Silence.
Dead silence.
After Tao Zhi finished speaking, the entire house fell into a suffocating quiet.
The air froze, and all sounds ceased.
No one spoke, and no one made any noise.
Fu Si Heng quietly watched Tao Zhi, his face showing no emotion. Tao Zhi waited for half a minute, and seeing that he didn’t speak, he tilted his head in confusion to look at Fu Si Heng’s expression.
Something felt off, but he couldn’t pinpoint why.
Repaying the money was a perfectly normal thing, wasn’t it?
Tao Zhi looked puzzled and called out, “Fu-ge.”
The clear, bewildered voice brought Fu Si Heng back to his senses.
But his gaze remained fixed on Tao Zhi’s face.
A brother was still a brother. In the same scenario, Fu Zheng had cracked his voice on the spot, shouting “What?” so loudly that it startled birds from the trees into chaotic flight. He had grabbed Tao Zhi’s shoulders and incredulously repeated the question several times, nearly scaring Tao Zhi to death.
Yet Fu Si Heng managed to keep his composure.
He didn’t respond to what Tao Zhi had just said. Instead, he told him, “Come in first.”
“Okay.” Tao Zhi didn’t refuse.
Although he was mainly there to repay the money today, he wouldn’t leave right after. He planned to cook a meal for Fu Si Heng before going, as thanks for his help.
Then, he would completely settle things with Fu Si Heng!
Tao Zhi was very happy. After changing into slippers, he headed toward the living room.
He was very familiar with Fu Si Heng’s home. As he passed the sofa, his footsteps suddenly paused, and his face showed a fleeting unnatural expression. He quickly quickened his pace, putting a bit more distance from that particular spot.
Tao Zhi stopped at the far right end of the sofa.
After sitting down, he first set his backpack aside, then turned his head to look at Fu Si Heng.
Fu Si Heng followed and sat on the single-seater sofa this time, his gaze fixed straight on Tao Zhi.
Tao Zhi was dressed simply today—a gray hoodie and backpack, sitting upright.
His face already looked youthful, and his frame was slender. Like this, he appeared at least a generation younger than Fu Si Heng.
After sitting, he tilted his head slightly to look over, his neck line white and elegant, his gaze toward Fu Si Heng filled with confusion.
“Let’s talk.” Fu Si Heng suppressed the surging unease in his heart and spoke flatly, “Where did you get so much money?”
“Uh.”
This opening question was one Tao Zhi didn’t want to answer. A troubled expression appeared on his face, and he mumbled, “Just, from working.”
“What kind of work earns you two hundred thousand in a week?” Fu Si Heng pressed.
Tao Zhi: “…”
When it came to vague responses, Tao Zhi had almost zero success rate.
He really couldn’t handle assertive people. If Fu Si Heng asked a few more times, he would spill everything.
Wilted and soft, in a small voice.
“I found a part-time modeling job.” Tao Zhi told him, “I already signed the contract. The boss paid me an advance, so now I have the money to pay you back.”
“How about I transfer the money to you first—”
“Show me the contract.” Fu Si Heng interrupted him.
Fine.
Tao Zhi hadn’t expected repaying the money to be this difficult. He pursed his lips, took out his phone, found the electronic contract, and handed it to Fu Si Heng.
Fu Si Heng read it very seriously and carefully.
Not only to confirm if it was really as Tao Zhi said, but also to thoroughly check for any clauses unfavorable to him.
Tao Zhi wasn’t in law, and he was so naive. The world was full of dangers—what if he ran into bad people—
There were none.
After reading through, the contract was normal, legal, and legitimate, with no exploitative terms.
Fu Si Heng examined it word by word, more meticulously than he did for his company’s multimillion-yuan contracts. Naturally, he also saw the included work details.
Shooting photos and videos in women’s clothing, cooperating with short video promotions for self-media.
When his gaze landed on that line, Fu Si Heng felt his blood pressure spike.
He paused for a while before lifting his eyes.
“Do you know what the shoot involves?” Fu Si Heng asked in as calm a tone as possible.
“I do.” Tao Zhi nodded. Though a bit shy, his tone was straightforward: “Women’s clothing.”
He didn’t particularly like or dislike women’s clothing. At first, there had been some awkwardness and shyness, especially with short skirts or off-shoulder outfits, which felt strange.
But after wearing them more, that strangeness faded.
It was all for making money.
Approaching Fu Si Heng back then was like this, and agreeing to Rong Huai now was the same.
Besides, the difference between him with and without makeup was huge—no one should recognize him.
“It’s not only women’s clothing.” Tao Zhi added softly in defense, “There are also more neutral styles and men’s clothing.”
Just that women’s clothing made up the majority.
Fu Si Heng: “…”
Fu Si Heng felt a stifling depression in his chest.
It wouldn’t dissipate—it was clogged, heavy, irritable, like a thousand-jin stone pressing down.
He had the feeling that his exclusive treasure was about to be seen and coveted by everyone.
And Tao Zhi would no longer belong only to him.
He had even said breakup.
So naturally and happily, without any reluctance.
Fu Si Heng kept up appearances on the surface, but he had long since broken down inside.
Straight guy, breakup, three thousand, two hundred thousand, women’s clothing—these were all the points that broke him.
Fu Si Heng’s grip tightened unconsciously on Tao Zhi’s phone.
“Why.” He lifted his eyes to Tao Zhi, the heaviness intensifying: “I never urged you to repay the money.”
“I know, but I feel like things between us aren’t right.” Tao Zhi said.
Fu Si Heng: “What’s not right?”
A forceful attitude of getting to the bottom of it.
Tao Zhi thought for a moment: “You and Fu Zheng…”
“Fu Zheng’s been bothering you, right?” Fu Si Heng interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.
Fu Si Heng frowned.
Fu Zheng had indeed been restless these days, sneaking attempts to see Tao Zhi multiple times, but blocked every time.
For that, he had increased Fu Zheng’s bodyguards to four.
It shouldn’t be possible.
“No, no.” Tao Zhi waved his hands hurriedly.
He paused: “It’s just that thing from last time…”
That melodramatic, chaotic scene with brothers at odds and the three of them in a mess—Tao Zhi still felt embarrassed thinking about it.
That was why he wanted to sort things out with Fu Si Heng quickly.
Being stuck between a pair of brothers was too weird.
“Oh.” Fu Si Heng understood.
The idea of adding more bodyguards to Fu Zheng vanished. He corrected Tao Zhi: “It’s not three people, it’s two.”
Fu Zheng had never been at the table from start to finish.
“…Fine.” Tao Zhi didn’t argue with him, just stated his thoughts: “A relationship between two people is still weird.”
“You’re a straight guy, and I’m a straight guy too.”
“Two straight guys dating… that doesn’t feel right, does it?”
Tao Zhi had a great memory; he could basically remember word-for-word what others said to him.
