Translator: Helliot
Editor: Isalee
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Gu Ze narrowed his eyes as he looked at the nude man standing in front of him. The man’s chin was raised slightly, revealing a hint of obstinance. However, the fact that his eyes were turned to the side seemed to reveal his apprehension.
He thought that something about him must be different to catch Chief Liang’s eyes, but unfortunately, he didn’t discover anything. Compared to the average man, he was indeed fairer, and his body more slender. He also had long straight legs. Compared to looking at him as a man, he may as well be appreciated like a woman.
And that was because much more than his body, he had a refined charm about his face like that of a woman’s.
“Put your clothes back on.” Gu Ze stopped looking at him. Picking up his phone, he could see it was 11 now. He didn’t expect to have spent so much time here.
While Meng Fu bent over to pick up his clothes from on the ground, Gu Ze walked barefoot to the door. Just as he was about to put on his shoes, he suddenly shot a strange look at Meng Fu.
The lower body of the man bent over was unobstructed, and he could see his smooth waistline that gave off a faint sense of sex appeal.
“If you’ve never fucked a man, then have you done it with a woman before?”
His actions while dressing himself stiffened. Meng Fu felt even more embarrassed and only shook his head after a short pause. “No.”
“Heh.” Gu Ze let out a mocking scoff. “You’ve been alive for twenty-five years and you’re still a virgin? Isn’t Xie Zhenzhen your girlfriend? Oh, right. You were locked up. You probably didn’t get to fuck her, huh?”
He could see Meng Fu’s face swell red. His lips were pursed tight, but as usual, he never dared to say anything in rebuttal. He just stared at him for a few seconds, watched him put on his jeans and pull up the zipper, then, satisfied, he put on his shoes and left.
“Gu Ze, why did you come back so late?!”
Gu Ze returned home and had just turned on the lights when he found his father, Gu Rongsheng, sitting upright on the sofa, staring at him with a furious look in his eyes.
“Is it that late?” Gu Ze raised his hand to look at his watch and said indifferently, “It’s not even twelve yet.” Then, he began heading up the stairs.
“Hold it right there!” Gu Rongsheng stood up. He was so exasperated with the stubborn Gu Ze that his beard was twitching. “Do you know how long Miss Zhang has been waiting here?”
“Which Miss Zhang?” He held his forehead and pretended not to know.
“Zhang Ming’er of Zhang Enterprise! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You’re still mulling over that dead He Manyu aren’t you? What’s so good about her? It’s a pity for the child, but you’re still young…”
“Dad.” He interrupted Gu Rongsheng. “Don’t mention her to me again.”
He enunciated his words. The name, “He Manyu”, had clearly touched a nerve.
“I can stop talking about her, but you have to apologize to Miss Zhang tomorrow.” Gu Rongsheng understood Gu Ze’s stubbornness and temper, so he made a slight concession.
In fact, the old man hated He Manyu from the bottom of his heart. This woman had already been dead for seven years, but whenever her name was mentioned, the family could still be stirred into a frenzy. In the beginning, he opposed it when Gu Ze and He Manyu were getting engaged, but only compromised because He Manyu was pregnant.
“I won’t go.” He turned around and headed upstairs.
“If you don’t go, then I’ll withdraw my investment in your company.”
Sure enough, this was an effective threat. Gu Rongsheng could see his legs pausing, but then he went upstairs without turning back. Gu Rongsheng understood that his words got to him because he understood his son more than anyone else. Nothing was more important to Gu Ze than his career and his ambition.
–
As soon as Gu Ze left, his whole body relaxed. Just now, it felt as if there was a huge boulder pressing down on his chest and he could hardly breathe, but now, that boulder had moved away, and he didn’t feel as suffocated anymore.
But he had a feeling that Gu Ze would be coming here often. He was just like a ticking time bomb that constantly made Meng Fu wary.
After a quick shower, he sat down at his desk and flipped through a high school textbook. He wanted to go to university and pick up his dreams again, but unfortunately, the hit-and-run was a deliberate crime. Becoming a lawyer was out of his reach.
But that didn’t matter. Doing anything else would be the same. He figured that he couldn’t spend his entire life waiting tables, nor could Xiao Yi keep on playing the piano.
He looked at the brand new textbook he just bought. It had been seven years, so there was a lot of knowledge that he had forgotten. He had to do his homework and study the books all over again. Even if it was tiring, it was all worth it.
He was sleepy.
Unconsciously, he fell asleep on the table where he had a dream. In that dream, both he and Xiao Yi were still young, and their life hadn’t changed yet.
He was playing badminton with his cousin, Ye Yan. He was still smiling sweetly during that time, and when the shuttlecock flew out of the court, Xiao Yi would run over to pick it up.
But all of a sudden, Xiao Yi who had gone to pick up the shuttlecock was sucked away by an endless black hole. Then, the originally smiling faces of the people around him instantly began to decay into a hideous sight.
One by one, they lunged at him with bared teeth and claws, but one by one they were sucked away by the black hole.
Xiao Yi’s call for help had long since faded away, and a great sense of fear enveloped him. However, it was as if his feet had been nailed to the ground. He couldn’t move a single step.
Then, Gu Ze appeared. Among everyone that was backing away, only Gu Ze was moving forward.
Gu Ze’s face did not wither away. He still had that same cruel smile on his lips.
Meng Fu could see Gu Ze’s lips move as if he were saying something, but he heard no sound.
Though, he could read his lips.
“你不如自杀吧。”
“Why don’t you kill yourself?” Gu Ze seemed to say.
Meng Fu was shocked. The ground began to crumble away and he cried out desperately, “Help me, please!” But he couldn’t muster a single sound. The only thing he could see was Gu Ze smiling cruelly at him from above.
Then, he suddenly woke up.
A thin layer of sweat coated his forehead.
It turned out it was a dream. He was glad that it was just a dream.
The desk lamp was still on but his surroundings were dark. Looking at the alarm clock, it showed 3:00 A.M. Turns out only an hour or so had passed, but his dream felt like it went on for a century.
Perhaps his dream had become lucid from shock, but he could clearly see Gu Ze’s cruel smile as if it was really in front of his eyes.
Pressing his arm to his eyes, Meng Fu thought maybe Gu Ze would forgive him some day. He would have to, eventually.
But he could only laugh at himself. Why did he deserve to be forgiven? If someone else had hurt Xiao Yi or his parents, he wouldn’t be able to forgive them either.
It was close to five o’clock when he fell back asleep. When he woke up in the morning, his head was still a little dizzy.
“Meng-Meng, who is that big brother from yesterday? He looks scary,” Meng Yi asked while eating breakfast.
“He’s Big Brother’s friend. He looks scary, but he’s not a scary guy.”
“Oh, I’ve never seen Meng-Meng’s friends before. Ask him to come over and play next time, okay?”
“Sure.”
How could he invite him over? He could want for nothing more than for Gu Ze to stay as far away from him as possible. Gu Ze was just like a mark he couldn’t shake off, a mark that clearly labeled him as a murderer.
“Brother will bring you to the hospital today to see the kids, okay?”
“Yeah!”
Meng Yi danced with excitement. While he played the piano all day, he couldn’t help but miss those friends of his, those children who were as simple and naive as he was.
Meng Fu thought to himself that this world was more or less tainted by interests and power. Only the world of children was pure white.
There wasn’t much he could help with. He could only bring these children a little joy during his weekend off.
Perhaps he would be able to redeem himself a little bit this way and feel better about himself.