Between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-five, up until September, Zhuang Xu met with Li Shanqing a total of thirteen times in Licheng.
In the beginning, every time Zhuang Xu left Binhai Port, he had a valid reason. Later on, that wasn’t necessarily the case. Especially after his mother’s successful surgery, he went very frequently.
Li Shanqing often invited Zhou Silan to meals, and each time he met with Zhuang Xu, he came up with more new tricks than the last. Over time, Zhuang Xu himself also came up with new reasons, feeling that his participation in Li Shanqing’s amusement plan couldn’t be entirely described as an act of weakness.
After all, perhaps with time, their relationship would one day transform and enter a traditional domain that aligned with Zhuang Xu’s moral values.
An unspoken agreement seemed to exist between the two. Li Shanqing never asked Zhuang Xu for his private number again. It seemed that learning Zhuang Xu’s schedule from Zhou Silan and spending a spring night with Zhuang Xu in Licheng was all he wanted.
At first, when Zhuang Xu came downstairs from his apartment, Li Shanqing would be waiting for him. The driver would take them to different hotels. Zhuang Xu no longer left after their trysts ended, because Li Shanqing would lie on top of him and ask, “Can you leave tomorrow morning? I can’t sleep alone.”
In September of his twenty-fifth year, Zhuang Xu walked into Li Shanqing’s new apartment for the first time. This was the best day of Zhuang Xu’s life.
That day, during the flight to Licheng, Zhuang Xu was originally in a complicated mood. This was because early last month, he had come to his apartment in Licheng but had not seen Li Shanqing.
Zhou Silan had received an apology from Li Shanqing, saying he was suddenly unavailable that week.
At the time, Zhuang Xu first found a way to contact Mary to confirm that Li Shanqing was not sick, but indeed had a scheduling conflict. Afterwards, when he finished his work at the apartment, he couldn’t help but think of the time Li Shanqing broke up with him, and he couldn’t avoid feeling humiliated. When he left the next day, Zhuang Xu decided he would not come so frequently anymore.
But in September, Li Shanqing suddenly became active again, sending many messages to Zhou Silan, saying he would absolutely not break his promise this month and would definitely come to Licheng to treat Zhou Silan to a meal.
When it came to matters related to Li Shanqing, Zhuang Xu always made the only undignified and irresolute choices of his life. A week after Zhou Silan received Li Shanqing’s messages, Zhuang Xu boarded a plane again.
Halfway through the flight, in the industry briefing Zhou Silan had prepared for him, Zhuang Xu saw several news articles related to Li Shanqing. If he had paid more attention at the time, he might have noticed some clues, but his mind was in disarray as he read, and he didn’t think too deeply.
The media reported that NoaLume had managed to complete the process for rapid approval, and the product was set to be officially launched next month. The trials on the European continent were also progressing well and were expected to be approved.
Conservatives often said that Noah Lee and the technology and products he brought were like a virus that had exploded in popularity. Because even before its full launch, the supporters were already fervent to a near-religious degree.
However, since every step was legal and compliant, there was no reason to restrict NoaLume’s R&D and production. And after the volunteer recruitment trials began, some previously neutral, wait-and-see scholars who were invited for investigation gave positive reviews—perhaps it was the work of public relations, or perhaps the product had indeed been strictly limited, but Li Shanqing’s reputation had improved slightly.
In one article, Zhuang Xu also saw content related to himself.
The report did not mention Zhuang Xu by name, only writing that industry pioneers, including the CEO of V-Origin Biotech, held reservations or opposing views towards NoaLume. An anonymous, well-known source revealed that some of them had had verbal altercations with Noah Lee at social events, and there had even been physical conflicts.
The reason Noah Lee had recently drastically reduced his frequency of attending public events was due to this.
Regarding these matters, Zhuang Xu knew no more than anyone else, because in their meetings, which were roughly a month apart, they still did not discuss anything related to work.
What was obvious was that Li Shanqing was more mature and astute than he had been at nineteen. He was no longer so easily provoked and had plenty of ways to avoid topics, both expressing his attitude of not wanting to talk about it with Zhuang Xu by a single word, and not making the atmosphere between them stiff.
He arrived in Licheng in the afternoon. Zhuang Xu wasn’t sleepy. He handled his work, worked out, then showered. He went downstairs to the public area of the apartment building, and Li Shanqing was finally waiting for him in his usual spot.
What was different today was that Li Shanqing didn’t lead him towards the main entrance, but instead smiled and headed for the elevator. “Let’s go. Come visit my new home in Licheng.”
Li Shanqing’s hair had grown much longer, covering half his neck. It was meticulously styled, lying smoothly against his forehead and cheeks. He had a slender frame, was a little taller than when Zhuang Xu first met him, and had long lost the innocence and awkwardness of his youth. Perhaps he had been tempered by the media; from his gaze to his body language, everything had become resolute and concise.
Only in moments of complete solitude would a trace of his former self inadvertently be revealed.
For some reason, Zhuang Xu had a feeling at that moment that Li Shanqing had lost more weight, and also felt that something was not quite right—Li Shanqing walked slowly because he lacked strength, his asthma prevented him from walking fast, and his joints often hurt, which was difficult to improve—but on this day, he walked a little faster than before.
They soon reached the twenty-ninth floor. Li Shanqing opened the door, turned his head and said, “Welcome.” He offered his lips, and once again made Zhuang Xu forget to think too deeply.
Li Shanqing’s new home had a similar layout to the one Zhuang Xu was staying in, but it was only on one floor. The style was simple and modern, with no signs of anyone having lived there. Except for the entryway, no lights were on. The reflection from the glass wasn’t strong, so a part of the city’s night view was visible.
“What do you think?” Li Shanqing kissed him for a while, then pulled him into the living room for a tour, looking rather proud. He gently grabbed his hand and pressed, “Isn’t it nice? Let’s stay here from now on. You’re not allowed to live with Silan anymore.”
Zhuang Xu did not promise, asking him, “Why buy a house if you don’t like Licheng?” Li Shanqing shrugged. “Too much money, needed to burn some.”
“Besides, you have someone at your place, so it’s not convenient for me to go over,” Li Shanqing said, then tilted his head to kiss Zhuang Xu’s chin, rubbing his cheek with the tip of his nose. “Haven’t seen you in two months, did you miss me? I heard from Silan that you came last month. I really wanted to come, but something really came up suddenly, I’m not lying to you.”
Li Shanqing’s warm breath was like a magical fragrance, wrapping around Zhuang Xu’s skin with color and shape. His voice was husky and sweet, his tone irresistible.
No matter what had happened before, when Li Shanqing deliberately tried to please and get close to someone, few people could probably avoid feeling a kind of favored, pure happiness without impurities, as if in an absolute fairytale. There were no fairytales in other parts of Zhuang Xu’s world.
So even if it went against morality, even if he could be abandoned at any time, even if he pretended it was a back-and-forth hunting game when he was actually Li Shanqing’s once-a-month bed partner, Zhuang Xu could never remember every time Li Shanqing had not been serious in the past, could not bring himself to blame Li Shanqing for long, could not cut off the organ that his rational judgment had already deemed necrotic, could not completely leave.
This night, in the new house, Li Shanqing and Zhuang Xu went all the way.
Zhuang Xu originally had no intention of doing so. Because Li Shanqing’s health was not good, and there were many alternative methods, he felt there was no need to force it. But Li Shanqing was very insistent. He pushed Zhuang Xu onto the bed, sat on top of him, and asked imperiously, “Can’t you give me a housewarming gift?” Then he leaned down.
Zhuang Xu should have noticed. Li Shanqing’s pain nerves were abnormally sensitive; he shouldn’t have brought it up on his own. But Zhuang Xu was seduced by the small bottle that the devil had poured onto himself, smeared open, and then stuffed into his hand, and he lost his original moral control.
His adult life had passed too hastily; every day was just a draft. But this night was the most exquisite, the most precious, as if the story had definitively reached its most perfect ending.
Li Shanqing didn’t cry out in pain, but because Zhuang Xu didn’t stop, he said he couldn’t take it and bit Zhuang Xu’s lip. The bite drew blood. Li Shanqing then bit deeper like a vampire, saying, “Little Zhuang, you’re crazy.”
Seeing that he really seemed unable to continue, Zhuang Xu stopped. After a while, Li Shanqing wrapped himself around him again, actively saying he could continue, and hugged Zhuang Xu’s neck tightly. A moment later, he fell back onto the bed.
Li Shanqing changed his mind in a minute, later saying he was going to die, threatening to remove Zhuang Xu from his will. His voice was overly hoarse as he lay on his stomach and asked Zhuang Xu, “I’ll be good and won’t mess around anymore, can you come out?” He quickly went back on his word again.
In the end, Li Shanqing cried, his hands hitting Zhuang Xu’s shoulder, cursing Zhuang Xu for being sick, saying the movies he watched were never this long. So Zhuang Xu finally stopped.
If this was being sick, Zhuang Xu thought, then let it be sickness. If this was what Li Shanqing wanted, he could cooperate. They could just drag on like this, unclearly, until there was a result.
The next morning, Li Shanqing was still asleep. Zhuang Xu went to the kitchen, wanting to see if there was anything Li Shanqing could eat. He found that apart from cookware, there was nothing in the house. So he took the key, went to the supermarket himself, and bought some ingredients that were not on Li Shanqing’s allergy list.
On the way back, he received a news notification. The news stated that NoaLume Biotech had made a public statement: CEO Noah Lee had been implanted with NoaLume for a full month, was currently adapting well, had used it in many life scenarios, and was personally very satisfied.
It introduced the components of the wellness pod Noah Lee used, and only then did Zhuang Xu see one of them: pain nerve paralysis.
Returning to Li Shanqing’s apartment, Li Shanqing still hadn’t gotten up. Zhuang Xu turned on a small lamp, not waking him. When Li Shanqing slept, he was like an angel, his lips slightly pouted, his thick eyelashes resting on his snow-white cheeks. It seemed all verses of innocence could be used to describe him.
It was only when he woke up that he became a difficult devil, a strong, intelligent, and dictatorial gambler.
Zhuang Xu moved closer to his flawless face, brushed some of his hair aside, and found the trace of the slow-release device implant behind his neck.
