Chapter 21: Whatever You Say Part 2

Suppression, agitation. Gao Rong hadn’t expected the first day after having Chi Lanyi again to feel like this.

Gao Rong quietly observed Chi Lanyi’s face. He saw the sharp chin, the perpetually sorrowful eyes. He saw the arms wrapped protectively around his knees and the fingers still nervously twisting despite their intimacy.

He also hadn’t expected that even having Chi Lanyi’s body, he still felt so distant from him.

To soothe this agitation, Gao Rong could only throw out another topic. “There’s another thing I need to tell you. I found the person who wrote you that anonymous tip. My people discovered that he’s the one with academic misconduct. They’ve gathered the evidence and are filing a report. The outcome hasn’t been decided yet.”

Chi Lanyi looked up again.

Perhaps because he realized he was now receiving the same “protected” treatment as Gao Rong’s family, his expression became slightly subtle. After a moment, he asked, “What’s his name?”

Gao Rong said flatly, “Sacha.”

Chi Lanyi didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even feel betrayed, only a sense of things settling into place. A “so it was him” kind of feeling.

“By principle, I wouldn’t tell anyone about a matter I’m handling before its outcome is confirmed,” Gao Rong paused. “But this time, I’m choosing to make an exception. Because you and I are currently in a ‘special situation.'”

Special situation…

Chi Lanyi’s face went white. He instinctively pulled the blanket tighter over his lap. He wanted to cover the evidence of last night’s sin. But Gao Rong spoke directly, “I forgot to use protection last night.”

“…”

“How do you feel now?”

Chi Lanyi was mortified. He felt Gao Rong had deliberately asked to remind him of what happened. “I’m… I’m fine.”

“Still hurts?”

A little, yes. But Chi Lanyi said, “…No.”

After his answer, Gao Rong slightly withdrew his chin and fell silent.

Chi Lanyi suddenly realized that, at their core, both he and Gao Rong were people who favored silence. But this silence brought him comfort. He didn’t have to answer, explain, or make any promises.

Rain pattered outside. Chi Lanyi dozed off on the sofa, occasionally cracking an eye open to watch Gao Rong working beside him.

Just as Gao Rong had promised last night—as long as Chi Lanyi was in the bedroom, he wouldn’t leave.

So even knowing they weren’t anything official, Chi Lanyi felt a strange warmth. He closed his eyes again, letting himself sink into this rare peace, falling into an exhausted sleep.

…

Chi Lanyi stayed at Gao Rong’s house for two more days. They simply coexisted; nothing else happened between them. It was as if, after that night, they had become more cautious. Even the slightest touch could spark something, but they seemed to have reached a silent agreement. They no longer approached each other.

On the third day, the weather cleared. Gao Rong drove Chi Lanyi back to school.

Today, Gao Rong didn’t have the chauffeur drive; he took the wheel himself. He’d switched to a low-key car, one less likely to make Chi Lanyi the talk of his classmates than the Maybach.

He waited for Chi Lanyi to get into the passenger seat, then handed him a small box.

Chi Lanyi didn’t take it. “What’s this supposed to mean?”

“I like you very much,” Gao Rong said bluntly. “I hope you’ll wear it. It’s special.”

He paused, adding, “…It’s different from before.”

Those last words drifted like a sigh scattered in the wind.

Inside the box was a bracelet. It looked expensive, made of a black leather cord and silver, like a symbol meant to confirm that they had been claimed by each other.

“I won’t wear it,” Chi Lanyi said after a long silence, his voice soft. “We haven’t entered any new kind of relationship.”

The moment he spoke, he regretted it slightly. He worried Gao Rong would use their night together as leverage. But Gao Rong didn’t say anything to shame him. “Fine. If it’s not enough yet, I’ll work hard until one day you willingly put it on.”

He paused again before continuing, “At least this is a very good start. I told you before, our relationship began with my initiative. You don’t need to feel shame or take responsibility for it. Just like now, I’m the one driving you back. I’m the one taking the initiative to give you this leather cord. Whether you wear it or not is your own freedom.”

Chi Lanyi was momentarily speechless. Vaguely, he even felt a twinge of guilt and looked away uncomfortably.

Gao Rong’s eyes were calm, but his gesture of opening the car door for Chi Lanyi was very gentle. “Rest well. See you next time.”

Chi Lanyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He got out of the car, wanting to say goodbye, but Gao Rong continued, “Let me add one more thing. Even though this is your freedom—I still hope that the next time I see you, it will be wrapped around your wrist. Your wrist is very beautiful. I still want to kiss it now.”

Chi Lanyi instinctively glanced at his wrist. Gao Rong seized the opportunity to slip the leather cord into the pocket of Chi Lanyi’s trench coat.

Chi Lanyi hurried back to his student dormitory. All the way, he didn’t dare look back, afraid of meeting Gao Rong’s eyes. More than Gao Rong’s eyes, he feared his own defenses crumbling under that gaze.

After a few days away, Chi Lanyi’s room was just as before: neat, quiet, with a touch of delicate, lived-in charm. But entering the room, Chi Lanyi felt a sense of loss.

In the evening, Chi Lanyi sat by the windowsill, lost in thought. After a long while, he took the long leather cord bracelet out of its box. He gazed at it for a very long time. He didn’t wrap it around his wrist.

Instead, he coiled it, circle by circle, around his ankle, where a kiss mark had once lingered.

At that moment, Gao Rong’s car didn’t return to the villa. It was parked on a street nearby, close enough to Chi Lanyi’s apartment not to be noticed by him. Gao Rong smoked inside the car, watching the ember at his fingertips flicker and fade. Was this a hunt of a beautiful prey, or a repetition of his past mistakes? Gao Rong realized he was once again pitying those eyes that were always so sad. And he found his own pity laughable.

…

Chi Lanyi returned to his life. Just as Gao Rong said, many troubles had vanished. Renault was sent to Africa; no one asked about his illness anymore. Even Sacha—Chi Lanyi heard news of his suspension a few days later.

Sacha, who usually loved socializing, saw his suspension cause a huge stir. Many people were trying to find out how his academic misconduct had been exposed and processed. Chi Lanyi knew the whole truth but said nothing. Besides, no one would think to ask him.

Introversion and silence became the best shields for Chi Lanyi to stay out of it. No one would ever connect this secret revenge to him. Chi Lanyi thus returned to being an unassuming university student. Superficially, he now appeared even safer than ever before.

Only, in the quiet of the night, leaving the studio, Chi Lanyi would think that the person who could banish these chaotic noises from his life was Gao Rong. The leather cord around his ankle would burn with this thought, a constant reminder that someone had once left a kiss mark there.

The mark had long faded from his skin, but something else, unsettling, had begun to sprout from his soul. Chi Lanyi’s classmates were the first to notice the change. During a class assignment, Amy casually mentioned, “Chi Lanyi, you know? Marco’s recent improvement is just earth-shattering.”

“Why?” he asked.

“I saw his unfinished piece in the studio. His skill in dramatic expression is just… I don’t even know. I thought I was looking at the next John Galliano.” Amy spoke in her usual exaggerated tone. “His previous design level was like… how should I put it? Like mixing Christian Lacroix’s pre-bankruptcy struggles with cheap, high-saturation highlighters. Utterly tasteless.”

“Which piece are you talking about?” another classmate poked her head in. “What kind of drug is Marco on? Such huge progress.”

Chi Lanyi also paused his work and pricked up his ears.

“It’s that course assignment he hasn’t finished yet. A collar, white lace base, woven into a net on the surface with black leather strips, embedded with a bunch of broken mirror shards, pearls, and metal spikes. Looks like something Marco always said he wanted to make.” Amy said, “Speaking of which, is Marco even in that class?”

“Probably not?” the other classmate looked confused. “I don’t recall seeing him in class before.”

Amy was baffled too. “Not Marco? Then who could it be…”

“…It’s mine.”

Both classmates turned to look. Chi Lanyi bore their gazes, feeling like he was enduring a torture of forced exposure. “…You?” Amy said, stunned. “But it looks completely different from your style…”

The bell rang. Chi Lanyi hurriedly packed his things and stood. “I have something else. I have to go.”

“Don’t rush off! Chi Lanyi, is this you trying a new technique, or a new concept?” Amy called out. “It’s so strange. You’re completely different from what I imagined. I thought you liked restrained, elegant styles. Don’t tell me you actually enjoy pursuing thrills?”

Her last words made Chi Lanyi feel like he had a target on his back. Even though Amy had complimented him, he felt an intense discomfort, a feeling of being forced to present himself for judgment. And that was a version of himself he didn’t want to reveal.

“Chi Lanyi.” While passing through the hallway, he was stopped by Theo. “This weekend is the deadline for the final Mood Board draft. Don’t forget this time—you skipped the last discussion meeting.”

Chi Lanyi hadn’t expected to run into Theo here. He was about to brush him off when Theo continued, “I heard you changed quite a few things on your mood board… What? Tired of building oppressive order in the rain?”

Chi Lanyi stiffened. Still, facing Theo, he said flatly, “I think I found a better way to express it.”

“Really? You’ve always had a sharp tongue. Too bad I can’t compare. Lulu is still asking me about you.” A hint of gloom flickered in Theo’s eyes.

Chi Lanyi guessed ‘Lulu’ was probably the girl who stared at him crying at the salon. He was silent for a moment, then remembered the way the girl had hugged Renault. The sense of betrayal from that moment still stung. So Chi Lanyi decided to act completely ignorant of this brewing conflict.

“I just can’t understand it! My God! She actually went around asking, found out where you live, and waited for you at your apartment building!” Theo said indignantly. “I’ve known her for five years! This is the first time she’s been this… How could she like…”