Chapter 35
Xiang Mo couldn’t finish the drawing, and couldn’t even get the basic shapes right.
A large dog transformed into a mad dog and repeatedly told Xiang Mo not to move, but how could a mad dog be controlled? The dog gnawed Xiang Mo to the bones.
Xiang Mo didn’t expect that his unexpected actions would backfire on himself. He thought he could easily tease Du Chi, but his clumsy skills hit Du Chi’s excitement button, causing the large dog to go crazy.
“Do you want to go for a morning run with me?”
In the morning, the evil dog showed no remorse for its mischiefs and invited Xiang Mo to exercise with him.
Last night’s exercise ended early, and after a good night’s sleep, Xiang Mo’s strength had mostly recovered. However, he just didn’t feel like getting out of bed.
He turned over and faced away from Du Chi, using body language to express his refusal.
“You’re really not going?” Du Chi pressed on and bit Xiang Mo’s earlobe. “This might be your last chance.”
After they parted ways, Xiang Mo could still go out for morning exercise alone, but he wouldn’t have the opportunity to exercise with his partner anymore.
Thinking about this, Xiang Mo decided to experience a different life for once and got up from the bed.
“You go for your run,” he rubbed his sore lower back, stubbornly declaring, “I’ll take Sanmao for a walk.”
Walking didn’t require going fast, and Xiang Mo could have easily worn his flip-flops as usual, but he inexplicably changed into workout clothes and picked black sports shoes among the white and black options.
Not for any other reason, just because Du Chi was wearing black sports shoes.
The two of them left the courtyard, with Du Chi running ahead and soon disappearing from sight. Xiang Mo strolled with Sanmao, enjoying the fresh morning air.
On the way, they met Aunt Zhou, who was coming back from disposing of garbage. Aunt Zhou didn’t always ask Du Chi for help; when there wasn’t much to throw away, she would go out herself.
“Are you exercising with Xiao Du today?” Aunt Zhou adjusted her shawl, her hair meticulously combed as if she had infused refinement into her bones.
Hearing her question, it was apparent that she had encountered Du Chi ahead. Since Xiang Mo was walking so slowly, he couldn’t claim to be exercising, so he said, “I’m walking his dog.”
Aunt Zhou bent down slightly, patting Sanmao’s head and looked at Xiang Mo, “I don’t usually see you in the morning.”
Before Du Chi moved in, Xiang Mo used to sleep until nine or ten in the morning, so naturally, Aunt Zhou wouldn’t see him early in the morning.
“I wake up late,” Xiang Mo replied.
“Young people should have vitality,” Aunt Zhou said, with a sense of intellectuality that made her words convincing, “It’s good that you are with Xiao Du; he can help you develop good habits.”
Xiang Mo suddenly remembered what Zhao Xiaoqiao had said about love having a positive impact. It seemed like everyone else thought that way except for him.
But, as the saying goes, “Flaunt your love, and you’ll die quickly.” If the neighbors knew about their relationship, it would be troublesome to explain after a breakup.
“With him,” Xiang Mo opened his mouth, but realized it was difficult to explain now and chose to be ambiguous, “It’s not what you think.”
He had said the same last time, but Du Chi interrupted and called him “wife.”
Perhaps trusting his judgment, Aunt Zhou didn’t pry into the matter and simply said, “It’s good as long as he’s by your side.”
Yes, it was good. Xiang Mo thought, but all the beauty brought by love doesn’t last.
Continuing forward, they reached a small park. There weren’t many people walking their dogs in the early morning, but Xiang Mo didn’t recognize any familiar pet owners. However, he did run into Lao Zhang and Lao Li, who were doing morning exercises. Both of them were wearing bright sportswear and appeared much younger.
“Teacher Xiang, are you here to exercise too?” Lao Li asked.
Since it was rare for him to be out in the morning, it would be a shame not to exercise. Xiang Mo replied with a “yes” and tied Sanmao to a nearby bench before joining the two old men in their morning calisthenics.
There weren’t many people passing by at this hour, so there wasn’t much psychological burden in exercising. The three of them stood in the center of the small park, where they could see Du Chi jogging around the park.
As Zhang was doing chest expansions, he suddenly exclaimed, “Youth is a wonderful thing.”
“Absolutely,” Li rotated his upper body from side to side and followed Zhang’s gaze toward Du Chi, “Xiao Du is very popular.”
“Popular?” Xiang Mo abruptly stopped his waist rotations.
“Do you know about the matchmaking corner’s old ladies?” Li continued, “They consider income and education background, and even if someone earns a million a year and has a master’s degree from abroad, they still care about their household registration.”
Xiang Mo roughly knew that the small park often held matchmaking events, not for the individuals to meet, but for their parents to meet. The matchmaking corner here was well-known in the city because they cared more about family backgrounds than finding suitable partners.
Given Xiang Mo’s income, he could only be ranked in the middle or lower class in this park, and that was after considering his appearance. But if it were Du Chi…
“Those old ladies adore Xiao Du,” Li continued, “Xiao Du rarely talks about his personal life, but according to the boss of the restaurant, it seems like he started his own business? Mrs. Li from the next street said she would offer him five million to support his business!”
Xiang Mo: …
Is there really such a thing?
“This society is just so materialistic,” Lao Zhang clicked his tongue, “As long as you’re good-looking, they don’t care about anything else. They call it improving the family’s genes.”
“If I could have a good-looking granddaughter, I think it would be worth it too,” Lao Li said.
“Forget it, you,” Lao Zhang glanced at Lao Li disdainfully, “Your genes are too strong; your descendants are destined to be odd and quirky.”
“You—” Lao Li was about to retort.
“That’s probably not possible,” Xiang Mo looked at Du Chi who was jogging in the distance and interrupted the impending argument, “He can’t improve.”
“What?” Lao Li stopped his tirade, looking at Mo inquisitively.
“He didn’t finish high school,” Mo looked away and said quite seriously, “He has three younger siblings at home to take care of.”
“He didn’t even finish high school?” Lao Li was stunned for a moment and then frowned with regret, “That’s indeed not going to work.”
“I couldn’t tell,” Lao Zhang mumbled in amazement, “I thought Xiao Du was quite cultured.”
Of course, it couldn’t be told because Xiang Mo made it up.
He barely curved his lips, and just then, Du Chi’s voice suddenly came from behind, “Are you done with your exercise?”
Du Chi runs five kilometers every morning, finishing in about twenty minutes.
Without giving him and the two gentlemen a chance to chat, Xiang Mo quickly replied, “Done,” and then swiftly took Sanmao’s leash and walked towards home.
There are very few students coming to the studio on weekdays, much more relaxed compared to weekends.
Today, both Little Bun and Ponytail had come as planned. Xiang Mo didn’t know when the two of them had become best friends, chatting about topics he couldn’t understand.
Ponytail had already started learning to draw a dodecahedron. Originally, Xiang Mo was supposed to guide her, but Little Bun always took the initiative to be a little teacher. She explained everything clearly, which actually saved Xiang Mo a lot of trouble.
Halfway through the lesson, footsteps came downstairs from upstairs. Du Chi’s figure appeared at the staircase, saying to Xiang Mo, “Wifey, can I borrow a pencil?
Little Bun and Ponytail immediately brought their heads together, whispering excitedly. Xiang Mo was already used to it and didn’t bother with them. He asked Du Chi, “What pencil do you need?”
“Any will do,” Du Chi said, “I don’t know where Sanmei hid mine.”
Sanmei always liked to hide things, and it was a bad habit that couldn’t be changed no matter what.
Xiang Mo picked up a pencil casually, but then he suddenly remembered that Du Chi was using professional drawing pencils. He said, “Wait for me here, I’ll get you another one.”
Xiang Mo had a lot of drawing tools, and he happened to have professional drawing pencils too.
He went to his bedroom and found a pencil to give to Du Chi. As he handed it over, he casually asked, “Are you designing new typefaces again?”
Using pencils for drawing was the first step in designing fonts. If Du Chi was already in the later stages of design, he wouldn’t need pencils.
“Yeah, I have some new ideas,” Du Chi took the pencil from Xiang Mo and said, “And I need to strike while the iron is hot.”
By “striking while the iron is hot,” Du Chi meant that he needed to take advantage of winning awards and quickly release new works.
Xiang Mo suddenly became curious and asked, “Are many people buying your fonts now?”
“It’s not bad,” Du Chi smirked, “It should be enough to support you.”
“Who said you have to support me?” Xiang Mo frowned.
Du Chi chuckled and continued, “I need to come up with a name for my studio now. Do you have any ideas?”
Xiang Mo’s mind suddenly raced back to when he was starting his own art studio, and he spent a lot of time thinking of a name.
He had racked his brain and ended up using his own name, naming the studio “Brush & Ink Art Studio.” He had originally thought of suggesting to Du Chi to use the word “Chi” in the name, but when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.
It would be best for him not to meddle in such matters.
He and Du Chi wouldn’t last forever, but their respective studios would accompany them throughout their lives. They shouldn’t have any connection with someone who was just a passing figure in their lives.
If “Brush & Ink Art Studio” turned out to be the name suggested by one of Xiang Mo’s exes, he would definitely want to change it.
So, it would be best for Du Chi to decide on his own.
“I don’t have any ideas,” Xiang Mo shook his head.
“That’s alright, I’ll think of something myself,” Du Chi said, “And recently, I might be going to bookstores often. Do you want to come with me when you have free time?”
Of course, Xiang Mo would like to go, but his mood suddenly became complicated because he found himself somewhat envious of Du Chi.
Just like he envied Luo Yang for getting a Michelin recommendation, they were both passionate about their careers and received recognition, while he seemed to be stuck in the same place day after day.
“Sure,” Xiang Mo concealed his emotions and replied calmly.
But his subtle changes didn’t escape Du Chi’s keen eyes. Du Chi immediately sensed that something was off and raised an eyebrow, asking, “What’s wrong, my wifey?”
“It’s nothing,” Xiang Mo lightly tugged at the corner of his mouth, “I just feel… the feeling of a thriving career is nice.”
The influence between lovers was indeed extraordinary.
Seeing Luo Yang’s successful career, Xiang Mo could admire and not think too much about it. But when he saw Du Chi’s career continuously progressing, his slowly settling ambition in his career unexpectedly started to stir again.
“Do you want to hold an art exhibition?” Du Chi suddenly asked.
His thoughts were instantly exposed, and Xiang Mo hurriedly denied, “No.”
Indeed, the idea had briefly crossed his mind, but he hadn’t reached the point of actually wanting to do it.
“Do you want to come to my family’s art gallery?” Du Chi said casually, as if it was only natural that if Xiang Mo wanted to hold an art exhibition, it could only be at his place. “I can ask my dad and also introduce you to him.”
“Meet your dad??” Xiang Mo froze at the words. They had agreed to break up a month ago, so why would he have to meet his parents?
His eyes were filled with horror, “I don’t want to experience that.”
Du Chi: …
Actually, Du Chi’s main point was “by the way,” and he had no intention of outing Xiang Mo in front of his family. But it was clear that a certain cat had misunderstood his meaning and was severely frightened.
Cats are really difficult to raise. Du Chi thought to himself.
So timid, just like a mouse. When will he finally show his belly to me? –
Much later, Du Chi finally understood why the neighbors thought he only had a junior high school education. It turned out that a certain cat was playing tricks.
