Chapter 17
When Shang Tingzhi finished checking the information and descended from the second-floor study to the first-floor living room, he happened to see Xia Leyang staring at Yang Wenting with a stiff expression.
“What are you talking about?” Shang Tingzhi, holding a book under his arm, passed by the coffee table and casually asked. However, before the two could answer, he had already walked to the entrance, tossed the book onto the shoe cabinet, put on his shoes, and said, “I found the needed information. We won’t have dinner here tonight.”
Shang Tingzhi finished putting on his shoes, stood up straight, glanced back at the direction of the living room, and noticed that Xia Leyang had not moved, instead looking at him with a complex expression.
“Haven’t you finished talking?” Shang Tingzhi raised his hand to check his watch. Then, he turned to Xia Leyang and said, “Let’s continue our conversation on the weekend.”
“Sure,” Yang Wenting volunteered, “Bring Yangyang over to our house more often.”
Shang Tingzhi knew that Yang Wenting still misunderstood his relationship with Xia Leyang. He couldn’t be bothered to explain further. He raised his chin slightly to Xia Leyang and said, “Let’s go.”
Taking a deep breath, Xia Leyang followed Shang Tingzhi’s pace with a gloomy expression.
Exiting the villa area, Shang Tingzhi didn’t call Tang Fengyi to pick them up; instead, he hailed a taxi directly. In the car, Shang Tingzhi continued reading the ancient book without noticing that Xia Leyang was unusually silent compared to usual.
Back at the Gu family mansion, Shang Tingzhi went straight to the study. Before closing the study door, he said to Xia Leyang, “Auntie will come over to cook later.”
However, Xia Leyang, who continued upstairs, acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He walked into his bedroom on the second floor and slammed the door shut with a heavy thud.
Shang Tingzhi suddenly felt that something was off, but he was not someone who paid much attention to the emotions of others. He closed the study door with a bewildered expression and sat at the desk.
Five minutes later.
Shang Tingzhi closed the book in his hand and indeed felt that something was wrong.
It seemed that since leaving home, Xia Leyang hadn’t said a word to him.
Although Xia Leyang wasn’t extremely talkative normally, he would occasionally blurt out something infuriating. Yet, the Xia Leyang just now couldn’t have not heard him speaking; he even seemed too lazy to respond.
Could it be that this young master had a capricious temperament?
It didn’t seem like it. Apart from the times when he annoyed Xia Leyang, this young master had never given him a cold look without reason.
So… there was only one possibility.
After spending five minutes contemplating, Shang Tingzhi sighed and put down the book. He walked to Xia Leyang’s bedroom door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Shang Tingzhi knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.
“Xia…Yangyang?” Shang Tingzhi called softly.
“What?” A cold voice came from inside.
Shang Tingzhi opened the door, and upon entering, he was first distracted by the strange furnishings in the room. Then, he looked towards Xia Leyang, who was playing a game on the bed, and asked gently, “Are you angry?”
Xia Leyang didn’t speak, and his gaze remained on the phone screen.
Shang Tingzhi wasn’t a fool. Before entering the study, the two of them were fine. After chatting with Yang Wenting, Xia Leyang’s attitude changed. After a little thought, he could guess that Yang Wenting might have said something she shouldn’t have.
“My mom has some misunderstandings. You don’t have to take her words seriously,” Shang Tingzhi said as he approached the bedside.
“Misunderstandings?” Xia Leyang slightly furrowed his brows.
Just as the game in his hands finished, Xia Leyang put the phone aside and asked, “How old are you this year?”
Shang Tingzhi was momentarily stunned, not understanding Xia Leyang’s intention. Still, he subconsciously cooperated, saying, “Twenty-nine.”
Xia Leyang crossed his legs, sat up straight, and asked with a displeased look, “You’re almost thirty. Why do you tell my mom about everything?”
Shang Tingzhi vaguely understood what Yang Wenting might have said. Just as he was about to explain, Xia Leyang continued, “Do I not have any privacy?”
“Apologies.”
!
Regardless, apologize first and then explain.
“How am I supposed to face people?” Xia Leyang crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Do you feel particularly honored and want to show off?”
“…How could that be?” Shang Tingzhi patiently said, “You said it yourself.”
“Ha?”
“Tang Fengyi.” Shang Tingzhi pursed his lips. “He works for my parents.”
All the images related to Tang Fengyi flashed in Xia Leyang’s mind. He suddenly remembered a day when he bargained with Shang Tingzhi in front of Tang Fengyi…
At that time, Shang Tingzhi kept emphasizing that he was dreaming, so he didn’t want Tang Fengyi to know?
Xia Leyang suddenly felt a bit guilty. His arrogance diminished slightly, and he complained while glaring at Shang Tingzhi, “Why didn’t you say it earlier?”
“You didn’t give me a chance.” Shang Tingzhi shrugged. “Besides, my parents know about this, so your family knows too.”
“What?” Xia Leyang was shocked by the revelation. The awkward feeling when Yang Wenting mentioned it earlier resurfaced. He stammered, “What should we do? Have you explained it to them?”
“Not yet.” Shang Tingzhi said with difficulty, “They currently think we’re a couple.”
“A couple?” Xia Leyang asked.
“Yes… I’m your boyfriend.” Shang Tingzhi tactfully omitted the term “gay.”
Even so, when Xia Leyang heard this, he almost jumped off the bed.
“My boyfriend?!” Xia Leyang widened his eyes. “Are they insane?”
Shang Tingzhi, seemingly unimpressed, replied lazily, “Maybe.”
“No.” Xia Leyang picked up his phone with a serious face and called Ji Zhengfang. On the other end, Ji Zhengfang was playing mahjong. She just said, “Two bamboo.”
“Mom, did you hear any strange rumors?”
“What rumors?”
“Me and Shang…”
“Wait!”
Ji Zhengfang suddenly raised her voice, and Xia Leyang, thinking his mom had something important to say, held his breath and waited. However, the next second, a hearty sound came from the phone, “Kong! … Another kong! … Kong with a flower!”
The mahjong table was knocked, and Xia Leyang rolled his eyes at the sky. He patiently waited for his mother to finish collecting the money before continuing, “Mom, Shang Tingzhi and I are not a couple. Don’t misunderstand, okay?”
“You’re talking about this? No problem.” Ji Zhengfang hung the phone around her neck, pushed the mahjong into the automatic mahjong table, and continued, “Your dad was a bit sad for a while, but he has adjusted.”
“Adjusted what? I still have to carry on the family line for the Xia family!” Xia Leyang saw that his mother cared more about mahjong than his situation and felt like crawling through the phone to flip the table.
“It’s okay, you have your sister. Just find a son-in-law and it’s fine.” Ji Zhengfang said. Looking at her good sisters on the opposite side, she added, “Others know that I couldn’t conceive back then. It was the Shang family who found a good Feng Shui house for us. We had your sister and you.”
Xia Leyang frowned. There was also this matter?
“Later, our family prospered, and it was also related to the Shang family. So, I’m telling you,” Ji Zhengfang paused, sorted the cards in her hand, and continued, “You being with young Shang is also good. Mutual help, you know?”
Ji Zhengfang hung up the phone, and Xia Leyang angrily threw his phone onto the bed, lying down with a huff.
How could their family, with all those feudal and superstitious old folks, suddenly become so open-minded about such matters?
Before, Xia Leyang didn’t think about it in this way, so cuddling with Shang Tingzhi didn’t feel inappropriate.
In this eerie and terrifying haunted house, it was better to sleep in Shang Tingzhi’s arms than to curl up alone in a corner.
However, ever since being arranged by several elders, Xia Leyang always felt a bit awkward with intimate contact with Shang Tingzhi. Especially after that night when Shang Tingzhi pleasured himself while they were in bed, and neither of them was possessed by a female ghost. Now, looking back at it, it seemed really strange.
“Where are your hands touching?” Xia Leyang lay on the bed with his back to Shang Tingzhi, nervously removing Shang Tingzhi’s hand from his waist.
“What’s wrong?” Shang Tingzhi exerted a bit of force, freeing his wrist from Xia Leyang’s grip, and continued to hold Xia Leyang.
“We used to sleep like this before, didn’t we?” Shang Tingzhi propped up his head with one hand, looking at the tense Xia Leyang in his arms. Suddenly, he found it amusing.
“That was before; this is now.” Xia Leyang slightly turned his head and said to Shang Tingzhi behind him, “We’ve already had bad rumors spread about us. We should be more careful now.”
Shang Tingzhi chuckled and deliberately approached Xia Leyang’s ear, lowering his voice, “I’ve touched everywhere down there; what’s there to be careful about?”
“Shang Tingzhi!” Xia Leyang sat up from the bed with a swift motion, staring at Shang Tingzhi with a serious expression. “Please pay attention to boundaries!”
“Okay, okay.” Shang Tingzhi retracted his playful expression, grabbed Xia Leyang’s arm, and pulled him back into his embrace. “Stop fooling around and go to sleep.”
“No, I’m telling you to keep some distance,” Xia Leyang insisted.
“Got it.”
“You’re all talk and no action. Why are you still holding me so tightly?”
“I understand.”
“Hey, hey!”
Once again, Xia Leyang realized that reasoning with a rascal was futile.