The remedy wouldn't cooperate

After reading the two messages Pei Yang had sent, Wei Ziyun's confident expression turned a little awkward.

He laughed and handed the phone back to Feng Wanting. "Looks like you're not charming enough, Director Feng."

Feng Wanting took the phone, the anticipation in his eyes fading.

...He really wasn't going to take responsibility.

He sat there in a daze, then turned off the screen and tossed the phone aside.

"How does someone like that even exist? He finds out who you are and runs away instead of throwing himself at you." Wei Ziyun couldn't understand it at all. He rolled his eyes. "Is there something wrong with his brain?"

"Forget it." Feng Wanting switched from his personal WeChat account back to his work account and sent Lu Yu a message: [The remedy won't cooperate.]

"I'm giving up on treatment," he said.

After finishing his day's work, Pei Yang arrived home.

He opened WeChat again and again, only to close it in disappointment each time.

He wanted to delete Feng Wanting.

But Feng Wanting hadn't accepted the money, nor had he sent him any more messages.

Pei Yang didn't really understand what he meant. Was he too busy? So busy he couldn't even spare a moment to accept the money?

Lying on his bed, Pei Yang stared at the slightly damp ceiling. After hesitating for a while, he opened Feng Wanting's Moments.

There was a clear divide between a chairman's life and an ordinary person's. Even a few simple snapshots showed how unequal their worlds were.

Feng Wanting had very few Moments posts, and Pei Yang finished scrolling through them in no time. Only one photo, a group shot with friends, showed his face. From that, Pei Yang concluded that Feng Wanting didn't like having his picture taken.

...Pei Yang also discovered that all these photos were from five years ago. Feng Wanting hadn't posted anything in the past five years.

Five years...

It had also been five years since that incident.

Pei Yang truly loathed that incident, so much that thinking about it made his heart race and left him wanting to throw up.

He went back to their chat. Feng Wanting still hadn't replied or accepted the money.

Pei Yang exhaled, unsure whether he was lucky or unlucky. One impulsive night had cost him almost a month's wages, yet two thousand had bought him a night with someone far beyond his reach.

Pei Yang couldn't tell whether that night had really been Feng Wanting's first time. Logically, someone like Feng Wanting couldn't possibly lack men and women throwing themselves at him. His first time? That did sound a little ridiculous... But his clumsy movements hadn't seemed fake. Could it have been... his first time sleeping with a man?

Pei Yang raked his fingers through his hair in irritation, not wanting to think about it anymore.

The next day, he received Xia Jingmo's flight details and went to the airport to pick him up. They hadn't seen each other in a long time and were both delighted to reunite. They went out for a meal together.

Xia Jingmo had come to the Northern Continent on business. Hotels there weren't cheap, and although Pei Yang's rented place wasn't in great condition, at least the bed was big enough. He invited Xia Jingmo to make do at his place for a few days, and Xia Jingmo happily agreed.

Worried that Xia Jingmo would be tired after such a long flight, Pei Yang pulled his suitcase for him the whole way. When they arrived, he unlocked the door, and Xia Jingmo followed him inside, surveying the small room. His expression shifted, his smile looking a little forced. "Yangyang, you... live in a place like this?"

"..." Sensing Xia Jingmo's dissatisfaction, Pei Yang awkwardly poured him a cup of tea. "Yeah. I'm not too picky about where I live."

"Even so, you can't live somewhere like this." As they spoke, Xia Jingmo took a look around the inner room, his tone growing more disdainful. "This rundown old housing complex... Even the walls are moldy. Living here long-term isn't good for your health. Aren't you working at FK now? FK is famous for its pay and benefits. Surely you can afford to rent somewhere better?"

"I want to save some money."

"Save money?" Xia Jingmo laughed. "You're gay. You don't have to get married to a woman. What are you saving for?"

"..."

"Have you forgotten?" Pei Yang set down the tea Xia Jingmo still hadn't taken from him. "I... owe a lot of money."

Only after that reminder did Xia Jingmo seem to remember. "Oh," he said. "You still haven't paid it off? While you were with Song Yixiao, did he... not help you pay any of it?"

"I didn't ask him to help," Pei Yang said. "It's my own problem."

"True enough... You do have to handle something like that yourself. Someone died, after all... Paying it back yourself can count as atonement," Xia Jingmo said casually.

"..."

That offhand remark instantly dredged up what Pei Yang didn't want to remember. His chest clenched with pain, leaving him unable to catch his breath.

He lowered his eyes to avoid it and, head bowed, went to the cabinet inside to take out a clean quilt. "The bed's actually pretty big... There's room for two. But if you think it'd be cramped, I can sleep on the couch."

"Ah... Don't bother." Xia Jingmo surveyed the place again. "I'll just find a hotel."

Pei Yang froze, his throat tightening.

"Don't overthink it, Yangyang. I'm here on business. My company reimburses all the expenses," Xia Jingmo added, trying to smooth things over.

"Yeah." Pei Yang forced a smile and stuffed the quilt back into the cabinet. "That's good, then."

A little tired of standing, Xia Jingmo wandered around the living room before sitting down on the couch. Only after making sure the cup on the table was clean did he take a small sip of the water Pei Yang had poured him.

"By the way, Yangyang..." He asked with feigned casualness, "You and Yixiao... Why did you and Song Yixiao break up? You didn't explain it properly over the phone. Can you tell me now that we're face-to-face?"

"I got bored. Didn't want to keep dating," Pei Yang said evasively.

Xia Jingmo had been his and Song Yixiao's closest friend during their school days. Things between him and Song Yixiao had already fallen apart, and he didn't want to reduce the three of their happy memories to ruins as well. Pei Yang wanted to leave Song Yixiao some dignity, as a final gesture toward their imperfect relationship.

"You got bored?" Xia Jingmo frowned. "Yangyang, I don't mean to criticize, but Song Yixiao is so handsome. You know how popular he was in college. He used to like girls. He could have had a perfectly happy life. You were the one who turned a straight guy gay. He rejected so many people and put up with so many strange looks to be with you, and now you dump him with a simple 'I got bored'? You're both my good friends, and technically this is between you two, so I have no right to interfere... But you really went a little too far."

"...?"

Pei Yang drew in a deep breath, his chest contracting from the sheer pain. He blinked twice, slowly. "...I turned a straight guy gay? So the reason everyone in class changed their attitude toward me overnight was because they thought I was that kind of person? Even you thought so?"

"No..." Belatedly realizing how harsh his words had sounded, Xia Jingmo parted his lips. "No, Yangyang, listen. Back at school... Song Yixiao had dated girls, and then he suddenly got together with you. It was... normal for everyone to suspect that..."

"Normal?" Pei Yang's eyes stung fiercely. "Jingmo, I don't have the power to turn a straight guy gay. Song Yixiao was into both men and women to begin with, and he was the one who pursued me. I don't know or understand how it became this version of events when you told it."

Pei Yang had been withdrawn since childhood. As the saying went, college was a miniature society, and he hadn't made many friends in that little society. Other people called him either fake or defective. Back then, only Song Yixiao-only Song Yixiao-had been like a ray of light through a crack in the darkness, pulling him out of the abyss.

So, naturally, he had fallen for him, only to end up with this.

Sometimes Pei Yang desperately wanted to ask: hadn't he suffered enough? Wasn't he pitiful enough? How much more wretched did he have to become before life would get a little easier?

Ding-

His phone chimed. Pei Yang was already hurting too much to react. Expressionless, like a walking corpse, he took it out and looked. There were two new WeChat messages.

-Refund notification: expired transfer returned

Reason for refund: 'Feng Wanting' did not accept your transfer within 24 hours