Chapter 28

As the focus of his sight followed Du Chi’s figure, disappearing behind the small courtyard door, Xiang Mo suddenly felt a bit lost.

He subconsciously wanted to follow, but his wrist was suddenly pulled by someone. Beside him, Qian Kun looked displeased, furrowing his eyebrows slightly and saying, “Darling?”

His raised tone carried a hint of reminder, as if saying, “I’m still here, where are you going? Shouldn’t your attention be on me?”

Xiang Mo had originally planned to ignore the endearment, but he had overestimated his patience.

“Do you ever stop?” The impatience in his heart erupted at this moment. Xiang Mo shook off Qian Kun’s hand, and with the remaining patience, he said, “We have mutual friends, Qian Kun. You know my current address, and I know you have someone new abroad. So, please stop bothering me here, okay?”

If he had to say, Xiang Mo could list numerous reasons why he didn’t want to reconcile with Qian Kun.

He no longer had feelings for Qian Kun, he just wanted to live a single life, he didn’t want to repeat the past mistakes, and so on…

But he didn’t say any of that because conversations like this could be divided into perfunctory or heartfelt. If he opened up and talked to Qian Kun about his thoughts, it would enter the realm of heartfelt discussions, making Qian Kun feel like they still had room for negotiation.

As expected, right after Xiang Mo finished speaking, Qian Kun seemed to have found a breakthrough and immediately asked, “So, are you bothered by this? It’s not a new love, we’re just seeking comfort in each other. My heart has always been with you.”

Taking a deep breath, suppressing the gradually shifting emotions from annoyance to rage, Xiang Mo told himself that getting angry was bad for his health and responded with an expressionless face, “But my heart is not with you.”

“You seem to have a deep misunderstanding of me. This place is not suitable for talking. Can we change the location?” Qian Kun asked.

“Not good, no time,” thinking about Du Chi leaving, Xiang Mo didn’t want to waste any more time. He walked towards his own small courtyard.

Qian Kun followed with quick steps, seemingly wanting to continue talking inside the courtyard.

Xiang Mo stopped and turned around, warning, “If you keep following me, I’ll set the dog on you.”

After saying this, he slammed the courtyard gate shut.

The first and second floors were dark, and finally, Xiang Mo found Du Chi on the third-floor balcony, petting the cat.

Du Chi was sitting cross-legged in a leisure chair, using his index finger to scratch the cat’s chin. The cat lazily rested in his arms, making a comfortable purring sound.

Xiang Mo didn’t intentionally soften his footsteps; he knew Du Chi must have heard him. But Du Chi remained focused on the cat, as if he saw right through Xiang Mo, treating him as if he were transparent.

For a moment, Xiang Mo didn’t know how to break this silence. Even when facing students who wanted to drop out, he had always been calm.

After a while, Du Chi spoke first, but his words were directed at the cat, “Kitty, you can’t act like this, you know?”

He gently pinched the cat’s ears and scratched its cheek. The skilled gesture made the cat comfortable, squinting its eyes, lifting its chin, and nuzzling closer to Du Chi’s embrace.

Xiang Mo could hear the hidden meaning behind Du Chi’s words, knowing that Du Chi was talking to the cat but referring to him.

He awkwardly cleared his throat, asking Du Chi, “Are you angry?”

Du Chi finally lifted his gaze from the cat and casually looked at Xiang Mo, asking, “Angry about what?”

His tone was natural, as if he hadn’t understood Xiang Mo’s question at all.

But Xiang Mo wasn’t a stone-cold guy; Du Chi’s emotions were clear to him, and he couldn’t pretend not to notice.

“When you just left directly,” Xiang Mo said, “I know you were angry.”

As they went back and forth, it would be better to draw a conclusion directly. The reason for the anger towards Xiang Mo could be guessed somewhat, but he didn’t seem willing to think deeply about it.

“Oh, you’re overthinking it,” Du Chi lowered his gaze again and playfully scratched Sanmei’s chin. “Why would I have a right to be angry?”

In these matters, they seemed to have a tacit understanding, as Xiang Mo also thought that Du Chi had no right to be angry.

If Tan Song couldn’t tell his ex-boyfriend about his relationship with Xiang Mo, he wouldn’t care because Tan Song’s relationship with his ex was none of his business.

So, it seemed that his and Du Chi’s relationship was more than just a casual one-night stand.

For example, as a friend, Du Chi would get angry when he saw Xiang Mo dawdling and unable to solve even simple matters.

Or when they had agreed on something, and all it took was Xiang Mo calling him “husband” to resolve the problem, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it, which also made Du Chi angry.

That was probably the extent of it; Xiang Mo didn’t want to analyze it further.

Regardless of the reasons that made Du Chi upset, there was one thing in Xiang Mo’s mind – he didn’t want Du Chi to be angry with him.

“Do you know that when you’re babbling, you always add an ‘oh’?” Xiang Mo put his heels on the edge of the chair, hugging his legs, resting his chin on his knees, and asked Du Chi, tilting his head.

“Is that so?” Du Chi raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Xiang Mo said, “So, I know you’re angry with me.”

“Then why do you think I’m angry?”

Since the smelly dog had finally admitted he was not happy, Xiang Mo decided to be straightforward, “You’re angry because I haven’t called you my husband.”

As the words were spoken, Xiang Mo started to reflect. He knew it was fake, so why couldn’t he say it?

When he was faking it with his students, he could say it without any psychological burden. But now…

There seemed to be something unclear and burdensome in his mind, making it hard for him to say it casually.

Realizing this, Xiang Mo was somewhat distracted.

His reason should have warned him to stay away from these unclear things, but his id, representing desire, resisted the self-control, refusing to put up defensive barriers in his mind.

This seemed even more dangerous.

His confused thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as Du Chi asked in a calm tone, “So, can I be angry?”

The words sounded emotionless, as if he was asking who was going to cook today.

But Xiang Mo understood the deeper meaning behind Du Chi’s words. He was asking Xiang Mo, do you agree that I have a reason to be angry?

On the surface, Du Chi’s question seemed to seek Xiang Mo’s opinion, but it was far from that simple.

If he expanded Du Chi’s question, it was essentially asking Xiang Mo, are we in a special relationship where I can be angry when you act evasively in front of your ex-boyfriend?

Putting it in another way, Du Chi’s question could be simplified to, am I special to you?

In just an instant, Xiang Mo had already figured out Du Chi’s intentions.

Honestly, Du Chi’s phrasing was very subtle, despite the obvious implication, it was not so easy to grasp.

Even though Xiang Mo understood the “special relationship” aspect, he couldn’t be sure of what kind of special Du Chi wanted.

Perhaps because it wasn’t explicitly stated, Xiang Mo’s heart didn’t put up a defensive line.

He even felt that, just maybe, Du Chi was indeed a little special to him.

Only just a little, nothing more.

Out of consideration for Du Chi’s anger, Xiang Mo gently parted his lips and said, “Yes.”

The nonchalant expression softened, and a faint smile appeared on Du Chi’s lips.

“Can I be angry?” Du Chi asked.

“You can,” Xiang Mo replied.

Xiang Mo didn’t expect Du Chi to be so easily appeased with just two words.

But of course, Du Chi was still Du Chi. Even though he had calmed down, he asked, “If I get angry, you won’t show any response?”

What response could there be?

Xiang Mo didn’t want to give Du Chi a chance to take advantage, so he got up and walked towards the hallway. “I’ll take you to an art exhibition this weekend.”

From behind, he heard Du Chi’s voice, “Can we not go?”

Xiang Mo didn’t look back and replied, “It’s up to you.”

Before he could enter the hallway, he suddenly found himself embraced by the large dog from behind. Du Chi rested his chin on Xiang Mo’s shoulder and nibbled on his ear, saying, “Just an art exhibition is not enough.”

Realizing that the big dog was showing signs of being in heat again, Xiang Mo quickly held down his restless hands and turned around to glare at Du Chi. “We agreed on once a week, what are you doing now?”

“Did we agree on that?” Du Chi tilted his head. “I don’t remember.”

What do you mean, did we agree?

The last time, Xiang Mo didn’t want to do it again at all. If it weren’t for Du Chi promising only once a week, Xiang Mo wouldn’t have agreed to let Du Chi bother him until three in the morning.

“Let’s just say we did agree,” Du Chi said, biting Xiang Mo’s earlobe again. “Then I’ll advance next week’s quota.”

What is he up to now?! —

Du Chi: Not calling me ‘husband,’ right? Fine.