Chapter 18
by VolareThey rested for a while. Ling Sheng went to wash up and change clothes. He wasn’t wearing glasses, his hair hung down softly, and he wore a white T-shirt under a blue striped casual shirt. The style was a loose jacket, and the bottom was a pair of washed-out white jeans.
His skin was fair, and he rarely saw the sun, spending most of his time in the office. These colors suited him well, and in this outfit, he looked only two or three years older than Jiang Chen.
As he approached, Jiang Chen noticed that the blue in Ling Sheng’s shirt and his T-shirt were the same color. It wasn’t couple’s wear, but Jiang Chen felt like it was, making him happy even on the way downstairs.
Ling Sheng guessed what he was thinking when he saw him constantly glancing at his shirt, but said nothing.
Jiang Chen took him to Yan Huan’s place, Tianshang Shui. After parking the car, Jiang Chen originally wanted to go straight up to the restaurant on the 4th floor, but Ling Sheng pulled him to a boutique on the second floor. Jiang Chen thought he wanted to buy something, so he accompanied him.
The two were exceptionally handsome, and Jiang Chen was carrying a small red basket behind Ling Sheng. The contrast between him carrying such a small basket was already cute enough, but he followed Ling Sheng like a big dog. After Ling Sheng looked at something and put it down, he would pick it up and look at it again.
The store mostly sold things for girls, as well as some cute accessories and cartoon merchandise. Eighty percent of the customers were girls, and the remaining twenty percent were men accompanying their girlfriends, wives, or children. Two guys picking through these cute items were even more eye-catching.
“Oh my god, so handsome. What luck today, meeting two handsome guys at once.”
“They must be buying something for their girlfriends. There’s nothing for them here.”
“Not necessarily. Look at the dog on that guy’s shirt. Who says a tough guy can’t love puppies?”
Ling Sheng searched for a long time, finally stopping in front of a box of Cinnamoroll stickers. He glanced back at the pattern on Jiang Chen’s chest, carefully checked, and then took it to the cashier.
“What are you buying this for?”
It was just a box of stickers for 9.9 yuan. His little basket hadn’t even had time to be filled, and he hadn’t even had time to take out his wallet to pay, seriously affecting his mood for shopping.
After leaving the store, Ling Sheng opened the sticker box and picked out a Cinnamoroll sticker that looked most like the pattern on Jiang Chen’s chest, sticking it on the left side of his shirt.
The two white puppies were in the same pose with the same expression, Jiang Chen’s chest had a square pattern, but Ling Sheng’s was heart-shaped.
Jiang Chen suddenly understood what Ling Sheng meant.
Ling Sheng tapped the sticker, “I like puppies.”
In public, Ling Sheng didn’t say anything, but Jiang Chen felt like he was being teased again. He stood there, holding back for a long time before saying, “I like them too.”
They couldn’t hold hands, so they could only stand close, shoulder to shoulder, hand brushing hand, tacitly happy.
The two walked side by side towards the escalator, preparing to go to the fourth floor, but when turning the corner, Jiang Chen saw a familiar figure in the arcade in front of them.
He paused, taking a closer look, and saw Wang Ming’an on the dance machine in the center, dancing happily with a girl?
He was wearing a sleeveless denim top, revealing his muscular arms. His movements were skilled, making him seem dashing. His hair was carefully styled, and the chain on his chest bounced up and down with his movements. Many girls around were taking pictures.
At this moment, a song ended, and the two stepped off the dance machine. Wang Ming’an enjoyed being watched and even kissed the girl next to him.
Jiang Chen originally wanted to pull Ling Sheng away, but seeing this scene, he paused. Taking a closer look, he recognized that the girl was the one who gave Wang Ming’an water in her cheerleader uniform that day.
“What are you looking at?”
Ling Sheng followed his gaze and naturally saw this scene, but he wasn’t too surprised, only raising his eyebrows slightly, “That’s his girlfriend.”
Now Jiang Chen was even more confused, “He has a girlfriend? Then he still chased you.”
Ling Sheng touched his arm, and the two walked away.
“He didn’t try to chase me.” Ling Sheng’s expression was indifferent, “He just wanted to sleep with me.”
Jiang Chen stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide, shocked by Wang Ming’an’s audacity and shamelessness, “He…”
As Ling Sheng’s legitimate boyfriend, he only dared to hold hands and kiss, at most hug his waist. How dare Wang Ming’an not only covet his man, but also try to get to home base right away?
Having said that, Ling Sheng didn’t hide anything, “I knew what he was thinking when he insisted on bringing me clothes to the hotel before. I already explicitly refused him. He might have been a little stimulated by you on the court that day, so he came to me again.”
Jiang Chen didn’t like to solve problems with violence, but now he really wanted to use violence.
Dating a girlfriend while also thinking about hooking up, and not caring about gender, that girl seemed to like him a lot, definitely didn’t know about this, and probably was being deceived.
Whether heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual, he respected every choice, but he could never accept this kind of person.
Especially since Wang Ming’an was still eyeing his man.
The two rode the escalator upstairs. It was Sunday and lunchtime, so there were a lot of people. Jiang Chen stood next to Ling Sheng, holding the handrail with one hand and protecting him with the other, up to the fourth floor.
Jiang Chen had called Yan Huan before coming. When they arrived at the restaurant entrance, they saw a handsome guy with thick eyebrows and deep eyes wearing a waiter’s uniform, welcoming guests. It was Lu Sheng, who was never too happy to see Jiang Chen.
But this time, Lu Sheng’s expression was much better, “You’re here? Huanhuan saved you a seat.”
Jiang Chen wasn’t in the mood to greet him at the moment. Fortunately, Lu Sheng didn’t care, but Yan Huan was very excited, but tactfully didn’t bother them.
The food at Tianshang Shui was as good as ever. Because Ling Sheng’s stomach was uncomfortable, they ordered dishes that were light in flavor, but Ling Sheng still ate a lot.
“Also, don’t go to the company recently. I’ll have Tonio find someone else for the shoot.”
“What’s wrong?”
Ling Sheng wiped his mouth with a napkin, “Wang Ming’an came for a test shoot last week. It was pretty good, and he’s been signed. There’s a series coming up that’s very suitable for him. I’m afraid you’ll be upset if you see him.”
Although he knew that nothing would happen between Ling Sheng and Wang Ming’an, he couldn’t stand the thought of Wang Ming’an circling around Ling Sheng like he was in heat, “I can practice and then go shoot. The muscle definition will be clearer after just finishing a workout.”
Ling Sheng looked at his depressed and angry expression, and comforted him, “Being a model isn’t your job in the first place. There’s nothing to compare. Don’t worry about him, I’ll handle it.”
One Wang Ming’an wasn’t enough to affect their relationship. Jiang Chen was just sympathetic to Wang Ming’an’s girlfriend, wondering when she would see Wang Ming’an’s true colors. As it turned out, only a week later, Xu Peiya sent him a message.
Xu Jie: [Do you know that Wang Ming’an is working as a model at Eternity?]
Jiang Chen didn’t want to mention Wang Ming’an. He was thinking about finding some friends at H University to find a way to warn that girl, but he was worried that he might accidentally say something and bring negative impact to the girl. Coincidentally, Xu Peiya knew many people at H University and it was easier to discuss things between girls, so he replied: [I know.]
He was still pondering how to tell Xu Peiya about this when Xu Peiya’s message came again.
Xu Jie: [That bastard, find some time to remind Director Ling. He’s spreading rumors about Director Ling at H University, saying that Director Ling is gay and wants to sleep with him. The rumors have spread to our school.]
Jiang Chen immediately made a phone call.
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t mention Director Ling’s name directly, but he said that a high-level executive from a company was always harassing him, implying things and saying ambiguous things that made him very troubled. He’s already bragged about his modeling job at Eternity. Who doesn’t know he’s at Eternity now? When people ask, he’s vague, but every sentence points to Director Ling. Last time Director Ling went to watch your game, a lot of photos were taken, and everyone found out about it. Although being gay isn’t a big deal now, no one wants to be accused of sexual harassment and then come out of the closet.”
“That motherfucking lunatic.” Jiang Chen couldn’t help but curse.
This surprised Xu Peiya a little.
Jiang Chen had been praised for his calm personality since he was a child, and later he studied law. The thing he always said was, “Give me evidence.”
Before, when he and Yan Huan had rumors and Lu Sheng used company matters to threaten him, he didn’t curse anyone, but calmly handled it. Why was he so agitated after only two sentences?
“What’s wrong with you?” Xu Peiya couldn’t help asking.
Jiang Chen was furious and didn’t have the mind to answer Xu Peiya. He wanted to find Wang Ming’an now, so he only said, “I know, don’t worry about it.”
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Chen wanted to find Wang Ming’an. After all, they had been rivals for four years, and they would occasionally play ball together in private. Wang Ming’an’s personality was like a peacock, flamboyant and boastful. He didn’t have much in common with him, so they weren’t close. The Ling Sheng incident made him want to delete Wang Ming’an for a while, but he didn’t take him to heart, so he didn’t bother. But now it was different.
It was only afternoon, so he messaged Tonio, asking if Wang Ming’an had any filming today. Tonio said he had been there yesterday and didn’t need to come today. He immediately found some friends at H University and asked about Wang Ming’an’s whereabouts, quickly finding out which court he was at.
But just as he grabbed his keys and was about to leave, Ling Sheng’s phone call came.
“What are you going to do with Wang Ming’an?”
Jiang Chen had nowhere to vent his anger, and didn’t notice that Ling Sheng’s voice was colder than usual. He said angrily, “He’s talking nonsense outside. I’m going to reteach him Chinese characters and tell him how Pinyin should be pronounced.”
“So capable.” Ling Sheng’s voice sank, “Then come and teach me first.”
Only then did Jiang Chen realize that Ling Sheng’s tone was wrong, but he felt a little wronged. Since the day of the game, he had wanted to teach Wang Ming’an a lesson, and he had been holding back. Ling Sheng’s tone clearly meant that he didn’t want him to find Wang Ming’an.
“Come to the company now.” Ling Sheng seemed to sense his emotions from the silence, and his voice wasn’t as cold anymore, “I’ll wait for you in the office.”