82

On the 16th, Zhou Chaosheng arrived at the appointment on time.

To prevent his father from taking photos or using other means to sow discord between him and Jiang Yuanye, Zhou Chaosheng had already told Jiang Yuanye about this matter that afternoon. Jiang Yuanye understood and did not ask any further questions

The restaurant had an elegant atmosphere, with soft, flowing music playing in the background. Zhou Chaosheng arrived five minutes early and sat at the reserved table. Five minutes later, Shen Suyi, Uncle Shen’s daughter, entered the restaurant on time.

"Chaosheng-ge."

A pleasant female voice approached. Zhou Chaosheng lifted his eyes and saw the woman in a red dress, her stunning beauty immediately drawing the attention of nearly all the men in the restaurant. She carried a natural grace, as if she was born to navigate high society with ease.

Zhou Chaosheng stood up and politely pulled out a chair for her, greeting her with a courteous smile. "Jiayi, long time no see."

Shen Jiayi opened her arms, and after hesitating for a second or two, Zhou Chaosheng stepped forward and briefly embraced her.

"Long time no see. Did you miss me?" Shen Jiayi asked with a playful smile.

Zhou Chaosheng quickly let go of her and replied vaguely, "My parents missed you a lot."

Shen Jiayi raised an eyebrow. "And you?"

Zhou Chaosheng smiled helplessly. "Didn't we see each other last year abroad?"

Shen Jiayi pouted in mild dissatisfaction before taking a seat. She casually tucked her hair behind her ear and asked nonchalantly, "Do you have someone you like?"

Zhou Chaosheng appeared surprised. "How did you know?"

Shen Jiayi had been joking, but she didn’t expect him to actually admit it. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Seriously? You of all people fell for someone?"

Zhou Chaosheng: "....."

Curiosity and suspicion gleamed in Shen Jiayi’s fox-like eyes. "Who is she? Do I know her? How old is she? Is she still in school or already working?"

A barrage of questions came at him, but Zhou Chaosheng did not avoid them. He answered truthfully, "It’s a man. You probably don’t know him. He’s the same age as me."

"You said what?!"

Her voice rose sharply, drawing attention from the other diners. People glanced their way, some even pulling out their phones as if expecting a dramatic breakup scene.

Zhou Chaosheng hadn’t anticipated such a big reaction. Given that Shen Jiayi had studied abroad since childhood, her mindset should have been more open than people in China. Why was she so shocked by the fact that he liked men?

Realizing her outburst, Shen Jiayi quieted down, taking a long moment to process before asking, "So, your father forced you to come to this dinner?"

Growing up in a wealthy family, she didn’t need lengthy explanations. Just a few words and actions were enough for her to piece together the situation.

Shen Jiayi quickly composed herself, concealing her disappointment with a graceful smile. "Do you need me to play along?"

Zhou Chaosheng appreciated this about her, intelligent and composed.

"No need." He handed her the menu the waiter had just brought over. "Consider this meal a celebration for your successful doctorate."

Shen Jiayi looked at the handsome man before her, feeling a bit bitter inside, but she still politely responded, "Thank you, Chaosheng-ge."

In her memory, Zhou Chaosheng had always been the "perfect child" others envied. When they were six or seven, the kids around her spent their days playing iPad games, buying collectibles, and attending parties. Zhou Chaosheng, however, was always an outsider among them.

His life revolved around structured learning and relentless training. From elementary school onward, tutors filled his schedule to the brim. Like a precision machine that never made mistakes, he was flawless—someone parents admired and other kids envied.

Perhaps because he was so outstanding, or maybe because he never showed interest in anyone, Shen Jiayi had always believed that people like Zhou Chaosheng were above worldly desires. He was meant to be admired and revered but would never fall for an ordinary person among the billions in the world.

For years, she had pursued him tirelessly, humbling herself again and again to express her passionate and sincere feelings, only to be met with indifference.

As time passed, the gap between them widened. Zhou Chaosheng stood higher and farther away than before. Watching someone so dazzling, she realized the distance between them had become insurmountable. So, she temporarily gave up on pursuing him and chose to pursue her doctorate instead.

She thought that one day, when she finally achieved her goal, she would have the confidence to stand before Zhou Chaosheng and say:

"Zhou Chaosheng, I’m not lacking, am I? So why can’t you try liking me, even just a little?"

No one knew how nervous she had been when she begged her father to arrange this dinner. No one knew how excited she was when she learned that Zhou Chaosheng had agreed to meet her.

But in just a few words—"I like men"—all her hopes crumbled into nothing.

---

“Dear passengers, our plane has safely landed at Jinzhou Airport. Thank you for flying with us. Please keep your seatbelt fastened and remain seated until the aircraft comes to a complete stop and the cabin doors are opened. We wish you a pleasant journey, and see you next time!”

Jiang Yuanye unfastened his seatbelt, stood up, and reached for the backpack stored in the overhead compartment. Slinging it over one shoulder, he waited with the other passengers for the next instructions from the flight attendants.

If Zhou Chaosheng were here, he would definitely ask in surprise why Jiang Yuanye was flying economy class.

In fact, Jiang Yuanye had always flown economy class over the years. The reason was simple, there wasn’t much difference between economy and business class and economy class was cheaper and more practical. The only exception was when he traveled with Zhou Chaosheng—only then would he occasionally buy a business class ticket.

Five minutes later, Jiang Yuanye followed the crowd out of the cabin, then went to the baggage claim area to wait for his luggage. While waiting, he boredly took out his phone and habitually opened the pinned chat at the top. The last message stopped at two hours ago when Zhou Chaosheng asked, “Have you boarded?” He replied, “Yes.”

And that was it.

As if it was just a routine question, without any real concern about whether he had actually arrived in Jinzhou.

Glancing at the time, he suddenly realized that Zhou Chaosheng was probably having dinner and chatting with his blind date at this moment.

He couldn’t help but wonder were they getting along well? What did the woman look like? Could she be Zhou Chaosheng’s type?

Jiang Yuanye absentmindedly scrolled through their past chat history. When he reached the top, he exited WeChat and opened Weibo.

As soon as Weibo refreshed, the first post he saw was gossip about the two of them.

The marketing account basically claimed that they had recently gone to Iceland together for a business collaboration. But some speculated that they had traveled there to pursue the same woman.

Netizens posted photos taken when they were spotted in Iceland. Those photos had already stirred up some buzz while they were traveling. Jiang Yuanye had been keeping an eye on it, even secretly arranging for a tech team to erase comments that got too close to the truth or were too harsh.

He scrolled up and glanced at the comments below.

【People have nothing better to do than gossip about nonsense. Why not care about national affairs or your own wallet instead?】

【A business collaboration seems unlikely. After all, Qilin and Rongge have always been rivals, and the current head of Qilin has close ties with Huajie’s CEO. Plus, Huajie and Qilin have had multiple cases of malicious competition over the years. There's no way they’d suddenly turn enemies into allies.】

【Am I the only one who thinks they went to Iceland for a honeymoon?】

【Are you out of your mind? What are you even saying? They’re just two men, stop fantasizing. At most, they’re just close brothers, okay?】

【Fujoshis, get lost. Your brains must be clogged with toilet water. They’re both billion-dollar CEOs. Do you think this is some TV drama? Or are you reading some garbage BL novel? Sis I beg you, read a book instead of shipping every guy you see.】

This comment directly took a shot at almost everyone, quickly gathering thousands of replies—some agreeing, some refuting, the argument going on endlessly.

Jiang Yuanye saw countless comments saying things like “homosexuality is disgusting,” “fujoshis are crazy,” “even if their relationship is ambiguous, at most it’s just the rich playing around,” and—

【People like them will inevitably enter commercial marriages to secure their company’s interests. There's no way they'd do something so rebellious.】

【The upper-class circles are messy. Most of them are not picky about gender. Who knows, maybe the so-called ‘cleanest’ President Zhou is actually the wildest behind closed doors…】

Seeing this comment, Jiang Yuanye was so furious that his lungs were about to explode. He immediately used a burner account to curse the commenter until they shut up, and then went a step further—contacting someone to get their account banned entirely, making sure they could never log in again.

There were far too many similar comments.

And yet, as if he was addicted to self-torture, Jiang Yuanye checked these comments daily, wanting to see how netizens perceived him and Zhou Chaosheng.

When he saw comments shipping them, he felt happy. When he saw comments denying them and insisting they would eventually enter arranged marriages, he felt downcast. And when he saw people slandering Zhou Chaosheng, he was filled with uncontrollable rage—so much so that he would secretly track those users down and install viruses on their computers, making them unable to access the internet for days.

Jiang Yuanye couldn’t even begin to imagine—if one day, he and Zhou Chaosheng were caught in even more intimate photos, how would netizens react? What kind of public pressure and scrutiny would Zhou Chaosheng face?

Even though Zhou Chaosheng always said, “It’s fine, I don’t care,” it still couldn’t ease Jiang Yuanye’s anxiety and fear.

It was like a ticking time bomb, buried deep underground—no one knew when it would suddenly explode, bringing unpredictable danger and consequences.

After retrieving his suitcase, Jiang Yuanye absentmindedly walked toward the airport exit.

From a distance, he immediately spotted a familiar Ferrari parked by the roadside. Dragging his luggage, he walked over.

A dozen steps later, he reached the sports car and knocked on the window.

Gao Zeming rolled down the window while also unlocking the car doors. The moment he saw Jiang Yuanye, he was stunned for a second. “Why are you wrapped up so tightly?”

Just as Gao Zeming said, Jiang Yuanye was covered from head to toe like a celebrity trying to travel in secret, with only his eyes visible.

After placing his luggage in the car, Jiang Yuanye opened the door and got in, replying muffledly through his mask, “I don’t want to be recognized.”

Gao Zeming chuckled. “Well, you’re a trending public figure now. There are paparazzi following you around.”

“Stop teasing me. Shouldn’t you be spending money to get rid of all that nonsense online?” Jiang Yuanye said irritably.

“Who says I haven’t? Haven’t you noticed that the trending topics these past few days have been all about celebrity scandals and gossip? You and Zhou Chaosheng’s hype has already died down.” Gao Zeming shifted gears and stepped on the accelerator. As the car moved forward, he continued, “I haven’t asked you yet what’s going on between you two? Why did you suddenly go to Iceland together?”

At the mention of this, Jiang Yuanye fell silent.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“…”

“I mean, come on, haven’t you been acting long enough? Let’s not even talk about whether Zhou Chaosheng will be disgusted when he regains his memories, aren’t you disgusted by pretending for this long?”

Jiang Yuanye stared out the window at the scenery flashing by and suddenly spoke. “At first, I was.”

Gao Zeming didn’t understand. “What do you mean, ‘at first, I was’?”

He paused for a moment. Then, Gao Zeming suddenly realized something from that sentence. His expression stiffened, and he asked, “No way, Yuanye…?”

“I wish it wasn’t,” Jiang Yuanye replied softly.

He wished he hadn’t changed the way he saw Zhou Chaosheng. He wished he hadn’t realized the possessiveness and longing hidden in his heart. He wished he could keep himself from blurting out a confession…

But feelings aren’t something anyone can control.

Gao Zeming’s brain short-circuited. After a long pause, he could only say, “Holy shit.”

“You’re seriously into him?!”

Two hours later, Gao Zeming stared at his college friend and business partner with a complicated expression. He couldn’t help but ask, “So you pulled three all-nighters just to finish work early and go to Iceland with him?”

Jiang Yuanye gave a faint “mm” in response, as if it was nothing worth discussing.

Gao Zeming was momentarily speechless. Then, he let out a deep sigh. “Yuanye, I’ve seen way too many people in this industry who swing both ways. It’s common. But you know what they all have in common.”

Jiang Yuanye looked at his friend’s serious expression. He knew exactly what Gao Zeming had left unsaid—that those people were never taken seriously.

“First of all, let me be clear I have nothing against you or gay people.” Gao Zeming held up three fingers to emphasize his point.

Jiang Yuanye sat in the passenger seat, eyes lowered. “Mm.”

“I’m just speaking from reality, you and Zhou Chaosheng are absolutely impossible. You should stop before you get in too deep.”

“…Why?” Jiang Yuanye asked, unwilling to accept it.

“You don’t know?” Gao Zeming found his friend’s naivety and stubbornness in relationships almost amusing. “Zhou Chaosheng is an only child. Do you really think his parents would ever approve of him being with a man? And how can you be sure this isn’t just an act on his part?”

Jiang Yuanye’s head snapped up, his voice sharp with displeasure. “He wouldn’t fake it!”

Gao Zeming shrugged. “If you can fake it, why can’t he?”

Jiang Yuanye didn’t want to listen to any more of this nonsense. Furious, he yanked the car door open, ready to get out. But before he could, Gao Zeming’s voice came again.

“Yuanye, even if he’s serious, I still think you should cut ties with him.”

Suppressing his anger and disappointment, Jiang Yuanye looked at his long-time friend. “Since when do you get to decide if he’s serious or not? Fuck you, Gao Zeming. If you don’t know how to talk, then shut the hell up. If you don’t need your mouth, donate it instead of spewing this bullshit.”

With that, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

Gao Zeming sat in the driver’s seat, stunned by the outburst. When he finally processed what had just happened, his face darkened. Watching Jiang Yuanye’s retreating figure, he smacked the steering wheel hard and muttered under his breath, “Fuck, I was just trying to help.”

Jiang Yuanye had barely walked away when he realized he had forgotten his luggage in the car. But there was no way he was turning back now. Instead, he pulled out his phone and unblocked Gao Zeming, whom he had just blacklisted a few minutes ago.

After unblocking him, he refreshed the screen and stared at the pinned chat with no new messages. He let out a quiet sigh.

The truth was, Gao Zeming wasn’t entirely wrong. Jiang Yuanye just didn’t want to accept his prejudice against Zhou Chaosheng or the real undeniable problems between him and Zhou Chaosheng.

In fact, Jiang Yuanye had thought about everything Gao Zeming said, probably even more than he had.

He was constantly tormented by these worries. From the moment their relationship started until now, he had spent almost every day wondering how long could this really last? And when love and reality clashed, which one mattered more?

As he stared blankly at his chat history with Zhou Chaosheng, a text message suddenly popped up.

Cheng Yuan: 【Yuanye, I’m coming back to the country. My flight is on the 17th in the afternoon.】

Hii! 🌸 There are 18 more chapters and 1 extra! ✨

They might be posted next month since I'm currently updating My Pure-Hearted Uncle. 📖💖

Wishing y'all can read it as well! It's my new favorite! Just click the title 🥰💕