Chapter 32
For the sake of making Miss Zhao break up, no cost was too great.
A cold wind swept down Qin Buming’s back. In silence, he put his coat back on. In the icy depths of winter, only the Wuling Hongguang gave warmth.
Miss Zhao was deeply moved by the two men’s over-the-top behavior, and enlightenment suddenly struck. “A love for the ages.”
Qin Buming: !
He had not expected it to actually work.
Looking at the worshipful look in Miss Zhao’s eyes, Qin Buming leaned close to Xia Fengsheng and whispered, “Sheng’er, if your boyfriend ever gets something on his face like that again, come find me. I’ve still got half a slice left in front.”
Xia Fengsheng gave him an OK look.
Leave it to me. No matter the cost, brother.
At the same time, Feng Xiaocheng’s gaze was glued to Shi Ye’s sports car like industrial-strength adhesive. It was a Ferrari retro supercar, with fewer than a hundred in the world. He had never imagined Shi Ye owned one.
His eyes lingered over the supercar, utterly reluctant to leave it. He wanted to find some common topic and strike up a conversation with Shi Ye, but unfortunately Shi Ye had absolutely no intention of even looking his way.
After their “love for the ages” moment, the group walked into the Mexican restaurant.
Xia Fengsheng had always been well-liked at school, but this was the first time Qin Buming had ever heard he was dating someone. Usually Xia Fengsheng had never mentioned such things.
Shi Ye was a little taller than both of them, enough that they had to lift their heads slightly to look at him.
Qin Buming had always thought that if Xia Fengsheng ever chose someone to date, his standards would definitely be high. Seeing it now, they really were not low at all.
Qin Buming swallowed.
He had thought his own taste in clothes was already pretty good, only to discover that beyond man there was more man, beyond mountain more mountain. Shi Ye was an extremely stylish type of handsome man. His outfits were always ahead of the trend curve. He was too trendy. Standing next to Shi Ye, Qin Buming felt like he himself had turned all fresh and dewy by comparison.
After they sat down in the restaurant, Miss Zhao took a sip of water and started praising Feng Xiaocheng again. “Brother, you’re so handsome.”
Shi Ye: ?
One sip of water and she was hallucinating already?
Was it the local Mexican water?
Because of Miss Zhao’s words, Shi Ye finally gave Feng Xiaocheng a proper look, his expression focused and serious, as though he intended to stare flowers out of him.
The more he looked, the less he could understand it.
Exactly what part of him looked like a puppy?
His outfit? His personality?
The waiter brought over the menu, and Feng Xiaocheng grabbed it first.
“One grilled lobster,” Feng Xiaocheng said, then turned to Miss Zhao. “Baby, the shrimp here is really good.”
Miss Zhao looked as though she wanted to speak and stop herself.
He did not eat shrimp. He had already mentioned that several times on previous meals out, yet Feng Xiaocheng still had not remembered. But maybe that was nothing. Wasn’t love all about mutual tolerance? So he smiled and agreed, “Really? Then you should eat more.”
He would just order something else for himself.
Shi Ye directly scanned the menu QR code with his phone and asked the person beside him, “What are you eating?”
Xia Fengsheng leaned over. “The marinated raw seafood looks good.”
Shi Ye said, “There’s ginger in that. Don’t you dislike ginger?”
Xia Fengsheng really did not eat ginger.
He froze for a second, not expecting Shi Ye to remember that, but he still stubbornly said, “It looks good.”
The marinated raw seafood wasn’t a large portion. In the picture it was plated in a small, exquisite bowl and looked very appetizing. Xia Fengsheng wet his lips, the pink tip of his tongue flashing past.
Apparently he really did want it.
Shi Ye said, “Then I’ll order one. Once it comes, you can try it. If you don’t like it, I’ll eat it.”
Xia Fengsheng nodded. “Mm.”
Once he got what he wanted, even his response sounded more eager.
Shi Ye cast him a glance.
Today… he was a little well-behaved.
Throughout this, Miss Zhao kept staring into Shi Ye’s eyes.
While the two couples were ordering, Qin Buming ordered his own food too.
Qin Buming: Even when you’re alone, you still have to eat well.
There were not many customers in the restaurant. Including them, there were only three tables, so the place was not busy. Before long, the waiter had brought all the dishes out.
Just when they were about to start eating, Shi Ye took out his phone and snapped a picture of the food.
Miss Zhao froze. “Do you always take pictures before meals?”
Shi Ye answered naturally, “Mm. Recording life.”
Miss Zhao asked, “Don’t you think that’s troublesome?”
Shi Ye did not understand. “Why would it be troublesome?”
In the past, whenever he took pictures, Feng Xiaocheng would always lecture him, saying that if you were eating, then you should focus on eating and not do pointless things.
He had seen plenty of girls online doing it, and he genuinely enjoyed it too, but after being scolded, he never did it again.
Although it had made him uncomfortable, Feng Xiaocheng had said it was for his own good.
Taking pictures to record life was common enough, and it did not take long either. Just aim the camera for a few seconds and it was done.
Shi Ye was completely different from everyone at the table. Everyone else had their own miseries—family issues, money issues, workplace scheming.
Shi Ye, on the other hand, was a child raised entirely in love. When he looked at things, he only ever saw the beautiful side, which was why he liked taking pictures and recording moments.
From the moment he was born, his parents had never stopped documenting him. Since he was a little toddler, he had naturally and enthusiastically posed prettily for cameras.
He never thought of it as wasting time, and no one around him ever thought so either.
Shi Ye said to Miss Zhao, “Take yours out too and shoot a few.”
Miss Zhao glanced at Feng Xiaocheng, then pulled out her phone. But just as she aimed the camera at the dishes on the table, Feng Xiaocheng suddenly said, “If you keep taking pictures, the food’s going to get cold.”
At that moment, Xia Fengsheng suddenly understood why a father-starved Miss Zhao had chosen Feng Xiaocheng.
She really had found herself a dad.
Miss Zhao instinctively lowered her phone.
Shi Ye frowned. Who exactly had been calling the man in front of him a puppy boyfriend? “If it cools a little, that just makes it easier to eat. Or are you just older and prefer your food hot?”
Feng Xiaocheng choked.
Shi Ye gave Miss Zhao a meaningful look.
Miss Zhao took out her phone again and snapped several pictures of the food.
Feng Xiaocheng worked in sales. The only way he could have ended up dating Miss Zhao was by seeing straight through her lack of fatherly love and then using that to PUA her.
Even if Miss Zhao herself felt uncomfortable with certain things he did, she would still lose her sense of self under his manipulation.
Once the photos were done, the group started eating.
Taking the pictures had not delayed things at all. The dishes were still piping hot.
Qin Buming took a bite of grilled chicken wing. “Tss, so hot~”
Feng Xiaocheng knew his earlier words had made Miss Zhao uncomfortable, so when Miss Zhao took a bite of stir-fried beef and was burned enough to open her mouth and suck in air, he hurriedly held out his hand in front of her lips.
“Baby, if it’s too hot, spit it out.”
Miss Zhao was instantly moved, forgetting the unpleasantness from before.
Shi Ye stared at Feng Xiaocheng’s movement. Showing affection couldn’t lose to him.
Xia Fengsheng also took a bite of the piping hot stir-fried meat.
“So hot.”
Shi Ye immediately stretched his hand out too.
But Xia Fengsheng didn’t spit it out. He simply stir-fried it around in his own mouth again.
Shi Ye: ……
Xia Fengsheng: There was no way he was spitting out something that had already gone into his mouth.
During the meal, everyone focused on eating, especially Qin Buming and Xia Fengsheng, who buried their heads and ate hard.
Xia Fengsheng tried a bite of the marinated raw seafood. The Mexican marinated shrimp used very heavy spices, and the ginger taste was obvious. He didn’t like it.
No one else at the table was in the habit of eating raw food, so the dish was pushed aside. Shi Ye ate the whole thing himself.
By the end of the meal, Xia Fengsheng still had some fried rice left in his bowl.
Shi Ye had already cleaned out his own, and was still not quite full.
“You still want yours?”
Xia Fengsheng said, “No.”
“Then I’ll eat it.”
Xia Fengsheng pushed his bowl toward him. “Go root.”
Shi Ye and Xia Fengsheng sharing one bowl of rice left Miss Zhao deeply shocked. Feng Xiaocheng never ate things she had already touched.
Yet Shi Ye and Xia Fengsheng both looked perfectly normal, as if this was just what couples did.
Miss Zhao asked, “You’re eating his leftovers?”
Shi Ye found himself an excuse. “I just don’t like wasting food.”
He didn’t even like Xia Fengsheng right now. The only reason he was eating what Xia Fengsheng had already eaten was because wasting food was shameful. Besides, he had spent time in the military before, and in the military leaving food uneaten wasn’t allowed.
He was doing all this purely because he didn’t want to waste food.
Right. Not wasting food.
He didn’t enjoy eating it at all.
Thinking that, he scooped a large spoonful into his mouth.
“Wow,” Miss Zhao said, unable to stop herself from envying it.
In all the domineering-CEO novels she read, the CEO would eat the heroine’s leftovers too.
The things happening across from her during this meal had one after another left Miss Zhao astonished, yet the next thing shocked her even more.
Xia Fengsheng directly picked up Shi Ye’s phone and started playing with it.
Miss Zhao said, “You can just look through his phone whenever you want?”
This wasn’t casual at all—Xia Fengsheng was doing it on purpose.
Nobody liked others casually looking through their phone. He was doing this first for Miss Zhao to see, and second to make Shi Ye uncomfortable.
Even while drawing a contrast between couples for Miss Zhao, Xia Fengsheng hadn’t forgotten to work toward a breakup. In everything he did, he ensured efficiency.
That said, if he were really in a relationship, Xia Fengsheng himself didn’t think checking a phone was that big a deal. Though admittedly, not many people came out of it laughing.
But it was precisely because you could find problems that it needed to be checked. A phone could contain all sorts of things that had been hidden or lied about. The earlier you knew, the better. Otherwise, why waste your time on someone for nothing?
Shi Ye’s expression, however, didn’t change. He just kept eating and had not the slightest objection to Xia Fengsheng looking at his phone.
There was nothing in his phone anyway. Better yet, he hoped Xia Fengsheng would go look in the camera roll. He had recently taken a set of scenery shots, and the photographer had sent them over this morning. He had saved them all. In those photos, he looked great, and he was very satisfied with the final results.
Just then, Qin Buming sent Xia Fengsheng a message.
The phone on the table buzzed, and Xia Fengsheng picked up his own.
Qin Buming: “Zhanshengyao and Zheng Xing said Feng Xiaocheng secretly got himself a girlfriend last week, and they’re bringing her over now. We just need to hold Feng Xiaocheng here until they arrive.”
Zhanshengyao and Zheng Xing were the other two members of their team.
Xia Fengsheng: “Okay.”
But just after the two finished exchanging messages, everyone at the table had already finished eating.
Feng Xiaocheng stood up. “Baby, I’m going to pay.”
“Mm.” Miss Zhao pulled out her own card and handed it to him.
What a fine case of eating soft rice while calling it hard-earned. Using someone else’s card to say he was paying himself, all without the slightest blush.
Qin Buming and Xia Fengsheng both looked on with hard-to-describe expressions, unable to understand how Miss Zhao had ever fallen for Feng Xiaocheng in the first place.
Shi Ye stood up. “I’ll get it.”
Feng Xiaocheng tried to decline. “No need, I’ll do it.”
Shi Ye ignored him and went straight to the counter to pay.
When he came back, Feng Xiaocheng said politely, “Thanks for the expense.”
Shi Ye said, “You mean those few pennies?”
The HP bar of his bank account had dropped by a puff of air.
Shi Ye said, “I’m just not used to letting the person I’m dating spend money.”
Feng Xiaocheng, who had already been stabbed several times over the course of one meal: ……
What exactly are you trying to do, you lunatic?!
The group walked out of the restaurant. Qin Buming was sweating buckets. Zhanshengyao and the others were hurrying over, and he had to find a way to keep Feng Xiaocheng here.
When he saw the supercar Shi Ye had parked by the roadside, with people lining up to take pictures with it, Qin Buming found a topic.
“Shi Ye’s car is pretty nice. Let’s all appreciate his car together.”
If possible, what he’d really prefer was inviting people to help spend Shi Ye’s money.
Since there was no plan after dinner anyway, the group stood at the roadside admiring the car.
There were too many people gathered around Shi Ye’s car taking pictures, so they didn’t go up close and instead stood beside a hedge near the street.
Feng Xiaocheng, however, drifted away from Miss Zhao and over to stand with Shi Ye. Though the man had been subtly targeting him all throughout dinner, he still looked rich enough to be worth knowing.
Everyone had vanity, and people liked being admired. Feng Xiaocheng was very good at talking and specifically chose the sort of things others wanted to hear.
“You’ve got great taste in cars. Look at how many people are crowding around taking pictures. If you got into the car right now, I guarantee those girls posing around your car would throw themselves at you and ask for your contact.”
He deliberately lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear.
Men were men—what woman or man did they really like? They just liked the young and pretty ones. Or else they found someone rich to use as a blood bag, just like he did.
As long as the person was attractive and unfamiliar, they were bound to seem fresh and exciting.
Everything he was saying was exactly what men liked to hear. His older male clients who bought cars all loved this set.
Shi Ye frowned in disgust, twisting his brows as he looked at Feng Xiaocheng, his tone icy. “Posing seductively? Don’t you pose when you take pictures?”
His voice wasn’t anywhere near a mosquito buzz. Miss Zhao looked over because of the movement on their side.
Miss Zhao: “What’s wrong?”
The atmosphere between the two was obviously off. Feng Xiaocheng turned to Miss Zhao awkwardly. “Nothing.”
Then he said to Shi Ye, “I was just saying it.”
Looking down on him from above, Shi Ye demanded, “Didn’t you also take a picture of my car just now?”
Before they entered the restaurant, Feng Xiaocheng really had taken pictures of Shi Ye’s car.
Shi Ye raised a brow. “So what, do you want my contact info too?”
Feng Xiaocheng choked and went speechless. His brain spun fast. “I just love cars. It was appreciation for the car.”
Shi Ye said, “So when you take a picture of the car, it’s because you appreciate the car, but when girls take pictures of the car, it means they’re vain and want my WeChat?”
Miss Zhao couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“What are you two talking about?”
Miss Zhao himself had gender-related issues and thought of himself as a girl. Hearing words like that, his face filled with disbelief. Whether male or female, everyone deserved respect—and women had it much harder.
Feng Xiaocheng had hidden it very well before and had never exploded in this direction. Who knew that today, the moment he met Shi Ye, it would be like meeting his natural enemy, and everything would get stabbed straight out of him at once.
Miss Zhao had never expected him to say something so disrespectful, especially to someone he had only just met.
In Miss Zhao’s eyes, Feng Xiaocheng had always respected women. It felt like a beautiful dream had shattered. He unconsciously took half a step back, disgust leaking from his eyes. “How can you say something like that?”
Feng Xiaocheng tried to explain. “No, baby, listen to me—”
“Feng Xiaocheng!”
A female high note cut through the air from behind.
Everyone turned at the sound. A woman around thirty years old, wearing red high heels, strode toward them in big steps.
Her eyes landed on Feng Xiaocheng’s hand holding Miss Zhao’s wrist. “What did you just call him?”
“You’re gay?!”
Feng Xiaocheng had never imagined he would run into his girlfriend here. His brain short-circuited on the spot.
The girlfriend was one he had quietly started dating last week. The only reason he was dating Miss Zhao was for money. Otherwise, who would like a man?
Outwardly he dated Miss Zhao, while behind the scenes he secretly dated other women too.
Miss Zhao also froze at the woman’s sudden appearance and accusatory questions, turning to Feng Xiaocheng for an answer. “Brother, who is she?”
“Brother?” The woman let out a disdainful sneer, folding her arms as she glared at Feng Xiaocheng.
The two had met at a 4S dealership. She had bought a car through Feng Xiaocheng. She was someone who valued emotional satisfaction and didn’t care much about looks, while Feng Xiaocheng happened to be funny and pleasant, and had pursued her for quite a while.
She had only agreed because he seemed so sincere. She had never expected this.
When no answer came from Feng Xiaocheng, Miss Zhao’s expression turned ugly too.
The woman snapped, “Say something. Why aren’t you saying anything? Who is he? Weren’t you dating me? Since when did you become gay?”
Miss Zhao, shocked, instantly flung off the hand Feng Xiaocheng had been using to hold him. “Feng Xiaocheng, what is going on? You’re dating her too?”
Caught red-handed cheating on the spot, Feng Xiaocheng broke into a full-body sweat.
The passersby who had originally only been watching Shi Ye’s car were instantly drawn to the mess over here.
Didn’t come for nothing, didn’t come for nothing.
Take pictures with a supercar, then get to enjoy some good gossip afterward.
Feng Xiaocheng’s eloquence had entirely deserted him the moment his rotten business was exposed. “Listen to me, this is all a misunderstanding.”
Even with death looming over him, he was still trying to trick both sides.
The woman lifted her finely manicured hand and landed a loud slap across his face.
“What are you explaining?! Explaining why you’re gay?! Explaining why you wanted me to be a beard-wife?!”
“You bastard! How much money did I spend on you?!”
This woman was a warrior. She didn’t tolerate a breath of grievance. Her slaps rained down on Feng Xiaocheng’s face one after another.
At the side, Miss Zhao silently began to cry. Until today, he had always believed Feng Xiaocheng was his salvation, his true love.
Never did he imagine that his sincere feelings had been so completely misplaced.
Looking at Feng Xiaocheng getting hit, Miss Zhao cried, “Say something! Why aren’t you saying anything!”
Pushed to the edge, Feng Xiaocheng roared at him, “What do you want me to say? Can you shut up? Did you really think I loved you? I only cared that you had some money, and you really took yourself for true love!”
As he said this, he hurried over to soothe the woman instead. “Listen to me, things aren’t the way you think—hey!”
Before he could finish, the suddenly exploding Miss Zhao shoved him hard, sending him straight into a puddle by the roadside. Muddy black water splashed all over him.
Pointing at him where he sat on the ground, Miss Zhao said, “I misjudged you! You’re disgusting.”
The woman also stepped forward and spat viciously at him. “Just wait to get fired.”
Then she strode away in her high heels.
Seeing that the woman was no longer salvageable, Feng Xiaocheng hurried to beg Miss Zhao instead. If the woman wanted, with her ability and influence, he’d absolutely be fired from the 4S dealership. After that, finding another job would be much harder.
“Baby.” Feng Xiaocheng climbed out of the puddle and tried to grab Miss Zhao’s hand. “Baby, listen to me. I do love you.”
Miss Zhao found it ridiculous. “Love me?”
Miss Zhao said, “If you loved me, then why were you dating another woman too? Don’t you feel even a little guilty inside?”
Miss Zhao said, “I’m only seeing you clearly today. You never loved me. Otherwise you wouldn’t disrespect my habits, and even though you knew I was insecure, you wouldn’t refuse to let me look at your phone. And you definitely would’ve eaten food I’d already touched.”
Tears streamed down his face, as if he had finally stopped lying to himself.
“You never loved me. All you loved was my money.”
Feng Xiaocheng was struck silent. Everything Miss Zhao said was the plain truth.
Miss Zhao said, “Get lost. Don’t force me to hit you here.”
All around them, countless phones were shoved right up into Feng Xiaocheng’s face. Mockery rose on all sides.
“Shameless!”
“Get the hell out!”
“Go back to your pigsty, scumbag!”
Feng Xiaocheng covered his face and fled in panic.
After he ran off, the crowd gradually dispersed. At the side, Miss Zhao cried so hard he could barely breathe, pulling out his phone to delete all contact information related to him, tears falling like rain.
Xia Fengsheng handed him a handkerchief.
Miss Zhao said, “Thank you.”
Qin Buming tried to comfort him. “Miss Zhao, don’t be too upset.”
Miss Zhao couldn’t stop crying. “I thought… I thought I had really met my own salvation. Met my fated puppy boyfriend.”
Shi Ye disagreed on principle. Exactly what part of that man looked like a puppy?
“He’s not a puppy boyfriend at all.”
Miss Zhao looked up. ?
Shi Ye said, “Other than peeing on poles, in what way exactly did your puppy boyfriend look like a dog?”
