Xu Qing ran in front of Xie Ning, with a look of unexpectedness and surprise on his face.
Xie Ning frowned and took a step back.
Seeing Xu Qing, his heart didn’t move at all, and he was even a little sick of it.
For the four years they were together, their relationship in actuality was quite simple.
He thought that after he broke up with him, he and Xu Qing wouldn’t have to see each other again and would go their own ways.
But Xu Qing didn’t have the same mutual understanding.
He didn’t know if it was a rebellious reaction, but after mentioning breaking up, Xu Qing had become even more clingy and hard to shake.
Xie Ning doesn’t like this.
It’s good to part without hard feelings.
“Xie Ning, why are you here?” Xu Qing stared at him. “Did you know I’ve been looking for you this whole time?”
I know.
I moved here to avoid you.
Xu Qing continued to say, “I even waited in front of your house for a whole night, and when you didn’t come out to see me, I knew you’d moved away.”
Xu Qing seemed to want to show his affection and said a bunch of things.
Xie Ning listened, but only felt fear and horror instead.
Xu Qing glanced behind him. “So you’re living here?”
Xie Ning: “...”
He didn’t really want to admit it.
“We’ve already broken up.” Xie Ning said. “I don’t like you, and I don’t want to get back together with you.”
Xu Qing paused when he heard him say it so directly.
Xie Ning continued, “From now on, can you not pester me anymore, please?”
Xu Qing frowned, and seemed to want to reach his hand out and pull Xie Ning. “Don’t make trouble.”
How come this person doesn’t understand words?
As patient as Xie Ning was, he began to feel irritated.
He didn’t know when Zhuang Yan would come over either, and became even more anxious.
Xie Ning said, “I’m not making trouble. I really have no intention of being together with you.”
Xu Qing said, “Then do you know how you’re going to deal with your mom? Since you’re single again now, has she not tried to set you up on blind dates?”
Xie Ning paused.
Seeing his expression, Xu Qing felt like he still had a chance, and hurriedly said, “Your mom definitely isn’t going to give up, so what are you doing to do?”
Xie Ning lowered his eyes. “It’s none of your business.”
Xu Qing said, a bit mockingly, “Recently, friends have been spreading the news about you and Zhuang Yan. Are you going to use your old tricks and use him as a shield?”
Xie Ning frowned because he didn’t expect Xu Qing to bring up Zhuang Yan. “Don’t speak nonsense.”
Xu Qing thought he’d guessed correctly, and continued to say, “It’s useless if you use this trick on Zhuang Yan. He hates it the most when others spread rumors about him behind his back, so he definitely will try to clear it up.”
Xie Ning didn’t speak, and a low voice sounded from behind Xu Qing. “What rumors?”
Zhuang Yan, with his eyebrows raised and his hands stuck in his pockets, walked between the two of them and separated Xie Ning and Xu Qing.
There was a thinly veiled layer of anger on his face and his sharp eyes were raised, carrying a sense of overbearance.
The explosive force was strong, and even though he knew that the anger wasn’t directed towards him, Xie Ning still felt his back soften.
But he had to say.
The Zhuang Yan right now looked more handsome and attractive.
Xu Qing was surprised, and said, “Zhuang Yan?! You…” Why are you here?
He hadn’t finished speaking when Zhuang Yan impatiently interrupted him, saying, “Then I’ll tell you clearly right now that those are not rumors.”
Xu Qing paused for a moment before reacting, and said in disbelief, “You guys are really together?!”
Zhuang Yan looked at him coldly and slowly smiled. “Yes.”
Xie Ning: “...”
Xu Qing looked at them in shock.
Zhuang Yan didn’t want Xie Ning and him to continue to interact anymore.
Even just seeing them in the same scene made Zhuang Yan unable to contain his anger.
He lowered his eyes and sneered, but he didn’t want Xie Ning to be frightened by his ruthless appearance.
Zhuang Yan suppressed his anger and tightened the scarf around Xie Ning’s neck.
He tried his best to use his gentlest tone to say to Xie Ning, “It’s cold outside, so go inside and stay there first. I’ll deal with this.”
When he said “deal”, there was a unique tone to it.
Cold and disdainful.
It’s like he was saying, “I’ll take care of the garbage”.
He tried to keep his voice down, but no matter how much he resisted it, his words still carried a sense of command to them.
Xie Ning originally didn’t want to interact with Xu Qing anyways, so he obediently nodded and turned to walk into the house.
Xu Qing, seeing their interaction, was so surprised that he didn’t react for a long time, as if he were a piece of wood, or like his soul separated from his body.
This gentle and considerate person is...Zhuang Yan?
This obedient and well-behaved person is...Xie Ning?
Xu Qing felt like he was meeting them for the first time; he stood in the same spot, stunned.
When he came back to his senses, Xie Ning had already left so he couldn’t even see his back, so there was only Zhuang Yan left, looking at him impatiently.
“NingNing is my boyfriend now.”
Since Xie Ning wasn’t there, Zhuang Yan said smoothly, with no guilty conscience, “I’m warning you. Remember, it’s a warning. Don’t pester my boyfriend again.”
Xu Qing couldn’t even form words anymore. “He...You...You guys…”
Zhuang Yan slowly rolled up his sleeves and cracked his knuckles. “We can be considered old acquaintances now. You don’t want to experience my methods again, right?”
Xu Qing: “...”
Xu Qing has two major characteristics: one, he’s shameless, and two, he’s thick-faced.
When he pursued Zhuang Yan in the past, he tried endless methods and finally succeeded in angering Zhuang Yan.
Zhuang Yan was not as easy to talk to as Xie Ning. When he was angry, he’d scolded Xu Qing severely and found someone to beat him up.
He even personally beat him up.
Zhuang Yan’s temper was originally terrible, and it settled down a lot when he was in university, but Xu Qing roused the anger in his bones.
At that time, he also slowly rolled up his sleeves like he was doing now, and coldly smiled, saying, “Are you eager to die?”
Seeing Zhuang Yan full of hostility and exuding an unhappy aura, Xu Qing, for some reason, felt even more moved.
……
Then, Zhuang Yan almost broke his ribs. When he entered the hospital, he was almost completely covered in bruises.
After recovering for half a month, he still had a bruised nose and swollen face, and he didn’t dare go to school, ashamed.
Although Xu Qing had a bit of an M’s heart, being beaten up wasn’t his hobby. From then on, whenever he saw Zhuang Yan, he would tremble a little.
Later on, after Zhuang Yan went abroad, that sort of trauma slowly disappeared.
Nobody could guess Xu Qing’s inner thoughts.
He likes the kind of person that is arrogant and noble. When they look at him with those indifferent eyes that look like they’re above everyone else, he couldn’t help but feel happy.
So after meeting Xie Ning, he immediately started to pursue him.
Even though Xie Ning didn’t look down on others as blatantly as Zhuang Yan did, his temperament was good, didn’t beat people up, and was very obedient and easy to trick.
He only needed a few sentences to coax him.
Right now, Zhuang Yan’s face was gloomy, and his body was so full of hostility that it was about to explode.
It was terrifyingly dark.
Xu Qing’s body trembled reflexively.
Xu Qing replied incoherently, “Why-why do you like Xie Ning?”
Zhuang Yan lightly chuckled. “I used to think that you were good for nothing. Thinking about it now, there’s one thing about you that I think is good.”
Xu Qing: “?”
“You have pretty good taste,” Zhuang Yan said. “Me, Xie Ning...the people you favor are excellent.”
Xu Qing: “...”
Zhuang Yan calmly asked him, “Is it strange for me to like Xie Ning, who is so exceptional and good. Why can’t I like him?”
Xu Qing’s mind was a mess right now.
It was as if he didn’t know what he was saying. “What reason do you have to stop me from seeing Xie Ning? I don’t want to break up with him at all, I also really like him!”
“Scram.”
Zhuang Yan’s face was expressionless, and his eyes looked like there was ice in them, making one shiver.
He glanced at Xu Qing and sneered.
“Even you’re worthy of liking him?”
……
When Zhuang Yan came in, Xie Ning subconsciously sat up straight.
He sat quietly on the sofa, watching Zhuang Yan come in with the wind and cold still on his body, close the door quietly, and slowly walk over.
Xie Ning, his mouth dry, asked, “Zhuang Yan…?”
Before Zhuang Yan entered the door, he took a couple of deep breaths and purposely dissipated the hostility that surrounded him.
Facing Xie Ning, he smiled gently. “Are you hungry? Wait here for a moment; I’ll go to the kitchen and cook.”
Xie Ning originally thought that Zhuang Yan would discuss Xu Qing with him, so he paused in surprise. When he recovered his senses, Zhuang Yan had already entered the kitchen.
He could only see his back.
Xie Ning followed him to the kitchen and quietly looked at Zhuang Yan from the door.
Zhuang Yan, busying himself in the kitchen, was surrounded by a scent of earthy fireworks, not as nice as usual but not as gloomy as earlier.
Xie Ning zoned out for a while.
Dinner was still very generous. Zhuang Yan made the sweet and sour pork ribs he liked, and the meat was tender and flavorful.
The unhappiness that Xu Qing caused dissipated under the comfort of food.
Xie Ning thought that Zhuang Yan wouldn’t talk about what happened just now, but unexpectedly, when they were about finished with dinner, Zhuang Yan suddenly said, “Does Xu Qing pester you often?”
Xie Ning was chewing something, and choked on it.
Zhuang Yan frowned. “Don’t rush, finish eating first before you talk.”
Xie Ning hurriedly swallowed his food, and said, “No, I just didn’t react when it was so sudden.”
“So it’s like that…”
He freely explained to Zhuang Yan about Xu Qing’s calls and text messages after the breakup, asking him to get back together.
Zhuang Yan listened, and thought, Looks like I was too easy on him today.
“...Then I moved here.”
After Xie Ning finished talking, he sneakily looked at Zhuang Yan’s expression.
Zhuang Yan was frowning deeply. “So what you’re saying is that now he knows where you live. Will he continue to harass you?”
Xie Ning mumbled, “...I don’t know either.”
He curiously asked, “What did you say to him?”
Zhuang Yan said a half-truth. “I warned him to not look for you in the future.”
Then he couldn’t resist and beat him up, but this time Xu Qing learned his lesson and escaped quickly.
Xie Ning asked, “Will he listen to you?”
Zhuang Yan opened his mouth, about to speak, but seemed to remember something and said instead, “I don’t know, but with his stalking personality…”
“It probably won’t be much use.” Xie Ning finished his sentence for him, skillfully.
Zhuang Yan made a soft sound in agreement.
Xie Ning frowned. “Should I...move again?”
Zhuang Yan asked, “Where would you move to?”
Xie Ning recalled the “couple house” his grandpa gave him on New Year’s, and for some reason, his neck blushed.
“I...I have a house somewhere else too.”
But Zhuang Yan asked, “But what if he finds your new residence as well? Will you move again? That’s too much of a hassle.”
Xie Ning paused, startled. “He shouldn’t...right?”
Zhuang Yan lowered his eyes and recounted the way Xu Qing had clung to him in the past. “That year, he first found my roommate and tried to make him switch beds with him, and even used some unknown trick to bribe the dorm manager. To avoid him, I just moved out to live alone instead, but I didn’t think that he would find out where I lived and come to my door again and again. In the end, I hid at my grandpa’s place, and lived in the compound for a while. You know how tight the security is at the compound. He didn’t dare to come pester me again.”
Xie Ning couldn’t go to live in the compound, and mumbled, “So annoying.”
“Mmn.” Zhuang Yan looked at him and said, “But I have a solution to end it once and for all.”
Xie Ning looked up. “What is it?”
Zhuang Yan said quietly, “Move to my house and live with me. I guarantee that he won’t dare to find you again.”
-----------------------------------------
Author’s Note: Zhuang (White Rabbit Abductor) Yan: Live with me? I can drive, cook, and warm the bed.
Xie (Abducted White Rabbit) Ning: ...Did you forget that I haven’t even accepted your confession yet? Isn’t this step a bit too fast?
Zhuang (Man of Action) Yan: (thinking) Then I’ll propose directly next time?
Xie (Speechless) Ning: …
Twitter: @jiyangtrans
Hehehe