Chapter 100 – I Love You for Who You Are
Hearing this, Ma Rui slammed his glass down. “How is that possible!”
Then, with great purpose, Ma Rui took out his phone. After fumbling with his fingers for a bit, he showed the screen to Xiao Fang.
Xiao Fang, hugging a wine bottle, couldn’t see clearly. It was just a blurry chat log interface.
Ma Rui slurred, “She… is someone I met… on a blind date last time. It has nothing to do with Que Jiang! Nothing at all.”
Xiao Fang nodded as if he understood, though he hadn’t really heard much. Ma Rui slowly put his phone away. Even drunk, he remembered the last few words of that chat. He had said they weren’t compatible, that it was better to be friends. He’d said it the day after he left home.
But now, it was useless to say anything.
“Brother Xiao, I… am straight,” Ma Rui said, picking up the bottle and taking another large swig. The bitter liquid was as bitter as the feeling in his heart.
Xiao Fang rubbed his face to wake himself up a bit. He glanced at Ma Rui dizzily. “What a coincidence, I’m gay.”
Ma Rui was stunned for a moment. The two looked at each other, dazed for a moment, and felt that what the other said made a lot of sense. They couldn’t help but laugh foolishly, each grabbing a bottle and starting to chug. It was a good thing they were in a private room. If they were out in the main area, these two oddballs would have definitely been taken away and eaten without a single bone left.
Despite being so drunk, Xiao Fang never forgot the matter that had been weighing on his mind. His consciousness was still firm.
At one in the morning, Fei Xiangnan came home. After not finding Xiao Fang in the master bedroom or any of the other rooms, Fei Xiangnan completely panicked. Where could he have gone? The only possible person came to Fei Xiangnan’s mind: Ma Rui.
He immediately called him, and just as he had guessed, there was no answer. Fei Xiangnan didn’t dare to hesitate. He set aside his various reservations and called Xiao Fang. After a long ringing tone, the call automatically disconnected. Fei Xiangnan felt like he was about to go crazy.
He pinched the web of his hand, forcing himself to calm down. He picked up his phone, ready to mobilize his subordinates for a city-wide search. His biggest regret right now was not having installed a tracker on Xiao Fang. That way, he would never have to worry about him getting lost.
Had he spoken too harshly today? Should he have been gentler? Where could he have gone at this hour? Or had he gone back to his original place? Just like that, without any hesitation? As Fei Xiangnan thought, a heavy gloom settled over his eyes. Desire and violence clashed, nearly driving him to lose his mind.
Fei Xiangnan’s face was grim as he expertly dialed a string of numbers. Just as he was about to press the call button, the doorbell rang.
Fei Xiangnan’s brow twitched. He strode over and looked through the peephole. He saw a drunken Xiao Fang.
Xiao Fang clearly didn’t realize he had a key. With a puzzled look on his face, he kept pressing the doorbell, his eyes fixed on the button.
“Isn’t this how you press it? Or do I have to?” Xiao Fang stood up unsteadily, cleared his throat, and shouted, “Open sesame!”
Even if this was a single-unit floor, he couldn’t let Xiao Fang embarrass himself so freely. Getting wasted and coming home in the middle of the night? To hell with “open sesame”!
Fei Xiangnan yanked the door open, dragged him inside, and pinned him against it, his hands almost crushing Xiao Fang’s shoulders. The fangs he hadn’t shown in a long time finally couldn’t be held back tonight.
“You dare to run away, and you even went drinking?”
Even in his drunken state, Xiao Fang’s body instinctively trembled when he saw Fei Xiangnan like this. It was a fear that came from the bottom of his heart. But alcohol gives cowards courage. This time, he didn’t completely lose in terms of presence. He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t lose his nerve at this moment. So, the extremely wronged Xiao Fang tilted his head, looked up, then looked back, giving himself a firm pep talk. Don’t cry!
“Don’t you have the guts to drink in the middle of the night? Why don’t you have the guts to explain yourself?” Fei Xiangnan felt he was being ridiculous, talking to a drunkard. How much could he understand right now? But his heart was just unwilling to let it go.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Fang didn’t just brush it off or speak incoherently. Instead, as if he had been rehearsing for a long time, he said the following words, “I drank… so I could say what I’m about to say. Today, I’m finally not a coward!”
Fei Xiangnan was so angry he laughed. “Oh? Not a coward anymore, are we? What do you want to say?” No matter what he said, he couldn’t escape the fate of a spanking.
Xiao Fang was dizzy and had momentarily forgotten about fear. He blurted out the words he had been bottling up for a long time, “I, Xiao Fang, am not some young master born with a golden spoon. I… I’m a wild child who grew up in an orphanage. I was even withdrawn as a child. I… want to raise Xiao Xu. It’s not an impulse. I lied to you. I… I’ve thought it through.”
Fei Xiangnan’s face showed no emotion as he continued, “You’ve thought what through?”
“I’m… the fake Xiao Fang. It’s normal for you to want a divorce. I… I’ve thought…”
Xiao Fang’s words were cut off in the next second. Fei Xiangnan dangerously cupped Xiao Fang’s face. He was smiling, but it sent chills down one’s spine. “Xiao Fang, you’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you? Bringing up divorce with me for such a reason? Or have you been thinking this way for a long time?”
Xiao Fang looked at Fei Xiangnan dazedly. The alcohol had finally worn off a little, and his heart couldn’t be numbed. It was throbbing with pain. “I don’t want to.”
“Are you just saying that to please me?”
Xiao Fang lowered his head and didn’t speak for a long time. After a while, he heard his sobs, and the sound grew louder and louder, finally turning into uncontrollable crying. But he still kept his head down, not letting Fei Xiangnan see.
The strength in Fei Xiangnan’s hands gradually lessened, eventually turning into a gentle embrace. The temper Fei Xiangnan had painstakingly built up was instantly dismantled by Xiao Fang’s crying.
“I don’t want to, but… I’ve been… I’ve been lying to you, and then… you misunderstand me. I wasn’t being impulsive. I… I survived in that environment since I was a child. It was very painful. I couldn’t… just watch Xiao Xu go through that. I… I couldn’t lie to you anymore. I… I’m so tired. I don’t want to be a liar anymore. I don’t want to lie to you!” Xiao Fang said, his face a mess of snot and tears.
Fei Xiangnan didn’t say anything more and just hugged Xiao Fang tightly. In truth, he had known for a long time. A person’s personality couldn’t change so quickly because of a single incident, let alone something like talent. Today, this little fool had finally told the truth. He could have used a gentler method, but because of this incident, all his plans had been moved up. In fact, he didn’t care at all whether the person he loved now was the real Xiao Fang. He just needed to know that from the budding of his feelings to their deep-rooted state now, it had always been this person.
“I’m not sending Xiao Xu away, and we’re not getting a divorce. Go to sleep for now. We’ll settle the score tomorrow.” In this drunken state, who knew what would happen if they continued talking.
Xiao Fang sobbed, his brain automatically filtering out the important information. “Settle… settle the score?”
Fei Xiangnan sneered. “Yes, settle the score.” He then lifted him up entirely. Because of the weight loss, he was incredibly light now. Lying to him was understandable, but drinking in the middle of the night was inexcusable. He had to be taught a good lesson!
Fei Xiangnan carried Xiao Fang to the bathroom, washed him thoroughly, and then carried him to bed.
Looking at his clean sleeping face, Fei Xiangnan brushed away the stray hairs from his forehead. His anger hadn’t completely dissipated yet, but it wasn’t the same as before. So Xiao Fang was a child from an orphanage. No wonder he had such a nostalgic expression when he saw the orphanage during the variety show. And no wonder he could understand that withdrawn child so well. At this moment, he could gradually understand the empathy Xiao Fang had for him before.
In a way, Xiao Fang was very similar to him. He had never had anyone to trust since he was a child, and he had been fighting alone all along. But he was gentler than him, learning to minimize harm, unable to bear seeing others get hurt, and crying his heart out when he knew he had lied to someone.
But for him, as long as Xiao Fang liked him, he was willing to be deceived about other things. As long as he didn’t hurt himself, didn’t court death, and didn’t make him worry.
Thinking of this, the still-angry Fei Xiangnan gave Xiao Fang’s bottom a light pat. The sleepy Xiao Fang felt a slight danger to his bottom and uneasily turned his back, burying his face in Fei Xiangnan’s chest. Then he covered his bottom with his hands. His self-preservation mechanism was working perfectly.
Seeing this person in his arms, Fei Xiangnan finally felt at ease and fell asleep holding him. If one day this person left him in any way, he might really go crazy.
The next day at noon, Xiao Fang woke up from his hangover. He could only remember the gist of what he had done last night, but the words “settle the score” were still fresh in his mind. Fei Xiangnan was not in the room. Xiao Fang got up and put on his shoes. He opened the bedroom door, and the aroma of food from outside immediately woke up his stomach. He was hungry, but when he saw a certain person at the dining table, he instantly cowered.
Just then, the study door opened, and Xiao Xu walked out with a detective novel.
Fei Xiangnan completely ignored Xiao Fang and said, “Now that you’ve chosen a book, go to the rooftop. Take care of Lang Lang and Nuomici while you’re at it. I’ve prepared matcha cake, milk tea, and some small snacks on the side. Don’t be greedy, eat in moderation, and be careful of cavities. Your brother and I have something to talk about. We’ll come up later.”
Although Xiao Xu had a certain dependence on Xiao Fang, having lived in all sorts of environments since he was a child, he was best at reading people’s faces. Xiao Xu gave Xiao Fang a reluctant look, hugged his book, and pattered up the stairs.
Xiao Fang swallowed hard and stood frozen in place, not daring to move an inch.
“Go brush your teeth first.”
Patter, patter, patter!
Xiao Fang immediately went to wash up obediently. He stayed in the bathroom for a full ten minutes before dawdling out. He looked at the table of food in front of Fei Xiangnan. Good heavens, besides a bowl of Kung Pao chicken, everything else was a sea of green: stir-fried cabbage, water spinach, cabbage, broccoli. This was definitely to torment him!
Alcohol gives cowards courage. Now that there was no alcohol, Xiao Fang was naturally a coward.
What was terrifying was that Fei Xiangnan then patted the seat next to him. “Come and eat.”
Xiao Fang, like a frightened rabbit, was scared but had to go over. He dawdled over, dawdled to pick up his chopsticks, and with great purpose, reached his chopsticks towards a certain meat dish. In the next moment, the Kung Pao chicken was pulled away.
“Hurry up and eat. You didn’t have breakfast.” Fei Xiangnan’s “kind” reminder almost made Xiao Fang cry out loud.
But succumbing to someone’s tyranny, he could only miserably eat the leaves. Xiao Fang chewed pitifully, looking no different from a rabbit.
“Which orphanage were you born in?” Fei Xiangnan asked slowly, his face serious.
Xiao Fang glanced at Fei Xiangnan cautiously but still decided to tell the truth. “Not in this world.”
Not in this dimension, huh! Fei Xiangnan, with his extremely high acceptance level, let him pass at once.
“Were you an actor before?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you get the guts to go drinking outside?” Fei Xiangnan’s line of questioning changed strangely.
Goosebumps instantly rose on Xiao Fang’s skin. “Huh? The… the previous one… isn’t that more important?”
“Don’t stop, keep eating.” Fei Xiangnan put another large helping of water spinach into Xiao Fang’s bowl. The taste was simply torturous. Xiao Fang ate it, bearing the humiliation.
“Answer the question,” Fei Xiangnan continued his interrogation.
Xiao Fang shrank back. “I wanted to tell you the truth, so I had to… build up some courage.”
“How did you get back?”
“I had already arranged for a driver. He dropped off Ma Rui first, then brought me back.” Xiao Fang confessed honestly, hoping for a lighter sentence later. From the current situation, Xiao Fang’s spanking was definitely unavoidable.
Fei Xiangnan sneered. “You thought it through quite well.”
At this moment, Xiao Fang didn’t dare to take any credit. Taking credit was asking for death.
“How many hits do you think is appropriate?” Fei Xiangnan finally brought up the main point.
As expected! Xiao Fang stood up like a rabbit and turned to run, but Fei Xiangnan stood up and grabbed his collar, turning Xiao Fang’s escape into running in place.
“Wuwu, I won’t do it again.” Fei the Coward promptly admitted his mistake, but this time it was too late.
“I can understand you lying to me. What I’m angry about is that you brought a child back without telling me, and then ran out to drink while I was in a meeting. If the meeting hadn’t been so long, what would I have done in the time I couldn’t find you?”
Faced with a serious and lecturing Fei Xiangnan, Xiao Fang hung his head.
“You just don’t trust me. If you had told me clearly from the beginning, I would have agreed to raise this child long ago. Don’t you know that yourself? I love you, not your status. If it were really the original Xiao Fang, we wouldn’t have ended up together. You didn’t even think to ask before you brought up divorce?” Fei Xiangnan said through gritted teeth.
Xiao Fang shivered. The tears that had just been moved out were forced back by the last sentence.
“How many hits do you think is appropriate?”
Xiao Fang turned around and looked at Fei Xiangnan with teary eyes, holding up three fingers.
Fei Xiangnan kindly interpreted, “Three hundred?”
Xiao Fang was so scared his hair stood on end. “Thir-thirty!”
Fei Xiangnan showed a contemptuous smile.
If he hit him thirty times, Xiao Fang’s two peaches would be done for. His brain spun rapidly, and then he said with a sob, “Last… last time on the variety show, you also kept it from me.”
Fei Xiangnan nodded thoughtfully. “Then let’s subtract two hundred and fifty. Fifty.”
Xiao Fang was ten thousand percent unwilling, but it was all drowned out by Fei Xiangnan’s loving education. In the end, amidst Xiao Fang’s wails, Fei Xiangnan very gently gave him “fifty hits,” not a single one less!
In the very end, Xiao Fang tearfully finished the all-meat feast that Fei Xiangnan had replaced the vegetables with. Eating after being hit was really not happy at all! Thinking this, Xiao Fang’s chopsticks didn’t stop for a moment.
That night, Xiao Fang, whose bottom still hurt, was held in Fei Xiangnan’s arms and started to whimper.
After finishing his lesson, the content Fei Xiangnan let Xiao Fang whimper as he pleased.
“If you dare to mention divorce again, I’ll make up for the remaining two hundred and fifty.”
“I thought you would be angry, then take away my property, and then throw me to Africa.” If that were the case, it would be better to bring it up first.
Fei Xiangnan seriously suspected what was going on in Xiao Fang’s head. As expected of an actor, look at that rich imagination.
Here, Fei Xiangnan also made a promise, “As long as the internal chip is the person I love, I won’t care about anything else. Xiao Fang, you don’t need to doubt these things, just as you don’t doubt your feelings for me. For me, having you is enough.”
Xiao Fang was once again moved by his man and fell asleep peacefully in his arms. This time, he was completely at ease.