ASSHKHME Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Past Events

Xie Yu snapped back to reality, taking a step back, feeling inexplicably guilty: “Who was looking at your chest! I was just glancing at your tattoo!”

Chen Zhuo gave a meaningful “Oh,” raising an eyebrow slightly, “Really?”

Xie Yu raised his voice, speaking with conviction: “Of course! Do you think everyone is like you, a homosexual interested in men?!”

Chen Zhuo’s face instantly darkened, and he said with a fake smile: “Right, you’re a straight man, you’re so proud. But whether I like men or not is none of your business! I’m not interested in you! Stop peeking at me! Pervert!”

Xie Yu’s expression changed noticeably, and a fire rose in his heart: “Who! Who was peeking at you!”

Chen Zhuo ignored him, changed his clothes, and slammed the door shut.

The broken fan turned with a “squeak, squeak” sound, fanning the evil fire in Xie Yu’s heart, making it burn even brighter.

Staring at the closed dormitory door for three seconds, he kicked the chair next to him out of spite, causing the pajamas Chen Zhuo had draped over the chair back to fall to the ground.

Xie Yu was silent for a while, then quietly picked up his pajamas, tugged them, and draped them back over the chair.

The phone in his pocket vibrated tirelessly. Xie Yu didn’t look at the caller ID, frowned, and answered, saying impatiently, “Hello!”

There was a momentary pause on the other end of the line. A gentle voice from the Jiangnan water region, mixed with the icy icicles of the northern winter, crashed over the line, “crackling” as it struck.

“Xie Yu! You little bastard, you want to rebel, huh! It’s been three days since I last beat you, and you’re already trying to tear down the roof, aren’t you! How dare you talk to your mother like that!”

Xie Yu’s momentum weakened, and he cleared his throat: “Ahem, Mom, well, I’m not coming home for the National Day holiday. Being so close to home makes it not feel like I’m at university. The greatest love is letting go.”

Cheng Tangyu was surprised: “If you come home, no one will be there anyway. Your dad and I are traveling.”

Xie Yu was speechless: “…………Oh.”

Cheng Tangyu asked: “By the way, how are you getting along with Chen Zhuo? No fights, right? Find some time to invite him to our house for a meal. After all, the two of you have a betrothal from the womb, haha…”

“What betrothal from the womb? Don’t talk nonsense.”

The thought of Chen Zhuo liking men, coupled with the phrase “betrothal from the womb,” made Xie Yu feel prickly all over. He remembered something and said, “Right, Mom, do you know when Chen Zhuo’s parents died?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?” Cheng Tangyu sighed, her thoughts drifting back into the past.

“It’s been almost ten years. Life is so unpredictable. Back then, our family hadn’t become wealthy yet. After following your dad to Jinzhou, we didn’t keep in touch much. I never expected the next news I heard would be about their… Ah, Chen Zhuo, that child, has had a hard time. Don’t bully him.”

“Ten years…”

Xie Yu repeated to himself, “Was it July 25th, ten years ago? Did his parents die at the same time?”

Cheng Tangyu said: “Yes, at that time, Chen Zhuo’s father was assigned by the company to a public welfare construction project in a mountain village in western Sichuan. It was during the rainy season, and it was summer vacation, so Chen Zhuo’s mother took Chen Zhuo to reunite with his father. The driver was driving to pick them up, but they unexpectedly encountered a rockslide, alas…”

Xie Yu felt a numbness in the back of his head, and his heart felt like it was being clenched, and he couldn’t describe what it felt like.

The family of three was in the same car, and Chen Zhuo witnessed the death of his parents, and carved the date of their death in his heart.

And tattoo parlors do not allow minors to get tattoos, so the earliest Chen Zhuo could have gotten it was when he was eighteen years old.

In other words, for the past ten years, Chen Zhuo has never left that rainy season.

Cheng Tangyu didn’t hear a response and asked in confusion, “Son? Why did you suddenly ask about this? You’re not going to rub salt in someone’s wound, are you!”

“What are you saying? Is your son that kind of person?”

Xie Yu looked sideways at Chen Zhuo’s neatly organized desk, as if talking to himself: “Fortunately, there are relatives from the Xu family, at least he won’t suffer materially.”

“What relatives?”

Cheng Tangyu said unhappily: “Xu Qingyou’s father, Xu Keyuan, the chairman of Xu’s Construction Group, was Chen Zhuo’s father’s direct boss at the time. I heard that he originally didn’t want to go on this business trip, but Xu Keyuan persuaded him to go.”

“After the accident, the company was caught in public opinion. To save face, the Xu family took Chen Zhuo home and used this matter to win the title of ‘Advanced Enterprise’ for two years! What businessman would do something without any benefit? But seeing how well Chen Zhuo has been raised, the Xu family isn’t too awful, I guess.”

“What?” Xie Yu never expected that the Xu family was not related to Chen Zhuo. He asked in confusion: “I think Xu Qingyou cares about Chen Zhuo quite a bit, isn’t he his cousin?”

Cheng Tangyu said, “People have feelings, right? Xu Qingyou wasn’t very old at the time either. Growing up together, they would naturally be close. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“It’s just like that?”

After asking this question, Xie Yu thought that there might be something wrong with his brain, how could he think about sexual relationships?

Does Chen Zhuo being homosexual mean that everyone else is homosexual too?

Xie Yu cursed himself a little in his heart.

Cheng Tangyu didn’t understand what he meant, “What else could it be? I won’t talk to you anymore. Your dad and I are about to board the plane. Take good care of yourself, dear. Bye-bye.”

After finishing the phone call, the food in the lunchbox had already cooled down.

Xie Yu casually shoveled a few bites into his mouth, feeling inexplicably irritable. He remembered that the resort project his family had invested in seemed to have started operating this summer, so he booked a few days’ stay on the platform, just to go and check on the business situation.

After paying, his phone dinged. It was a message from Chen Zhuo: [Don’t lock the door tonight, I’ll be back.]

Xie Yu stared at the message, bit the tip of his chopsticks hard, and canceled the room he had just booked.

—

Xu Qingyou placed a piece of fresh, tender fish in front of Chen Zhuo’s plate and asked, “How are you getting along with your roommates? Has that Xie Yu been giving you trouble?”

Chen Zhuo put down his phone, chewed the fish that had had the fine bones removed, and gritted his teeth fiercely: “Apart from Xie Yu, everyone else is pretty good. It’s not really giving me trouble, he’s just annoying. I’m thinking about how to deal with him.”

Xu Qingyou chuckled softly: “A child’s temperament. The Xie family is currently at the height of their power in Jiangbei’s business world, and they are involved in many industries. Don’t act rashly. If you’re not comfortable living in the dormitory, I have a small apartment in University Town. It’s very convenient.”

“Tch, is he going to blacklist me in Jiangbei or something?”

Chen Zhuo raised his eyes to look at him, narrowing his eyes slightly: “You went to university abroad, how would you have an apartment in Jiangbei University Town?”

Xu Qingyou’s hand, which was picking up food for him, paused.

Chen Zhuo lowered his head, using his chopsticks to poke at the clear white rice in his bowl, “Qingyou-ge, I am very grateful for what you’re doing, but it also puts a lot of pressure on me.”

Xu Qingyou’s restrained and deep eyes showed some ripples when he looked at Chen Zhuo, and he said slowly: “Xiao Zhuo, I’m not being good to you so that you’ll be grateful to me. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, okay, then I’ll pay attention to the degree.”

Chen Zhuo didn’t want to hurt the heart of someone who was treating him sincerely, so he put a piece of charcoal-grilled lamb chop in Xu Qingyou’s bowl, changing the subject, “Qingyou-ge, eat this, this is delicious.”