TLSOTMTKOGAYWHTDI Chapter 68

Chapter 66: The Closest to the Truth

Qi Yanwang, pulling Zhuo Huaimo’s luggage, stood deadlocked at the villa entrance.

“I don’t care, I have to go! If you don’t take me, you can forget about leaving today!”

Zhuo Huaimo was amused by his persistence, “What right do you have to go? What’s your status?”

“My status is all given by you. What status do you want me to go with?”

Qi Yanwang shamelessly leaned in.

Zhuo Huaimo narrowed his eyes at him, saying each word clearly,

“Then listen carefully, you have no status! You’re not allowed to go!”

Qi Yanwang grabbed the suitcase and headed towards the car,

“Haven’t you heard? Status is something you give yourself!”

After placing the suitcase in the car, he sat right on it,

“The status I’m giving myself now is your man! Get in! Let’s go home and see Grandma!”

Zhuo Huaimo was speechless. He knew that even if he shook him off now, with his thick skin, he would still follow!

“Aren’t you annoyed following me around all day? Is Xingyue Media that free? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Qi Yanwang drove the car, in a great mood,

“Xingyue Media is doing just fine. Yu Fengran is watching over it. He’s getting paid millions a year, what’s wrong with me taking a couple of days off?”

Zhuo Huaimo turned away, refusing to look at him, “Anyone who partners with you is truly unlucky!”

“Feeling sorry for him?”

Qi Yanwang was immediately unhappy, “You’re not allowed to feel sorry for him!”

“You’re crazy!”

Zhuo Huaimo simply ignored him, wrapping himself in his clothes and going to sleep.

As the wooden door of the old house creaked open, the wheels of Zhuo Huaimo’s suitcase got stuck in the threshold.

Qi Yanwang rushed forward, lifting the suitcase with one hand,

“I’ll get someone to replace this threshold tomorrow!”

“Who allowed you to come in?”

Zhuo Huaimo tried to grab the suitcase but tripped over the threshold and stumbled forward.

Qi Yanwang naturally wrapped his arms around his waist, his nose brushing against the top of his head,

“Helping my wife is only right and proper.”

Zhuo Huaimo was about to retort when he heard Grandma’s voice,

“Is that Little Mo back?”

The elderly woman, with a full head of silver hair, leaned on the doorframe, holding half a bunch of celery in her hand,

“It really is Huaimo who’s back!”

“Grandma…”

His voice suddenly became hoarse, and he staggered forward.

The old woman’s bony hand patted his back, carrying the familiar scent of soapberry,

“You’ve lost weight. What kind of pig slop are they feeding you overseas…? Really, it was good here in China, why run abroad to suffer like that!”

Zhuo Huaimo glanced at the person beside him, thinking,

“If it weren’t for this culprit, would I need to hide overseas?”

Qi Yanwang guiltily touched his nose.

He suddenly bowed ninety degrees, “Hello Grandma! I’m Huaimo’s…”

“Driver!”

Zhuo Huaimo interjected, “I just gave him a ride back.”

Qi Yanwang’s peach blossom eyes widened, but under the old woman’s scrutinizing gaze, he nodded obediently,

“Yes, Xingyue Media’s chauffeur. Three thousand a month, all expenses paid!”

Grandma poked his firm pectoral muscles, “Do drivers these days need to have eight-pack abs to get the job?”

She leaned closer to Zhuo Huaimo’s ear, “He’s better looking than your dad was back then.”

The aroma of chicken soup filled the old house’s dining room.

Qi Yanwang diligently served Grandma soup, his movements so skilled as if he had done it a thousand times.

“Little Qi, you have some too.”

Grandma looked at him with a smile, “Mo Mo has never liked drinking soup since he was little. He always needs someone to coax him…”

“Grandma!” Zhuo Huaimo’s ears burned.

“Is that so?”

Qi Yanwang’s eyes lit up, “That’s perfect, I’m especially good at coaxing people to drink soup.”

Saying that, he scooped up a spoonful, gently blew on it to cool it down, and offered it to Zhuo Huaimo’s mouth,

“Come on, try it?”

Zhuo Huaimo wanted to bury his face in the bowl,

“I can do it myself!”

Grandma watched their interaction, a sly glint in her eyes.

After the meal, Qi Yanwang volunteered to wash the dishes.

The sound of rushing water came from the kitchen, and Grandma pulled Zhuo Huaimo into the yard to bask in the sun.

“Mo Mo,”

Grandma suddenly lowered her voice, “He’s the one you mentioned, right?”

The teacup in Zhuo Huaimo’s hand trembled,

“No.”

“I’m old, but I’m not blind.”

Grandma smiled, squeezing his hand, “The young man is very good, his eyes are full of you.”

Zhuo Huaimo silently looked at the light and shadow on the ground.

“Are you still worried about that curse?”

Grandma sighed, “Silly child, it’s all because your own inner turmoil is too heavy…”

“Grandma!”

Zhuo Huaimo suddenly looked up, “First it was Mom and Dad, then Uncle. I can’t take the risk, I don’t want to carry another life on my back!”

Qi Yanwang came out of the kitchen with a fruit platter, the apron strings tied in a crooked bow behind his waist.

Small rabbits carved from tomatoes sat in a row in the fruit platter, one of them missing an ear—clearly a failed attempt.

“Grandma, try this!”

He squatted beside the rattan chair like he was offering treasure, “I specifically learned flower carving from a Michelin chef.”

Zhuo Huaimo choked on his tea.

Although this man was usually quite virtuous, right now, one word—

Acting!

Two words—

Overacting!

“Oh, you’re so skillful!”

Grandma picked up the rabbit ear, “Much better than Mo Mo. When he was ten, he wanted to carve me a peach for my birthday and almost chopped off his finger…”

“Grandma!”

Zhuo Huaimo covered the old woman’s mouth with his reddened ears, but saw that Qi Yanwang had already taken out his phone,

“I have to record this, to show our children in the future.”

“Who’s having children with you!”

Zhuo Huaimo kicked his calf, but the man took the opportunity to grab his ankle,

“Sooner or later! Once we’ve had enough fun, we’ll do IVF! Or, you have one, I have one! If you think it’s too noisy, we’ll just have one, and it can be yours!”

Zhuo Huaimo’s heart skipped a beat, the softest part of his heart was touched!

Qi Yanwang said it so casually, but it was something he had never dared to imagine!

Children? His own children?

“You, you stop talking nonsense!”

“I’m not talking nonsense. I’ve already planned it out. Don’t tell me, you don’t want Grandma to see her great-grandchild?”

Looking at Grandma’s expectant expression, Zhuo Huaimo felt a pang of sorrow in his heart, knowing that such a request was just wishful thinking.

He squatted beside Grandma, “Grandma, okay, once I’m done with work, I will!”

Then he turned to look at Qi Yanwang, glaring at him angrily,

“You come out with me!”

Zhuo Huaimo grabbed Qi Yanwang’s apron strings and dragged him all the way to the grape arbor in the backyard.

Ripe fruits fell to the ground, splattering purple-red juice.

“Are you crazy?”

Zhuo Huaimo lowered his voice, “What are you saying about children in front of Grandma?”

Qi Yanwang untied the apron, revealing the white shirt soaked in sweat,

“I’m serious.”

He took out his phone and opened the photo album, “I contacted a genetic laboratory in Switzerland last year, your…”

“Qi Yanwang!”

Zhuo Huaimo knocked the phone away, “What gives you the right to make decisions for me?”

Qi Yanwang bent over to pick up the phone, his thumb brushing over the crack on the screen,

“Because I love you. Because my future is destined to have you, and you can’t shake me off! Marriage, children, step by step, it’s all destined to happen. There’s nothing that I, Qi Yanwang, can’t do!”

The sunlight suddenly became dazzling.

Zhuo Huaimo looked away. No one wouldn’t like being chosen so firmly.

Moreover, the person was someone he was already attracted to.

At this moment, Qi Yanwang was more dazzling than the sun.

If it weren’t for those bloody facts, he would really recklessly embrace the man in front of him.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Regretful, excited, joyful, all sorts of complicated emotions intertwined, leaving only his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Let’s go back, Grandma is waiting!”

Zhuo Huaimo avoided his gaze, and stepped towards the house.

Qi Yanwang grabbed Zhuo Huaimo’s shoulder, pressing him hard against the mottled grape arbor.

The ripe fruits were crushed, and purple-red juice flowed down Zhuo Huaimo’s snow-white back of his neck, like a winding bloodstain.

Qi Yanwang’s kiss carried the sweetness and astringency of grapes, forcefully prying open his lips and teeth.

“You lied!”

Qi Yanwang panted against his forehead,

“You clearly like my arrangements—”

His thumb pressed against Zhuo Huaimo’s wildly throbbing carotid artery,

“Every time you’re moved but refuse to admit it, your eyelashes twitch particularly fast!”

Zhuo Huaimo turned away, but was turned back by his chin being pinched.

Qi Yanwang’s pupils contracted in the sunlight, “Two years ago when you said we should break up, your eyelashes twitched like butterflies in a rainstorm—you can’t even lie properly!”

The shadows of the grape leaves flickered across their faces, and Qi Yanwang’s voice suddenly choked,

“What are you so afraid of? I don’t know if I’m too confident, or if I’ve already gone mad. I’ve ruled out all the reasons and justifications, and I’ve finally arrived at the last guess—”

Zhuo Huaimo looked up at him, quietly waiting for what he was going to say next.

“You always have to find a reason to push me away—it’s like… it’s like you’re afraid of loving me too much?!”

Zhuo Huaimo’s pupils constricted violently, giving Qi Yanwang immense joy and relief—

His guess was correct!

He was doing it because he loved him too much, or was afraid of loving him too much!

Qi Yanwang continued, “I’ve investigated carefully. Although you’ve had many exes, you only have had an actual relationship with me. Every time with them, you just superficially went through the motions. You obviously hate this kind of formality, but you repeat it again and again!”

“Moreover, those people’s appearance, character are not what you like. You, Zhuo Huaimo, have never been someone who would force or wrong yourself. Why? I thought of many reasons, but it was all because you had to! But…”

Zhuo Huaimo’s heart beat faster and faster. He really didn’t expect that there would be someone so close to the truth.

And it was because of his own understanding of him, that he approached the truth.

Even his breathing became strained.

“Three months! It’s a time period! Why? Why is it three months?”

Qi Yanwang stared at his eyes, “You have a secret!”

Zhuo Huaimo’s fingertips dug deeply into the grape vine, the rough bark making his palms ache.

The sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on Qi Yanwang’s face. Those usually arrogant eyes were now completely seeing through him.

“Three months…”

Qi Yanwang’s breath blew on his ear, carrying the astringency of wine,

“Every time you date, you break up at that time point.”

His fingertips stroked his trembling eyelashes, “It’s like you’re completing some kind of KPI, or escaping something!”

Zhuo Huaimo’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently.

This madman had even discovered this—those deliberately arranged arguments, the carefully designed distancing, were all to make the breakup seem reasonable.

He thought he was acting flawlessly, but forgot that Qi Yanwang was the person who knew him best.

“You better tell me yourself, otherwise I’ll go investigate myself! By then, I don’t know what methods I’ll use!”

Qi Yanwang gazed into his eyes, “Anything that can’t be explained normally, I’ll handle in an unconventional way. This is the experience I’ve gained in managing Xingyue Media these past few years!”

He pinched his chin, and said softly, “So, you better tell me yourself! If you lie, I’ll know!”