Chapter 89:
As Ji Ran opened his eyes, he saw the medicine on the bedside table.
The aftereffects of the beer weren’t too bad; he wasn’t feeling too uncomfortable.
Propping himself up, he drank the water from the cup by the bedside lamp’s light, half-laying on the bed, and glanced at the curtains.
It was still dark outside.
Subconsciously, Ji Ran reached under the pillow, fumbling for a while before vaguely remembering that his phone was in the living room.
This guest room had no clock, so he couldn’t see the time. Ji Ran decided to lie back down and try to catch a few more winks of sleep.
After tossing and turning for a few minutes, he couldn’t fall asleep.
After hesitating for a moment, he got out of bed and went to the living room, groping for the light switch and finding his phone on the table.
To avoid disturbing Cheng Peng, he waited until he returned to his room before turning on his phone.
Several messages popped up:
Q: Haven’t you come home yet?
Q: You ate too little for dinner, so I bought some late-night snacks.
Q: Where are you?
He read them twice before looking up at the time.
4:11.
Just as he was about to close the chat window, the note above changed.
[The other party is typing…]
Ji Ran was taken aback.
He pursed his lips, lying on his side, turning off the bedside lamp. At this moment, the phone in front of him became the only source of light in the room.
The typing indicator repeated several times, but no message came through.
Ji Ran lost all desire to sleep.
He expressionlessly stared at the phone screen, and it was already six o’clock.
The typing indicator finally stopped. For over an hour, the other party didn’t send a single message.
Ji Ran felt a pang of regret for wasting this brief moment of sleep, then opened Qin Man’s profile and blocked him.
Cheng Peng emerged from his room the next morning, ready for work. Seeing Ji Ran sitting on the couch, he raised an eyebrow. “Up so early?”
“Just woke up,” replied Ji Ran, who hadn’t slept since four o’clock. “Where are my car keys?”
Cheng Peng retrieved the keys. “I was worried you wouldn’t find them, so I kept them… Qin Man called me last night, asking about you.”
“Got it,” Ji Ran took the keys. “I’m heading back.”
Cheng Peng asked, “Aren’t you going to ask what we talked about?”
“This is between him and me. I’ll go back and talk to him myself.” Ji Ran took the documents from the table. “Thanks for taking care of me last night.”
Cheng Peng chuckled, “At least you remember who took care of you. Looks like you’re not too upset.”
“Do you still have cigarettes?” Ji Ran remembered halfway through, “Give me a pack. I’m out at home.”
Cheng Peng reached into his pocket, “Giving up halfway through quitting smoking isn’t very cost-effective, is it?”
“People abandon halfway through relationships, cigarettes are nothing.” Ji Ran took the cigarettes from him, waved, and bid farewell.
Back home, Ji Ran parked the car in the garage but didn’t rush to get out.
He sat in the driver’s seat, opened the window, and lit a cigarette.
After finishing it, he opened the car door, picked up the documents, extinguished the cigarette and threw it into the trash can, then turned and went inside.
He had imagined the scene of meeting Qin Man last night.
He didn’t have the word “avoidance” in his dictionary; sleeping it off was just temporary. The issue needed addressing; postponing it wouldn’t solve anything. But no matter how many times he thought it over, he couldn’t fathom what attitude Qin Man would have.
He made several assumptions: apology, guilt, or sarcasm. The one thing he hadn’t considered was that the other person had left early in the morning without a trace.
The house was empty, no one there. Ji Ran walked into the bedroom and glanced at the bedding, which looked undisturbed since he had left yesterday.
He took a deep breath, his forced composure cracking a bit.
Would this person just leave without even an explanation?
Ji Ran looked towards the wardrobe.
After about ten seconds, he finally moved towards it, opening the doors.
On the left were his various t-shirts and sweatshirts in a myriad of colors, while on the right were men’s suits in black, gray, and white, dull and monotonous.
Until Ji Ran snapped out of it, he realized he had just let out a sigh of relief.
He irritably ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the short cut he had just gotten. He took two steps back and collapsed heavily onto the bed.
Yesterday at Cheng Peng’s place, he could hold it together. But now that he was back here, all those emotions surged up and surrounded him.
This bed had been shared by two people every night for the past few months. Every morning when he woke up, he was almost always held by Qin Man. Qin Man’s body temperature was always higher than his, warm and comforting.
Even in the bathroom, their toothbrushes always faced each other.
Even in the video games, it was all records refreshed by Qin Man.
Ji Ran snapped out of it, only to realize his vision was a bit blurry.
Damn it.
He scolded himself silently, wiping away the remaining moisture from his eyes against his arm. He stood up, ready to find something to distract himself.
He sat in front of the TV, searching for his game discs. After flipping through several of them, he finally found one single-player game. He inserted it into the console, and the TV lit up—
“[Dear Beloved Little Junior, you previously completed level 47. Would you like to load your save file?]”
Qin Man had changed his gaming name.
And he had breezed through the level 46 that Ji Ran had failed to beat dozens of times.
This guy was just so annoying. Levels that took others a week to pass, he could easily breeze through them several times over.
Some people were just born under a lucky star. Whether it was in studying, working, gaming, or even in love. Heaven had granted Qin Man a full-body buff, specifically to crush ordinary people like Ji Ran who had a streak of bad luck.
With a determined heart, Ji Ran cleared all his save files and started over from scratch.
“[Please enter your name—]”
Ji Ran manipulated the buttons, about to select the pinyin to give himself a new name, when he heard the sound of an engine outside the iron gate. The sound was heavy and thunderous, and Ji Ran found it very familiar.
He paused, setting down the controller and walking to the window.
Outside the gate was the matte black sports car he had sold a few days ago. Before he could fully react, the license plate was automatically recognized, and the iron gate slowly opened.
Ji Ran felt a thunderous sensation in his mind, and he couldn’t help but smile.
The final veil of embarrassment was lifted, and Ji Ran felt like the word “idiot” was written all over his face.
While others deceived and lied to him, he was eagerly selling his car to scrape together money to start a company. If this wasn’t being stupid, what was it?
If it were Qin Man in his place, he probably would have felt victorious.
Ji Ran laughed until his head hurt, taking out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting another one.
Qin Man felt like an idiot too.
Just a while ago, he had been mocking Wen Xiao, saying he would never end up in his situation. Now, here he was, spending the entire night on the couch, staring at his phone screen without daring to send a single message.
He parked the car in the garage and saw the extra car inside. His movements faltered for a moment before he opened the door and quickly walked into the house.
As soon as he stepped into the living room, he caught a faint smell of smoke. He knew it wasn’t the brand of cigarettes Ji Ran liked.
The person he had been thinking about all night stood by the French window, tilting his head slightly, looking at him coldly.
Neither of them spoke. After Qin Man had seen enough, he walked over to Ji Ran’s side. “Why did you start smoking again?”
He hadn’t slept all night, and his voice was low and hoarse, sending chills down Ji Ran’s spine.
Ji Ran didn’t respond. He withdrew his gaze, exhaling smoke slowly.
“How much did you drink last night?” Qin Man asked. “Is your stomach upset?”
Ji Ran finished his last drag, then turned and walked to the coffee table, extinguishing the cigarette in the ashtray. He then grabbed the nearby documents and threw them towards Qin Man, the papers hitting his clothes before falling to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Do you have any explanation?” Ji Ran finally spoke.
Qin Man didn’t look at the papers on the ground. He hesitated, opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again before finally saying, “No.”
There was nothing to explain. He hadn’t actually gone bankrupt, but he had indeed deceived him. No matter how he tried to justify it, both of these facts remained true. In front of the fiery heart that Ji Ran had presented, those reasons for deceit were worthless.
Despite being prepared, Ji Ran’s heart still skipped a beat.
He had miscalculated.
From the very beginning, he had no chance of winning in this gamble.
He had grown accustomed to the darkness, and when the window he had been looking up at for years suddenly opened towards him, he couldn’t help but run towards that light.
What was even more ironic was that…. Although Qin Man had already admitted to it, the word “get lost” kept dangling on the edge of his tongue, unable to be spoken.
If that word came out, then they would truly be finished.
Ji Ran suddenly realized that he was deeper in this mess than he had anticipated. This was like receiving bad news.
“Sorry, I wanted to tell you earlier,” Qin Man said, his eyes filled with both heartache and exhaustion.
He continued: “If you feel like I’ve been playing you and want to break up, I’ll agree.”
This statement effectively cut off all of Ji Ran’s retreat options.
He couldn’t possibly ask Qin Man to stay, or else what would he become?
This was Qin Man’s way of making him realize the difficulty of the situation.
Ji Ran regained his composure and sneered, “Of course we’ll break up. If we don’t, should I keep you for the New Year?”
Both of their expressions were grim. Qin Man had a stern face, while Ji Ran’s forced smile betrayed his true feelings.
After a long silence, Qin Man nodded. “I respect you.”
Respect you, my ass.
When I told you to stop in bed, I didn’t see any sign of respect from you. And now that we’ve broken up, you’re talking about this?
Ji Ran was vaguely irritated. He sneered, “Even if we’ve broken up, the contract is still there. You still have to work for me like a slave—”
“I’ll unilaterally breach the contract,” Qin Man remained calm, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. “I’ll pay you three times the penalty as stated in the contract.”
Ji Ran suddenly realized.
Of course, Qin Man, the wealthy young master, wouldn’t be bound by such a small contract.
He suddenly felt like laughing. What did these past few months mean to them?
Were they just playing games together because they were bored?
He restrained the urge to rush up and punch him, nodded, and sarcastically said, “Fine. I’ll send you the account details.”
“And also this—”
Qin Man raised his hand and touched the ring on his middle finger.
Ji Ran’s chest felt like it had been run over by a truck, completely numb.
He watched as Qin Man took off the ring. The man’s hands were slender and attractive. Qin Man had once used this hand to caress his face, hold his hand, and gave him endless warmth.
Every time he felt the cold touch of the ring, he would tremble with excitement.
And now, the ring was easily taken off, leaving no trace behind.
Ji Ran regained his composure and mechanically touched the ring on his finger, about to take it off.
“—— But this, I’m not planning to return it to you.”
Ji Ran paused.
Qin Man held the ring in his palm and put it in his pocket.
“The penalty will be deposited into your account within three days. I admit that I deceived you, I can’t argue with that. Not telling you earlier was also my fault, I acknowledge that,” Qin Man said, looking him in the eye. “But if it were to happen again, I would still deceive you.”
Ji Ran: “…”
What kind of creature was this?
“I’ll still take your card, negotiate terms with you, sleep with you, and love you.”
When he reached this point, he smiled helplessly at him. “…When someone you’ve liked for so many years suddenly appears in front of you and says they want to sleep with you, who could refuse? I certainly can’t.”
Ji Ran was stunned, his head spinning from Qin Man’s inexplicable words. Without thinking, he said, “Who the fuck said they want to… with you?”
“It’s the same thing.”
“…”
“If you want to break up, I have no objections,” Qin Man continued before Ji Ran could say anything. “But even after we break up, I’ll continue to pursue you.”
Ji Ran frowned. “…. What?”
“I’ll start pursuing you from scratch,” Qin Man repeated. “I won’t involve any agreements or contracts. I’ll pursue you properly. I don’t want to be your lover; I just want to date you and maintain the kind of relationship where we can get married abroad at any time.”
Ji Ran was shocked.
He stood with his mouth agape, unable to speak for a long time. Finally, he said, “Who the hell… gave you this confidence? There are so many good men in the world; I’m not going to hang myself on your tree.”
Hearing Ji Ran curse, Qin Man relaxed. He forced a smile. “It’s okay. I’ll see which tree dares to hang you. I’ll cut off all its branches.”
Ji Ran: “You…”
“Yes, me,” Qin Man interrupted him, his voice hoarse.
“Ji Ran, if you want to like me, you can hang onto me for the rest of your life, do whatever you want with me. If you dislike me, then curse me, bully me, hang me, just don’t let me feel good, and don’t go looking for someone else.”
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
Wow!
I am speechless.
So… what now?