Chapter 37

The thoughts in the mind are one thing, and the actual feelings are another.

Xiang Mo thought he wouldn’t mind if Du Chi sent Ye Xing away, but when he saw the two of them chatting on the street, he realized that he wasn’t as magnanimous as he thought.

No matter how reassuring Du Chi was, Xiang Mo still lacked a sense of security.

In the end, they were just a couple like any other, and their feelings should have faded after the honeymoon phase. However, with the expiration of one month approaching, there was no sign of the passionate feelings waning.

On the contrary, Xiang Mo’s possessiveness towards Du Chi grew stronger.

This was not a good sign.

Xiang Mo felt like he was trapped in a strange loop. The more Du Chi made him feel at ease, the more he enjoyed being in love. But the more he enjoyed being in love, the more uneasy he became.

Round and round, back to where he started. Indeed, there was no antidote to love.

A message notification from Du Chi popped up on WeChat.

【Du Bin: Almost there.】

The remark about changing the name was not a typo on Xiang Mo’s part; he wanted to give his pet dog a new “dog name,” so he changed it to the fierce “Doberman.”

After the name “Doberman,” there was also a dog emoji, adding a touch of cuteness to the imposing large dog.

A few minutes later, the ride-hailing driver took Ye Xing away, and soon after, Du Chi’s footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Xiang Mo opened his bedroom door, waiting for Du Chi’s figure to appear on the second floor, pretending not to care and asked, “Are you done with your work?”

“It will take a little while longer,” Du Chi stopped in front of Xiang Mo’s bedroom door, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Xiang Mo said casually, as if he was about to close the door, “Just wanted to let you know I’m done.”

There were still many details left unfinished on the sketch paper of the human figure. Whenever Xiang Mo wanted to continue drawing, he could pick it up at any time. There was no such thing as “done.”

Du Chi chuckled softly, squeezed into the door gap, and pulled Xiang Mo into his arms. “Wifey.”

“Yeah?” Xiang Mo wrapped his arms around Du Chi’s neck, ready to greet a kiss.

“When will you be a little more honest?” Du Chi playfully lifted his chin, avoiding Xiang Mo’s approaching lips.

“Honest?” Xiang Mo halted his movement, raising his chin to meet Du Chi’s gaze.

“As long as you say you want it,” Du Chi’s eyes were filled with a smile, “I’ll be done in a minute.”

Once again, his thoughts were read, and Xiang Mo couldn’t help but feel annoyed. He frowned slightly, pulling back his arms around Du Chi’s neck. “I never said that.”

“Yeah, you didn’t,” Du Chi didn’t give Xiang Mo a chance to leave, holding the back of his neck, he bit his lips, “It’s me who wants it.”

…

The June phoenix trees cast a dense shade.

The cicadas’ sound overwhelmed the pleasant bird songs, adding a touch of drowsiness to the scorching summer day.

Occasional passing cars raised dust, disturbing the tranquil blooming roses in front of the flower shop.

Xiang Mo’s studio had a new student signing up, and he received a notification of the payment received on his phone.

He wrote down the year and month on the receipt, but when it came to the date, his pen hesitated on the paper, unable to move for a long time.

It had been three days since the one-month deadline had passed.

He had been waiting for Du Chi to mention it, but it seemed like Du Chi never cared about the date and hadn’t noticed that their agreed-upon love period had expired.

Of course, this was only Xiang Mo’s speculation. Perhaps Du Chi had already noticed, but he, like Xiang Mo, pretended not to know.

Sanmei’s belly was becoming more and more pronounced, and her due date was approaching soon.

Zhao Xiaoqiao finished her college entrance examination, and although the results hadn’t been announced yet, it was said that she did well in the mock exams and had entered her carefree holiday period.

Luo Yang started preparing to open a branch of his business, and recently, he was busy scouting locations in the city, spending most of his time away from the shop.

Aunt Zhou’s flower shop became busier, as she received many wedding orders, as if summer was the season of love.

The lives of the neighbors were going smoothly, but Xiang Mo always felt that something was off, and there was a lingering sense of unease in his heart.

“Teacher?” a student who had signed up glanced at their phone, reminding Xiang Mo of the date.

Xiang Mo pulled his thoughts back and focused on completing the receipt.

In the evening, Xiang Mo made fried rice for himself for lunch.

Du Chi came back home for dinner, not at the old house. It was the second time this week, and it was only Wednesday.

The empty kitchen lacked the lively atmosphere, and there were only the monotonous sounds of utensils clashing.

Xiang Mo chewed his food slowly, looking at the empty chair opposite him, and felt… it was okay.

For the past three years, he had been eating like this, and he didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Washing dishes by himself, tidying up the kitchen by himself, his life was meant to be lived by himself.

He continued drawing until 10 p.m., and finally, he heard Du Chi’s return downstairs.

Unlike usual, Xiang Mo only walked to the window to take a look and didn’t go downstairs to greet him.

After a while, there was a knock on the bedroom door, accompanied by Du Chi’s voice, “Wifey?”

Strangely, the frustration that had shrouded Xiang Mo all evening disappeared in an instant. He took three steps and reached the door, opening it. “You’re back.”

It seemed that it still didn’t work.

Whenever he wasn’t with Du Chi, Xiang Mo would mentally prepare himself to get used to being alone again. Every time, he would think he could handle it, but as soon as Du Chi came back, all his efforts would be in vain.

Today, he needed even more psychological preparation because Du Chi spent less time at the old house. Xiang Mo had a strange premonition that Du Chi might bring up the topic of breaking up.

While he was drawing, he prepared himself for the conversation about the breakup with Du Chi’s return home, but as soon as he heard the word “wifey,” his tense heart relaxed. He knew that the moment of discussion was postponed again.

“Have you had a good meal?” Du Chi asked.

“Yeah,” Xiang Mo nodded.

He really disliked this state of mind.

All day long, besides pondering Du Chi’s thoughts, he couldn’t focus on anything else. Nervous, anxious, this was clearly the aftermath of being in love.

“You seem busy lately,” not wanting to continue this way, Xiang Mo tried to change the topic.

“A little bit,” Du Chi said, pausing for a moment, “My dad is urging me to go back home.”

The first sentence sounded like a normal conversation, but the second one followed up on Xiang Mo’s topic.

Clearly, Du Chi understood Xiang Mo’s tone and expression, knowing that he didn’t want to drag things out anymore.

In other words, he was like Xiang Mo, aware that the deadline had passed.

Okay, now they could finally get to the point.

“Do you want to go back home?” Xiang Mo asked.

“It depends on you,” Du Chi said, “If you want me to stay, I’ll stay.”

Emotionally, Xiang Mo didn’t want Du Chi to leave, but reason warned him that the next time wouldn’t be as simple as a month. The more he invested in this relationship, the harder the fall would be if it didn’t work out.

“If you want to stay, then stay,” Xiang Mo returned the decision-making power to Du Chi.

He didn’t dare to be the one to start this conversation; he didn’t want to face the pressure of being blamed by his own rationality when licking his wounds in the future. Only when Du Chi brought it up could he avoid that immense pressure.

Du Chi sighed and looked helpless, saying, “Wifey.”

“Yeah,” Xiang Mo couldn’t figure out Du Chi’s intentions and became inexplicably nervous. His heart was racing so fast that he almost couldn’t control his breathing.

“Have you been happy recently?” Du Chi asked.

His tone carried a gentle and persuasive meaning, as if setting the stage for the upcoming conversation. At this moment, Xiang Mo suddenly realized that it seemed like between breaking up and not breaking up, Du Chi leaned more towards the latter.

But it seemed that Du Chi also had some uncertainty, making him unable to make a firm decision.

So, was Du Chi unsure if they could make it to the end?

“Being happy is one thing,” Xiang Mo furrowed his brows slightly, not following Du Chi’s words but changed the subject, “but—”

“You’re afraid of making commitments,” Du Chi interrupted him.

“Aren’t you the same?” Xiang Mo wondered.

Commitments meant giving your all, and it was clear that Du Chi was also hesitating to take this step. Otherwise, why would he be so indecisive?

“Alright,” Du Chi sighed in compromise, “How about one more month?”

“Huh?” Xiang Mo was surprised, “What about your family?”

“I can handle it,” Du Chi said, “It’s not a big deal.”

Xiang Mo’s tense heart relaxed a bit, but both he and Du Chi were in a different state than the last time they had this conversation. He could almost foresee that one month later, it would still be an unresolved situation.

But what else could they do?

Neither of them wanted to move forward, so it seemed they could only maintain the status quo.

“Then let’s go with that for now,” Xiang Mo said. However, they still couldn’t escape the loop and instead found themselves sinking deeper. He couldn’t blame anyone for this; it seemed that he wasn’t as carefree as he imagined himself to be.

The next morning, Du Chi came back home again.

Although they had talked, it felt like they hadn’t, and the situation still felt off.

Being in love was troublesome.

Listening to the shrill sound of the cicadas, Xiang Mo prepared his drawing materials for class and started building himself up mentally for the breakup.

No one in this world would cease to exist without the other. That annoying dog was always running around outside, and he had gotten used to it, hadn’t he?

He should just move out if he wanted to leave so early in the morning and come back so late at night!

A logistics van suddenly arrived at the entrance of the courtyard. The driver got down from the van and knocked on the open gate, asking, “Is this Mr. Du’s house?”

Xiang Mo put down what he was holding, walked towards the gate, and replied, “Yes.”

The driver handed a receipt and a pen to Xiang Mo, saying, “Please sign for it.”

The thing delivered by the logistics was flat and heavy, like a mahjong table.

At first, Xiang Mo didn’t pay much attention and left the thing in the courtyard, planning to wait for Du Chi to come back and move it himself.

However, as he turned back to the house, he caught a glimpse of the details on the packaging box from the corner of his eye. He bent down to take a closer look and discovered that it was a customized studio signboard made by Du Chi.

There was a thumbnail of the signboard on the details sheet, with four beautiful artistic characters inside a round frame, forming the name “Pen & Ink Typography Studio.”

Xiang Mo’s heart skipped a beat, and he stood still, staring blankly.

Du Chi named his studio and directly used the name of his art studio.

This didn’t seem right, did it?

Wasn’t Du Chi unwilling to take the initiative?

Why would he use the same name as his art studio?

Xiang Mo couldn’t understand Du Chi’s thoughts, but this was a minor issue. It was Du Chi’s own career, yet somehow it became “tied” to his own things.

Regardless of whether Xiang Mo was overthinking or not, this matter was as serious to him as marriage vows.

The long-dormant alarm bells suddenly rang loudly in his mind.

Xiang Mo took two steps back, distancing himself from the signboard leaning against the gate—this was not okay, this was too much—

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