Time could indeed change many things, such as a person’s likes and dislikes, opinions, and even their relationship with someone else.
At least more than two months ago, Yan Xun had thought that it would be best if he never saw that pervert Chu Tingyun again in this lifetime. But now, he had just spent New Year’s Eve having a reunion dinner with him.
However, this man was incredibly picky with his food, disliking one dish and refusing another.
At first, Chu Tingyun had little appetite, but as he ate, he couldn’t stop. Despite being selective, he still ate quite a lot.
—Because it was really delicious.
Watching him being so picky, Yan Xun couldn’t help but make a sarcastic comment:
“Chu Tingyun, you must have been a real handful as a kid, huh?”
“Hmm…”
The man snorted lightly through his nose, seemingly displeased with the topic, and retorted lightly:
“I didn’t ask you to take care of me.”
After dinner, the two sat by the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, drinking and chatting.
Chu Tingyun had wanted to drink alcohol, but Yan Xun didn’t allow it.
“Even old men aren’t controlled like this…”
President Chu grumbled in dissatisfaction, but ended up drinking coconut milk instead.
The TV was playing the boring Spring Festival Gala, and outside, heavy snow was falling. Unfortunately, fireworks were banned in the capital, otherwise there might have been more of a festive atmosphere.
They didn’t actually talk about much. Yan Xun’s life was uneventful, and he restrained himself from having too deep a conversation with Chu Tingyun.
As for the latter, still unwell, he soon grew tired.
So the two went to sleep separately.
Chu Tingyun’s house was very large, but there was only one bedroom, so Yan Xun slept on the sofa. At 2 a.m., tossing and turning, he couldn’t sleep. Although Chu Tingyun seemed to have cooled down, Yan Xun still felt uneasy.
When he went to check, he found that Chu Tingyun had a high fever again, this time reaching 39°C (102°F), unconscious and trembling all over, already beginning to babble nonsense. Tears and sweat mixed together, soaking his entire face.
Yan Xun heard him mumbling something, but it was in Russian, which Yan Xun didn’t understand. So he had no choice but to drive him to the emergency room on New Year’s Eve.
—Because the driver was on holiday.
On New Year’s Eve, at 3 a.m., even the hospital had few doctors.
Yan Xun didn’t complain that Chu Tingyun had stubbornly refused to go to the hospital earlier. Instead, he carried him up and down, helping with the paperwork and accompanying him through the tests, until finally, they got him on an IV drip.
The doctor said it wasn’t serious at first, but the patient had let it drag on too long.
When Chu Tingyun’s fever broke at 7:30 a.m., the first thing he saw was Yan Xun. He hadn’t actually been asleep, just too weak to open his eyes, so he was well aware of how Yan Xun had taken care of him last night.
The other man had clearly stayed up all night; his eyes were even bloodshot.
“You’re awake?”
Yan Xun reached out to feel Chu Tingyun’s forehead and confirmed that his fever had indeed gone down. But he didn’t expect the first thing this man would say upon waking to be:
“You’re treating me so well…”
Chu Tingyun stared at him unblinkingly, his voice hoarse as he asked,
“Xun Xun, do you perhaps have feelings for me?”
“…”
Yan Xun hadn’t expected Chu Tingyun to still be running his mouth even in this state. So, in the next moment, he withdrew his hand coldly and said,
“I’m just afraid you’ll burn to death and leave me with lifelong psychological trauma. Besides, it’s bad luck to die during the New Year.”
“Oh…”
This time, Chu Tingyun didn’t argue back. He just buried the lower half of his face in the blanket and chuckled. His deep blue eyes curved into crescents, like a crescent-shaped lake deep in the snowfields.
Yan Xun turned his head, refusing to look at him any longer.
“Call someone else to take care of you. I’ve got things to do and need to go.”
Yan Xun didn’t like hospitals.
When his adoptive father passed away, Yan Xun had fallen seriously ill in the hospital. Since then, he had disliked being in hospitals. But Chu Tingyun didn’t know this. He thought, what could possibly be so urgent on the first day of the new year?
—It was just that Yan Xun didn’t want to stay in the hospital with him any longer.
“…Alright.”
The smile on the man’s face gradually faded. But having been taken care of all night, Chu Tingyun wasn’t shameless enough to insist on making Yan Xun stay.
Not long after, Special Assistant Fang, who had finally gotten to sleep in on a holiday, came to take over for Yan Xun.
Chu Tingyun stayed in the hospital for more than half a month. Every day, he took pictures and videos, either playing up his pitiful side or showing off his skills, posting them to his social media stories, visible only to Yan Xun.
But the other man didn’t respond at all, let alone visit him at the hospital.
What was worse, Yan Xun didn’t even bother to give him a single like.
President Chu was really frustrated. After dragging things out for a long time and realizing that Yan Xun had no intention of caring about him, he finally got discharged.
Later, when Special Assistant Fang did some digging, he found out that Yan Xun had gone to intern at a company.
Yan Xun had initially planned to start his own business and had gathered a few people to form a studio. At the time, WeChat mini-programs were just becoming popular, and he made some money from them. But when it came to finding investors, he kept hitting roadblocks.
He was good at the technical side of things, but there were too many aspects of business that Yan Xun didn’t understand. So, in the end, he decided to slow down and learn first. He sent out many resumes and finally got an internship as the personal assistant to the CEO of an internet technology company.
The CEO’s last name was Zhao. He was in his early forties and fairly well-known in the industry. Although the pay wasn’t high, Yan Xun felt that he could learn a lot by working with such a person.
Although the meeting at the Jiang family’s place had been unpleasant and Chen Wanqing had clearly intended to humiliate him, Yan Xun knew that what she said was true. He was very aware that he and his senior weren’t from the same world.
Likewise, he and Chu Tingyun were even less so.
Knowing this, he forced himself to focus all his energy on his work. But he hadn’t expected that not long after starting at the company, he would run into Chu Tingyun again.
“Xiao Yan, this is President Chu, one of our major clients. Make sure you take good care of him.”
Yan Xun: “…”
He quickly composed himself, pretending not to know Chu Tingyun, and greeted him.
“Hello, President Chu.”
“Hello, Assistant Yan.”
The other man smiled, as if they didn’t know each other.
It was unclear if it was intentional or not, but every time Zhao had dealings with Chu Tingyun, he would bring Yan Xun along.
At work, Chu Tingyun was nothing like the man Yan Xun knew. Before, Yan Xun had thought of Chu Tingyun as nothing more than a rich second-generation playboy who had inherited his family’s company by luck.
But now, his opinion had completely changed. Chu Tingyun was an incredibly capable businessman. If this were a battlefield, this man would be akin to an undefeated general.
Yan Xun learned a lot and gradually began to feel the allure of Chu Tingyun as a person. He finally understood why his meticulously crafted business plans, despite being excellent, had consistently failed to attract investment.
“It’s because real investors don’t bother to read your beautifully written business plans. Their time is too valuable.”
At the time, Yan Xun was sitting with Chu Tingyun, serving as Zhao’s assistant, while the other man shared this insight over coffee.
“The most important thing is that they don’t understand your technical expertise. So, their first assumption is that you’re making it all up, trying to scam them. That’s why personal recommendations, your own credibility, and the value you’ve already demonstrated are what truly impress them.”
“…”
Yan Xun was stunned for a long time, feeling as though he had suddenly gained some insight, even finding Chu Tingyun somewhat radiant. But the next moment, President Chu slowly sipped his coffee and said,
“So, are you starting to admire me now? Why don’t you stop wasting so much effort, break up with your boyfriend, and be with me? I’ll invest a few million in you to play with. How about that?”
“…”
In an instant, Yan Xun realized that Chu Tingyun was still the same old Chu Tingyun, with no radiance at all.
“No, thanks.”
He once again coldly rejected the other party.
After some time, President Zhao reached a preliminary cooperation agreement with Chu Tingyun and invited him to a hot spring resort. Yan Xun didn’t really want to go, but due to work pressure, he went anyway.
When President Zhao and Chu Tingyun were soaking in the hot spring, Yan Xun said he was a bit afraid of water, so he sat by the side to keep them company. But President Zhao insisted on pulling him into the water.
“Oh, little Yan, the water is so shallow. Why are you afraid when you’re so tall?”
As the two were pulling at each other, the stones on the ground were too slippery, and Yan Xun, not paying attention, slipped into the pool.
Having once nearly drowned, Yan Xun had a severe psychological fear of water. So even though he was 1.87 meters tall, he almost drowned in the 1.2-meter-deep hot spring pool.
In the end, it was Chu Tingyun who held him and pulled him back to the shore.
President Zhao awkwardly came over to apologize, and Chu Tingyun was very angry, but Yan Xun shook his head and didn’t pursue it. He just changed into dry clothes, dried his hair, and went to the VIP lounge to lie down.
Falling into the water had reminded him of the night when he almost drowned. Yan Xun felt weak all over, as if all his strength had been drained. He didn’t want to say a word and just wanted to sleep.
Half asleep and half awake, he suddenly felt someone quietly crouching beside him. Without any real reason, Yan Xun thought it must be Chu Tingyun.
The other person stared at him for a while, even reaching out to touch his face. Then, unexpectedly, they leaned down close. Warm breath even brushed across his face.
At that moment, Yan Xun felt as if his heart was pounding painfully against his chest. He thought Chu Tingyun was going to pull the same trick again, like kissing him while he was asleep or something.
But this time, the other person suddenly whispered.
“Yan Xun, can I kiss you?”
“…”
The young man, deeply asleep, of course, didn’t react, but Chu Tingyun knew that very well. So he smiled slyly and whispered,
“Since you’re not refusing, that means you’re silently agreeing. This time, I’m not forcing a kiss on you.”
Yan Xun thought, how is this any different from forcing a kiss? Chu Tingyun really was a scoundrel. But all these messy thoughts quickly came to an abrupt halt, suddenly clearing out.
Because right after, Chu Tingyun lowered his head and kissed Yan Xun on the lips.
This time, he didn’t do anything else. It was just a simple kiss that fell on his lips.
At that time, Chu Tingyun didn’t know Yan Xun was pretending to be asleep. He was just smug about his success. Seeing that the other person was sleeping soundly, he even poked Yan Xun’s dimples and pulled out the small Guanyin pendant hidden inside his clothes to play with in his hand.
Yan Xun didn’t know why he was pretending to be asleep. Clearly, he should have pushed Chu Tingyun away, maybe even punched him.
But just now, he actually silently agreed.
After confirming that the man had left, Yan Xun finally opened his eyes, his expression showing no sign of sleepiness.
He stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time, slowly becoming aware that something very unsettling had happened.
“I don’t like men, Mr. Chu, and I won’t like you.”
“Oh? Then we’ll just wait and see.”
The conversation from a few months ago seemed to still echo in his ears. But Yan Xun realized that in this game of chess, this bet where he once thought he held a winning hand, he had actually suffered a crushing defeat.
Yan Xun sat up, thinking alone for a long, long time, even going out to buy some alcohol.
The fear from earlier when he fell into the water seemed to have completely disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar sense of anxiety.
It seemed his mind was completely filled with Chu Tingyun.
“……”
In the end, Yan Xun let out a silent sigh, resignedly pulling out his phone to call his senior sister.
Actually, after parting ways on New Year’s Day, Yan Xun had never seen Jiang Jingshu again. She seemed to be locked up at home, but his senior sister had called him to apologize, saying she hadn’t expected Yan Xun to be humiliated by her mother, and she had thought of ending their fake relationship.
But at that time, Yan Xun, wanting to use his senior sister to avoid Chu Tingyun, said they could keep pretending for a while longer.
Until now, he suddenly made up his mind and softly said to the girl on the other end of the phone:
“Senior sister Jing, let’s break up.”
Just as Chu Tingyun didn’t know Yan Xun had been pretending to sleep earlier, Yan Xun also didn’t know that Chu Tingyun overheard his words.
So, that very night, Chu the fox eagerly got him drunk and tricked him into bed.
“Chu Tingyun, my senior sister and I…”
Yan Xun actually wanted to say that his relationship with his senior sister was fake, but before he could finish, the man interrupted him.
“I know you two broke up, but don’t mention her at a time like this, it’ll kill the mood…”
As he spoke, Chu Tingyun even touched Yan Xun’s butt, and Yan Xun felt as if he’d been struck by lightning, immediately focusing all his energy on fighting Chu Tingyun for dominance.
The final outcome, of course, was no surprise.
The first time they met, Yan Xun could tie Chu Tingyun up and whip him, and this time he was able to pin him down on the bed.
However, Yan Xun was inexperienced, and he was particularly annoyed by Chu Tingyun’s comment about his own experience. Due to various factors, Yan Xun accidentally caused him to bleed. That night, Mr. Chu cried into the pillow until it was soaked. Although things improved later, he was still injured.
After it was over, Yan Xun didn’t sleep. He began researching and learning. The hot spring resort was too remote to call for delivery, so he had to go out and buy medicine for Chu Tingyun himself, coming back to apply it. It wasn’t until nearly dawn that he fell asleep.
But when he woke up the next day, Chu Tingyun was gone.
All that was left was a card, loaded with money. Chu Tingyun’s assistant even called Yan Xun, asking for his ID to transfer the car’s ownership to him.
Later, at breakfast, Yan Xun overheard Mr. Zhao on the phone, mentioning Chu Tingyun.
Mr. Zhao said Chu Tingyun was a staunch non-believer in marriage, something everyone in the circle knew as an established fact.
“Marriage is the grave of life; only fools get married. Tsk, young people today are so avant-garde. Not getting married is great, no restrictions between men and women, just give them money and they’ll play along.”
Mr. Zhao also said the reason he valued Yan Xun so much was to use him to connect with Chu Tingyun.
Yan Xun immediately rushed to Chu Tingyun’s company to get an explanation, only to find that he was being played, and Chu Tingyun might even have been using him to get back at his senior sister, Jiang Jingshu.
Thus, Yan Xun’s first love ended at that moment.
After leaving Chu Tingyun’s company, he submitted his resignation. Before he even received his two months’ internship pay, Yan Xun got a call from his mother.
She was asking him for money again.
This phone call completely shattered any illusions Yan Xun had about love and about Chu Tingyun. For the first time, he realized with absolute clarity that he and Chu Tingyun were not from the same world.
So, after burying that less-than-24-hour romance, Yan Xun focused on his career. Though he had no luck in love, his career seemed to take a positive turn.
He finally secured investment and forced himself to forget everything about Chu Tingyun, pouring all his energy into his career and life.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and the future looked bright. But two months later, his senior sister’s younger brother,
Everything seemed smooth, and the future looked bright. However, just over two months later, Jingshu’s younger brother, Jiang Yuheng, suddenly came to find him.
“My sister ran away from her marriage, but I still have to stay home and calm my parents down, so could you please go check on her?”
The other person came with red eyes, looking on the verge of tears.
“She’s been in a bad state lately, and it seems like she’s been taking antidepressants. I’m afraid she might do something foolish.”
Do something foolish?
Given the seriousness of the situation, Yan Xun did not refuse.
But when he received the plane ticket from Jiang Yuheng, Yan Xun was surprised as to why Senior Jingshu chose to escape to Sochi. However, the time was too tight for him to think more about it.
As he boarded the plane, Yan Xun couldn’t help but think of Chu Tingyun, as the visa for Russia was one that the other person had arranged for him under the guise of a business trip for President Zhao.
Yan Xun had originally planned to confirm that Senior Jingshu was alright and then return home in a few days. He had already bought the ticket, but what he never expected was that Chu Tingyun would find him at this moment.
The man’s face was grim, with several tall Russian bodyguards behind him. The group looked fierce, barging straight in as if they were gangsters seeking revenge.
Yan Xun didn’t understand what Chu Tingyun had just said in Russian, but in the next second, several bodyguards had pinned him to the ground.
Bang—
Yan Xun’s forehead hit the floor, making a heavy sound.
Then, he heard a crisp slap.
“Jiang Jingshu, this is the first and only time I’ll warn you. This city is my mother’s hometown, her final resting place.”
“The world is so big. If you want to escape from your marriage or elope, you can go anywhere, but this is the one place you shouldn’t have come to, and you have no right to step here!”
At that moment, Yan Xun finally realized why Chu Tingyun was so furious.
After that day, Jiang Jingshu was sent back to China by Chu Tingyun, but Yan Xun was detained by this man.
At that time, Chu Tingyun sat on the sofa, legs crossed. Meanwhile, Yan Xun was held down on the ground, unable to move.
“Is eloping fun, Yan Xun? Did you really think you were playing the part of Liang Shanbo?”
Yan Xun wanted to explain, “I didn’t plan to elope with Senior Jingshu, I just…”
“Just what? You’re worried about her? Have the two of you rekindled your old romance?”
Chu Tingyun looked down at him, appearing calm, still smiling, but in reality, he had completely lost his mind by now.
“Yan Xun, don’t act so pure in front of me. You had your fun with me in bed, pulled up your pants, and then went off to elope with your ex-girlfriend. You want to have your cake and eat it too…”
The more Chu Tingyun spoke, the less he felt like himself. He felt like his mother, who was deceived by Jiang Shenghai all those years ago.
“You even used the visa I arranged for you! This is just laughable.”
Originally, Chu Tingyun had thought about bringing Yan Xun to his mother’s hometown one day for a visit, but he never expected the other person to come in this way.
It felt just like when he saw Jiang Shenghai and Chen Wanqing in bed together in his mother’s room all those years ago.
Thus, the resentment and malice Chu Tingyun had held against that man for so many years unconsciously transferred onto Yan Xun at this moment.
“Yan Xun, don’t you think what you’re doing is disgusting? Don’t you think it’s filthy?”
Sometimes, people are like this. When emotions go haywire, they say whatever comes to mind, and the more they care about someone, the harsher the words become.
For someone like Yan Xun, verbal and moral humiliation was more unbearable than physical pain. At this moment, he was trembling all over.
“Chu Tingyun, we’ve already broken…”
Yan Xun originally wanted to say that he and Chu Tingyun had already broken up, but when he thought about it, perhaps the other person never even considered that they were in a relationship.
What Yan Xun considered a confirmation of their relationship and a breakup all happened within less than 24 hours. Such a brief relationship probably meant nothing to Chu Tingyun; in his eyes, they probably just had sex.
Or perhaps, he had simply paid to sleep with a male college student.
So Yan Xun took a deep breath and, with a hoarse voice, asked him:
“Chu Tingyun, so what do you want?”
“…”
Faced with this question, the man was silent for a long time. After a while, he waved his hand, signaling the bodyguards to leave.
“Come with me somewhere, Yan Xun.”
“…Where?”
Chu Tingyun didn’t answer.
In the end, the man took Yan Xun’s passport, ID card, and phone, and drove him north.
Chu Tingyun didn’t bring any bodyguards, just the two of them.
It was early October, but Yan Xun could already see snow outside the car window.
In a foreign country where he didn’t speak the language, Yan Xun felt uneasy. He asked Chu Tingyun again:
“Where are we going?”
“My maternal grandfather’s old house. There’s a snowy mountain there, and it’s beautiful.”
At this point, Chu Tingyun seemed to have calmed down. Even his tone was gentle.
“I’m in a bad mood and want to stay there for a few days. Come with me.”
“…”
Yan Xun didn’t refuse in the end.
When they were almost there, Chu Tingyun took him to an old tavern in a small town. The environment inside wasn’t good, but the usually fastidious man didn’t seem to mind, calmly choosing a corner to sit in.
Yan Xun sat with Chu Tingyun. Without a phone and unable to understand Russian, the only person he could rely on was this man.
It was too cold. Chu Tingyun ordered some food and also some alcohol.
The vodka brewed by the tavern was too strong. After one sip, Yan Xun choked, his face turning bright red. The Russian men in the tavern saw this and laughed.
Chu Tingyun also laughed and said something to the others in Russian. Naturally, Yan Xun didn’t understand. He stopped drinking and focused on eating.
But Chu Tingyun wouldn’t let him off, forcing him to drink again. At an angle where no one could see, he even kissed Yan Xun after taking a sip of alcohol. Yan Xun’s Adam’s apple moved involuntarily, feeling the burning alcohol travel from his tongue all the way to his stomach.
After that, he couldn’t remember anything.
The noise in the tavern gradually faded, the wind and snow outside also drifted away, and everything around him became warm and quiet.
When Yan Xun woke up again, the whole world was dark.
He was lying in an especially soft European-style bed, looking at unfamiliar, spinning bed curtains.
A vintage fireplace silently warmed the entire room, snow fell gently outside, and there was a faint figure of a man sitting in a single chair nearby.
A cigarette burned between his fingers, and outside the window beside him was a winding darkness. On the round table next to him was an old-fashioned lamp.
The dim light and the smoke blended together, making Chu Tingyun’s face appear shadowy and indistinct.
Yan Xun’s head was spinning, and his whole body felt weak and powerless. He struggled to sit up and see more clearly. As he moved, the blanket covering him slid off, revealing the young man’s bare, toned body.
The sound of metal chains—
A faint clinking sound reached his ears.
Stunned, Yan Xun suddenly felt a strange sense of restraint and confinement around his wrists.
It took his muddled, dizzy mind quite a while to process and confirm one fact.
—He had been chained up by Chu Tingyun.
Author’s Note:
Note: The investor’s speech was inspired by Lei Jun’s interview.
