The sounds of people playing outside the window seemed to freeze the instant they entered the little building. Zhi Li’s deep eyes remained fixed on Zhi Zuo Si. Zhi Zuo Si gave no response. He merely rose from his seat, lifted his wrist to check his watch, and said coldly, “Eight o’clock tonight. Family meeting.” He walked to the entrance, pushed aside the curtain, and paused. “We’ll settle this matter then.” After speaking, he got into the sports car and drove back the way he had come without even sounding the horn. Lan Yin shrugged indifferently, stood up as well, and held out her hand toward the group, who still had not recovered from their shock. “Who has cigarettes?”
Everyone shook their heads. Lan Yin frowned. “What’s wrong with you? You still don’t smoke at this age? How much longer are you planning to wait?”
Ke Bu remained standing there blankly without reacting, his eyes still unfocused. Lan Yin mischievously reached out to tease him, but Zhi Li caught her wrist from behind. She wrinkled her nose and withdrew her hand in boredom. The others also understood perfectly well what problem the two of them were facing and tactfully went off to occupy themselves. Zhi Li pushed Ke Bu’s shoulder. “Hey.” Only then did Ke Bu return to his senses. “It’s over. I’m finished. Your father will definitely hire a group of people tonight to kidnap me, then brutally gang-rape me and make me die in humiliation.” Ke Bu was clearly thinking far too much. He gripped his face tightly, distorting his features. “Maybe he’ll peel off my skin and turn it into a lampshade, cut off my head and hang it over the doorway, gouge out my eyes and put them in a glass jar, and use my butt as a flower vase. What lies ahead of me? The end of my life. What lies behind me? The tongues of the Black and White Impermanence.” Apart from Father’s personality, Ke Bu was this frightened because he had never experienced anything like this before and had not even had time to think about it. He had been caught completely unprepared, his body possessed no strategy for dealing with it, and his entire mind had descended into chaos. Life was a journey filled with bombs that exploded without warning. One second, a person might be excitedly wondering what to eat next; the next, their head and body might already be lying in separate places.
Zhi Li frowned slightly, bent down, hoisted Ke Bu over his shoulder, and carried him toward the beach. Ignoring the repeated looks from the people around them, he threw the half-dead Ke Bu into the sea. Ke Bu swallowed a mouthful of seawater and tasted nothing but salt and fishiness, his throat burning uncomfortably. He stood up in the water and shouted at Zhi Li, “What are you doing!!”
“Awake now?”
Ke Bu wiped the seawater from his face and stared seriously at Zhi Li. “Tell me honestly. What are the chances that I’ll die?”
“What are you afraid of? Don’t you have me?” Zhi Li’s words brought Ke Bu comfort, but then Zhi Li continued, “I’ll help collect your corpse when the time comes.”
Ke Bu flailed both hands and slapped the surface of the sea. “Stop joking! Does anyone in your family understand when it’s appropriate to make jokes?!! How do you know your father will agree?”
“I know it won’t be that easy.”
“Then why did you say it!”
“We still have to take the gamble.” Although Zhi Li’s expression remained faint, a trace of seriousness showed in his eyes. Ke Bu splashed water at him. “Why did you tell him so soon? You should’ve at least discussed it with me first. That’s your father. I have absolutely no image in his mind right now. He definitely won’t like me. He definitely won’t agree. You bastard, I hate you. I hate how you make decisions on your own. I hate how willful and reckless you are. I hate you. I hate you more than anyone.”
Zhi Li walked toward Ke Bu and entered the sea. A wave surged forward, soaking his shorts and his skin. He caught the wrist of the sulking Ke Bu and dragged him into his arms. Ke Bu struggled in his embrace while continuing to mutter complaints. “I hate you, Zhi Li. I hate you.”
“I like you. Is that enough?” Zhi Li’s magnetic voice was barely audible, mingling with the sound of his heartbeat as it slipped into Ke Bu’s blood and flowed through his veins to every part of his body. The hands Ke Bu had been using to struggle suddenly lost their strength and fell limply.
Zhi Li, I really hate you. I hate how one casual declaration of love from you can cover my entire world.
After changing out of his wet clothes and taking a shower, Ke Bu put on Zhi Li’s clean clothing. A faint fragrance still lingered around the collar. The clothes were slightly too large on Ke Bu, so he had to roll the sleeves up to his wrists. Water dripped from his damp hair. He walked barefoot across the floor, leaving wet footprints that soon evaporated into the air. Ke Bu had already calmed down. He threw himself onto Zhi Li’s back from behind. “What are you reading?”
“Nothing.” Zhi Li seemed unwilling to discuss it and rapidly turned the pages. Unwilling to tolerate being ignored, Ke Bu shook his head and scattered water over Zhi Li’s face. Zhi Li remained unmoved, calmly reading as he said, “Ke Bu.”
“I like you.”
The sudden words made Ke Bu freeze. He lightly pushed Zhi Li. “Wh-Why did you say it again?” After speaking, he released Zhi Li and went to get the hair dryer. He switched it on, and the soft roar of the dryer filled the room. The warm air brushed across Ke Bu’s hair. The wind must have been far too warm, because even Ke Bu’s face turned red. But… he quickly remembered something—something from a very long time ago. Zhi Li had once told him “I love you” to trick him into bed. Ke Bu abruptly turned off the dryer and stared with bloodshot eyes at Zhi Li’s back as he read. “Zhi Li, you only said that to make me shut up, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
Zhi Li checked the time and shrugged. “What? This time it only lasted ten minutes?”
Ke Bu turned the dryer back on, switched it to its hottest setting, and aimed it at Zhi Li’s equally damp hair. Less than two minutes later, Zhi Li turned his head, presenting his profile to Ke Bu. “You bastard. Try pointing that at me again.”
He had forgotten. He had actually forgotten the most important point. Before Ke Bu could run, Zhi Li caught him and pressed him down on the bed. “Then let’s take advantage of the situation and do it.”
“What do you mean, take advantage of the situation? What about this situation is convenient!!”
“Do you have a problem?”
“N-No.”
“Then why are you just lying there? Hurry up and undress.”
Filled with righteous indignation, Ke Bu began unfastening his clothes. His trousers had only been pulled halfway down when Zhi Li frowned and released him. “Bastard, today won’t work.” After speaking, he turned around and picked up the book again. Ke Bu lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, wondering what method of suicide would be the most painless. Just as he prepared to pull his trousers back up, Zhi Li said with his back turned, “Stay like that until I come back tonight.”
“How is that possible!!”
Evening arrived amid Ke Bu’s anxiety and torment. When they pushed open the door, Lan Yin and Zhi Zuo Si were already seated inside. Ke Bu poked his head out from behind Zhi Li. “I think I should take my leave first.” Zhi Li grabbed him. “If you’re heading down the road to the underworld, I’ll allow you to go one step ahead.”
“Do you not understand the words ‘family meeting’?” Zhi Zuo Si played with the lighter in his hand.
Zhi Li placed one hand on Ke Bu’s shoulder and forcibly made him sit down. “I brought him precisely because I understand.” Ke Bu felt as though hundreds of nails were stabbing into his backside, leaving him unable to sit still.
Zhi Zuo Si said nothing, taking this as tacit acceptance. Lan Yin crossed her long legs and propped them on the table. “So, your opinion is…”
“Are you even using your eyes? The person beside your son is a man with that tiny thing,” Zhi Zuo Si said, making it feel as though a massive stone had fallen onto Ke Bu’s head. Why did he have to include that adjective?
“Whether you agree or not, I benefit the most. If you refuse, Zhi Li will only hate you and keep siding with me. If you agree, Zhi Li will be grateful that I sacrificed myself to help him, and then he’ll keep siding with me anyway.” She was another person who cared only about her own interests, but did she really need to state her filthy inner calculations so honestly for everyone to hear?
“What’s the difference between finding a woman like this and finding a man?” Zhi Li glanced at Lan Yin.
Lan Yin touched her chest. “There’s an enormous difference.”
“Stop making excuses. If you want me to agree, show me what you’re capable of.” Zhi Zuo Si’s fingers stopped spinning the lighter.
Zhi Li rubbed his chin. “So you won’t agree? Then I’ll, mm…” He thought for a moment, then seemed to remember something and continued, “I’ll kill myself for you to see.” Never had anyone delivered such an impassioned declaration in such a flat and uninteresting tone. Zhi Li continued without the slightest fluctuation in his voice. “I never imagined you would be such heartless parents. What exactly have we done wrong for you to tear us apart like this? You forced me into this. From now on, all bonds between us are severed, and we’ll each go our separate ways. I will never step through the doors of this home again. I will no longer use the surname Zhi. You can pretend you never had a son like me.”
The more Ke Bu listened from beside him, the more puzzled he became, and the more wrong it sounded. He remembered the book Zhi Li had been reading. He recalled glimpsing its cover, which had displayed the title of some unbearably cliché romance novel. He had not paid much attention at the time. Could it be—could it be that Zhi Li was simply copying the lines word for word right now?!! Who would believe this?!! It sounded impossibly fake. Those television dramas aired every day. Even Zhi Li’s lack of common sense should have a limit.
Unexpectedly, Lan Yin sat upright and looked at Zhi Zuo Si. “He says he’ll kill himself for us to see. Zhi Li has never said anything like that since he was born. You forced him into this. Hurry up and agree, or I’ll never let this go for the rest of my life.” This woman, who never read romance novels or watched idiotic, trashy television dramas, actually believed him!!
“You want to die? It won’t be that easy.”
Ke Bu held his head. Would someone—anyone—please teach this family what common sense was?
Futile Devices Scans 
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