Before Qi Le arrived at the apartment, he saw a familiar off-road vehicle on the other side of the road. He immediately knew that it was Ye Shuichuan. He quickly took a few steps forward and saw the man getting out of the car. “Gē."
Ye Shuichuan saw him and his eyes brightened instantly. He quickly ran to him and grabbed his clothes. But all of a sudden, he looked disappointed. “Why aren't there any?"
Qi Le looked puzzled. “What?"
“Hickeys."
“……” Qi Le pushed him away and turned to go upstairs. “Gē, our relationship is pure. We didn’t check into a hotel."
“You're so stupid!” Ye Shuichuan hated that nothing had happened, “Yesterday was such a good opportunity, why didn't you make use of that? You were already drunk anyways, why didn't you just do it?"
Qi Le was too lazy to bother about him and slowly walked up.
“Did you make any progress?” Ye Shuichuan followed behind him, looking like he was interested in the gossip. “Have you guys kissed? Even if it's not a french kiss, that's ok too. Yeah, you better hurry up and make him yours as soon as possible. Now, most of them are still betting on Ning Xiao, but you and Gu Bai were seen drinking in the bar last night. I'm guessing the number of bets on Gu Bai is increasing. I bet 50 this time."
Qi Le looked at him silently, “50…”
Ye Shuichuan nodded and explained, “Everyone is just having some fun. It’s not something serious anyways. Most of them bet ten yuan."
Qi Le figured that even if he wouldn't earn much, he could still have some fun with them. Now, his first task was to deal with that screw-up of his. He was still deep in thought as he pulled out the key to open the door. But before he could do so, the door was opened from inside. Ning Xiao looked at him, his face expressionless as usual. He didn’t know if it just his illusion, but he felt as if this man’s gaze was colder than usual.
“I heard that you were drunk last night?"
Qi Le grunted in response and walked passed him into the living room, assuming that he was about to go out.
Ning Xiao turned around and closed the door. According to last time's drunken remark, Zheng Xiaoyuan should have remembered him. He just didn’t know how much of his memory had he recovered. Although he was constantly ignored by him, to tell the truth, he actually liked his current personality. If this person treated others equally, he wouldn't feel anything. But it just so happened that Gu Bai was there for him to make a comparison with, which inexplicably made him feel uncomfortable.
After hearing what Gu Bai said last night, his heart suddenly welled up in a rage. This person should have been his a long time ago. Why should someone else get to do as he pleased? Then, he started to think about the previous Zheng Xiaoyuan and immediately felt annoyed. The inexplicable anger gradually subsided as well. He knew that he had subconsciously thought of this person as his and he couldn't tell how he felt about him at the moment. When he saw the man going back to his bedroom, he couldn’t help asking, “What are you thinking?"
Qi Le looked back at him, “Huh? What do you mean?"
Ning Xiao stood motionless at the door. “What are you doing looking for Gu Bai even though you know he has someone he likes?"
“Oh, so if he has someone he likes, Laozi can’t look for him?” Qi Le arched his eyebrow, “Where's the logic in that?"
Ning Xiao's expression remained the same, but his gaze turned colder as he said, “I mean, what's the point of bothering him everyday like this? What are you even doing with him? So what if he plays along in the meantime? He's just fooling around. Are you stupid?"
“I’m not, but whatever between him and I is none of your business” Qi Le dropped this sentence, turned and left.
The anger in Ning Xiao’s heart rose at once. It was one of the rare times he had thought to give this man a friendly reminder. Instead, he actually returned his kind advice with this sort of attitude. He strode forward, grabbed his arm and roughly pulled him. “Wake up, he's just fooling around."
Qi Le broke away from him with a puzzled expression on his face. “Alright then, even if he's playing with me, what does this have to do with you?"
Ning Xiao suddenly remembered what Gu Bai said: Even if you want to meddle, he won’t appreciate it. His eyes suddenly turned icy and he nodded indifferently, “Suit yourself then. Just don’t regret it.” He turned away, slamming the door.
Qi Le was surprised at his behavior. “Is he a little crazy?"
“Maybe.” Ye Shuichuan echoed, thinking to himself that in the past, Ning Xiao wouldn't be bothered about this sort of thing at all. It seemed that Gu Bai was right. This man’s attitude was a bit strange. He looked at Qi Le happily. “This shows that you have great charm! Times have changed ah!"
Qi Le pouted and went back to his bedroom to change out of last night's clothes. He casually asked, “What are you doing here?"
“You're out of the hospital, so I wanted to return your car to you.” Ye Shuichuan followed him in and sat on the bed. “The man renting the other room is almost done with moving his stuff. When will you move in?"
“So fast? “Qi Le was surprised, “Isn't there a few more days to go?"
“He wants to discuss with his friends about tourist locations and travel routes so he has been living at his friend’s house and decided to move everything out."
“He doesn't plan on coming back?"
“Mmm, that's what he said."
Are you sure you didn't force him…. Qi Le ooked at him silently and thought to himself. “I have to pack up. I can probably move out tomorrow or the day after.” He paused before adding, “Gē,I remember you said I used to live with you. I would like to go over later, just in case I recall something. Is that ok?"
“Mmm, sure."
Qi Le opened his wardrobe and looked for something to wear. “What should I do then? How far along has the rent been paid?"
“You were afraid of Ning Xiao moving out halfway, so you paid on a monthly basis."
“That's okay then.” Qi Le was satisfied. He quickly changed and went out with him. Soon, they arrived at Ye Shuichuan’s apartment. It was a simple two bedroom apartment. Looking at the apartment that was cleaner and neater than Ning Xiao’s, Qi Le looked around and was happy to find that there wasn't anything strange that he couldn't tolerate. He felt that the other tenant had really left because he wanted to travel. Finally, he gave a sigh of relief and decided to move tomorrow.
Naturally, Ye Shuichuan was happy with his decision. He sent him back and wanted to leave the car but Qi Le said that he didn't know the address so it was better for him to pick him up tomorrow. Ye Shuichuan drove away again while Qi Le headed upstairs to start packing up. Qi Le looked stupefied when he realized how much clothes Zheng Xiaoyuan had as well as all kinds of shoes and bags.
~~~
P.S. Faa made some really cute fanart and shared it on our discord channel. Do check it out if you want to see a cute Qi Le wiping the “rain” off his face hehe 🤭