With all the trouble Chen Xiaohui caused, Chen Qingyu ended up leaving the very next morning. Chen Qingyang did not stop her this time either, he only offered to pay for their tickets.
To help your family was actually something that was very normal, but after all, if you give them too much, they may no longer think of it as a gift, and grow reliant on you instead. Giving them too much would cause the person to think that this was only normal, and if you fail to satisfy them one day, they would grow needy.
This was the problem Chen Qingyang’s family was currently facing.
Liu Huamei had always taken a step back when it came to dealing with Chen Qingyang’s sisters, but this incident had truly gone too far, even for her. It was only when Chen Xiaohui added oil to the fire that she finally burst out with rage.
After staying until the 5th, Lu Zhengfei and Chen Qianqing finally headed back to A City.
It was Liu Huamei who paid for their tickets home. Even though Lu Zhengfei refused and refused again, she still insisted. In her eyes, she was the one who called Lu Zhengfei over, but it was also her family members who caused a big misunderstanding between them, and to this she felt very remorseful. So, even if Lu Zhengfei said no, she still insisted on paying for them.
In the end, Lu Zhengfei could only accept her sincerity since he could not succeed in persuading her otherwise.
The night before they left, Chen Qianqing’s childhood friend, Yuan Zhitao, gave Chen Qianqing a call. During the call, Yuan Zhitao asked him whether or not Lu Zhengfei was the person he liked.
After a long period of silence, he told her: “I don’t know.” He truly did not know, and perhaps, he would never be able to find out.
Yuan Zhitao then asked: “Qianqing, can I come to see you in the future?”
Chen Qianqing made a hum of acknowledgement to her, and said: “Sure, you’re always welcome.” Yuan Zhitao was the one who opened his eyes to the things he had never known in his past life…But of course, this incident did not make him happy at all; instead, he only felt pain and remorse.
After a moment of silence, Yuan Zhitao asked: “Qianqing, is it…really impossible for us?”
Chen Qianqing clenched his fingers around his phone, and spoke a quiet reply: “I’m sorry, Yuan Zhitao.”
The faint sounds of sobbing could be heard from the other end of the phone. Chen Qianqing could tell that Yuan Zhitao truly loved Chen Qianqing. But he was only a counterfeit, even if he could put on a false gentle front in front of Yuan Zhitao, he would never be able to fall in love with this girl.
Yuan Zhitao spoke: “Qianqing, I regret not going to the same school as you.” When they were selecting their schools of choice, she wanted to follow her dreams of going to medical school, so she signed up for a different school from what Chen Qianqing signed up for. She thought that even with this distance between her, she could still keep in contact with Chen Qianqing; but when it really came down to it, she finally realized that distance was a very scary thing.
At the very least, the Yuan Zhitao of that time never would have thought that Chen Qianqing would ever fall for men.
Chen Qianqing hung up the call, and stood in the balcony for a long time before he returned to his room.
The next morning, Lu Zhengfei and Chen Qianqing got on their plane at ten, and headed back to A City.
There were two days before school started, so Lu Zhengfei asked if there were any places Chen Qianqing wanted to go.
Chen Qianqing was reading on the sofa, and responded without even turning his head: “I just want to stay at home, are you that free?”
Lu Zhengfei expressed: yes of course, I am extremely free.
Chen Qianqing scoffed. How could Lu Zhengfei be free? He still remembered the financial crisis that was happening at the European side that had a huge impact on the Lu family’s businesses over there. If Liu Huamei did not ask Lu Zhengfei to go home with him, Lu Zhengfei would definitely be working himself dead.
As the informal successor to the company, there was much that Lu Zhengfei needed to learn. He was only twenty-seven years old, he still had a long way to go before he could officially take over the Lu family.
Staying with Chen Qianqing every day was no doubt a wonderful time for Lu Zhengfei, but it was very obvious that some people would be dissatisfied. One of them was Lu Zhengfei’s bossy cousin, Yuan Wenhong.
In fact, the people that were dissatisfied with Chen Qianqing were quite many in Lu Zhengfei’s family, but most of them thought that Lu Zhengfei was just playing around since he was still young, and did not pay much attention to it. But Yuan Wenhong had a very good relationship with Lu Zhengfei, so much so that he could tell at one glance that his younger cousin may not just be playing around, and was in fact, very serious.
Yuan Wenhong was correct. Because, during this year’s Spring Festival, Lu Zhengfei had boldly came out of the closet to his family.
A person would always make several wrong decisions throughout their life, and the worst mistake Lu Zhengfei had ever made in this life was to announce his relationship with Chen Qianqing before he had a firm foothold in his life.
He thought he was in love, but he might as well have told them that he was forced. When Lu Zhengfei’s parents finally understood the details of the matter, they nearly wanted to break his legs out of anger. His family had always been big in the military, and it was only in recent years did they dabble in business.
Lu Zhengfei’s grandfather and uncle were both working in the military, and Lu Zhengfei’s father who was also the eldest of the family, as well as the most favoured one, wanted to go into business, and nobody in the family had ever objected to it.
For those in Lu Zhengfei’s generation, there were his two younger sisters. So, when Lu Zhengfei announced his preferences for men, Lu Zhengfei’s father had nearly gone mad with anger.
In the eyes of the older generation, a preference for men was a perverse thought. If Lu Zhengfei’s mother had not stopped him, Lu Zhengfei would have been crippled by his father. But even if he was not, he still was not let off easy.
For Lu Zhengfei, that was a most profound memory. He was beaten so hard his body was covered in bruises, but he still continued to kneel on the ground, unwilling to change his mind. His father was so enraged that he nearly wanted to grab a knife from the kitchen.
Lu Zhengfei’s mother had also gotten so angry that her eyes were red with fury; but fortunately, she could still see reason. She told Lu Zhengfei: Zhengfei, the reason my father and I gave you so much freedom is because we love you, but now look what you’ve done? You say you like men? Do you really know what you’re doing?
Following that, he was kept at home in detention for three long years. The Lu family had completely isolated Lu Zhengfei from Chen Qianqing, and in this period, Lu Zhengfei had also completed his transformation from boy to man.
Lu Zhengfei had no idea what those years had meant to Chen Qianqing, but he knew that the next time he saw Chen Qianqing, he could confirm that in his entire life, the only person he could have was him.
“Qianqing, what are you thinking about?” Lu Zhengfei’s voice suddenly came up, dragging Chen Qianqing back to his senses. He turned his head, and saw Lu Zhengfei who was watching him with bright eyes.
Chen Qianqing asked: “What’s up?”
Lu Zhengfei said: “You don’t have anything to do these two days, right? I’m having a small party with my buddies tomorrow night, do you want to go?”
Chen Qianqing raised his book: “I haven’t finished reading my book, I have no time.”
Lu Zhengfei: “You really aren’t going?”
Chen Qianqing shot a glance at him: “I’ll go if we don’t have to have sex for half a month.”
Lu Zhengfei: “…”
A chuff leaked from Chen Qianqing’s lips. Even though he did not remember the party Lu Zhengfei was talking about, he just about knew what it was for. It was nothing more than one of those gatherings of his old friends. Lu Zhengfei insisted on bringing him all because he wanted to announce Chen Qianqing’s identity in front of everyone.
Chen Qianqing looked at his young self, and wanted to sigh about how naive he was in the beginning. He did not feel it at that time, but after going through those experiences at the later part of his life, all he could muster was a bitter laugh.
At only twenty twenty-some years old, Lu Zhengfei did not understand how much their relationship would actually affect Chen Qianqing when the truth was exposed.
Lu Zhengfei could protect his family, he had the status to stop the people from talking, but what did Chen Qianqing have? He was nothing more than a normal university student. To have their relationship exposed was a devastating blow to Chen Qianqing.
When faced with this, Chen Qianqing who was also in his twenties did not hesitate to refuse him. But it was nothing hard to understand, even more so as for him, Chen Qianqing had never recognized his relationship with Lu Zhengfei, ever.
Chen Qianqing could remember very clearly that he had requested similar things to this current Lu Zhengfei. And naturally, he had been rejected. The original Chen Qianqing decided to solve the issue by pointing fingers directly at him, and scolded him in a fit of anger. Lu Zhengfei, you want to announce our relationship? What relationship do we have? Isn’t it just the relationship between a rapist and his victim?!
With both of them sharing the same hot temper, Lu Zhengfei would never listen to him. He ordered someone to tie Chen Qianqing up, stuffed him into the car, and forcefully brought him to the party.
Of course, even if no trouble arose during the party, the two ended up in several arguments due to that matter. With his hand forced, Chen Qianqing’s words became even more vicious, and his choice of words targetted closer and closer to his heart. He said he did not believe in the love Lu Zhengfei had for him, said that Lu Zhengfei was only a rapist, that even if he had to fall in love with a dog, he would never fall in love with him.
After the intense conflict between the two, it was generally Chen Qianqing who had to compromise with him. Only, this compromise had only come about due to the inequality of their power. Lu Zhengfei had nothing but ways to deal with Chen Qianqing, so the relationship of the two got worse and worse.
Lu Zhengfei said to him: “Fine, half a month it is! I won’t touch you for half a month, and you’re going with me!”
Chen Qianqing’s reminiscing had been cut short by Lu Zhengfei. After some thought, it was probably find even if he went with Lu Zhengfei. Besides, even if he did not want to go, Lu Zhengfei would still find a way to force him to go.
Lu Zhengfei saw the indifferent look on his face, and thought that he had misunderstood him, so he explained: “Qianqing, it’ll just be good friends of mine there, no outsiders, they won’t run their mouths.”
Chen Qianqing responded: “Mm, I know.”
Lu Zhengfei reached out to hold Chen Qianqing. He did not know why, but he started to stutter as he said: “Qian, Qianqing, I really like you a lot.”
Chen Qianqing looked down on Lu Zhengfei’s hands, and suddenly felt like saying “Lu Zhengfei, I hate you a lot too.” but he endured the urge. Instead, the smile on his face faded considerably.
Lu Zhengfei said: “Qianqing, when you graduate, let’s go get married overseas, okay?”
Chen Qianqing had also said those words once. Only, when he did, that person threw the glass they were holding directly at him, and scolded: Did you think everyone’s as perverted as you are? Get married? I’ll never marry a man!!!
Chen Qianqing sighed, and said nothing.
Lu Zhengfei took his silence as an agreement. He said with excitement: “We can immigrate as well, we can go wherever you like…Qianqing, if you like kids, we can adopt one as well…”
Chen Qianqing listened to Lu Zhengfei’s hopes for the future, but he could only feel the blood in his veins cool down. When it came down to it, he was not Chen Qianqing after all, and there was also no possible way he could love Lu Zhengfei.