Ding Shengguang thought about He Xian’s conquest last night and made plans to have lunch with him today.
“How was it yesterday?”
He Xian looked at the menu and said, “So-so.”
Ding Shengguang tried to understand his mood, but still couldn’t grasp it.
“What does ‘so-so’ mean?”
He focused on ordering his food.
As soon as the waiter turned around, Ding Shengguang asked, “What does it mean? Did you get it or not?”
Only then did He Xian say, “No.”
Ding Shengguang laughed.
He Xian said, “I’m very sad.”
Ding Shengguang couldn’t stop laughing.
He Xian roughly recounted the situation, and Ding Shengguang, as an experienced person, analyzed it for him, “First of all, why did you bring the person back to your current home? What if they are a lunatic and start bothering you?”
He Xian replied, “I just wanted to be decisive and bring a new person to change the atmosphere.”
“Forget about that,” Ding Shengguang continued to analyze. “Your biggest mistake is how you spoke so coldly and without any charm. Who would be eager to get into bed with someone who says beforehand that nothing will happen between them and that they won’t be given any special treatment? You really have a party spirit.”
He Xian chastised, “Don’t bring up the Party at a time like this.”
Ding Shengguang thought for a moment and said, “If you had said some sweet words at that time, it’s likely that you would have succeeded. The highest art of hooking up is to create an established sexual relationship without the other person realizing it, letting them understand their position, realizing that further progress is impossible, and ultimately giving up. Then you can fully retreat.”
He summarized: “That is to say, relationships are made, not just spoken.”
He Xian disagreed with his viewpoint, “I think prior agreement is more important.” If it was not clearly stated beforehand, or even with sweet words, it was deception.
He asked, “What should we do now?”
Ding Shengguang wiped his hands with a towel and said, “We need to change the person. Now you know that it also requires skill, right? Let’s try with someone else, take a bit more time, and have a gentler attitude. We should not fail again.”
He Xian pondered for a moment and said, “But I don’t want to change the person.”
“Ah-choo!”
Lin Sitao sneezed.
He had left He Xian’s house late at night yesterday and sat on the roadside crying, tossing, and turning until one o’clock before he got home, exhausted. He took a shower and went straight to bed. When he woke up early the next day, he still felt sick to his stomach and had a headache. It was also around the time of year when he usually caught a cold, and sure enough, he caught a cold.
He was busy all morning and didn’t have time to relax until noon. After eating lunch in the cafeteria, he sat in the tea room and daydreamed.
The initial shock and impact had passed, but the disbelief still lingered.
He was the same He Xian as always. He just suddenly realized that not only did he not understand him as a whole, he probably hadn’t even fully understood one side of him.
Although Lin Sitao was currently suffering from a cold and feeling heavy-headed, he seemed to be unusually clear-headed for the first time.
Upon careful reflection, He Xian had made it clear that he was grateful to Lin Sitao for saving his life by pulling him off the bridge railing, which was why he had shown so much kindness towards Lin Sitao.
But why did Lin Sitao always feel like he owed He Xian even more instead?
It’s because He Xian didn’t behave like a typical wealthy person who would just take out a wad of cash and throw it at someone, saying, “Here’s some money for saving my life!” He didn’t take the conventional route and that made his gestures of gratitude feel more personal and heartfelt.
Might as well just give the money directly!
Lin Sitao thought.
With this money, he could get through the difficulties of his third year in high school. Then he could take the entrance exam for a local university in J city, get a diploma while working part-time during college, graduate, and find a decent job. He could live with his grandparents to take care of them and hang out with his friends like Xu Dan. During small holidays, he could squeeze into big cities like Shanghai to travel around.
Because He Xian talked to him a few more times and they met a couple of times, his life turned into that of a construction worker in Beijing.
Being a construction worker in Beijing wasn’t bad at all. He worked diligently and was always striving to do better.
It wasn’t until yesterday that he suddenly realized that He Xian was actually a hooligan.
Might as well never let him find out for the rest of his life!
Before last night, He Xian was his idol, role model, angel, and the perfect male god. He was not an ordinary person and seemed to transcend reality. He Xian’s sexual preference for men was attacked by people like Wu Jianghai as a scandal, but Lin Sitao saw it as the only tragedy of a hero, full of beauty.
After last night, his idol image was shattered. He didn’t know who He Xian really was anymore.
Of course, he shouldn’t have held He Xian in such high regard to begin with. He should have known that in this world, only pandas, penguins, and SpongeBob SquarePants were flawless.
After all, He Xian was a living, breathing human being. And as a human being, he had flaws, desires, and needs.
—— Lin Sitao tried to defend He Xian.
But no matter how much he stepped back, hooking up was too low for someone like He Xian. Especially for someone like him who only wanted to enjoy the physical aspect without taking responsibility. If He Xian wanted a boyfriend and said to Lin Sitao last night, —”Stay with me, be my boyfriend.” Lin Sitao wouldn’t hesitate for a second. He would be willing, willing, willing; just like the heroine in a movie who waited eagerly for the protagonist to return from the battlefield. She would then traverse the mountains and rivers to find him, and finally, in the last three minutes, saw her skinny lover slowly walking towards her through the hazy smoke of war, and she would cry uncontrollably. She cried so hard that Lin Sitao would cry just as hard at that moment.
And then they could immerse themselves in endless tenderness during sex.
Lin Sitao recalled the kiss from last night. The warmth of it was like the sun in the Garden of Eden, once shining directly on Adam and Eve. When their lips met, it was as if he had always known how to ask for it and how to melt into it.
Lin Sitao felt that the reason for his cold was not because he caught a cold in the middle of the night in the snow, but because of the large temperature difference between his heart and soul. First, he was given a pot of fire by He Xian, and he was about to ignite it, but then a pot of ice-cold water was poured down.
But thinking about it carefully, it was really dangerous yesterday. If He Xian had said nothing at that time, would he have just gone along and slept with him?
……
……Yes. He would have done it with He Xian then.
There was an extremely subtle voice drifting past his ear, “Why did he say… He shouldn’t have said those words…”
He actually really wanted to sleep with He Xian, even if He Xian was a scumbag.
But what if He Xian has a disease?
No.
He shouldn’t sleep with He Xian.
Sleep with him.
Shouldn’t sleep with him.
Was it really the time to think about this now?
“Lin Tao!”
“Lin Sitao!” Someone loudly called his name.
Lin Sitao came back to his senses with a jolt.
“What’s wrong? Sitting here in a daze. If you’re tired, go take a nap on the couch,” a colleague reminded him.
Lin Sitao smiled gratefully and said, “It’s nothing, I just zoned out for a bit.” He glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that only five minutes had passed.
When Lin Sitao finished work, he received an email in his personal inbox.
It was from He Xian.
And it was very brief.
“Sorry about yesterday. I’d like to treat you to a meal,” the email read.
Lin Sitao immediately replied, “It’s okay. No need for a meal.”
He Xian quickly replied, “No, I insist. When are you available?”
Lin Sitao didn’t reply to him.
He Xian stared at his computer screen for a few minutes, clicking his mouse lightly, but there were no new emails.
Earlier, Ding Shengguang had advised him to find someone else.
“The reason is simple. Because someone whom you failed at once already has a negative impression of you. Don’t do something that’s hard to please,” Ding Shengguang had said.
He Xian was upset about the failure and wanted to succeed again.
Ding Shengguang was speechless. “This isn’t a construction project that absolutely has to be completed. If this plan doesn’t work, you can switch to another plan. It’s like fishing. As long as you catch a fish, it doesn’t matter what fish it is. Even if one fish gets away, there are still plenty more in the pond waiting for you.”
He Xian’s eyes lit up. “Right. Let’s switch to another plan.”
Now he began to implement Plan B.
When Lin Sitao returned home, he didn’t receive any more emails from He Xian. After dinner, he started reading a book, with his phone on the desk. He unconsciously checked it a few times, only to realize that he was waiting for an email from He Xian.
Enough. He warned himself. This matter should end here.
The next morning, Lin Sitao felt much better from his cold and was more energetic. He was able to work more efficiently.
In the morning, the mailroom delivered some packages.
Lin Sitao had three packages.
He was aware of what the two packages were, but the third one had only “Mr. Zhou” as the sender’s name. It was light and seemed to contain some sort of document. Lin Sitao couldn’t recall what it was.
He tore open the package and a card fell out. It was a plain white card with a simple message of apology, along with the name, location, and time of a high-end restaurant that required reservations.
It seemed that He Xian had sent a formal invitation for the dinner he had proposed.
The card was signed with a single Chinese character “He”.
The handwriting was clear and powerful. And Lin Sitao blushed at the sight of it.
