“You are?” Receiving a stranger’s visit made Li Que shrug his shoulders in surprise, causing the collar of his robe to slip just a little wider. His face was still calm, with no trace of annoyance, and it seemed that not even appearing in public half-naked was enough to faze him. Jiang Cenglan stared blankly at the divine face he had oh-so-obsessively examined on the cover of MODE magazine just a few hours ago. Then, his eyes slowly moved down and his face turned red.
His one and only muse, the man he had admired for such a long time, now stood in front of him. At such a close distance, Jiang Cenglan was almost surrounded by the fragrance on his body…
…So how could he not be distracted?!
Leaving aside everything bad that had been happening in his life so far, the existence of Li Que as a person had been of extraordinary significance for Jiang Cenglan. It could be said that he was even the main reason he chose to become a fashion designer.
Seven years ago, Jiang Cenglan, a sophomore in high school, came face to face with Li Que’s advertisement, a beautiful, mixed-race model who managed to grab a luxury endorsement right after his debut. That day, Jiang Cenglan stopped in the square for a long time. He could no longer remember exactly what he thought about while watching that advertisement play in a loop, but he could surely remember what he did next…
…Begged his parents to let him take the art exam and allow him to continue studying in the field. In fact, Jiang Cenglan’s performance in science was average, but he excelled in the rest of his subjects, to the point where if he was allowed to pursue art further, he could do so at his high school’s affiliated top university. Therefore, after a simple family meeting, his parents agreed to the matter and arranged for a famous teacher to come and show him how to draw. Coupled with his innate talent and the support of his parents’ wide network of teacher friends, Jiang Cenglan easily walked the path others laid down for him, getting admitted to the C Academy of Fine Arts[mfn]the author calls this specific university a “985 university”. In May 1998, the Chinese central government initiated Project 985, a higher education development and sponsorship scheme aimed at creating world-class higher education institutions. 39 universities were selected, which are mostly considered top-tier educational institutions in mainland China. After Google-ing a little bit, I believe C Academy of Fine Arts probably refers to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education and known as China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy. It is also considered one of the most selective schools in the country because it turns away more than 90% of its applicants each year[/mfn] as he wished.
And in every design he drew from that day on, the croquis he used had the shadow of Li Que’s silhouette.
Every. Single. One!
It was also because of that that he was directly stimulated into having an acute asthma attack as soon as he saw the title “Supermodel Li Que and designer Ryan Zhang cooperated for the first time!”
That scumbag with infuriating good looks stole his designs and presented them to his goddess, Li Que! And now… Now he met Li Que in person, at the address given by Zhang Ruien, a fact that could only be described as awfully dramatic!
……………….
Of course, Li Que was beautiful, but his beauty extended way past his facial features. In terms of appearance, he was often ridiculed as looking like a BJD doll[mfn]A ball-jointed doll is any doll that is articulated with ball and socket joints. In contemporary usage when referring to modern dolls, and particularly when using the acronyms BJD or ABJD, it usually refers to modern Asian ball-jointed dolls[/mfn], but truth be told, he was actually better, at least in Jiang Cenglan’s eyes. His beauty belonged to the mature and romantic type.
He was Eros himself, the god of love.
In the fashion industry, male models were usually required to be around 1.85 meters tall, give or take a small margin. If those values were different, then the body proportions were not good enough. However, Li Que was only 1.82 m, but his proportions were so good they could even be called perfect. He had just the right amount of muscles to fit both the luxurious business and leisure styles and, in addition to that, he was also a mixed-race child, with the perfect blend of soft Asian eyes and sharp Western features[mfn]Oh, baby Jiang, I know you’d also be interested in topping him, but if I learned anything in my years of reading BL, with this man’s stats, you hardly stand a chance :))[/mfn]. At some point in his career, he even opened a high-end, luxury women’s catwalk in full crossdressing attire, simply beautiful enough to amaze the entire fashion industry for several years.
And it was for that specific reason Jiang Cenglan secretly called him his goddess.
Beauty often transcended gender, and Li Que was precisely that kind of existence. But how could he be here now, standing right in front of him, half naked?!
Jiang Cenglan was not a fool. In the end, he vaguely guessed that Li Que was Zhang Ruien’s real partner. Otherwise, things couldn’t be that coincidental. They cooperated at work, it was said they had a good “personal friendship”, and that address was sent by Zhang Ruien himself. Between nine points of giving up and one point of struggling underneath Heaven, Jiang Cenglan mustered up his courage to ask: “I’m sorry… Ryan Zhang… What is he to you?”
Li Que’s expression became thoughtful as if he noticed something. The man then turned slightly, opening the path for the increasingly awkward boy at his door. “Come in and talk,” he said softly. “…What about Ryan? He’s my husband.”
“Ding!!” The beautiful sound of golden coins falling into the wishing well filled Jiang Cenglan’s ears. Zhang Ruien’s wife… A goddess who wouldn’t even leave their bed for less than 10k!
“Do you mind if I smoke?” Li Que asked, but a slender lady’s cigarette was already contained between his lips. His pearl-like teeth bit at it gently, and a cluster of blue flames came out of a branded lighter, quickly igniting it.
“I don’t mind,” Jiang Cenglan replied already late, compelled by Li Que’s soft smile.
…………………….
One hour later, the two of them sat on the expensive ostrich leather sofa in the living room like two old friends, with not that much distance between them. Li Que did not say a word throughout the whole process, quietly listening to Jiang Cenglan recall his entire history with Zhang Ruien. Probably because of his good personality and his status as countless little boys’ muse, Li Que’s attitude had been gentle from beginning to end, with not a single trace of impatience in his eyes. Along the way, Jiang Cenglan’s words went from mechanical stumbling to straightforward and devoid of reservations, gently caught in Li Que’s relaxed atmosphere. After saying what was in his heart in one breath, he even desperately presented evidence of their relationship, eager to prove that he was just a junior Zhang Ruien had taken advantage of, and not an insidious mistress.
After Li Que listened to all his ramblings, he simply took another box of women’s cigarettes from behind the sofa, signaling Jiang Cenglan to drink some water at the same time. Only then did poor little Jiang notice that while he was busy wailing in his own misery, Li Que was busy preparing drinks and snacks for his little guest.
So… So considerate!
And of course, it was well received since he went on and on for a whole hour, and now both his mouth and throat were as dry as sand. While holding the expensive bottle of OPHORA water[mfn]OPHORA water is some sort of lab made, technologically engineered water that costs about 14$ per bottle, claiming to have no microplastics, no hormones, and added minerals beneficial to your health[/mfn] and pouring liquid life into his raw throat, Jiang Cenglan looked at the TV on the other side of the living room, something he had regarded so far as being simple background noise.
It was… The eighth season of Desperate Housewives.
Jiang Cenglan: “…”
He put down his water, turning his head mechanically. On the other side of the couch was his goddess and muse Li Que, watching him quietly with red eyes. Wasn’t… Wasn’t that the real embodiment of a desperate housewife whose husband cheated on them?!
Jiang Cenglan stood up reflexively and bowed in shame. Looking down at the perfectly sized wool slippers on his feet, he said word by word: “I’m sorry! I really did not mean to end up in this situation! I never wanted to destroy your marriage. I…”
“It’s okay,” Li Que gently interrupted him. “No need to apologize. You’re also a victim, and I also feel sorry for what happened to you.”
A sentence that almost made Jiang Cenglan cry. In an instant, he felt that all the grievances he had suffered in the past three months and the heavy blow from that morning were comforted by the spring breeze, fully drowning in the merciful words of the goddess.
He even had the heart to resent Zhang Ruien.
Why would you go and entertain cats and dogs outside when you had such a perfect partner at home?! What gave you to guts to hurt Li Que?! Why…
Huh? Jiang Cenglan thought of something.
After extinguishing his cigarette, Li Que sat down next to him. This time around, the distance between the two was extremely close, and the man’s fragrance once again surrounded Jiang Cenglan. He raised his face and asked stupidly: “That… So where on earth is that scumbag now?! I only found this place because he sent me the address…”
Jiang Cenglan saw there was a little, vaguely mysterious smile in Li Que’s eyes. The man stood up, grabbed the collars of his silk robe, and walked upstairs.
…………………
When he came down again, Li Que had changed into decent home clothes. He invited Jiang Cenglan to change places with him and sit at the small bar at the other end of the room for a while.
Of course, Jiang Cenglan followed him in a daze. He guessed the man went upstairs to put himself together and groom his appearance since there was no trace of crying on his fair, gorgeous face. “Good. We’re both strong. That scumbag is not worth crying over!”, Jiang Cenglan thought while watching Li Que elegantly mix cocktails.
A cold, triangular glass was pushed in front of him, containing pinkish liquor. “Here you go, Xiao Yun,” Li Que said. “It’s a Manhattan[mfn]A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. While rye is the traditional whiskey of choice, other commonly used whiskies include Canadian whisky, bourbon, blended whiskey, and Tennessee whiskey. The cocktail is usually stirred with ice then strained into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished traditionally with a maraschino cherry. A Manhattan may also be served on the rocks in a lowball glass[/mfn].”
“Oh.” Jiang Cenglan nodded and raised his hand to pick up the glass. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. Looking up at the man who was also watching him with a smile, he asked: “How did you know?”
“Was I right?”, Li Que’s eyes curled up. “It was easy to guess. The sea of clouds stretches close and boundless, layers of mist embrace deep emerald-green peaks– Chenglan. Can I call you Xiao Yun[mfn]Jiang Cenglan’s name- 姜层岚, where (Jiāng) means “ginger”, 层 (Céng) means “layered/heavy, and 岚 ( Lán) means “mist/cloud”, coming from Song Zhuxi’s poem “To Nangshan Temple”: 晓发渔溪驿，夜宿囊山寺 云海近苍茫，层岚拥深翠 “In the early morning, departing from Fishing Creek Post; at night, lodging at Nangshan Temple. The sea of clouds stretches close and boundless, layers of mist embrace deep emerald-green peaks.” As for Xiao Yun – 小云- xiǎo yún, it means “Little Cloud”[/mfn]?”
Jiang Cenglan nodded shyly: “Hmm.” All of his previous assumptions and desire to come to the scumbag’s door and ask for compensation went up in flames as soon as he started interacting with Li Que. While unwilling to let his friend know about his shame of becoming a mistress, he opened up to this unknown man, a person he had just met for the first time, without reservations. Not only that but after he showed his bitter little heart, he also received the full understanding and concern of the other person, making him feel extremely relaxed.
It seemed that the big stone that followed him for the past three months finally landed on the ground.
His muse personally gave him a nickname~! And it was also the way only his parents called him! Jiang Cenglan did not dare to think about that matter any further…
On the day he first decided to become a fashion designer, he simply wanted to have Li Que wear the clothes he designed. Now, that dream had already been achieved, but no one knew he was the designer. Thinking about that, Jiang Cenglan’s eyes turned gloomy.
It really was… A shit show!
His thoughts turned a thousand times, and as the sourness of the Manhattan flew down his esophagus to his chest, his little heart also turned as bitter as a squeezed lemon. Staring at the empty glass in front of him, his eyes gradually lost focus, and a thick fog quickly gathered in front of him. A few seconds later, tears fell without warning, hitting the table one by one and swelling the oak coasters a little.
Jiang Cenglan heard a faint sigh. He knew that Li Que was looking at him, but at that time, he didn’t even have the strength to cover his face so that he wouldn’t appear ugly in front of his goddess.
He didn’t even understand what he felt so wrong about, but he indeed felt extremely wrong! Then, thinking about the almost decade-long marriage between Li Que and Zhang Ruien, he started feeling even more disappointed on his muse’s behalf.
But he just couldn’t stop crying.
His two years, from China to the United States, were nothing but a joke in the seven-year-long relationship between them. And yet here he was, dancing and performing in front of the rightful master like the clown he was!
And what hurt the most was that Zhang Ruien might have been fake to him, but he definitely treated Li Que with sincerity. He was his reversed scale and his bottom line, a person he probably never intended to hurt.
Jiang Cenglan cried so much that he couldn’t see anything clearly.
Until that man went around the bar and hugged him.
Only then did Jiang Cenglan hold back a little, but only because he was afraid his runny nose would soil his goddess’s exquisite clothes. In the big scheme of things, that was one type of humiliation he could never recover from!
And in his ear, there came the light coaxing he couldn’t even dare to dream of: “Come on, don’t cry. I know you were wronged… It’s not your fault. You’re the victim. I know you’re feeling bad.”
“I won’t blame you either. You were brave enough to come and tell me the truth. So be a good boy and stop crying for me.”
That chest, which was not that much wider than Jiang Cenglan’s, surrounded him fragrantly, and the man’s warm hands with the scent of wine slowly combed through his hair. Jiang Cenglan gradually stopped crying, but because he was choking, he instead started hiccuping. After coming out of Li Que’s arms, he was so shy that he didn’t dare look up at him, with a completely confused brain. In his haze, Jiang Cenglan bit his lower lip lightly, thinking that he might as well say goodbye and disappear from the face of the earth, instead of staying here like a complete idiot.
But unexpectedly, his cheeks were gently held up by two warm hands. Li Que held Jiang Cenglan’s face, asking him to raise his head and look up at him. Then he slowly lowered his head and kissed the young man’s wet eyelids.
“A reward for being so honest with me,” the man said, slightly seductively. “Later, would you like to see my body?”
Jiang Cenglan was completely dumbfounded.
……………………..
As usual, up to five chapters in advance are available here. Happy reading!
