Chapter 5
Edward Quan ·
“My boyfriend.”
There was laughter in his voice, and a hint of coaxing.
“Mess up the part, and you'll have to take responsibility for the rest of your life.”
I had no reason to refuse.
Or rather… I didn't want to.
That was how Lu Ciyan and I became a couple, in a way no one could have predicted.
We didn't announce it.
At work, we were still fierce rivals.
We could argue over a project in a meeting until we were red in the face.
But at home, we were the closest of lovers.
He cooked for me; I helped him with documents.
We sprawled on the sofa together, watching dull movies.
Or did nothing at all, just held each other and listened to each other's heartbeat.
Living this double life was as exciting as it was sweet.
Once, Zhu Zihang came over and found Lu Ciyan cooking in an apron.
His jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Holy shit, Mo! You actually tamed him?”
I raised an eyebrow, pleased with myself.
Lu Ciyan brought out a plate of fruit and set it on the table.
He looked at Zhu Zihang, then at me.
“Darling, who's this?”
The word was so sugary it gave me goosebumps.
Zhu Zihang shuddered, then looked at me in awe.
“Boss, let me bow down!”
I basked in the admiration, delighted.
Only after Zhu Zihang left did Lu Ciyan show his true colors.
He pressed me down onto the sofa and caught my chin.
“Getting bold, aren't you, Lin Mo?”
“Making me play the little wife in front of company?”
I drew my neck in.
“I… didn't.”
“No?” His eyes narrowed. “Then who looked so smug just now?”
“I don't care.” He bent and bit my lip. “You're making it up to me tonight.”
There was a hint of punishment in his kiss, but I lost myself in it all the same.
Fine. I'd make it up to him.
Like I was scared of him.
The west-side project went to Lin Group in the end.
I drank quite a bit at the celebration.
Lu Ciyan came to pick me up.
He helped me into the car and handed me water.
“Look how happy you are.”
There was a trace of jealousy in his voice.
I laughed and kissed him.
“Of course. I snatched this project right out of your hands, Mr. Lu.”
“Yes, yes. You're the best.”
He fastened my seat belt, his voice indulgent.
I leaned back and watched the city lights slide past.
“Lu Ciyan.”
“Mm?”
“What… are we, exactly?”
“What do you mean?”
“Lovers or rivals?”
I'd been thinking about it for a long time.
He took my hand and rested it on his thigh.
“Rivals and lovers.”
“In business, we're each other's strongest competitors. That makes us both better.”
“In life, we're each other's one and only. That makes us both more complete.”
Suddenly, I understood.
Of course.
Why did there have to be a hard line between the two?
Knowing that we mattered more to each other than anyone else was enough.
“Lu Ciyan, when did you learn to sweet-talk like this?”
He chuckled.
“It comes naturally with you.”
His parents eventually discovered our relationship.
It was a weekend. We were both still lazing in bed when the doorbell rang.
Thinking our food had arrived, I ran to answer it in my pajamas.
Only to find Lu Ciyan's parents outside.
They looked at me, then behind me at Lu Ciyan, who was also in pajamas and still looked half asleep.
The air turned excruciatingly awkward.
I wanted to dig a hole and disappear.
Lu Ciyan finally broke the silence.
Drawing me behind him, he spoke calmly to his parents.
“Dad, Mom. This is Lin Mo, my boyfriend.”
His father flew into a rage.
He pointed at Lu Ciyan, so angry he couldn't speak.
His mother looked just as incredulous.
“Ciyan, you… don't do anything foolish!”
“I'm not.” His voice was firm. “I'm serious.”
“We're together.”
We talked for a long time that day.
About how we'd gone from rivals to lovers. About our plans for the future.
I was so nervous my palms were slick with sweat.
But Lu Ciyan held my hand the entire time, steadying me.
In the end, his father stormed out and slammed the door.
His mother looked at us and sighed.
“You two… give me some time to think.”
We both expected a long wait before the Lu family accepted us.
To our surprise, his father asked to see me the very next day.
At a teahouse.
He wasn't agitated as he had been the day before.
He just drank his tea in silence.
Not knowing what to say, I sat quietly with him.
After a long while, he spoke.
“What do you like about Ciyan?”
I paused, then gave it serious thought.
“I don't really know.”
“I just know… that whenever he isn't with me, it feels as though something's missing.”
“When he was playing dumb, I found him a nuisance. But when he really disappeared, I looked everywhere for him.”
“When he went back to normal and challenged me, he made me furious. But if something I said made him happy, I was happy too.”
“I think… that's what it means to like someone.”
By the time I'd finished, I was smiling.
Without my noticing, Lu Ciyan had taken over my entire heart.
His father's expression softened a little.
“He's been stubborn since he was a boy.”
“Once he makes up his mind, there's no shifting him.”
“He's chosen you… What more can I say as his father?”
He set down his cup and stood.
“From now on, I'm entrusting Ciyan to you.”
“Be good to him.”
Watching his retreating back, I felt my nose sting.
I stood and bowed deeply.
“Thank you, sir.”
Once things were settled with his family, it was time for mine.
Compared with the fierce resistance from the Lus, my family took it remarkably calmly.
After hearing me out, my father asked only one question.
“That Lu boy. Is he good to you?”
I nodded vigorously.
“Yes. He's very good to me.”
My father grunted.
“Then that's enough.”
“It's your relationship. You two decide.”
“As long as you're happy, we have no objections.”
My mother held my hand, her eyes red.
“Mo, you've finally found someone who can keep you in line.”
“…Mom, am I actually your son?”
And just like that, we had everyone's blessing.
Lu Ciyan and I could finally stand openly beside each other.
When our companies found out, everyone was stunned.
After that, no one dared try to set us against each other in meetings.
They knew that once the doors closed, we were family.
However fiercely we argued, we'd still be sharing a bed that night.
23
After a holiday together, we bought a house with a yard.
We began a sort of retirement, tending flowers and plants.
Lu Ciyan loved gardening.
He filled the yard with all kinds of flowers.
My favorites were the roses, their blooms large and brilliant.
He said they were called “Juliet,” one of the most expensive varieties in the world.
“But however much they cost, they could never be as precious as you.”
He was always saying things like that, making an old man like me blush and my heart race.
Our days followed a steady rhythm.
We walked together, shopped together, cooked together.
After meals, we sprawled on the sofa and watched old movies.
Or did nothing. Just sitting quietly beside each other and listening to the wind outside was lovely enough.
Sometimes we went through old albums.
We pointed at photos of our younger selves and laughed until we couldn't stop.
“Look at you back then. Skinny as a monkey,” Lu Ciyan said.
“And you? You were so cold, who dared get anywhere near you?” I shot back.
We bickered noisily, but there was warmth in it.
I knew we were both loving each other in our own way.
24
I'd been very lucky in this life.
At the best of times, I'd found Lu Ciyan.
Like a ray of light, he'd illuminated my ordinary life.
He'd taught me what love meant. What responsibility meant.
He put up with all my faults and supported every decision I made.
He spoiled me into a child who never wanted to grow up.
Our friends all said he'd spoiled me rotten.
What they didn't know was that, with me, Lu Ciyan was a child too.
He could get jealous because I'd spent an extra moment looking at a dog by the road.
Or fuss helplessly over me when I was ill.
We were lovers, and we were each other's support.
We had made each other part of our very lives.
Meeting him, knowing him, loving him, and staying beside him was the greatest good fortune of my life.
25
Late at night, I lay in a rocking chair and looked at Lu Ciyan, asleep beside me.
He still held a financial magazine he hadn't finished.
Soft lamplight fell across his face, revealing the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
Time had left its marks, but it had brought maturity too.
I gently took the magazine from his hand and tucked the blanket around him.
His phone suddenly lit up.
A notification:
【A stock on your watchlist has hit its daily limit up.】
I stared, then laughed.
The old man was asleep and still worrying about stocks.
I put on my earphones, intending to listen to music.
For some reason, I opened his music player instead.
The first item in his recent history was a recording.
Curious, I tapped it.
A familiar melody began, accompanied by his voice, a little hoarse but still gentle.
It was a recording from a very long time ago.
“This song is for the person I love most—Lin Mo.”
“Thank you for coming into my world and loving me for a lifetime.”
Tears fell before I knew it.
So… he remembered everything.
I took his hand, laced our fingers together, and kissed the back of it softly.
“Good night, my Mr. Lu.”
As if he'd heard me in his dreams, his lips curved faintly.
“Good night… my darling,” he murmured.
A lifetime with him was all I needed.
The End
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