chapter 48 - eat a little vinegar

Xie Ning realized that the way he and Zhuang Yan were right now was no different from being lovers.

They’d held hands, hugged, and kissed.

Oh, and he still owed Zhuang Yan four kisses.

Xie Ning quietly counted the kiss this time as one of those four.

Zhuang Yan’s personality was too strong. He would basically do whatever he wanted to, regardless of what others thought or wanted him to do, and even close relatives didn’t know what to do with him.

Qi Rui, who grew up with him, said he was too egotistical. Which second-generation young master wasn’t held in the palm of their family’s hand while they were growing up? None of them were masochists that liked to stick a warm face onto a cold ass.

Even if Zhuang Yan’s family background was taken into consideration, there was still nobody that could stand his personality for a long time.

If it wasn’t for their deep, longstanding friendship, sometimes even Qi Rui wanted to ignore him.

Xie Ning was unable to resist Zhuang Yan’s personality.

Xie Ning had always been a person that went with the flow, and when he suddenly met Zhuang Yan, someone who acted on his own, he unconsciously followed him.

When he finally reacted and realized, Zhuang Yan had already abducted him for a long while, but he couldn’t find the way back out.

And Xie Ning found that he was unable to refuse Zhuang Yan’s requests.

When Zhuang Yan requested something from him sincerely, and from the bottom of his heart, the thought of rejection never even crossed Xie Ning’s mind.

So he was randomly abducted to Zhuang Yan’s home, and was cuddled, hugged, and kissed from time to time.

Xie Ning pondered for a long time and found that he didn’t dislike Zhuang Yan’s action.

Occasionally, after recalling such experiences, he would mysteriously start to blush.

When he thought of the kiss that he gave Zhuang Yan before heading out, Xie Ning’s face turned warm again.

“Is the temperature of the air conditioner in the car turned too high?” Zhuang Yan turned his head slightly to glance at him and asked, “Your face looks a little hot?”

Xie Ning: “...It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Zhuang Yan turned the temperature down by two degrees. “Today’s a weekend and a holiday, so there’s a lot of cars. There was traffic earlier, but it should improve up ahead and we’ll arrive at the Convention Center’s exhibition soon.”

Xie Ning’s heart beat faster. At that moment, he wasn’t thinking of any weekend or holiday, so he replied, “Mmn.”

As if he noticed that Xie Ning had no interest in talking, Zhuang Yan concentrated on driving and turned on the music. “If you’re tired, close your eyes and lie down for a little.

Xie Ning wasn’t really tired, but he did spend a lot of effort dealing with Madam Qiao in the morning.

The music that Zhuang Yan played was all foreign. Other than English songs, there were songs in languages Xie Ning didn’t understand, and the style of the music was quite gentle.

As he listened, Xie Ning really did close his eyes and take a small nap.

When he opened his eyes blearily, he found that the car had stopped at some point.

He rubbed his eyes. “Are we there?”

“Yeah.” Zhuang Yan looked at him while smiling. “Let’s go.”

Xie Ning was about to get up when he found that a black coat had been placed on him some time ago.

He confusedly took the coat and got out of the car, wondering: Didn’t I just sleep for a little while? Where did this coat come from?

Zhuang Yan locked the car securely and, as if understanding his expression, said, “It’s probably cold outside the exhibition, and will be better inside. If you’re cold on the way there, put this on.”

Xie Ning nodded, and after a while, turned to look at Zhuang Yan to say, “Thank you.”

Zhuang Yan smiled and rubbed his head.

The art exhibition opened in the morning, and most people attended in the afternoon.

The comprehensive art exhibition this time was very large. In addition to photography and painting, there was also pottery, sculpting, and more like it. Different mediums were separated into different parts.

The exhibition hall near the entrance, A, is for photography. The two of them were considered experienced industry people, and it wasn’t tedious for them to look through it.

In addition to world-class photographers, there were some other, more unknown photographers.

Of course, the exhibitions for the world-class photographers were a bit larger and of a higher level.

AJ’s photography exhibition was eye-catching and in the center. There were more viewers at his exhibition than the surrounding ones.

Xie Ning didn’t know photography very well, but art is the same language. Plus, there was Zhuang Yan beside him, who also dabbles in photography.

Zhuang Yan pulled him along as he explained AJ’s works quietly and occasionally discussed some interesting news with him.

Xie Ning looked at it for a while and said, “As expected from a master. Even someone like me, who doesn’t understand photography, can be shocked by his works.”

Zhuang Yan smiled. “My mom really likes his works as well, and says that there is a sort of exciting power to them.”

Although the main focus was the exhibition, some of the works were also for sale.

The prices of an expert’s work were definitely not cheap, and ordinary people could only look and sigh.

Zhuang Yan had Xie Ning pick an AJ work, then bought it in his name and sent it to Madam Qiao.

“If we tell her you gifted it to her, my mom would definitely be happy to receive it,” Zhuang Yan said.

Xie Ning found it strange. “Why?”

Zhuang Yan smiled and replied, “Because she likes you. If I sent it in my name, she would definitely mock me for being a disaster, then say that I have a bad eye and that she doesn’t like the one I picked.”

Xie Ning: “...So it’s like that.”

They finished walking through the photography exhibition hall quickly. The two of them were just about to leave when Zhuang Yan noticed a photography exhibition board of a starry sky, and he stopped.

In such a large exhibition hall, others would normally set up a sizable exhibition. This was the only area where there was an exhibition board, with a table and two chairs in front of it. It was terribly shabby.

All of the photographs on the board were of the starry sky. Since the board was so small, it was easy to overlook it.

But if it was noticed, one’s eyes would be inevitably attracted to the vast, dazzling sky.

The photograph that attracted Xie Ning’s attention the most was of the Milky Wavy over the city.

It was like a game between light and starlight, the struggle between humankind and nature. Though the city was gleaming and bright as day, it still could not conceal the brilliance of the Milky Way.

Xie Ning couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s shot so well.”

A young man in his twenties was sitting in the chair in front of the board. He heard Xie Ning’s voice and looked up towards them.

Xie Ning noticed that he was wearing a blue stud earring that looked like a star.

The young man’s name is Chen Xing, and is the photographer of the pictures on the board.

He has the word “star” in his name, and thus had an immense interest in the stars. His greatest hobby in life was to travel to different places in the world and take pictures of the sky.

Since they were all young men, Zhuang Yan stopped and talked with Chen Xing for a bit.

Xie Ning didn’t understand much about photography and didn’t like to talk anyways, so he didn’t make a sound and listened to them quietly.

Chen Xing seemed to have found a good friend, and was very obviously happy when he conversed with Zhuang Yan.

Xie Ning was somehow irritated when he saw it, and was confused as to where this irritation came from.

He seemed to be unhappy to let Zhuang Yan and Chen Xing talk like this.

But interrupting someone else’s conversion isn’t something that he could do with his personality, so Xie Ning quietly observed Chen Xing from the side.

He and Xie Ning had completely different personalities. Outgoing, lively, and naturally familiar with all, he could talk to anyone he pulled in.

But he was also very naturally good-looking, and when he smiled, he would show two small canines that made it impossible to tire of his enthusiasm.

Although they just met, Chen Xing very familiarly took them to the board and explained each photo’s story to them.

After talking and laughing for a while, he finished explaining most of the photos.

Xie Ning, seeing his brilliant smile, felt a little envious in his heart and seemed dazed for a while.

Suddenly, his hand tightened. Zhuang Yan pulled on him towards the outside, and turned his head to give Chen Xing an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry, it’s late now, and we still have to go to other exhibition halls to take a look.”

“Ah, yes,” Chen Xing smiled again, and his little canines flickered in the light. He didn’t mind Zhuang Yan’s sudden coldness, and shoved two business cards into his hands. “This is my contact information. Add me on WeChat if you have time and we can talk there!”

Xie Ning subconsciously glanced at Zhuang Yan’s hand.

Zhuang Yan raised his eyebrows. “You still want to look?”

Xie Ning: “Ah?”

Zhuang Yan’s expression changed slightly. “Was he so good to look at? You were looking at him the whole time just now.”

Xie Nig confusedly shook his head. “No, he wasn’t.”

Zhuang Yan wasn’t so easily satisfied. “Then why were you looking at him?”

Xie Ning thought about it and honestly replied, “The stud on his ear was pretty nice.”

Zhuang Yan paused.

Xie Ning touched his earlobe. His ears weren’t pierced, but seeing Chen Xing’s earring made him feel like it was extraordinarily pretty.

Zhuang Yan noticed his movement and asked, “ Do you want an earring like that too?”

Xie Ning was silent for a while, then shook his head.

Zhuang Yan smiled again. “You would definitely look good in earrings, much better than he does.”

Xie Ning blinked a couple times, and suddenly felt happy for some reason.

When they passed by a trash can, Zhuang Yan threw the two business cards in.

Xie Ning couldn’t help but glance back at it before Zhuang Yan held him back.

Zhuang Yan’s voice was a little cold. “Why, do you still want to add his WeChat?”

Xie Ning shook his head. “No...I don’t like to use WeChat either.”

“Mmn.” Zhuang Yan said, “Don’t add strangers on WeChat.”

Xie Ning was pulled after him for a while, and he couldn’t help but ask, “I thought you liked him.”

Zhuang Yan raised his eyebrows. “His works weren’t bad.”

Xie Ning, for once in his life, tried to get to the bottom of it. “What about the person?”

Zhuang Yan seemed to realize something and turned his head to glance at him before responding, “I didn’t pay attention to him.”

Xie Ning: “...”

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, “With you at my side, how can I pay attention to others?”

Xie Ning’s ears suddenly became warm, and didn’t dare to speak.

Zhuang Yan had already clearly guessed what his thoughts were by now, and hesitantly asked, “NingNing, were you...jealous just now?”

Xie Ning turned his head away and quietly said, “You’re the jealous one.”

“Yeah.” Zhuang Yan boldly admitted, “I was jealous just now. You have such a large person like me by your side, yet you were staring at him the whole time.”

Xie Ning widened his eyes. “But you were also talking to him the whole time.”

After the words left his mouth, he felt like something was wrong.

What he said just now felt too much like he was acting cute. Just listening to it made him cringe.

Xie Ning pressed his lips together and sped up.

Zhuang Yan pulled on his clothes and followed behind him calmly. “So you were upset earlier because I talked too much to him.”

When his little selfish thought was exposed so easily, Xie Ning became shy and walked toward forcefully, not daring to look back.

Zhuang Yan reached out and stopped him, pulling him into his embrace. He squeezed his cheeks and said, “Don’t be angry anymore. I won’t talk so much to others anymore, and only talk to you, is that okay?”

The three words “is that okay” were said so lightly, as if he was trying to comfort someone.

Xie Ning’s ears became hotter. “That’s not what I meant.”

Zhuang Yan: “Then what did you mean?”

Xie Ning’s cheeks were burning, but he got even more embarrassed since there were so many people around them.

After a while, he seemed to collapse and said, “...I-I just felt a little uncomfortable in my heart, and I don’t know why.”

“Mmn, it was my fault.” Zhuang Yan looked at him with a small smile. “It won’t happen again.”

Xie Ning didn’t know what to do when Zhuang Yan admitted his mistakes so easily and so boldly.

He felt like he was being unreasonable just now, and not like his usual self.

But Zhuang Yan wasn’t unhappy because of it, and even seemed a bit happy.

Xie Ning didn’t dare to think about it. He exited Zhuang Yans arms and randomly pointed to an exhibition hall. “I’m gonna go over there to take a look.”

His rapid footsteps carried a sense of escape.

Zhuang Yan looked at his retreating back and smiled happily.

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Author’s Note: ZhuangZhuang: (Jealous) Why are you staring at him the whole time!

NingNing: (Jealous) Why are you talking to him the whole time!

Chen Xing: ???

How come they even get jealous with the same heart? (jk)

Twitter: @jiyangtrans