Every kick they landed on the door felt as though it landed on Mai Ding himself. His hand stayed inside his trouser pocket, clutching the key tightly. The door had already begun to warp, yet the lock still had not opened. Guo Ping wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I thought two kicks would do it.” Of course not! This was not a movie. What kind of door opened that easily? Just as everyone reached a deadlock, the door suddenly opened. An Zi Yan stood there with a slight frown, his face full of irritation at having been woken. “Too noisy.”
Everyone froze. They rarely had a chance to see An Zi Yan outside a suit. None of them had expected a mere change of clothes to create such a huge contrast, as though his face somehow matched anything he wore. Wang Xi Yuan had already rushed forward and wrapped herself around An Zi Yan’s leg. The others slowly recovered.
“So you were home. We were worried…” An Zi Yan had no intention of listening. He turned and went to pour coffee. Wang Xi Yuan, still attached to his leg, moved along with him without letting go. Mai Ding entered last. “No need to be polite. No sugar in mine.” An Zi Yan looked at him once, took out only one cup, and poured coffee for himself. Feng Fei Meng wandered around admiring the place. “Nice apartment.” Sharp-eyed Fan Shao Jun noticed the perfume in the bathroom. He had come for one purpose and one purpose only: gossip.
“By the way, Yan, where’s your girlfriend?” he asked carefully. Mai Ding looked at An Zi Yan with anticipation. An Zi Yan merely shrugged. “Who knows where that idiot ran off to.”
“I really want to meet her.”
“What’s there to see about someone that stupid?”
Guo Ping quietly leaned toward Mai Ding. “Their relationship sounds terrible.” Mai Ding worked hard to control his expression. “Maybe, maybe not.” President Wang sat on the sofa. “I didn’t expect you to keep the place this tidy. I honestly guessed someone like you would come home, throw things everywhere, then lie on the sofa and refuse to move.” Your guess is completely correct. An Zi Yan took a sip of coffee and said blandly, “How could that be?”
“Look at your place, then look at mine. I suddenly feel deeply ashamed. Yan, you can’t be this perfect. How are single men like us supposed to live?” Mai Ding dug his fingers into the seams of his trousers and clenched his teeth. Liar. Huge liar. Forget not praising me, he even stole all my credit. Who cleaned this place? Aren’t you afraid lightning will strike you the moment you walk outside?
With his stomach already full of internal injuries, Mai Ding refused to take any more damage. He stayed silent and pulled out a chair to sit down. An Zi Yan stopped him. “You with the surname Mai, don’t dirty my chair.” Mai Ding sat down anyway. An Zi Yan immediately looked disgusted. “I have a cleanliness obsession about the chair you just sat on. Now that you’ve sat on it, I don’t want it anymore. Take it with you.”
To hell with your cleanliness obsession! You’re just looking for trouble again! Fan Shao Jun rolled his eyes at Mai Ding. “He told you not to sit and you still sat down. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have let you come.”
“I…” Mai Ding truly had no way to explain himself. No matter which chair he chose, An Zi Yan would suddenly develop an obsession with cleanliness toward that exact chair. The issue had nothing to do with the chair. It was the person sitting on it.
“Big Brother, which room do you sleep in? Can I go look?” Wang Xi Yuan asked.
“Girls shouldn’t go looking at a man’s bed,” President Wang said with a frown. Wang Xi Yuan had no intention of listening to him. An Zi Yan pointed toward the bedroom. “Go ahead.” As he spoke, he took out his phone. A few seconds later, Mai Ding’s phone vibrated.
[You forgot to put away the personal lubricant.]
Blushing furiously, Mai Ding replied: [Impossible! I put everything away.]
[I left a few bottles under the bed too.]
[Why did you buy so much!!]
[What do you think it’s for?]
Mai Ding immediately lost all desire to continue texting. Pretending it was casual, he walked toward the bedroom. If Wang Xi Yuan found it, he would be finished. Only one sentence from Bai Xiao Si kept echoing through his mind: when my ex-husband decides to mess with someone, he does not play around.
Children really needed proper guidance. They absolutely should not rummage through other people’s homes. Mai Ding stood pale-faced at the bedroom doorway. Laughter and conversation came from the living room, while inside the bedroom Wang Xi Yuan was curiously holding a bottle of lubricant, turning it from side to side before running toward the door and calling, “Big Brother, what is this?” Mai Ding was filled with guilt over an innocent child finding something she had no reason to understand. He blocked her path and crouched down. “Xi Yuan, listen to me. Your big brother has a small health problem, but he doesn’t want other people to know. That’s his medicine, which is why he keeps it under the bed. You can keep your big brother’s secret, right? Otherwise he’ll be sad.” Wang Xi Yuan nodded without fully understanding and put the bottle back. “I definitely won’t tell anyone.”
“Xi Yuan is such a good girl.”
Another disaster narrowly avoided. Mai Ding instantly felt ten years older.
Lunch was cooked by Feng Fei Meng and Fan Shao Jun. After they ate, everyone knew An Zi Yan was busy and did not stay to disturb him. They had hoped to meet his girlfriend and were disappointed they had not, but at least they had seen An Zi Yan in casual clothes and gotten a look at his home, which made up for it a little.
“Yuan Yuan, time to go.” President Wang forcibly picked Wang Xi Yuan up. After the others said goodbye, they followed him out. Only when Mai Ding was about to leave did An Zi Yan stop him. “Didn’t I tell you to take that chair with you?” Mai Ding turned around wearing such a ferocious grimace that his face looked frightening. He came back, bent down, lifted the chair, and while nobody was watching, secretly stepped on An Zi Yan’s foot. Mai Ding struggled to carry the chair downstairs. Guo Ping looked at him. “We came by car. How are you getting home?”
“I’ll take the bus.” Mai Ding carried the chair to the bus stop and got on. After watching President Wang, Guo Ping, and the others drive away from the bus window, he got off one stop later, crossed the road, and boarded a bus going back. The awkward chair left him panting nonstop. It took more than twice as long as usual to get home.
“An Zi Yan, I’m telling you, you’re going to get what’s coming to you!” Mai Ding shouted before the door had even closed. An Zi Yan was already stretched out on the sofa without moving.
“What do you even gain from messing with me? What do you get out of it? Tell me. If you can give me one reason that actually convinces me, I won’t bother you!” Mai Ding deliberately sat on An Zi Yan’s legs. An Zi Yan answered as though it were obvious. “Nothing.”
“Then you…”
“It’s just fun.”
Mai Ding’s temper flared. He was beginning to understand why movies showed people getting so angry their hair turned white overnight or blood came out of every opening in their face. He was not far from that stage himself. Mai Ding collapsed onto the sofa too. “I’m exhausted today, mentally and physically. Can you go to Xiao Si’s and pick up my things for me?”
“We’re not that close.”
“You’ve had sex with me so many times, and we’ve even gotten married. How much closer do we need to be?!” Mai Ding tugged at An Zi Yan’s trousers. “Please? Maybe I was too nervous today. My head is starting to hurt again. You know I’ve had that nervous-system problem before.” An Zi Yan clicked his tongue impatiently. “Only this once. Don’t even think about asking again.” Mai Ding smiled and nodded. “Okay.” Then he kept watching An Zi Yan with a smile as he stood, walked to the entryway, opened the door, and turned back. “If you keep looking at me with those disgusting gooey eyes, I’ll gouge them out.” With that, he went out and shut the door.
Mai Ding thought that if everyone learned about him and An Zi Yan, they would probably be shocked. Their faces might even be funny. And then? Everyone would start treating Mai Ding differently because of An Zi Yan. He only wanted to be an ordinary employee. He did not want his position in the company to change because of his connection to An Zi Yan.
He did not need to tell other people that his man was An Zi Yan. He did not need to prove anything to anyone either. Envy, vanity, things like that, were they truly so important to love? If everyone knew, would everyone enthusiastically bless them without a single discussion or objection? Mai Ding was past the age of being that naive. It was not even something that appeared in his dreams.
You love me. As long as I know, that’s enough.