Unmatched Chapter 8
byChapter 8 Not Annoying
Zhao Shuyi hadn’t expected that he would, in this lifetime, sleep in the same bed as Xie Qi.
He bore some responsibility for how things had developed, but he felt that ninety-nine percent of the problem lay with Xie Qi—
Xie Qi was the one who stripped first, and before going to shower, he even asked, “Want to take a lovers’ bath?” The tone was like a declaration of war, utterly speechless.
Of course, Zhao Shuyi refused; there was more than one bathroom.
They showered separately. When Zhao Shuyi returned, Xie Qi was already in bed, leaning against the headboard, looking at his phone under the lamp. He didn’t even lift an eyelid when Zhao Shuyi came back.
So calm, Zhao Shuyi wondered if he was faking it.
Zhao Shuyi got into bed from the other side, silent. His stomach was still cramping. It seemed it wouldn’t get better anytime soon, and since he hadn’t prepared daily medication in the new house, he could only endure it.
In the past, which of his lovers who stayed the night wouldn’t become terribly anxious the moment they saw him frown, asking gently where he felt unwell, afraid he was too cold or too hot, daring not to cause him the slightest displeasure?
But Xie Qi would never do that. He probably wished Zhao Shuyi would die sooner.
Thinking this way, Zhao Shuyi truly had no interest in sleeping with Xie Qi.
He was very difficult to please in bed, and Xie Qi was likely accustomed to being served. They were incompatible.
Zhao Shuyi inadvertently glanced over and found that Xie Qi was also looking at him, scrutinizing him, wondering what he was thinking.
Unable to bear the pain, Zhao Shuyi picked up his phone and messaged his assistant: “Send some stomach medicine over.”
This was Little Zhou, his personal assistant, who specialized in handling these miscellaneous daily chores.
However, Zhao Shuyi usually didn’t have many demands, so Little Zhou’s main job was to arrange people for his “bed service” and handle the aftermath the next morning.
Before long, Little Zhou arrived. He had keys to all of Zhao Shuyi’s residences, including this new house.
But Little Zhou understood the rules. Knowing Xie Qi was also present, he politely rang the doorbell instead of entering Zhao Shuyi’s home directly as he usually would.
Zhao Shuyi heard the sound and, wrapped in his bathrobe, went to open the door.
Xie Qi suddenly looked up: “Who is it?”
Zhao Shuyi ignored him, but Xie Qi chased him off the bed, his face dark as he blocked the doorway: “Zhao Shuyi, are you serious?”
“What’s serious or fake?”
“You’re disgusting me on the first day of our engagement?”
“…”
Zhao Shuyi finally understood: “You thought I called someone over to sleep with me? Are you crazy? If you’re sick, get treated.”
He pushed Xie Qi aside, took the medicine at the door, brought it into the room, and swallowed it with warm water.
Little Zhou left immediately after delivering the medicine, not lingering for a second glance. Once the door was closed, Xie Qi was silent for a moment. As if nothing had happened, without an apology or a word of concern, he turned and went back to the bedroom.
Zhao Shuyi didn’t bother arguing with him, mainly because he was tired. He lay back down on the bed, closed his eyes, then suddenly remembered he hadn’t taken his sleeping pills, and got up again to look for them.
The moment he moved, Xie Qi’s gaze followed, and his tone was highly impatient: “What are you doing now?”
Zhao Shuyi was also impatient: “Mind your own business.”
Xie Qi said, “How am I supposed to sleep if you keep moving?”
“If you can’t stand it, go sleep next door.” Zhao Shuyi was impolite. He pulled out the medication he had been using recently from the drawer—thankfully, Ye Zhao hadn’t forgotten it when helping him move—and swallowed it with water.
In truth, he had tried all common sleeping pills, and their effectiveness was no longer what it used to be. This new drug might not be that effective for him either; it was mostly psychological.
Finally, Zhao Shuyi lay back down on the bed and stopped moving.
Xie Qi turned off the light. In the pitch black, his phone screen still glowed; Zhao Shuyi didn’t know who he was chatting with.
Zhao Shuyi also opened his phone and scrolled through it. He finally had time to check the messages accumulated over the past half month, but he had no patience and quickly scanned them without replying to anyone.
Xie Qi was chatting animatedly; the vibration kept buzzing. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Zhao Shuyi couldn’t help but say, “Can you put it on silent?”
Xie Qi replied, “Mind your own business. If you can’t stand it, go sleep next door.”
Zhao Shuyi: “…”
“Xie Qi.” Zhao Shuyi was silent for about five minutes. “We should talk properly.”
“Talk about what?”
“The future.” Zhao Shuyi said, “I told you this morning, there is no second option now; we can only cooperate. In the past… our relationship wasn’t great, but it wasn’t deep hatred, right? Don’t be so petty, just let it go.”
Xie Qi didn’t respond. Zhao Shuyi intentionally brought up the past: “Don’t forget, I saved your life.”
It was better not to mention it. When he did, Xie Qi gave a cold, mocking laugh: “It was just a coincidence. You would have saved even a dog.”
Zhao Shuyi was stunned. That phrase sounded familiar.
Xie Qi reminded him: “You said it yourself, don’t you remember?”
Zhao Shuyi: “…”
He remembered.
It was during his second year of high school. Xie Qi was framed by his stepmother—that’s what he claimed, though no evidence was found afterward—and trapped in a fire.
At the time, the school organized a charity event to visit an orphanage in the suburbs to comfort the orphans, and both Zhao Shuyi and Xie Qi participated.
To the east of the orphanage was a garbage processing plant.
The fire started at the garbage processing plant. As for how Xie Qi ended up there, Zhao Shuyi didn’t know. The students were already getting into the buses to return, and the teacher was counting heads, asking why Xie Qi hadn’t returned. Someone answered, “He seems to have been picked up by his family’s car.”
Since he was a precious young master, similar situations were common, and no one suspected anything.
Only Zhao Shuyi felt inexplicably wrong, though he couldn’t pinpoint the reason. Perhaps it was an intuition deep within.
He made an excuse that he had left something behind, got off the bus to retrieve it, and saw firelight and thick smoke coming from the garbage processing plant in the distance.
An employee at the orphanage said that they often burned trash there, so it was normal. Zhao Shuyi was skeptical and casually asked, “Did you see a boy, wearing a black T-shirt, about my height?”
Xie Qi was handsome and memorable. The employee thought for a moment and said, “He was flying a kite with a child just now. He seemed to have gone that way.” He pointed in the direction of the garbage processing plant and wondered, “Hasn’t he come back yet? It’s been a long time…”
Zhao Shuyi didn’t have time to think further when the employee suddenly shrieked, “It looks like a house is on fire over there!”
—It was a building fire, not trash burning.
The towering flames made Zhao Shuyi’s scalp tingle. He ran over with the orphanage employee to see.
The fire was huge. The garbage processing plant only had two managers, and they were terrified, standing outside, afraid to approach. They said they had called the police, but the fire department would take a while to arrive.
Zhao Shuyi was suspicious: “Is there anyone inside?”
They said of course not. It stored worthless junk, and no passersby usually came through, not even thieves, as the area was dirty.
But Zhao Shuyi clearly heard cries for help from within the raging fire.
Without him saying anything, the other three also heard it, and their faces instantly paled.
Zhao Shuyi no longer remembered what he was thinking at the time—maybe nothing at all. Teenagers were too impulsive. When he rushed in, the people around him were stunned and couldn’t stop him.
Looking back afterward, Zhao Shuyi felt he had treated Xie Qi as a friend.
Xie Qi hadn’t expected the person who came to save him to be Zhao Shuyi.
At the time, Xie Qi was nearly unconscious from the smoke. Zhao Shuyi used all his strength to drag him to an area with less fire, shouting loudly for people outside to help, almost sacrificing his own life in the process.
After returning home, Zhao Shuyi was severely reprimanded by Zhao Fengli, had his allowance cut for six months, and was warned never to put himself in danger again.
Xie Qi was hospitalized for half a month. When they finally met again, Zhao Shuyi acted as if nothing had happened, neither seeking credit nor asking if Xie Qi was well.
Later, Xie Qi hesitated repeatedly, then proactively sought him out to thank him, but unfortunately overheard a conversation between him and Wang Deyang.
One said: “Zhao Shuyi, you truly are a great hero of justice, but I didn’t expect you’d be willing to save Xie Qi.”
The other replied: “Why wouldn’t I save him? I’m so kind, I’d save even a dog.”
Xie Qi turned and left.
“It was just a joke.”
Zhao Shuyi pulled himself out of the memory and looked strangely at Xie Qi: “You’ve held a grudge over that one sentence until today?”
Xie Qi put down his phone, turned over, and said coldly, “Of course not just that.”
“What else?” Zhao Shuyi was curious.
“…”
Xie Qi looked like he didn’t want to mention it, but it was uncomfortable to keep bottled up. He finally couldn’t resist: “Later, I asked you out for dinner—”
Zhao Shuyi was surprised: “You asked me out?”
Xie Qi’s expression was a little ugly: “Yes, I did. You stood me up. I thought you didn’t want to come, but later I heard you were sick.”
“And then?”
“…”
“Go on,” Zhao Shuyi urged.
Xie Qi choked up: “It was raining that day. I went to visit you, waited outside your house for over six hours, and never saw you come out.”
Zhao Shuyi was stunned. So the thing his mother had mentioned on the phone a while ago wasn’t nonsense after all, but he had absolutely no recollection of it.
He was a bit speechless: “You call that visiting? If I didn’t come out, why didn’t you just go in?”
Xie Qi’s answer was a cold laugh.
Zhao Shuyi didn’t understand: “What do you mean?”
Xie Qi didn’t explain, jumping straight to a conclusion: “In short, I extended an olive branch, and you didn’t take it.”
“Oh, so it was my fault.” Zhao Shuyi nodded, saying jokingly, “Is it too late to take it now?”
Xie Qi wore a cold, arrogant expression that seemed to say, “You can’t afford me now.” Zhao Shuyi laughed: “I see. You were rejected by me, your ego was bruised, and you’ve held a grudge.”
“Think whatever you want,” Xie Qi said indifferently.
Zhao Shuyi understood, yet didn’t understand: “So how do you plan to resolve this?”
Xie Qi said, “Resolve what? I just wanted to tell you that I genuinely dislike you. Don’t you understand?”
“…”
So childish.
Perhaps the medication was taking effect; his stomach didn’t hurt anymore, and Zhao Shuyi’s mood improved slightly.
He stopped being angry at Xie Qi. Instead, he felt a bit of pity for the sensitive and petty person beside him—fussing over such trivial matters for so many years, it must be hard to be happy usually, right? Was he tired of living like this?
“Xie Qi, let it go, okay?” Zhao Shuyi advised kindly. “Today is our first day together. We’ve had our fight, and if you’re not tired, I am. Just because you’re a year younger than me, I’ll sleep next door tomorrow night. I won’t fight you for the bed.”
Xie Qi did not show the expected happiness or satisfaction, but he didn’t refuse either.
Zhao Shuyi took it as tacit agreement.
After a long silence, Xie Qi suddenly spoke: “So, aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Say what?” Fatigue washed over Zhao Shuyi, and drowsiness set in.
In the darkness, a hand rested on his shoulder. Xie Qi’s body suddenly drew closer, enveloping half of Zhao Shuyi’s body: “Zhao Shuyi… don’t you dislike me?”
“No, I don’t.” Zhao Shuyi, sedated by the medicine, closed his eyes and mumbled, “After we get the marriage certificate tomorrow, we’ll be family.”