Tanslator: She.Wee
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Chapter 18: Who Tamed Whom
Feng Lulin put an umbrella over Feng Tang, not wanting him to ride his bike again.
After understanding Feng Lulin’s well-intentioned gesture, Feng Tang obediently settled down for a while.
That day, Feng Tang clearly remembered the moment when Feng Lulin inexplicably called him “husband,” but he was too lazy to hold it against him.
If you want to take advantage, then take advantage, what’s the big deal? But this time, Feng Tang felt a warm sensation in his heart, as if he was the one taking advantage of Feng Lulin. Recently, he enjoyed the sound of a cigarette being extinguished in water, that sizzle, each time feeling like Feng Lulin had scorched his heart. That bastard would light a fire and then run away.
For the first time, he felt that loving someone was so difficult, like trying to catch fireflies on a winter night. With his character and style, dealing with feelings was a tough problem. No one could easily solve it, and no one wanted to take on the challenge. Everyone thought he couldn’t win genuine affection, so they just played around until the waters calmed and left without a trace.
Feng Lulin, on the other hand, when serious, could benefit all beings. Just standing there, he gave Feng Tang new hope in life. There was a movie that said, whether straight or gay, everyone looks for hope in love. Feng Tang was the same.
Following the address given by He Qing, Feng Tang drove for half an hour and parked his car in front of a nightclub. To be safe, he drove his white Bentley today.
Feng Tang pulled the hoodie over his head, got out of the car with his head down, and placed the car key on the seat, saying in a voice only the receptionist could hear, “Chi Ren Qing.”
After Feng Tang gave his instructions, the guide led him through the employee passage to the innermost private room. Feng Tang avoided nightclubs like the plague, but today Chi Ren Qing had invited everyone, and with He Qing present, he couldn’t refuse.
Inside the private room, two hostesses were leaning against Chi Ren Qing on the leather sofa. He Qing was playing with a watch on the side, smoking a cigarette. Seeing Feng Tang, he took out another cigarette and flicked it onto the glass table. “You made it!”
Chi Ren Qing looked up and smiled. “Bro, long time no see. The person warming your bed recently, gone again? Can’t you be more restrained? A man’s prime lasts only thirty or forty years, and you’re just over twenty. Save your ammo.”
“Chi Ren Qing, do you want me to sew your mouth shut?”
Feng Tang sat down, took the watch He Qing was playing with, fiddled with it for a while, and said to He Qing, “You’ve started playing with watches now? That’s a step up. You can’t even see the time properly with this, the hour marks are coated with luminescent paint, and this crown second hand is ugly.”
“Mechanical watches aren’t for telling time… This is Ren Qing’s new toy, I’m not interested.” He Qing snorted, placing the watch back on the table. Chi Ren Qing laughed heartily, “Your temper has grown, Feng Tang. You’re even beating around the bush now!”
Feng Tang just laughed without speaking. He Qing gestured with his chin towards the sofa and reminded, “Hey, Cheng is here too. Say hi.”
Feng Tang was taken aback, then nodded towards the stern-faced Shao Jin Cheng.
How odd. Chi Ren Qing was indeed an old friend of theirs, but he was in the real estate business, having made a fortune through demolitions in the early years. Now, he was one of the worst of the second-generation rich kids in the city, wild and decadent. Compared to him, Feng Tang was quite conservative. Despite his hedonistic lifestyle, Chi Ren Qing was reliable in terms of efficiency and loyalty.
Chi Ren Qing was mischievous, while Shao Jin Cheng came from an official background, more upright and correct than Feng Tang. The two met during their turbulent teenage years, naturally clashing. Feng Tang never thought he’d see the day these two could share a room, especially in a private room of a nightclub owned by Chi Ren Qing.
“Feng Tang, I came today to discuss something with you face-to-face and to see Chi Ren Qing.”
Shao Jin Cheng, sensing Feng Tang’s suspicion, got straight to the point. Unexpectedly, Chi Ren Qing retorted, “Oh come on, everyone knows you officials look down on us businessmen. Are you here to rile me up? Aren’t you getting promoted to the city’s Communist Youth League next year?”
“Business is about money, politics is about connections. Use your brain and you’ll suffer less,” Shao Jin Cheng laughed angrily. “Feng Jun is in your company. What are you up to?”
“Feng Jun?” Feng Tang was stunned, the mix of smoke, alcohol, and perfume making his head spin. He instinctively stood up, but He Qing pressed on his leg, calming him down. Feng Tang then asked, “Feng Jun is back?”
Chi Ren Qing replied, “Just returned, working in my company’s engineering management center. I’m trying to keep an eye on him, see what he’s up to! He tried to get back into government, sought out Shao Jin Cheng.”
Feng Tang fell silent. There’s no need for him to guess, Shao Jin Cheng must have refused him firmly. Otherwise, Feng Jun, with his high ambitions, wouldn’t work under someone else. Working for Chi Ren Qing was a humiliation for him.
Seeing Feng Tang silent, Shao Jin Cheng tried to comfort him, “It’s all in the past, Feng Tang. With him back, you can start investigating your uncle’s car accident. Maybe…”
“But when my dad had the accident, Feng Jun was still in prison.” Feng Tang clenched his fist after speaking, downed his drink, and only then realized it was sparkling water.
He Qing, getting tipsy from a carbonated drink, laughed, “Hey, we saw you were under a lot of pressure recently and planned to go racing later, so no alcohol.”
Chi Ren Qing sent the two girls out, making Feng Tang relax a bit. He began to recall Feng Jun.
Feng Jun was his real “cousin,” working in the Grain Bureau in the early years, with a modest position. When Feng Tang was in elementary school, everyone knew he had a father who was a municipal party secretary and a brother in the Grain Bureau. He Qing often followed him around with a small ball, afraid of losing him and angering Feng Jun, which would starve the entire city. Later, in high school, Feng Jun turned corrupt, embezzled some money, but the Feng family didn’t protect him, and he was sentenced to six years. After release, Feng Jun left the province for a year.
Such an unremarkable yet significant “relative” from Feng Tang’s youth, now resurfaced in his life, bringing back several buried stories after disappearing for seven years.
“Feng Jun is ruthless…” Feng Tang found the sparkling water too sweet.
Licking his lips, he continued, “When my dad died in a car accident, I went to the prison to tell him. He cried but kept nodding, saying how people forget the deceased.”
Chi Ren Qing lit a cigarette with a lighter, saying gloomily, “Your generation of the Feng family, each more heartless than the other! Aren’t you the same? Your ex-boyfriend, from Xiao Nanhe or something…called me! Begged me to persuade you. I told him, buddy, give up. Feng Tang is someone you can’t persuade. Even if I drugged him to sleep with me, he wouldn’t bother undressing.”
Feng Tang laughed, “You’ve got a nasty mouth. It’s called a clean break, understand? Out with the old, in with the new. Didn’t you understand this in middle school?”
Feng Tang quietly said to Chi Ren Qing, “I’ve got my eye on a traffic cop. He’s from the fourth squad, rides a motorcycle, stands guard, and issues tickets. His name is Feng Lulin, and he’s been on the highway recently.”
He spoke as if he was sharing a cherished secret, eager to show his prized possession to someone close, his excitement palpable.
Chi Ren Qing was stunned. He couldn’t believe Feng Tang had moved on so quickly. He earnestly advised, “Damn, that’s a high-risk job! The city’s a mess right now, nowhere is safe. You should reconsider. He’s already exhausted from work, and now he’d have to deal with you in bed.”
“He’s a top too.” Feng Tang said this matter-of-factly now. He didn’t give Chi Ren Qing a chance to question it and pulled out his phone. “Let me show you his photo.”
Chi Ren Qing looked at the man on the screen and found him increasingly familiar, though he couldn’t place where he’d seen him before. He didn’t say anything, just examined the features carefully and commented, “This isn’t your usual type.”
“Indeed, it’s not.” Feng Tang laughed, “But it will be from now on.”
On the side, Shao Jincheng and He Qing were discussing what gifts to give their partners, and Feng Tang couldn’t join the conversation. Seeing Chi Ren Qing pull out another pack of cigarettes, he frowned, “Hey, aren’t we not supposed to smoke in the private room? Didn’t you see the smoke detector?”
Chi Ren Qing’s rogue demeanor came out in full force. He crossed his legs, lit a heavy cigarette, and hummed, “I booked this room! I do what I want. If I light incense candles here, let’s see who dares come in and tell me to stop smoking.”
Noticing the brand on the package, Feng Tang was speechless. He snatched the cigarette and extinguished it on a dampened napkin, “You’ve been smoking too many fakes.”
“Damn it… Bought a hundred fake ones. Shao Jincheng, how does your government department operate, selling fake cigarettes? Are you going to do something about it?!” Chi Ren Qing cursed and was about to stand up when there was a knock at the door.
All four of them tensed up, and Feng Tang thought it was the owner coming to say that smoking wasn’t allowed in the room. He was ready to gloat. But when the door opened, it was the two private room girls from earlier, asking if they wanted a “trial” or if they wanted to “go all the way.”
Chi Ren Qing’s expression was ambiguous, and he didn’t answer. The girls, thinking they were up for some fun, started to cuddle up to Feng Tang, with the other one sitting next to He Qing.
Feng Tang stood up, pointed at Chi Ren Qing, and said with a headache, “No, no! There are only four of us here, one married and two gay. You take care of him.”
Feng Tang finished, put on his coat, gulped down the last of his sparkling water, and almost spat it out in Chi Ren Qing’s face, “Finish quickly, we’ll wait outside.”
That night, the three of them stood on the nightclub terrace for twenty minutes before Chi Ren Qing came out, looking grim. Feng Tang laughed, saying he was impotent, while Chi Ren Qing cursed, complaining about overindulgence and a weakened body. Feng Tang teased him to go home and eat some domestic men’s health supplements.
[T/N: Normal conversation between me and my friends be like: ]
Feng Tang remembered a friend in their circle whose hobby was stealing people’s partners, regardless of gender, using low-level tactics, like waiting in his sports car nearby and coughing loudly to attract attention before making seductive gestures.
Feng Tang and Lan Zhou despised this behavior, joking that it would take a lot of effort and noise, probably enough to set off a seismograph nearby.
The three “military strategists” plus the city’s smartest Shao Jincheng took their sports cars for a lap around the track before heading home.
When Feng Tang got home, it was already eleven o’clock. Seeing that Liu Lizhu’s study light was still on, he went to the kitchen to get some donkey-hide gelatin cake and brought it to her. After hesitating for a while, he asked if she had encountered any strange people recently. Finally, he couldn’t hold back and told her that Feng Jun was back.
Feng Tang thought for a moment and said, “Mom, I’ll pick you up and drop you off at work from now on.”
“No need, you focus on your work, I have a driver,” Liu Lizhu replied, rolling up her sleeves to adjust a bookmark, revealing a section of her neck. Feng Tang draped a scarf over her and insisted, “Mom, let’s be cautious. I’ll come when I can.”
Liu Lizhu looked at him with concern. She knew her son was being overly cautious due to past experiences. She didn’t refuse his offer, only asking him not to let it interfere with his other responsibilities.
After finishing their conversation, mother and son said goodnight and went to their respective rooms.
Feng Tang leaned on his bed, scrolling through social media, when he saw a post from a friend at the police station. It was a link about someone who stood up for a friend by beating up a traffic cop, only to realize they had the wrong person. Seeing the words “traffic cop” excited him, and he clicked on it, finding out it happened in his city again.
The next few days were too busy for him to meet Feng Lulin. Feng Tang often went to the garage to look at the umbrella mounted on the motorcycle, as if it had become an obsession, a sort of mental placeholder. Today, he couldn’t resist any longer, threw caution to the wind, and called Feng Lulin. The call was answered in two rings, and before Feng Lulin could speak, Feng Tang asked, “It wasn’t you who got beaten, right?”
Feng Lulin frowned and said, “What nonsense news are you reading now? The motorcycle squad is training these days, I’ve been outside training.”
“Have you rested?” Feng Tang asked.
“No, just took a shower. I was out riding around the city all day for training,” Feng Lulin replied.
“Wait for me,” Feng Tang said.
He hung up and took a picture of the fading hickey on his collarbone, adjusted the colors, and sent the original photo to Feng Lulin.
Feng Tang’s bedding had been changed to graphite blue, making his fair skin look even paler. A dark red hickey bloomed by his collarbone, mixed with the dark colors, exuding a unique allure.
With his slim build, his collarbone was sunken like a valley, perfectly curved, as if waiting for some mountain spring to flow into it.
Bubble: [photo]
Bubble: Your doing,
Bubble: Good job.
After sending the message, he waited ten minutes with no reply. Bored, he angrily opened his phone to watch a movie. He chose an R-rated film about a few people’s tangled love stories. He turned it off after less than half an hour.
Feng Tang then realized he had developed an aversion to such “messy” relationships, instead longing for a sincere, unattainable “mutual honesty.”
Just as he was about to angrily go to sleep, he heard a noise by the window. His heart seemed to skip a beat. He didn’t even put on slippers, walked barefoot to the window, and pulled back the curtain, only to see a man standing on the balcony under the night light.
Feng Lulin had probably climbed up the wall of the courtyard from the first floor, then onto the small rain-sheltered balcony, and finally over the railing. Usually, Feng Tang would lock this door, but ever since Feng Lulin mentioned “climbing through the window,” he had left it open, unknowingly anticipating something.
They stood on either side of the glass door, looking at each other.
Feng Tang pressed his forehead against the glass, breathing heavily, fogging up a small patch. Feng Lulin, slightly taller, looked down at him, panting, only wearing a short sleeve.
Feng Lulin had taken his time climbing up. His breathing finally steadied, but his gaze never left Feng Tang. He saw Feng Tang stand straight, his robe’s outline barely visible in the dim light, then saw Feng Tang pull one side of the robe open, showing the hickey on his collarbone, his seductive jawline, and his “sexy” collarbone.
In the end, Feng Tang was afraid Feng Lulin would catch a cold. He was about to speak when Feng Lulin exhaled on the glass, wrote a “2” in the fog, and pointed outside, meaning he had to leave by 2 AM.
Feng Tang didn’t ask why, he just mouthed, “Come in.”
He opened the door, wrapped his robe around himself, and walked towards the bed. Before he could stand properly, he heard the curtains being pulled closed, and then he fell into a warm embrace.
The embrace triggered his imagination, and even his breath was filled with anticipation.
Feng Lulin hugged him from behind, pinning him onto the soft bed. He glanced at the graphite blue sheets and then lowered his head to graze Feng Tang’s ear with his rough fingers, his voice hoarse, “I’m very tired today… I have to go running with my family at five in the morning, so I need to leave by two.”
Just right. Liu Lizhu was at home, so Feng Tang couldn’t get things done tonight anyway. He chuckled, letting Feng Lulin kiss his ear, “Tired? Yet you still had the energy to climb through the window.”
“Climbing the window takes nothing… I can still climb you.”
Hey Guys it’s SheWee!!
I also want someone to do climbing with me. *Cries in single*
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