo for sleeping around, taking him back despite getting both physically and emotionally betrayed.
But the current Dr. Zhang was a completely evolved, superior being. He was cold-blooded in front of the operating table, used to dealing with death for so many years. It was simply impossible for him to even entertain the thought of taking Shen Mo back.
As for Shen Mo, he completely ignored Xu Li, still looking at Zhang Yuze with hope, as if trying to sell his poor demeanor to attract some man’s sympathy again.
But Xu Li couldn’t stand it any longer. He snickered and reminded: “I said, Shen Mo, do you hear what you’re saying? Let me tell you, Old Bi is not a stupid man. You better use your words cleverly, or you might end up suffering by yourself.”
Zhang Yuze helped: “Yes, you are with Old Bi now. In order to avoid suspicion, you’d better not contact me in the future.”
He and Xu Li were both kind-hearted, but who knew that Shen Mo didn’t want to hear their kind words at all? He finally broke down in silence, saying excitedly: “Don’t mention that man to me!”
Zhang Yuze and Xu Li looked at each other.
Shen Mo lifted his sleeves tremblingly, and there were shocking blue and purple wounds that looked suspiciously like whip marks all over his arms. Zhang Yuze looked at the scene, and his eyelids jumped.
“Old Bi is a dead pervert!” Shen Mo cried in silence. “Brother Yuze, I regret it! I really regret it! I don’t want to follow him anymore… I beg you to help me.”
His heart was indeed shocked. Although Shen Mo was completely at fault for everything that happened in the past, it was also false to say that he did not feel any compassion for a victim of domestic violence. In a hidden spot that no one could see, he felt that his arm was gently held. Xu Li looked into his eyes and nodded his head.
As for Shen Mo, he was still crying, unable to stop twitching. Many good neighbors came over to the hallway to watch the excitement.
“Let’s go in and talk.” Zhang Yuze finally sighed, not wanting to make a bigger deal. Shen Mo sobbed and entered the apartment with him. Xu Li closed the door behind them, picked up his mobile phone, and stood on the porch with a thoughtful look on his face.
Out of humanitarianism, Dr. Zhang still took out his medicine box. Anyway, he needed to treat those gruesome wounds first. Shen Mo tried to open his mouth several times, but unfortunately, only Dr. Zhang’s indifferent eyes paid him a bit of attention. He treated his wounds as if treating an ordinary patient in the hospital. Like a job, a routine, without any pity and heartache.
In fact, in the years after leaving Zhang Yuze, Shen Mo regretted it more than once. He regretted that he was young and spontaneous, unable to grasp a sincere relationship. When he looked back many years ago, he found that everyone was a hypocrite, exchanging love for fame or fortune. Just simple power transactions that happened over and over again.
And so, he believed that only Zhang Yuze truly loved him. However, it wasn’t because he saw his sincere feelings… It was because others told him over and over again that Zhang Yuze had been in love with him for many years. Because of that sentence, Shen Mo comforted himself with confidence, thinking that as long as he was willing to turn around, Zhang Yuze would wait for him in the same place.
It was such a pity that Xu Li came over halfway.
Everything was because of Xu Li! Shen Mo raised his eyes and stared at Xu Li with resentment in a place where Zhang Yuze could not see, eager to tear him apart to vent his anger.
However, Xu Li didn’t notice his gaze. He was still wearing his small bath towel, standing at the door naked, and sending messages to Ah Huo.
Xu Li: Do you know what happened between Shen Mo and Old Bi?
This time around, Ah Huo replied quite quickly.
Ah Huo: Damn, why are you suddenly asking this? Shen Mo ran away yesterday, and Old Bi has been looking for him all over the world. Do you know where he is?
Xu Li frowned and felt a big trouble in his heart. He had a hunch that everything was about to go south really fast. And so, he thought for a moment and replied: I don’t know. I was just curious.
Ah Huo: Anyway, don’t try to stop Old Bi from finding him. He stole a lot of money from him before running away. Old Bi said at noon that he’d break his legs as soon as he saw him.
Xu Li’s face turned heavy. He put down his mobile phone and looked up, only to see the originator of all his troubles sitting obediently on his couch, sending love signals to his boyfriend.
“All right.” Zhang Yuze put away the disinfectant and said flatly: “Don’t touch the wound. Remember to find a clinic to change the bandages tomorrow. You can go.”
Shen Mo squeezed his lips. Even in the face of Zhang Yuze’s obvious goodbye, he still did not move. In the end, he paused and asked tentatively: “Brother Yuze, can I stay over tonight?”
