ASSHKHME Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Confession

The swirling snow took away the busy final exam week.

Everyone seemed to have been drained of their energy by a fox spirit, listless and weak.

Before rolling back home for the winter vacation, Zhao Jiashu suggested the dormitory have a get-together to commemorate their dead brain cells and falling hair.

Chen Zhuo, Xie Yu, and Li Ang all agreed with both hands and feet.

Xie Yu originally wanted to treat them to something nice, but Zhao Jiashu said that young people should eat at dai pai dongs and drink beer, so he gave up on the idea.

Because holiday train tickets were hard to get, and Li Ang’s girlfriend happened to have to catch a flight the morning after their dinner, making meeting up difficult due to the distance, Li Ang wavered between accompanying his brothers and his girlfriend.

It was clear that he really wanted to be with his girlfriend, but he was too embarrassed to say it.

It was decided that he should just bring his girlfriend along to the dinner, since everyone was in the same class and familiar with each other anyway.

With a total of five people, Xie Yu specifically had his family’s driver bring his Cullinan over.

The car window lowered, Xie Yu casually rested his arm on it, urging, “It’s freezing, get in the car quickly. Little Zhuo’er, sit in the passenger seat.”

Zhao Jiashu opened his mouth wide in surprise.

He knew Xie Yu’s family was rich, but Xie Yu usually either walked or hitched a ride on Chen Zhuo’s little electric motorcycle.

And he was keen on eating the ten-yuan beef noodles from the second cafeteria. He really hadn’t realized that Xie Yu’s family was so wealthy.

The back seat was spacious, with Li Ang in the middle and his girlfriend, Chu Ran, and Zhao Jiashu on either side.

Zhao Jiashu touched the leather seat, on the verge of tears, “Yu-ge, this is too extravagant, isn’t it? I figured your family’s money didn’t come from thin air, so I suggested going to a dai pai dong. Can we still change our minds? I want to eat delicacies and drink ’82 Lafite!”

Xie Yu looked at Chen Zhuo next to him, secretly squeezed his hand, “What do you want to eat?”

Chen Zhuo: “Anything is fine.”

Only then did Xie Yu turn his head to look at Zhao Jiashu, “Considering you’re a poor single dog, Yu-ge is treating. Eat as much as you want, don’t be polite. Li Zi and classmate Chu Ran, any suggestions?”

Chu Ran waved her hand and smiled, “I’m just here to freeload today. Eat whatever you guys want, I have no objections.”

After reaching a consensus, Xie Yu made a phone call, “Hey, Qi Zi, I’m taking some friends to eat at your restaurant. Have the manager reserve a private room for me.”

Chen Zhuo hadn’t heard this name before, and secretly perked up his ears.

He only heard a gnashing male voice from the other side of the phone, “Big brother! It’s two in the morning here! I just fell asleep!”

Xie Yu ignored his complaints, “I’ll be there in about half an hour, bye.”

Chen Zhuo asked, “Your childhood friend?”

“Yeah, Ling Qi. I’ll introduce you when he comes back for the New Year.”

After saying that, Xie Yu started the car and drove towards the suburbs along the asphalt road.

Zhao Jiashu suddenly came to his senses, and immediately felt a sense of betrayal.

He lamented, “Why considering I’m a single dog? Aren’t you and Zhuo’er? Did you two secretly get girlfriends behind my back? Am I going to become a lonely old man of 2013?”

Li Ang smiled and didn’t say anything. He hadn’t told anyone about Xie Yu and Chen Zhuo’s relationship, not even his girlfriend.

Xie Yu drawled a “hmm” in a lazy manner, glanced at Zhao Jiashu through the rearview mirror, “That’s right, you’ve become a lonely old man, but the one I got isn’t a girlfriend.”

Zhao Jiashu was silent for two seconds, “Ah? What do you mean? Are you gay?!”

Xie Yu glanced sideways at Chen Zhuo, and seeing that he didn’t object, he held the steering wheel with one hand, shook Chen Zhuo’s hand he was holding, and raised his eyebrows, “That’s exactly what it means.”

Zhao Jiashu looked at their clasped hands, his brain almost short-circuited.

He lunged forward, hugging the back of the passenger seat, shocked, “…Oh my god, you two are together? Zhuo’er, is it true?”

Chen Zhuo gave Xie Yu a reproachful look and nodded, “Yeah, did it scare you?”

“It didn’t scare me, but I was wondering why you were hanging out with Jiang Song. He…” Zhao Jiashu’s voice stopped, he turned his head to look at Li Ang, “You knew about this a long time ago? You all knew and didn’t tell me?!”

Li Ang laughed, “I only guessed it recently, who told you to be so stupid?”

Chu Ran was still in the midst of eating melon, “No, no, no, I just found out. Sure enough, handsome guys aren’t circulating outside.”

Li Ang was dissatisfied, “Am I not handsome? What happened to beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Am I not handsome?”

Chu Ran smiled and took his arm, “Yeah, yeah, you’re the most handsome.”

Zhao Jiashu was very hurt, huddled in the corner, “This world is too absurd. What happened to being mortal enemies? How did you two end up dating? No wonder Jiang Song said I wore my glasses for nothing, I’m really blind, oh my god.”

Chen Zhuo grasped the key words, “You’ve only met Jiang Song once, right? Are you in contact?”

Zhao Jiashu adjusted his glasses, “I’ve met him a few more times during club activities, but I’m not gay! I’m going to marry a wife.”

Xie Yu found this line familiar, and scoffed, “Who asked you? Who cares about you?”

The Cullinan drove for about half an hour, arriving at an ancient architectural style courtyard, built entirely of wood, with the three characters “Wangjiang Tower” on the signboard written by a well-known calligrapher.

It was a membership-based private restaurant, where reservations had to be made a month in advance to eat here.

Chen Zhuo marveled at the architectural craftsmanship here, taking more than a dozen photos before following Xie Yu into the courtyard.

A waiter wearing a modified qipao-style work uniform came to greet them, “Young Master Xie.”

Xie Yu nodded, “Qi Zi told you, right? Are there any private rooms available today?”

The waiter replied, “Yes, sir. Please follow me this way. The young owner said to let you and your friends come to his private room.”

The group walked past the small bridge and flowing water in the backyard, up the winding corridor and up the wooden stairs, stopping in front of a door deep on the third floor.

The waiter opened the door for them, respectfully saying, “Please come in.”

Xie Yu lightly supported Chen Zhuo’s back, pulled out a chair for him, and placed today’s menu in front of him.

With his hands propped on the table, he bent down and said to Chen Zhuo, “Their menus are fixed. Take a look at today’s cuisine and see if there’s anything you don’t like. If you don’t like it, we’ll have them take it away.”

Chen Zhuo looked at the waiters standing aside, who were all well-trained, not looking or listening randomly, maintaining professional smiles.

But Zhao Jiashu, who had no sense of propriety, stared straight at the two of them, his eyebrows twisted into a knot, as if he couldn’t figure out how the two of them could get together.

It seemed that his being in love with Xie Yu had caused a not small psychological impact on this little straight man.

After the waiters left, only they were left in the private room.

Chen Zhuo took a sip of warm water and looked at Zhao Jiashu, “If you have something to say, say it. If you have a fart, let it out.”

Zhao Jiashu asked, full of tangled emotions, “I just don’t understand, you two are so great, people who can be on the confession wall several times a month, why do you have to like men?”

Xie Yu said unhappily, “Mind your own business.”

Zhao Jiashu retorted weakly, “Your boyfriend asked me to ask…”

Hearing this title from someone else’s mouth, Xie Yu felt a little pleased, and said “Oh”, “Alright then.”

Chen Zhuo rubbed his water glass and said, “There’s no why. You don’t have to understand if you can’t. If it was really that easy to understand, there wouldn’t be parents who would rather send their children to mental hospitals than accept their children’s orientations.”

Zhao Jiashu quickly said, “I didn’t mean anything else. Hey, I can’t speak properly. You two are my good brothers, I’m definitely blessing you.”

Li Ang chimed in, “You’ll have to punish yourself with three drinks later.”

Zhao Jiashu said, “Okay, okay, I accept the punishment. Zhuo’er, don’t be angry, okay?”

Chen Zhuo smiled, “What do I have to be angry about? You guys are my best friends. Actually, I’m quite happy. The feeling of sharing secrets is pretty good.”

Zhao Jiashu was touched and said seriously, “You’re also my best friend, Zhuo’er. Even if you like transvestites or aliens, I’ll support you! I swear! I’m telling the truth.”

Xie Yu kicked Zhao Jiashu’s chair and laughed, “Damn, Zhao Jiashu, you’ve grown, haven’t you? Who’s a transvestite or an alien?”

Zhao Jiashu collapsed, “…Oh my god! Someone feed me peanuts!”

Just then, the waiter came in to deliver wine, “Would you like some peanuts?”

Zhao Jiashu said awkwardly, “No, no.”