They really were blood relatives. Neither of them ever said anything pleasant. Still, after what An Zi Yan said, Mai Ding realized that since meeting Li Ming, he had almost never seen him truly lose his temper. He really was kind of spineless. An Su said unhappily, “From the way you’re talking, am I really that difficult to get along with?” Even Mai Ding fell silent. His sister’s advantages were that she was beautiful and came from a good family. Those were basically the only two. Her faults, on the other hand, were endless: spoiled, arrogant, bad-tempered… Compared with her, An Zi Yan merely liked pulling pranks. At least he did not fly into a rage at every little thing. Seeing everyone stay silent, An Su pointed at Mai Ding’s nose. “Mai Ding, I want to hear you say it.”
“Say what?” Mai Ding pretended not to understand. Li Ming beside him shook his head. “You’re not that hard to get along with. I like An Su-jie’s personality. No, that’s not right. I like everything about An Su-jie. I know there’s no way you could like me, but until you meet someone you do like, if eating alone feels lonely, if going to work alone feels lonely, if you don’t find me annoying, I can eat with you and take you to work. Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t misunderstand because of that. I’ll stay beside you while firmly believing that you’ll never be with me. When you need someone, call me. When you don’t, tell me to go away.” This was the strangest and most spineless confession Mai Ding had ever heard. He badly wanted to ask Li Ming, Are you actually a masochist?
An Su gave a cold snort without answering. An Zi Yan stood and nudged Mai Ding’s head. “I have something to do. You’re coming with me.”
“Huh? Now?” Leaving the two of them behind with the atmosphere this terrible did not seem like a good idea. Mai Ding had already done everything he could to help Li Ming. If his sister was unwilling, he could not force her either. He asked An Su, “Sis, how about we meet for dinner another time? Today we should…” An Su crossed her legs. “I haven’t eaten yet. Why would I leave? Seeing that useless face of yours isn’t enough to ruin my appetite.” Mai Ding touched his face in pain and complained to An Zi Yan, “She… she said I have a useless face.”
“She’s not wrong.” Hearing that, Mai Ding flew into a rage and prepared to strike back, but An Zi Yan had already dragged him away. Li Ming asked nervously, “If I’m going to ruin your appetite, should I leave too?”
“Whatever.”
“Then I won’t leave.”
“Whatever.”
“Mm.” Li Ming scratched his head, staring at the tabletop one moment and secretly peeking at An Su’s expression the next. Right now, even if countless pinup goddesses in bikinis tried to drag him away, he still would not leave.
Mai Ding looked back at the two of them worriedly. “Will they really be okay? Why do I feel like I’m forcing myself into my sister’s love life?” An Zi Yan kept walking toward the car. “So you do know?”
“Why are you trying to dump all the responsibility on me? Didn’t you speak up for Li Ming too?” He had some nerve accusing An Zi Yan when he was doing exactly the same thing himself. An Zi Yan opened the car door and got in. “Don’t compare me with you. When Su called me, I clearly told her that Li Ming had something he wanted to say to her.” Mai Ding hurried into the car too and asked while fastening his seat belt, “How did you know I’d called Li Ming…”
“Do I need to think hard to know what that pea-sized brain of yours would do?”
“Wait, that’s not the point. If Sis knew Li Ming would be there, then why did she pretend she had no idea…” Mai Ding did not need to finish asking. He remembered his sister had one more good quality: a sharp tongue and a soft heart.
What would happen to the two of them in the future? Mai Ding did not know. He turned and looked at An Zi Yan’s profile. What would happen to him and An Zi Yan in the future? Mai Ding did not know that either. Things should only get better, right? He hoped so. They definitely would.
Mai Ding, in excellent spirits, sat at his desk twirling a pen while thinking with a grave, serious expression. The furniture had already been moved into the new place. For their health, they needed to air the rooms out for a while first, in case there was formaldehyde or anything else. He also had to tell their current landlord ahead of time. Fortunately, he had always taken good care of the apartment, so the landlord probably would not deduct anything from the deposit. While Mai Ding was happily calculating all this, President Wang’s voice reached his ears. “I said before New Year that I was going to visit your home. Look what month it is now. How much longer are you planning to drag this out?”
“You’re the one who never said anything.”
“You’re supposed to enthusiastically invite your superior. Why should I have to shamelessly bring it up myself?”
“You’re shamelessly bringing it up now.”
“You brat. If it weren’t for Yuan Yuan, I’d have made you suffer long ago.”
An Zi Yan shrugged, treating President Wang’s words like wind passing his ears. President Wang put on his superior’s air while talking about something that had absolutely nothing to do with work. “Tomorrow.”
“We’re going too. We’ve been waiting forever for this day.” His coworkers immediately chimed in. The pen slipped from Mai Ding’s hand. He had completely forgotten about this. Heaven help him. Mai Ding wanted to run over, kick An Zi Yan for not refusing them, and scream at the top of his lungs: trouble, nothing but trouble.
After returning home from work, Mai Ding’s head was packed full of worries. He felt sure he would die young, either because An Zi Yan constantly made his heart race or because he kept frightening him half to death. Mai Ding had already been muttering beside An Zi Yan for dozens of minutes. Some people at least let things go in one ear and out the other, but An Zi Yan had apparently blocked Mai Ding’s voice from entering at all. No matter how much he talked, An Zi Yan remained completely unaffected. Better to think about what to do. First, he had to clean the apartment and hide every trace that Mai Ding had ever existed there.
Mai Ding found a large bag and began stuffing his belongings inside. Things like DVDs that would not make anyone suspicious did not need to be specially hidden. Only after packing did Mai Ding realize how pitifully few possessions he had in this home. Almost the entire place was occupied by An Zi Yan’s things. Even their belongings reflected the status of their respective owners.
After tidying up, Mai Ding carefully inspected every corner. There was no trace of him left anywhere. Pride mixed with a faint bitterness. It had taken only one short hour to erase every sign of himself. He was frighteningly easy to remove from this home. Standing in the hallway, he looked around every room and felt there was still something missing. Then he smacked his palm. Right, An Zi Yan needed a girlfriend too. They absolutely had to crush the fantasies of those female demons at the company, or every one of them would try to steal An Zi Yan from him! Mai Ding could not exactly blame them. Young, handsome, and capable. What woman would not want him? Men like that were always in short supply.