Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 51
Chapter 51
Li Chengxiu stayed up all night and was completely dispirited the next day. He was staring at the report in front of him, feeling that the numbers were floating all over the page, and he couldn’t understand anything.
When it was time for his lunch break, he mustered up the courage to turn on his phone.
As soon as the phone was on, several missed calls and many text messages popped up.
Seeing that the messages were from the unfamiliar number, Li Chengxiu hesitated, before opening them.
“I miss you.”
“Chengxiu, I miss you.”
“I miss you.”
“I’m thinking about you all the time.”
Li Chengxiu couldn’t stand it anymore, so he quickly closed everything.
His eyes were sore and his legs felt soft, so he squatted down on the floor in the hallway.
Was Li Chengxiu someone who never learned from his mistakes? Even after being deceived by Shao Qun so many times, he still couldn’t help being moved by this inexplicable behavior.
Li Chengxiu raised his hand and fiercely slapped himself. A crisp sound immediately echoed in the hallway.
Shao Qun lied to him, but he couldn’t lie to himself.
This person only hurt him, insulted him, deceived him, treated him like a servant and a convenient bedmate and never respected him.
No matter what Shao Qun did or said now, it was all a sham and couldn’t be believed.
Li Chengxiu won’t believe it. He’ll never believe it.
Shao Qun was the most terrifying virus in the whole world. Only by staying away as far as possible could the wounds finally be healed, and Li Chengxiu could avoid making the same mistakes.
Li Chengxiu sniffed, tremblingly took apart his phone, removed the SIM card and threw it into the trash.
Shao Qun had never been so humiliated in his entire life.
No matter how much of a bastard he was, he couldn’t antagonize his father. Also, he was afraid that if he really pissed off his father and his sister, they would somehow take it out on Li Chengxiu, so he was forced to return home.
It’s just that every minute and every second of being separated from Li Chengxiu was a torment for him.
He couldn’t stop thinking about what Li Chengxiu might be doing right now. Was he with Li Shuo? What were they talking about? What were they doing? How happy they probably were spending time in places Shao Qun couldn’t see…
Shao Qun felt that his heart was completely empty.
General Shao had seized the opportunity to finally teach his son a lesson. As long as he was free, he would call Shao Qun over to scold and lecture him. Shao Qun wanted to return to Shenzhen several times, but his father didn’t give him any possibility to argue.
When General Shao was still in his active years, he was away from home almost all year round. Around the same time all his four children were born. He was outside the maternity ward only when Shao Qun was born. All the other times he was out on assignments.
In fact, he himself was not that feudal, that he only cared about having a son. General Shao actually thought that having daughters was very good – they were well–behaved and obedient. However, his wife felt guilty for having three daughters in a row and insisted on having a son. After giving birth to Shao Qun, her body began to fail. Later, she died when Shao Qun was only five or six years old.
General Shao was accustomed to giving orders all his life. His wife was the only link he had between him and his young children. When this link was gone, he found that he couldn’t communicate with his children at all, let alone understand how to get along with them.
Shao Qun was basically brought up by his three older sisters. Even though father and son lived under the same roof, they had very little communication.
He couldn’t understand Shao Qun’s cocky behavior of a pampered son from a wealthy family. Especially, he didn’t get all of his messy affairs. Of course, it’s not like he didn’t know what kind of morals his own son had but, no matter how young and frivolous he was, one day he was supposed to step on the right path.
But the current Shao Qun made General Shao completely exasperated.
When he tried to speak to him, Shao Qun would just sit there motionless with his head down and a soulless look on his face, making Old General Shao angry to no end.
In the evening, Li Wenxun came over to take Shao Qun out.
Xiao Sheng also heard that Shao Qun had returned to Beijing. He originally went back to Shanghai for New Year’s but he deliberately returned to Beijing just for Shao Qun’s sake.
Mr. Shao actually brought Shao Qun back to let him clear his mind from all the nonsense, so he was not very willing to let him go out. However, he didn’t want to be disrespectful to the younger generation.
Shao Qun got into the car without saying a word.
Xiao Sheng put a hand in front of his eyes and waved: “Hey, what are you thinking about? We’ve arranged everything.”
Shao Qun shook his head, nodded and finally just impatiently looked out the window.
Li Wenxun, who was sitting in the front seat, looked back at Xiao Sheng and showed an “I told you so!” expression.
When they were halfway there, Shao Qun suddenly took out his mobile phone and made a call.
“Hey, Xiao Zhou.”
“Mr. Shao, you have finally turned on your phone! We have a lot of decisions we’re not so sure about at the company…”
Shao Qun interrupted him, “Have you found out Li Chengxiu’s phone number and his place of residence?”
Xiao Zhou was stunned for a moment: “Mr. Shao, there are business iss…”
“I don’t care! Let my eldest sister take care of it. She can handle everything and manage all the decisions. Have you found out Li Chengxiu’s phone number and where he lives?”
“Well, we still have someone tailing Li Shuo. It’s just a question of time.”
Shao Qun said in a serious tone: “Hurry up, I need it as soon as possible.” After that, he hung up the phone.
The car fell silent for a long while. No one spoke again.
Li Wenxun and Xiao Sheng took Shao Qun to the club they used to frequent some time ago.
As soon as they entered the door, a gorgeous woman greeted them. Her eyes lit up when she saw Shao Qun: “Oh, Mr. Shao, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you here! Just yesterday Dongdong was talking to me about you. He’d be happy to know that you’re back.”
Shao Qun snorted indifferently, without even raising his eyes.
Li Wenxun waved at the woman: “Go and call our usual darlings to join us.”
The waiter led them into the private lounge, and Li Wenxun ordered drinks.
Shao Qun sat down at the very edge of the sofa, staring thoughtfully at his phone screen.
Xiao Sheng sat right next to him and pushed his arm: “Hey, Shao Qun!”
Shao Qun only made a soft “um” sound.
“What’s the matter with you? I heard that you had a fight with your old man because of Li Chengxiu.”
Shao Qun paused and then glared at him.
Xiao Sheng was both angry and amused: “What are you glaring at me for? Did I do something to you?”
Shao Qun took a sip of wine: “I can’t stay in Beijing any longer. Who knows what sweet lovey-dovey shit is going on between Li Chengxiu and that phony foreign devil? And my dad won’t let me go. Damn it!”
Xiao Sheng sighed: “Shao Qun, do you realize what you are doing right now? Last time in Shanghai I advised you on this issue, and you said you understood perfectly. So why has it come to this?”
Shao Qun shook his head: “You know shit, Xiao Sheng. Li Chengxiu… He is different from others.”
“No matter how different he is, he won’t be able to give birth to a son. Do you think it was worth it to offend Old Qi and embarrass your father in front of him?”
There was a visible struggle on Shao Qun’s face. After thinking for a while, he slowly said, “Xiao Sheng, you don’t understand. I…I really can’t let him go.”
Xiao Sheng was dismissive: “It’s only a matter of time until you can let him go. I don’t believe you actually care so much about him. At best, he’s just a novelty. There’s probably a few people in the world that you could really fall in love with…But most of the time, once the lust is satisfied, love is also gone. Do you remember A-Shan? He took pills and slit his wrists for his little girlfriend. And how did that end? He’s back on his horse again, living his happy life and flirting around. That’s how feelings work. When your mind is clouded by passion, you feel that the sky will collapse without the other party. But in a few years, when you look back on this, I’m afraid, you won’t even remember who Li Chengxiu is.”
Shao Qun looked at his transparent wine glass with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Maybe Xiao Sheng was right. Maybe the whole situation with Li Shuo just provoked him. Maybe he just couldn’t handle Li Chengxiu cuckolding him and that’s why he acted so impulsively. Maybe he just hadn’t gotten used to life without Li Chengxiu yet.
Xiao Sheng patted him on the shoulder: “You have a bad temper. The more you can’t get something, the more you want it. You’re just annoyed that you can’t get it. I know you too well. You’re now making a lot of noise, but once you get Li Chengxiu back, I guarantee you will be bored with him in a few days. It’s interesting to think about, isn’t it?”
Shao Qun felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart.
Was this really the case?
It did sound like him. He always had to fight and win. The more resistance he faced, the more interesting it got for him. If he couldn’t get someone, he absolutely had to get them. And afterwards, the freshness didn’t last long.
Was it the same with Li Chengxiu?
There was a knock on the door outside the lounge, and the beautiful woman from before brought in three handsome men and three charming women with her. As soon as they entered the room, they approached the guys sitting on the sofa.
One of the handsome young men called out, “Young Master Shao!” as soon as he saw Shao Qun.
Shao Qun raised his head and glanced at the guy. The face seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn’t remember who it was.
Seeing Shao Qun’s indifferent expression, the boy didn’t care at all. He obediently greeted Xiao Sheng with a courteous “Master Ke”, then sat down next to Shao Qun and gently took him by his arm:
“Young Master Shao, I am Dongdong. Don’t you remember me?”
Shao Qun didn’t pay any attention to him and continued drinking his wine.
Dongdong hurriedly refilled his glass and brought it right to his mouth.
Shao Qun took another sip of wine, suddenly grabbed Xiao Sheng’s arm, interrupting his conversation with the beautiful woman beside him, and asked hoarsely, “What if it’s not the case?”
Xiao Sheng was stunned by this brainless question: “What?”
Shao Qun’s gaze kept flickering, and he dazedly looked at Xiao Sheng for a long time before reluctantly letting go of his arm and getting up to go to the bathroom.
As soon as he entered the stall, Dongdong, who had followed him inside, locked the door behind them with a charming smile.
Shao Qun gave him a cold look and unfastened his zipper.
When Shao Qun was done relieving himself, Dongdong immediately squatted down and put his mouth on him, without bothering about cleanliness at all.
Shao Qun looked at the boy who was doing his best down there. The swirl of hair on his head was a bit similar to Li Chengxiu’s, and even this dark brown hair color reminded him of Li Chengxiu.
He tried his best to imagine that it was actually Li Chengxiu right now who was servicing him, but it didn’t work. Li Chengxiu wouldn’t be acting like that. He was always anxious and reluctant to do this for Shao Qun. His technique also wasn’t particularly skillful but Shao Qun still enjoyed it a lot.
That kind of inexperienced, clumsy, yet very sincere reaction of shyly trying to please him couldn’t be faked. No one has ever given to Shao Qun as unreservedly as Li Chengxiu did, and he never asked for anything in return.
There was only one such Li Chengxiu in the world. If he missed out on him, he would never meet anyone like that anymore.
Shao Qun’s heartache was unbearable, and he couldn’t even straighten out his waist. He kicked the boy away to the ground and said in a hoarse voice, “Scram.”
The boy was quite sensible. As soon as he figured out the situation, he immediately got up from the ground, turned around and rushed out.
Shao Qun’s eyes felt sore. He quickly turned on the cold water and splashed his face a few times. Looking at the haggard face in the mirror, he couldn’t even recognize himself for a moment.
This club was the place he most often frequented in Beijing. It should have been familiar and comforting, yet now he only felt bored.
What he wanted most was to spend a peaceful and warm night together with Li Chengxiu during such a lukewarm season. Without Li Chengxiu, Shao Qun suddenly had nowhere to go back to.
It’s not that he had never pursued arrogant and difficult beauties. People like that could arouse his desire to conquer every time, giving him an unexpected stimulation and a welcomed challenge. But before Li Chengxiu came along, Shao Qun had never thought of staying with just one person for the rest of his life.
Such a quiet person with a feeble presence had gradually entered his heart, taken root there and sprouted. And now taking him out was just as painful as gouging his heart with a knife.
When Shao Qun entered the lounge again, his friends looked up at him.
He said lightly, “I’m going back.”
Big Li stood up in front of him, frowning, “Xiao Sheng flew in here from Shanghai especially for you. It’s rare for us to get together once in a while. It’s kind of shitty of you.”
Shao Qun whispered: “I want to go back to Shenzhen.”
“What?”
“I’m going back to Shenzhen.”
Li Wenxun and Big Li looked at each other.
Xiao Sheng said: “Oh, don’t stand in the way of Master Shao! Have you forgotten that he can lock you up if he’s unhappy? It’s not like he hasn’t done something like this before.”[1]
Shao Qun ripped at his hair: “I have to go back to Shenzhen. I have to get Li Chengxiu back.”
Li Wenxun showed a particularly incomprehensible expression: “Are you even Shao Qun? Is this little sissy worth it? Are you not afraid that people will laugh at you?”
Shao Qun gritted his teeth and said, “Who the hell would dare to laugh at me? Besides, it’s better to be laughed at than watch him be together with someone else.” Shao Qun turned around and slammed the door before leaving.
He could understand why these guys would think that. After all, they were the same kind of people as he was. It was indeed laughable to hear about a man who got entangled in a gay love affair. But Shao Qun couldn’t care less anymore. He only knew that without Li Chengxiu, he would go crazy.
It was almost midnight when Shao Qun got back home, and Mr. Shao was just about to go to bed. He was surprised to see his son come back so early. But then Shao Qun stood upright in front of him and said, “Dad, I’m going back to Shenzhen.”
Mr. Shao raised his head slightly and squinted at him: “What do you intend to do?”
“I’m going back to Shenzhen. The first flight leaves tomorrow morning.”
Old General Shao hurriedly stood up from the sofa and said loudly, “What the hell is wrong with you? Did I let you go?”
Shao Qun’s face was expressionless: “I have to go.”
“For what? For that Li something?”
“I have business in Shenzhen that’s waiting for me. There are a lot of things going on in the company. I have to leave.”
“Pure bullshit! You’re leaving because of that… because of that… Are you not even ashamed of yourself? Are you trying to piss me off to death?”
Shao Qun just stiffly said: “I just told you. I have to go back.”
Mr. Shao was really angry. He wandered around the living room, picked up his golf club and used it to hit Shao Qun’s knee socket. Shao Qun immediately knelt down on the ground.
Mr. Shao then beat his back with the same golf club.
Shao Qun gritted his teeth and endured it silently.
The housekeeper aunty who was resting in the nanny’s room at the time hurried out after hearing weird sounds. She had taken care of Shao Qun for more than ten years, and when she saw him being beaten up like that, she felt very distressed.
“Master, master! Stop hitting him! Stop it! You’re going to break his back!”
Mr. Shao turned a deaf ear to her cries and didn’t show any mercy at all.
Shao Qun’s back felt on fire, and he could already taste blood between his lips and his teeth.
The housekeeper couldn’t stop the Old General, so she rushed back into her room, took out her mobile phone and called Shao Wen.
By the time Shao Wen came over in the middle of the night, General Shao was so tired that he was panting on the sofa, while Shao Qun was still kneeling on the ground.
When Shao Wen saw her brother like that, she almost started crying. She carefully tried to calm her father down.
Mr. Shao locked Shao Qun up in his room. There were people standing guard outside the gate of the house, and there was no shortage of other people watching his movements.
After Shao Qun was locked up, he refused to cooperate with the doctor in regards to his back injury and he also refused to eat.
His old man was his old man after all. He couldn’t directly go against him but he wanted to see who would give in first.
After he had stayed locked up in his room for two days already, assistant Zhou finally took the initiative to contact him and give him Li Chengxiu’s new mobile phone number.
Shao Qun stared at the number and hesitated for a long time before summoning the courage to call him.
Li Chengxiu’s gentle voice came from the other end of the phone: “Hello?”
Shao Qun felt that there were thousands of words stuck in his throat, and he was speechless for a while.
The other side said another doubtful “Hello”, and Shao Qun cautiously called out, “Chengxiu.”
The phone was hung up without hesitation.
Shao Qun almost started crying.
He reluctantly called that number over and over again until the other end was turned off.
Shao Qun just wanted to hear Li Chengxiu’s voice. But Li Chengxiu didn’t want to hear his voice anymore.
Shao Qun tremblingly typed “I miss you” and sent it.
These three short words were like a password to the sealed box of Shao Qun’s emotions. Now that it was open, he suddenly realized what it was like to have a complete and utter emotional breakdown.
He typed in and sent “I miss you” over and over again, as if to pass on all his thoughts, regrets, grievances, and sadness he was feeling right now, begging the other party to give him some sympathy and response.
Shao Qun’s vision got blurry, and he suddenly couldn’t see anything.
