TBS Chapter 23

The day after the merger notification, Xu Miao met Xia Jingzhou.

A face not unfamiliar, a voice not unfamiliar. The thing Xu Miao had feared and worried about was now standing right in front of him, reminding him that wrongdoing would bring consequences.

Xia Jingzhou’s difficulties were expected—plans always returned for revisions because of minor issues, meaningless client calls with broad coverage, and an unusual amount of miscellaneous tasks that didn’t originally belong to Xu Miao.

Having not smoked for a long time, Xu Miao took a brief, rare moment of free time to retreat to the rooftop. By the end of just one morning, his phone was full of messages and calls from Xie Ge.

He thought for a moment and called back.

The call didn’t get answered immediately, unlike usual. Xu Miao guessed that Xie Ge might be busy—or perhaps sulking at him for ignoring him all morning.

Listening to the dial tone, Xu Miao let his mind drift.

“You’re very pretty. Everyone would like your face.”

Xu Miao put down his phone and looked toward the voice.

He hadn’t noticed that the moment he set his phone down, the call had actually connected, and the timer started counting.

Xu Miao stared at Xia Jingzhou, unsure how to respond. He didn’t want to act like he didn’t understand and merely thank him for the surface-level compliment. Also, because he had once deceived Xia Jingzhou and received his help, he couldn’t speak harshly.

In the end, Xu Miao stayed silent, saying nothing, lowering his gaze, and continuing to smoke as if Xia Jingzhou didn’t exist.

But this wasn’t up to Xu Miao alone.

Xia Jingzhou didn’t want this even-to-say conversation to end. He stepped closer, clearly seeing Xu Miao’s face, which he considered pretty.

“Pretty” isn’t really a word used to describe men, because it tends to suggest an ambiguous attraction. Xia Jingzhou thought: when does one man call another “pretty”? Probably when he wants to possess that beauty.

Xu Miao was focused on everything he did, even smoking, giving Xia Jingzhou an opening.

Xia Jingzhou snatched the half-smoked cigarette from Xu Miao’s fingers. He stared at the slightly damp filter, intending to help Xu Miao finish the rest.

Just as the filter neared his lips, Xia Jingzhou’s wrist was struck, the cigarette fell and went out on the ground.

“Don’t be so stingy,” Xia Jingzhou said mockingly, kicking the butt. “Can’t even spare half a cigarette.”

Xu Miao’s face visibly darkened. “Buy your own.”

Xia Jingzhou said “oh” without much attention, continuing: “Why didn’t you send me photos back then? If you had, I’d have given you more money at the time.”

Regarding money, Xu Miao rarely asked for it. Most of the time, he only mentioned his preferences, and Xia Jingzhou bought them to make him happy.

Back then, Xu Miao’s shipping address was a shop, and the phone number was the store’s. When asked why, Xu Miao said he spent most of his time at the shop, so it was convenient for receiving parcels.

Xia Jingzhou believed this until recently, when he realized Xu Miao simply didn’t want him to find him.

Still, Xia Jingzhou used some questionable methods to locate Xu Miao, not only finding him but also easily taking Xu Miao’s place.

Xia Jingzhou raised his hand, unconsciously wanting to touch Xu Miao’s face, only for Xu Miao to quickly swat it away.

Xia Jingzhou had never felt he was lying—Xu Miao really was very pretty, even more so when angry. So he continued: “Did you wear the skirt I bought you? The necklace? The bag? Did you like them? Are they still kept?”

Xu Miao replied simply: “I sold them all.”

Turning gifts into cash was tedious: waiting for delivery, pricing, finding a buyer, sending and receiving payment—it took much longer than just receiving a transfer.

Xu Miao always refused gifts, Xia Jingzhou always insisted, and Xu Miao eventually stopped refusing because his hospital account had little money left.

Xia Jingzhou didn’t mind gifts being sold. “Sold? Fine. I can buy you more. Those old ones weren’t worth you—you deserve better.”

Xu Miao said expressionlessly: “We’re no longer in a gift-giving relationship. I don’t deserve your so-called better.”

Xia Jingzhou: “So, if it really bothers you, we can change the relationship.”

Talking to someone unwilling to communicate was difficult. Xu Miao didn’t understand why Xia Jingzhou wouldn’t relent, and he felt he didn’t deserve this, having already made amends.

So Xu Miao said: “I returned all your gifts at their original price six months ago. I refunded all the money you transferred. If it makes you uncomfortable, if being deceived into a relationship by a man is disgusting, you can hit me. I won’t fight back.”

He hoped Xia Jingzhou would, seeing his sincere attitude, stop harassing him, at least treat him like a colleague or subordinate with a poor first impression.

Xu Miao’s words seemed to hit a nerve. Xia Jingzhou’s smile stiffened, and he spoke harshly: “You shouldn’t have returned the money, you know? Everything now is your own doing. Break up quietly—don’t do things that remind your ex of you.”

“You suddenly had that money. How am I supposed to feel? Thinking you might be with someone else made me insanely jealous. Why? I also have money! Why break up with me? Who wants to break up with you nicely?”

Xia Jingzhou took a deep breath, suppressing turbulent emotions: “I only agreed to break up because I heard you crying. Afterwards, I worried about you, sent you money, but you blocked me.”

“I wanted to let it go, I really wanted to!”

“But then you insisted on transferring money to me. I thought you still had feelings. When I messaged you, it was blocked. I looked for you for a long time. I never imagined you were a man! At first, I couldn’t accept it. You dared to lie to me—I wanted to kill you!”

Xu Miao lowered his eyes, eyelashes trembling slightly.

Past humiliations were laid bare, and Xu Miao felt a sourness in his throat. He used all his self-control to keep his tone calm: “I earned the money to return to you, not from anyone else. Debts should be repaid. Since you were the last, returning to you had to be last—I apologize for that.”

Xia Jingzhou’s expression shifted. He grabbed Xu Miao’s collar: “I don’t want this. I don’t want your money! Who said you had to return it? When did I ask you to pay me back?”

He noticed Xu Miao’s face had paled—maybe his illusion, maybe not.

He snorted, released his grip, controlling his temper: “I can overlook this. Let’s act as if we never broke up, I…”

“I’m married.” Xu Miao interrupted.

Xia Jingzhou frowned: “Then divorce. I can pretend I don’t know.”

“Why should I divorce?” Xu Miao said. “I love him.”

Xia Jingzhou’s face went dark. He raised his voice: “No one asked if you loved him! Who asked? I asked if you could divorce. Did you hear me?”

“Yes, I heard. I won’t. I won’t divorce. I love him. Ask me a thousand times—I won’t.”

Xia Jingzhou snorted: “Fine, fine.”

Xu Miao didn’t want to continue talking—it was exhausting. If Xia Jingzhou wanted to stay, he would leave.

Xia Jingzhou: “You say you love him. What about when we were dating? Did you like me?”

Xu Miao: “No. Back then, I only wanted money.”

The elevator descended quickly, but Xu Miao thought a lot in that brief time.

He wondered why love was so terrifying—pulling work from its place at the top of his priorities, forcing him to say “I love him” even facing the risk of unemployment.

He also thought how annoying Xie Ge was: not answering calls, causing him to fail at quitting smoking, wasting a lunch break.

After leaving the elevator, the signal returned, and Xu Miao’s phone vibrated repeatedly.

Opening the chat, Xie Ge had sent too many messages at once. Xu Miao didn’t notice the call had been disconnected, not unanswered:

[A Little Silly]: [Transfer]

[A Little Silly]: I’ll give you all my money.

[A Little Silly]: I bought tonight’s plane ticket.

[A Little Silly]: Can we get married?

[A Little Silly]: Tomorrow.

[A Little Silly]: You said next time we meet, we’ll get married.

[A Little Silly]: Let’s get married.

[A Little Silly]: Xu Miao, I said let’s get married.

[A Little Silly]: Let’s get married, let’s get married, let’s get married, let’s get married.