HL 45

Xu Nanxiao let out a silent scream. Before he could catch his breath, that spot was being relentlessly ground against again and again. The froth he worked up hadn’t even flowed out before it was pressed back deep inside.

This guy really hadn’t been with anyone before? How the hell was he so good at it!

The sensation was too intense; Xu Nanxiao’s tongue lolled out. When something shot into him like a hose, Xu Nanxiao finally realized—

This madman had taken the condom off!

He was dazed for a moment, and then the sticky stuff began to flow out uncontrollably, as if he’d lost control of his bowels. Groggily, he pressed a hand to his stomach—not ruptured, but it seemed to have bulged.

“Sorry, Nan Xiao, I went too far. You’re pregnant now.” Ying Yusheng kissed the shell of his ear.

Xu Nanxiao’s mind went completely blank, and he asked in a daze: “Pregnant…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility. So let’s keep it, alright?”

“Okay, let’s keep it…” Xu Nanxiao mumbled back in a stupor. But after a full ten seconds or more, he suddenly snapped out of it.

His face flushed crimson, his whole body trembling, he lunged at Ying Yusheng ready to fight for his life.

“You sick freak—fuck you! How dare you hypnotize me into saying that!”

Ying Yusheng laughed as he dodged, but his arm stayed wrapped around Xu Nanxiao’s waist. “You’re wronging me, Nan Xiao—I didn’t hypnotize you. You were just fucked silly.”

That only made Xu Nanxiao even more furious and embarrassed, and the two wrestled and tumbled across the bed.

Afterward, Ying Yusheng took Xu Nanxiao to bathe. When Xu Nanxiao said he couldn’t be bothered to move, Ying Yusheng provided full butler-style service—washing his hair, massaging his scalp, applying body wash, rinsing off the foam.

The two lay in the tub, and Xu Nanxiao let out a contented sigh, leaning back against Ying Yusheng’s chest with his head pillowed on that solid pectoral, eyes half-closed, soaking in the warm, hot water.

Just then, Ying Yusheng suddenly asked out of the blue: “What’s the deal with that ring in your pocket?”

Ring? What ring?

Xu Nanxiao was too comfortable to think straight, but soon remembered that the woman’s ring seemed to have been left in his pocket.

So he sat up abruptly, the movement so large that water sloshed noisily over the edge of the tub.

“How do you know about the ring?” He frowned and looked back.

“Just now, when I was taking your clothes to the washing machine, I found a ring in your pocket while emptying them.” Ying Yusheng asked with a smile, “So what is that ring?”

“I bought it for myself, just for fun.” Xu Nanxiao made up a random excuse.

“But I held it up for comparison, and it’s clearly a woman’s ring size.”

Ying Yusheng’s smile grew even brighter, but Xu Nanxiao knew that was the sign before he got angry.

Xu Nanxiao hesitated for a moment, then finally let out a long sigh, vigorously scratched his short hair, and lay back down on Ying Yusheng’s chest.

“It’s the ring my mother left for her daughter-in-law,” Xu Nanxiao said.

Ying Yusheng suddenly fell silent.

“I’m still torn about it, so I wasn’t sure whether to tell you yet.” Xu Nanxiao paused, then said in a muffled voice, “I don’t want to owe her anything, so I want to return the ring to her. Ying Yusheng, I mean—would you be willing to come back to Hebei with me and get this done together?”

As he spoke, his voice grew quieter and quieter.

“You want to take me to meet your mother?” Though Xu Nanxiao had rambled on so much, Ying Yusheng immediately grasped the core point.

“What do you mean ‘meet my mother’?” Xu Nanxiao shot back at once. “Didn’t you hear what I said? It’s to return the ring to her… Don’t make it sound like I’m introducing you to my parents.”

Ying Yusheng knew perfectly well how much weight those words carried.

Xu Nanxiao wanted to step out of the shadows of the past and face his mother again. And for this important occasion, he wanted Ying Yusheng to bear witness alongside him.

All of Ying Yusheng’s dark, sticky thoughts from moments ago vanished entirely, leaving his heart as clean as freshly rinsed glass.

Even teasing a cat has its rules, so he didn’t expose Xu Nanxiao further. Instead, he put his arm around Xu Nanxiao’s shoulders and gently pressed a kiss to the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck.

“Of course I’m willing. Please, please, take me with you.”

“Oh.” Xu Nanxiao didn’t reply any further, just sank his chin beneath the water and blew a stream of bubbles.

The next day, Xu Nanxiao went for his usual evening run. But Wang Heng pestered him, insisting on coming along. Yet after barely a few kilometers, he was crying and begging for a break.

“Boss, wait for me.”

Wang Heng chased after Xu Nanxiao ahead of him, barely able to form words, a metallic taste rising in his throat.

Xu Nanxiao, in his workout clothes, did high knees in place while waiting and said, “I told you you couldn’t keep up, but you still had to be my running buddy.”

“Who—who could’ve guessed you’d go six kilometers without stopping once? Are you even human?”

Wang Heng leaned over with his hands on his knees, gasping, his vision spinning, his mind filled with only one thought—finding a park bench to rest on.

Just then, he noticed a young man passed out drunk on a nearby bench, taking up the whole spot.

“So young, yet drinking himself into a stupor,” Wang Heng sighed and grumbled, “Isn’t that a waste of public space? Go sleep it off at home.”

Xu Nanxiao casually glanced over as well, then suddenly froze, feeling that the figure under the light looked familiar.

Impossible, Xu Nanxiao immediately denied it. He didn’t really drink.

Complaints aside, Wang Heng still felt a pang of sympathy and asked for Xu Nanxiao’s opinion: “Should we wake him up? It’s getting cold at night—he might catch something.”

“Mind your own business.” Though Xu Nanxiao said that, his gaze remained locked on the young man.

Xu Nanxiao took the first step forward, and Wang Heng hurried after him. But as they walked, Xu Nanxiao suddenly clicked his tongue, turned on his heel, and went back.

Without a word, he grabbed the young man by the collar and slapped him across the face, startling Wang Heng so much he nearly yelped.

“Lu Yingjie,” Xu Nanxiao gritted out through his teeth, “wake the fuck up.”

Lu Yingjie still showed no signs of consciousness, only letting out a jumble of unintelligible muttering.

In the end, Xu Nanxiao practically dragged Lu Yingjie by the collar for several dozen meters before tossing him into a taxi he’d hailed.

Xu Nanxiao gave the driver the address for P University, then sat in the front passenger seat with a cold face the entire ride, not saying a word. Wang Heng and Lu Yingjie sat in the back—on one side, a reeking, sprawled-out stranger; on the other, a boss radiating low pressure. Wang Heng huddled in the corner, not daring to breathe too loudly.

After some time, a soft voice suddenly came from the back seat: “Ge…”

The young man had regained consciousness and knew who was sitting up front. Wang Heng now realized that this youth was the boss’s younger brother.

But Xu Nanxiao only turned his head to look out the window, giving no response. It seemed the brothers didn’t have a good relationship?

“Thank you, Ge. I was in a bad mood today, so I drank too much with my friends.”

Xu Nanxiao remained silent.

During this period, Lu Yingjie had tried to approach Xu Nanxiao several times, but every time he couldn’t get a word out before Xu Nanxiao grabbed him by the collar and gave him a beating. Now, trapped in the closed cabin of the car, Xu Nanxiao couldn’t exactly jump out and run away—it was the perfect opportunity to talk.

So, regardless of the stranger present, Lu Yingjie took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice: “I was wrong that night. I won’t make excuses for myself. I’m leaving for abroad soon—my flight is booked for this Friday night. After that, you won’t have to see me again, so don’t worry.”

Xu Nanxiao’s back stiffened. He looked up and met Lu Yingjie’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

“I can leave, go far away, but I can’t let you hate me. Ge, the hooded guy really wasn’t me. All that stuff before—he did it, not me.”

Xu Nanxiao only wanted to laugh: “You’re still trying to pin it on him? Don’t forget, you were caught red-handed. I believe him, and I believe my own eyes.”

Lu Yingjie choked, a faint gurgling sound coming from his throat, like a dog being strangled.

The taxi stopped just then, and from here, the side gate of P University was visible.

“I’ll prove it to you, Ge.” Finally, Lu Yingjie forced his emotions down and said, “I’ll take you somewhere. I want you to meet someone. Then all the truth, all the evidence—I’ll give it all to you.”

Xu Nanxiao’s only response was to turn his head away and say coldly: “Get lost.”

But Lu Yingjie didn’t get lost; he just pressed his lips together and fell silent.

Xu Nanxiao’s patience was wearing thin, bit by bit. Even the driver couldn’t help urging, “We’re here already—are you getting out or not? If you brothers want to fight, do it over the phone.”

“Lu Yingjie, just—”

“Xu Nanxiao! This is the last time!” Lu Yingjie finally couldn’t hold back his tears. They pooled in his eyes, burning a crease across his pupils. “After sixteen years of knowing each other, can’t I ask you to believe me just this once?! Ge!!!”

“…”

A suffocating silence stretched on for a long time. Xu Nanxiao suddenly got out of the car, then yanked open the door next to Lu Yingjie. Ignoring Lu Yingjie’s struggles, he dragged and shoved him out of the car, dumping him on the roadside like a bag of trash.

Then he got back in, his face dark, and told the driver: “Let’s go.”

Seeing Xu Nanxiao’s murderous expression, the driver didn’t dare hesitate and stepped on the gas. Wang Heng pressed his face against the window, watching Lu Yingjie’s figure—still sitting motionless on the ground—grow smaller and smaller, feeling an inexplicable unease.

After the car had gone a long way, the driver couldn’t help but advise, “He’s your brother—blood is thicker than water. Don’t hold a grudge against him.”

Xu Nanxiao didn’t respond, and the driver took the hint, pursing his lips and falling silent.

But from the slight tremble in Xu Nanxiao’s shoulders, Wang Heng knew that the boss wasn’t as indifferent as he appeared.

To go or not to go?

This question had been lodged in Xu Nanxiao’s mind all day.

If Lu Yingjie had said this before, Xu Nanxiao wouldn’t have wavered. He didn’t believe Lu Yingjie’s nonsense, and he had no doubts about Ying Yusheng.

But this was the last time he would see Lu Yingjie before he went abroad. Friday would come, and Lu Yingjie would fly away, and from then on, the two would go their separate ways.

He also thought back to those tender moments—the little Lu Yingjie shuffling along behind him, looking down to see that round face puffed up like a little bun.

He would gaze at Xu Nanxiao with sparkling eyes when he spoke; he would awkwardly hug him when Xu Nanxiao cried after being beaten by that old bastard; he would look at him with pitiful eyes when Xu Nanxiao went out on dates with girlfriends…

Xu Nanxiao didn’t believe there was any so-called truth, and he hadn’t forgiven Lu Yingjie—but he still couldn’t withstand Lu Yingjie’s tears.

The following evening, just as Xu Nanxiao was about to sleep after a long day, Ying Yusheng suddenly entered his room.

He came in without a word, keeping his hands behind his back, and locked the door.

Xu Nanxiao’s heart immediately sank. He asked uneasily, “If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Why are you locking the door?”

Ying Yusheng’s smile only touched the corners of his lips, never reaching his eyes. His face was thus split into two parts—the lower half wore that familiar gentle curve, but the upper half was not smiling.

“I heard from Wang Heng that you went to see Yingjie? Did he try to drive a wedge between us?”

Xu Nanxiao immediately cursed inwardly, thinking that Wang Heng was such a big mouth—of all the times, why did he have to go blabbing to Ying Yusheng!

But then, all at once, Xu Nanxiao felt something was off.

What was it…

Soon, he realized. Neither he nor Lu Yingjie had mentioned Ying Yusheng’s name at any point during their exchange—so how did Wang Heng know that Lu Yingjie had been trying to drive a wedge between him and Ying Yusheng?

Before Xu Nanxiao could figure it out, Ying Yusheng had him by the neck and pressed him down onto the bed. Ying Yusheng wasn’t using force, so it wasn’t suffocating, but having his most vulnerable spot completely in another’s control still made Xu Nanxiao feel short of breath.

“Nan Xiao,” Ying Yusheng said, his eyes cold as he looked down at him, yet his voice was terrifyingly gentle. “You’re not actually going, are you?”

Xu Nanxiao guiltily turned his head away, effectively admitting it.

This time, Ying Yusheng departed from his usual gentle lovemaking style. He gripped Xu Nanxiao by the neck and fucked him like a whore.

Xu Nanxiao knew he was in the wrong, so even when he was being roughed up, he just buried his face in the pillow and played dead.

But Ying Yusheng was inhuman—even a former professional boxer couldn’t take it. Just as Xu Nanxiao had had enough and was about to curse him out, he felt Ying Yusheng bury his face against his shoulder blade.

“Have you never trusted me?” The other’s voice was barely audible.

Xu Nanxiao suddenly had nothing to say.

They both knew what Lu Yingjie would say if Xu Nanxiao went.

He had only thought about seeing Lu Yingjie one last time, but hadn’t considered what this act of distrust would mean in Ying Yusheng’s eyes.

Xu Nanxiao suddenly felt like a complete bastard toward Ying Yusheng.

The suffocating silence stretched on for an unknowable length of time.

“I’m not going,” Xu Nanxiao finally said, stroking Ying Yusheng’s hair and lowering his voice. “Really.”

Despite promising Ying Yusheng he wouldn’t go to see Lu Yingjie, when Friday arrived, Xu Nanxiao was still restless.

He hid in his office, playing poker on a mini-app all day. By the end, his eyes were dry and sore, but he didn’t dare stop—because the moment he did, his attention would snap right back to the fact that “Lu Yingjie is leaving the country.”

While he was playing, a new friend request suddenly popped up on his phone. For work reasons, he didn’t think much of it and accepted immediately.

But the person’s first message was: Won’t you even come see me one last time?

Xu Nanxiao slowly sat up, his ears filled with the sound of static snow from an old TV set in his childhood, cruelly tearing through his carefully maintained composure.

A Single Owl: I’m not coming, Lu Yingjie. Be a good person abroad.

Bambi: Heh, Ge, you trust Ying Yusheng that much?

A Single Owl: Don’t be sarcastic with me. If you have evidence, then send it to me if you’ve got the guts.

Bambi: No, I need to make sure it gets to you in person.

Bambi: image.jpg

Bambi: Nice view.

Xu Nanxiao immediately frowned. The picture showed a pair of canvas sneakers on the edge of a concrete ledge, half the soles already hanging in midair, with a dizzying view of the street below.

A Single Owl: Are you threatening me??

Bambi: Who knows.

Bambi: So, Ge, are you coming?

Xu Nanxiao cursed under his breath, then grabbed his leather jacket off the chair and rushed out of the office. He was running so fast that his feet slipped and he nearly crashed headfirst to the ground.

Wang Heng was the first to notice his frantic state and asked curiously, “Boss, where are you going?”

But Xu Nanxiao didn’t even answer him—he just charged straight out the door.

Given the timing, Wang Heng could roughly guess who he was going to see. So he immediately stepped into a corner, ready to call Ying Yusheng and report.

However, Ying Yusheng’s phone rang him first.

Ying Yusheng had long ago installed surveillance software on Xu Nanxiao’s phone, with the screen mirrored in real time onto his own device, so he had seen every word of the exchange between Xu Nanxiao and Lu Yingjie.

“He’s going to see him. Don’t let him go.”

“Oh, okay!”

Wang Heng hung up and chased after him.

But Ying Yusheng knew perfectly well that with Lu Yingjie now threatening his own life, no matter what Wang Heng said, he couldn’t change Xu Nanxiao’s mind.

What evidence had he uncovered? Why did he have to meet in person to reveal it? There shouldn’t be any holes in Ying Yusheng’s defenses.

What to do?

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Think fast!

Don’t stop thinking—come up with a countermeasure!

Just then, Ying Yusheng noticed an open box of chocolate cookies on a colleague’s desk. In an instant, he became terrifyingly calm. Without a second’s hesitation, he grabbed the cookies and started shoving them into his mouth.

One, two, three…

Before the previous one was even chewed, it was swallowed down his throat, and the next was already being pushed in. Ying Yusheng didn’t look like he was eating—he looked like he was forcibly cramming things into a lifeless pipe.

He kept this up for a long while, and then the allergic reaction came rushing in just as it had in his memory.

His throat swelled from the inside, as if sealed with cement, making air feel impossibly distant. An unfamiliar weight pressed down on him; his vision darkened first, then vanished entirely.

The last thing Ying Yusheng heard was his colleague’s scream, and the strangled, raspy gasps coming from his own throat.

Just before his consciousness cut out, he fumbled for his phone and dialed his emergency contact—Xu Nanxiao.