Chapter 18 - Flipping His Car Twice on the Same Road

Qiu Yanzhi took every opportunity to confess to He Zhou, telling him overtly and covertly that he didn't want to leave him. Within a few days, the hourglass that displayed He Zhou’s willingness to divorce was already 7/10 full.

Qiu Yanzhi shook the hourglass in his room and suddenly felt a bit strange.

...Is this how everything’s going to end?

At this rate of progress, he would get the divorce he wanted from He Zhou within a week.

Qiu Yanzhi thought that he would feel happy after achieving his goal and full of vigor to begin a new chapter in his life.

But he just felt empty inside instead.

Maybe it was because ending things this way meant that he couldn’t successfully capture He Zhou. It was understandable for him to be disappointed.

Qiu Yanzhi sighed and lay down on his bed.

A very strange thought suddenly appeared in his mind again.

Actually, He Zhou...wasn’t all that bad??

Before the truth behind the chandelier incident was exposed, He Zhou was pretty good to him. In fact, he was more than good for a while there.

But Qiu Yanzhi’s lies caught up to him in the end.

Thinking about it carefully, not only did He Zhou have handsome features and a good figure, his personality was decent enough too. Although he liked Meng Qikang, he knew to maintain some distance from the man from the beginning…

The contrast was even more stark when comparing him to Fei Sihao.

Fei Sihao was an animal, and He Zhou was at least a human being.

Right at that moment, He Zhou suddenly knocked on Qiu Yanzhi's door.

Qiu Yanzhi turned around. "What is it?"

He Zhou frowned and said, “Were you the one who cleaned my bedroom?"

Qiu Yanzhi got off the bed and smiled somewhat sheepishly, "Yeah, I had nothing to do so I cleaned up a little. Doesn’t it look much better now?"

"Don’t go in my bedroom ever again." He Zhou closed the door with an aloof expression.

Qiu Yanzhi: "......"

He Zhou's an idiotic! Trashy!! Bastard!!!

I’m definitely divorcing this guy, the sooner the better!

Qiu Yanzhi picked up that hourglass again and shook it vigorously. Alas, it had no effect.

Creak. The door was suddenly pushed open again.

Qiu Yanzhi didn't notice. He scowled at the hourglass and shook it again before throwing the hourglass onto his bed out of frustration. When he turned his head, he found He Zhou staring at him from the doorway.

He Zhou couldn't see the hourglass, so he just watched Qiu Yanzhi shake air before angrily tossing said air onto his bed.

He Zhou was silent for a moment. "Qiu Yanzhi, are you aware that you act like you belong in an institution sometimes?”

Qiu Yanzhi: "......"

Mr. He, are you aware that you act like you belong in an institution every second of every day??

He Zhou didn't want to talk much with Qiu Yanzhi, so he left after a brief sentence: "Change into your suit. We’re going to a wedding."

Qiu Yanzhi wanted to be rebellious for once: If I change when you tell me to change, isn’t that humiliating for me?

But then he thought about taking advantage of the occasion to declare his love for He Zhou again. The wedding also gave him an opportunity to reminisce with He Zhou about their wedding vow to grow old together. Maybe then the psychologically perverted Mr. He would fast track the paperwork and divorce him at the Civil Affairs Bureau already.

Qiu Yanzhi changed into a suit. He didn’t forget to act like a lovesick idiot in the car with He Zhou either. With a sweet smile on his face, he said, “You finally remembered me. I’m very happy that you’re willing to take me with you to this kind of occasion."

He Zhou calmly flipped a page of the business magazine in his hand. "That's all you're good for now."

Qiu Yanzhi: "......"

He Zhou, f*ck you and all your ancestors.

Qiu Yanzhi looked out the window and stopped talking.

When Qiu Yanzhi arrived at the wedding venue, he suddenly felt that- something was wrong.

He stared at the very clearly homosexual wedding photos on the TV display before realizing what bothered him.

Why did these two men look so familiar?

Wait a minute...isn’t this the wedding of Zhang Yuxuan's senior?!

Qiu Yanzhi's heart clenched as he called Zhang Yuxuan: "...B-baby Yu, where are you, ah?"

Zhang Yuxuan's voice was very gloomy, as if he had been crying for a long time. "I'm at home."

He choked. "I...I'm fine. I’m just feeling a little down that my senior is getting married today... I'll feel better soon so don’t worry about me. I'm fine, really. I hope that my senior...and his wife will live happily and have a beautiful baby together…”

Qiu Yanzhi grew more confused the longer he listened.

Why did this Zhang Yuxuan still think that his senior was marrying a woman!? Then who were the two men he saw in the bar that day?

Qiu Yanzhi looked at the senior who was in the arms of a tall man on the screen. He didn’t know what to say.

After ending the call with Zhang Yuxuan, Qiu Yanzhi sat idly down at the table and looked around.

He Zhou disappeared off to who knows where, and the wedding hasn’t started yet! Qiu Yanzhi was so bored he decided to wander around.

He ended up in a secluded corner of the garden. When he was about to head back, Qiu Yanzhi heard strange noises.

It took an inexperienced wretch like Qiu Yanzh two minutes of listening before he knew what the people inside were doing.

After understanding, Qiu Yanzhi couldn't help but blush a bit: ...Who was shameless enough to do such a thing at someone’s wedding?

Qiu Yanzhi was about to leave when he heard a young man say, "Wu… You’re going to get married today. Aren’t you afraid...that Jin Zeyu will find out..?”

The other man said, "So what if he finds out? He still has to marry me. You can even come live with us later on."

Qiu Yanzhi was stunned.

Zhang Yuxuan would probably go crazy if he knew that the senior he had a crush on for 10 years was not only getting married to a man, but would later have to share said man with a mistress.

Qiu Yanzhi was so caught off guard by this turn of events that he didn’t have the heart to confess to He Zhou again. He was still mulling over it when they arrived home.

He called Zhang Yuxuan again because he was worried about him.

He was going to say something to Zhang Yuxuan to soften the blow and prepare him for when he found out in the future.

Zhang Yuxuan’s voice had a nasally quality to it. "Yanyan, you don't have to worry about me doing something stupid. What kind of girl he marries is none of my business. I’ve figured it out. How can I be so selfish as to put my one-sided pining over their mutual feelings…”

Qiu Yanzhi hesitated. "...What if their feelings aren’t mutual?"

"How can that be? Why would they get married if they didn’t love each other?"

"You can't think like that. Take He Zhou and I for example, did we get married because we love each other? No! Maybe your senior is in a similar situation..."

"What situation?"

"Like a marriage of convenience or one decided by their families… Or something like He Zhou, who didn’t do anything but got framed by me in front of our elders. Maybe your senior too got--”

"What did you just say?" An icy voice came from behind him.

Qiu Yanzhi stiffened and hung up with trembling hands. He shakily turned around to face He Zhou's furious expression.

One cannot step into the same river twice.

But he, Qiu Yanzhi, managed to flip his car twice on the same road.

He Zhou approached him step by step, his words as chilly as flecks of ice.

"Did you just say that nothing happened between us that day?"

Qiu Yanzhi: "H-He Zhou..."

He Zhou reached out his hand to grab Qiu Yanzhi's chin in a death grip, his tone as cold as ice. "In the end, how many other things have you lied about?"

Qiu Yanzhi's jaw was pinched by He Zhou, but he saw the hourglass rapidly filling in his peripheral vision.

Qiu Yanzhi’s heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. He was a bit scared, and he subconsciously exaggerated those emotions as he spoke. With a panicked expression and trembling lips, he whispered, “...H-He Zhou...I’m sorry..."

He Zhou loosened his hand in disgust and pushed Qiu Yanzhi down onto the bed. He sneered: "Get lost Qiu Yanzhi."

Qiu Yanzhi crawled forward from the bed. He slightly inclined his head as he looked up with misty eyes and bloodless lips. His voice was hoarse and trembling involuntarily from terror: “He, He Zhou… I-I won’t leave you. I won’t--”

He Zhou sneered and slammed the door on his way out.

As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

It wasn’t the first time this had happened to Qiu Yanzhi either, so he calmed down relatively quickly.

After He Zhou left, Qiu Yanzhi grimaced and touched his manhandled chin. He grumbled "Big Yellow, why am I always so unlucky? My heart almost beat out of my chest just now! Why is He Zhou always so scary..."

Big Yellow flew over to the hourglass: "Seems to be a blessing in disguise."

Qiu Yanzhi picked up the hourglass and was surprised to see that there was only a thin lining of white sand left. He Zhou was on the cusp of divorcing him.

Qiu Yanzhi felt a little incredulous.

"Why’s the effect so prominent this time?"

"Because He Zhou knows that you've gone to a lot of trouble to marry him, so the best way for him to get back at you is to divorce you."

"In other words, one little push is all he needs?”

Qiu Yanzhi sat back on the bed and carefully rehearsed his lines silently.

What criteria was used for the lines, you ask?

Well, begging was a must. The more pitiful and tearful the better.

Qiu Yanzhi wanted to rehearse it first, but there was no one to play off of. He couldn’t get in the mood, so he casually picked up the eye drops by the bed and applied two drops to each eye.

Finally, some inspiration!

As soon as He Zhou left the house, he realized that he forgot something, his wallet. There were strange noises coming from Qiu Yanzhi’s room as he came up the stairs again.

He frowned and followed the sounds.

Qiu Yanzhi’s back was to him as he applied the eye drops.

Then he slumped against the wall and sobbed wretchedly.

“He Zhou… He Zhou… I love you… Please don’t leave me… I was wrong… I won’t do it ever again, so please... I love you–”

Qiu Yanzhi suddenly started rolling on the ground laughing hysterically.

"Damn these lines are so cheesy. I bet He Zhou’s ego’s going to inflate when he hears this sh*t. His face is the only good thing about him, even his techniques suck lol. Only a fool would like him hahahahaha……”

As Qiu Yanzhi rolled around laughing uncontrollably, he saw a pair of feet at the door.

There were legs above the feet, and a body with a face above the legs.

That beautiful yet twisted face was turning all sorts of colours.

Qiu Yanzhi froze.

His face drained of all colour.

"BOOM!"

The hourglass suspended in midair.

Without warning.

Exploded.

Author’s Corner

"One cannot step into the same river twice," said the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus.