Ch4 - Come play~

Editor: Sky

Wang Chao’s mom couldn’t handle the intense heat in Beijing, so she went back to the Northeast after visiting for about a week.

During this period, because he didn’t want to anger his mom, Wang Chao had been holding in his indulging activities for a week. After she left, Wang Chao immediately decided to have a party, but he felt that it was boring to mess around alone, so he wanted to find someone to drag along with him.

He thought that this new friend he made was perfect.

Xie Zhuxing scrubbed his shoe as he listened to Yan Jiajia’s criticism.

“I’ve been away for five or six days and you’ve only got 2 jobs. What can you do with a few thousand dollars? You were so frugal with the automatic washing machine with dryer options.”

“I met a woman in Hong Kong this time. She was a model before, but ever since she found a rich man, she’s been staying at home with her dog and arranging flowers. When she’s bored, she goes to Hong Kong and Japan to shop. This time, when she met the girls she used to work with at Tiffany and Co in Harbour City, she bought each of us a necklace. She even showed off and said, ‘My husband is so mean to me’, my ass..”

“Look, Valentine’s Day is almost here. Last year my girl friends’ husbands either took them to travel aboard or let them pick a new car. At the very least, they got them a nice bag, but you? Look at you, you bought me a discounted bag that was out of season. I don’t even have a face to show myself in the friend group. Grow some balls this year.”

All he could do was listen and remain silent. He thought everything she said was right, everything.

His phone rang, and he threw aside his shoe scrubber and his shoe. He rubbed his hands on his jeans and picked up after he saw the contact name.

Wang Chao grinned and asked, “What’re you doing?”

“I’m at home scrubbing shoes.”

“Where do you live? I’m gonna come over to hang out.”

“I’m almost done, I’ll come to you.”

Wang Chao was very happy. He said the address of a bar near Gongti and reminded, “Hurry up, ok? I’m gonna be by myself, so boring.”

“Alright.”

He put the shoes directly under the water pipe and washed them. Wrapping them in toilet paper, he hung them in the corner of the balcony where the sun couldn’t reach.

Yan Jiajia asked, “Who’s that? Where are you going?”

“A new friend I met. He wants to meet me.”

“Where did you meet him?”

He didn’t want to say much. “I met him at my show.” He did meet Wang Chao in the bathroom of the club where he performed.

Yan Jiajia’s lips curled as she said, “I’m too lazy to even criticize you. All you do is hang out with those worse than you. What good can you gain from it?”

Xie Zhuxing didn’t continue the conversation. He changed into a clean t-shirt and headed out the door.

To be honest, aside from that performance, he seldom went to bars. Not only did he not have the money, but also he disliked how noisy it was. When he’s free, he would much rather be alone quietly.

He also didn’t like Wang Chao that much.

If Wang Chao had called him out to play, he would normally find an excuse to reject.

But the reason why he agreed so readily today was that he didn’t want to stay at home anymore.

When he got to the place Wang Chao had sent him, it was already getting dark. The bar was very famous and therefore, easy to find.

Wang Chao was easily found as he sat on the noisiest luxury couch. He was in the center surrounded by seven to eight young girls to his left and right of the crescent couch. All of them had tall nose bridges, big European-style double eyelids, sharp chins, and at least D-cups.

Seeing the piled-up beer bottles on the table, they must’ve had a bunch to drink already. Wang Chao was whispering to the girl on his left, saying something that resulted in the girl sending him light punches. She whined softly, “You’re so mean. That’s not okay, you have to take a punishment now.”

A bit of Xie Zhuxing was regretting that he came here. His impression of Wang Chao changed quite a bit after the hot pot last time. He upgraded from a scheming young master born with a silver spoon in his mouth to a heartless, kind of dumb young master born with a silver spoon in his mouth. So when Wang Chao called him out today, he thought they were going to get some drinks at a bar, have some fun chats, and at most, pick up girls along the way. The current sight in front of him was his least favored scene to be attending.

Wang Chao happily drank the beer the girl held up to him as punishment. When Xie Zhuxing entered his view, he waved at him joyfully. “Xiao Xie, over here! I’ve been waiting for you!”

Xie Zhuxing could only comply. Since he was already here, he’ll hang around for a while then come up with an excuse to leave.

He sat on the outermost part of the crescent couch, but Wang Chao pushed aside the girl who was feeding him some beer. “Move aside, move aside, make a spot for Xiao Xie.” Then, he spoke to Xie Zhuxing, “What are you sitting so far away for? Come sit by me.”

Xie Zhuxing didn’t move. “I’ll just sit here.”

Wang Chao was unsatisfied. “If you won’t come over, then I’m going over.”

All the girls stared at Xie Zhuxing.

He had no choice but to stand and squeeze through all the exposed legs before sitting down beside Wang Chao.

Wang Chao was smiling from ear to ear. He pulled on his arm as he told the girls, “This is Xiao Xie. Isn’t he handsome? He’s super awesome at dancing! A professional dancer, who is on a completely different level from y’all who just twerk randomly on a pole.”

The girls raised their cups at Xie Zhuxing, all calling him “Xiao Xie-ge” in sickening sweet voices.

Xie Zhuxing was very wishy-washy as he took a sip of beer.

Wang Chao saw how he seemed slightly uninterested. He leaned against his ear to tell him, “It got so boring while I was waiting for you, and this group of plastic faces just happened to pass by. Do you not like them? If not, I’ll shoo them away. We can wait for better ones.”

“…No need.”

Wang Chao rest assured. He thought the other was a bit embarrassed since he just came. He should be able to let loose once the alcohol gets to him. So, he knocked the bottle of beer in his hand with the other’s, urging him, “Come on, come on! This is the first time we’ve drunk together. I won’t say much, let’s get through six bottles first!”

The girls were clever as they quickly placed an entire box of beer in front of them, all cheering, “Drink! Drink! Drink!”

Wang Chao was already on it, downing a bottle of beer in one breath. In the blink of an eye, two bottles of beer were gone.

Xie Zhuxing had no choice but to drink as well.

Wang Chao was the king of this nightclub. His tolerance to alcohol was limitless—unless he wanted to be drunk.

Naturally, Xie Zhuxing wasn’t as durable as Wang Chao. Although he was pretty good with handling his alcohol, after half of a box of it was forced down, he was starting to get tipsy. He wasn’t someone who liked to flaunt his skills anyway. Knowing he couldn’t keep drinking like that, he held the beer bottle in his hand and only took a sip when Wang Chao nagged him. Wang Chao played with the girls while he put up an act of being there. In the beginning, the girl beside him wanted to talk with him and urge him to drink. After seeing how aloof he was, she didn’t persist to talk to a wall and went past him to chat with Wang Chao.

Wang Chao was already overly hyped up at this point. For some reason, he suddenly said to a busty girl, “You’ve got a silicone implant, don’t you?”

The girl denied it. He pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet and slammed it on the table, saying with an evil smirk, “Then let me touch it to check. I’ll give you this money if there are none. If there are, you’ll be punished for lying. The punishment will be…to hold this bottle of beer with your breasts and circle this place once. If no beer spills, all this money will be yours. How is it? Wanna play?”

Xie Zhuxing thought the girl wouldn’t agree to it but against his expectation, the girl sat beside Wang Chao. She raised her proud size generously, saying, “Come touch it.”

Wang Chao groped them. He laughed, “Still tryna fucking trick me with this? You call this natural?”

The girl’s expression remained unchanged. She picked up a bottle of beer to stuff inside her low-cleavage dress and got up to circle the place. Whistles rang up around her. When she got back, she bent over to face up against Wang Chao. Wang Chao took the beer bottle out as he giggled and rolled the wad of cash up before stuffing it in. The girl smooched his face with a smile.

Xie Zhuxing had a poker face the entire time.

He was reminded of words Yan Jiajia once said, “If us girls were willing to go all out, we’d make much more compared to you men.”

Wang Chao probably had enough to play and wanted a rest. He placed a hand on Xie Zhuxing’s shoulder, leaning against him. He showed off and giggled, “I’m not even lying. If boobs are natural or implants, I don’t even have to touch them. One look is enough! No one should dare to try and trick me.”

Xie Zhuxing didn’t reply.

Wang Chao looked at his face. He saw that the other still seemed not too happy. He thought for a moment and leaned against his ear again to whisper, “Don’t be so reserved, go all out and play. Drink whatever you want. If any of them catches your eye, take them. This is all on me, don’t worry about the cost.”

“…I have to go.”

Wang Chao was stunned. “It’s not even that late, what are you hurrying back for?”

“My girlfriend came back from out of the city.”

Wang Chao couldn’t take it seriously. “So what if she’s back? Do you have to go and put her to sleep?”

He thought for a moment and placed his chin on Xie Zhuxing’s shoulder, smirking arrogantly. He dragged his words out as he said, “Oh—absence makes the heart grow fonder, am I right? I get it, I get it, no wonder you seemed uneasy this whole time.”

Xie Zhuxing allowed the silence to agree for him.

“Then I won’t make you stay. I’ll call you out another day.”

Xie Zhuxing left the bar to find a noodle place nearby. He ate a bowl of noodles before riding the subway home.

Lights came from the only bedroom of the place. Listening to the sounds, Yan Jiajia seemed to be messaging her friends. She probably heard him coming back but didn’t react to it.

He took a shower and went to sleep on the couch outside.

The next morning, he went out for a run and came back with two portions of breakfast, only to find Yan Jiajia had already left.

He ate his food alone, storing the extra portion into the little fridge.

He went out to take clothes back in from the balcony and saw that his tennis shoes in the corner were already dry. He ripped away toilet papers. It wasn’t scrubbed clean yet.

He took it to the bathroom to scrub again. Halfway through, he didn’t hold it firm enough and the brush fell. It knocked down the trash bin beside the toilet. He bent over to pick up the brush and to clean up the trash bin as well. There, he saw something that looked like a thermometer in the trash bin. He picked it up. There were two red lines on it.

“!!!”

Shock overwhelmed him for a few seconds before feeling immediate joy.

He was going to be a dad!

He needs to propose first. He’ll do it today.

He ran out to take out his time deposit that wasn’t due yet and went to buy a diamond ring. He bought a one-carat diamond. It was very big, sparkly, and pretty to him. Yan Jiajia would like it.

He proceeded to buy a big bouquet of roses.

At home, he changed into formal attire as he waited for Yan Jiajia to come home.

He waited until afternoon and Yan Jiajia was still not back. Instead, he received a call from her.

She said, “Xiao Xie, let’s break up.”

He stiffened for a moment before saying softly, “Jiajia, what did I do wrong? I’ll change, I’ll listen to whatever you want me to do.”

Yan Jiajia was silent momentarily before she announced, “I got an abortion this morning.”

Xie Zhuxing’s heart sank.

Yan Jiajia cried from the other side, saying, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be like this. We’re still young. We still have many chances.”

Yan Jiajia sobbed, “Xiao Xie, we won’t have any more chances.”

“…What do you mean?”

Yan Jiajia kept crying. Slowly, she calmed down to say, “I’m the one who wronged you. I hooked up with the director for my last show.”

“He’s rich and can get me roles. Like you said just now, I’m still young, a girl only has so many years of beauty. There is no turning back if I waste them. I’m sorry. I just want a better life. I can’t take this poor lifestyle anymore.”

“I don’t want the things at home anymore. Toss out anything you don’t want. I’ve never used the discount purse you bought me before. It’s hanging in the closet, still new. You can sell it off as a second-hand purse. It should at least sell for two to three thousand.”

“I didn’t want to say this in front of you in the past, but, it’s not that easy being a singer. You have to accept reality. A steady job as a dance teacher will be so much better than daydreaming. I’m saying this for your good.”

Xie Zhuxing only said, “I wish you happiness.”

He hung up, holding the diamond ring. He stared at it for a long time. It was truly big, sparkly, and pretty…. Over 70 thousand, can he even get a refund?

He picked up the bouquet of roses and threw it away without a second thought. It crashed against the glass window to the balcony, petals scattered across the floor.

The sun outside was piercing, so much that his eyes were sore. Tears brimmed up in his eyes, but he forced them back down.

When his phone rang again, it was an unknown number.

He pressed the answer key. “Hello.”

The woman’s voice came from the other side. “Hello, is this Xie Zhuxing?”

“I am, and who are you?”

“I am Mr. Duan Yikun’s assistant. I’m very happy to tell you that you passed last week’s audition.”

Xie Zhuxing couldn’t control himself as he shot up. “You’re saying…”

The assistant was full of smiles as she informed, “Your group has already been decided. Next Monday, the company will sign a contract with you officially. Congratulations on being a part of Huixing Entertainment’s newest male idol group, IceDream.”