Birthday bonus chapter hehe
Qiu Zheyan had heard Zhuang Hanxue mention his older brother before, but not in detail. He only vaguely knew that the man was in his forties, lived abroad, used to be in business, and now had a more relaxed job after changing careers.
He wondered what the man was really like.
Zhuang Hanxue, unable to stay quiet, chatted with him in the car. “My brother’s back this time to bring his kid for a second surgery. The child he adopted has a lot of health issues and needs multiple operations.”
“That child was abandoned at birth because of all the health problems. Must have been because of preference for boys over girls.”
“Those parents were so irresponsible. If they didn’t want to raise a child, they shouldn’t have had one in the first place.”
“Luckily, her suffering is over now that she’s met my brother. He’ll definitely take good care of her.”
“My brother even switched to a higher-paying job to raise this child.”
Qiu Zheyan quickly interjected, “So your niece is coming too?”
Zhuang Hanxue: “Yeah.”
Qiu Zheyan: “Then I should bring a gift for the little girl. How old is she?”
Zhuang Hanxue thought for a moment. “I think about four or five?”
Qiu Zheyan glanced at the map.
He adjusted their route, taking a slight detour of a few minutes, and rushed into a jewelry store. He bought a gold bracelet, specifying clearly, “I want it engraved with something like ‘wishing you health and longevity’.”
The clerk presented three options. He quickly chose one, had it packaged, and left.
Zhuang Hanxue checked his phone and marveled, “It only took less than ten minutes.”
Qiu Zheyan said, “There’s no time to dawdle.”
They hurried to the airport, arriving just in time. As soon as they found their spot, Zhuang Hanxue’s brother appeared. The man didn’t look like he was forty-five years old, cutting an impressive figure with a distinguished air. He was even taller than Zhuang Hanxue and carried a little girl who was hugging his neck, sleeping on his shoulder, while he pushed the luggage cart with one hand.
Zhuang Hanxue greeted him with a smile, “Dage.”
Zhuang Hanxue’s brother said with surprise, “You actually arrived on time?”
Zhuang Hanxue, unabashed: “Because the driver is a punctual person.”
Qiu Zheyan had an ominous feeling.
Sure enough, when Zhuang Hanxue’s brother looked at him and asked, “Is this your friend? I’m surprised you have such a reliable friend.”
Sure enough, it confirmed that Zhuang Hanxue had never mentioned him to his brother.
Qiu Zheyan had always known that their relationship was based on his one-sided pursuit. Until now, Zhuang Hanxue had never made any promises to him. Due to numerous past experiences, he didn’t dare to ask Zhuang Hanxue for commitment so soon.
How should he introduce himself?
Initially, he thought Zhuang Hanxue’s brother, having a same-sex partner himself, wouldn’t object to his brother dating a man. But on second thought, it wasn’t certain; his brother might not approve of their relationship. There were also men who, having siblings, felt they could entrust the family’s continuation to their brothers and pursue true love unburdened. What if his brother was that type?
But what frustrated him most was that Zhuang Hanxue had never mentioned him to his brother.
Although they had slept together many times, he thought they were in a proper relationship.
Perhaps it was best not to rock the boat.
“I’m his friend.” – That’s how he should introduce himself, to keep things smooth.
Just then.
Zhuang Hanxue scratched his head and said casually, “This is my boyfriend.”
Like casually tossing out a bomb.
Everyone froze.
Qiu Zheyan’s face turned crimson.
His wavering confidence suddenly soared.
Zhuang Hanxue pulled him over, introducing his still dumbfounded brother, “This is my elder brother, Zhuang Hanchen.”
Qiu Zheyan hurriedly offered the gift, his body stiff like a young gangster paying respects to a boss, bowing a perfect 90 degrees. “Dage, hello, I’m Qiu Zheyan, Zhuang Hanxue’s boyfriend! This is a gift I prepared for you.”
He looked up, meeting Zhuang Hanchen’s piercing, scrutinizing gaze. His heart pounded wildly, a sense of doom flooding his mind. In the heat of the moment, he bowed again and blurted out loudly, “I want to marry him!”
At this, not just Zhuang Hanchen, but even Zhuang Hanxue was dumbfounded.
Zhuang Hanxue burst into laughter. “You’ve woken up my niece!”
Qiu Zheyan’s ears turned red. “I-I’m sorry.”
Zhuang Hanchen, exasperated by this chaotic scene, sighed and said, “Let’s go. I’ve booked a hotel. Take me there.”
In the car, Qiu Zheyan apologized again. “I’m sorry, Dage. I should have been the one to book the hotel.”
Zhuang Hanchen said, “It’s fine. I never expected anything from you.”
He seemed uninterested in engaging with Qiu Zheyan, maintaining a cold attitude throughout.
He turned to ask Zhuang Hanxue, “Why didn’t you tell me before that you now prefer men?”
Zhuang Hanxue replied nonchalantly, “You never asked.”
Zhuang Hanchen: “When you’re in a relationship, you should at least tell your family.”
Zhuang Hanxue: “When you started dating Qiming-ge, you didn’t tell me either. I only found out after you’d eloped with him.”
Zhuang Hanchen was taken aback, realizing he was in the wrong. “That’s different. How could I easily come out back then? I’ve always liked men, but weren’t you dating a new girl every day in your twenties?”
Zhuang Hanxue immediately retorted, “Every day? At most, it was once a week.”
Zhuang Hanxue: “Is that the point?”
Zhuang Hanxue pouted. “Just think of it as a sudden awakening.”
Qiu Zheyan nervously kept checking the rearview mirror, unable to join the brothers’ battlefield.
However, the war soon ended with Zhuang Hanxue’s evasion. “Every time we meet, you start lecturing and criticizing me. Can’t you stop? I’m in my thirties now. Besides, Nan Nan is here. It’s not good to argue in front of a child. Just like our parents.”
Zhuang Hanchen said, “You’re in your thirties and still not serious about anything.”
Although Zhuang Hanchen didn’t explicitly state it, arguing with his brother in front of Qiu Zheyan clearly showed his disapproval of his brother’s boyfriend. Yet when Qiu Zheyan sheepishly called him “big brother,” he didn’t object.
Qiu Zheyan eagerly helped with the luggage, escorting the elder brother to his room door. He boldly asked for contact information, saying, “Dage, shall I book a restaurant to treat you to dinner tonight?”
Zhuang Hanchen declined, “I have an appointment to take the child to see a doctor this afternoon. I’m not sure when we’ll be done.”
Zhuang Hanxue: “You finish work late. I’ll take my brother out for dinner.”
Qiu Zheyan respectfully said, “I don’t have much to do today. I can leave work early. If anything comes up, just call me anytime.”
Zhuang Hanxue stayed to accompany his brother and help out at the hospital.
Qiu Zheyan hurried back to his company. He was extremely efficient that day, waiting for Zhuang Hanxue’s call, but it never came. He left work early in the evening and went out for a meal.
The dinner was relatively harmonious.
“How did you and my brother meet?”
“We met playing games online, then after meeting in person, we found we got along well.”
“How long have you been together?”
“We’ve been officially dating for two months.”
“It seems you’re already living together?”
“Yes…”
“He told me he doesn’t work, just plays at home every day? And you’re okay with that?”
“It doesn’t matter whether he wants to work or not, I’ll support whatever he decides.”
“But he’s a man. How can he not have a job of his own?”
“Well…”
Zhuang Hanxue couldn’t help but interject, “What’s wrong with that? Why must men work tirelessly and bear all the pressure? Why are men mocked and called useless if they’re not ambitious or hardworking enough? Don’t you think that’s unfair? Isn’t my contribution as a house husband still valuable?”
His elder brother retorted, “That’s nonsense. Everyone should have a job, especially a lazy bones like you.”
Zhuang Hanxue lifted his chin defiantly, “Xiao Qiu can support me just fine. I’ll live however I want. So what if I’m useless?”
Qiu Zheyan, sensing his brother-in-law’s rising anger, held his breath, anxiously wondering how to smooth things over.
The elder brother pressed on, “You’ve still got a sharp tongue. Househusband? Do you cook, clean, or do any housework?”
Zhuang Hanxue answered firmly, “No. Xiao Qiu hired a cleaner for housework. It’s better left to professionals, don’t you think?”
“So you just play all day? Eat and sleep? Don’t you feel like you’re wasting your life?”
Counting on his fingers, Zhuang Hanxue replied, “I play three or four games daily, complete lots of quests, walk the dog, keep Xiao Qiu company, and sometimes go shopping. I find it very fulfilling.”
Qiu Zheyan hurriedly added, “I cherish him deeply. I’ve never asked him to do housework. I’m with him because I want his companionship, not to have him act like a housekeeper.”
Their united front left the elder brother speechless with frustration.
Zhuang Hanxue continued, “Why must men always strive and compete? Can’t we opt out? Everyone has their own way of living. You have yours, I have mine. We’re brothers, but let’s manage our own lives, shall we? This is my life, and I’m happy now. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“You can’t always be happy… When unhappiness comes, what will you do?” his brother challenged.
Zhuang Hanxue, seemingly carefree, replied nonchalantly, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
On the way home, Qiu Zheyan voiced his concerns, “Your brother doesn’t seem to like me much.”
Zhuang Hanxue reassured him, “I’ve just come out to him. He needs time to accept reality. My brother’s over a decade older than me. When I was little, our parents were often absent, so he’s more like a father than a brother. Even now, he can’t help but try to control me. It’s an old habit of his. Try to understand him; he means no harm.”
Qiu Zheyan couldn’t help but imagine a tragic scenario: negligent parents working away from home, a young son left unattended, and an elder brother struggling to raise his sibling. The two brothers, dependent only on each other.
Qiu Zheyan knew Zhuang Hanxue’s elder brother surely harbored no ill intentions. His strict demeanor likely stemmed from concern for his carefree brother.
Zhuang Hanxue continued, “He’s just overly suspicious. He kept pressing me with questions, even worrying if you might be deceiving me. I explained for so long my mouth nearly went dry.”
Qiu Zheyan’s heart skipped a beat.
Before he could inquire further, Zhuang Hanxue’s attention shifted, “Oh, there’s Jiang Ruoyun’s billboard.”
“By the way, you told my brother you wanted to marry me as soon as we met him today.”
At the mention of marriage, Qiu Zheyan’s attention was immediately drawn back to the topic, his heart hanging on every word.
Zhuang Hanxue seemed to recall something amusing and chuckled to himself. He put on a serious face, mimicking his older brother’s demeanor, “My brother said, ‘Casually bringing up marriage is strange. Mentioning it in public like that, isn’t it coercion?’ Haha!”
After his performance, he returned to his normal self, “I was quite startled too.”
“Seeing Jiang Ruoyun reminded me, she once proposed marriage to me as well.”
Qiu Zheyan laughed at his antics. “Really? Did Bei Yao propose to you too?” Bei Yao was another popular young actress.
Zhuang Hanxue spoke as if choosing a consort, “Actually, no. I’m not into her type. When Xiao Yun brought up marriage, I refused. She slapped me, and we broke up.”
Qiu Zheyan treated it like a tall tale. “Alright, alright. You’ve mentioned how popular you were with women many times before.”
Zhuang Hanxue lamented, “Now that I’m older, only you like me.”
Qiu Zheyan retorted, “When you were in your early twenties, I was still in middle school.”
However, when Zhuang Hanxue mentioned refusing marriage earlier, Qiu Zheyan felt a twinge of unease. Thinking about it now, he wondered if it was Zhuang Hanxue’s subtle way of rejecting him.
No, that’s unlikely.
This man, whose thought process was as simple as an amoeba’s, couldn’t possibly craft such a complex, veiled refusal.
He just spoke whatever came to mind.
It was probably half-truth, half-fiction.
Women wanting to marry him in the past was true, and him refusing was also true.
Qiu Zheyan, ever impatient, stared at the road ahead and thought he might as well seize this opportunity to ask Zhuang Hanxue about his views on marriage.
Qiu Zheyan tentatively said, “You seem to think I was joking. But actually… when I mentioned earlier about wanting to get married, I was serious. Ah Xue, what do you think?”
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