KMYB | Chapter 52

"Yaoyao, you go out with… this classmate first. I’ll talk to Xiaoxi." Li Wanzhi lifted the corner of the blanket and pulled it up a little.

Yaoyao?

Who was Yaoyao?

Xi Shui looked at Xi Buyao. "Dad, you go out first."

Yaoyao was Xi Buyao. That was what Li Wanzhi called him.

Xi Buyao walked out in front of Zhou Zeqi, and Zhou Zeqi closed the bedroom door behind him.

The living room was spacious. Zhou Zeqi stood where he was. "Please sit."

Xi Buyao sat down on the sofa without saying a word, facing the TV wall, treating Zhou Zeqi like he was invisible.

Zhou Zeqi set the poured water down in front of him. "Have you and Auntie eaten lunch?"

Zhou Zeqi rarely took the initiative to restrain his sharpness and presence like this. His attempt to please was obvious.

After a moment, Xi Buyao cleared his throat and looked at Zhou Zeqi, asking back in a slightly arrogant tone, "You can cook?"

With that build, that age, and this house clearly not the kind a normal student could afford, plus the way he rode a bicycle, he didn’t look like someone who knew how to cook.

"I can."

In the bedroom, Xi Shui could roughly imagine what kind of interrogation Zhou Zeqi was facing outside. Xi Buyao had always been strict, and accepting that Xi Shui was dating in school was already his limit. Last time he had even said he couldn’t look for someone like Zhou Zeqi…

Xi Shui was almost in tears from anxiety, but he couldn’t throw off the covers in front of his mother and get up. He was only wearing a shirt, nothing else.

Li Wanzhi looked at him for a while, then patted the back of Xi Shui’s hand. "Look at how anxious you are. Do you think your dad can eat him alive?"

Xi Shui’s eyes were clearly arguing back, as if to say: That’s not impossible.

Li Wanzhi’s smile faded. She said softly, "Why didn’t you tell me you were dating? Mom didn’t even prepare a gift for your first meeting, and you’re already living in his house…"

"I was planning to bring him home for you and Grandma before I went abroad, I just didn’t expect to run into you today," Xi Shui answered obediently.

"And you didn’t think your dad needed to see him?"

"He has seen him…" Xi Shui said quietly. "Last time downstairs, he saw Zhou Zeqi and said not to look for someone like that."

"…" Li Wanzhi pursed her lips. "He doesn’t like anyone like that. Just ignore him."

After a few seconds, Li Wanzhi sighed. "Your dad is just too worried about you. Don’t blame him. After your third older brother came back from abroad last time, he barely slept for a whole week. Part of it was because he felt sorry for his nephew, but mostly it was relief. Thank goodness we didn’t send you to a foreign ballet company back then."

"The child we’ve been supporting, he even went to ask him whether he still wanted to go abroad. That child said he did, so he plans to find him a bodyguard then."

"I’ve talked with your dad many times, and Grandma has said it too. Even your cousin said it. You’re stubborn and soft-hearted, not suited to go somewhere that far," Li Wanzhi looked at Xi Shui and smoothed down his somewhat long broken bangs with her hand, her tone gentle. "What do we work so hard for as parents, if not to pave the way for you? If we can spare you hardship, then we spare you hardship. There’s no hardship you have to endure."

Xi Shui rubbed at his hot eyes. "I know."

"Including you dating, your grandma and I feel the same way. Your dad asks for too much," Li Wanzhi glanced toward the door and lowered her voice, speaking as though gossiping, "After he got home from your place last time, he started making a list of requirements for your future partner. Since you never said whether you like boys or girls, he made one list for boys and one for girls. I’ll send them to you on WeChat later."

"I don’t like girls," Xi Shui said.

"What’s his name?"

"Zhou Zeqi, the ze in Sanjiang Qize, and the qi in buyuan qijiang."

Li Wanzhi paused, then laughed helplessly. "He doesn’t match a single one of the things your dad listed, except that he’s a boy."

Xi Shui hugged the blanket, nervous beyond belief. "What requirements does Dad have?"

"Stuff like, he can’t be too tall, about your height is fine. He’s afraid you’ll get bullied, so he has to obey the law, respect the old and care for the young, have excellent grades, preferably study something at Jingda or Jingxue, and be able to support your career…"

"He supports me a lot. He’s from Jingda, and he’s also studying a major at Jingxue, he’s just a little taller than me," Xi Shui thought. This clearly all fit the requirements, didn’t it?

Li Wanzhi: "But he looks like the type who could bully you."

"He won’t bully me."

"How do you know he won’t bully you?"

Xi Shui looked at Li Wanzhi firmly. "Then when you married Dad back then, weren’t you thinking the same thing? If Grandma asked whether Dad would bully you in the future, you’d definitely say he wouldn’t. Then how did you know back then that my dad wouldn’t bully you?"

Li Wanzhi: "…"

Xi Shui twisted his fingers together. "Anyway, he won’t."

"Did he put some kind of spell on you, so you’re talking back to your mom like this?" Li Wanzhi had a smile in her eyes.

"No," Xi Shui said anxiously. "It’s because I know he really likes me too."

Li Wanzhi looked at the empty master bedroom, then back at Xi Shui. "How long have you been together?"

"Not long, almost two months, I think."

"That’s pretty fast."

Xi Shui: !

"Mom!"

Li Wanzhi picked up her handbag and stood. "I’ll go out first. Put your clothes on and come out by yourself."

Xi Shui’s face red, he answered in a low voice, "Okay."

Li Wanzhi came out of the master bedroom, smiled at Zhou Zeqi, and Zhou Zeqi immediately stood up. "Please sit."

Li Wanzhi glanced at Xi Buyao. Since she wasn’t around, Xi Buyao was probably dying to dig into the other family’s ancestral grave and check everything.

Xi Buyao met his lover’s gaze and guiltily looked out the window.

"Zhou Zeqi, right? It’s fine, don’t be nervous. Your dad and I are heading home soon anyway, and I still have evening classes to teach."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Zhou Zeqi asked. Right after he asked, Xi Shui came stumbling out of the master bedroom, his clothes wrinkled, his pants washed and now being the pair Zhou Zeqi had lent him, a little too long so he had to roll up the cuffs.

When Xi Buyao turned and saw that, his face went dark as a bottomless pot.

Li Wanzhi waved Xi Shui over to her side, then said with some surprise, "You can cook?"

Xi Shui said, "His cooking is super delicious!"

Li Wanzhi buttoned up the few buttons Xi Shui hadn’t fastened and smiled. "He can cook, so why are you proud?"

Before Xi Shui could answer, Li Wanzhi turned to Zhou Zeqi and said, "We really do have something to do today. We’ll talk next time if there’s a chance."

Li Wanzhi was several levels above Xi Buyao. Zhou Zeqi couldn’t tell what her attitude was, and he was a little lost.

After a long while, Li Wanzhi finally said, "When the holiday comes, have Xi Shui bring you home for a meal. His grandma hasn’t met you yet."

So that meant they agreed?

Zhou Zeqi let out a breath. The heart that had been hanging in the air finally settled.

"Then we’ll go. Xiaoxi, your fever just broke, you don’t need to see Mom out."

Zhou Zeqi took the umbrella. "I’ll see you and Uncle out of the neighborhood."

Xi Shui watched the three of them leave. Once he could no longer see them, he opened the floor-to-ceiling window, leaned onto the balcony, and stared after them anxiously.

–

In the elevator, Li Wanzhi said, "Xi Shui can be a little stubborn. Don’t let him look like he has no worries all day. Actually, in our family, he’s the worst-tempered and the least able to take comfort."

"Back when he danced, he could repeat one movement over a hundred times. If he wasn’t satisfied with how it turned out, he wouldn’t eat. He’d lock himself in the practice room and refuse to listen to anyone. I used to suspect his father had problems with his education, but later I found that all the younger generation in the Xi family are like this. Xi Shui just takes it a little farther."

"At first I thought that was a good thing. Being hardworking and ambitious is certainly a good thing. But then he got even more extreme. He’d throw things, refuse to eat or drink, and not say a word. And because he was so naive, he didn’t have any close friends, so he was always gloomy."

"I’m his mother. Whether he’s happy or not, I can tell. He also used to eat anything he saw, then dance it off. If he didn’t dance well, he’d use food to vent his stress. It was a vicious cycle. After he went to university, he said he’d made friends. I’ve met that child, his name is Lin Xiaojin, and he has a really good personality. After that, Xi Shui’s condition improved a lot, a lot."

"Seeing him today, even though he’s still recovering from being sick, he’s truly very happy. He looks… healthy," Li Wanzhi smiled. "You’ve worked hard."

The elevator doors opened. Xi Buyao rushed out in front, while Zhou Zeqi and Li Wanzhi walked side by side behind him.

"I’m telling you all this not because I want you to specially look after him. I just hope that if one day you decide to end this relationship, you’ll end it cleanly and decisively. Don’t drag it out with him. He can’t handle all that back-and-forth."

Zhou Zeqi tightened his grip on the umbrella handle and said softly, "Unless he doesn’t want me anymore."

Li Wanzhi froze for a moment, then laughed. "He’s lazy and loves food. Don’t spoil him too much."

Xi Shui’s habit of talking back was getting worse and worse, and even when he was sick, he looked pretty good. That was enough to guess someone must be pampering him from behind with everything they had.

After they left the lobby, Li Wanzhi turned around. "All right, no need to see us off any farther. Go back upstairs. And don’t forget to come home for dinner with Xi Shui when you have time."

Zhou Zeqi nodded. "Okay."

After watching Xi Shui’s parents leave, Zhou Zeqi turned and went back upstairs.

When he opened the door, Xi Shui heard the noise and ran in from the balcony. "What did you guys talk about?"

Zhou Zeqi changed his shoes and put the umbrella back. His eyes were as dark as if they’d been soaked in rain, and just as gentle. "Nothing much."

"I don’t believe you." Xi Shui hugged Zhou Zeqi from behind and was dragged along with him. "Tell me. What did my mom say to you? She must have praised you, right?"

Xi Shui was like he had stuck himself to Zhou Zeqi’s back, impossible to shake off.

Zhou Zeqi grabbed Xi Shui’s wrist and hauled him in front of him, then lowered his head. "She said you suffered a lot before."

"How could that be?" Xi Shui didn’t quite believe it. "I didn’t suffer."

"She said when you danced badly, you either wouldn’t eat or drink, or you’d binge eat. She said you didn’t have any friends before, and only had your first friend when you got to university."

Xi Shui showed an awkward, confused expression. "That counts as suffering?"

Zhou Zeqi hugged Xi Shui. "In my eyes, it does."

"I don’t feel that way myself."

Looking at Xi Shui’s bewildered expression, Zhou Zeqi felt as if someone had punched a hole through a part of his heart. Everything inside had been stirred to tatters, flesh and blood flying everywhere. How could someone have lived such a hard life and not even think it was hard?

Just hearing it made him ache.

Zhou Zeqi touched Xi Shui’s forehead. "It’s not hot anymore."

He pulled Xi Shui down onto the sofa and made him sit on his lap. Xi Shui was a little uncomfortable. He reached out and touched Zhou Zeqi’s eyes. "My mom agreed to us dating, but you don’t seem very happy."

"I’m happy."

"Then smile."

Zhou Zeqi’s sharp features stayed sharp, unchanged, making him look a little frightening. Not even the corners of his mouth moved.

Xi Shui felt uneasy. "You did smile, but I couldn’t tell…"

Zhou Zeqi’s hand slipped under Xi Shui’s loose hem. He leaned in, took Xi Shui’s soft lips into his mouth, sucked, licked, and nipped. Xi Shui was sweet, from head to toe, every inch of him.

"It would’ve been nice if I’d met you earlier," Zhou Zeqi said against Xi Shui’s lips. His voice was calm, but if you listened closely, there was a faint tremor in it.

"Why do you have to meet me earlier?" Xi Shui copied the way Zhou Zeqi used to bite him and gave Zhou Zeqi’s face a hard bite. "Since we met now, that means meeting now was the perfect time."

Zhou Zeqi wiped the saliva off his face and lowered his eyes. After a few seconds, he asked Xi Shui, "I’ll go abroad with you to study."

Xi Shui refused immediately without even thinking. "No."

"Why?" Zhou Zeqi slowly narrowed his eyes. If Xi Shui had paused for even a second, he wouldn’t be showing such a strongly aggressive look. Refusing without thinking made it hard for Zhou Zeqi not to jump to bad conclusions.

Xi Shui asked back, "Then I won’t go abroad?"

"No." Zhou Zeqi answered just as quickly.

Their gazes met. Many things didn’t need to be said. Xi Shui leaned in and, like a kitten, licked and kissed Zhou Zeqi’s jaw and lips, murmuring, "I don’t want you to delay your own life for me."

"But… mm," Xi Shui kissed Zhou Zeqi himself, and as he kept kissing, he began panting in small breaths. "But can you come see me regularly? I’m afraid I’ll miss you so much I’ll go crazy."