SMMW | Chapter 42

21:12

Qingqing: Five-star review [puppy gobbling food.jpg]

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: If you liked it, come again next time~

21:49

Qingqing: The doctor told me I have to be asleep before 10:30.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: There’s still half an hour left. Go sleep, good night!

Qingqing: ……

Qingqing: Can we still meet tomorrow?

Qingqing: Don’t you still have work? Is the evening okay, or we can meet again on the weekend.

Song Hao wanted to say that he had already arranged leave in advance, but that would make him sound pretty unreliable, so he deleted and revised the message a few times before finally replying.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: I’m on the evening shift tomorrow, I start work at 6 PM. Want to meet for lunch?

Qingqing: [okay.gif]

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: Then let’s go to the café in Crescent Moon Mall again. Is 11 okay?

Qingqing: Mm mm mm.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: Go to sleep. See you tomorrow. Good night.

Qingqing: Good night.

06:33

Song Hao woke up, checked the time, and saw that it was still early.

He lay back down to keep sleeping, then suddenly remembered that he seemed to have gained a boyfriend.

He pried open his sleepy eyes and tapped open WeChat. Pinned at the top was “Qingqing.”

So it really was true.

Song Hao closed his eyes again and started replaying everything that had happened yesterday.

Wen Qing came to find him and said that he was a real person. Then Song Hao brought him home for a nap, took him to eat at street stalls, and in the end they agreed that they were dating now.

I became a male-male.

Hehe~

08:12

He could not sleep anymore, so Song Hao got up, washed up, and went downstairs to buy youtiao and soy milk to fill his stomach.

Thinking that Wen Qing should be awake by now, he hesitated for a long time before finally sending a meme.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: [good morning.jpg]

Not even ten seconds later, the reply came back.

Qingqing: Good morning, I just woke up, I’m still in bed.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: Me too.

Song Hao slapped his right hand with his left.

Me too my ass, then why did you reply so fast.

Qingqing: I ate too much yesterday, so I’m not hungry at all right now.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: Me neither.

Song Hao took a bite of his youtiao. It was already his third one.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: But you should still eat at least a little breakfast.

Qingqing: Okay, I’m getting up now. You remember to eat breakfast too.

AAA Boyfriend Song Hao: ok

Song Hao gulped down half a bowl of soy milk.

09:07

Song Hao went home and scrolled through his phone, rereading his chat history with Wen Qing.

He wanted to send another message, but felt like it would be too frequent, too much, so in the end he held himself back.

09:28

Song Hao opened his wardrobe and started looking at what to wear.

White T-shirt, blue jeans, black T-shirt, dark blue jeans, green T-shirt, black sweatpants…

It was only today that Song Hao realized he apparently owned this many versions of the same outfit.

Was there still time to go buy something new?

09:44

Okay, no.

After rummaging around, Song Hao finally put on a loose black draping shirt, black casual pants, and white shoes. He rolled up the shirt sleeves to his elbows.

You ask why he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt in the middle of summer and even bothering to roll the sleeves up?

Haha. Don’t ask. This one just looked the best.

Song Hao looked at himself in the mirror and felt that it was okay. Then he remembered that he had also gotten a necklace as a free gift when he bought clothes.

So there was another round of rummaging.

It was a silver chain, a very simple style, just the chain itself without any pendant.

Song Hao tried it on, then took it back off. First, the texture was not very good. Second, it was a little too much. It made him look like he had deliberately dressed up. And after putting it on, he looked a little too much like his coworkers, those model-type guys who danced on stream.

10:21

Song Hao checked the time, ruffled his hair twice at the end, and decided to just leave it like that.

The mall was not far from his home. If he rode a shared bike, it would take fifteen minutes, and he even had a monthly pass.

But in the middle of summer, if he rode there, he would definitely work up a sweat, so forget it.

In the end, Song Hao chose to take a cab.

10:30

Song Hao arrived at the familiar café. The staff member was the same one from yesterday.

Before he could even say anything, the staff member greeted him. “Mr. Song, right? Your friend is in Private Room One.”

???

It was the same familiar Private Room One. He pushed the door open, and Wen Qing was already sitting inside.

He was wearing a new Chinese-style beige top with a bamboo pattern, paired with matching apricot-colored trousers from the same set. His hair also looked like it had been specially blow-dried.

Hearing the door open, he turned back, and when he saw that it was Song Hao, he smiled in surprise. “You came so early?”

Song Hao smiled. “You got here even earlier than I did, didn’t you?”

Then he sat down across from Wen Qing.

10:33

They had clearly arranged to meet at 11. Now both of them had come this early, and it was not even lunchtime yet.

Song Hao asked, “Did you eat breakfast?”

“I ate a little bit of biscuits.”

“That’s so little.”

“I ate too much yesterday. I didn’t have any appetite when I got up.”

At that moment, Song Hao noticed that whenever Wen Qing spoke, he was either looking at his teacup or at the window. He never looked at Song Hao.

Song Hao stretched out a hand and tapped lightly on Wen Qing’s cup.

Wen Qing subconsciously looked up at him, then the moment their eyes met, his face instantly turned red and he twisted away to look at the corner of the table instead.

Song Hao immediately knew why.

“What’s this? Got struck by how handsome I am?” Song Hao teased him. His long sleeves in summer had not been for nothing after all, even if it was not hot inside the mall because of the air conditioning.

Wen Qing turned his head and glanced at him once, then quickly looked away again and honestly nodded. “Mm, very handsome.”

Holy crap. Shameless. So that’s how you’re going to play this?

Song Hao immediately lost.

He did not dare say anything more and also lowered his head to drink water.

11:42

Cantonese restaurant.

Yesterday they had eaten heavy, oily, salty food, so today it was better to keep things light.

Ordering, eating, chatting, everything all went perfectly normally, until it came time to pay the bill.

Wen Qing firmly insisted that this meal was on him.

“You treated me yesterday. Today should be my turn.”

“What kind of treating counts as street-stall food? You’re still in school, you don’t have any income, don’t argue over this.”

In the end, Song Hao still paid.

13:35

Seeing that Wen Qing looked a little down, Song Hao proposed, “I’ve been wanting to watch that newly released spy movie. You buy the tickets?”

“Okay.”

Wen Qing did not just buy the tickets. He also bought the bundled cola, popcorn, and even the promotional figurines.

15:42

“That was seriously good. The box office is definitely going over a billion. And I never expected the final twist to be…” Song Hao was so happy after watching it that he could not stop talking, pouring out all his thoughts and feelings about the movie.

Wen Qing was a very serious listener, nodding and going mm, mm, mm in agreement.

Then Song Hao suddenly stopped in the middle and became suspicious. “You actually guessed the twist in advance, didn’t you?”

Wen Qing only smiled and said nothing.

Song Hao deflated a little. Wen Qing tugged gently at his clothes and explained, “This one’s a remake. I already watched the original foreign version.”

“Then why didn’t you say so earlier? We could’ve switched to something else from the start. These two hours must’ve been really boring for you, right?”

“No. Watching it with you made me very happy.”

16:07

The two of them wandered around inside the mall. They passed a jade shop, an old established brand.

Song Hao remembered that, in the game, he had once given Wen Qing a jade pendant. So giving him one in real life too seemed perfectly reasonable.

He pulled Wen Qing inside and asked the store clerk to introduce some styles.

Pendant necklaces. The cheap ones were a few hundred. The expensive ones were over a thousand. The most expensive item in the whole store was twenty thousand.

Song Hao thought, I don’t even have twenty thousand total to my name.

He thought the ones under a thousand were too cheap. He disliked the style of the three-thousand-yuan ones. There was one for five thousand with auspicious cloud patterns carved on the surface, meant to pray for peace and safety. Since Wen Qing had only just recovered from being sick, that one was quite suitable.

Song Hao kept that one aside as a backup and asked the clerk to take out the one beside it that cost eight thousand so he could have a look.

But before he had even gotten to see it, Wen Qing had already pulled him back out of the store.

“Are you buying this for yourself, or for me?” Wen Qing asked with a stern face, very serious.

“For you.”

“But I don’t want it.”

“Why…”

“You said during your stream that you didn’t have much savings, and you still have to pay the next half year’s rent soon. You can’t spend money carelessly.”

Song Hao was touched that Wen Qing remembered it so clearly, and patiently explained, “The rent’s already been set aside. And my new job pays a lot now. I have savings, so you don’t need to worry.”

“But…” Wen Qing hurried to say something, only to be interrupted by Song Hao.

Song Hao held Wen Qing’s hand and spoke frankly. “Actually, I’m really insecure. I’m always scared that one day you’ll just disappear, and all of this will turn out to have been a dream I had. That’s why I wanted to give you something, to leave behind some kind of mark. Even if you really do disappear someday, maybe, with this jade pendant, I’ll be able to find you again.”

Wen Qing felt awful hearing that. He was silent for a long time before finally opening his mouth. “When do you have to pay rent?”

“Huh? Tuesday the week after next.”

“Then don’t rent anymore.” Wen Qing lifted his head, his tone resolute. “Come live at my place.”

“What!?”

“My mom bought me a small apartment near the school. Two bedrooms, one living room, and a study. We can each have one room, and the study can be for your streaming.”

Wait. What? So you really are a young master?

No, that’s not the point. How is this already all arranged!?

Song Hao covered his mouth and swallowed the word “okay” back down.

He could see it now. The person in front of him was a pureblooded romantic idiot in love. As the older one in the relationship, he had a duty to control the pace a little.

“Qingqing. First day, we confirm the relationship. Second day, we move in together. Third day, what, we go register our marriage? This is way too fast. Calm down.”

“I am calm. I’m already an adult. I can take responsibility for myself.”

No. You really do not look calm at all.

Song Hao continued earnestly persuading him. “You’re just getting carried away because you’re in the honeymoon stage. It’s easy enough for me to move in, but what happens if a few months later we start fighting, realize we can’t get along, or that our personalities don’t match? Then what? I move back out? And what if I’m actually a scoundrel? Wouldn’t that mean you got the short end of the stick?”

Wen Qing looked a little frightened and hurt. “We only just got together. Why are you already thinking about breaking up?”

“Because I really care about you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“But I care about you too. I don’t want you to suffer. I clearly have a place to live, so why can’t you come stay with me? You’re willing to buy me a jade pendant worth several thousand yuan, but you’re not willing to come live in my place?”

Song Hao had no answer.

The two of them really were exactly the same. They were both thinking for the sake of the other person. Both afraid the other person would lose out. Both stupid lovesick idiots.

Song Hao hugged Wen Qing, and in the end, still compromised. “I’ll go live there. But utilities, property fees, and all the messy miscellaneous stuff, that all has to be paid by me.”

“Okay.”

“I’m buying the jade pendant. You have to accept it.”

“Okay. Then the one-thousand-yuan one.”

“No. The eight-thousand-yuan one.”

“Then three thousand.”

“No. The five-thousand-yuan one.”

“…Okay.”

Sigh. Giving someone a gift was really exhausting.

In the end, Song Hao still bought the five-thousand-yuan jade pendant with auspicious cloud patterns and personally put it on Wen Qing. And honestly, with Wen Qing already dressed in that new Chinese-style outfit, the pendant suited him perfectly.

At this point, things should have entered the lovey-dovey stage.

But then Wen Qing said, “It’s already past five. You should go to work.”

When he turned cold like this, he really did seem pretty adult.

“…Okay.”

17:56

Song Hao walked coolly into the company.

This company had no shortage of handsome men, so at first nobody paid him much attention. That lasted until he got over to the lighting technician’s area and started handling his tool bag and protective goggles.

???

The boss took a careful look. Whoa. What a transformation.

Yesterday he had still looked like someone who would kill gods and Buddhas alike if they stood in his way. Today he was not only honestly showing up to work, he was even dressed up, carrying this full-on spring-breeze-smug sort of energy.

The cameraman came over to gossip. “Boss, he got into a relationship, didn’t he?”

The boss nodded. “Looks like it. Be quick-witted today. The moment the lights break, shove the camera right into his face. Getting close is fine too!”

The cameraman made an okay sign.

18:40

Exactly as expected, the light strip broke again. Everybody was very used to it by now. The ones who needed to exit exited. The ones who needed to carry the ladder carried the ladder. The ones who needed to throw gifts started throwing gifts.

Only today, the effect was especially good.

The lighting technician known as “Lighting Bro” still had the same face, but instead of a T-shirt and jeans, he was now wearing a more mature shirt and pair of casual pants. The all-black outfit made his figure look tall and straight, and with the sleeves rolled up, the muscles on his forearms were visible.

Not to mention, no one knew what good thing had happened to him today, but even while fixing a light strip, he had a smile tucked into the corner of his mouth. His whole body radiated this rippling, swaying kind of atmosphere. He was not even looking at the camera, but he still somehow felt like he was flirting.

[AHHHHHHHHHHH]

[Did the boss finally come to his senses and put him up for sale]

[I admit it, I got seduced]

[123 put up the purchase link!]

[Hmph, men, cheap tricks]

[He kinda looks familiar…]

[Big Baishu?]

[HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP sis you get me]

[Did bro get so heartbroken he entered the sea?]

[Come on, Big Baishu bounces around like a monkey, if he had a face like this why would he be playing games]

It was only when Song Hao lowered his head to look for tools that he noticed the camera next to him.

Why is that over here?

The smile on his face had not faded in time, but he did not think much of it. He simply stretched out two fingers and brought them near the lens.

The camera caught his face head-on in full, and the owner of that face was also standing far too close to the lens. Using the backs of his fingers, he gently pressed against the left side of the camera and applied a little pressure. The camera turned obediently with the force and shifted back toward the main stage.

“This side.”

[AHH!!!!]

[Head-on is even more authoritative!]

[He touched my face! That means he’s my man!]

[This is my long-lost husband ahhhhhhh]

[TURN IT BACK! TURN IT BACK!]

[This is way too much today, I can’t take it anymore!!!]