WP Chapter 17

Jiang Yibai had no idea what he had said wrong. Si Shaorong was a serious person, at least compared to most people his age. After being single for so many years, his experience with relationships was close to none. He had spent a long time buried in his writing, always avoiding social events and gatherings. That habit had made him especially sensitive to what others said, often without realizing it himself. And when the person speaking happened to be Jiang Yibai, that sensitivity only became stronger. He would think even more.

He figured the sudden silence on the other end was just Si Shaorong being awkward and flustered. So he did not think much of it when the call ended so abruptly. In fact, he was feeling quite pleased with himself, thinking his male god was adorably shy.

Still humming, Jiang Yibai headed over to the Silver Axis bar. It was an old place. Back when he was still in university, he had worked there part-time with his bandmates. They used to perform three nights a week and got paid after each show.

The bar’s owner could be considered a half-rich second-generation. He came from a well-off family, but there were plenty of people richer than him. Compared to ordinary people like Jiang Yibai, he had money and lived comfortably, but he was far from extravagant.

Technically, Jiang Yibai himself could be considered fairly well-off. The property, storefronts, insurance, and savings his parents had left behind meant that for the rest of his life, as long as he was only supporting himself, he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

When he was still a student, his relationship with his family had been like many other kids’. They were close, but not without distance. There had always been a gap between parents and children that could never be completely bridged. Back then, Jiang Yibai didn’t understand it. Like most kids his age, he found his parents’ constant concern and protection excessive and annoying, and he couldn’t wait to grow wings and fly away. But in recent years, he had started to understand a few things. Unfortunately, by the time he wanted to be a better son, it was already too late.

Jiang Yibai pressed the doorbell at the back entrance. There was a camera above the door. It took a while before a lazy male voice drifted down from the second-floor window.

“Who is it?”

Jiang Yibai shot back, “Your grandpa.”

“Fuck off.” The man cursed. A green light blinked on at the lock below. Jiang Yibai pushed the door open and stepped inside, walking up the black iron staircase by the entrance.

The back door was located behind the bar’s kitchen, and right past it was a spiral staircase. The house had high ceilings, and during renovations they had added a small second level. As Jiang Yibai went up, he could hear voices and the rustling of movement coming from above. His eyes gleamed, and he let out a quiet laugh. Then he stopped at the second-to-last step, folded his arms, and called out loudly.

“Li Xun! You bastard! Who are you messing around with now? What happened to that Italian boyfriend from last month?

The noise upstairs stopped for a few seconds, followed by an explosion of furious cursing.

“Fuck me, Jiang Yibai!” Footsteps pounded toward the stairwell. A man stood in the doorway, backlit by the morning sun, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. His upper body was bare. His figure was lean and strong, abs clearly defined, thigh muscles taut, every line of his body sharp like it had been carved by a knife. There was a striking beauty in the way he was built.

But the moment he opened his mouth, that beauty vanished.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? You looking to get fucked first thing in the morning?”

“Tsk.” Jiang Yibai clicked his tongue and tore off the polished, restrained act he always wore in front of Si Shaorong. “If you ever manage to fuck your grandpa, then maybe this lifetime I’ll stop being a top.”

As he spoke, he climbed the rest of the stairs in a few quick steps and shoved the man aside.

The room upstairs was small, but the sunlight was good. The curtains were open, letting in a flood of harsh morning light. The air conditioner was set low, and the cold hit Jiang Yibai hard enough to make him shiver.

On the bed in the middle of the room sat a young man with a blank expression. His skin was a deeper wheat tone, smooth and almost glossy, like a layer of oil had been rubbed over it. His chest was firm, his shoulders and back broad, and his hair stood in sharp, spiky bristles. His features were cool and sharp.

He sat there watching them, gaze sweeping over Jiang Yibai before landing on Li Xun, who had followed behind.

“Italian boyfriend?” the young man asked. His voice was bright and pleasant, perfectly clear, with no flaws in tone or rhythm.

“Shut up,” Li Xun replied without offering the slightest explanation.

Jiang Yibai let out a theatrical sigh, dragged over a chair, and sat down like he owned the place. “This one you picked up… is he even legal?”

It was not an unreasonable question. The boy looked young, his face still soft around the edges, like it had not fully matured yet.

“He’s legal.” Li Xun paused, then added, “Unless he lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie.” The young man climbed off the bed, found his pants on the floor, and pulled out his ID. “I’m nineteen. I work as an apprentice at an auto repair shop.”

Jiang Yibai widened his eyes and looked at his friend. “Shit. Eight years younger than you? Damn, you’re really outdoing yourself these days.”

“Get lost.” Li Xun rolled his eyes.

Jiang Yibai could not be bothered to comment on his friend’s private life. He shrugged. “You two done yet? What the hell did you drag me over for this early?”

“It’s about him,” Li Xun said as he grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the nightstand and tossed it to Jiang Yibai. “He wants to pick up some part-time work at the bar. I heard him sing and thought he sounded pretty good, so I figured maybe you could—”

“Hey,” Jiang Yibai immediately knew where this was going and rolled his eyes. “Your grandpa has been retired from the scene for years now. Don’t even think about it.”

“Oh, wow, look at you. What, am I supposed to beg you now?”

“Wouldn’t matter if you did,” Jiang Yibai laughed. “If he’s good, just let him sing. Why do you need me?”

“It gets boring alone,” Li Xun said. “Business hasn’t been great lately either. Every day’s the same grind…”

Jiang Yibai leaned back in the chair and looked over at the kid. “What’s your name?”

“…Zheng Youli.”

“Jiang Yibai.” Jiang pointed to himself by way of introduction, then rested his chin on one hand and said, “Let’s hear something.”

But Zheng Youli didn’t sing. He frowned slightly, as if thinking, and said, “I know you.”

Jiang Yibai didn’t respond to that. “Afraid to sing?”

“You used to perform here a few years ago, right?” Zheng Youli said. “I know you. I used to skip class and come listen to you sing.”

Jiang Yibai went quiet for a moment and turned to look at Li Xun. “What is this, your child bride? Been hiding him this whole time?”

“Get lost. I met him just yesterday.” Li Xun looked just as surprised. “You used to come here a lot? Wait a second. You’re only nineteen now. Back when Jiang Yibai was performing here… how old were you?”

“Fourteen or fifteen. I was in middle school,” Zheng Youli answered honestly.

“You—” Li Xun was speechless for a moment, then sat down and took a long drag from his cigarette. “Underage entry prohibited. You didn’t see that sign? Big bold letters, right there. You little bastard… If there had been a surprise inspection back then and they caught you, I would’ve had no way to explain it.”

Zheng Youli didn’t seem to think he had done anything wrong. He just kept looking at Jiang Yibai and asked, “You sang really well, and your guitar playing was great too. I used to come all the time just to listen. Why’d you stop coming?”

“Stopped working here, obviously. What else?” Jiang Yibai found the situation amusing. “You didn’t go to high school?”

“No. My grades were terrible.” Zheng Youli got dressed slowly, pulling on his shirt and pants, then flipped his collar in the mirror. “After middle school, my family sent me to vocational school to study auto repair. I’m interning now at the shop I got assigned to.”

“You don’t like doing that kind of work? Want to sing instead?” Jiang Yibai coughed a few times, walked over to turn off the air conditioner, and opened the window. Then he kicked Li Xun, who was still smoking beside him. “Why the hell are you smoking with the AC on? There’s still a kid in here.”

“Teacher Jiang, thanks for the lesson.” Li Xun rolled his eyes, stubbed out the cigarette, and said, “This kid sings pretty well, but he can’t play an instrument. I thought maybe you could coach him a little.”

Jiang Yibai had no interest in getting involved with something like this. He stood up, ready to leave. “He’s just a kid. Give it a few days and he’ll want to learn something else.”

“Teacher Jiang!” Zheng Youli called after him quickly. His reaction was fast, too. “I can pay tuition.”

“You’ve already got people here,” Jiang Yibai said, looking at Li Xun. “What are you trying to do, put it all on me?”

“Do I even need to say it?” Li Xun replied. “Those guys, you think they’re any good? If I hand the kid over to them… well—” he cleared his throat, “let’s just say I’m not too confident they won’t mess him up.”

Li Xun grabbed Zheng Youli by the arm, not gently at all. “Come on, sing something for your Teacher Jiang.”

And then Zheng Youli actually started to sing. The whole situation was completely absurd. There were clothes from both of them still scattered across the bed and floor, an empty condom wrapper in the trash bin, and now Li Xun was acting like some proud parent pushing his kid onstage. The hell was this circus?

But truth be told, Zheng Youli’s singing really wasn’t bad. His voice was clear and bright. He had no training, so his breathing was a mess, and there was no technique at all. From a professional standpoint, it wouldn’t pass. But to the average listener, it already sounded quite good.

“Not bad, right? With proper training, this kid has real potential,” Li Xun said proudly.

“What the hell are you proud of?” Jiang Yibai looked at him like he’d lost it. “Is this your illegitimate son or something?”

“Fuck off.”

Jiang Yibai didn’t agree to “come out of retirement,” but taking on a student was another matter. Of course, tuition had to be paid in full. Even between brothers, business was business. If you signed up under Jiang Yibai’s name, there were no discounts.

After leaving the bar, Jiang Yibai went to the market to buy groceries. When he got home, he could already hear the rapid clacking of keyboard keys coming from the guest room. The rhythm was fast and steady. Clearly, his male god was in the zone, and it wasn’t the right time to disturb him.

So Jiang Yibai changed his shoes quietly, carried the groceries into the kitchen, and started thinking about what to make for lunch and dinner.

While putting everything away, he reached for a can of beer and took out some watermelon, planning to juice it. As he turned around, he noticed a shadow in the doorway. It startled him so badly that he almost threw the watermelon by reflex.

Thankfully, he quickly realized it was Si Shaorong.

“You scared me,” Jiang Yibai let out a breath and looked at the silent man standing at the door. “Did you come out to use the bathroom?”

Si Shaorong glanced at the things in his hands and said, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it? Can’t figure out the romance scene again?” Jiang Yibai laughed and set his things down before walking over to the door. He reached out to take his boyfriend’s hand, but Si Shaorong pulled away.

Jiang Yibai paused.

Si Shaorong looked a little uneasy, but his gaze stayed locked on Jiang Yibai. He asked, “When someone tries to ‘coax’ their partner into feeling happy, what kind of emotion is behind that?”

“…Huh?” Jiang Yibai blinked.

Si Shaorong was not the type to beat around the bush. He said directly, “This morning, you said sweet talk is used to coax one’s partner into feeling happy. So what exactly is the emotion behind that word ‘coax’? Is it perfunctory? Or is it deceptive?”

Jiang Yibai fell silent. For a moment, he felt like he had been transported back to his school days, faced with one of those reading comprehension questions: ‘The passage mentions that it is raining outside the window. What emotion is the author trying to express?’

He swallowed and studied Si Shaorong’s face carefully. But Si Shaorong’s expression was always hard to read, especially when he was wearing that neutral look. It was impossible to tell if he was angry or simply serious. Jiang Yibai was completely at a loss.

“It’s not either of those,” Jiang Yibai said quickly, survival instincts kicking in. “It’s more like… a kind of fondness. It comes from genuinely wanting to make the person you love feel good.”

“You said you don’t look at other men. “In that context, doesn’t ‘coax’ sound like a lie?”

Jiang Yibai fell silent again.

Then his eyes shifted slightly. He changed the subject without missing a beat and put on a wounded look. “Ge, that’s not fair. I was teaching you.”

Si Shaorong was caught off guard by the pitiful look on Jiang Yibai’s face.

Jiang Yibai continued, “When I said I don’t look at other men because you’re around, I meant that seriously. How could that be a lie? You’re really being too harsh here. All I was trying to do was tell you that a little sweet talk in a relationship can help build intimacy. And see, this is exactly why your romance writing doesn’t work. You even overanalyze the wording. If you wrote a scene like this, readers would definitely scold you for it.”

Hearing that, Si Shaorong began to feel like he had overreacted. Even without any dating experience, that kind of questioning did seem a bit over the top. It made him feel like he lacked a certain level of composure.

Si Shaorong’s mind was stuck on one sentence, With you around, how could I look at anyone else? How would that be a lie?

His face turned pale, then red, back and forth. After a long pause, he awkwardly said, “S-sorry. You’re right. Um, did you want to make juice? I can help.”

Jiang Yibai quietly let out a breath of relief. “Then help me peel the fruit. I need to use the bathroom.”

Once inside, he sat down on the toilet lid and spaced out for a while.

What just happened? Did his male god seriously overanalyze the situation? But how could he have misread it that badly? Unless…

No, impossible. Jiang Yibai rubbed his forehead, realizing he was starting to get thrown off himself. Si Shaorong just had a habit of picking apart words, and with no real relationship experience, a little confusion was understandable.

No, wait. Was it really?

Would a normal person fixate on something like that?

Only now did Jiang Yibai fully grasp what it meant for his male god to be “serious.” And in that moment, he suddenly felt a twinge of regret. This whole “material-gathering relationship” idea might just be the dumbest decision he had ever made in his life. No exaggeration.