Chapter 13: Lover, beloved, and partner.
Huo Niansheng really started counting: “Ten—”
Then eight, seven, six.
He drew out each number, not really counting by the second.
Chen Wengang raised a hand to stop him from playing with his hair, frowning slightly. “Don’t be like this.”
“Did I scare you?” Huo Niansheng suddenly broke character with a chuckle, a smile appearing on his face. “Sorry! I was just kidding.”
The prowling leopard leaped back into the tree, squinting its eyes lazily, retracting its teeth and claws. In an instant, the threat vanished completely.
“We’re all family. How could I really not give my uncle-in-law face on the Zheng Corporation’s big day?” He stepped back, politely releasing Chen Wengang. “What important business could I have? If you had told me earlier, you could have used the venue as you please.”
Chen Wengang realized he was still clutching Huo Niansheng’s sleeve. He let go. “I’ve caused you trouble.”
“I should be the one saying sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine, I often go too far with my jokes,” Huo Niansheng said. “If I accidentally offended you, I apologize. Have you eaten tonight? Give me a chance to treat you to a late-night snack?”
Before Chen Wengang could speak, his phone rang.
It was Zheng Maoxun looking for him again. “Where did you go today? When are you coming back?” But this time, his tone was a bit more polite. “…Can you come back soon? I need to talk to you about something.”
Chen Wengang pinched the bridge of his nose. “What is it?”
Zheng Maoxun cleared his throat. “It’s about that… the contract dispute lawsuit with Rongcheng International. Didn’t Dad ask me to sort it out and report to him a couple of days ago? The progress of the third trial, an analysis of our chances of winning…”
He had been taking it easy and had almost forgotten about it, only to be dumbfounded when it was time to report. “Anyway, Dad just asked about it. I told him the materials are still at the company and I’ll report to him after work tomorrow. In short, come save me. I’ll owe you one.”
Beside Chen Wengang, Huo Niansheng immediately said with understanding, “Something urgent? Then next time.”
The call was still active, and Zheng Maoxun heard the voice on the other end. “Who are you talking to?”
“I’ll be back soon.” Chen Wengang held back his annoyance and hung up on the young master.
However, Zheng Maoxun’s interruption also rescued him from his tangled thoughts.
Chen Wengang knew that Huo Niansheng had no intention of sleeping with him today. He calmly observed Huo Niansheng. Undoubtedly, at this stage, Huo Niansheng was interested in him, but the depth of that interest was unknown. So Huo Niansheng was just teasing him, flirting with him. But he wouldn’t actually sleep with Chen Wengang; that would cause unnecessary trouble.
At this moment, however, Chen Wengang was determined to make him cause that trouble. People are never satisfied. When he wasn’t here, he just hoped he was alive. Now that they’ve met, he found himself wanting more. He wanted to be Huo Niansheng’s lover, his beloved, his partner.
Huo Niansheng handed Chen Wengang his suit jacket.
Chen Wengang forced a smile. “Thank you.”
Huo Niansheng said, “I’ll have Yu Shanding send you off.”
Chen Wengang politely declined, buttoned his jacket, and said goodbye.
Huo Niansheng stood by the pool table, his slightly teasing gaze lingering on Chen Wengang. His friendliness and enthusiasm all seemed like a superficial performance, unable to withstand scrutiny, seemingly affectionate but actually heartless. Like a deadly trap, luring people to walk deeper without realizing, until one misstep would lead to being shattered to pieces.
As Chen Wengang turned to leave, Huo Niansheng suddenly called out to him again. “I don’t think we have each other’s contact information.”
He pretended to search his pockets, then said, “Sorry, I don’t have my phone on me. Why don’t you save my number?”
Chen Wengang entered the numbers one by one as he recited them, but Huo Niansheng gave him the wrong number, reversing the last two digits.
Of course, when he dialed, it was a non-existent number.
Huo Niansheng feigned surprise. “That’s not right?”
Chen Wengang simply handed him the phone to try.
This time, he entered the correct number, and when he dialed, a name popped up on the screen. Chen Wengang’s heart skipped a beat as he remembered he had already saved the contact. He could say Zheng Baoqiu gave it to him, which, though clumsy, was an excuse. But he didn’t want to tell such a lie, so he remained silent.
Huo Niansheng glanced at him but just smiled, not asking any further questions.
He exited the dialer app, then, without permission, opened Chen Wengang’s chat app and sent himself a friend request.
After these actions that bordered on testing boundaries, he returned the phone to Chen Wengang. “Thank you.”
Chen Wengang hid his hand in his pocket. He didn’t take the elevator but went down the fire escape.
Walking out through the nightclub’s revolving glass door, he found the streets bustling with people.
This bar street only came alive at night, like a modern lady lazily grooming herself before the lively curtain of nightlife was drawn. Worldly dreams and laughter chased the waves. Men and women in their finest passed by him, some occasionally looking back at him after walking past.
Chen Wengang stood on the street, finally feeling that everything just now was not a dream.
He hailed a taxi and gave the address of the Zheng residence.
On the way, Chen Wengang stared at the receding streetlights for a while, then unlocked his screen and saw a notification on his social account: “Huo Niansheng has accepted your friend request. You can now chat.”
Huo Niansheng’s account name was his real name, and his profile picture was pitch black.
Most business people keep their work and personal contacts separate. Chen Wengang didn’t need to guess; he knew this was Huo Niansheng’s private account.
Chen Wengang didn’t make such a distinction. He didn’t have many friends on his account anyway. His profile picture was a simple smiley face drawn by Zheng Baoqiu.
This picture had no special meaning; it was just that when he registered, Zheng Baoqiu had drawn it with her finger and jokingly sent it to him, so he replaced the system default. It had remained unchanged ever since.
Zheng Baoqiu told him this proved he was a person who liked stability and was extremely nostalgic.
What about Huo Niansheng then?
Chen Wengang opened his Moments, it was completely blank, leaving no traces for anyone’s imagination. Switching to the chat interface, the other party hadn’t sent any messages, just lying quietly in his friend list. This was a brand new start.
Chen Wengang leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
After arriving home, Chen Wengang first went to Zheng Maoxun’s room to help him catch up on his work, so he could at least give a basic outline the next day and pass his father’s spot check. Unexpectedly, Zheng Maoxun was ungrateful. “I’ve discovered you’re quite capable.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were out for a day—the venue is sorted, and you even handled my very capable cousin.” Zheng Maoxun shook his phone and made a zipping motion across his lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my mouth shut. You can go take credit with Zheng Yucheng now.”
Chen Wengang gave him a light flick on the forehead. This was him being polite. Zheng Maoxun clutched his head and glared at him. “What was that for!”
“Is this how you treat your benefactor? Also, our three rules, don’t mention me and Zheng Yucheng again.”
“I don’t believe it. You two were so close, how could you bear to break up with him? You must be secretly…”
Chen Wengang turned to leave, his fingers already on the bedroom doorknob.
Zheng Maoxun quickly called out to him again, “Hey, hey! No, are you serious?”
Chen Wengang was both annoyed and amused, staring at him to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.
“I was just testing you,” Zheng Maoxun said. “If you’ve broken up, you’ve broken up. So, for people like you, are there any requirements?”
“What ‘people like us’? What ‘what requirements’?” Chen Wengang asked.
“For a partner, of course. Should I ask around among my friends if any of them like men and introduce one to you?”
The young master’s brain was a bit waterlogged today. This time, Chen Wengang shut the door on him without hesitation.
Back in his bedroom, he looked at his schedule, opened the official website, and made an appointment at the hospital.
He had been thinking about getting a check-up last time, but it kept getting delayed and he never took action.
The unexpected meeting with Huo Niansheng reminded him of it again.
Actually, Chen Wengang had a bit of a phobia of doctors. In his past life, he had been on medication for depression and anxiety for many years and felt a natural aversion to it.
Those psychiatric drugs often came with severe side effects: headaches, nausea, loss of appetite and libido, liver and kidney damage… The list of adverse reactions on the instruction leaflet was as long as a roll of toilet paper. The first time Huo Niansheng saw it, he had frowned and asked the doctor, “Can’t you prescribe something milder? What about imported drugs? Are there any that don’t cause so much suffering?”
The doctor explained to him in the hallway, “Mr. Huo, it’s not a matter of money. If the patient didn’t need it, we certainly wouldn’t prescribe it casually. Most psychiatric drugs act on the central nervous system. Think about it, how could there be any with minimal harm?”
Chen Wengang heard their conversation, but his heart was indifferent, unconcerned about his own situation—it wasn’t entirely his fault; the illness had stripped him of the ability to feel normal emotions, like a shield separating him from the world.
When Huo Niansheng came back in, he had returned to his cynical demeanor, hands in his pockets, and threw a few boxes of medicine on the table.
He stood at the table, staring blankly, lost in thought. Chen Wengang sat there, with no desire to speak either.
Huo Niansheng let out a long breath, and when he turned around, it was with a smiling face. “Darling, you’re really here to be my downfall.”
He walked over, twirling a lock of Chen Wengang’s hair. “So, let’s give it a try? If you feel uncomfortable, we’ll stop.”
Chen Wengang found it hard to imagine what kind of mood he had been in while taking care of him, but this small smile had been hidden in the depths of his memory for many years.
His life was dark, but this smile was bright. It made him feel guilty but also gave him courage; it tormented him but also made him happy.
Before going to sleep, Chen Wengang received two messages on his phone.
One was from his friend Lu Chenlong, and the other from his uncle, Chen Zeng.
Today was strange, it seemed like everyone wanted to treat him to a meal—
Chen Zeng was calling because the Qingming Festival was approaching, and he wanted his nephew to come over for a meal and discuss the matter of moving their grandparents’ graves.
Lu Chenlong was still worried about the recent troubles and was asking how Chen Wengang was doing, suggesting they get together over the weekend.
Chen Wengang replied to his uncle first, politely agreeing.
As for Lu Chenlong, he felt a bit embarrassed. He was originally the one who wanted to get together, but he had dragged it out until his friend invited him first.
[Chen Wengang: Is the shop not busy lately?]
[Lu Chenlong: Pfft, it’s never-ending busy, but I can’t not have time to eat with my buddy.]
[Chen Wengang: I’m free this weekend. Shall we pick a place? I’ll treat you and Xiao Bao to a meal.]
[Lu Chenlong: With our own shop, why eat out? You just bring your mouth, and watch your big brother show off his skills.]
Chen Wengang smiled and bantered with him for a while. Only with Lu Chenlong could he say whatever he wanted. The two set a time, said goodnight to each other, and with a tap of his finger, Chen Wengang switched to the chat interface with Huo Niansheng.
The black profile picture remained silent.
He placed his phone face down on the pillow.
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Author’s Note:
Huo Niansheng is an indispensable part of Wengang’s life, and the most important one. At the same time, many other things are also very important to him—family, friendship, and responsibility—and he will shoulder them all.
Interesting story. Thanks!