The Price of a Confession, and a ‘Broken’ Phone

In the evening, Si Xi hosted a dinner gathering for Da Niu and the employees who had worked overtime that day.

His main car was being used by Jing Chen, and while he owned a small sports car, he hadn’t driven it today, having taken a taxi directly from the hotel. To reach the dinner venue, he would need another taxi.

Fortunately, it was still early, well before rush hour, making it easy to hail a cab.

As he waited for his ride, a sports car glided to a slow stop right in front of Si Xi. The person in the driver’s seat pushed their sunglasses onto their head, revealing Huo Siyuan’s youthful face.

“Hey.”

‘Why is this person so persistent, like a lingering ghost?’

Si Xi was momentarily speechless. The mysterious and aloof image of the richest man had been dragged down to earth by this Young Master Huo the Third.

‘And this Young Master Huo the Third couldn’t have been waiting for him here all afternoon, could he? He must have too much time on his hands.’

‘If he were the richest man, he’d send this rebellious nephew to pioneer a new life in Africa.’

Young Master Huo the Third inexplicably sneezed, rubbing his nose before asking, “Where are you headed? I can give you a ride.”

“No need, my taxi has arrived.”

Si Xi moved to leave, but Huo Siyuan called out to him again.

Huo Siyuan pulled out his phone. “You and I are practically friends by now. Let’s exchange WeChat IDs.”

‘Who’s friends with you?’

However, Si Xi considered it. ‘He can’t exactly worm his way into my phone to snoop on Jing Chen’s WeChat anyway.’

‘Besides, as rivals in love, it’s always best to know your enemy to ensure victory.’

“Fine, then.”

Si Xi said, displaying his QR code for Huo Siyuan to scan. Once Huo Siyuan had scanned and confirmed the addition, he waited for Si Xi to accept before putting his sunglasses back on.

Before leaving, he glanced at something in the distance. “Do you know that bald guy?”

Si Xi paused, then realized that the “bald guy” Huo Siyuan was referring to was Da Niu, the newly hired expert.

‘And he only has a receding hairline; he’s hardly bald.’

“He’s a friend of mine. Why?” Si Xi asked, a touch irritably.

“Nothing, I just found him a bit familiar but couldn’t place him immediately. My gut feeling tells me he’s not a good person.”

“…”

Si Xi was too exasperated to even roll his eyes. ‘You look even less like a good person,’ he thought.

****

Soon, the group arrived at the restaurant. Si Xi gave his phone number, and a waiter led them to the private room they had reserved in advance.

Just as they reached their private room, the door to the adjacent room opened. Shao Xun emerged, looking dejected, but his expression instantly transformed into surprise and delight upon seeing Si Xi.

“Xiao Shi!”

‘Si Xi was utterly speechless. Was Yanjing really so small that he ran into acquaintances everywhere?’

He didn’t want to deal with this loser. As he lifted his foot to enter the private room, Shao Xun blocked his path. “Did you come here specifically to eat today because you remembered that it was on this very day last year that I confessed my feelings to you here?”

“…”

These words were like water splashing into hot oil, drawing curious, gossipy glances from the other studio employees.

Si Xi whispered to Xie He, “You all go in first.”

Xie He had met Shao Xun before. He didn’t know what had transpired between Si Xi and him, but he knew to blindly support his brother.

Hearing Si Xi’s words, he glared fiercely at Shao Xun before leading the others into the private room.

After everyone had gone inside, Si Xi crossed his arms and looked at Shao Xun. “If I’m not mistaken, we’re no longer involved, are we? Who exactly are you trying to disgust here?”

Last year, the Shao and Xi families had a strong inclination for a marriage alliance. Si Xi had gone out with Shao Xun a few times during the summer and had thought he was a decent person.

Consequently, Shao Xun chose a day to invite him to dinner and formally confessed his feelings, and from then on, their relationship was established.

Heaven bore witness, Si Xi genuinely couldn’t recall the exact date.

Furthermore, there were only a few high-end restaurants around their school, and this was the only one with a good reputation. He frequented this restaurant dozens of times a year; who the hell would care that Shao Xun had once confessed to him here?

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I… I also just happened to remember that I successfully confessed here on this day last year, and I just came here on a whim. Running into you by chance, I assumed you felt the same way.”

“Well, I’m afraid I’ve disappointed you then. I’m not that pathetic.”

“…”

Si Xi felt there was no more pointless talk to be had with Shao Xun. Too lazy to even spare him another glance, he turned and entered the private room.

Shao Xun instinctively took two steps to follow, almost getting his nose slammed by the closing door of the private room.

He didn’t understand what was happening to him. Even though he was already with someone he liked, he couldn’t help but recall moments with Si Xi.

Moreover, he used to see Wang Yang as his ‘white moonlight,’ and during Wang Yang’s three years abroad, he had unconsciously idealized him, adding various filters to his memory. Now, upon their reunion, he realized that Wang Yang was not as wonderful as he had imagined.

Constantly comparing him to Si Xi, he found that Wang Yang fell short in every aspect…

Shao Xun stood dazed at the doorway for a while, only turning to leave after passing waiters gave him strange looks.

When it was time to pay, he attempted to cover Si Xi’s bill as well. To his surprise, the waiter let out a dry chuckle. “Mr. Xi specifically instructed us that his bill does not require anyone else to pay for it. He said… *cough*, if one wants to ‘lick’ something, they should ‘lick’ elsewhere; he finds it dirty.”

Shao Xun: “…”

****

Welcoming new employees naturally involved drinking, but Si Xi’s tolerance for beer was only about three glasses. No one even needed to pressure him; he typically collapsed during the celebratory toasts.

The other studio members were well aware of his low alcohol tolerance and never included him in their drinking games.

Si Xi, eyes narrowed, pulled out his phone and began to ‘harass’ Jing Chen.

[You Can’t Be Serious: Your little darling suddenly appears.jpg]

[You Can’t Be Serious: Ooh, baby, I miss you so much.jpg]

Jing Chen was currently at a ranch in the suburbs, having just finished a polo match.

He reined in his horse, dismounting with a graceful flip. The stablehand promptly approached, respectfully taking the reins of his horse.

His playing partner was Liang Lingyun, the owner of the ranch and a close friend. After dismounting, he let out a long breath.

Taking a tissue from the caddy to wipe the sweat from his forehead, Liang Lingyun remarked with a hint of indignation, “I thought after half a year away from the game, I might finally beat you. Who knew you’d be even more formidable today?”

Jing Chen removed his gloves, tossed them to the caddy, and uttered three words: “You’re just bad.”

Liang Lingyun felt a stab of pain.

‘Talent like that, it’s incomparable.’

Moreover, the players accompanying them knew Jing Chen tipped generously, so they played as if their lives depended on it, each one more ruthless than the last.

‘Oh, well…’

‘Money, too, is beyond comparison.’

Jing Chen entered the changing room, showered, changed back into the casual clothes he had arrived in, and took his phone from his pocket. Skipping past a few missed calls, he saw the WeChat messages Si Xi had sent five minutes ago.

The first message was normal, but the second was a little mushroom-headed figure suddenly leaning close to the screen, puckering its lips for a kiss. Jing Chen felt his eyes had been assaulted.

A hint of cold mockery touched his lips.

‘Is he missing me, or does he want to sleep with me?’

He didn’t reply, putting his phone in his pocket. As he walked out of the changing room, Liang Lingyun, who was waiting outside, saw him emerge and said, “They’ve delivered some fresh matsutake and black truffles. Let’s have dinner here.”

Jing Chen grunted in assent.

Entering the ranch’s restaurant, where the aroma of roasted meat already permeated the air, they saw a handsome mixed-race youth gracefully placing slices of matsutake onto a small grill with a pair of tongs.

Liang Lingyun said, “This is my nephew, Liang Yi. He just watched you play polo and deeply admires you. He’s also better at polo than I am, so perhaps you two can have a match sometime.”

Jing Chen offered no comment, simply walking in and taking a seat in the chair a waiter pulled out for him.

****

Si Xi waited for a long time, receiving no reply from Jing Chen, his brows furrowed in frustration.

Suddenly, he stood up and walked out.

The others, in the throes of their drinking, assumed he was going to the restroom and paid him little mind.

Si Xi walked all the way outside. Next to the restaurant was a phone shop, and he entered it.

“Hello, welcome!” the sales associate greeted him warmly.

Si Xi placed his phone on the counter. “My phone’s broken. Give me a new one.”

The sales associate glanced at his phone, noticing it was the latest model of a certain popular brand, released just this July. ‘Could its quality really be that poor?’

However, there was no reason to turn down a walk-in customer. She immediately began recommending several new phone models to Si Xi.

Si Xi, still a bit muddled, chose the most expensive one.

He paid, inserted the SIM card, downloaded apps, logged into WeChat, opened Jing Chen’s chat window, and confidently began typing.

Jing Chen politely declined Liang Lingyun’s offer to open a bottle from his private collection, citing his need to drive. He sipped the lemon water in his glass, absently listening to Liang Yi recount anecdotes from his life at his grandmother’s house in Country E. The phone on the table vibrated twice more.

He picked it up.

[You Can’t Be Serious: Hmph, my phone just broke, so I couldn’t get your messages. I got a new one.]

“…”

Jing Chen expressionlessly turned off the screen. However, after a few dozen seconds, he opened WeChat again and typed.

[Jing Chen: Are you done with your business?]

[You Can’t Be Serious: Wow, I really did get messages after changing phones!]

[You Can’t Be Serious: Am I a genius or something?]

[Jing Chen: …]

[You Can’t Be Serious: I’m almost done with work, just socializing now.]

Jing Chen immediately understood.

He had, after all, witnessed Si Xi’s alcohol tolerance.

‘Calling him a ‘three-cup lightweight’ was giving him too much credit.’

[You Can’t Be Serious: Are you free later?]

“…”

Jing Chen again expressionlessly turned off the screen. ‘Sure enough, he never strays from the main topic for more than three sentences.’

‘He wants to sleep with me again.’

“President Huo,” Liang Yi asked hesitantly, seeing him put down his phone, “will you be returning to the city later?”

“Why?” Jing Chen asked.

Liang Yi said with a touch of embarrassment, “It’s just that I’m not very used to driving and road conditions in China. Could you possibly give me a ride?”

Jing Chen had finished most of his meal. He stood up, picked up his car keys, and said, “Let’s go.”

Liang Yi’s face lit up, and he quickly stood.

After bidding farewell to Liang Lingyun, Jing Chen and Liang Yi left the ranch in a sightseeing cart. Upon reaching the outer parking lot, Jing Chen told Liang Yi to wait by the roadside while he retrieved his car. Liang Yi obediently waited, and before long, a car drove up and honked at him.

Before he could even wonder why Jing Chen would be driving a Volkswagen, the car window rolled down, revealing the face of a young man, one of the polo caddies.

“Hello, Mr. Liang Yi?”

Liang Yi responded with an indifferent “Mm.”

Receiving an affirmative answer, the young man smiled. “Mr. Huo said you’re heading into the city and asked me to give you a ride. Get in.”

Liang Yi: “…”

Jing Chen strode quickly to the parking spot. He was still driving Si Xi’s green-wrapped Panamera. As soon as he got into the car, another message from Si Xi arrived.

[You Can’t Be Serious: How come I’m not getting messages again?]

[You Can’t Be Serious: Bro, wait up, I’ll have the sales associate get me another new phone.]

“…”

Jing Chen was sorely tempted to reply, ‘Maybe it’s a signal issue; you might as well switch to a satellite.’

His fingertips tapped lightly on the phone screen. After a long moment, he resignedly typed a reply.

[Jing Chen: Where are you? Send me your location.]