Tao Zhi’s mother was discharged from the hospital on the morning of the fifth. Tao Zhi went back home for lunch at noon, and by two in the afternoon, he boarded the plane back to S City.
He had originally booked a high-speed rail ticket, but during the return peak period, high-speed rail tickets were impossible to get. Only first-class seats on the plane were available, so with no other choice, Tao Zhi flew back with Fu Si Heng.
After all, he had already left the man hanging for two days; it wouldn’t do to take separate transportation on the way back.
But it just so happened to be such a coincidence.
This return flight was with the same airline as last time—even the seats were the same.
And even more coincidentally, it was the same flight attendant.
After fastening his seatbelt, Tao Zhi looked up and saw the flight attendant. He was surprised for a moment.
A flash of surprise passed through her eyes as well. Then, the flight attendant gave him a polite smile. Before long, she brought over a glass of orange juice—the same one Tao Zhi had liked last time.
Fu Si Heng noticed this little interaction. He turned his head to look at Tao Zhi and asked casually, “You know her?”
“Mm…” Tao Zhi watched the flight attendant’s retreating back and took a sip of the orange juice with his head lowered.
It was quite unexpected.
Although flight attendants could remember first-class passengers, it was usually because they flew with that airline frequently enough to leave an impression.
Hadn’t Tao Zhi only flown once in February?
How had he left such an impression?
He was so likable, attracting both men and women.
“What did you do?” Fu Si Heng asked.
Tao Zhi: “…”
How did Fu Si Heng know everything?
Tao Zhi sulkily slurped a big mouthful of orange juice and kept his head down without speaking.
“Hm?” Fu Si Heng pressed.
“It was last time,” he said. It was quite embarrassing to bring up, but since Fu Si Heng was asking, Tao Zhi answered honestly: “Last time, you said you were coming to pick me up at the airport. I was still pretending to be a girl in front of you back then.”
His voice grew smaller and smaller, full of embarrassment.
An honest kid never even considered that he could choose not to answer even his boyfriend’s questions.
Fu Si Heng wouldn’t do anything to him anyway.
But an honest kid was an honest kid.
He tried his best to suppress his inner shame and mumbled around the straw as he told Fu Si Heng: “I boarded the plane in men’s clothes. You came to pick me up, so I changed on the plane. She knew.”
“Oh.” So that was it.
Fu Si Heng understood.
Since the topic of female clothing had come up…
Fu Si Heng’s gaze suddenly fixed on Tao Zhi’s face.
Tao Zhi was busy drinking his juice, head lowered, with slightly overgrown black hair clinging to the lines of his fair cheeks.
Fu Si Heng had seen the new skirt yesterday clearly.
It was a cool and spicy style, with a very short skirt hem that probably only reached mid-thigh. The moment he saw it, he had imagined what it would look like on Tao Zhi.
But imagination could never compare to seeing it in person.
Rong Huai had scheduled the time for the weekend after next.
“Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that.” Tao Zhi really couldn’t stand such blatant stares and lifted his head to remind Fu Si Heng.
Fu Si Heng restrained himself a little.
But only a little.
That little bit was specifically shown in the fact that he no longer stared at Tao Zhi’s face but lowered his eyes to look at his slender white wrists and fingers.
Slender, delicate fingers gripped the nearly empty orange juice cup. His nails were neatly trimmed round and clean, with a faint pink glow under the nail beds.
Fu Si Heng stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke in a flat tone: “Do you need me to help you terminate the contract?”
Tao Zhi was stunned for a moment and looked up: “Huh?”
Although Fu Si Heng did want to see Tao Zhi in all sorts of female outfits—and he had felt joy and excitement upon seeing those clothes yesterday—he quickly remembered that Tao Zhi would be wearing them in front of cameras.
He wasn’t willing.
He wanted to see, sure, but he only wanted Tao Zhi to wear them for him in private.
However, his overbearing attitude clearly wouldn’t make Tao Zhi happy, so he had to find roundabout ways to discuss it gently with Tao Zhi: “Just quit that part-time job.”
“The penalty fee isn’t expensive. I’ll cover it.”
“Hm? Which part-time job… Oh.” Tao Zhi understood.
But he shook his head in refusal: “No.”
“Why?” Fu Si Heng asked.
“Because I’ve already signed the contract,” Tao Zhi said. “Besides, I think this part-time job is pretty good.”
He was very satisfied with the pay Rong Huai offered, and he had already received the advance payment.
Rong Huai had helped him when he needed money the most. Backing out now would be too unethical.
Even if Fu Si Heng was willing to pay the penalty.
Tao Zhi didn’t want him to do that.
He still hoped to repay all his debts through his own efforts. Fu Si Heng just liked him; he didn’t owe him anything.
Moreover, his family had agreed to him doing female modeling, and his mom had even said he couldn’t take advantage of Fu Si Heng.
Thinking of this, Tao Zhi refused firmly.
“Won’t it interfere with your studies?” Fu Si Heng switched to another tactic.
He had been there yesterday when Tao Zhi was chatting with Rong Huai.
Tao Zhi never used privacy screens or anything; as soon as he lowered his head, Fu Si Heng could clearly see the messages on the screen.
The gist was that there would be more new releases this year because most of the styles Rong Huai had previously posted on short video platforms.
Before, he had gone to the mall to buy fabric himself, made clothes for himself and his kitten, and shot the videos himself.
Now, he was taking those past designs to factories for sampling and production, then doing formal promotional launches.
So the workload would be relatively heavier this year.
It wouldn’t be so tough next year.
Fu Si Heng thought using studies to persuade him might work, but Tao Zhi didn’t take it to heart at all.
