Cheng Yue had no idea how Chu Jiye finally left. All his attention was on Fang Lele's wrist, which had turned red from being grabbed.
"What a damn menace. Why is he everywhere we go?"
In the end, the meal never reached a proper conclusion. The house in Splendid China Garden was brightly lit.
Cheng Yue found an ice pack, wrapped it in a towel, and had him hold it against the swollen redness, then plopped down on the sofa opposite him.
Arms folded across his chest, his expression solemn, he looked ready to hold court.
"Talk. What exactly happened?"
Fang Lele lowered his head and mumbled, "Nothing, really..."
"Hah."
Cheng Yue fixed him with a sharp gaze and a humorless smile. "Do you think I believe that?"
He had already pieced together the general outline of what had happened. He just wanted to know whether that lunatic Chu Jiye had seduced him, or whether Fang Lele had been willing himself.
He wanted to know how far they had gone during those days back home.
Under his burning gaze, Fang Lele hemmed and hawed for ages before squeezing out, "It was just like that."
There was never anything between him and me, and there never will be.
Seeing that he refused to come clean, Cheng Yue's temper flared. He was just about to speak when Ji Huaijin raised a hand and pressed his shoulder.
"Take your time. Talk it through."
That interruption suddenly took the fight out of Cheng Yue. Rubbing his temples with a headache, he said helplessly, "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."
"But Lele, Chu Jiye is absolutely not someone we can afford to get involved with."
Never mind his powerful background. With that reckless, unrestrained personality, he was clearly the sort