chapter 2 –

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Early in the morning, Xie Ning woke up to the sunlight.

 

His phone unexpectedly had dozens of missed calls and unknown numbers.
He didn’t know if Xu Qing had changed a card or borrowed someone else’s.

 

These sorts of stalker-ish actions are a little ugly.
Xie Ning couldn’t figure it out, and was too lazy to deal with it.

 

He still wanted to stay in his warm bed and sleep a little more, but it was already 10 am, and if he dawdled for any longer, he’d miss the hot pot he scheduled with Yan Xi.

 

For the sake of hot pot, Xie Ning lingered a little, and slowly got up to change his clothes.

 

Yan Xi was afraid that Xie Ning would be caged by his grief over the break up, and that he would believe Xu Qing’s sweet words, so he continually asked after Xie Ning’s well-being for the past couple of days.

 

They had been friends for many years, and had long since passed the awkwardness of going to the restroom together.
Xie Ning was taken aback by this development, and almost thought that Yan Xi was trying to pursue him.

 

After hearing this, Yan Xi almost cried laughing.
“If I had those thoughts towards you, would I have let that stupid cunt Xu Qing dominate you for four years?”

 

After a pause, he sighed.
“I still feel pretty guilty.
If I hadn’t seen things wrongly and made a joke to you, you wouldn’t have gotten together with him.”

 

He had hoped that Xie Ning could walk out of his own world, and stop boycotting making bonds with others, but it was unexpectedly a failure.

 

Yan Xi’s first impression of Xu Qing was actually quite good.
The clothes he wore showed his talent, and his eyes were especially affectionate.
When he looked at Xie Ning, others could feel the passion he held towards him.

 

Later on, reality showed that this was all just a farce.

 

Glancing at the weather outside, Xie Ning pulled out a scarf from his closet, remembering how the man he met the other day wrapped it around himself.

 

That kind of elegant, yet warm, way of wrapping was quite innovative, and Xie Ning praised it with his artistic eye.

 

When going out, he also put on a pair of white woolen gloves, to keep himself warm and to outline his slim and slender hands.

 

Xie Ning was born afraid of the cold.
Only after he was done putting on his armor (clothes), did he lift the corners of his lips and head over to the hot pot he scheduled with Yan Xi.

 

Who knew that, right when he opened the door, the corners of his mouth would immediately collapse?

 

Xu Qing stood at the door, with a bleak and haggard expression.
He held a bouquet of roses in his hand, and bumped into Xie Ning face to face.

 

“Xie Ning…” Xu Qing trembled when he saw him.
“Y-you’re finally willing to see me.”

 

Xie Ning took out his phone and looked at the messages in the automatically-blocked, unknown sender inbox.
As expected, one of the text messages among them said, “I’m waiting for you at your door.
Will you come out and meet me?”

 

The timestamp was 8:30 in the morning.

 

Xie Ning explained, “I didn’t see your message, I was just coincidentally on my way out.”

 

Xu Qing said, “No problem, it’s good that I’m able to see you.
I-I’m here to ask for your forgiveness.”

 

Xie Ning frowned.
“I said it very clearly last time.”

 

Xu Qing: “I know it was my fault, and in a moment of weakness, I did something unforgivable to you.”

 

Xie Ning looked at him calmly.

 

Xu Qing: “Will you give me another chance?”

 

Xie Ning, without hesitation, replied, “No.”

 

“Why?” Xu Qing sounded like he was in pain.
“Xie Ning, I know it was my fault, I’ll change! As long as you can forgive me! I’ll definitely change!”

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Why?

 

Xie Ning was surprised and tilted his head, asking in confusion, “I should be asking you this, right?”

 

“Why do you think that, after personally witnessing you in bed with someone else, I can still be with you?”

 

Xie Ning’s voice was calm yet confused, as if he was just a scholar asking about the troubles on his mind.

 

Xu Qing paused dumbly.

 

Xie Ning didn’t want to argue with him about this anymore, and was about to go downstairs.
Xu Qing suddenly put his hand out, as if he wanted to hug him.

 

Xie Ning was surprised, and took a step back reflexively.

 

Xu Qing grabbed his hand, and, with his hoarse voice trembling, said “Xie Ning, curse at me! Hit me! I was wrong! I was really wrong!”

 

As he said this, he pulled Xie Ning’s hand to hit him on the face.

 

Xie Ning didn’t know what he was being noisy about this time, but truly didn’t have the energy to waste on him.

 

“Xu Qing.” Xie Ning leaned back against the door.
“When I curse at you and hit at you, do I look a lot like Zhuang Yan?”

 

Xu Qing was stunned.

 

Taking advantage of the fact that Xu Qing momentarily stopped, Xie Ning broke free and ran downstairs.

 

After being delayed by this event, he was naturally late when he arrived at the hot pot restaurant.

 

He explained what happened just now to Yan Xi, and Yan Xi was even angrier than he was.
“Even though the bad person is gone, his negative influence is still there! How can this person be so annoying!”

 

Xie Ning nodded his head agreeably.
“Yeah, can’t everyone just part without hard feelings?”

 

Yan Xi cursed for a while before he could stop.

 

“Right,” Yan Xi took a look at Xie Ning’s expression and asked, “Before, I was afraid of shocking you, so I didn’t ask, but how did you and Xu Qing break up?”

 

How did they break up?

 

Xie Ning smiled for a second.
“Didn’t you always say that he was misbehaving, and he never broke it off with his bedmates, one after another? And tried to convince me every day to break up with him?”

 

Yan Xi was taken aback.
“Back then, you never believed me, and even asked me for pictures.
The scandals between him and those smaller stars were all over the place.
Who didn’t know of it? But how was I supposed to get bed photos?”

 

Xie Ning said, “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, but it’s easier to break up with pictures.”

 

Yan Xi pondered this.
“Do you treat breaking up like a detective case? You need evidence before sentencing them to a punishment?”

 

Xie Ning was at a loss.
“Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?”

 

Yan Xi choked.
He knew that Xie Ning behaved according to his own logic, but didn’t think that his brain circuits would be this strange.

 

“Whatever,” he waved his hand.
“Let’s not mention this for now.
So you broke up with him this time because you found evidence, and can convict him?”

 

Xie Ning slowly said, “A couple days ago, I left an art draft at his place.”

 

Why did he suddenly change the topic?

 

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Yan Xi didn’t understand what he meant by this.
He asked, “And then?”

 

“I went to his house to get it.” Xie Ning tilted his head.
“I just so happened to see him get into bed with someone.”

 

Before he could finish, Yan Xi was already angry.
“That fucker! He even dared to take someone home!!!”

 

Yan Xi poured him a cup of cold coke.
“Here, calm down…”

 

“Calm fucking down?! If I knew earlier, I should have gotten someone to beat him up! I would’ve gotten someone to cripple his third leg!”

 

Yan Xi knew that Xu Qing’s private life was not that great.
He was the heir to QingFeng Film and Television, and there was no lack of smaller stars who would voluntarily strip and lay in bed for him.

 

Xu Qing also wasn’t Liu Xiahui.
How could he hold himself back from tasting the stars that delivered themselves to his door?

 

But nobody would have thought that Xu Qing was arrogant enough to bring a little fox back home, and even let Xie Ning run into them!

 

Just by thinking about it, Yan Xi felt as if Xie Ning’s eyes were dirtied by such a sight.

 

He recited, “Murder is illegal, and I’m a good citizen that heeds laws and disciplines” several times before he was able to suppress his anger.

 

“Did you give them a thrashing on the spot?” Yan Xi asked.

 

Xie Ning shook his head.

 

“Curse at them?” Yan Xi asked, again.

 

Xie Ning continued to shake his head.

 

Yan Xi, with hatred in his eyes, pulled out his phone to call Xu Qing.

 

The phone call was picked up, and before Xu Qing could speak, Yan Xi pelted insults at Xu Qing’s personality and character until his anger was satisfied.
He didn’t give the opposition a chance to return the attack, hung up, and immediately blocked him all in one go.

 

Xie Ning was stunned after listening to all that.

 

“Did you see? This is how you relieve your anger.” Yan Xi had cursed so much that his mouth was dry and his tongue felt like sandpaper, so he picked up the iced coke and drank it in one gulp.
“Learn a little!”

 

Xie Ning is good-looking, is full of talent, and has a good disposition.
There are hoards of people who like him, and there are also hoards of people who are jealous of him.
He was innocent as a student, and looked easy to bully.
Back then, Yan Xi was worried sick for him.

 

When someone came looking for Xie Ning to cause trouble, Yan Xi would curse back at them.
After school, when others blocked the school entrance to wait for Xie Ning, Yan Xi was also the one who beat them up one by one.

 

Because of these incidents, Yan Xi racked up a long record of punishments, and rumors of his strength were even spread outside of school.

 

Some people weren’t satisfied even after getting beaten, and called Yan Xi a mother that protects its offspring.
Yan Xi straightforwardly said, “Fuck yeah, I’m a mother that protects its child! If anyone dares to touch Xie Ning, it means they’re messing with me! You can try it if you don’t want to live!”

 

That was how he protected him until now.

 

At another place, Xu Qing hit a wall with Xie Ning, so his heart was full of anger.
He pulled out the small star he supported, that was in the middle of filming, out to lunch to eat with him.

 

The small star was called Xiao Shi, the little fox that Xie Ning had bumped into last time.
It stands to reason that, if Xu Qing was sincere, he would have broken off all contact with him.

 

But Xu Qing wasn’t willing to do this.

 

At a certain side angle, Xiao Shi’s face looked like the university-aged Zhuang Yan’s, so Xu Qing, after thinking about it left and right, didn't want to let him go.

 

Halfway through the meal, when Xu Qing’s anger had almost subsided, he picked up the profanity-laden call from Yan Xi.

 

“Is he crazy?!”

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As Xu Qing responded, there was only a busy tone from the other side.

 

Xiao Shi saw that there was something off about his expression.
“What’s wrong?”

 

Xu Qing calmly said, “Nothing.”

 

Xiao Shi cautiously said, “Is…is it Xie Ning?”

 

Xu Qing’s face darkened.
“”What nonsense are you talking about? Just eat well!”

 

Xiao Shi didn’t dare to talk anymore.

 

Xu Qing’s temper originally wasn’t very good, and he was even more moody these days, which caused Xiao Shi to tremble before him as they ate.

 

Xu Qing glanced at his phone, and felt even more irritable.

 

In his heart, Xie Ning was always well-behaved and obedient, and never interfered in his private life.
Therefore, Xu Qing became unrestrained and unscrupulous.

 

Everyone knew about him taking in the little celebrity, and Xie Ning had never minded before.
Xu Qing didn’t know why Xie Ning wanted to break up this time.

 

Xu Qing thought about it, and decided that someone had egged him on.

 

It’s very likely that it was Yan Xi!

 

The roses that weren’t given out in the morning, were tossed to the side.
Xu Qing casually thought, What does Xie Ning know? He wagered that he’s probably still at the peak of his anger, so as long as he apologizes and coaxes him using a couple sentences, Xie Ning will mostly forgive him.

 

On this side, he was having sweet dreams, not knowing that Xie Ning and Yan Xi were discussing how to avoid his clinginess.

 

“The community you live in isn’t very safe; how could they just let Xu Qing walk up to your door like that? You should tell the guard quickly, so that he doesn’t let him in next time.”

 

Xie Ning swallowed the meat in his mouth, and slowly said, “I’ve brought it up with the guard before, but he’s also unable to stop him.”

 

Yan Xi hit the table once.
“How can he not stop him? Print out his picture and hang it in front of the community door, and just say that he’s a suspected fugitive.
I don’t believe that the guard will let him in easily again!”

 

“But,” Xie Ning said, “Xu Qing also bought a house in the community, and is considered one of the owners in the community.”

 

Xie Ning bought a bachelor’s pad in the city center, and was surrounded by white-collar workers.
With Xu Qing’s current worth, buying a house wasn’t a huge deal.

 

Yan Xi frowned.
“But he shouldn’t be allowed to harass you like this.
Why don’t you move to my place for a couple days? If he dares to come to my door, I’ll cripple him!”

 

Xie Ning shook his head.
“It doesn’t have to be so troublesome.
I’m planning to go to Lakeside Villa for a little while.”

 

The Lakeside Villa is a luxury residential area near QiuMing Lake.
There are 49 single-family style residences, and its safety and security are top-notch.

 

Xie Ning’s grandfather gifted him a residence there as a coming-of-age present.
He rarely stays there, but it is periodically kept clean, and moving there only takes a short while.

 

Yan Xi was relieved after hearing this.
“Then move quickly.”

 

Xie Ning nodded.
“A couple days ago, I found a pretty good movie, but unfortunately, it wasn’t shown in China.
I managed to buy the Blu-ray and want to go to Lakeside Villa to watch it.”

 

Lakeside Villa’s setup is very complete.
In the vast garden, you can walk dogs, and there’s a projection room in there.
The quality is actually better than some small movie theaters.

 

Xie Ning wasn't going to Lakeside Villa this time because he was annoyed at Xu Qing, but because he wanted to watch the movie.

 

Xu Qing doesn’t take up that much space in his heart.

 

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“What movie?” Xie Ning isn’t very enthusiastic about movies, so this was the first time Yan Xi had seen him so interested in a movie.

 

Xie Ning replied, “.”

 

Yan Xi thought about it for a while.
“I haven’t heard of it.”

 

“It’s not very famous in China.” Xie Ning said.
“Actually, it wasn’t that famous overseas either.
There was a bit of an upset when it was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival, and there was a small surge of popularity, but it didn’t win an award in the end.”

 

After hearing something about the Cannes Film Festival, Yan Xi lost interest.
He’s a lover of Hollywood blockbusters, with their stars, superpowers, and superheroes, so when he heard “Cannes Film Festival”, along with the name of the movie, he knew that it would be rather artistic.

 

“What’s so good about artistic movies?”

 

Xie Ning laughed a little.
“This movie’s picture is quite unique, and I like it very much.”

 

The hotpot meal lasted until afternoon, because of the delay at noon, before they separated.

 

Yan Xi was still worried about him, so he accompanied him back home and wandered around downstairs for a little.
He was only satisfied when he didn’t see any signs of Xu Qing.

 

On the day of the move, Yan Xi also helped out by driving since Xie Ning doesn’t have a license.
Thankfully, he only took some clothes with him, so there was no need to find a moving company.
They found someone to give the rooms and other living spaces a once-over.

 

After moving, Yan Xi stayed for a meal and watched with Xie Ning.

 

Just as Yan Xi thought, this was a standard artistic movie.
He didn’t understand it.

 

The protagonist of is a theater actor.
At the beginning of the movie, the protagonist was already very old.
The whole movie is about his inner thoughts; a monologue of his life.

 

Yan Xi almost fell asleep several times during the movie.
When he turned to look at Xie Ning, he saw the engrossed expression on his face, and didn’t dare disturb him till the end of the movie.

 

After a complete two hours of mental ravaging, Yan Xi complained, “The picture of this movie is very pretty, but honestly speaking, I don’t understand any deeper meaning.
I can see why it had such a lukewarm reception.”

 

“That’s normal.” Xie Ning nodded.
“That’s exactly what the director wanted.”

 

“A theater actor’s up and downs in life,” Yan Xi shrugged, “Artistic movies always pretend like this.”

 

Xie Ning said, “I really like the artistic design of this movie.
Whether it’s composition, lenses, or tone, the director was very bold.”

 

After hearing “artistic design”, Yan Xi suddenly understood.

 

This friend of his doesn’t have many obsessions in life–only his passion for art.

 

Yan Xi got up to put the disk back when he suddenly saw a string of words, and let out a surprised, “Ah?”

 

“The director of this movie is…Zhuang Yan?!”

 

——————————————————

 

Author’s Note: Zhuang Yan: Even though I didn’t show up, I will always live on in the dialogue.

 

Translator's Notes:

 

a failure – the idiom used here means “to try to be clever and end up with egg on one's face”!

even though the bad person is gone, his negative influence is still there – this is a chinese idiom that basically means like, haunting ghost

Yan Xi – the raws said “Yan Xi”, but it doesn't make sense with the context, so i believe the author made a mistake and it should say “Xie Ning” instead

third leg – well…it's a threat so think of the most dangerous and painful thing for the male species

Liu Xiahui – a chinese politician who was famed for his eminent virtue, and once held a lady on his lap without the slightest imputation on his moral character (wikipedia)

Lakeside Villa – i'm pretty sure this is the name of the community/area, and not a descriptor, but if i'm wrong, i'll edit it!

picture – 画面 is the term used, and i'm pretty sure he's referring to how it's filmed/other factors like that, not the poster or anything like that