Xu Ze had not seen Lu Heyang for a week, from last Saturday when he left his house until today, Friday—the two of them didn’t usually cross paths at school, after all, they weren’t in the same school building. Tuesday’s swimming class was Xu Ze’s only chance to meet and talk to Lu Heyang, but he didn’t show up.
Xu Ze couldn’t call or text Lu Heyang to ask because he wouldn’t do such a thing and wasn’t in the position to do so. Just like he didn’t want to dwell on why Lu Heyang kissed him when he left that day.
It didn’t matter whether he was doing it on a whim or just for fun. Xu Ze always had the mentality of someone who was bankrupt, knowing that every second he spent with Lu Heyang was like winning the lottery. So he never asked for more or thought too much about it.
Xu Ze went to the club after school. He arrived early, put his backpack away, and started moving goods. The truck was parked at the side entrance, and Xu Ze went back and forth to carry more than 60 crates of beer. As he stacked the last four crates in the warehouse, he went to report the count and sign with the manager. Wages for odd jobs like this were paid at the end of the month. It was not much, but it was enough to cover Xu Ze’s monthly food expenses.
After returning to the changing room, Xu Ze took off his hat and gloves. He was sweaty, so he went to the bathroom to wash his face and searched for a towel to wipe his neck. As he was about to take the paint set from the desk drawer, he heard a knock at the door. Xu Ze thought he must have misheard because no one knocked here. They usually just pushed or kicked the door open.
Even though the door wasn’t locked, Xu Ze walked over and opened it.
“Did you go carry things again?” Before Xu Ze could react to Lu Heyang showing up, Lu Heyang noticed the sweat on his neck.
“…Mn.” Xu Ze couldn’t take his eyes off Lu Heyang, whom he hadn’t seen in only a week. Despite going for months without crossing paths at school in the past, Xu Ze had never felt as reluctant to look away from Lu Heyang’s face as he did now.
Xu Ze realized that he was becoming greedy, which wasn’t right.
“Did you refill the vending machines?”
“No, I carried beer.”
“How many did you carry?”
“67 crates.”
Lu Heyang didn’t ask anything more. He looked at Xu Ze for a while, then raised his hand to wipe away the water droplets remaining at the corner of Xu Ze’s eye, and said, “Let’s go in.”
In fact, Xu Ze thought that Lu Heyang looked sort of exhausted as if he was depleted and dispirited.
After going inside, Lu Heyang saw the paint set on the table and asked, “Are you going to fight?”
“I’m just about to go.”
“I’ll help you paint it.” Lu Heyang walked over and picked up the paint set, “Sit here.”
As he told him to sit there, Xu Ze obediently sat down on the table. Lu Heyang slowly unscrewed the lid, looked at Xu Ze, and said, “Take off your shirt.”
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.
We If kjr rajglcu ja tlr tjcvr, yea ktfc tf tfjgv atlr, tf rjlv, “Let?” Oe Lfsjcu qea atf ilv jrlvf, “Tbe klii ufa qjlca bc sbeg mbiijg lo sbe ajxf la boo joafg qjlcalcu sbeg ojmf.”
Ciatbeut We If erejiis ecvgfrrfv yfobgf qjlcalcu tlr ojmf, vblcu rb lc ogbca bo Oe Lfsjcu kjr mifjgis vloofgfca.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Heyang curled up the corner of his mouth, “Didn’t you even send me a nude photo?”
Xu Ze couldn’t believe he brought that up and quickly shifted his gaze. His complexion grew paler as he defended himself, “It really wasn’t a nude photo.”
“Mn, it’s not a nude photo if you haven’t taken everything off,” Lu Heyang said, picking up some paint with his fingertip and looking at Xu Ze.
Xu Ze scratched behind his ear. Then he grabbed the hem of his T-shirt with both hands and pulled it up to take it off. The sweat on his body hadn’t dried yet, and the air conditioning made him let out a soft hiss.
“Spread your legs a little,” Lu Heyang used the back of his hand to push the inside of Xu Ze’s knees.
Xu Ze spread his legs wider. Lu Heyang stood between his legs and raised his hand to apply paint to his face. Lu Heyang’s movements were gentle and slow, and Xu Ze felt as if he was carefully tracing and caressing him. Perhaps applying paint was a normal activity in Lu Heyang’s eyes, but Xu Ze’s heart was pounding, almost to the point where it could be heard. He felt a tingling sensation from his ears to the back of his neck.
He sat in place quietly, with only his eyes and Adam’s apple moving occasionally. His eyes kept focusing on Lu Heyang’s face.
Lu Heyang’s fingertips moved from Xu Ze’s forehead to the tip of his nose, spreading the paint on it. He asked, “Why aren’t you wearing the wristband I gave you?”
“…” Xu Ze didn’t know how to explain, so he could only say, “My old one isn’t broken yet.”
He was here to work and box, so how could he bear to wear the wristband Lu Heyang gave him? It might cause trouble if others noticed it, after all, that wristband was expensive and not something he could afford.
“But it will be uncomfortable for you to wear this one.” Lu Heyang looked into his eyes, “You don’t wear the gloves I gave you, you don’t wear the shirt I gave you, and you don’t wear the wristband I gave you.”
“Xu Ze, you can return them to me if you don’t like them.”
“No,” Xu Ze felt that Lu Heyang was offended and added, “It’s not that I don’t like them.”
“They… are precious,” Xu Ze said.
The items themselves were precious, and their meaning to Xu Ze was also precious.
He was the type of person who even secretly kept the tissues that Lu Heyang gave him in a metal box. He was like a persistent collector who stored everything about their relationship, so he could reminisce later—even if these memories were insignificant, and in Lu Heyang’s life, they were just unremarkable interludes.
But it didn’t matter; Xu Ze was accustomed to simplicity and had never had high demands. What he had now was enough for him to cherish for a long time. He had already gotten much more than he ever imagined.
“I’m not upset, don’t be nervous,” Lu Heyang put the paint set aside, “If you find it inconvenient to wear it here, can you wear it at school?”
Even the most expensive wristbands would be uncomfortable to wear all day at school. Who knew how Xu Ze managed to endure wearing the old wristband?
“Okay,” Xu Ze nodded.
Xu Ze felt justified in leaving such an expensive wristband at home to collect dust, even though it might upset Lu Heyang. If he used it, it would be considered a waste of goodwill and natural resources.
The phone beeped, so Xu Ze sat up straight and said, “I have to go on stage.”
“All right, if there’s nothing else after it’s over, come to the parking lot. I’ll give you a ride back.”
“Mn.”
Xu Ze handed two tissues to Lu Heyang and then went to the locker to get his boxing gloves. Lu Heyang wiped his hands and suddenly asked, “Do you want a reward?”
After a pause, Xu Ze turned around with the boxing gloves in his hand and asked, “What if I lose?”
“You can still get a reward if you lose, it won’t make a difference,” Lu Heyang smiled.
He could always make Xu Ze happy easily. Xu Ze didn’t know what to say, so he pursed his lips and nodded. Lu Heyang tossed the tissues into the trash can. Xu Ze’s eyes followed and looked at the trash can, then Xu Ze heard him say, “No picking them up.”
Xu Ze froze, realizing that Lu Heyang had really seen the contents of the metal box last Saturday; the things that looked like garbage.
But there was no time to feel embarrassed or ashamed because he was about to go on stage. Xu Ze hung his head and said, “I won’t pick them up,” before hastily running out of the changing room.
The moment Xu Ze stepped out of the competitor’s tunnel, he was almost deafened by the screams. He instinctively turned to look at the big screen above. When he saw the figures after “Seventeen”, his eyes widened in shock, leaving him utterly dazed.
864,900 yuan. The guest with the highest bet was called “G” and he invested 500,000 yuan.
If the bet exceeded 800,000 yuan, Xu Ze would get a share, which meant that he could earn at least 70,000 from this match.
The spotlight shone on Xu Ze. The audience’s cheers were like a tide, washing over him in waves and engulfing him. Xu Ze turned around in confusion, his eyes scanning the faces of countless strangers. Eventually, he regained some clarity and sought out the spot where Lu Heyang and the others typically sat.
But he only saw He Wei and Gu Yunchi, Lu Heyang was not in the audience.
The referee blew the whistle, and Xu Ze snapped back to reality. He put on his mouthguard and boxing gloves and walked into the octagon cage.
After the match ended, Xu Ze didn’t stay in the ring for even half a second. He rushed backstage, but there were only a few boxers in the changing room. Lu Heyang was not there.
The boxers had various expressions, and their eyes were on Xu Ze—with a bet of 500,000, it was hard not to suspect that Xu Ze was cheating with an outsider to get a share of the winnings and prize money.
Xu Ze went straight to the bathroom to wash his face. When he came out, he quickly packed his backpack and headed for the door.
“The boss will definitely want to talk to you. You should think about how to explain it,” a boxer reminded him.
Xu Ze’s footsteps paused, but he didn’t say anything and continued walking forward.
Upon leaving the building, Xu Ze saw Lu Heyang staring at his phone while sitting in a car. The light from the screen lit his expressionless face, which was unusually cold.
Hearing footsteps, Lu Heyang raised his head and smiled at Xu Ze, “So fast?”
“The bet…” Xu Ze approached the car and looked down at Lu Heyang, asking, “Did you place it?”
“No, I didn’t,” Lu Heyang still smiled. He didn’t ask whether Xu Ze had won or lost. He just said, “Yunchi placed it.”
Xu Ze was about to say something when he heard He Wei’s voice from behind, “Wow, Xu Ze, you’re already out!” He hopped over and patted Xu Ze’s shoulder, “You fought so fast. I didn’t get to see enough of it.”
Xu Ze got into the car distractedly after He Wei gave him a push. Lu Heyang drove, Gu Yunchi sat in the front passenger seat, and Xu Ze and He Wei sat in the back.
“Are you still in a daze because of that 500,000?” He Wei snapped his fingers in front of Xu Ze once he noticed his confused expression, “You’ve already won, why do you still look so stressed?”
“I’m not,” Xu Ze shook his head.
“It’s nothing. 500,000 is just a meal for Young Master Gu,” He Wei reassured him, “And you won today.”
Gu Yunchi glanced at Lu Heyang but did not comment.
“But the odds are really low, only 0.4. Since you fight so well, it’s normal for the odds to be like that.” He Wei’s topic quickly changed as he leaned forward to harass Lu Heyang, “Why didn’t you reply when I asked you on the phone? I heard that during your trip abroad you even went to meet your future wife’s, that omega’s family?”
The car ran over a rock and jolted violently, which seemed to also throw Xu Ze’s heart out of his chest. His hands tightly gripped the seat to keep his balance, but he felt a tremendous sense of weightlessness in his body, and even his breathing stopped.
Author’s note:
Lu Heyang: Sometimes I have murderous thoughts towards that person named He Wei.
Oh no here comes the drama D:
Thank you for the chapter~
Ah 🫢
im gonna cry. literally. my baby xu ze i will do anything for you… (i know him for a couple of hours) ahhh as i thought his father will do smth like that…im bitter…
noooo 😭😭😭 why can’t they be happy longer 🥲