Chapter 36: !!!

Song Jingyao rode with Shen Xiuzhu to the company.

With nothing else to do on the way, he actually kept his word and called Liang Ming repeatedly, making sure he could not get any proper sleep.

When one phone was turned off, he called the other.

He was extremely persistent.

Shen Xiuzhu noticed and asked curiously.

Song Jingyao gave a sinister smile.

“I do not like the look of him.”

Shen Xiuzhu could tell that the two seemed to be having some conflict, but he had no intention of mediating.

If anything, he was rather pleased to see it.

Ever since before, he had disliked how close Liang Ming and Song Jingyao were.

They were always together.

“Calling him like this is troublesome.

And if he turns off his phone, he cannot hear it anyway.

I have a prank program.

Send it to him, and he will not be able to control his phone.

It can make all of his phones ring once every two minutes.

Isn’t that more convenient?”

Song Jingyao’s eyes lit up.

“That works!”

He immediately asked Shen Xiuzhu to help him set it up.

Without hesitation, he handed over his phone.

It was obvious that he trusted Shen Xiuzhu completely.

Shen Xiuzhu worked on it skillfully.

Before long, he had finished setting it up.

But he did not return the phone right away.

Instead, he tilted his head and asked, “While I was away these past few days, you behaved yourself, right?

You did not cause any trouble?”

Song Jingyao choked.

For some reason, Shen Xiuzhu’s tone sounded like a wife checking her husband’s phone.

It was bizarre.

“Where is the trust between us?

I did not cause trouble.”

Song Jingyao replied irritably.

He looked completely righteous, as if he had nothing to hide and was not afraid of being checked.

Shen Xiuzhu said, “Really?

Then who was the person I picked up from the police station the moment I came back?”

Song Jingyao felt guilty but remained stubborn.

“…That only happened once.”

Shen Xiuzhu casually scrolled through the phone.

He was not truly trying to check anything.

He was simply dissatisfied that he had been away from Song Jingyao for several days.

He wanted to know what Song Jingyao had been doing.

The moment he opened the browser, Song Jingyao suddenly remembered something.

His expression changed sharply.

He looked as if disaster had struck.

Damn it.

When he had been reading that dirty comic before, he had casually searched up that seme…

Song Jingyao panicked.

He immediately snatched his phone back and said righteously, “It is my phone.

Why are you looking through it?

You should learn to respect other people’s privacy, understand?”

Shen Xiuzhu had not been paying attention, so the phone was taken from him.

He paused.

Seeing how nervous Song Jingyao looked, he became even more suspicious.

He tilted his head and gave a meaningful smile.

“What do you have that you do not want me to see?”

Song Jingyao huffed.

“So what if I do?

And so what if I do not?”

The moment he got his phone back, he deleted the search and browsing history.

His heart pounded as he muttered internally.

Shen Xiuzhu had only just opened the browser.

He probably had not seen it, right?

Song Jingyao turned the screen toward himself and quickly erased every trace of his browsing history.

He left behind nothing suspicious.

Only then did he quietly sigh in relief.

But that entire series of actions had exposed him more than anything else could have.

Shen Xiuzhu would have to be stupid not to find it strange.

Still, Song Jingyao could not really be blamed for being bad at hiding things.

After so many years together, he unconsciously showed Shen Xiuzhu his most genuine side.

There was no need for pretence.

Shen Xiuzhu half-narrowed his eyes as he watched him.

He was suspicious of Song Jingyao’s unusual nervousness.

In truth, before Song Jingyao snatched the phone back, Shen Xiuzhu had already seen the search term.

Colonel Heinz…

Who was that?

Why did Song Jingyao need to hide it from him?

Without meaning to, Shen Xiuzhu remembered the time Song Jingyao had suffered an allergic reaction.

Back then, Shen Xiuzhu had caught him looking at something, and Song Jingyao had immediately hidden it in guilt.

Shen Xiuzhu did not know what it was.

But he could tell that Song Jingyao had been hiding an important secret from him.

That realization made him unhappy.

At that moment, Shen Xiuzhu did not question him.

He acted as if he did not care.

But after arriving at the company, instead of immediately immersing himself in work as usual, he searched those keywords.

A historical figure.

Not that.

A finance professor.

Probably not that either.

The third result…

A comic character?

Shen Xiuzhu clicked it out of curiosity.

He found an extremely handsome male character.

He flipped through a few pages.

Then he realized there was no female lead.

The other protagonist was also male, with delicate features and peach-blossom eyes.

This was a romance comic between two men.

Shen Xiuzhu could not help being shocked.

Was this what Song Jingyao secretly read?

Was Song Jingyao not as straight as he seemed?

But before this, he had never…

Back in high school, no, perhaps even earlier, Shen Xiuzhu had already fallen for Song Jingyao.

He had placed him in an extremely important position in his heart.

During adolescence, when other boys talked about girls, Shen Xiuzhu found that he had no interest in them at all.

Instead, he cared about Song Jingyao in ways that were clearly unusual.

At the time, Shen Xiuzhu had not been too panicked.

More than anything, he felt anxious and dark because he could not have what he wanted.

The feelings he suppressed in his heart were too intense and obsessive.

He was not worried about his family stopping him.

He had the ability to deal with that.

The most important issue was the person he liked.

Song Jingyao looked completely like a straight man.

Whenever someone shared explicit videos or magazines, Song Jingyao was even good at sharing resources himself.

Shen Xiuzhu had been cautious and thought about it for a long time.

He never did things without certainty.

Acting on impulse would only ruin everything.

So he chose a more roundabout method.

Little by little, he occupied a place beside Song Jingyao and made Song Jingyao grow accustomed to his presence.

But now, there was hope.

How could Shen Xiuzhu possibly remain calm?

He could not wait until the end of the workday.

Restless inside, he walked straight over and stopped in front of Song Jingyao’s desk.

Song Jingyao was a dedicated slacker.

Secretly playing on his phone during work was naturally one of life’s greatest joys.

He was startled when Shen Xiuzhu suddenly appeared.

Getting caught by his direct superior while slacking off—how could he not be nervous?

“What?”

Song Jingyao felt guilty.

Was his unlucky constitution really beyond saving?

Shen Xiuzhu did not beat around the bush.

“I looked up Colonel Heinz just now.

You… were you reading a boys’ love comic?”

This time, Song Jingyao truly exploded.

His eyes widened.

He looked like a little chick whose feathers had all puffed up, confused and panicked.

Stay calm.

Do not panic.

After his mind went blank for a moment, Song Jingyao quickly thought of a way to respond.

Making up a lie would definitely not work.

Shen Xiuzhu was not stupid and would see through it easily.

He could only mix truth with lies.

He put on a grave expression.

“So you found out after all.”

Shen Xiuzhu frowned and waited for him to continue.

Song Jingyao put on a serious face and immediately threw his cousin Su Ran under the bus.

“It is like this.

I found out that Su Ran has been secretly reading comics lately.

I was worried it would affect her grades, so I confiscated them.

Then I found that those comics were a little unusual, so I looked them up online.

I promised to keep her secret, so do not tell anyone.”

Shen Xiuzhu was not satisfied by the answer at all.

His frown deepened.

“You mean those comics belong to Su Ran?”

Song Jingyao nodded decisively.

“Yeah.”

The tiny person in his heart stood with hands on hips in triumph.

He had not lied.

Shen Xiuzhu’s expression suddenly darkened.

He asked coldly, “You read those comics?

Were they good?

Was that what you were hiding last time too?”

Song Jingyao was silent.

Three deadly questions in a row.

His survival instinct immediately shot upward.

He was supposed to be a cannon fodder character who would later compete with the male lead for the heroine.

If he were exposed as gay, would he even survive?

Song Jingyao jolted and shook his head hard.

“I was only curious and read a few pages.

They were not good at all.

Really!”

After hearing that, Shen Xiuzhu’s expression did not improve.

Instead, it became even worse.

Song Jingyao thought inwardly that it was fortunate he had reacted quickly.

Looking at the male lead’s expression, perhaps he was homophobic.

If he did not explain it clearly now, the plotline would definitely be ruined later.

Then Shen Xiuzhu asked in a low voice, “What do you think about homosexuality?”

Song Jingyao immediately straightened his back.

He looked as nervous as a student who had been caught sleeping in class and called on by the teacher.

He could not expose the fact that he was gay.

But he also would not say something completely against his conscience.

After thinking for a second, he gave a fairly neutral answer.

It was also the view held by most young people in society now.

What does it have to do with me?

That was it.

Other people were simply dating.

They were not breaking the law or harming his interests.

Why should he care?

He had plenty of other things to do.

After hearing his answer, Shen Xiuzhu suddenly fell silent.

It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or disappointed.

Song Jingyao had answered, so he secretly watched Shen Xiuzhu’s expression.

Seeing that he seemed lost in thought, Song Jingyao became curious and asked in return.

“What do you think?”

Shen Xiuzhu looked at him.

There was an unreadable meaning in his eyes.

His voice was low and hoarse.

“I think that as long as two people love each other, gender is not a problem.

They simply fell in love with someone.

They have not done anything harmful.

They should not be condemned or obstructed by society and forced to live in pain.

I support them.

I hope they can all find happiness.”

Song Jingyao was somewhat surprised by such a serious answer.

Same-s*x marriage had only been legalized not long ago.

Many people in society still could not accept it without reservations.

Even avoiding hurtful words was already considered friendly.

There were very few people who were as supportive as Shen Xiuzhu.

As expected of the male lead.

He was so open-minded.

Song Jingyao had just suspected that he might be homophobic.

He had really judged a gentleman by his own narrow heart.

Song Jingyao raised his hand and patted Shen Xiuzhu’s shoulder boldly.

“Young man, your ideological awareness is very high.”

With a laugh, he brushed the matter aside.

Song Jingyao felt that he had responded cleverly and safely protected his secret.

At the same time, he reminded himself to be more careful in the future.

Shen Xiuzhu was too observant.

He could infer a great deal from even the smallest clue.

That night, when Song Jingyao lay down to sleep, he remembered something.

Back in high school, he had nearly exposed his sexuality.

Adolescent boys were full of restless energy and curiosity about s*x.

A group of them gathering together to watch adult videos was completely normal.

To maintain his image, Song Jingyao naturally had to participate.

He even had to talk confidently and make suggestive comments afterward, as if he were very experienced.

But in reality, he was not excited in the slightest.

His heart did not stir at all.

He was so bored that he wanted to yawn.

The protagonists in those videos were naturally the women.

The men barely showed their faces so viewers could imagine themselves in their place.

As a gay man, Song Jingyao found it completely uninteresting.

To avoid seeming too different, whenever the others went to deal with their physical needs, he would also go to the bathroom.

There, he would watch gay adult videos on his phone by himself.

Every time, he had to delete the browsing history afterward.

It was all so secretive that Song Jingyao felt sorry for himself.

Once, he was in the bathroom at a particularly critical moment when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

At the same time, a low and pleasant male voice called his nickname.

“Yaoyao.”

Song Jingyao was somewhat sensitive to voices.

That voice was so attractive that he lost control for a moment.

His whole body trembled.

His phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.

He accidentally pressed the volume button, making the suggestive sounds from the video suddenly louder.

The sound was enough to make anyone blush.

Song Jingyao was terrified.

He fumbled around and did not know what to do.

In his panic, he tried to turn off the phone but slipped several times.

At that exact moment, Shen Xiuzhu called out again in confusion and casually opened the door.

f*ck.

Why had he not locked the door?!

Song Jingyao was so frightened that his soul nearly flew away.

He did not even have time to pull up his pants.

All he could think about was turning off his phone.

Embarrassed and angry, he shouted, “Do not come in!”

But unfortunately, Shen Xiuzhu had already entered.

Not only that, he had seen Song Jingyao’s pants half-pulled down, exposing most of his butt.

Song Jingyao pulled up his pants, quickly wiped himself with tissue, and glared fiercely at Shen Xiuzhu.

“What are you looking at?

Have you never gotten off before?”

He cleaned himself up quickly and pretended to wash his hands calmly.

Throughout the whole process, Shen Xiuzhu did not leave.

He seemed a little stunned.

Song Jingyao’s mind was a mess.

His gaze drifted around guiltily.

He did not dare look Shen Xiuzhu in the eye.

Naturally, he failed to see the deep, obsessive heat in Shen Xiuzhu’s eyes.

It was fierce and burning, like a beast that had spotted its prey and wanted to devour him whole.

Song Jingyao thought Shen Xiuzhu’s silence was only embarrassment from accidentally walking in.

Pretending that nothing had happened and quietly leaving seemed like the best choice.

But the moment he turned around to leave, Shen Xiuzhu suddenly leaned forward and cupped his face with one hand.

Song Jingyao’s eyes widened.

“…!!!”

He had just finished.

He was at his most sensitive.

It felt as though he would explode at the slightest touch.

The numb sensation from Shen Xiuzhu’s fingertips spread wildly across his body.

His scalp tingled, and he could not help trembling.

His face turned red.

He reacted strongly and shoved Shen Xiuzhu’s hand away.

Shen Xiuzhu avoided him.

Then he quickly pinched Song Jingyao’s earlobe.

Song Jingyao trembled again.

“You… are you looking for death?!”

Song Jingyao put on a fierce expression as he threatened him.

But his voice shook noticeably, and his ears were bright red.

There was not much intimidation in it.

Shen Xiuzhu stared at his pale earlobe, tinged with faint pink.

It was soft to the touch and so pretty that it made one want to bite it.

Shen Xiuzhu’s voice was hoarse, as if he were struggling to restrain something.

“…You got your ear pierced?”

Song Jingyao’s attention was immediately diverted.

So Shen Xiuzhu was questioning him about getting an ear piercing.

Song Jingyao instantly relaxed.

He lifted his chin and returned to his arrogant rich young master attitude.

“I got it because I wanted to.

It is none of your business.”

The next second, Shen Xiuzhu, still holding his earlobe, suddenly rubbed it twice.

“!!!”

Song Jingyao’s fur stood on end again.

He slapped Shen Xiuzhu’s hand away and shouted with a red face, “Do not touch me!”

This time, Shen Xiuzhu obediently withdrew his hand.

But there was a faint, ambiguous smile on his face.

Song Jingyao felt his scalp tingle under that gaze.

Was it just his imagination?

Why did the male lead’s eyes seem a little frightening?

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