Chapter 32
As graduation approached, Cong Yuan and his friends were eating at the Praxis restaurant. Next semester, they would start their internships, and they were feeling the pressure of how difficult it was to find a good job. The better companies had very high standards, and they were all feeling a little gloomy as they faced the prospect of parting ways.
Just then, Xie Xiaojiang said to Zhao Yan, “Oh, I almost forgot, my brother told me to report to his company after the exams!”
Zhao Yan exclaimed, “Are you kidding me!?”
Xie Xiaojiang rubbed his nose. Although he wanted to study with Zhao Yan, he had promised Wei Yuhuan a long time ago that he would spend time with him. Now that they were on break after the exams, Wei Yuhuan probably wouldn’t let him go running around anymore.
Zhao Yan was disappointed, but he couldn’t help but feel envious. “I wish I had a good ‘brother’ like you,” he said.
Feeling a little guilty, Xie Xiaojiang suggested, “Why don’t I ask him tonight to see if his company is looking for any more interns in their departments? You could come along and get some experience too.”
Zhao Yan was overjoyed. “Really? The Huanyu Group is a big company!”
“It should be okay,” Xie Xiaojiang grinned. “But I can’t guarantee anything, it’s up to my brother. I’ll beg him for you tonight, hehe.”
Zhao Yan blushed at the strange tone of Xie Xiaojiang’s “begging” remark. “Don’t say such shameless things in front of a straight guy!” he protested.
Xie Xiaojiang teased him. “If even a straight guy like you can tell that I’m gay, then you’re not very straight either.”
Zhao Yan fell silent.
Cong Yuan listened to their conversation and felt a pang of bitterness. If Wei Yuhuan had already disappeared from his life, then he would naturally have let go of that longing. But the problem was that Wei Yuhuan not only found a new lover, but also sent him to J University. They were on the same campus, and Cong Yuan couldn’t avoid hearing news related to Xie Xiaojiang. Xie was like a thorn in his heart, reminding him of the big piece of pie he had missed out on. The fancy apartment at Chunjiang Huajing Garden and the high-paying job that Wei Yuhuan had promised him both should have belonged to him.
Now, the pie is being enjoyed by a person named Xie Xiaojiang, who seems to be relishing it.
Sometimes, Cong Yuan wonders what Wei Yuhuan’s purpose was in doing all of this. Did he want to get back at Cong Yuan for rejecting him? Did he want to show that whoever he likes will be successful and losing him would be a loss?
He admits that he feels a little regretful, especially after experiencing so many setbacks and blows.
Sometimes, when he is feeling vulnerable, Cong Yuan questions this world and whether his principles of “self-respect” and “dignity” are necessary in the face of such cruelty. If he had accepted Wei Yuhuan’s pursuit, would he be living a worry-free life now?
But then, he scolds himself for thinking that way because he knows it would be morally wrong.
He doesn’t understand why Xie Xiaojiang can enjoy the pie, though. Cong Yuan revealed the truth about Xie Xiaojiang being an MB and it became a hot topic on campus.
He thought Xie Xiaojiang would be ashamed and troubled by this, but he was not. Xie Xiaojiang seemed to not care at all and continued to go to school, make friends, and even boasted about the benefits he got through “selling his body.”
Cong Yuan was disgusted by Xie Xiaojiang’s “petty gains,” and luckily, his classmates mentioned a topic about a pretty girl in their grade who received an internship offer from a ZD Bank in Hong Kong. They suspected that she only got the offer because of her looks, even though there were others with better grades.
Some of his classmates lamented, “Even if we look good, we can’t use our bodies to get ahead like women can.”
Then, Cong Yuan had an idea and said, “You never know. Do you guys know that the CEO of Huan Yu Corporation, Wei Yuhuan, is gay? I heard he has had countless lovers, and one of them in our major is an MB who he keeps.”
He deliberately spoke loudly to catch Xie Xiaojiang’s attention.
“Hey, I heard about Xie Xiaojiang’s situation too. My God, the person who keeps him is the CEO of Huan Yu Corporation? It’s shocking!”
Cong Yuan noticed that Xie Xiaojiang, who was previously smiling, became stiff all over. He knew his goal was achieved and continued, “Do you guys remember when Wei Yuhuan came to our department to give a speech during our sophomore year?”
“I remember! You even hosted the event.”
Cong Yuan then casually revealed the details of Wei Yuhuan’s interest in him, mentioning “Chunjiang Huajing Garden” and how Wei Yuhuan bought an apartment there to try to date him. But he realized Wei Yuhuan’s true intentions and stopped contacting him.
Although Cong Yuan didn’t explicitly describe the process, he hinted at all the details, letting everyone’s imagination run wild.
His friends were all shocked to hear this and jokingly asked Cong Yuan why he didn’t seize the opportunity.
Cong Yuan pretended to be indifferent and said, “It’s not a good thing, too lazy to talk to you about it.”
The friends sighed, “Yeah, homosexuality is really disgusting.”
Just as Cong Yuan planned, their conversation was heard word for word by Xie Xiaojiang.
Not only that, their topic shifted from CEO of Huan Yu to Xie Xiaojiang. Most of the people present had heard the rumors that “Xie Xiaojiang is an MB,” and they talked about it recklessly without realizing that Xie Xiaojiang was sitting at the next table.
“I heard that Xie Xiaojiang got into the school through investment. He said his brother introduced the investor?”
“Haha, it’s probably President Wei. That guy looks young and handsome, but he can’t be just in his thirties as the CEO of such a large corporation.”
“I heard that those rich people pay a lot of attention to skincare, maybe he’s already in his forties!”
“Xie Xiaojiang is only a freshman now, at most in his twenties.”
“I’ve seen him twice, he looks really young, a bit small, probably only eighteen or nineteen.”
“Oh my God, they’re at least a generation apart, how can they call each other brothers? It’s so perverted!”
…
They had never talked to Xie Xiaojiang before and didn’t know what kind of person he really was. Based on unfounded speculation, they were filled with malice as they made cold and mocking remarks, insulting and hurting him, as if they didn’t realize that the person being discussed was also a human being with thoughts and feelings.
Every word was like a knife, cruel and brutal, killing without a trace. This is the violence of public opinion.
And in this process, all Cong Yuan did was to start it all. He didn’t participate in the subsequent discussion,
At the moment, Xie Xiaojiang didn’t have much of a reaction, but Zhao Yan was nearly going crazy.
He had also heard the conversation of those people present, and regardless of whether Wei Yuhuan had pursued other J university students, the way they were insulting Xie Xiaojiang was outrageous, let alone the fact that Xie Xiaojiang was the one being targeted!
Seeing Xie Xiaojiang sitting silently across from him and drinking er guo tou, Zhao Yan was extremely worried. He was just about to advise Xie Xiaojiang to calm down when he heard someone at the next table say, “Brother Brother, you can really say that with your mouth.” Then, Xie Xiaojiang stood up suddenly from his seat.
At first, Zhao Yan thought that Xie Xiaojiang wanted to leave, so he stood up too, thinking it was best to avoid the situation. But unexpectedly, Xie Xiaojiang turned around and kicked the chair behind him with great force!
The sound of the chair falling to the ground made everyone in the surrounding area suddenly quiet, and they all looked over.
Xie Xiaojiang, with a face as cold as steel, picked up the half bottle of er guo tou he hadn’t finished drinking and walked towards the table where they had been discussing him just now. “Brother? That’s not all. I call him dad too,” he said lightly, as if he was talking about the weather that day. But what he said made people’s faces turn pale.
“Who are you?” one of them asked in shock.
Xie Xiaojiang sneered and swung the bottle of alcohol hard on the back of one of the chairs. There was a loud bang, and the glass bottle shattered, spilling white alcohol everywhere.
“I’m Xie Xiaojiang!” The young man was so angry that his hair stood on end and his eyes were about to burst.
He was not an emotionless person, and listening to such rumors and gossip for a whole semester had accumulated negative energy and pressure on him. Moreover, he was not the kind of person who would let others slander him and back away. He had been tolerating others’ gossip in private, but when they bullied him like this, did they think he was a pushover?
Zhao Yan was dumbfounded. Who could have thought that the boy who was as quiet as a little kitten just a second ago would suddenly transform into a fierce little leopard ready to attack?
A group of people were also frightened by Xie Xiaojiang’s furious look, and for a moment, they all felt a little scared.
Only Cong Yuan took a deep breath, quickly regained his composure, and asked Xie Xiaojiang in return, “Why are you so angry? Everyone is talking about this. Isn’t it true?”
Seeing Cong Yuan speak up, the others also realized that this matter was not just being discussed among them. Why should Xie Xiaojiang only be angry with them? And they had more people, so they didn’t think Xie Xiaojiang alone could stir up much trouble. He just smashed a bottle to show off, who knew if he would dare to hurt someone!
Thinking of this, someone immediately echoed, “Yeah, even flies don’t bite seamless eggs. If you’re not guilty of anything, why do you care if you’re called an MB? Show us your evidence!”
“So what if I am an MB?” Xie Xiaojiang sneered, his cold eyes sweeping over Cong Yuan, who was the first to ask, and causing him to shiver deeply. “I’m just a boy with money!” After saying this, Xie Xiaojiang quickly raised the broken bottle and mercilessly stabbed it into Cong Yuan’s shoulder, while asking fiercely, “So what’s it to you? Does it bother you in any way?”
A moment of suffocating silence was interspersed with countless gasps. The next second, several girls who were watching the commotion on the sidelines screamed, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
