ABSTIWTVMST Chapter 153

When he received the assistant’s photo of Ruan Chenxuan’s dark-faced[mfn] 黑脸, literally “black face,” meaning someone is visibly angry or displeased[/mfn] expression, Jing Yicheng was still immersed in beauty and unable to extricate himself, completely failing to hear the ringtone. Thus, he missed the very last chance to save the situation.

By the time the next morning came, Xu Chenghao was not woken up by his alarm clock, nor was he woken up by Jing Yicheng’s kiss, but rather by one phone call after another. Still half-asleep, he reached out his hand in a daze to find his phone. Seeing that the caller ID note was “Mom,” he forced himself to gather his spirits and answer: “Hello, Mom.”

“Chenghao, what are you doing?” Mother Xu’s voice was full of energy. “When are you planning to come home so we can have a talk?”

Xu Chenghao, blank-faced: “I haven’t gotten up yet… If you have something to say, I can come home this afternoon.”

Mother Xu: “What do you mean if we have something to say? You two made such a huge commotion, are you planning to skip over us and go straight to getting married?”

Xu Chenghao: “What exactly happened? Just say it directly.”

Mother Xu: “You still want me to just say it! Last night, did Jing Yicheng propose to you or not? And did you agree or not! You two are just taking advantage of me and your father not understanding the internet. If your father hadn’t seen it in the morning paper, were you planning to hide it from us?!”

Xu Chenghao: “???”

Xu Chenghao finally woke up completely. Sitting up from the bed, he rubbed his head and said: “How did you know?”

Mother Xu said: “The whole world knows!”

A bad premonition rose in Xu Chenghao’s heart. After coaxing Mother Xu and promising to go home that afternoon, he immediately hung up and ran to search his name online. After typing just the character “Xu,” a whole row of suggestions instantly popped up below the search bar: “Xu Corporation’s President Proposed To,” “Xu Chenghao and Jing Yicheng Proposal,” and so on.

Expressionless, Xu Chenghao clicked on the first keyword. After reading through the entire course of events, he slowly turned his head toward Jing Yicheng. With such a big uproar, Jing Yicheng had long since opened his eyes; seeing him turn his head, Jing Yicheng even greeted him proactively: “Morning.”

Xu Chenghao smiled: “Morning… Morning my ass, you bastard!”

Xu Chenghao grabbed the pillow and started hitting him. Jing Yicheng instinctively blocked, but afraid of hurting him, he quickly withdrew his hands. In that brief hesitation, he was solidly whacked in the face, and in the end simply lay flat and let himself be hit. Only when Xu Chenghao was tired did he pull the other into his arms, lie back down again, and pat him in a coaxing manner: “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Tell me, what’s this about?”

Xu Chenghao tried to struggle, but Jing Yicheng wrapped him up in the quilt like a caterpillar and held him tightly with his arms so he couldn’t break free. Xu Chenghao ran out of strength and could only glare at him: “What do you think? Yesterday I even praised you for arranging things so well, but I didn’t expect you to put on one act in front of me and another behind my back. You went and bought advertising space all over the city without telling me!”

Jing Yicheng explained: “I know you don’t like showing off and you hate being stared at, so for the proposal I arranged it so it was just the two of us… But I worked so hard to get such a treasure, of course I wanted to show off and let everyone know this treasure is mine, so they won’t dare covet it anymore.”

Jing Yicheng’s expression was completely serious, yet his words were a mix of explanation and love talk, even with a bit of flattery: “Our Haohao is so good, of course there are many people thinking about you. Just the thought of it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I couldn’t help but declare my ownership. I promise, just this once.”

Xu Chenghao’s eyes were full of distrust: “Just this once?”

“Mhm.”

“Oh, then what about when we get married?”

“…” Jing Yicheng was silent for a long moment before tentatively saying: “Then… the wedding will be the last time?”

“Get lost!”

Jing Yicheng was kicked out of bed.

Xu Chenghao was extremely annoyed. If he had known the other party’s true nature, he never would have taken the initiative. Thinking about it now, it was simply losing both the wife and the army[mfn] 赔了夫人又折兵, an idiom from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, literally “lost the wife and lost the soldiers,” meaning to suffer a double loss.[/mfn], and he was very unhappy. Yes, he was just being difficult—just unhappy!

Xu Chenghao closed the bathroom door, shutting Jing Yicheng out, and washed up by himself. When he rolled up his sleeves, he saw the ring on his finger. After thinking for a moment, he quietly took it off and looked at the inside—
The silver inner surface was smooth and clean, with only one engraving below the diamond: the letters “X&J,” enclosed inside the shape of a small yellow duck.

Xu Chenghao thought for a few seconds and felt that it seemed different from the shape he had accidentally seen yesterday, though he didn’t know what Jing Yicheng’s looked like… However, he did not want to speak to Jing Yicheng—the man who had deceived his feelings!

When Xu Chenghao opened the door, Jing Yicheng immediately came over, following behind him like a ghost at one’s back, and pleaded: “Haohao, don’t be angry, I know I was wrong.”

Xu Chenghao glanced back at him: “And what exactly were you wrong about?”

Jing Yicheng answered honestly: “I shouldn’t have disobeyed you.”

“Mhm, and what else?”

“I shouldn’t have kept it from you.”

“Continue.”

“I shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have been greedy for beauty and lost my will to survive.”

Xu Chenghao was amused by this filler apology, and though he still wanted to keep a stern face, Jing Yicheng seized the opportunity to lean over and coax him softly. Xu Chenghao could only give a reluctant hum and say: “Considering that you’re sincerely apologizing, I’ll forgive you.”

Jing Yicheng rubbed his head: “Haohao is so good to me… I’ve already prepared your clothes. Once I’m done washing up, we’ll eat together.”

Xu Chenghao did not go to eat, but instead followed behind him, waiting until Jing Yicheng took off his ring. Then he reached out, picked it up, and looked at it for a few moments. The inner surface was also engraved with the letters “X&J,” except this time enclosed inside the shape of a chili pepper.

Xu Chenghao: “…”

Full marks for creativity.

Once Xu Chenghao had cleared up his doubts, he immediately left Jing Yicheng behind and went to change clothes.

After the two of them finished breakfast and went out, Xu Chenghao finally experienced firsthand what it meant for “himself to be everywhere.” Jing Yicheng had really bought up every single advertising space, large and small. Even with his eyes closed, Xu Chenghao could hear the loudspeakers shouting: “President Jing’s proposal-themed little yellow duck balloon, don’t pass it by if you see it!”

After getting out of the car, it was even more needless to say. The attention they received today rose sharply, and even with Jing Yicheng’s bodyguards blocking, the crackling bursts of camera flashes could still be felt going off wildly. Jing Yicheng turned sideways to shield Xu Chenghao from the flashes, holding him close as they entered the Xu Corporation building. This action immediately increased the frequency of the flashes, and nearby passersby who had caught wind of the scene even screamed out loud.

The commotion in front of the Xu Corporation was comparable to New Year’s celebrations.

Inside the Xu Group building—

“Congratulations, President Xu. Congratulations, President Jing.”

“Congratulations, congratulations.”

“Congratulations…”

Even Li Nian was beaming with joy as he said: “Congratulations, congratulations. So when can we drink your wedding wine?”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“In the near future.”

Xu Chenghao and Jing Yicheng spoke at the same time, but their answers were completely different.

Li Nian glanced between them, and his eyelid twitched instantly. Pretending not to hear Xu Chenghao’s answer, he turned toward Jing Yicheng and said: “Soon, right? Hahaha, got it, got it. I’ll just wait for your good news.”

However, Jing Yicheng did not respond to Li Nian. Instead, he lowered his head and gently coaxed the displeased Xu Chenghao: “Haohao, if you’re angry, then bite me. Don’t take it out on yourself.”

Xu Chenghao turned and walked away: “Your skin is so thick, I wouldn’t be able to bite through it.”

Jing Yicheng followed automatically: “It’s fine. When Haohao bites, it’s not thick anymore.”

“Don’t follow me. Just seeing you makes me angry.”

“But I like Haohao.”

“…”

Completely ignored, Li Nian stood frozen in place, “windblown and in disarray[mfn]An idiom meaning stunned, awkward, and not knowing how to react[/mfn]”, mentally tagging the two of them as a pair of “dog men.”

Didn’t they know that arguments not aimed at breaking up were all just public displays of affection? Some people in relationships were truly annoying! Hmph!

Holding his own injured little heart, Li Nian returned to the office. With a vengeful streak, he sent a huge pile of work to Xu Chenghao. By coincidence, Jing Yicheng, wanting to show he was worthy of forgiveness, took all the work upon himself—and even ordered a strawberry bouquet for Xu Chenghao.

Upon receiving the call to go sign for it, Li Nian: “…”

Expressionless.

In the office, Xu Chenghao plucked all the strawberries off and placed them in a plate, eating them while browsing the news to check the follow-up situation. After a night had passed, the heat had slightly diminished, but then the photos of Jing Yicheng shielding him while they entered the company once again flooded the screens. Fortunately, the public relations department was handling things, and the negative influence and comments were all within control. It was believed that by tomorrow, once Jing Yicheng removed them, there would basically be no more issues.

Oh wait—there was still the matter of home. Xu Chenghao thought of Mother Xu’s phone call that morning and immediately had a headache, already needing to figure out in his mind how to plead on Jing Yicheng’s behalf and speak some good words for him.

When Jing Yicheng heard Xu Chenghao say he would be going back to the Xu family that afternoon, his heart gave a sudden jolt, and he hurriedly asked: “Then when would be a good time for me to come pick you up?”

Xu Chenghao said calmly: “No need.”

Jing Yicheng’s nerves immediately tightened: “Haohao, are you still angry?”

“No.” Xu Chenghao said: “You also know I’m going back because my mom called me back. Not letting you come is because they will definitely bring up what you did this time, so it’s inconvenient for you to appear.”

Jing Yicheng: “But Haohao, without you I can’t fall asleep.”

Xu Chenghao sneered: “With you, I can’t fall asleep.”

Jing Yicheng: “…”

Xu Chenghao: “If you don’t want me to go back, that’s fine too—just tell my mom yourself.”

Jing Yicheng: “…”

Jing Yicheng was at a loss for words, and after work could only send him to the front door of the Xu family home, watching him enter before reluctantly leaving.

Inside the Xu family home, just as Xu Chenghao expected, Mother Xu had called him back to talk about the uproarious proposal incident. The Xu parents were very displeased with the two of them making such a big scene behind the family’s back. Mother Xu even said: “If your father hadn’t read the newspaper, were you planning to only tell me after you’d already gotten married?”

Xu Chenghao said: “The proposal was only last night, and at that time you two were definitely resting, so how could I disturb you? I had originally planned to find a time to come home and discuss the matter of marriage, but I didn’t expect your phone call to come first.”

Mother Xu was skeptical: “And then? What are you planning now?”

Xu Chenghao said: “What else could we be planning—getting married.”

Father Xu asked: “Have you thought it through? Marriage is a lifelong matter, and especially since marriage contracts aren’t recognized domestically, you’ll need to go abroad to register.”

Mother Xu: “Does Jing Yicheng treat you well? Is he overbearing? Will he demand you to do things? You must not wrong yourself for the sake of compromise.”

Father Xu: “This matter has stirred up a huge commotion. As a man yourself, you should be able to see Jing Yicheng’s ambition and possessiveness. Are you sure you can endure that for a lifetime?”

Mother Xu: “Mom still wants to put the ugly words[mfn]meaning to state unpleasant truths early[/mfn] in front. The more high-profile you are now, if something happens in the future, it will all be dragged out to slap you in the face. Especially now, with public attitudes still not being very open, I’m afraid if you make such a fuss, you’ll become a target later.”

Xu Chenghao: “…”

How did this turn into a mixed doubles attack?![mfn] 男女混合双打, literally “men’s and women’s mixed doubles,” here humorously likening being scolded alternately by both parents to a sports match where both opponents take turns striking.[/mfn]