Chapter 68 - Are you gay?
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Kang Shengzhe felt like he was going to get a whiplash, because it was either that or his brain was going through a slight malfunction. Out of conditioned reflex, the first thought he had was it had to be You Liangxing but that was where that particular train of thought stopped because he found it inconceivable.
Liang Liang being rich to the extent where he could arbitrarily gift him more than fifty hundred thousand... was a concept that had never occurred to Kang Shengzhe before, because his viewing of You Liangxing’s WeChat moments which featured intermittent updates of his progress did not give the slightest impression that he was ‘rich’.
But if he were to say that the person was not Liang Liang, then the given name would wound up being too much of a coincidence. Kang Shengzhe stared at the screen, and the intentions he initially had to leave at a leisurely pace completely escaped him, and he was left a disorderly mess amidst the winds.
Perhaps because the black question marks circulating around in his head was overtly obvious, Wang Lu could not suppress the smile that was threatening to rise when he looked at him. However, he only thought the source of shock for Kang Shengzhe derived from the fact that a nouveau riche had given him gifts. Hence, he teased: “If you’re happy, you should openly show it. Additionally, you should treat this as your starting point, KK. You need to have a confidence, your fans will increase in the future. Right, I’ll ask the production side of things if we can get their contact details, it would be better if you can go online with this nouveau riche and consolidate them as a fan.”
Whatever Kang Shengzhe heard entered the left ear and exited through the right. Absentmindedly, he nodded his head and turned around to leave. Thoughts already in disorder, Kang Shengzhe did not have the brain capacity to consider Wang Lu’s suggestion, and all he could think of was one question:
Was Liang Liang a rich man???
Kang Shengzhe wondered if his inability to comprehend lied in his mental processes and he could only shelve those thoughts and ask him when he had the time later. When it came to such matters, it was always more accurate to hear it from the person himself. Thinking that, he could not help but check his phone to re-confirm the time and place he had agreed to meet You Liangxing at.
And because he said that he was treating You Liangxing, his guest had the right to decide what they were going to eat which meant that Kang Shengzhe did not make a reservation at any restaurant in advance. Additionally, they agreed to meet at the entrance of a subway – back then, he did not consider that to be an issue but now that he thought about it, he felt that it was somewhat odd.
If he was a rich man, why was he squeezing in the subway?
... Was it because the tycoons of this generation were trying to be environmentally friendly?
Throughout the entire journey, Kang Shengzhe was trapped in the limbo between dreams and reality, swaying until he reached the stop and followed the river of commuters to float out of the station. Not far off, You Liangxing’s figure came into view.
Let alone his external appearance, even his silhouette displayed his class to the tee. Kang Shengzhe’s eyes curved and he quickly waved his hands at the man.
You Liangxing hadn’t actually arrived for long. He surveyed his surroundings with a sweeping glance and he quickly found Kang Shengzhe. With his height, Kang Shengzhe was extremely obtrusive; as he was viewed from a certain distance and within a crowd, it was as if he was a large tree who had suddenly sprouted amidst a bunch of shrubbery; where everyone showed only a portion of their heads, he actually showed his chest and shoulders which made it incredibly hard not to notice him.
Not only that, perhaps because Kang Shengzhe had taken notice of him as well, he had started waving his hands from afar. It was not a casual one-handed hand wave but two and he had them lifted high and swung wide. Without any rhyme or reason, You Liangxing suddenly recalled Bai Yao’s description of him.
He looks like a giant legendary bird.
You Liangxing smiled to himself internally as the two converged at the entrance of the station. As soon as they met, Kang Shengzhe called him out with crinkled eyes: “Liang Liang~”
You Liangxing could not help the reflexive twitch of his eyebrows when he heard the opening sentence. The last time they met, Kang Shengzhe’s throat had been injured, and this was considered the first time he had spoken during a face-to-face meeting. And compared to hearing it in game, the way he addressed him sounded way more absurd, such that his name went through seven to eight more bends in intonation.
However, it did not feel strange in the least; in fact, it sounded very natural.
You Liangxing stared at him for a few beats before he turned his head to leave. Kang Shengzhe kept up with him in a relaxed manner and casually asked: “What are we eating? My treat.”
Kang Shengzhe’s appearance expressed his vivid interest and You Liangxing did not refute him. After pondering over his options, he immediately led the way, choosing to walk instead of taking the subway. Meanwhile, Kang Shengzhe’s gaze did not leave You Liangxing’s visage for a single second.
With the height difference of nearly twenty centimetres, the view he had from a side-way glance felt like the best angle for a beauty selfie, and he felt like You Liangxing was increasingly dashing the longer he looked. His prolonged stare made the pulse of his heart inexplicably faster.
As his gaze shifted to You Liangxing’s ears, his mind wandered. And when he returned to his reverie, You Liangxing had already leaned closer with a strict look in his eyes as he spoke faintly, “What are you looking at?”
His tone contained traces of rebuke but his voice sounded sweet and soft. Kang Shengzhe repeated the line in his head once, and towards the face that was excellent in every respect, Kang Shengzhe cupped his face and grinned, “You really are handsome and cute.”
That countenance of his was both shy and perverted. You Liangxing looked at him silently for a moment before he sent a kick flying to his knee.
The kick was very effective; when Kang Shengzhe straightened back up after bending over, his expression and attitude had reverted back to normal. Although his gaze was without abnormality, his mouth started chattering without a pause, “Where are we going, what do you want to eat? Right, have you been waiting long?”
You Liangxing retorted calmly: “Why do you have so much to say, just shut your mouth and follow me.”
Kang Shengzhe could not help but cover his face: “Wah, you’re really overbearing, I really like it~”
You Liangxing: “......”
Despite the fact that they had just begun building the foundations of their relationship, they entered the stage where everything was normalised very quickly, and the speed had You Liangxing in slight disbelief. While he was being baffled, Kang Shengzhe’s thoughts had diverged as well and he wondered where You Liangxing was bringing him.
If he was that wealthy fan who saw fit to toss out money, then they should be going to a high-end restaurant. Just as he was thinking that, You Liangxing stopped, “We’re here.”
Kang Shengzhe raised his eyes, and he read the words on signboard in his mind: B, B, Q, Food, Stall.
Open foods stall... En, sure.
You Liangxing did not feel like there was anything inappropriate about his choice of ‘skewers’, so the pair entered the shop to find a private room. As they were ordering dishes, Kang Shengzhe was afraid of You Liangxing trying to be polite, so he ordered larger portions. Nearing the end, the waiter asked them what flavour they would prefer. “Do you want it spicy?”
Kang Shengzhe said: “Yes.” Then he looked at You Liangxing who nodded his head as well.
They had similar tastes.
With no one bothering them, the space between the two was extremely quiet. Kang Shengzhe slumped on the table and bent his neck to look at You Liangxing. Today, he had been busy bustling about the entire day but now he was entirely free of worries and being able to see You Liangxing made him happy too. His entire body went slack as a result, and he could not help but yawn a few consecutive times. After roughly two or three seconds, he thought of an extremely silly topic.
“Why aren’t you showing any reaction?”
You Liangxing said: “What reaction.”
“Yawning.” Kang Shengzhe said before he continued to explain, “Wasn’t it said that yawning was contagious? I just yawned.”
You Liangxing felt perplexed. “Where did you hear that from?”
Kang Shengzhe said: “It’s true.” After he said that, another thought occurred to him, thus he added: “Maybe you didn’t see it just now. Ai, look at me, I’ll yawn again for you to see.”
What kind of morals and manners were being taught in this day and age? Since when did someone start yawning with the intent of letting others see it? You Liangxing had the sudden impulse to roll his eyes. Yet, Kang Shengzhe actually brought his head closer, and earnestly tried to brew the sleepiness in his body.
A short while later, he managed to successfully yawn right before You Liangxing’s eyes. Because of his yawn, his eyes became slightly damp when he blinked them and he observed You Liangxing’s reaction with much expectation.
You Liangxing: “......”
He was really poisonous.
In his heart, he really wanted to beat the shit out of Kang Shengzhe, but reality proved to only have the bare bones of his plans. Under his gaze, he felt the inexplicable urge to yawn.
... The problem was that he was not sleepy in the least.
If he did not yawn, he would constantly feel like something was straining at his senses and You Liangxing felt like he had to persevere against it. However, wanting to yawn and ignoring pain were different and it was extraordinarily difficult to control the former.
You Liangxing: “......”
He had to resist and not yawn.
During their stare down, You Liangxing remained virtually expressionless while Kang Shengzhe gave him an amicable gaze, issuing an abundance of giggles: “Hehehe, hehehe.”
His expression of expectation and the joy he derived off the misfortune of others was impossible to ignore.
You Liangxing: “......”
You Liangxing continued to struggle for a while before he punched Kang Shengzhe. As the taller man was holding his face, You Liangxing tilted his head and finished yawning.
The beaten Kang Shengzhe: “???”
With stupefied expression, Kang Shengzhe covered his face, “You even have this kind of modus operandi?”
You Liangxing: “Shut up.”
Kang Shengzhe: “I don’t wanna, if you’re going to hit a person, don’t hit their face, I’m going to ying ying ying. No one can stop me from ying ying ying-ing.”
You Liangxing slammed a fist on the table with a resounding thud, causing the porcelain cutlery to tremble twice. Kang Shengzhe froze and immediately ran out of the private room to yell: “Waiter! Is the BBQ ready!”
He slipped away faster than a rabbit.
Scowling, You Liangxing sighed. Without him realising, he had been irritated to the point where he had started rolling his eyes.
Within a blink of an eye, their dishes were ready. Kang Shengzhe and You Liangxing were two big boys and their eating speed was very fast. However, what surprised others was that in spite of Kang Shengzhe being tall and large in stature and You Liangxing being proportionally built, their appetites were flipped. Kang Shengzhe did not eat much, whereas You Liangxing, with his elegant and pleasing table manners, had devoured more than half of the BBQ skewers.
Kang Shengzhe was a little startled, “Your appetite is this huge? But you don’t seem fat at all.”
You Liangxing replied, “Exercised a lot.”
His words were very reasonable so Kang Shengzhe skipped past the topic. He smiled, “Considering how much you eat, it really serves as a good motivation to work hard if someone wants to raise you.”
You Liangxing did not think too deeply into it and replied: “Wouldn’t it be better to raise you instead? You grow up tall without eating much.”
Kang Shengzhe said, “Is it even worth raising me, you’re better...” Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and he pressed closer, eager, “Do you want to raise me?”
You Liangxing said with resolution: “No.”
Kang Shengzhe pouted, “Ying ying ying.”
Because they ate too quickly, they were not too concerned with anything else. Hence, it was only after they were done that Kang Shengzhe noticed the beer underneath their table. He asked: “Do you drink?”
He was thirsty after the meal and drinking some would not pose as an issue. You Liangxing simply took the can being offered to him and took a few sips.
“How’s your alcohol tolerance?”
You Liangxing replied, “It’s alright.”
Although You Liangxing had proclaimed that it was decent, the truth of the matter was that it was not very high. However, Kang Shengzhe was of the opinion that he was good in everything he did, and the two words ‘it’s alright’ did not have a set definition.
“My alcohol tolerance is pretty good, Liang Liang~ Would you like to play a game?”
You Liangxing said: “What game?”
Kang Shengzhe thought about it and replied, “Rock paper scissors, the loser has to drink and the winner is also allowed to ask a question. Naturally, you have to answer with the truth.”
There was nothing wrong in that. You Liangxing said: “Sure, how much are we drinking?”
Kang Shengzhe pondered, “One-third?”
If they had to drink one-third, it would take three tries to finish one can. Even if he was subjected to a lot of losses, a few meagre wins were enough to unearth Liang Liang’s real name and phone number. Right, it was also an opportunity to inquire if You Liangxing was the wealthy fan who had thrown money at him during the live broadcast.
Kang Shengzhe came to back to his senses and rubbed his fist and palm together. Smile evident in his voice, he uttered: “Rock, paper, scissors—”
Their hands shot out at the same time with Kang Shengzhe choosing rock as You Liangxing chose paper. Although he lost in the first round, Kang Shengzhe did not care much for it. He drank one-third of the contents in the can before he said frankly: “You ask.”
You Liangxing looked at him quietly for a brief moment. His expression was extremely placid, but his gaze was a little unfocused. The question he wanted to ask seemed to have weight to it and it took him a few seconds to say it out loud.
You Liangxing asked:
“Are you gay?”
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