Chapter 31

“Brother, weren’t you guys going to Chengdu to have fun?” Rongrong asked with a smile.

Yang Zhiyuan got out of the car, took out a cigarette case, and offered them around. “Traffic was bad, so we didn’t go.”

Yang Zhiyuan handed a cigarette to Zheng Jie, who quickly waved his hand. “I don’t smoke anymore—quit.” When he offered one to Lin Ze, he also declined.

“A’Ze, long time no see,” Yang Zhiyuan chuckled.

“Brother Zhiyuan, hello,” Lin Ze replied casually with a smile.

Situ Ye held up his DSLR and snapped a photo of Lin Ze. Lin Ze glanced up and noticed Situ Ye looked like a lonely child standing in the frame, with wisps of white mist and verdant fields behind him.

Zheng Jie suggested they go fishing, so the group followed him toward the back of the mountain to find a pond. Zheng Jie walked with Rongrong, Yang Zhiyuan paired up with Situ Ye, while Lin Ze strolled alone at the back of the group, hands in his pockets.

“Right, A’Ze?” Yang Zhiyuan turned back to ask.

“What?” Lin Ze hadn’t been listening at all.

Situ Ye stopped to wait, but Lin Ze waved him off. “You guys go ahead.”

“See? He’s angry,” Situ Ye said from the front.

“Why?” Yang Zhiyuan asked.

“No idea. He’s been like this for days now.”

Lin Ze felt both furious and amused—Situ Ye was really good at shifting blame. But he had always been well-mannered, so he let it go, waiting to see what else Situ Ye had planned after dragging Yang Zhiyuan along.

When they were kids, this area had been a bare mountain slope. Now, it was a countryside resort. The fishpond was full of fry, so fishing was out of the question. Zheng Jie suggested playing mahjong instead while waiting for lunch.

Five people, one mahjong table. Lin Ze had assumed Rongrong would sit next to Zheng Jie, but as soon as she saw the mahjong tiles, her eyes lit up, and she quickly claimed a seat.

Lin Ze laughed. “I won’t play. I’ll take a walk. You four can play.”

Yang Zhiyuan chuckled. “Zheng Jie, you and my little sister should sit across from each other.”

“I don’t know how to play,” Situ Ye said. “You guys go ahead. If you leave, A’Ze, we’ll be short a player.”

The group shuffled the tiles noisily, and Lin Ze had no choice but to sit down, muttering, “…Traveling all over the place, and you don’t even know how to play mahjong to keep your Brother Yang company?”

The four at the table burst into laughter.

“East Wind,” Yang Zhiyuan played a tile. “Are we playing ‘Fight to the Last Blood’?”

“Fight to the last, sure,” Zheng Jie replied.

Situ Ye pulled up a chair and sat behind Lin Ze. Lin Ze glanced at him, but he stayed silent.

Letting it go, Lin Ze leaned back in his chair. “Let the boss teach you. Watch closely.”

“Mm.”

Lin Ze explained the rules of mahjong. When Zheng Jie played a tile, Lin Ze immediately declared, “Pong!”

“You can’t pong that one,” Situ Ye said. “You should play this one instead.”

The group erupted in laughter. Lin Ze was utterly speechless.

Situ Ye picked up a tile, showed it to Lin Ze, swapped it out, then played it. “Now you’re waiting for the winning tile.” He pushed the tiles toward himself. “You can win on either end. Just wait for a self-draw.”

Lin Ze: “…”

Zheng Jie laughed until tears came to his eyes.

Lin Ze was fuming from being outplayed. “This tile’s about to be the last one left. You should’ve swapped for another…”

“They’re playing nines of characters, so you can win with eights!” Yang Zhiyuan chimed in.

Zheng Jie and Rongrong burst out laughing again.

“No, this one’s definitely coming up!” Situ Ye insisted.

Lin Ze roared, “What’s it to you?! Can’t I even play mahjong without you interfering?! Didn’t you say you didn’t know how? Play it yourself if you’re so good!”

Situ Ye: “You can’t just play randomly like this…”

Lin Ze: “I was the mahjong champion of my entire grade! You—”

Situ Ye: “You can’t play this one…”

Lin Ze: “Let go!”

The two fought over a tile. Lin Ze wanted to kick Situ Ye away. Situ Ye protested, “Yang Zhiyuan can win with this one!”

Lin Ze: “Let him win, then!” He threw down the tile in his hand. Just as Yang Zhiyuan was about to claim victory, Situ Ye interjected, “No, no! We can keep this one and still win.” He played a red dragon instead.

“Kong!” Rongrong immediately laughed. Lin Ze was practically seething. After drawing from the kong, Rongrong grinned. “Hahaha, kong on a kong—I win!”

Situ Ye: “…”

Lin Ze: “…”

Lin Ze was speechless for a long moment. Situ Ye’s face flushed red, and he stood up and walked away.

What a lunatic, Lin Ze thought. With one person gone, the remaining three continued playing. Before long, Lin Ze was dead last—everyone else had won. Lin Ze absentmindedly shuffled the tiles. “A thousand cuts to the loser. I won’t win the first three rounds. Keep going.”

Yang Zhiyuan looked at him with amusement. Once the tiles were shuffled, he asked, “A’Ze, how long have you known Xiao Ye?”

“Not long. One of circles,” Lin Ze played a tile. “A little over six months.”

Yang Zhiyuan nodded. “Cherish it. It’s not easy to be together.”

Lin Ze frowned slightly. Zheng Jie craned his neck to peek at Rongrong’s tiles. Rongrong snapped, “What are you doing?!”

Zheng Jie chuckled. “Just trying to give you the tiles you need. Here, want this one?”

Rongrong eyed the tile he played—she wanted it but was also annoyed. In the end, she took it. Zheng Jie played another, grinning. “Go ahead and win.”

Rongrong huffed, “I’ll draw my own. I don’t need yours.”

Lin Ze was distracted and asked offhandedly, “Brother Zhiyuan, aren’t you in a relationship?”

Lin Ze was used to dealing with people like Yang Zhiyuan, so his words carried a double meaning—both probing his relationship with Situ Ye and questioning his true stance. Yang Zhiyuan fell silent, seemingly studying his tiles but also thinking about how to answer.

Rongrong smiled. “My brother’s getting married.”

Yang Zhiyuan shot her a reproachful look. Rongrong smiled without another word. Lin Ze’s eyebrows twitched—he knew there was a lot of information packed into that statement. It also explained why Li Yanru had called to warn Yang Zhiyuan. It might be a sham marriage, a lavender marriage, or even a marriage to a man. There was even a chance he planned to take Situ Ye abroad to marry him.

For someone as wealthy as Yang Zhiyuan, these weren’t difficult hurdles. He could hire a surrogate, stage a fake wedding, and even if it was just for show without a marriage certificate, as long as he had a child to bring home eventually, it would suffice.

“Xiao Ye, he…” Yang Zhiyuan smiled. “His feelings are complicated. Try to be good to him if you can. I think he really loves you. What do you think, A’Ze?”

“Yeah, I think he really loves me too,” Lin Ze replied indifferently. His own feelings were tangled. That his love life had to be relayed through a third party was a first for him. Yet Yang Zhiyuan’s few words seemed to carry even more hidden meaning.

As Lin Ze drew tiles, his mind raced through countless thoughts. Had Situ Ye asked Yang Zhiyuan to bring him back today? What was this guy thinking, acting like a girl? Right—they’d planned to go to Chengdu but didn’t. Situ Ye must’ve been unable to let go and wanted to come find him.

Was Situ already this attached to him? The moment Lin Ze realized this, his anger vanished. He looked at Yang Zhiyuan, who smiled knowingly and played a tile. The two of them understood each other without words.

So Situ Ye really did just see Yang Zhiyuan as a playmate—and a friend to confide in about his troubles. Lin Ze could almost imagine how Situ Ye usually vented his frustrations to Yang Zhiyuan.

“He said he wants to stay for you,” Yang Zhiyuan offered. “But maybe because he hasn’t had a stable job or interacted much with people in society, his emotional maturity is lacking. He’s insecure, so he feels like you don’t care much about him. He’s also afraid of being a burden and making you dislike him.”

I actually like him too… Lin Ze thought, then said aloud, “Eight of characters.”

Zheng Jie: “Playing another eight? You’ve got a death wish.”

“You want it?” Lin Ze teased, waving the tile. “Just say so if you do. How am I supposed to know if you don’t tell me…”

He played the tile, but it was Yang Zhiyuan who won. Lin Ze grew more restless and stood up. “Excuse me for a bit. Keep playing.”

He put on his jacket and headed toward the pond to find Situ Ye. Behind the resort was a bamboo grove with a horizontal bar. Situ Ye was hanging upside down from it, his head toward the ground. Lin Ze approached him, upside-down in his vision, and asked, “What’s wrong with you now?”

Situ Ye muttered, “You’re blocking my view.”

Lin Ze: “Are you trying to be Hanazawa Rui?”

Situ Ye: “Hmm, do you like that type?”

Lin Ze: “You’re not in love with me, are you?”

Situ Ye: “Boss, don’t flatter yourself…”

Lin Ze: “Actually, you’re just using me, right?”

Situ Ye: “…”

Lin Ze sneered. “You used me to get a job, and now you’re using Yang Zhiyuan to latch onto someone with a car and a house…”

Situ Ye exploded, “Motherfucker!”

Lin Ze roared, “Come on then! Come at me!”

Situ Ye jumped off the bar, grabbed Lin Ze, and with reddened eyes, tried to shove him into the water. Lin Ze flipped him onto the ground and pinned him. Situ Ye panted like an enraged rooster as the two wrestled on the grass by the pond, their clothes covered in dried mud. Situ Ye flipped Lin Ze over, but Lin Ze kicked him down and straddled him, raising a fist—only to bring his lips down instead.

Situ Ye reflexively shut his eyes but felt Lin Ze’s lips press against his.

The world fell silent except for scattered birdsong. Situ Ye had never kissed before—his lips were sealed shut, frozen. When Lin Ze’s tongue licked at them, Situ Ye tensed, but Lin Ze didn’t hold back, slipping his tongue past Situ Ye’s teeth.

Situ Ye instinctively tried to push Lin Ze away, but once the kiss deepened, Lin Ze gentled, their lips and tongues entwining. Situ Ye’s breathing grew ragged. Lin Ze closed his eyes, thinking only one thing—Situ Ye’s tongue is so soft…

When they parted, Situ Ye bent one leg awkwardly, trying to hide his reaction. Lin Ze exhaled, his own arousal evident as he stood. Situ Ye couldn’t suppress a grin, his expression full of embarrassment as he avoided Lin Ze’s gaze. “You…”

“If I kissed you, I’ll take responsibility,” Lin Ze said, pulling Situ Ye up and dusting off his clothes.

Situ Ye: “But I don’t want to take responsibility for you. I can’t afford to.”

Lin Ze: “Whatever. I’ve confessed. Whether you’re with me or not is your choice. I’ve never liked interfering with my subordinates’ decisions.”

Situ Ye: “…”

Lin Ze chuckled to himself and headed back to the resort. Situ Ye chased after him. Zheng Jie, Rongrong, and Yang Zhiyuan were playing mahjong with one seat empty. Lin Ze sat back down, and the four resumed the game while Situ Ye sat alone, lost in thought, watching Lin Ze’s tiles.