FLME Ch56

Xie Jialin: “…”

He had thought of this set of rhetoric for a long time.

Xie Jialin took off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and felt suffocated for a moment, experiencing the depression of firing a cannon only for it to be a dud.

He racked his brains for a moment and felt it could still be salvaged. He still had one last trump card up his sleeve.

“It’s real this time,” Xie Jialin said calmly. “Our properties are about to be auctioned off. Right now, there’s only one way to save our family.”

Xie Heyu said nonchalantly, “What?”

Xie Jialin: “A marriage alliance.”

Xie Heyu brought the water glass to his lips, then put it back down, afraid he would choke. If he couldn’t hold it in and sprayed a mouthful of water over, that would be truly unfilial.

“I have already arranged a marriage for you. It’s Dad’s fault for not getting your consent, but let’s just consider it the Xie family wronging you this once.” Xie Jialin tilted his face up, gazing melancholically at the ceiling, his tone full of sorrow.

Squatting at the corner of the second floor, Yu Wen cupped his chin, listening with great relish.

The uncle’s fabricated story was actually quite believable. I wonder if Teacher Xie will fall for it. If he does, I wonder what kind of weird expression he’ll make.

Ah, by the way, when is it my turn to make an entrance?

I wonder what character the uncle has made up for me.

Xie Heyu: “And so?”

Xie Jialin: “Your fiancée is in the house today. She is a beautiful, generous, and kind child. Why don’t you two meet, just to get acquainted.”

Yu Wen was beaming as he listened. A fiancée? On such short notice, where is the uncle going to conjure a living person from? He’s definitely overdoing the fabrication… and beautiful, generous, and kind…

Wait.

As if to confirm his ominous premonition, in the next second, Xie Jialin announced passionately: “Appear! You who are beautiful, generous, and kind!”

Yu Wen: …

Xie Jialin extended his hand toward the second-floor stairs, striking a welcoming pose. Xie Heyu followed his gaze. Ten minutes passed, and the top of the stairs remained completely empty, with no one in sight.

Holding his water glass, Xie Heyu said calmly, “A ghost marriage?”

Since there’s no figure, it must be a ghost.

Yu Wen’s face was blank, his brain crashing. He was too embarrassed to go out, squatting in place, fully prepared to squat until the end of time and turn into a mushroom spirit.

“Appear! You who are beautiful, generous, and kind!” Xie Jialin repeated the summoning spell again, but still failed to summon a certain introverted little fish.

Xie Heyu rubbed the side of his glass, looking thoughtful. He naturally knew his old father was joking. His family had always liked to tease him about finding a partner, occasionally trying to set him up with so-and-so. He rarely took it to heart and had never stated his sexual orientation, because those jokes were never excessive. His family was just bored, so he let them have their fun.

But the situation was different now. Since he had someone he liked, he needed to establish a clear stance on this matter to prevent any misunderstandings in the future.

Xie Heyu set down his water glass, looked toward the second floor, and asked politely, “Hello, what is your surname?”

“…”

No one answered. Unsurprised, Xie Heyu nodded, saying understandingly, “Then let us skip the formalities for now; please forgive my lack of manners. I must ask for your pardon, as I cannot agree to this marriage. The problem lies with me. I already have someone I like, so I am not a suitable match. You will find your own destined marriage. I apologize.”

Huh?

Xie Jialin and Yu Wen both looked up, caught completely off guard by this explosive news.

Xie Jialin hadn’t expected his random fabrication to actually bait out the silent gourd’s true feelings. He immediately rubbed his shiny forehead, asking happily, “Really? Who is it? Have you confessed? Did the other person agree? When are you getting married? Where are you going for your honeymoon?”

Xie Heyu: “A colleague at the company. Haven’t confessed, confessing too early would scare him; if he agrees, we can get married; honeymoon is up to wherever he likes.”

Yu Wen was in no mood to be introverted anymore. He couldn’t help but ponder: Company colleague? Teacher Xie’s company is Starlight Media. The company only has three artists. I remember testing the waters before, and Teacher Xie didn’t seem to have that kind of interest in me, so I can cross myself out first. Chu Han is the bottom of the original novel, and there didn’t seem to be this romantic subplot in the book, so cross him out too. That only leaves…

Yu Wen felt like he had been struck by lightning.

Teacher Xie likes Xi Su?!

Oh my god! This is a karmic sin!

Wait, no, no. Yu Wen remembered again that Teacher Xie had once stated he was straight and told him to rest assured. He couldn’t remember exactly when, but he had definitely stated it, otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to have physical contact with Teacher Xie…

Then, the person Teacher Xie likes is his assistant, Xiao Zhou? Or Chu Han’s assistant? …It can’t possibly be the company’s cleaning lady!

Xie Jialin was clearly just as baffled as he was. Having long tossed the matter of summoning the fiancée to the back of his mind, he pressed, “Who is it? I remember Xie Jiamao’s company doesn’t have many people. Is it an artist? When did this happen? How long have you had a secret crush on them?”

Leaning against the stair railing, Xie Heyu lazily lowered his head, his bangs a bit messy.

“It’s an artist. Surname is Yu.”

He fell silent for a moment, silently adding:

“It’s been a long time. I liked him the first time we met. Liked him a lot.”

Love at first sight? Lust at first sight? He didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. He only knew that he liked him very much. Like cannot remain silent. The feeling of his heart pounding like a drum every time he saw him was hotter than fire, urging him to approach, to test the waters…

Sometimes Xie Heyu was grateful for his own powerful self-control. At least it prevented him from blurting out words that would inevitably be rejected at inappropriate times. Thanks to his rock-solid rationality, he was able to muddy the waters by Yu Wen’s side without letting the other party notice a single thing.

But he hadn’t always been this strategic.

“Dad, the first time we met, I wanted to ask for his contact information, but I didn’t get it. Do you know why?” Xie Heyu was used to being steady. This temperament caused him to lack someone to confide in. There were some things he had never told anyone. Having opened the floodgates today, and having held it in for so long, he wanted to say a few more words.

“Because I forgot.” He glanced at the dumbstruck Xie Jialin, revealing a slightly shy smile. Rubbing the tip of his nose, he said, almost self-deprecatingly, “I was too nervous. Once I handed the umbrella to him, I forgot everything.”

When they met again in the dance practice room, Xie Heyu thought to himself: Alright, Xie Jiamao, you can mess around all you want, I will always cover for you.

Who said his youngest uncle had bad luck? This was clearly excellent luck.

Knowing when to stop, Xie Heyu stood up straight and asked, “Are we still going bankrupt?”

This tip of the iceberg had already rendered Xie Jialin completely speechless, staring blankly. “Uh…”

“If we really must go bankrupt, I support a marriage alliance. But how about changing the candidate?”

Xie Heyu walked behind Xie Jialin and casually gave his old father a push.

“My dad still retains his charm.”

“…”

Having listened for a long time, Yu Wen finally snapped out of it at this joke. Like a reanimated corpse, he jolted and abruptly stood up, feeling he couldn’t listen anymore. Listening any further would lead to a major disaster—

Unfortunately, his legs didn’t listen to his commands. Having squatted for too long, his legs were numb. He failed to stand up, instead falling into an undignified heap on his butt, accidentally bumping into the display cabinet behind him and knocking a vase over.

The movements of the father and son downstairs paused. Looking up, Xie Heyu raised an eyebrow and looked at Xie Jialin, “You really found someone to play along?”

He then headed upstairs. The noise just now was quite loud; the person probably fell, so he had to go see.

Xie Jialin hadn’t reacted at all. He was still thinking hard, straightening out the character relationships.

Surname Yu… an artist at Starlight Media surnamed Yu… hiss… Xiao Yu is also surnamed Yu…

Yu Wen sat pathetically amidst the broken porcelain shards.

He carefully pushed the porcelain pieces aside, trying his best not to hurt himself. Then, grimacing in pain, he supported himself against the wall and stood up. Rubbing his pitiful behind, he thought indignantly: This is too dramatic! How could eavesdropping lead to hearing about myself!

Sure enough, one shouldn’t do bad things. If he hadn’t thought about playing a trick on Teacher Xie from the beginning, he wouldn’t have heard this confession. If he hadn’t heard this confession, he and Xie Heyu could still be good bros…

Wait, Teacher Xie likes him, they can’t be bros. They have to break off their friendship… Oh my god, why did this have to happen? If he’s guilty, can the police come punish him, instead of taking Teacher Xie away from him…

“…Yu Wen?”

Xie Heyu’s voice came from behind. Yu Wen stiffened all over and instinctively denied it, “You’ve got the wrong person, I am your fiancée.”

Xie Heyu: “…”

It’s only a few steps away, how could I get the wrong person. Xie Heyu walked over and kicked the broken porcelain pieces aside. “Did you fall?”

Realizing he couldn’t hide, Yu Wen dawdled and turned around, looking down at his shoe tips. His eyelashes fluttered incessantly, refusing to look up no matter what, his face so red it looked like it was bleeding.

Xie Heyu finally realized what he had just said. His expression froze, and he asked hesitantly, “You are the ‘beautiful, generous, and kind’ person my dad mentioned? Have you been… here the whole time?”

“I wasn’t here! I wasn’t here!” Yu Wen lied through his teeth. “I just arrived! I climbed in through the window! To tell you the truth, I’m actually Spider-Man. Every time I go out, I have to save the world! I accidentally broke your vase, I’m really sorry. I’ll compensate you later, but right now I have a mission—”

Saying that, he scurried to the window, pushed it open, and tried to jump down.

Fortunately, Xie Heyu reacted quickly, grabbing his waist and dragging him back with all his might, his tone carrying a rare hint of reprimand. “This is the second floor.”

Being held by the waist made Yu Wen even more tense. He kicked his legs wildly. “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me, be careful Spider-Man’s venom doesn’t seep onto you…”

Xie Heyu: “…Since when does Spider-Man have venom?”

“Spiders bite people!” Yu Wen struggled for a long time but couldn’t break free, instead exhausting himself. Panting heavily, his face flushed, he hummed and hawed, “I really didn’t hear it… Teacher Xie, Teacher Xie…”

He “Teacher Xie-d” for a long time, not knowing what to say. Xie Heyu put him down and sighed helplessly.

“Can we, talk…”

Before he could finish the word “talk,” Yu Wen automatically filled in the blanks to “date.” His cheeks burned, and he turned around to start climbing the window again.

Xie Heyu: “…Yu Wen! This is the second floor, you’ll break a bone if you jump!”

Yu Wen: “It’s just the second floor, Spider-Man’s got this!”

Yu Wen had lost his mind.

He insisted he was Spider-Man and wanted to jump from the second floor. Despite Xie Heyu’s earnest persuasion, he couldn’t be stopped. So, Xie Heyu simply hoisted him over his shoulder, giving his butt a spank every time he squirmed.

Under the threat of being spanked, Yu Wen finally quieted down, hanging over Xie Heyu’s shoulder like a dead fish that had lost all hope in life.

Xie Heyu carried Yu Wen downstairs. Xie Jialin was thoroughly baffled, completely unable to understand how his perfectly fine Xiao Yu had suddenly gone crazy.

Xie Heyu was going to take Yu Wen home, and Xie Jialin didn’t stop him. Anyway, Yu Wen’s dorm wasn’t far from here. Too many things had happened tonight, and he needed to digest them himself.

That artist surnamed Yu…

Seeing the two about to leave, Xie Jialin couldn’t help but ask, “I just asked Xie Jiamao, the only artist in the company surnamed Yu seems to be Yu Wen. Is the person you like…”

“It’s not me! It’s not me!” Before Xie Heyu could speak, Yu Wen got agitated, stopping just short of pointing at the sky and swearing an oath. “Xiao Yu is Spider-Man, his dream is to save the world! He definitely won’t date anyone!”

“…Ah, oh.” Although he didn’t understand what saving the world had to do with dating, Xie Jialin politely said, “Wishing you early success, fighting.”

Xie Heyu’s expression didn’t change, but internally he let out a massive sigh.

He knew it would turn out like this.

On the way, Yu Wen said sullenly, “Teacher Xie, I won’t jump out the window anymore, can you put me down…”

Xie Heyu stopped walking.

The moment Yu Wen’s feet touched the ground, he bolted, completely denying Xie Heyu a chance to speak.

Xie Heyu could only stand there and watch him run away. After a long while, he massaged the bridge of his nose with a headache.

Yu Wen returned to the villa, ran straight back to his room, and wrapped himself in his blanket layer by layer, revealing only a fluffy head.

A while later, Chu Han knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Yu Wen said with a muffled voice.

Chu Han entered, pulled back his blanket, and was startled by his flushed face. “I was wondering. I saw your complexion looked off downstairs, do you have a fever? I’ll go get a thermometer.”

Yu Wen was too embarrassed to say this was “post-confession syndrome.” He could only let him bring the thermometer. After checking several spots, Chu Han was puzzled. “Your temperature is normal… Why is your face so red?”

Yu Wen revealed a pair of watery eyes, blinking continuously, and said in a muffled voice, “Maybe the weather is too hot…”

Chu Han: “Then why are you wrapping yourself like a silkworm pupa?”

Yu Wen fell silent.

Seeing that he was fine, Chu Han didn’t plan on interfering further. Just as he was about to return to his room, Yu Wen spoke up: “C-Chu Han, you and President Feng, you two, you two…”

He hummed and hawed without getting to the point. Chu Han could only pull up a chair, sit by the bed, and ask, “What’s wrong with you today? You’re acting weird.”

Yu Wen gathered his courage. “Has President Feng confessed to you?”

Chu Han’s expression looked as if to say, What kind of bullshit question is that? He asked, “Do you mean before or recently?”

Yu Wen: “He still has recently?”

Chu Han: “Yes, just half a month ago, it was annoying. But it’s been less frequent this past half month. I found the trick to dealing with him.”

Yu Wen: “…What trick?”

Chu Han: “I pretended to send a message by mistake. The content was: ‘Lately, I like quiet, reserved men. Preferably the alluring type. Men who are too proactive have no charm.’ He hasn’t texted me for a whole half month.”

Yu Wen: “…”

President Feng frantically googling overnight: What is the alluring type.

Yu Wen said, “I remember you said you still like him… Since you like him, why reject his advances?”

Chu Han’s eyes widened. “Something this simple, and you actually don’t get it? I remember you being very smart, did your brain overheat?”

Why else.

“We aren’t together because we’re not compatible, of course.”

He liked Feng Chengzhou, and Feng Chengzhou liked him, that was true. But Feng Chengzhou was young and arrogant, proud and haughty; he didn’t know how to love someone. What he gave wasn’t what Chu Han wanted, and that was the more important issue.

There were only two outcomes for them: either they exhausted their love, or before the love vanished, one of them ground away their own edges to fit the other.

He definitely wasn’t changing! He hadn’t done anything wrong, so it was inevitable that Feng Chengzhou had to change.

Worst case, he would just find someone else to like.

After hearing this, Yu Wen felt it made a lot of sense. “Whether you’re compatible is more important than whether you like them…”

He and Teacher Xie were not compatible.

After all, he had transmigrated here inexplicably. What if one day he inexplicably transmigrated back… What would the person left behind do?

After Chu Han left, Yu Wen stared at the ceiling for a long time, lost in thought.

He felt he needed to make it clear to Xie Heyu that they weren’t compatible. But he couldn’t really explain his origins, as it was too supernatural, even more absurd than claiming to be Spider-Man.

Where should I begin…

Wait a minute.

How did this turn into a question of compatibility?

He wasn’t the same as Chu Han.

He didn’t like Teacher Xie!