Telephone

Few people had ever hung up on Li Ping in his entire life.

Listening to the busy signal on the phone, his brows twitched. He immediately raised his hand and dialed again, only to hear that familiar female voice the next moment: "The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."

A bad feeling rose in Li Ping's mind. He immediately hung up, tapped open WeChat, found Zhao Danshi's profile picture, and had barely sent, "Did you block my number?" when the interface displayed: Zhao Danshi has enabled friend verification. You are not yet his friend. Please send a friend request first...

He had been deleted from WeChat too. Li Ping frowned slightly, set down his phone, pressed the intercom, and called for his secretary. "Shao'an, please lend me your phone."

"Yes, President Li. Please wait a moment."

Very soon, Huang Shaoan, who worked in the small outer office beyond Li Ping's office, hurried in with his unlocked phone in hand.

Li Ping said, "Let me make a call."

Seeing that his boss's face had gone dark, Huang Shaoan hurriedly handed him the phone. "Please, go ahead. I'll head out first."

Li Ping waved him away and used his own phone to pull up Zhao Danshi's number, preparing to dial again. Huang Shaoan hurried back to his office, thoughtfully closing Li Ping's door behind him.

After blocking Li Ping, Zhao Danshi paced around the room, scratching at his head and ears, his heart in turmoil.

Just then, his phone rang again. His whole body jolted. After pausing for a moment, he cautiously walked over and picked it up. Seeing an unfamiliar number, he let out a huge sigh of relief and answered.

Zhao Danshi had only managed a "Hello" when an imposing voice came from the other end. "This is Li Ping."

Zhao Danshi immediately began to stammer. "Ah? S-Senior Brother, hello! What do you need from me?"

Li Ping asked coolly from the other end, "Why did you block me and delete me from WeChat?"

"B-Blocked you?" Zhao Danshi could barely speak properly. The other end waited quietly for his explanation.

Zhao Danshi paused guiltily, cold sweat already beading in his palms. "Ah, well... my hand slipped..."

If Li Ping had been there, he would have seen a flush spread across Zhao Danshi's face and sweat forming on his forehead.

Li Ping gave a soft snort and asked, "Where are you now?"

Zhao Danshi refused to answer. Steadying himself, he asked, "Senior Brother, what did you want from me?"

Li Ping said with certainty, "That day, it was you."

Blood rushed to Zhao Danshi's head. He hurriedly said, "Th-That day was just an accident. You don't need to care about it. Senior Brother, if there's nothing else, I'm hanging up. I have things to do here!"

After saying that, Zhao Danshi could no longer worry about anything else. In a fluster, he hung up.

Listening to the static from the other end of the call that had been hung up on again, Li Ping rubbed his brow with a headache. His face turned cold as he relentlessly dialed again.

Zhao Danshi hesitated as he stared at the endlessly ringing phone. This time, he did not dare block the number again. Blocking it would be useless anyway; if his Senior Brother wanted to find him, he would certainly be able to.

The phone rang for a full minute, automatically disconnected, then began ringing again with unyielding persistence.

Zhao Danshi took a deep breath, answered, and softly called, "Senior Brother."

Li Ping's voice remained calm. "Where are you now? Why did you quit your job? Was it because of what happened between us?"

Hearing this, Zhao Danshi suddenly understood. His Senior Brother had seen that he had quit his job and left X City, and thought that what had happened that night had troubled him, so he had specifically called to ask.

Zhao Danshi let out a soft breath, warmth welling up in his heart. The weight that had been pressing on him suddenly eased a little. Lowering his voice so his grandfather would not hear, he said, "I'm back in my hometown, living with my grandfather. That job didn't suit me. My supervisor and I had fundamentally conflicting ideas, and there was no way to reconcile them, so I simply quit and came back to spend time with the old man."

After a pause, Zhao Danshi quietly reassured Li Ping, "Senior Brother, quitting my job had nothing to do with that night. Don't take it to heart."

His soft voice came through the phone slightly distorted. For some reason, Li Ping thought of that night again, and its chaos and passion surged back into his mind.

Li Ping had always kept himself clean. That rare indulgence was not something he regretted, but a faint sense of regret had always remained in his heart.

Listening to his shallow breathing, Zhao Danshi found that neither of them knew what to say for a while.

After a moment, Zhao Danshi recovered first. Somewhat reluctant, he softly said, "Senior Brother, I still have things to do here, so I'll hang up first. Goodbye."

With that, he lightly swiped the screen and ended the call. He sat dazed in his chair for a long while before picking up his phone, removing Li Ping's number from the blacklist, and sending a request to add him back on WeChat as well.

Zhao Danshi focused wholeheartedly on nurturing the pregnancy. Every day, he spent no more than six hours doing farm work. If there was truly too much to finish, he would ask Brother Spoon and other villagers with spare time to help. He did not expect to make money from this crop of vegetables; at the very least, he could not afford to lose money.

Nothing much else in his life had changed, except that he had not taken on any design jobs online for quite some time. No matter how little common sense he had, even he knew that pregnant people could not spend long hours in front of a computer.

His boss was concerned about his situation and even called to ask what was wrong and why he had suddenly stopped taking work.

Zhao Danshi was carrying an earth-shattering secret and could not tell them about it. He could only say that he had caught a cold recently and that his grandfather would not let him use the computer.

His boss pressed him for a long time and only relaxed slightly after confirming that it was nothing serious. He even said over the phone that once work was less busy, he would save up some leave and come visit him.

Zhao Danshi did not have the nerve to let him see his hugely pregnant appearance. His face nearly went pale with fright. He repeatedly assured him that he was fine and stubbornly talked him out of the idea.

Seeing Zhao Danshi live a regular life every day without the slightest intention of going to the hospital, Watcher bluntly reminded him, "It's almost been two months. You need to find someone to perform a C-section and take the child out."

Zhao Danshi said weakly, "So you people only know how to kill and not how to deal with the aftermath? What am I supposed to do with such a big baby if I can't find someone to operate?"

Watcher said awkwardly, "Actually, we do offer that service, but you'll have to spend a large amount of Bio-Energy to unlock my Marketplace first, then seek medical help through the Marketplace." He added without the slightest tact, "Given your current financial situation, I don't think you can afford the medical services in my Marketplace."

Zhao Danshi had no retort. After hesitating for several days, he finally dialed the phone number he remembered under Watcher's urging.

The phone rang for a while before someone answered. A gentle "Hello" came through the receiver.

Zhao Danshi's heart pounded like thunder. The little courage he had painstakingly gathered drained away completely, and he snapped the phone shut again.

Unexpectedly, the other person immediately called back using the number. "Zhao Zhuoyun, is that you?!"

Zhao Danshi opened his mouth, but in the end, he was too cowardly to answer.

The other end continued, "Don't go. I know it's you! Where have you been all these years? Why couldn't I find any news about you at all?"

"Do you... do you know about what happened to me?"

The other end was very calm. "I know. You're gay, so what? Was that really worth hiding from everyone for so many years?"

Zhao Danshi wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. He muttered, "I went to look for you..."

"When?" Before Zhao Danshi could reply, Ran Yuanyao suddenly realized. "The winter of the year you got into university, wasn't it?"

Zhao Danshi did not dare nod. Back then, he had come out to his family and been driven from home. That matter had nearly exhausted all his courage. After fleeing to another city, he had not dared tell anyone.

During that winter break, he had returned to his hometown to change his name and transfer his household registration.

At the time, he had still been unwilling to let go. Before leaving, he had specifically gone to his best friend's home, wanting to see him. Unexpectedly, his friend's mother had been home. The first thing she did when she saw him was grab a broom and come out to drive him away, pointing at his nose as she cursed, "It's one thing for you to go bad yourself. Don't come corrupt my Yuanyao!"

Only later did Zhao Danshi learn that after he came out, his parents had assumed his childhood friend was his boyfriend and had specifically gone to the other family's home to make a scene, infuriating his friend's father so badly that he was hospitalized with high blood pressure.

After learning this, Zhao Danshi no longer had the courage to contact his childhood friend. So many years had passed in a flash, and when he finally made the call, the courage he had painstakingly summoned once again drained away completely.

Zhao Danshi remained silent for a long time. The voice on the other end softened. "Where are you now? What are you doing? Are you doing well?"

Hearing that familiar voice repeatedly asking after him, Zhao Danshi opened his mouth. He had finally wanted to answer that he was well, but his throat had gone completely hoarse. His face felt itchy, and when he raised a hand to wipe it, he realized that tears had long since covered his face.

"I'm doing very well. I'm in my hometown now." Zhao Danshi spoke hoarsely. "I'm with my grandfather."

Ran Yuanyao spoke from the other end. "Did something happen to you?"

Zhao Danshi paused, truly too embarrassed to say it aloud.

The other end grew anxious. "If you have something to say, say it already. Do I not know your personality? You wouldn't have specifically called me if nothing had happened. Tell me what's wrong. Don't make me worry."

"My situation is a little complicated, but it isn't a bad thing. Are you still studying medicine?"

"Yes. I've finished my residency training and am studying for my graduate degree."

Zhao Danshi took a deep breath. "What city are you in? I'll come find you and tell you face-to-face. This isn't something I can explain over the phone."

"W City. When are you coming? I'll pick you up then."

Zhao Danshi said, "I'll buy a ticket for the day after tomorrow. Just tell me the address, and I'll find my way there."

"All right. Be careful on the road, and call me anytime if anything happens. We'll talk when we meet." Before hanging up, Ran Yuanyao added, "If you don't come find me, I'll take leave and come find you."

Warmth filled Zhao Danshi's heart. He spoke hoarsely, "Don't worry. I'll come. This time, I won't run away."

"That's good." Ran Yuanyao comforted him over the phone. "You've weathered so many storms over the years. Don't lose heart over anything. We'll solve it together when the time comes."

Zhao Danshi answered, "Okay."