Chapter 24: Crying Part 1

In Li Ran’s home, men were not allowed to cry.

Before the age of twelve, Li Ran was still a child. When he felt wronged, he could cry, and Bai Qingqing would steal a moment to coax him. After twelve, he was still a child, but Bai Qingqing and Li Ang’s marriage had reached its end. He was yanked up by the scruff of the neck, forced to grow prematurely.

His height barely increased by a few centimeters, but his temperament thickened by several layers.

When he tried to stop Chi Mo’s parents, reasoning with them that Chi Mo did not want to go abroad, Bai Qingqing’s anger flared. She grabbed him and beat him harshly.

That was one of the few times Li Ran cried.

It hurt so much.

By the time they got home, his howling sobs turned into quiet sniffles. Bai Qingqing slammed the door, glared at him, and snapped at him to stop.

Li Ran’s first truly open display of emotion came to an abrupt halt, choked back in his throat.

He had never heard fragile words like “You can call out” or “You can cry.”

His calf burned from the kneading, the inside numb, sore, and aching. In the end, Li Ran truly could not take it. He tried to pull his leg away forcefully but failed, so he begged Chi Mo softly.

“Don’t… Bro… Really, don’t press anymore. Please, let me go…”

After climbing the mountain for six hours, the intense response from his body suddenly tore open the thick, obedient shell Li Ran had worn since childhood like a sharp knife.

That shell looked easy to bully, something anyone could pinch and knead. But Chi Mo’s hands only peeled it back a little. Li Ran quickly shrank back inside.

Li Ran did not cry out, but he cried.

Giving up the struggle, he said lowly, “Bro, my leg hurts. Be gentle…”

“Li Ran, I’m massaging your leg. Don’t put other meanings into your words.” Chi Mo suppressed an inexplicable restlessness, unwilling to admit his own shameless vulgarity. He laid out the facts and reasoned.

Li Ran could not understand what he was saying at all.

His eyes were dazed.

He did not massage the other leg. Chi Mo saw tears streaming down his face fiercely, his mouth pursed in grievance like a rabbit, his eyes seemingly glaring but holding no resentment.

That trace of trust became a slap across Chi Mo’s face. It did not make him turn back from his misguided path or feel guilty, but it at least stirred a rare flicker of compassion deep in President Chi’s heart. He patted Li Ran’s calf and said, “Alright, don’t be so aggrieved. Go to sleep.”

With that, he reached out to wipe Li Ran’s tears and patted his head. “Sleep. Be good.”

He got up and went to the bathroom to take another cold shower.

The seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy was treated like a child. Li Ran flopped into bed, pulled the blanket up to his nose, turned his back to the wall, and blinked his reddened eyes lightly twice.

The next day, Li Ran’s leg was lame.

Only one leg.

Li Ran thought sadly that the massaged leg was fine, while the unmassaged one felt like it had been cut by a knife.

But he cared about his pride and did not make a sound.

Watching him limp uncontrollably with each step, the motion quite obvious, Chi Mo looked at him with rare novelty and said, “I shouldn’t have gone soft last night. Crying doesn’t work.”

He still should have massaged the other leg.

Chi Mo said, “Tonight, we’ll continue.”

“No!” Li Ran immediately begged for mercy. “Bro, I cried like that… Have some mercy.”

Hua Xuefan, passing by with a tray of red wine, overheard this. Her hands trembled. Rather than placing the tray, she slammed it onto the table in a panic.

One bottle of red wine cost eight thousand; six bottles on the tray nearly wiped out two months’ salary.

Fortunately, she was not wearing high heels, and her hands steadied.

During the day, they slept heavily in their rooms to recover energy. Only at night did they come out to tidy the banquet site, everyone pitching in.

The joy of self-sufficiency included team-building activities, with delicious food and sweet drinks.

“Why is your leg lame, little brother?” Hua Xuefan asked quietly.

Li Ran said, “From climbing the mountain.”

“Oh.” Hua Xuefan dropped the gossip instantly, suddenly realizing. “Right, from climbing the mountain.”

She sighed for some reason.

Hearing her sigh pulled Li Ran’s attention from his lame leg to observing the other brothers and sisters.

Everyone moved nimbly, swift as arrows. Not like him, a total waste.

Weren’t they all office workers? Hadn’t they all climbed the mountain for six hours? Li Ran was even younger—why was he the only one with a lame leg?

“Your kid can’t hack it,” Shen Shu said. He had just called Chi Mo away and now returned to evaluate Li Ran. “Leg’s lame. You’re impressive, you’re ruthless.”

What was impressive about a lame leg? Li Ran looked sadly at his leg. Why was everyone so capable while he was the only failure?

Chi Mo gave Shen Shu a cool glance.

Shen Shu said, “Oh, the mountain climb.”

He shook his head and attacked indiscriminately. “Chi Mo, are you no good or something?”

Chi Mo sneered coldly. “Have you stood up yet? You worthless dog thing that’s been played out.”

Shen Shu: “Fuck!!!”

His curse echoed thunderously, startling Li Ran into flinching. He quickly hid behind Chi Mo, afraid Shen Shu would explode and stab someone.

The child had perfectly merged the real-life Shen Shu with the murderous maniac Shen Shu from the “Parallel World” game.

The two were superior and subordinate, friends, but also like mortal enemies. Every so often, they bickered, and Chi Mo always won effortlessly.

Shen Shu just went “Fuck” over and over.

From afar, Hua Xuefan saw Li Ran seemingly caught in the dispute between Chi Mo and Shen Shu. She came over and pulled him away. “Boss, I’ll take the little brother to eat with everyone. You and President Shen handle your business.”

Everyone dressed beautifully that day, each stunning in their own way. Fragrant clothes and shadowed hair, flickering lights. Li Ran sat among them in a clean shirt and jeans, refreshingly eye-catching.

After three rounds of drinks, the group started chatting about Chi Mo’s game. Li Ran asked curiously why they had joined to make this game.

Hua Xuefan laughed heartily. “Little brother, you don’t know how thrilling this game is. The love-hate dramas in Parallel World are better than TV shows—mistresses battling original wives and ending up together, masochists finding sadists, letter circle fourth loves, hahahahaha… That’s why I joined. I’m a pervert.”

“Have you registered? Got an account? If not, I’ll teach you. Parallel World gives one trial play, and even after full registration, you can only play once, no repeats.” The male colleague next to Hua Xuefan pushed her aside to tell Li Ran. “You can even watch people do it inside. But of course, you can only see your own; others can’t see yours—I thought you could watch others at first and was disappointed when I found out you couldn’t. Such a shame. I wouldn’t mind being watched.”

“Hahahahaha, damn, I knew you were the real pervert…”

“So you’re that kind of person!”

“Sister Fan, what’s your favorite position?”

“I like you bending over and showing me, hahaha…”

“You’re still eyeing my peach-like perfect butt. Who wants to fourth-love with you? Hua Xuefan, you old lech!”

Li Ran drank beverages the whole time. If someone offered him alcohol, he took it but did not drink.

The group, clearly drunk, started spouting nonsense—and these were routine ideas from company meetings. Sex was something people couldn’t live without. Human nature.

After dozens of days treating him like a brother, they saw him as one of their own, speaking boldly without restraint. Li Ran, the only sober one, felt like needles pricked his whole body. Sitting one way was uncomfortable, another way too.

He felt very hot.

But the air was clearly cool.

Until Chi Mo and Shen Shu finished arguing and arrived. Like a male ghost, he walked behind the crowd. He first pulled Li Ran away, then thumped each subordinate—including Hua Xuefan—on the head.

Hua Xuefan got hit first. She clutched her head, about to curse, but shut up upon seeing Chi Mo, simmering with impotent anger.

Once the whole row huddled with heads held, Chi Mo said coldly, “He’s 17. Watch your words.”

Hua Xuefan was shocked. “Fuck—little brother isn’t an adult?!”

The adults who had been babbling pulled him aside stood solemnly, bowed to Li Ran, saluted, and apologized. “Sorry, little brother!”

Li Ran panicked and bowed back at ninety degrees.

What letter circle? Fourth love? How did mistress and original wife end up together? Weren’t they the same gender? Li Ran did not understand at all, but knew it was like men and women dating and doing that stuff.

…Probably the same.