Curiosity was a hook. After listening to the adults discuss for so long, Li Ran—who had never been interested in male-female harmony—began to feel faint threads of secret interest.
“Don’t search it on the browser,” Chi Mo said as he led them back to the hotel.
Li Ran replied, “…Oh.”
Now looking at Chi Mo again, Li Ran’s feelings were quite complex. He suddenly seemed less sacred, standing among real people.
Li Ran could not help giving Chi Mo a look of “Bro, you’re so dirty.” Chi Mo accurately read the meaning. He thought Li Ran would look at him like “You’re such a pervert,” but the judgment was surprisingly gentle.
Pretty nice.
Usually, Cheng Aimei and Ye Ze were not home; there was no set time to see them return.
Lately, it was Li Ran and Chi Mo who were absent.
They arrived home in the afternoon and found the two elders just leaving the house. They were delighted to see them. “Oh, Xiao Ran is back! Grandma missed you to death. First you went abroad with Chi Mo for three days, then team-building for three more. This week, your grandpa and I came back often, but never saw you home. Let me see if you’ve lost weight.”
Having someone care upon returning was something Li Ran could not often feel. Cheng Aimei chattered endlessly, Ye Ze chimed in often, and he did not find it annoying. He answered every caring question seriously.
With each sentence, he called “Grandpa, Grandma,” just like how he called “Bro” with each sentence to Chi Mo. It was as if whoever he called repeatedly on his tongue mattered more to him, until it seeped into his bones.
A quarrel suddenly erupted ahead.
“Li Ang, how exactly are you acting as a father? You disappointed me before the divorce, and even more now! Isn’t custody with you? Why don’t you know Xiao Ran moved? When he moved, you don’t know! You know nothing—I’ve never seen such a useless, spineless waste of a man…” Bai Qingqing strode out of the old neighborhood compound, face pale with anxiety. Her cannonball-like accusations at the meek man beside her grew fiercer.
“You were bold enough cheating, getting fucked so hard by a man you couldn’t get out of bed. You could do such disgusting things, but for Xiao Ran, you ignore him? If you cared even a little, you’d know where he went. Fucked stupid by a man, huh? You ruined my life, you disgusting homosexual…”
“That’s enough, Bai Qingqing.” Li Ang interrupted her intensely, suppressing his voice. His gentle, scholarly face flushed red with embarrassment from the accusations, hands trembling slightly. “At first, I really didn’t…”
Bai Qingqing dialed Li Ran’s number while spewing more vitriol.
“Mom… Dad.” Li Ran gripped his phone, which rang in sync. He faced his parents in panic and helplessness.
Bai Qingqing’s heartfelt, harshest words echoed inescapably among them.
“All homosexuals should die!”
Cheng Aimei and Ye Ze were shocked, clutching each other’s hands and instinctively looking at Chi Mo.
Their gazes were too obvious. Li Ran, puzzled, also looked at Chi Mo instinctively.
Bai Qingqing and Li Ang had argued from the old apartment building entrance to the gate, with no one else around or passing.
No matter how they fought, it was their business; they had no interest in entertaining outsiders.
When she married Li Ang, many friends envied Bai Qingqing for finding an honest man—who might not say it but would do it.
And he did it well.
Right into another man’s bed.
Everyone thought the divorce was due to personality clashes—they fought from the first year of marriage, she had such a temper, hit people; who could stand it? No one knew the real story.
Three years into marriage with her current husband Lao Zhao, even he did not know why Bai Qingqing divorced Li Ang.
She had preserved Li Ang’s dignity.
The woman, suspected of being a “straight wife,” discovered her husband nearly got fucked out of bed by a man. Disgusted for days. She neither drank nor fell ill, yet three flavors of true fire burned in her stomach, scorching her blood dry.
The toilet became her bloodless kin; day and night, she hugged it and vomited bile.
Li Ang, clumsy with words, defended himself pallidly, saying he showed no signs of loving any man during their marriage, he had not meant to err…
Bai Qingqing told him to get lost and die.
From then on, Li Ang stopped explaining himself. He turned into a stone, silently atoning in his own way. Back then, he had left the marriage with nothing; even though he had custody of Li Ran, he allowed Li Ran to live with Bai Qingqing. Apart from necessary expenses, he gave all the money he earned to his son and ex-wife.
Of course, Bai Qingqing showed no appreciation.
Over the years, only love faded away, while hatred and resentment solidified like sand turning into stone, refusing to dissipate.
But Bai Qingqing wouldn’t spread the fact that Li Ang was gay recklessly—it would dirty her mouth.
She didn’t know why her son had moved out, how long he had been gone, or where he had gone. She learned about it from Old Wang, but Li Ran had never told her himself. A series of events tangled together like a knot.
And at that moment, the culprit stood right in front of her, together with a young man.
They got out of a car.
The man drove, and Li Ran sat in the passenger seat.
She didn’t know Chi Mo, but she saw that Chi Mo wouldn’t let Li Ran carry anything. He took the black backpack from Li Ran’s hand as he got out.
With outsiders present, Bai Qingqing gave face to Li Ang, this cowardly man, and felt embarrassed about the “gay” prefix she had added before cursing him to die.
What was done couldn’t be undone. When her gaze swept over Li Ran, the anger instantly overwhelmed her embarrassment. Bai Qingqing’s face turned deathly pale. Her fearful fantasies had become reality. How could the child she gave birth to be so abnormal? She had worked so hard to teach him, always protecting him…
“Li Ran, who are you with? Why are you together? Why did you get out of the same car with a man? Are you like your dad? Do you stick your ass out for men too? How can you hurt me like this? Are you an adult? How old are you? Aren’t you disgusted?!” Bai Qingqing held back her nausea, her eyes bulging with red veins. She rushed forward two steps, snatched Li Ran, and slapped him hard. “I’ve told you so many times not to get too close to men—why won’t you listen! Did this man force you? How is he so disgusting?! Why doesn’t he just die!”
“Mom…” Li Ran stammered.
“Slap!” The resounding slap made everyone’s hearts jump.
“Qingqing!” Li Ang shouted.
Chi Mo’s left hand turned red on the spot from Bai Qingqing’s slap. He pulled the stunned, equally pale-faced Li Ran away and to his side, raising his hand to block.
He didn’t use much force, just exposing his hand to the air, to Bai Qingqing’s hand, taking the slap squarely.
Some sharp nails scratched Chi Mo’s hand, hooking the Bodhi beads on his wrist. The string snapped with a pop.
The beads scattered and clattered to the ground.
Li Ang hurriedly rushed over from the side, holding Bai Qingqing back to keep her from reaching Li Ran.
He was so anxious he was about to pass out, yet all he could do was uselessly shout Bai Qingqing’s name.
Cheng Ai Mei quickly stepped forward to console her. “Young lady, don’t get worked up. My two grandsons are just friends. Oh, Little Ran and my grandson Chi Mo are good friends. Chi Mo isn’t my biological grandson—my son is friends with his little uncle, so we… Eh, look at me rambling on! These two kids aren’t what you think—they’re just good friends…”
Li Ran wasn’t good at lying, but when he moved out, he really hadn’t planned to tell his parents.
The landlady’s son had returned, and Li Ran couldn’t keep freeloading. If he told his dad and mom, he wouldn’t be left homeless.
Bai Qingqing wouldn’t let Li Ran live at Li Ang’s place, but Li Ran didn’t want to live with his mom either.
“I’m sorry…” Li Ran apologized guiltily for his secrecy. The group entered his grandparents’ home, and he carefully poured water for his parents.
He stood by the sofa with his head bowed, glancing at Chi Mo’s hand with the corner of his eye.
A long gash from the nails. It was bleeding, then scabbed over.
Chi Mo pulled out a wet wipe and casually wiped away the congealed blood around it.
The farce at the door ended. Bai Qingqing’s eyes, blinded by “gay,” only cleared up when she heard Cheng Ai Mei and Ye Ze’s voices, finally noticing the two elders.
Li Ran’s new rental place had Cheng Ai Mei and Ye Ze as landlords, and Chi Mo was his friend.
