Chapter 36
Fang Jing Yao waited for a long time, but Long Yu only frowned deeply, his expression complicated. Finally, he said softly, “I’m sorry. Jing Yao, I’ve never really loved anyone before, but… I think there’s something wrong with me.”
After holding it in for days, hearing those words made Fang Jing Yao feel a sudden rush of relief — but just as his heart began to soften, Long Yu’s next sentence chilled him from head to toe.
Long Yu said tiredly, “I think we both need some time apart to calm down.”
Fang Jing Yao’s heart went completely cold. He looked at him and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Long Yu rubbed his brow and said, “I think we still haven’t been together long enough. We need more time to get to know each other better. I’ll be going on a business trip soon—let’s use that time to calm down and think things through.”
Fang Jing Yao asked, “Then what about that marriage contract you made me sign before? Are you canceling that too?”
“No, not canceling it,” Long Yu said quickly. His brows were still furrowed as he looked at Fang Jing Yao and said carefully, “Let’s just postpone it for a while. I need to think some things through.”
Fang Jing Yao asked, “You’ve thought it through already?”
Long Yu nodded. “Yes.”
Fang Jing Yao laughed in anger. “Fine, postpone it! Postpone it indefinitely while you’re at it—I need to think things through too.”
Long Yu frowned. “Jing Yao—”
But Fang Jing Yao didn’t want to hear him out this time. Pointing to the door with a cold face, he said, “Dr. Long, the door’s that way. Take care.”
The two of them had officially fallen out—and this time, the problem was no small one.
Fang Jing Yao didn’t go back to Long Yu’s place anymore and stayed at his own home instead. The smile on his face was noticeably reduced; he looked listless.
He’d also lost the motivation to work. Before, when he argued with Long Yu, he’d at least try to distract himself by focusing on work, but now that they’d actually split, his mood had sunk to rock bottom. Nothing seemed interesting anymore, let alone work.
He lay on the sofa, hugging the yellow cat with one arm while scrolling through his phone with the other. His finger moved on its own, clicking on Long Yu’s profile picture.
Long Yu’s Moments were completely blank—just an avatar, not even a single post. He looked like a zombie account.
Fang Jing Yao pouted. How can he stay so calm? He himself had already posted several private rants visible only to himself—he couldn’t let others see them; it was too embarrassing.
He scrolled down a bit further and saw Chen Xi’s posts.
As expected from someone who’d grown up wearing the same pair of pants as him—Chen Xi’s posts were all about deep realizations on marriage, full of pessimism and bowls of “toxic chicken soup.” They were unbearable to read. Clearly, Chen Xi was still wallowing in his own sorrow after fighting with his wife; they hadn’t made up yet.
Fang Jing Yao felt unlucky—he’d just joked about Chen Xi’s relationship problems, and now his own relationship with Long Yu was falling apart.
Zhuo Yifan, his apprentice, was carefully taking care of his teacher, doing his best to be attentive—but no matter how cautious he was, he still managed to step on a landmine now and then.
Fang Jing Yao sat on the sofa chatting with his disciple, nearly sighing himself into melancholy. Just then, Zhuo Yifan’s phone rang. He glanced at it, quickly switched it to silent, and didn’t answer.
Fang Jing Yao had already seen the caller ID. “Why aren’t you answering Sun An’s call?”
Sun An was the manager of Zhuo Yifan’s studio—sent by his father as an assistant. He’d been a work-study student sponsored by the company, and after graduation, he joined the company officially. He had some artistic talent, so the boss had directly assigned him to work with his son. Basically, Sun An was an exclusive assistant who rarely called unless something important came up.
Zhuo Yifan clutched his phone and hid it behind him, lying through his teeth: “Master, you saw wrong. No one called.”
Fang Jing Yao said, “Show me your phone.”
Zhuo Yifan held it tighter and backed away a little. “Master, I’m really not in a hurry. I just can’t bear to leave you—I want to stay a few more days. The deadline for my draft is still a long way off…”
Fang Jing Yao frowned. “You said before you’d only stay for half a month. How long has it been already? Why are you extending your own leave now? Enough excuses. Give me Sun An’s number—I’ll talk to him myself.” He remembered Zhuo Yifan had a new series coming out, so there was no way his vacation was this long.
Zhuo Yifan looked reluctant but still handed it over. “Master, what are you calling him for? Just tell me what you want.”
Fang Jing Yao dialed while saying, “No need—I don’t want to get angry at you.”
Sun An picked up quickly. The moment he heard Fang Jing Yao’s voice, he nearly cried with relief. “Teacher! Is Yifan with you? Thank goodness! He’s only been sending us one text a day and won’t tell us where he is. Our boss almost called the police! Oh, and could you ask him if he’s finished his draft yet? His phone’s been off—we can’t reach him!”
Fang Jing Yao looked up at Zhuo Yifan, who guiltily turned his head toward the wall, pretending to study the wallpaper pattern.
Fang Jing Yao said, “He’s not turning off his phone anymore. Tell him whatever you need to tell him now. He’s just starting a new series—be careful not to leave any gaps, you hear?”
Sun An obediently promised, sounding very relieved.
Fang Jing Yao handed the phone back to Zhuo Yifan. Zhuo pouted, staring at his sneakers, silent and motionless.
Fang Jing Yao flicked him on the forehead, hard. “You little brat, getting bold now—lying to me! I’m happy you came to visit, but you’re an adult. Don’t you know work is important?”
Zhuo Yifan sulked for a while, then muttered, “It’s no fun drawing when you’re not around. There’s no one good enough to spar with me.”
Fang Jing Yao couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, sure—you’re the only one who’s good enough.”
After lecturing his apprentice and forcing him to book a plane ticket, they heard a knock at the door.
Zhuo Yifan peeked through the peephole and immediately froze, hesitating to open it.
Fang Jing Yao walked over. “What’s wrong? Who is it?”
Zhuo Yifan grabbed his waist to stop him. “Master, don’t open it! I’ll make you lunch—your favorite scallion oil noodles! I’ll make five bowls!”
Fang Jing Yao glanced at the clock. “It’s barely ten in the morning. Lunch already?”
Zhuo Yifan held on tight, refusing to let him move. Fang Jing Yao sensed something was off. “What’s going on? What’s outside that you don’t want me to see?”
Dragging his disciple along, Fang Jing Yao managed to reach the door, peeked through the peephole—and saw that it wasn’t anything strange at all. It was Han Qiaoye.
President Han—tall, handsome, effortlessly charming. His gaze carried an easy smile, the kind that could make anyone blush. And he was holding a bouquet of flowers.
Puzzled, Fang Jing Yao opened the door. “Senior Han, what brings you here?”
Han Qiaoye was perfectly polite, handing him the flowers first before smiling. “A certain blockhead doesn’t know how to talk about his feelings and was too embarrassed to come himself, so he asked me to deliver these.”
The bouquet was made of roses mixed with baby’s breath—nothing too fancy, but elegant. A small card was attached. Fang Jing Yao picked it up and saw two words written on it: Long Yu.
Unconvinced, he flipped it over—blank on the back.
Han Qiaoye laughed. “Don’t bother looking. That card was my idea—otherwise it’d be completely empty. Long Yu’s never been this proactive in his life. This is probably his first time ever stepping into a flower shop.”
Fang Jing Yao slipped the card back into the bouquet. “We haven’t talked much these past few days. I thought he really wanted to break up.”
Han Qiaoye looked a bit surprised, then smiled. “No way. Jing Yao, you probably don’t know this, but I’ve known Long Yu for years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen him act like a human being. He’s not like he used to be at all. Before, he wouldn’t even argue with people—if he said a few extra sentences to someone, we’d already think it was a miracle.”
Fang Jing Yao looked up at him.
Han Qiaoye shrugged. “That’s just how he is—everything has to follow his own strict system, like he’s running on a fixed code. Honestly, he’s always been kind of obsessive-compulsive, even a little autistic. Never really socialized with people. I’m probably one of his closer friends, and even then, I’m lucky if I see him once every six months for a meal. He’s always holed up in the lab. None of us can drag him out.” He added, “Oh, and that place he’s living in now? None of us have ever been there.”
Beside them, Zhuo Yifan puffed out his chest proudly—he’d been there. Hearing that made him feel oddly honored.
But his small display didn’t go unnoticed—Han Qiaoye looked over and smiled at him. Zhuo Yifan’s ears instantly turned red, and he quickly turned away, taking the flowers from Fang Jing Yao. “Master, I’ll go put these in a vase.”
As soon as he left, Han Qiaoye followed him into the kitchen. Seeing Zhuo arranging the flowers, he leaned close and said with a teasing smile, “Like these? I’ll get you some next time.”
Zhuo Yifan jumped in fright—the two of them were standing too close. He tried to step aside, but Han Qiaoye leaned even closer. Zhuo Yifan’s whole body went stiff, like a startled cat. Han Qiaoye reached for a glass beside him, smiling. “Relax, I’m just grabbing a cup.”
Zhuo Yifan stood there, face red as a tomato.
Back in the living room, Han Qiaoye chatted with Fang Jing Yao for a while. He’d come to deliver flowers, but since the sender was such a tight-lipped guy, he hadn’t been given any message to pass along—so he had to improvise.
He and Fang Jing Yao talked for a bit, mostly about high school, since he and Long Yu had gotten close during that time, and Fang Jing Yao had attended the same school as their junior.
“Long Yu wasn’t always so put-together,” Han Qiaoye said. “Back in high school, his parents were getting divorced… You’ve met them, right? Both have very strong personalities. Their divorce was like a business negotiation—cold and perfectly rational. He didn’t have it easy back then. But he always kept everything bottled up, so we couldn’t tell.”
He continued, “There were a few times when he liked to hang out on the lab building’s rooftop—we were scared half to death, thought he was going to jump.”
Hearing that, Fang Jing Yao felt a pang of heartache again.
Zhuo Yifan sat off to the side, hands cupping his face, nodding silently. He’d been quieter than usual these past few days.
Han Qiaoye’s gaze landed on him. “What’s up with you today? Cat got your tongue?”
Zhuo Yifan scowled, cheeks burning hotter. “You’re the one who’s mute. My tooth just hurts.”
Han Qiaoye said, “Come here, let me take a look.”
Zhuo Yifan didn’t quite trust him. He hesitated. “Can you even do it?”
Han Qiaoye looked offended and snorted. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m the doctor here, or are you?”
Zhuo Yifan only knew that he was Dr. Long’s friend. Most of Dr. Long’s friends seemed to come from medical families. After hesitating a bit, he finally sat down and opened his mouth for Han Qiaoye to check.
Han Qiaoye washed his hands, came over, and found Zhuo Yifan still sitting there obediently with his mouth open—it was funny enough to make him chuckle. He reached in and touched near the back molars; after his finger moved just twice, Zhuo Yifan immediately clamped his mouth shut with an “Ow!” and teary eyes mumbled indistinctly around the man’s hand, “What the hell—it hurts so bad!”
Han Qiaoye chuckled, his finger moving lightly inside. “Hold still, open your mouth again. I think I just felt something—it’s probably a tooth coming in.”
Zhuo Yifan opened up again. Han Qiaoye carefully probed all around inside his mouth—his technique didn’t exactly resemble a professional exam. Zhuo Yifan’s mouth was watering, and his suspicious gaze grew stronger by the second. Even Fang Jing Yao, who had been sulking on the couch, couldn’t help glancing over. Only then did Han Qiaoye withdraw his hand, wiped it clean, and said, “You’re getting a wisdom tooth. It’s starting to break through. Go get an X-ray this afternoon and have it pulled.”
Zhuo Yifan deflated a little and nodded obediently.
