Chapter 23

Li Xuan was held tight in Su Xingchuan's arms.

'Xuanxuan. You don't have to prove anything to my mom.'

Li Xuan choked out, 'Yes I do.'

'Why? If she doesn't approve, does that mean we can't be together?'

Li Xuan blinked. Wait — wasn't that exactly what it meant?

Su Xingchuan cupped his face, thumbs brushing the tear tracks away. 'No. Whether she agrees or not, we're going to be together. Because I can't wait anymore.'

Li Xuan looked at him through wet eyes.

'What happened seven years ago was my fault. I should've told my parents ahead of time and worked it out with them. If you really want to say Xuanxuan did something wrong — the only thing you ever did wrong was not telling me about it back then.'

Li Xuan's mouth crumpled, and the crying came harder.

'I don't want you going to find my mother. That's mine to handle. Xuanxuan is already wonderful,' Su Xingchuan said, close to his ear. 'You're a good boy. You don't have to prove a thing.'

Li Xuan buried his face in Su Xingchuan's shoulder and grumbled into it, 'Stop talking like that.'

That little temper — it was back, just like old times.

Su Xingchuan couldn't help rubbing his cheek against Li Xuan's forehead, the way he used to. 'You haven't eaten dinner yet, right? Go home, eat something, get some sleep. I'll pick you up for work tomorrow morning. Okay?'

'What about your mom?'

'I'll handle it.'

Li Xuan wrapped both arms around Su Xingchuan's shoulders and pressed himself all the way in.

With Su Xingchuan there, Li Xuan always felt safe.

After Su Xingchuan got home, he and He Ning fought again. She couldn't understand what he felt for Li Xuan — wouldn't try to. She put every ounce of blame and grievance squarely on Li Xuan, then walked out. Before she left, she told Su Xingchuan: 'I will never agree to this.'

Su Xingchuan held steady. 'Mom. It's my life.'

He Ning's hand tightened on the door handle, her voice caught between hurt and confusion. 'Xingchuan, how did you — how did you end up like this? You were always so good. We were so proud of you —'

'Just because I'm into men, I don't deserve to be your pride anymore?'

He Ning went still.

'I haven't changed. If I have to pick something — maybe it's that he's back. And now every day ahead of me feels worth looking forward to. I'm really happy, Mom. That's all.'

He Ning stared at him like she didn't recognize him. A moment passed. Then she slammed the door on her way out.

The next morning.

Su Xingchuan pulled up outside Li Xuan's place right on time.

He wasn't sure if Li Xuan had tipped off the building management beforehand, but his car sailed straight through without a single stop — all the way to the gate of Li Xuan's courtyard.

Li Xuan opened the door and there he was.

Su Xingchuan rolled down the window.

Li Xuan's eyes lit up. Two faint dimples pressed into his cheeks.

He started toward the car at a run — then, halfway there, caught himself and slowed to a deliberate walk. Like he couldn't quite be bothered.

Su Xingchuan watched, a little puzzled, as Li Xuan strolled to the passenger side, pulled the door open, got in, and said absolutely nothing.

Su Xingchuan thought about it for a few seconds and then it clicked. 'You're so petty. Still hung up on embarrassing yourself at the restaurant yesterday.'

Dr. Li had always told himself that seven years had remade him — mature, brave, a whole new person. Then yesterday he'd cried his eyes out, and his ex had seen every second of it. He'd woken up this morning and wanted to die of embarrassment. His dignity demanded he stay cool, at least for a while.

Li Xuan turned his face away. Su Xingchuan leaned across to buckle his seatbelt for him, and just like that the space between them collapsed. A faint clean scent of toner drifted over — Li Xuan had lost the last of his baby fat, but his skin was still ridiculous: pale, smooth, practically luminous up close. Su Xingchuan decided the seatbelt wasn't quite reaching and leaned in a little more.

The point was obvious.

Li Xuan's lashes fluttered. He let his gaze drop.

They'd been inseparable seven years ago, and just yesterday they'd spilled everything they'd kept buried. By rights, the reunion the next morning should've been explosive.

Except neither of them knew what to do with themselves.

The air between them had gone strange.

It felt like they'd looped all the way back to the beginning — that window-paper tension, not yet broken.

Su Xingchuan could usually talk his way through anything, but this close, he had nothing.

The two of them had never actually had an innocent almost-together phase. Li Xuan had pulled every juvenile trick in the book; Su Xingchuan had caved like a bad ruler who couldn't govern himself. First meeting to bed: under forty days combined. What followed had been enthusiastically shameless.

Now, after all this time apart, they were both somehow holding back.

Su Xingchuan was itching to close the distance — his chin had already grazed Li Xuan's collar — when his work phone rang.

A colleague: 'Manager Su, Director Yan wants you back in the office for a ten-thirty meeting. It's about the Sheng'an Group situation.'

'Got it, I'll be there.'

He put his phone down. Li Xuan turned to look at him.

Li Xuan's eyes were always like that — clear and bright, like light through water.

Su Xingchuan ran his thumb along his cheek and asked, 'Are you on shift today?'

Li Xuan shook his head.

'I'm not staying late either. I want to take Xie Liang and his girlfriend to dinner — can you come?'

Li Xuan nodded.

'Don't worry. They don't blame you.'

Li Xuan looked calm. His ears had gone pink.

Su Xingchuan bit back a smile and didn't call him out. 'So after dinner,' he said, voice soft, 'would you come home with me?'

Li Xuan met his eyes. They both read the same thing in each other's expression — something that had nothing to do with just going home.

'Yeah.'

Su Xingchuan couldn't hold back the smile.

The car pulled away slowly.

Su Xingchuan's car had barely turned the corner when Xu Nianzhi stepped out from the doorway, still in her house clothes. Without looking away from the street, she said to her husband, 'I'm going to go talk to Su Xingchuan's mother.'

Li Xuan's Father took a sip of coffee, unbothered. 'This is their hurdle to clear. Let them clear it.'

'The prejudices of an older generation aren't the kids' hurdle to clear,' Xu Nianzhi said. 'They're already carrying enough. It'd be such a waste to let a perfectly good relationship get torn apart by the parents.'

.

.

Su Xingchuan dropped Li Xuan off at the hospital entrance.

He was just about to unhook his seatbelt and lean over to kiss him when Li Xuan suddenly remembered something. 'Your follow-up's next week.'

Of all the things to bring up.

Both their gazes dropped at the same time.

Su Xingchuan: '……'

These past few days he'd basically forgotten he'd just had surgery. When it ached, he hadn't paid it much attention.

A man had his dignity to think about. Su Xingchuan squeezed Li Xuan's hand. 'Can't you just check for me at home?'

'No,' Li Xuan said, very seriously. 'We need to confirm the stone passed completely. That means imaging.'

He heard his own tone and softened it. 'I'll be gentle during the exam.'

'…Do you really have to wait a full month after surgery?'

Li Xuan understood immediately. He made a small, noncommittal sound.

Su Xingchuan thought, miserably: even if he brought Li Xuan home tonight, there was nothing he could do. What were they supposed to do — huddle under a blanket and just talk? What would Li Xuan think of him? Would he think he couldn't perform?

Li Xuan watched him, puzzled. He didn't understand why Su Xingchuan's face had suddenly gone dark — he clearly wasn't happy about something. Li Xuan was waiting for Su Xingchuan to kiss him. But Su Xingchuan just sat there.

Li Xuan got annoyed. He got out of the car with a huff.

'Babe!'

Su Xingchuan called after him a few times. Li Xuan didn't stop.

What was he upset about now?

A meeting notice came through from the company, so Su Xingchuan let Xu Zhengdong's secretary know he'd be stepping out and headed back to the office first.

Yan Tao's whole attitude toward him had shifted. Gone was the old strictness — he was almost deferential now, probably figuring Su Xingchuan had locked in his connection with Xu Zhengdong and not wanting to risk the wrong move.

Yan Tao came over. 'You're back. Keeping busy over there?'

Su Xingchuan smiled. 'It's fine.'

Yan Tao walked him into the conference room and steered him into the seat right next to his own. The favoritism was hard to miss. At the far end of the table, Zhou Jing's expression went flat the moment he sat down.

Su Xingchuan didn't give Zhou Jing a second thought.

His phone kept buzzing through the meeting.

He glanced down. His dad.

Call after call. He didn't need to guess what it was about. He sent back a WeChat message — 【In a meeting】 — which did nothing. His dad's calls finally stopped, and then his aunt's started right up.

Su Xingchuan put his phone on silent.

When the meeting wrapped up, he went to the stairwell and called his dad back. Su Xingchuan's Father came out swinging: 'What exactly is going on with you? Are you trying to kill us both?'

Su Xingchuan was exhausted. He held onto the last of his patience. 'I'm not. Please, both of you — try not to spiral.'

'Your mother has been crying since she got home.'

Su Xingchuan said nothing.

'Neighbor Auntie Qian's son had a little girl back in June. The three of them are happy as anything — even I'm jealous watching them. Why can't you be more like him?'

Su Xingchuan leaned against the wall and pressed two fingers to his temple.

It was so absurd he almost laughed.

'Auntie Qian used to say she envied us. Said her son was a disappointment — couldn't get through school, had to pull strings for a job, parents carrying the mortgage on his apartment. Back then you and Mom called me a good son. Now none of that counts?'

Su Xingchuan's Father went quiet.

When he realized he couldn't win the argument, he put Su Xingchuan's Aunt on. Su Xingchuan didn't want to deal with it — he hung up on her.

Xu Zhengdong's secretary called and asked him to review some materials.

Su Xingchuan had no choice but to drive back to Zhongjin.

Work kept him busy enough to forget his parents for a while. Then, close to lunch, he remembered what he'd said at the restaurant the night before, and called Xie Liang.

'You free?'

'More or less.' Xie Liang had just walked out of a client's office and was settling into his car. 'Oh wow, listen to that voice. Someone's in a good mood.'

Su Xingchuan smiled. 'Thanks to you.'

'You've got nerve bringing that up!' Xie Liang put on an offended tone. 'Drag that little doctor of yours out here, have him call me gege to my face and apologize properly — then we're even. You hear me?'

'I called to take you to lunch. But the fault was mine, so I'm the one apologizing — on his behalf.'

Xie Liang wasn't having it. 'Rubbing it in right to my face. My wife and I have a marriage certificate, thanks — what do you two have?'

Su Xingchuan was about to answer when another message came in from Su Xingchuan's Aunt. He went quiet. Xie Liang caught it. 'What's wrong?'

'My parents aren't okay with it. They've both lost their minds — calls, messages, nonstop. Now they've got my aunt trying to talk me out of it too. The way they see it, being gay is basically a terminal diagnosis. Like I've caught something and there's no coming back.'

'They're from a different generation.'

'For now, I'm just holding the line.'

Xie Liang teased him: 'Rare sight — you, without a plan.'

'Hey, you could be my human shield. You've met my mom, right? Go tell her you're gay too.'

'Will you ever quit!'

Su Xingchuan laughed. 'Tell her you've been secretly in love with me for years. That it's either you or Li Xuan. Make her pick. She'll figure — well, it's already a disaster either way, might as well be Li Xuan.'

'……… Xie Liang's mouth twitched. 'Sometimes I forget'm talking to an actual human being.'

Su Xingchuan laughed out loud.

The knot in his chest loosened, just a little.

'Just wait till tonight, I'm gonna make your Dr. Li — wait. Is that Xu Zhengdong?' Xie Liang's voice spiked with shock.

Su Xingchuan froze. 'What?'

'I'm driving past that andrology hospital — hiss — isn't Xu Zhengdong's car a Rolls-Royce Cullinan? Black Culinan, plate's five eights. What's he doing here? Hold on — isn't that your boyfriend?' Xie Liang's voice jumped. 'Chuan, that's seriously your boyfriend! White long down coat, that's him, right?'

Su Xingchuan shoved back from his desk and stood up. 'Where are they going?'

'I — I'm following them.'

Xie Liang swung the car around immediately, mouth already running: 'Your Dr. Li came to catch me in the act, and now I get to catch him — but hey, don't be upset, okay, bro!'

'Stop talking nonsense,' Su Xingchuan snapped. 'Li Xuan's not like that.'

Li Xuan must have gone to confront Xu Zhengdong.

He trusted Li Xuan.

'Okay okay, I've got eyes on both of them — they came out of Wenxuan Street heading south on Nancheng Avenue, where does Nancheng Avenue go?' Xie Liang muttered while he drove, which was doing nothing for Su Xingchuan's nerves. Then he saw the Culinan signal right. Xie Liang hit his blinker instantly. 'West on Nancheng Avenue — where does that even go..'

Su Xingchuan couldn't sit still.

He trusted Li Xuan a hundred percent. It was Xu Zhengdong he didn't trust — what if Xu Zhengdong refused to let go, and Li Xuan got hurt.

What then?

He texted Li Xuan immediately. No reply.

Xie Liang was still muttering: 'Why does this route feel so familiar? I think they've reached the destination — turning in —'

Xie Liang went quiet.

Su Xingchuan's stomach dropped. 'Turning where? Say something!'

'They went through the gate of Zhongjin Group.'

Su Xingchuan went blank. 'What?'

'Into Zhongjin.' Xie Liang sounded just as confused.

It clicked. Was Xu Zhengdong here to settle the score with him?

He was on his feet before he finished the thought.

He knew perfectly well he had no leg to stand on here — no moral high ground, no claim, nothing. Didn't matter. He was going to fight for it anyway. Even if Xu Zhengdong pulled the project, froze him out, made sure he had no future in investment banking — he was still going to fight.

He couldn't wait another seven years.

Xu Zhengdong was a regular at the clubs, reputation well-earned, more stories than Su Xingchuan cared to count. That alone was enough. He wasn't leaving Li Xuan with someone like that. Li Xuan was his to take care of.

He didn't even stop for his coat. Just ran.

He caught Xu Zhengdong at the elevator on B2.

Xu Zhengdong was walking Li Xuan into the elevator, talking as he went:'You insist on going to his office to surprise him — when have you ever given your shushu a surprise? I'm so good to you.'

Li Xuan said, 'When I was nine, you lied to me and took all my New Year money to buy your boyfriend a car. You still haven't paid me back.'

'...That happened?' Xu Zhengdong clicked his tongue twice. 'You really hold a grudge.'

The words were barely out when the elevator doors slid open.

Xu Zhengdong had just walked Li Xuan out.

Before either of them could look up, Su Xingchuan was already crossing the floor in quick strides, yanking Li Xuan behind his back.

'Director Xu. I need to say something to you.'

Li Xuan's brain stalled completely. He hadn't texted Su Xingchuan — so how did Su Xingchuan know he was here?

'Director Xu, you personally chose me for the IPO project. That's a debt I don't take lightly, and I'm grateful. But when it comes to Li Xuan, I can't back down an inch. He and I are going to be together — that's not up for debate. I said before that if you treated him badly, I'd take him back. I've changed my mind. Even if you treat him well, I'm still taking him back —'

'Because the two of you are completely wrong for each other!'

Xu Zhengdong's eyes narrowed slightly.

Su Xingchuan pressed on, righteous indignation at full volume. 'I'm the only one who understands him. I'm the only one who can take care of him properly. You can pull me off the project today if you want — I'm still saying it: Director Xu, please break up with him.'

The whole floor went quiet.

Dead quiet.

Xu Zhengdong looked at him for a moment, and then he couldn't hold it anymore — he burst out laughing.

Then Li Xuan poked his head out from behind Su Xingchuan's back, completely baffled: 'Jiujiu?'

'...........'

Xu Zhengdong raised an eyebrow at Su Xingchuan.

Su Xingchuan shuddered, and then, in a very small voice, echoed: 'Jiujiu.'