In hindsight, it appeared that Huo Zhixing was a better flirt than Tong Qiu had given him credit for.
Tong Qiu thought about how he had casually thrown out a “I dreamed about you” right before he left. Huo Zhixing hadn’t mentioned what exactly he had dreamed about, and had left it to Tong Qiu’s imagination – didn’t that mean he had done it intentionally so that Tong Qiu would keep thinking about him?
And there was also that out-of-the-blue forehead kiss. Yes, you could argue that it was part of the act they had put on in front of Fang Baicheng, but it didn’t have to be that realistic and an actual kiss hadn’t been necessary.
The elevator doors slid shut and Tong Qiu remained standing at his front door. He stared blankly at the number displayed on the elevator as it counted down to 1, and after a long while, he went back inside.
He eyed the dozen or so pairs of thongs that had been hung up, then glanced at the pink vibrator lying next to the TV. His chest was unbearably hot and he felt terribly embarrassed.
Once he was inside, he stuffed the thongs and the vibrator in a small bag. Bag in hand, he circled his apartment a few times before finally shoving it inside the very back of his closet.
The next morning, however, Tong-laoshi pulled out the vibrator and played around with it while he was in the shower. It wasn’t enjoyable at all, for both his body and mind. He sorely wished he could find someone to get it on with for a few wild, carefree rounds.
The unsatiated Tong Qiu pulled a face and set off for work. When he arrived at the office, he realized that, for some inexplicable reason, he was so irritated that he was about to burst.
Feng Kaiwen came over to deliver the test papers that were collected during yesterday’s class. When he saw Tong Qiu’s serious expression, he joked, “Tong-laoshi, is there something on your mind?”
Tong Qiu took the test papers from his hand and told him to stop talking nonsense and hurry back to the classroom to study.
“I’m just worried about you!” Feng Kaiwen exclaimed. “You know, ever since you got divorced, you’re not as easy-going as before.”
“So you want me to be more easy-going?” Tong Qiu pasted on an evil-looking smile as he imitated those tyrannical chairmen you find in novels. “Then go and score the highest mark in the grade. If you’re first place, I’ll naturally become more easy-going.”
Feng Kaiwen let out a wolf-like howl, then slipped away.
“The brat doesn’t have a backbone at all,” Tong Qiu grumbled, then flipped through the test papers and began grading.
Xue-laoshi, the teacher that sat at the desk across from him, smiled and said, “Tong-laoshi, when did you get divorced? You didn’t mention it at all.”
This teacher was almost in his sixties and was a hairbreadth away from retirement. Perhaps it was because he was getting on in years, but his way of thinking was more conservative compared to the younger generation. When same-sex marriage was first legalized, he had looked down on the whole thing. And when he heard that Tong Qiu was marrying another man, he had even reminded Tong Qiu ‘out of the kindness of his heart’ that he should keep a low profile because his partner was a man, after all.
It was almost as if he was implying that Tong Qiu wasn’t a man.
Tong Qiu wasn’t particularly fond of interacting with this teacher. Technically, it didn’t count as discrimination but the teacher’s prejudice was evident in the way he spoke. Tong Qiu had always held the belief that everyone was entitled to their own opinions and no one could force their opinions on anyone else. It was why he hadn’t attempted to argue back – he’d just be wasting his breath.
However, he didn’t like it when his marriage to a man was dragged into conversation. After an awkward moment, he let out a small laugh. “It’s not as if it’s anything worth celebrating so there’s no need to make a scene.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“That’s true, but it’s still a divorce. It may seem like a small change but it could impact everything else. It isn’t as simple as signing a few papers.”
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Tong Qiu had already reached the door and the more he thought about it, the harder it was to push down his anger. His marriage and divorce wasn’t anyone’s business. Even if Tong Qiu were to leave right now, this teacher probably wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut and would continue gossiping about him to the rest of the office.
He stood in place, then turned around, a bright smile pasted on his lips. “I don’t think I lost out on anything – my ex-husband’s quite handsome, thank you very much.”
As soon as he finished, he strolled confidently out of the office. The teachers in the office exchanged looks. Xue-laoshi must have felt the awkwardness, for he mumbled to himself, “Are good looks enough to put food on the table? And you ended up getting divorced anyway.”
The fury that Tong Qiu had experienced in the office followed him, and he set off for the classroom to scare his students a little.
The last two classes of the day were both self-study sessions. He usually didn’t come by the classroom during these sessions but today, he brought along the test papers and sat at the podium to grade them. Every once in a while, he would look up and spare a glance at the brats he was in charge of.
The truth was, he often wondered if he was going to worry himself to the grave over these kids. Sometimes, he’d ask himself why he couldn’t seem to stop fretting over them, as if he were an engineer for the human spirit.
For the most part, however, he still felt that it was more comfortable interacting with these kids compared to his colleagues.
It wasn’t that Tong Qiu couldn’t handle himself when he felt wronged. Before same-sex marriage was legalized, he and everyone else like him had been badmouthed at one point or another. Even after the legalization, things were more or less the same – those who disapproved of it continued to show their disapproval. No one expected their deep-seated opinions to change simply because a law had been passed.
Today just wasn’t his day. Perhaps it really was because of his unsatiated desires – being left wanting had made him more irritable than usual.
For the rest of the week, that teacher didn’t bother him again. To his surprise, Fang Baicheng had also stopped bothering him as well.
Mood lifted, Tong Qiu gave Chu Yao a call to whine about how empty his life had become. Chu Yao laughed at him, then asked if he wanted to go to the bar to look for someone to hook up with.
“I don’t have any experience.” Tong Qiu was lying on his stomach on the couch while fiddling with the useless vibrator in his hand. “I’m shy.”
“You’re shy? I can sense your pheromones over the phone!”
“What pheromones?”
“Hm? Darling, haven’t you heard of ABO?”
Tong Qiu was silent for a moment, then said, “Let me search it up on Baidu.” As a teacher, he couldn’t allow any holes in his knowledge.
A few minutes later, Tong Qiu said to Chu Yao. “Don’t drag me into this kind of nonsense.”
“How is it nonsense? From the looks of it, your current state is just like those little omegas in the novels who are in heat. You’re desperate for a strong, fierce Alpha to mark you!”
“…Can we chat about something normal?” Tong Qiu rolled onto his back and balanced the vibrator on his forehead. “Oh right, Huo Jiao’s wedding is this Sunday and I have to go.”
“Then go.”
“I have to attend as her official brother-in-law, though,” Tong Qiu said. “Huo Zhixing’s parents still don’t know we got divorced.”
Chu Yao muttered something unintelligible on the other end of the line, then said, “Darling, there’s something I want to say but I’m not sure if I should say it.”
“Then don’t say it.”
“Forgive my bluntness but I still get the feeling that your ex-husband is plotting something.” Chu Yao said with conviction. “In my estimation, there’s a good chance that you’ll be casted in a ‘bed scene’ this weekend.”
“Goodbye, darling.”
—
Tong Qiu didn’t have any particular thoughts on the matter but unfortunately, humans were easily swayed. Although Chu Yao’s words were but a light breeze, it was enough to make him think about Huo Zhixing. And once he started thinking about Huo Zhixing, his train of thought would begin to run off the rails.
In his mind, he kept picturing his fingers unbuttoning the buttons on Huo Zhixing’s uniform. However, he reigned in his wayward thoughts each time and managed to maintain some semblance of his dignity.
They were divorced already but just thinking about his ex-husband was enough to get him all hot and bothered. If word ever got out, he would be a laughingstock.
More importantly, Tong Qiu’s biggest disappointment when they were still married was his ex-husband’s skills in bed. The fact that he was so aroused right now must mean there was something terribly wrong with him, right?
In the days leading up to Huo Jiao’s wedding, Tong Qiu was filled with equal parts anticipation and dread. Before he knew it, the week was already over.
The school required that third-year students attend class on Sunday afternoons but thankfully, Tong Qiu didn’t have any lessons to teach and had asked for the morning off for Huo Jiao’s wedding. He also asked Yu-laoshi from the class next door to keep an eye on his students that day.
As Huo Jiao’s brother, Huo Zhixing had to begin preparations on the morning of the wedding so his parents had invited him and Tong Qiu to stay over at their place the night before. It would save them the trouble of dragging themselves up at the crack of dawn and they were supposed to go over as soon as they were finished with work today.
Mrs. Huo had called Tong Qiu directly and at the time, Tong Qiu hadn’t thought that there was anything wrong with the arrangement. It was only after he had agreed and was about to head over that he suddenly realized he had overlooked a very important part of the arrangement – he and Huo Zhixing might have to sleep in the same bed tonight.
On paper, they were already divorced, but Huo Zhixing’s parents didn’t know that. Moreover, they hadn’t decided on when they would share the news. They obviously couldn’t reveal anything now, what with Huo Jiao getting married and all – it would hardly be appropriate.
On the way over, Tong Qiu wanted to ask Huo Zhixing what they should do. However, his phone remained clutched in his hand and in the end, he didn’t make the call for fear that Huo Zhixing would think him unreasonable.
Truthfully, Tong Qiu knew that it wasn’t an unreasonable request. Logically speaking, a couple that was already divorced shouldn’t have to share a bed. But now that he was already in this mess, he could only take things one step at a time.
Even if they did have to share a bed, it was no big deal. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t slept in the same bed before.
And just because they were sleeping in the same bed didn’t mean that anything had to happen.
And if anything did happen…well, it wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened before.
This line of reasoning made perfect sense and Tong Qiu felt as if he had basically become a philosopher.
—
When Tong Qiu arrived, Huo Jiao was already having pre-wedding jitters.
Since it was the night before the wedding, she wasn’t supposed to see her fiancé. She hadn’t gone out with her friends for a bachelorette party either and was sitting at home, talking to her parents about her worries.
As soon as Tong Qiu came in, Huo Jiao asked him, “Saozi, were you nervous when you married my brother?”
Tong Qiu smiled and accepted the glass of water that Mrs. Huo handed him. He sat down across from Huo Jiao and said, “Not at all. Zhixing’s a good man so what was there for me to be worried about?”
Huo Jiao propped her chin on her hand and gazed at him, her face filled with concern. “But I’m worried. And also kind of scared. What if he doesn’t treat me well after we get married?”
Huo Jiao was a few years younger than Tong Qiu and Huo Zhixing and as a result, they were both fairly indulgent towards her. Tong Qiu empathized with Huo Jiao and could understand why she was worried. After all, it wasn’t just a simple wedding – she was pregnant too.
“You have to believe in your other half,” Tong Qiu said. “If you know for certain that you’re marrying him out of love, then you have to believe that he loves you in the same way. And once you are married, it’ll be like a two-way street. If you love each other, it means you’ll also accept each other and take care of each other. Everything will be fine.”
Within the extended Huo family, Tong Qiu and Huo Zhixing were the only divorced couple that Huo Jiao was acquainted with. She actually had a whole bunch of questions she wanted to ask, but held back because her parents were here.
“Then do you love my brother?”
Huo Zhixing walked in the exact moment that Huo Jiao posed the question.
“What are you all chatting about?” Huo Zhixing hadn’t heard her when he had come in and he casually sat down in the seat next to Tong Qiu.
Huo Jiao’s eyes crinkled as she smiled at her brother. “Oh, we’re just talking about love. I was just asking saozi if he loved you!”
—
The author has something to say:
Tong Qiu: Ummm……
Lol what a good little sister in law, yes please ask more questions 😁😁😁
Thank you for the update ❤
Yes! Huo Jiao’s the real MVP 😉 Thanks for reading! <3
Hahahaha. Tong Qiu compared to an Omega. Yes, I can see the similarity! He’s so thirsty for Huo Zhixing… Even knowing he’s ‘bad’ in bed.
Thanks for the chapter!
The ABO joke made me laugh too! Thanks for reading~
made me remember of a tweet: “and then god said ‘may there be only one bed’ “
thank you for the chapter! (I didn’t want to risk my comment getting messed up)
LMAOOO yes, thank you, Lord, for blessing us with bedsharing prayer hand emoji
Thanks so much for reading! 😀
wow I love this author, casually giving a remark about ABO. Chu Yao is our spirit. Also there is discrimination, even in fiction.. makes it seem more real.
ah.. as the only person in the family that knows they’re actually divorced.. it’s a bit cheap to ask if he loves the ex knowing he’s not able to deny it with the audience.. Not cool, sister.
Ikr? That part was kinda unnecessary
Hahaha yes Chu Yao is One Of Us! Thanks so much for reading!
Haha! I can’t get enough of this, i want more 😍😍😍
Glad you’re enjoying it and thanks for reading! <3
Gosh, this pit digger. I like her style. Also Tong-laoshi, listen to your good friends so you don’t get blindsided!!!
Thank you for the chapter!
Haha yes Tong-laoshi, listen to the ever-wise Chu Yao! Thanks so much for reading! 😀
And if anything did happen…well, it wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened before
me: hehe
Right way of thinking
I approve 😉
Yes, his thought process makes perfect sense to me 😉 Thank you for reading! :))
That’s a sensitive question, young one. But an important one, nevertheless. Sigh.. I hope Tong Qiu doesn’t blabber and cause misunderstanding. I’m gonna hate it if it does happen. This is supposed to be a mature kind of story. Some awkwardness is okay, but misunderstanding is just… Crap.
Thank you for the update ❤️
Thank you so much for the chapter!(๑´>᎑<)~❤
She put them in a very hot seat!
Good question! And CY has a great intuition~
Thank You for the chapter (੭ु´･ω･`)੭ु⁾⁾❤
Our Tong Qiu is soooo much tinotoyo for today’s vidyowww