INT Chapter 35

After the art exhibit, Liang Xiao accompanied Xiaojin to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Xiaojin kept chatting with him, but he only responded half-heartedly, clearly distracted.

 

After a pause, Xiaojin looked at him with a hint of grievance and said, “Xiao Liang? Are you even listening to me?”

 

Liang Xiao snapped out of his thoughts and looked directly into Xiaojin’s eyes. She felt uneasy under his gaze, her eyes darting away nervously. In a soft voice, she asked, “What are you thinking about?”

 

“I’m refunding all your money,” Liang Xiao said flatly.

 

Xiaojin froze, then hurriedly put down the menu and reached across the table to grab his hand. “Why? Why are you refunding me?”

 

Liang Xiao tried to pull his hand away but couldn’t. Xiaojin held onto his wrist tightly, biting her lip as she looked at him.

 

His tone was cold. “Let go.”

 

“No,” Xiaojin said stubbornly. “Our time isn’t up yet. You can’t back out now. That’s not how business works.”

 

Liang Xiao forcefully pulled his hand free. Tears welled up in Xiaojin’s eyes, but he ignored them. Picking up his phone, he processed the refund while saying, “Because this is business, I can’t accept clients who have feelings for me.”

 

Normally, Liang Xiao wouldn’t speak so bluntly or hurtfully—not because Xiaojin was a girl but because she had been his client. However, after running into Lu Ze and his mom earlier and hearing Xiaojin presumptuously claim to be his girlfriend, Liang Xiao had reached his limit.

 

After completing the refund, he deleted Xiaojin’s WeChat in front of her. Xiaojin suddenly stood up and blocked his way.

 

Liang Xiao looked up at her as she fought back tears and said pitifully, “Xiao Liang, don’t do this. I really like you… I don’t mind your job or that you spend time with other girls every day. Can you give me a chance?”

 

Liang Xiao remained unmoved, his demeanor completely different from the gentle and considerate person he had been before.

 

Xiaojin couldn’t handle this sudden coldness. She lightly shook his arm and pleaded softly, “Xiao Liang…”

 

“It’s impossible,” Liang Xiao said firmly. “I mind.”

 

Xiaojin choked on her words. “…What do you mind?”

 

“I mind that my girlfriend would have to endure me spending time with others every day,” Liang Xiao said calmly. “I mind my job. That’s why I won’t date anyone.”

 

Xiaojin stared at him in shock as he stood up and said curtly, “Excuse me.”

 

Instinctively, she stepped back as Liang Xiao walked past her toward the exit. But she quickly chased after him into the bustling street and shouted loudly despite the crowd around them, “Then why don’t you just change jobs?!”

 

Liang Xiao stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. Thinking he had reconsidered, Xiaojin was about to smile when he cruelly said, “I don’t like you. Why would I change jobs for you?”

 

He knew he had completely broken her heart but still felt a strange pang of discomfort himself.

 

What was he upset about?

 

While waiting for the subway, Liang Xiao aimlessly scrolled through his phone. Before long, his fingers seemed to move on their own and opened his chat with Lu Ze.

 

He stared blankly at the screen for a while. Since seeing him that afternoon, Lu Ze hadn’t sent any messages. Slowly scrolling up through their conversation history, Liang Xiao thought to himself: He must be mad.

 

The moment Liang Xiao had that thought, he frowned and snapped back to his senses. He turned off his phone screen, catching a reflection of himself glaring coldly back.

 

Liang Xiao let out a breath and pushed all his thoughts aside.

 

—

 

Since seeing Liang Xiao at the art exhibit, Lu Ze hadn’t contacted him. If Lu Ze didn’t reach out first, there was no way Liang Xiao would.

 

Lu Ze frowned as he stared at their chat history, almost as if he were trying to burn a hole through his phone with his gaze.

 

“What are you doing?” Lu Jinglang kicked his calf lightly. “Why do you look so miserable?”

 

Lu Ze looked up, still frowning. He asked seriously, “Do you think… sexual orientation is easy to change?”

 

Lu Jinglang, with an apple in his mouth, froze and stared at him. After a long pause, he finally took a bite and mumbled, “Your sexual orientation changed? It’s just one breakup—don’t overthink it.”

 

Lu Ze looked at him seriously. “Stop eating for a second—it has nothing to do with breaking up.”

 

Clicking his tongue, Lu Jinglang said, “Are you serious? What do you mean by sexual orientation changing? You don’t like girls anymore?”

 

Lu Ze’s expression was slightly confused. “Not exactly… it’s just… I…”

 

Seeing him struggle to get the words out, Lu Jinglang waved him off. “Figure it out first. When you bring home a boyfriend, then we’ll talk about your ‘changed’ orientation.”

 

Lu Ze sighed. “Lu Jinglang, I’ve never seen anyone worse at being a dad than you.”

 

Lu Jinglang glanced at him sideways. “Am I not good enough as your dad? I made you this handsome—that’s already passing the test.”

 

“Ugh…” Lu Ze couldn’t stop laughing. “That’s all thanks to your wife.”

 

“You clearly take after me,” Lu Jinglang said.

 

Suddenly, Lu Ze raised his voice and shouted, “Boss Xu! Someone’s saying I don’t look like you!”

 

Xu Jingjing’s voice immediately rang out from another room. “Who’s being so annoying? Of course my son looks like me!”

 

Panicking, Lu Jinglang quickly stood up and headed toward the bedroom. “Your precious son is stirring trouble—it has nothing to do with me…”

 

Lu Ze laughed for a while but eventually sighed again as the laughter faded. He didn’t call Liang Xiao and instead played Dou Dizhu alone, though his mind wasn’t in it at all.

 

It felt like everything had gone wrong ever since he said he was gay.

 

What a mess, Lu Ze thought.

 

Why did he have to say he was gay? Why did he have to pick Liang Xiao to be his fake boyfriend?

 

Now even he couldn’t figure out what was going on anymore.

 

He just thought Liang Xiao was really handsome and cool but also incredibly thoughtful and caring. Being around him felt so comfortable—and because of that, Lu Ze really liked Liang Xiao.

 

If this had been in the past, Lu Ze would never have overthought things like this. Liking someone was just simple liking—like how he enjoyed hanging out with Jiang Yijie.

 

But after experiencing Han Jing liking girls, Jiang Yijie liking him, and renting a boyfriend, Lu Ze felt like his thoughts were spiraling out of control. He couldn’t stop overanalyzing everything.

 

When he lost the last Dou Dizhu game, he slowly scooted back to his room on the floor, dragging himself like a defeated soldier. He flopped face-first onto his bed, and his phone bounced off the mattress and smacked him on the cheekbone.

 

“Hiss…” Lu Ze winced and rubbed his face.

 

He picked up his phone and scrolled through Liang Xiao’s WeChat Moments. It was all work-related posts—no personal updates at all. Cold and robotic, like a machine.

 

Lu Ze chuckled to himself. Liang Xiao was a bit distant when they chatted via text, but when they talked over voice or met in person, he felt different—less cold. And definitely different from how he treated other clients.

 

Lu Ze wasn’t sure if he was just overthinking it, but he felt that Liang Xiao seemed more relaxed when they were together.

 

He sighed again. Why was he even thinking about this? Maybe Liang Xiao simply liked him as a friend. If Lu Ze kept overcomplicating things, he might end up messing up their relationship.

 

Deciding to stop overthinking, Lu Ze resolved to treat Liang Xiao as just a good buddy—a close friend.

 

His phone buzzed with a notification. He quickly glanced at it, but it wasn’t from Liang Xiao—it was from Sun Zhuoyu.

 

Sun Zhuoyu:

[Qian Qian and I made a photo album of our trip. Do you and your boyfriend want one?]

 

Boyfriend? Did Liang Xiao not have a name? Boyfriend, my ass!

 

Lu Ze stared at the words “boyfriend” with an intensity that could burn through the screen. Suddenly,his earlier thoughts felt completely wrong.

 

Damn it—what kind of person makes their buddy pretend to be their boyfriend?

 

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