Baby Face looked like he was about to cry as he replied to the text message: Gē, he hates me!

Shen Shu calmly replied: No, he finally looked at you, get it?

Baby Face thought that what he said was reasonable and added, “Xiaoyuan gē, he's so close to you. You must go to his house pretty often.”

Hearing that, Ning Xiao was unhappy again and his face sank. Qi Le felt that this topic was a bit ambiguous. Gu Bai might dislike it so he looked at the latter and asked, “What about its things?”

“It’s all in the car,” Gu Bai said. “Shall we leave now or a little later?”

“Now,” Qi Le got up. “I’ll go and talk to my older brother.”

Ning Xiao immediately frowned, “Where are you going?”

“Home.” Qi Le held the cat and went to Ye Shuichuan.

Ning Xiao watched him walk away and turned his gaze onto Gu Bai, “Qi Le is dead?”

Gu Bai's expression turned dark, “What do you want to say?”

Ning Xiao looked at him coldly, “The person you love is dead. What are you doing getting mixed up with him now?"

“As I said last time, you better remember my advice and give up as soon as possible.” Gu Bai saw that the man had returned, so he got up and left.

If it was the old Xiao Le, Ning Xiao might not have been so interested so soon, but Xiao Le just so happened to be in Zheng Xiaoyuan’s body. The man was too involved with Ning Xiao. Compared to now, his attitude towards him was simply two extremes. The difference was too obvious, so Ning Xiao would involuntarily focus on Xiao Le and constantly try to guess how the man felt towards him.

As a result, he would only sink deeper and deeper.

Gu Bai drove Qi Le back to his apartment and stayed there for a while. Seeing that a certain cat didn't look like it was uncomfortable, he rubbed its head and was about to leave but was mercilessly pawed aside. The Scottish fold cat side eyed him as it nestled in Qi Le’s arms, openly declaring how much it disliked him.

Gu Bai, “…”

Qi Le knew his son’s proud personality very well and didn’t care at all. He sent Gu Bai out the door and turned to wash up. Ye Shuichuan came back during that time, and then… Zhong Ruiyuan also came.

Qi Le’s expression stiffened. Fucking hell! Are you guys going to start with that shit again?!

Zhong Ruiyuan looked at the extra cat and asked with a smile, “Whose cat is this?”

“Gu Bai's. It'll be here for a few days,” Ye Shuichuan casually replied. He had already asked Xiaoyuan why he started to like cats. The answer he got was that he just suddenly liked them. What he understood was that he liked the cat because it belonged to Gu Bai.

Zhong Ruiyuan nodded and tried to stroke it but was cruelly rejected and had to give up.

They didn’t look like they were about to do that for the time being so Qi Le hurried back to his room to sleep. He felt that as long as he was asleep, he should be fine. But he was rudely awakened and when he opened his eyes, he heard the familiar moaning and groaning in the next room. He tossed and turned in bed. After a long time, he went to the kitchen to look for a knife, panting in anger. Unfortunately, he didn't find one.

“Looking for something?”

Qi Le turned around to see his brother-in-law standing at the door of their bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He repeated himself with a smile, “Looking for something?”

“…” Qi Le looked at him in resignation. “Just say whatever it is you've got to say.”

Zhong Ruiyuan nodded, “Your older brother told me to hide the kitchen knife earlier.”

Qi Le, “……”

“I came out to tell you, that’s all.” Zhong Ruiyuan immediately returned to the room and the sounds of broken "mmm"s and "ahhh"s rang once more.

Qi Le, “……”

Qi Le paced around the living room like a trapped animal and finally went back to his room, tossing and turning in bed. When the two men were finally quiet, he finally fell asleep in a daze. Then, he was woken up again the next morning. This time, he was so enraged he latched onto their door, clawing at it. “That's enough ah, ah, ahhhhh!”

But they didn’t hear him at all. They continued to enjoy themselves and after a long time, they ended their battle, came out to take a bath and cooked. Then, they ate together lovingly and his brother-in-law went to work.

Qi Le looked at Ye Shuichuan impassively, “Gē, how many days has my brother-in-law been away on business?”

“Just a few days. It was around the time you were in the hospital.”

“…” Qi Le asked, “Are you guys always like this?”

Ye Shuichuan shook his head, “Not always, there are two or three days in a month that we're apart.”

Qi Le asked again, “How long did your former flatmate stay?”

“About a month.”

Qi Le felt deeply moved. Dude, you have suffered ah! To actually make it a whole month and not kill these two! What a good person you are ah!

Ye Shuichuan was puzzled, “What’s the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Qi Le silently returned to his room.

So when Gu Bai came to see the cat on that day, he saw the man sitting on his bed with a blank expression, his eyes bloodshot. He thought to himself, could they have went at it too hard and scared him? He asked tentatively, “What’s wrong with you?”

“I'm fine.”

“…Are you sure?”

Qi Le nodded, “I’ll be fine.”

Gu Bai, “…”

The two watched the cat for the entire day. Then, Qi Le went to work in the evening. Gu Bai and Ning Xiao were both there. Ning Xiao came to drink and people watch as well as look for opportunities to chat him up. Gu Bai was worried about the cat and was waiting for the man to get off work and go back together to check on it. Qi Le wanted to give him a key, but he refused on the grounds that it was “not a good idea”. Qi Le had no choice but to go home with him after work and repeat the sorrow of the previous night.

Gu Bai went back again on the third day and after a little observation, he asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Qi Le’s face sank, “I'm fine for the time being.”

Gu Bai, “…”

The third and fourth day, the same thing repeated. Ning Xiao’s expression got darker and darker day by day. The circle began to talk about how Gu Bai would send Zheng Xiaoyuan to and from work and how loving they were but Gu Bai didn’t care about those rumors at all. He had been observing him the past couple of days. Watching as the man’s reaction switched from silence to irritability and back to silence, he couldn’t help wondering if this was a good or bad thing.

Today, Qi Le went to the bar even though it was his off day because someone was throwing a birthday party. Apparently this person had a good relationship with the original owner. He was back early from his summer vacation and insisted that Qi Le had to attend, so he went.

Gu Bai didn't know them very well and had no reason to follow him. Plus, he didn't know how late they would party until so he went home.

Qi Le stepped into the bar and looked around. “Why do I feel like there are so many people?”

Shen Shu nodded, “School's about to begin, and the students are back early.” He paused, “Be careful, this group of little zeroes are jealous because they heard that Ning Xiao and Gu Bai have been circling around you recently. Apparently, they all came back early this time because of you.”

Qi Le blinked, “What for?”

“To find fault.” Shen Shu explained, “You used to be… a softie."

Qi Le was about to enter the private lounge when he heard this and immediately turned around. “I better go back then. I don’t know them anyway. What would I do with them?” He was just about to leave when he heard someone calling him sweetly from behind, “Xiaoyuan gē“. He couldn’t help looking back. Right then, he was smacked in the face with cake.

Qi Le, “……”

~~~

P.S. I’m back. Excuse the long absence. I’ve a terrible allergic reaction to God knows what and I’ve been spending the past few days in and out of the hospital doing tests and looking like a huge puffer fish.