Chapter 15 - A Tangled Circle of Relationships

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Qiu Yanzhi saw He Zhou's expression.

His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest.

Damn, everything was really going to sh*t this time.

Worse of all, this time the car flipped in a way that left no room for argument.

He was the one who just said those words, and he really did do what he said he did.

Before the chandelier incident happened, he had drawn an R-rank He Zhou Plotline Card about a hero saving a princess. When he heard that He Zhou was going to skip his honeymoon to pick up Meng Qikang from the airport, he didn’t hesitate to use the card.

This was the first time he was doing this kind of thing, so Qiu Yanzhi foolishly decided to set his pain sensitivity to 60% to make his performance more realistic.

Just before the chandelier came crashing down, Big Yellow even flew in front of him for a countdown: Three, two, one.

Then he jumped towards He Zhou.

Zhang Yuxuan was still by his side, so Qiu Yanzhi was reluctant to lie again and say that his previous words were just meant to comfort his friend.

--That would be too scummy and low, even for him.

He wasn't innocent, after all. At most, he was just a little unlucky to have been found out.

But he also didn't feel he was wrong since this was just a game. Capturing He Zhou’s heart was just an ingame mission. Since he was just a NPC, what did it matter how he accomplished that goal?

But for some reason, Qiu Yanzhi’s chest hurt as he took in He Zhou’s ice cold eyes.

Beside him, Zhang Yuxuan was also uneasy. He opened his mouth, but an overwhelming pressure prevented any words from leaving his lips.

The atmosphere was just too oppressive and disturbing.

Qiu Yanzhi felt that he had to do something.

He looked at He Zhou, his lips trembling slightly. "He Zhou..."

He Zhou's dark eyes bore into him. Qiu Yanzhi originally only thought that He Zhou's eyes looked pretty, but this was the first time he realized that this shade of intense black could also be as terrifying as a storm.

Qiu Yanzhi didn't want to see them anymore so he closed his eyes: "...I'm sorry, I was wrong. I just, I just like you too much, I wanted you too much-”

“I'm sorry..."

"You like me?"

He Zhou interrupted him with a scoff. He grit his teeth as he glared at QIu Yanzhi.

"Your affections make me sick."

After He Zhou left, Zhang Yuxuan worriedly peeked at Qiu Yanzhi from the corner of his eye. He carefully called out to him, "Yanyan..."

Qiu Yanzhi shook his head: "I'm fine."

He shrugged, "At least I’ve learned my lesson now."

"What lesson?"

"Lying is like laying landmines, you never know when they’ll go off." Qiu Yanzhi said with a smile.

Zhang Yuxuan was now very worried about Qiu Yanzhi's mental state. Even if Qiu Yanzhi was joking with him, he couldn't squeeze out a laugh. He felt that Qiu Yanzhi was forcing himself to smile.

Something seemed to occur to Qiu Yanzhi, and he sighed again, laying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. "A person told me ten years ago that I shouldn't lie so much, but it seems like I still haven’t learned how to be a good person.

"By the way, Baby Yu..." Qiu Yanzhi suddenly said.

Zhang Yuxuan felt that Qiu Yanzhi must’ve suffered a heavy blow just now, so he anxiously asked, "What's wrong?"

Qiu Yanzhi touched his stomach and savoured the very realistic sense of hunger the game was able to reproduce. “Go out and see if He Zhou’s left yet for me. If he has, big brother will take you out for a tasty meal.”

After Zhang Yuxuan went out, Big Yellow flew over worriedly: "What should we do, ah."

Qiu Yanzhi: "Can this game load a previous save file?”

Big Yellow shook its head: "Nope."

Qiu Yanzhi spat bitterly, "I knew this was a trash game."

Big Yellow asked, "You and He Zhou are basically finished… How are you feeling right now?"

Qiu Yanzhi took a fruit flavoured candy from the box on the bedside table. He peeled back the wrapper and tossed it into his mouth. "I feel like this game’s a lot more exciting than I gave it credit for."

He paused and added, "And He Zhou being angry is also scarier than I imagined. Tsk, I felt like I was watching a VR horror movie or something. I’m still covered in goosebumps.”

Big Yellow: "..."

It asked again, "You've worked so hard for so long, but now He Zhou’s even more closed off than before! Don’t you feel the least bit frustrated?!”

"Big Yellow, did you know?” Qiu Yanzhi turned to look at the floating yellow orb.

"What?"

The hard candy wasn't very tasty, Qiu Yanzhi spat it out into the trash can and said with disgust, "He Zhou's techniques f*cking suck."

Big Yellow: "......"

Big Yellow was silent for a long time before asking, "...Are they really that bad?"

"Definitely." Qiu Yanzhi wiped his mouth with a tissue, "After sleeping with him, it took me two days to confirm that I still like men. Actually, I’m still a little suspicious of my orientation even now…”

Qiu Yanzhi directed a serious look at Big Yellow.

“Maybe I should be a 1 instead."

Whether it was a 1 or a 0, practice makes perfect.

So Qiu Yanzhi dragged Zhang Yuxuan along to a gay bar.

Qiu Yanzhi's drinking capacity was really bad. Outside of the game, a glass was enough to make him woozy. He didn't have any good friends to depend on to bring him home in one piece, so Qiu Yanzhi has never been to a bar, much less one catering to homosexual patrons.

He looked around curiously as he entered one for the first time.

Big Yellow fluttered around him in a panic, pleading with him to renounce his evil ways. “Qiu Yanzhi, how can you do this?! Qiu Yanzhi, you’re already married! You can’t cheat on your husband, that’s immoral and against the message our game is trying to convey! There’s no point in coming to a place like this anyways since the system will automatically stop you, even if you find someone…”

"Shut up." Qiu Yanzhi hissed, "Can't I just have a look around?"

Zhang Yuxuan had never been in a place like this before either. When he stepped through the doorway, he clung to one of Qiu Yanzhi's arms and looked around curiously with bright eyes.

“Yanyan, this place is different from what I thought." Zhang Yuxuan whispered into Qiu Yanzhi's ear.

Qiu Yanzhi nodded, "Same here.”

The gay bar in Qiu Yanzhi's imagination was a chaotic place with dim red lights and the scent of smoke in the air.

But this bar was nothing like that. It was almost too clean.

Dim yet warm lights dyed everything in a gentle shade of yellow. There were murals of rainbows and sunflowers on the walls, and a wooden vintage Steinway piano in the corner. The whole bar gave off a comfortable and artistic atmosphere.

"Yanyan, are you sure this is the kind of place you want to get drunk in?” Zhang Yuxuan asked in a small voice.

Before Qiu Yanzhi brought Zhang Yuxuan here, he told Zhang Yuxuan that he needed to get drunk and make happier memories to numb the pain from losing He Zhou.

Although Zhang Yuxuan felt that this wasn’t the right way to deal with it, he still supported Qiu Yanzhi wholeheartedly.

"No," Qiu Yanzhi said, "I actually wanted to show you that, other than your senior, there’s--”

Qiu Yanzhi stopped abruptly.

Zhang Yuxuan looked at him, "There’s what?"

Qiu Yanzhi quickly turned around and pulled Zhang Yuxuan around to the corner. "...There's other excellent men out there. Sit here and don't move, I need to use the washroom."

Qiu Yanzhi was about to leave, but then turned around and left Zhang Yuxuan one last instruction, "Don't talk to anyone, don't eat or drink anything given to you… Just be good and wait for me here."

Qiu Yanzhi thought he saw a familiar face just now.

...He hoped he was mistaken.

Retracing his steps to the previous location, Qiu Yanzhi trailed that man. After swiftly turning a corner and crossing a long corridor, he saw two men enter a private room.

Their posture was...very intimate. The man in black lifted the other man’s white shirt and caressed his bare waist.

When Qiu Yanzhi was about to follow them in, someone suddenly blocked his way.

"...Qiu Yanzhi?" Shen Xingwei's expression was somewhat surprised, "Why are you here?"

Qiu Yanzhi: "I could ask you the same thing.”

“Well I’m the owner of this bar, of course! I didn’t expect to see you here.” Shen Xingwei said with a smile, "I actually own a number of bars in the area, so we might run into each other again.”

Qiu Yanzhi wasn’t really surprised by this.

He felt like Shen Xingwei was probably an NPC like the doctor who treated his back injury, the kind that didn’t have a major role so their assets were used multiple times.

But it was always good to see a familiar face.

Qiu Yanzhi asked him, "Do you know the two people who just went into Room 104?"

"104? "Shen Xingwei glanced at the door. After a pause, he said, “They’re a couple that’s getting married next month, but one of them is still a frequent customer of mine… Why do you ask?

Qiu Yanzhi took a deep breath, then asked, "What are their names?”

"Jing Zeyu and Ye Hongyuan…? What’s wrong, do you know him?"

Qiu Yanzhi didn't know him. In fact, he didn’t even know that guy’s name until yesterday.

Jing Zeyu.

The one who just had his waist fondled.

Yesterday, Zhang Yuxuan was so drunk that he cried and pulled out a secret photo to show him.

Zhang Yuxuan's senior was getting married next month.

Jing Zeyu.

Zhang Yuxuan was truly as dumb as a rock. He couldn’t even sit still long enough to understand the situation. He found out that his senior was getting married, but he didn’t know whether he was getting married to a man or a woman.

That guy said 10 years ago that he liked girls, so Zhang Yuxuan wore dresses for 10 years.

But now that guy was getting married to a man.

Yet Zhang Yuxuan still believed that guy was straight. He even wanted to do sex change surgery this morning.

How can someone be this big a fool?

It was a long time before Qiu Yanzhi could calm down enough to slowly head back.

He was debating with himself the entire way about whether to tell Zhang Yuxuan about this or not.

Zhang Yuxuan seemed to have waited for him for a long time. After seeing Qiu Yanzhi, he waved at him.

Qiu Yanzhi took a seat across from Zhang Yuxuan.

"You look really pale… I knew something didn’t look right when you left earlier.”

Zhang Yuxuan carefully asked him, "Did you see them just now as well?"

"Them?" Qiu Yanzhi was stunned. He tentatively said, "...So you saw them too."

Zhang Yuxuan pursed his lips, "I’m not blind. How can I not see them pass in front of me?”

Qiu Yanzhi looked at Zhang Yuxuan's face. The more he looked, the more he felt that his friend’s face was washed out and tired, with traces of concealed heartache beneath. He reached over to clasp one of Zhang Yuxuan’s hands in comfort. "Baby Yu, let's not think about that bastard anymore, okay?"

"Okay." Zhang Yuxuan nodded solemnly.

Zhang Yuxuan thought about the scene he saw just five minutes ago. He Zhou and Meng Qikang were acting so intimate in a place like this...what other explanation was there other than cheating?

From today forward, whether Qiu Yanzhi wanted to divorce that bastard, cheat on him, or get revenge...he, Zhang Yuxuan, would fully support him!!!

Having to watch He Zhou cheat after being dealt a heavy blow by his words...

Yanyan really is pitiful.

Zhang Yuxuan felt really bad for his friend.

At the bartending station, Shen Xingwei watched the duo that almost reenacted an adult video at his bar yesterday, Qiu Yanzhi and Zhang Yuxuan, intimately holding hands and looking deep into each other’s eyes in the left corner.

He then looked to the right, where Meng Qikang was accompanying He Zhou in drinking out his sorrows.

Then he thought about the couple that Qiu Yanzhi furiously tailed to their private room.

Shen Xingwei took out a wine glass and sighed.

What a tangled circle of relationships.


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