INT Chapter 44

“So, you’ve already graduated?” Lu Ze asked while stirring his porridge.

 

“Yeah, the graduation ceremony was a few days ago,” Liang Xiao replied.

 

Lu Ze clicked his tongue, took a sip of porridge, and immediately grimaced because it was too hot to swallow.

 

Liang Xiao handed him the lid of a food container. “Spit it out.”

 

Lu Ze shook his head with a pained expression and forced the porridge down. “Damn, that was so hot—it’s like my tongue is burned…”

 

Liang Xiao sighed. “What’s the rush? It’s not like you’re in a hurry.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me about your graduation?” Lu Ze started holding him accountable.

 

Liang Xiao poured him a glass of water to cool down. “At the time, I didn’t plan on being with you.”

 

“And now? Why the sudden change of heart?” Lu Ze asked.

 

Liang Xiao finished a soup dumpling in one bite and, after a pause, said, “Because I’m selfish.”

 

Lu Ze frowned and looked up at him.

 

Liang Xiao smirked slightly. “I’ve always liked you. So even if this isn’t the best timing, I didn’t want to miss my chance.”

 

“Always?” Lu Ze raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me it was love at first sight?”

 

“Why not?” Liang Xiao replied calmly.

 

“Of course it can be!” Lu Ze couldn’t suppress his grin. “But what do you mean by ‘not the best timing’? You like me, I like you—this is the perfect timing.”

 

Liang Xiao nodded. “Our Ze-ge is absolutely right.”

 

Lu Ze picked up a dumpling and stuffed it into Liang Xiao’s mouth. Liang Xiao looked at him in confusion while chewing, which made Lu Ze laugh. “Don’t call me Ze-ge.”

 

“Why not…” Liang Xiao mumbled through the food.

 

“When you call me Ze-ge, it feels weird—like my dad suddenly calling me ‘baby boy.’”

 

Liang Xiao laughed too. “Then what should I call you?”

 

“Just my name.”

 

“Lu Ze?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Liang Xiao clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. “That feels too distant.”

 

Lu Ze was surprised—he hadn’t expected Liang Xiao to be the affectionate type in relationships. “Then what do you want to call me?”

 

Liang Xiao thought for a few seconds and suddenly smiled at him. Lu Ze immediately had a bad feeling.

 

Liang Xiao silently mouthed a word: Baby.

 

“Damn…”

 

Lu Ze quickly lowered his head to drink two gulps of porridge, both embarrassed and unable to stop himself from laughing.

 

After a moment, Lu Ze cleared his throat, raised his head, and said seriously, “Comrade Liang Xiao, please don’t learn these embarrassing nicknames from Miss Xu Jingjing. Otherwise, I can make you just as embarrassed.”

 

Liang Xiao looked at Lu Ze, whose ears were already a little red. To avoid his own ears turning the same color, he obediently nodded. “Alright, Comrade Xiao Lu.”

 

“Damn…” Lu Ze laughed again. “Thanks for cooperating, Comrade Xiao Liang. Just call me Ze-ge instead.”

 

After finishing their meal, Liang Xiao cleaned up the takeout boxes on the coffee table. Lu Ze rubbed his stomach for a moment and said, “It doesn’t seem to hurt anymore.”

 

“Good.”

 

Lu Ze watched as Liang Xiao went to the kitchen to grab a cloth to wipe the table. Feeling like he had nothing else to do, he started a conversation: “If you’re not doing this job anymore, what about all your clients?”

 

“I’ll delete them all,” Liang Xiao said casually. “I won’t be doing this kind of work again anyway.”

 

“How about… waiting a bit?” Lu Ze hesitated, fiddling with his fingers. “You could start looking for another job first and just tell your clients you’re taking a break…”

 

Liang Xiao paused what he was doing and looked up at Lu Ze without saying anything.

 

Lu Ze carefully added, “It’s hard to find a job these days. Keeping them as a backup might help in case the new job doesn’t work out or is too exhausting…”

 

Liang Xiao interrupted him. “I can start working at Fool’s Bar first.”

 

Lu Ze froze for a moment before Liang Xiao continued in a firm tone: “The clients must be deleted. Now that I’m with you, I can’t keep doing this kind of work.”

 

Realizing his tone was too serious, Liang Xiao softened his expression and smiled slightly. In a lighter tone, he said, “The pay at Fool’s Bar is pretty good, and I’m familiar with the place. It’s easier than entertaining clients. Plus, I’ll have time during the day to look for other jobs. Don’t worry.”

 

Lu Ze didn’t say anything more. He knew he wasn’t generous enough to not care if Liang Xiao continued working with clients for money—it would definitely bother him deeply.

 

And even though he knew Liang Xiao wouldn’t do that anymore, he still brought it up just to appear understanding.

 

Tsk tsk tsk… You’ve just started dating, Lu Ze, and you’re already being pretentious.

 

After cleaning up the coffee table, Liang Xiao checked the time and asked, “Are you in any rush to go back?”

 

“No rush,” Lu Ze replied quickly.

 

Liang Xiao nodded, took out both of his phones, placed them on the coffee table, and sat down next to Lu Ze. “Watch me delete them.”

 

“Wait, wait…” Lu Ze grabbed Liang Xiao’s hand. “Are you just going to delete them like that?”

 

Liang Xiao turned to him with a questioning look.

 

“…Shouldn’t you send them a message explaining why?” Lu Ze suggested.

 

Liang Xiao didn’t think it was necessary but still asked, “What should I say?”

 

“Just be honest,” Lu Ze said after thinking for a moment. “Tell them you’re in a relationship now and won’t be doing this anymore.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Liang Xiao drafted a group message and showed it to Lu Ze: “Group message: Since I’ve started dating an incredibly handsome boyfriend, I’ve decided to change jobs and will delete all client contacts. Thank you for understanding.”

 

Lu Ze looked up at Liang Xiao and said with a smile, “The way you worded this explanation is really infuriating.”

 

Liang Xiao chuckled, took back his phone, and said, “Sent.”

 

“How many WeChat accounts do you have?” Lu Ze asked.

 

“Three,” Liang Xiao replied. “Two are for clients.”

 

Lu Ze squinted. “Then I—”

 

Before he could finish, Liang Xiao handed him another phone. “The one you added before was a client account. This one is my personal account. Add it.”

 

Lu Ze scanned the QR code and, while looking at Liang Xiao’s personal account, asked, “What about the third one?”

 

“Hmm?” Liang Xiao paused.

 

“You said three accounts. I want to add the third one too,” Lu Ze demanded.

 

Liang Xiao laughed helplessly. “Why would you add that one? I’m deleting all the clients anyway and plan to deactivate it.”

 

“Interesting,” Lu Ze joked. “You could even start a group chat for mahjong with all these accounts.”

 

In the end, Lu Ze added all three of Liang Xiao’s WeChat accounts and even asked for his phone number. “Your personal account has fewer posts than your work account.”

 

Liang Xiao was busy deleting contacts. “Yeah, I don’t post much on Moments.”

 

It didn’t take Lu Ze long to scroll through Liang Xiao’s personal account. Afterward, he turned to watch Liang Xiao delete contacts for a while before suddenly taking out his phone to snap pictures of Liang Xiao’s hands.

 

Hearing the sound of the camera shutter, Liang Xiao glanced at him. Lu Ze, focused on his screen, said, “Ignore me—I’m just taking pictures of your hands.”

 

Liang Xiao’s fingers were long and well-defined, with prominent joints that looked elegant when bent. Lu Ze took photos from various angles and carefully selected two perfect ones to post on Moments—this time visible to everyone.

 

The likes and comments came rolling in quickly—it seemed like a time when everyone was idly scrolling through their feeds.

 

Mao Xin: [Ze-ge, those aren’t your hands, right?]

Sun Zhuoyu: [Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.]

Meng Qian: [Beautiful.]

Lü Xuan: [Great hands.]

Xu Jingjing: [When did you change phones?]

 

Lu Ze replied to Xu Jingjing: [Look closely—are those my hands?]

Xu Jingjing responded: [Hmm… doesn’t seem like it…]

 

Lu Jinglang: [?]

Lu Ze replied: [?]

Lu Jinglang responded again: [?]

Lu Ze replied once more: [?]

 

Xu Jingjing chimed in: [What are you two doing?]

Lu Jinglang replied: [Magic tricks.]

 

Lu Ze chuckled when he noticed that Liang Xiao had also commented: [Your photos make my hands look better than they actually are.]

 

Turning to Liang Xiao with a smile, Lu Ze replied: [It’s the filter, of course.]

 

Sun Zhuoyu: [Aren’t you two together? Stop flaunting your relationship so blatantly!]

 

Liang Xiao feigned ignorance and asked, “What filter?”

 

Putting down his phone, Lu Ze grabbed Liang Xiao’s hand and kissed it lightly before smiling brightly. “The boyfriend filter.”

 

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