The landline rang in the living room, constant and unremitting, a phantasmal sound filling his ears.

Tao Ran covered his head with a pillow and repeatedly changed sleeping positions, but still couldn’t block out the grating sound. He let out a desperate shout, then got up from the bed to answer the phone call from some unknown grandson.¹

Mint, who was sleeping on the sofa, was also awakened by the phone. It jumped up, surprised by the sound, and ran away with a harsh meow.

When Tao Ran and Xu Ziyang first moved into the house, Xu Ziyang said with a smile that he had to pick a landline phone with a loud ringtone and put it in the living room. When he wasn’t at home, he would call Tao Ran every morning to wake him up.

Because of this, even if Tao Ran absolutely loathed this landline that always disturbed his dreams, he still didn’t get rid of it.

The caller was his best bro, Yang Yangyang, known as Lao Yang²–to tell the truth, Tao Ran never understood what Lao Yang’s parents were thinking to give their son such a messed up name.

Lao Yang said there wasn’t anything important. Only that he just returned to China, so he wanted to meet up that night.

Tao Ran gave him a vicious scolding. He had a bad temper, and upon waking, his temper was even worse. Lao Yang had long expected that he would get yelled out, and he wasn’t annoyed at all.

He happily waited for Tao Ran to shout himself awake, before calmly setting a time and hanging up.

Tao Ran: “…”

He stepped barefoot onto the sofa, and after staring into space for a while, he finally came to his senses. After realizing what he had just done, he ruffled his hair irritably, feeling very frustrated.

He took out his mobile phone, hesitated for a moment, and opened WeChat anyway.

Tao: Just now, Lao Yang called me to ask me to go out and meet up with him tonight. I was sleeping when he woke me up, and I gave him a fierce scolding.

Tao: Lao Yang didn’t get angry, but I feel quite guilty now.

Tao: I can’t control my temper, but I’m really trying to change.

Tao: And besides, I think I’m much better than I used to be. Really.

He bit his lip and watched as these messages were sent. He waited for a long time, but did not receive a reply.

He thought about it and sent another message to Lao Yang.

Tao: Well, I’m sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night, so earlier my tone wasn’t good. Don’t take it to heart.

Lao Yang responded quickly, still cheerful: Haha, we’re all bros, what’s the point of being so polite.

Tao Ran couldn’t help but chuckle.

When he went to work, he was still thinking about the messages he sent, but after lunch, the other party still hadn’t responded.

…very angry.

Tao Ran wanted to lose his temper again.

He suppressed the annoyance in his heart, got up and went to the tea room to make some tea, but unexpectedly heard several colleagues gossiping about him.

“Tao Ran? Don’t even think about chasing him. He doesn’t like girls. He’s gay. He came out publicly, and everyone in the company knows.”

“…Ah? Really, really?”

“Huh, so unrestrained? He’s not afraid?”

“What is he afraid of? In the past, a man in the sales department said a few words to him, and he scolded him so hard that even his mother couldn’t recognize him, afterward.”

“But if his personality is this bad, so what if he’s handsome and has a good family background? See, no one wants him in the end. I heard his boyfriend went abroad to dump him. He definitely couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“So it’s like that…”

Tao Ran didn’t react when he listened to the first part. He dared to come out of the closet because he was mentally prepared to be criticized.

It was the part at the end that he couldn’t bear to hear. It was like taking a knife and stabbing him in the heart.

For a moment, he really wanted to walk over, pour tea on their faces, and personally teach them how to act like humans.

But he held back.

He didn’t want them to say, “With such a bad personality, no one could stand it. He deserved to get dumped.”

…even though that was absolutely the truth.

Well, how should one put it? Strictly speaking, Tao Ran wasn’t just bad tempered. He was also delicate³, unable to bear any hardship, unable to stand the slightest grievance, and just a small thing would make him explode.

Tao Ran was fortunate in the first half of his life.

He had rich parents, the kind who spoiled their children. He was spoiled into a mess since childhood. By the time he got to university, he had never washed his own clothes or stepped into the kitchen.

Even while cleaning the dorm room, when it was his turn for the first time, he actually got calluses and blisters on his hands from mopping the floor and wiping the table.

That’s how tender this young master’s⁴ skin was.

Xu Ziyang and Lao Yang were his roommates.

They were amazed after watching him for two hours, stumbling around trying to clean the dorm. After that, they couldn’t help but take care of this mentally incompetent lifeform.

Later on, Lao Yang became bros with Xu Ziyang and him, and Xu Ziyang… became his ex-boyfriend.

At that time, Tao Ran was full of courage, the wildest dog under the sun.⁵

After he fell in love with Xu Ziyang, he was confused for two days, and then he started a vigorous pursuit, the kind that became infamous throughout the entire school.

You have to acknowledge that low EQ has the benefits of low EQ. He pursued Xu Ziyang because he wanted to, completely disregarding everything from the outside world.

As for the scorn of other people, the gossiping of teachers and students, and the future… What was that? Was it good to eat?

Xu Ziyang also went from initial resistance, to restlessness, to calm, to being moved, to nodding.

To get to this step, Tao Ran grinded for exactly four years, from the beginning of the first semester of freshman year to their senior year graduation.

Tao Ran would never forget the day of the graduation ceremony. They were wearing graduation gowns, and Xu Ziyang was standing by the school’s lake. He looked elegant and handsome.

When he thought about how they would soon become ships passing in the night, he became so sad that he didn’t even want to walk.

However, he still hyped himself up and stood in front of Xu Ziyang, saying fiercely, “Xu Ziyang, your father⁶ has chased you for four years. Do you dare to do it? Say it to me straight!”

Xu Ziyang raised an eyebrow, “What if I don’t agree?”

Tao Ran felt the sky was about to collapse, but he still nodded bravely, pretending to be well-mannered and saying, “Okay, then.”

Then he was too scared to look at Xu Ziyang again and turned to walk away.

As soon as he turned around, tears began dripping down. Behind him was Xu Ziyang. He didn’t dare to make any noise, so he could only endure it until he was about to suffer internal injuries⁷.

As a result, Xu Ziyang caught up to him and grabbed him. His voice had a rare hint of anxiety. “Why are you leaving? Before I even finished speaking, you already… you’re crying?”

With a frustrated look on his face, Xu Ziyang pressed his head onto his shoulder, patting his back and coaxing gently, “Don’t cry… You’re usually so fierce, how come at the critical moment, you became a little crybaby?”

Tao Ran was both angry and aggrieved, “Xu Ziyang, be reasonable, when did I ever hurt⁸ you? I can’t even cry after you reject me?”

“It’s really…” Xu Ziyang said in frustration, “I’ve lost to you.”

Then he lowered his head and gently kissed Tao Ran’s tear-streaked cheek, “I agree–don’t cry, okay? Your crying pains me so much.”

His tone was so light and his expression so soft that Tao Ran looked at him stupidly, even forgetting to cry. Then this scene was deeply carved in his heart.

Every hour, every minute, every second, it had not been forgotten.

Even up until now.

...*****...

Notes:

[1] It’s an insult to call someone a “grandson” in Chinese unless they are actually your grandson or in that generation.

[2] Lao means “old”. It’s a common way to casually address men you’re acquainted with.

[3] A hothouse flower, someone squeamish and unable to bear anything.

[4] 少爷 (shào ye): The young master of the house, the son of the master. If the household has multiple sons, and some or all of them are adults, then it’s common that the most incompetent, spoiled, and youngest son gets this title, so it is shorthand for the spoiled child of a rich family. It’s basically the male version of an ojou-sama.

[5] 日天日地日空气 (lit: “f*** (the) sky f*** (the) earth f*** (the) air): Searched around and this seems to be a meme about a teddy dog famous on the internet, called 泰日天 (Tai Ritian). 日 means “sun” but it’s also a vulgar word meaning “to have s*xual int*****rse”. Apparently teddy dogs hump everything, so this phrase means being very domineering, but in a mocking way.

[6] 老子 (“lǎozi”): Slang meaning “your father”. It’s a rude and aggressive form of self-address.

[7] Comes from the belief that you can get internal injuries from holding back strong emotions. Or if you’re in a wuxia / xianxia story, if you don’t spit out a mouthful of blood.

[8] 凶 (lit: “murder, hurt”): An extremely bad / wicked death, like premature death, murder, violence, famine, or human sacrifice. I couldn’t think of a good way to get the tone across.

Tao Ran was a little absent-minded the whole day. He was thinking about those messages and couldn’t resist checking repeatedly to see if the other party had replied to him.

He waited and waited, until he was about to get off work, when he finally got a message.

[Mmm, okay.]

Tao Ran played cute — he was still very confident about his appearance. Pretending to be relaxed but actually anxious, he asked: If I change, will you forgive me?

But there was no reply.

Tao Ran bit his lip, thinking inside, how could Xu Ziyang be so cruel. He chased him for four years, the two were together for five years, and they had been separated for two years.

Now, he was already a grown man in his thirties. He was already lowering his head and groveling like this, but Xu Ziyang was still ignoring him.

He was so upset that he didn’t want to say anything, just thinking in his heart, but I really have changed ah.

In the evening, when he met up with Lao Yang, the topic somehow turned to Xu Ziyang. He pretended to ask unintentionally, “While you were abroad, did you see Da Yang? Is he doing well?”

Since both Yang Yangyang and Xu Ziyang had a Yang in their name, one was called Lao Yang and the other was called Da Yang¹.

Xu Ziyang went abroad when they broke up, and hadn’t returned since. Tao Ran’s relationship with Xu Ziyang was official. He even went to the Xu family and begged Mother Xu to tell him where Xu Ziyang was.

But it was as if everyone had already made an agreement to not tell him.

Lao Yang smiled awkwardly. “He’s good. He’s living a nice life now, and when he’s free, he’ll take a walk or have a drink. And he has a bunch of friends now, pretty unfettered.”

“Then… Does he have a girlfriend? I send him messages but he doesn’t really respond to me.”

At that time, Xu Ziyang broke up with him for two reasons. One was that he was too squeamish and had a bad temper.

The other was that Xu Ziyang realized gradually that he still liked girls, and there was no way he could continue to stay together with a man.

Hearing this, Lao Yang frowned, thought for a moment, and then replied, “I don’t think so. I haven’t heard him mention it.”

He sighed, “It’s been several years, and you still can’t let go of Da Yang. You know him better than me. Once he makes up his mind, he won’t go back on it. Aye, don’t be so stubborn.”²

Tao Ran pouted, “I’ll try my best.”

That night, except for the part about Xu Ziyang, they had a great chat, extending their outing several times. Tao Ran was the kind of person who liked to share the fun.

Whenever he encountered something fun or something good to eat, he would send it to Xu Ziyang to show off.³

After breaking up, he restrained himself a lot, but he had drunk too much today. In a haze, he typed out a lot of messages, syllable by syllable, telling Xu Ziyang how happy he was.

In the chaos, he pushed Lao Yang, who was also very drunk, “Your mobile phone has been vibrating… Did you get a boyfriend?”

Lao Yang slapped the back of his head, “What boyfriend, get your head out of the gutter.”

Tao Ran was already in a daze, giggling while hugging the wine bottle.

The next day was the weekend, and Tao Ran got up with a hangover, planning to do a deep clean. This house was his and Xu Ziyang’s, so he had to take good care of it.

After they got together, their parents bought a house for the two of them, paying in full, with their names on the deed.

Tao Ran was very happy, and dragged Xu Ziyang to decorate their new home with great enthusiasm. Every brick and tile here was a masterpiece of the two of them.

After breaking up, Tao Ran packed up and moved away in tears. Then Mother Xu called and said the house had been transferred to him, telling him to live here without worry.

Tao Ran had lost his parents at that time, so you could say he was homeless. He felt incredibly uncomfortable, feeling that Mother Xu was using the house to get rid of him.

But in the end, he still couldn’t resist the temptation of “the house where he and Xu Ziyang once lived together”, so he thickened his face and stayed.

He cherished this “home” very much.

Cleaning started with the kitchen.

Tao Ran pinched his nose, and washed the dishes that had piled up for two days, saying to himself, “I really hate washing dishes…”

Mint came out from who knows where, and circling his feet, mewed cutely. Tao Ran squatted down and scratched its chin, and it gave the slave⁴ a satisfied kiss.

By the time Tao Ran cleaned up the house, it was already afternoon. He changed his clothes and went out. The destination was Xu Ziyang’s parents’ house.

Back when they had just broken up, he would go there almost two or three times a week, begging Mother and Father Xu to let him meet Xu Ziyang, begging them to tell him about Xu Ziyang, and begging them to put in a few good words so Xu Ziyang would get back together with him.

But Father Xu would only sigh. Mother Xu would cry along with him, but she would just repeat one sentence to death, Ziyang doesn’t want to be with you anymore, there’s nothing we can do, nothing I say will help.

Tao Ran couldn’t understand to this day.

Obviously Mother and Father Xu had accepted him, and they treated him so well, saying that he was their second son.

Yet after breaking up, how could they harden their hearts like this? No matter how much he begged, it was useless.

When Tao Ran came to the Xu house, Mother Xu was watching TV and Father Xu was not there. Seeing him coming, Mother Xu greeted with a smile, “Tao Tao is here.”

Tao Ran, diminutive Tao Tao.⁵

Tao Ran put down the fruits⁶ he was carrying, took off his shoes and went inside, calling out naturally, “Mom.”

Mother Xu responded vaguely and chatted with him.

The topic returned to Xu Ziyang, and Tao Ran, beating around the bush, tried to find out when Xu Ziyang would come back from abroad.

Mother Xu sighed, “Tao Tao, I know you have grievances against us in your heart, but I still have to thicken my face to say something. I truly want the best for you.”

She patted the back of Tao Ran’s hand, “Ziyang doesn’t want us to tell you where he is. As a mother, I also feel that he is too callous, and he’s not worthy of you. Good child, you are still young, so hurry up and find someone else. Come on, don’t let Ziyang delay you.”

Tao Ran pursed his lips and didn’t speak for a long time. The two were silent for a long moment before he asked, “I’ll just ask, Xu Ziyang… is he still single now?”

Mother Xu looked at him, her eyes flashing unbearably. After a moment of hesitation, she finally nodded.

Tao Ran smiled, as if satisfied. “That’s good.”

No matter how hard he chased after him, he still had his own pride. If Xu Ziyang had a new love, he would definitely turn his head and leave without continuing to bother him.

“You…” Mother Xu hesitated.

She wanted Tao Ran to visit less, not because she disliked him, but to let him get rid of the past as soon as possible and start a new life.

Tao Ran knew what she wanted to say, so he reached out and hugged her, comforting her instead, “I know… I will try my best to let him go. But Mom, I recognized you as my godmother.⁷ Since my parents left, you and my godfather have been my only family. Even though I broke up with Xu Ziyang, I will never forget the kindness you treated me with.”

Mother Xu’s eyes moistened when she heard those words. She patted Tao Ran on the back, and scolded her son through gritted teeth, “What kind of evil did Ziyang create…”

On the way home, he sent Xu Ziyang a message.

Tao: I went to our mother’s house.

Tao: She was scolding you.

Tao: Lao Yang was also scolding you last night.

Tao: Everyone is on my side, so I’m very good. You are really blind.

As usual, Xu Ziyang did not reply to him.

Xu Ziyang was always like this. Once he made a decision, there was no room left for compromise with other people.

After they got together that year, he told Tao Ran that he had already been moved by second year, then spent a year observing Tao Ran’s determination, then another year dealing with friends and family.

So, by fourth year, everyone thought they were already together. Only Tao Ran was still stupidly chasing him.

As soon as they graduated, Xu Ziyang met the parents resolutely, officially came out of the closet, bought a house, and began to live with him.

Tao Ran was stunned the whole time, overwhelmed by the pie that hit him in the head and at a loss.

Later, when they broke up, it was the same. Xu Ziyang gradually became indifferent to him.

First, he didn’t sleep with him, then he didn’t eat with him, then he didn’t communicate with him.

Finally, Tao Ran couldn’t bear it and had a huge fight with him.

Xu Ziyang immediately broke up with him, and before Tao Ran realized what had happened, he simply left the country and never came back.

In order to prevent him from harassing him, Xu Ziyang also blacklisted all his contact information. In the end, after using the carrot and stick, Tao Ran finally got him to leave one WeChat account, and he basically did not reply.

He was always passively bearing it, bearing Xu Ziyang’s love, bearing Xu Ziyang’s indifference, without the slightest ability to resist.

He didn’t even dare to think about these things. Once he remembered them even a little, Tao Ran would be so sad that he couldn’t breathe.

...*****...

Notes :

[1] Yang Yangyang’s nickname is “Old Yang”, and Xu Ziyang’s nickname is “Big Yang”.

[2] The word he uses is 轴 (lit: “axle”). It’s Beijing slang meaning someone who is inflexible, dogmatic, overly sincere, and difficult to change.

[3] The phrase he uses is “献宝” (lit: “offering treasures”) which seems to come off from a Yangzhou phrase “波斯献宝” (lit: “Persians offering treasures”), which is a sarcastic way of saying that you’re showing off something which is only valuable to yourself.

[4] It’s a Chinese internet meme that cat owners are poop-shoveling slaves.

[5] A cutesy pet name that is generally used by parents or family members for children. In this context, it means Tao Ran is very close to his in-laws.

In the north, it’s typically a character of your name repeated twice, or Xiao (little) + a character of your name.

In the south, it’s typically A + a character of your name. For the first type (a character repeated twice), sometimes an arbitrary character is used.

[6] Fruits are a typical guest-gift in East Asian cultures.

[7] 干妈 is typically translated as “godmother”, but to my knowledge, it has nothing to do with Christianity.

When he got home, the house he had worked so hard to clean was a mess. Tissues had flown all over the place. His beloved fruit bowl couldn’t be saved, shattered in pieces all over the wood floor.

And the culprit was lying comfortably on the sofa, chewing on a cushion.

Tao Ran’s eyes darkened, and he said sharply, “Mint!”

Before Mint could react, he pressed it down and said, “You did all this?” Saying this was a waste of time. Tao Ran was already so pissed that he was dizzy.

Seeing the mess on the ground, he reached out and hit Mint twice. “Why are you so naughty!”

Mint let out a “meow”, backhanded Tao Ran with a paw, and rushed out. He held down his scratched hand and thought bitterly, as expected of a cat raised by Xu Ziyang, as heartless as its owner.

There was a long wound where he had been scratched, and blood soon oozed out. Tao Ran endured the pain and squatted down to clean up the mess.

This fruit plate was bought by Xu Ziyang. At that time, Tao Ran fell in love with it as soon as he saw it, but then they had just graduated, and they were furnishing the house.

The fruit bowl cost more than 4,000 yuan. Tao Ran, who was typically extravagant, hesitated and wasn’t willing to buy it.

But Xu Ziyang took it home. Tao Ran was very happy that day. He jumped on him, hanging on the man, excited and laughing stupidly.

Xu Ziyang stroked his hair and said softly, I won’t let you suffer any grievances.

So he really didn’t suffer any grievances.

Xu Ziyang practically held him in the palm of his hand, pampering him like a son. Sometimes Tao Ran felt that he was being spoiled into a mess, but Xu Ziyang just kissed his face and said, I just like to see you acting cute.¹

Without thinking too much, he accepted this unconditional pampering love.

Later, Tao Ran’s parents died suddenly. Tao Ran almost fainted from crying, lying in Xu Ziyang’s arms, choked with sobs and asking if the heavens couldn’t stand how coddled he was, and wanted to punish him with his parents.

Xu Ziyang was so distressed that his eyes were red. He hugged Tao Ran and said over and over again, you still have me, I will not leave you, I will never leave you.

…Liar.

Tao Ran pursed his lips tightly. He was already thirty, not that innocent and tender little zero² now. No one felt sorry for his tears, he could not cry.

But still very upset.

Tao Ran stood up and tried to get the broom, but he didn’t pay attention, slipping and falling on the broken glass all over the floor.

…it hurts.

He was stunned by the fall, and it took him a long time to get up. However, his legs hurt so much that he couldn’t stand up.

On his hands and on his legs, he was cut up all over, and bleeding. It hurt too much to speak, but he was thinking that he was really a failure at doing housework.

Seeing this scene, Mint, who had hidden far away, ran out anxiously, circling around his feet and crying out repeatedly, trying to come up and lick his wounds.

Seeing Mint’s anxious appearance, Tao Ran’s tears suddenly fell.

Yes, he still had Mint.

He sat in the broken glass, carefully holding Mint in his arms. Master Mint, who usually refused to be hugged, was unusually quiet at this time. He put his paws on Tao Ran’s shoulders, leaned over, touched together the tips of their noses, and licked the tears on his face lightly.

Tao Ran’s mood suddenly collapsed.

He hugged his and Xu Ziyang’s cat tightly and wept bitterly.

“Dad…Mom…I miss you so much…”

It turned out that no matter how old a person was or how strong he looked, when he was sad, the first thing that came to his mind was his parents.

Mint was very distressed, and licked his face and fingers over and over again. Even though Tao Ran’s embrace was very uncomfortable, it didn’t leave.

After crying, he felt strangely calm. After treating his wounds, feeding Mint, and cleaning the floor, he called Lao Yang and said he wanted to meet tomorrow, and Lao Yang agreed.

As soon as they met up, Tao Ran said, straight to the point, “I plan to break up with Xu Ziyang completely, but I can’t get in touch with him. You let him know, ok.”

Lao Yang was stunned for a moment, “Didn’t you guys break up long ago… Break up… Then what, just break up… What’s the point of saying it again.”

Tao Ran pressed his forehead, “Besides not getting a certificate, we were basically no different from married. All our property was shared. Back then, he said to break up and broke up, and just got up and left by himself. I still had delusions, so I stayed all this time. But he’s been gone for three years, and hasn’t returned to the country once. It’s almost as if he’s avoiding me like a poisonous scorpion. Since this is the case…”

He raised the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, “Then what else am I fantasizing about?”

As he spoke, he took out a pile of documents from his briefcase and put them in front of Lao Yang, “Cash, real estate, car… What should be his is his, I don’t want to get any more. You go out this time, and give these things to him and ask him to sign, especially the house. At that time, he directly transferred the property to me, but he paid half of the money for the purchase and the renovation. Ask him if he wants to live in it. If not, I’ll sell the house, and wire him the money when the time comes.”

Lao Yang frowned, “If you sell the house, where will you live?”

Tao Ran looked away and deliberately understated, “I’ll just buy another one.”

Although his parents died unexpectedly, the family property is still there and he has money. It’s just that he didn’t dare to move into the house he grew up in, that he lived in since he was a child.

It was full of memories of his parents, and he was afraid that he would collapse.

Old Yang frowned more and more, “Da Yang said it directly when he went abroad, he would give you everything he left in the country. You know his temper. He seems to be good-natured, but he is actually more stubborn than anyone else — He definitely won’t take it. You guys don’t lack these things, keep it, it’s not good to push it around.”

Tao Ran sat there stubbornly, showing a defiant air.

Lao Yang had a headache, wanting to push the balloon out and ask him to go talk to Da Yang’s parents.

Tao Ran suddenly became annoyed, “Why are you being like this, don’t you meet often? If it wasn’t you refusing to give me his contact information, I’d have done it myself long ago — it’s not murder and arson, why is it so difficult to get you to say something to him?”

Lao Yang had a good temper. In the past two years, maybe it was because he sympathized with this abandoned wife or something, but he was extremely tolerant in front of him.

For a while, Tao Ran thought he had a crush on him. Later, he found out that Lao Yang felt Xu Ziyang was not quite right.

He had no choice but to help Xu Ziyang hide from him, but he felt that he was wrong and couldn’t straighten his head.

Sure enough, when Tao Ran was fierce, Lao Yang instantly became cowardly.

He tugged at his hair irritably, “But this thing… this thing, aye.”

He sighed and stood up with a frown, “I’m going to have a cigarette, let me think about it.”

This restaurant banned smoking. If you wanted to smoke, you had to go to the toilet. Tao Ran nodded and watched his back as he left.

No matter how he looked at it, he felt there was a sense of melancholy.

He frowned.

Lao Yang seemed to be hiding something from him.

Bored of waiting, he took out his mobile phone and started to send WeChat messages to Xu Ziyang.

Tao: I thought about it all of last night. Since you’re so determined, let’s just forget about it.

Tao: This may be the last time I send you a message. I will delete you after I finish speaking. I won’t bother you in the future, are you happy now?

Tao: Actually, even now, I still like you. I can’t help it. I’m a long-term lover. I can’t be like some people, changing their mind so easily.

Tao Ran regretted those words after he sent them out. He thought about why he had become sour again. He had to be chill, chill, so he hurriedly deleted it and wrote it again.

Tao: I will visit your parents from time to time, but don’t be narcissistic, I’m not going for you. They treat me very well, so I want to be grateful.

Tao: Mint will stay with me. After you left, it wouldn’t eat or drink. Every day, it would lie on the balcony and look down, waiting for you to come back. I finally got it to forget you, so it’s mine now.

Tao: I already told Lao Yang that there will be several documents you need to sign. I don’t want your things, it annoys me to just look at them. You take all of it away.

Tao: You have to take good care of yourself. Find a girl who can make medicinal broth. Don’t you always say that your bones hurt? Let her make bone broth for you to drink.

Tao: No matter what, I still hope you can do well.

Tao: Goodbye. I wish you a bright future and a long life.

In fact, Tao Ran felt very sad when he typed these words, but Lao Yang’s cell phone kept going ding-dong, ding-dong non-stop, and when he sent a message, it made a ring, completely ruining the atmosphere.

Tao Ran laughed angrily, thinking that he claimed to be single, but this was clearly a couple flirting with each other, with so many messages in a row.

When he sent the last sentence, as expected, Lao Yang’s cell phone rang again.

Tao Ran was still immersed in sadness at first, but after a while, he realized that something was wrong.

…He sent a message to Xu Ziyang, but Lao Yang’s cell phone rang.

...*****...

Notes :

[1] The word here is frequently translated as “coquettish”. It’s basically a shameless kind of cute, like acting like a baby.

[2] “Zero” is Chinese slang for the bottom/shou/uke. “One” means top/gong/seme.