After a brief pause, Xu De spoke again. “We think the two of you are pretty great, so how about we have some fun and swap partners?” It was nothing like what Mai Ding had imagined.
“What does swapping partners mean?” Mai Ding asked stupidly, imagining some game like hide-and-seek. Xu De looked at him, and now there was desire mixed into his gaze. “Partner swapping is also called wife swapping or spouse swapping. It’s when two married couples…” An Zi Yan cut him off rudely. “Not interested. You can leave.” Mai Ding tried to understand what Xu De meant. As the meaning slowly sank in, his face changed. He had no idea who had invented something so frightening and filthy. An Zi Yan with Yu Rong Mei, and Mai Ding with Xu De… He did not dare imagine it. Nausea rolled through him. The good impression he had once had of Xu De and Yu Rong Mei collapsed in an instant because of a single phrase. Yu Rong Mei’s expression did not change. She seemed used to this reaction. “A lot of people can’t accept it, just like a lot of people can’t accept the two of you, right?”
“No. It’s different. Stop comparing my relationship to other things I find dirty. You don’t get to decide where my love belongs.” Mai Ding remembered what Gao Guo had once said. He felt furious and miserable, but more than anything, helpless. He could not control or change how other people thought. It was just fucking helpless.
“You don’t have to get so worked up. Some people react just like you at first, but after trying it, they might discover it feels completely different.”
“Don’t you love each other?”
“Very much. That’s why we understand what the other person needs and want to give each other what we enjoy. Rong Mei likes An Zi Yan, and I’m interested in you. We don’t randomly choose people to swap with. This is a kind of relationship too.” Mai Ding could not understand Xu De’s words at all. Not even a little. He only knew that his own relationship was nothing like theirs. An Zi Yan stood, his voice colder than usual. “Do I need to say it differently before you’ll understand? Get out.”
Yu Rong Mei was clearly experienced. She pressed her chest against An Zi Yan, wrapped both arms around his neck, and spoke with deliberate seduction. “You men love pretending to be proper. Deep down you’re curious too. You want to know what it feels like. Trust me.” She rose onto her toes and leaned close to An Zi Yan’s ear, whispering enticingly, “It’s very exciting.” Xu De was already moving as though to sit beside Mai Ding.
“If you dare touch him even once, I’ll cripple you.” An Zi Yan’s voice was no longer merely cold. It was frightening enough to freeze Xu De in place. Mai Ding felt a little uncomfortable. Couldn’t An Zi Yan push Yu Rong Mei away first? What happened next eased that discomfort. An Zi Yan had kept both hands in his pockets the entire time. He lowered his eyes toward Yu Rong Mei, looking at her not like a woman but like a piece of trash that had accidentally stuck to him. “Are you going to move away yourself, or do I need to do it?” Yu Rong Mei released him. “From what I’ve observed, Mai Ding may be conservative, but you aren’t.” She still wanted to persuade him. Mai Ding could not sit still anymore and stood too. “Please leave!” He hated this. He still could not bring himself to speak viciously to them. Ten minutes earlier, they had still been his friends. He could not switch his feelings that quickly. It was strange. He discovered that falling out with friends was actually a very… lonely thing, as though all the time they had spent together before suddenly meant nothing.
Friendship was something terribly fragile. It could endure too little and fail under too much: the same man or woman, one sentence spoken behind someone’s back, the appearance of new friends, money, and countless other reasons. But Mai Ding believed only some friendships were like that. Not all of them. Never all of them. He believed that firmly.
“We didn’t mean any harm, and we would never force you. It’s completely voluntary. Think about it some more.” Xu De sighed, took Yu Rong Mei’s hand, and left the apartment. Mai Ding shut the door and did not even want to look at their joined hands again. What kind of thinking allowed them to hand the person they loved over to someone else? Mai Ding would rather die than see anyone but himself in An Zi Yan’s arms.
“An Zi Yan, why does everyone think they’re allowed to look down on my love?” Mai Ding stared at the door. He had expected to sound sad when he said it, but the question came out without emotion. He already knew the answer. An Zi Yan fell silent. He walked closer until his shadow covered Mai Ding. Then he grabbed Mai Ding by the collar and tugged hard, pulling Mai Ding’s back into his chest. “The next time someone looks down on you, remember their name and tell me.” As always, he did not offer beautiful words of comfort. A smile appeared at the corner of Mai Ding’s mouth. “I think I’ll leave a few people alive for the country. Who knows what you’d do?” Then he suddenly remembered the married couple he had once seen leaving Xu De’s apartment. Understanding hit him, and he said with difficulty, “Just thinking about Xu De’s suggestion…”
“Don’t mention it. Don’t even think about it. I’m still pissed off.” An Zi Yan abruptly released Mai Ding, opened the door, walked straight across the hall, and knocked on Xu De’s door. Xu De opened it and looked pleasantly surprised, assuming An Zi Yan had changed his mind. An Zi Yan said coldly, “I came to tell you the result after thinking it over.” The words had barely left his mouth when he kicked Xu De directly between the legs. Xu De doubled over, face twisted, clutching himself in pain. It happened so quickly that Mai Ding stood frozen in his previous position like an idiot. Then he remembered promising that if anything happened, he would stand on An Zi Yan’s side. To prove it, he walked over and tried to kick Xu De too. Unfortunately, he had overestimated the length of his legs and kicked nothing but air. Had he really thought his legs were as long as An Zi Yan’s? Humiliating himself at such a serious moment was unbearable. An Zi Yan dragged Mai Ding back into their apartment while Mai Ding defended himself. “I just lost my balance. I was trying to help you.”
“Don’t need it.”
“I want to do something to help too.”
“Just remember one thing.” An Zi Yan did not look back. His voice was as ordinary as ever. “You can only be mine. Mine. Understand?” For one instant, Soldier Mai Ding desperately wanted to answer his commanding officer: Understood. I’m yours. In the end, he only nodded, unable to say a single word. How many different kinds of magic did An Zi Yan possess, to make his heart feel warm and itchy at the same time?