Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 61
Chapter 61
Li Chengxiu was completely immobilized. However, except for a bitten tongue, he didn’t really suffer any injuries, so he got back to his senses only after a couple minutes.
When he came to it, he found himself lying on the sofa in the office. Xiao Ji was arguing with the company people whether to send him to the hospital or not.
Li Chengxiu’s tongue hurt, his chin hurt, and his mouth felt very uncomfortable, so he just let out a vague hum.
When everyone noticed that he was awake, they quickly surrounded him.
Xiao Ji looked worried and apologetic, and even a little aggrieved: “You…you woke up? How are you…? Are you alright?”
Li Chengxiu waved his hand, shook his head and got up.
“Do you still feel uncomfortable? Do you want to go to the hospital?”
Li Chengxiu shook his head again. As long as he could get up, why would he go to the hospital?
He took a sip of water, which made him hiss in pain as it touched his tongue.
Seeing that he was all right, his colleagues went on about their business. Before leaving, they said to Li Chengxiu, “Once you’re done resting, go to the boss.”
Li Chengxiu nodded, and when everybody was gone, he looked at Xiao Ji with an embarrassed expression and asked hoarsely, “What’s the matter with you? Why….did you get into a fight?”
Xiao Ji said angrily, “It was not my fault.”
Li Chengxiu sighed. At the moment when Xiao Ji opened his mouth, he somehow knew that he was going to say exactly that. He was a child after all.
Xiao Ji continued to rant: “They dropped a case of wine and then they wanted to blame me for it! Just because I’m new! Did they fucking think I was easy to bully?”
Li Chengxiu remembered that those people in the warehouse who were responsible for moving goods were not an educated bunch. Usually they were pretty ok to get along with, but a box of wine cost hundreds of RMB. In order to pay for it from their pocket, they would have to give up half of their salary for the month.
What they did was reasonable from their point of view. Since they all knew each other, they could just unanimously put the blame on the newby. The boss wouldn’t go as far as investigating the whole thing just for a couple hundred RMB, so they wanted to make Xiao Ji eat up the loss.
Li Chengxiu asked, “Who started the fight?”
Xiao Ji said confidently, “They cursed at me first.”
Li Chengxiu sighed. Facing such an ignorant child, he really had nothing to say for a while.
Xiao Ji was still angry: “These idiots! If it wasn’t your workplace, I would have annihilated them!”
Li Chengxiu’s face was pale. He stood up from the sofa: “I’m going to the boss.”
Everything went just as Li Chengxiu expected. Since he brought Xiao Ji into the company, he not only had to pay 600 RMB for the wine box but also 500 RMB to the injured parties. Not to mention that he also had to apologize to them.
When Xiao Ji found out all about it, his eyes were burning with anger and he shouted, “Why?” He obviously couldn’t deal with such an injustice, so he decided to go to the boss and clear things up.
Li Chengxiu was afraid that he would make trouble again, so he just dragged him outside.
He knew that Xiao Ji wouldn’t understand anything anyway. There were a lot of injustices in this world, and sometimes there was no clear answer to the question “Why?” Although one month’s salary has been completely wasted, at least Li Chengxiu got to keep his job.
Seeing that Li Chengxiu was quiet on the way home, Xiao Ji was so angry that his heart and lungs were about to explode.
He resentfully thought that he did nothing wrong. But still, he somehow ended up causing Li Chengxiu to lose money and be forced to apologize. What was this bullshit?
After they got home, he couldn’t bear it anymore, so he said to Li Chengxiu, “I’m sorry.”
He really felt sorry for what happened to Li Chengxiu.
He knew that it was not easy for Li Chengxiu to make money. He left early in the morning and returned late at night. Sometimes he even stayed at the office until three or four am. He carefully saved up, one dime at a time, just to be able to afford something extra for Teacup.
Xiao Ji didn’t understand it at first. Why was he so busy for a salary of merely 2000 RMB? In the past, if 2000 RMB fell on the ground in front of him, Xiao Ji wouldn’t even bother to pick it up.
But he gradually understood.
If he himself ran out of money, he could sell this and that. No matter how bad it was, he could still sell the watch his grandfather gave him, and it would be enough to have a decent life for a while. And if push comes to shove, he could always just make one phone call to solve all of his problems.
But for Li Chengxiu it was different. He diligently earned his money. If he earned even a little less, he might starve to death. Xiao Ji himself realized today how difficult earning money actually was. Just for a few RMB his waist now felt so sore it seemed to be close to breaking. He could really understand how hard Li Chengxiu had to work for everything he had.
He couldn’t help feeling a little sympathy for the man.
It took him long hours of work to earn just this amount, and Xiao Ji made him waste it all in one day.
Xiao Ji was very uncomfortable. Seeing Li Chengxiu’s depressed expression, he felt even more guilty.
Li Chengxiu glanced at him and said lightly, “It’s okay.” He was used to injustice, even kind of numb to it by now. He was just worried about the money at this point.
Xiao Ji stared blankly at his profile. Li Chengxiu’s face was very good-looking. Although the bridge of his nose was not high, it was very straight. His facial expression was also very moving.
Xiao Ji felt that he not only sympathized with Li Chengxiu but also felt a bit worried for him.
Li Chengxiu was silent for a long time. He was actually busily calculating the money he still had left.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a lot of savings, except for the emergency fund which he couldn’t touch. For somebody like Li Chengxiu who didn’t have a family or even a home, the fear of running out of money was really overwhelming.
Xiao Ji couldn’t stand the silence anymore. Since he felt very embarrassed, he gritted his teeth and just left.
Li Chengxiu didn’t bother stopping him. He really wasn’t in the mood to think about Xiao Ji at this time.
Xiao Ji didn’t come around for two days in a row, and Li Chengxiu didn’t particularly care.
On the third day, Xiao Ji came over right when Li Chengxiu was cleaning up the house.
As soon as Xiao Ji entered the room, he took out a bulging envelope tied by a rubber band and put it on the coffee table. He looked at Li Chengxiu with some expectation and said: “This is for you.”
Li Chengxiu didn’t know what it was, so he opened up the envelope only to see that there was a thick stack of money bills in it.
Xiao Ji looked at him cautiously and said, “It’s for you. Don’t be mad at me.”
Li Chengxiu asked in surprise: “Where… where did you get this from?”
Xiao Ji was so poor just the day before yesterday that he was forced to go to work. And now he was suddenly handing him all this money? Where did it come from?
Xiao Ji looked at Li Chengxiu’s suspicious eyes and knew that he was thinking that something was fishy: “Don’t imagine any nonsense! I didn’t steal it, and I didn’t rob anybody. I sold my watch.”
Li Chengxiu looked at the youngster’s wrist, and the watch was indeed not there anymore. He didn’t say anything, took out the money and counted out exactly 2000 RMB. He then pushed the rest back to Xiao Ji.
Xiao Ji pushed it back again into his hand: “You take the rest too. I’m going to eat here with you in the future.”
Li Chengxiu refused: “You won’t be able to eat so much.”
Xiao Ji stubbornly shoved the money into his hand: “If I tell you to take it, then take it! Please put more meat on the table in the future. I’m not a damn monk.”
Li Chengxiu puffed out a laugh.
Xiao Ji also couldn’t help laughing. Seeing Li Chengxiu’s radiant face, he was tempted to pinch his cheeks.
In the evening, while Li Chengxiu was cooking, Xiao Ji watched TV on the sofa. After watching it for a while, he felt bored, so he began playing around with Li Chengxiu’s mobile phone.
To be honest, there was not so much to play with, since it was an old model with a very basic 3 megapixel camera[1].
Xiao Ji had nothing else to do, so he flipped through Li Chengxiu’s gallery.
But there was only one photo there. Xiao Ji opened it and was immediately stunned.
In the photo, next to Li Chengxiu he saw quite a handsome and distinguished man seemingly in his thirties. Even on a photo of such poor quality one could see that the man was extraordinarily attractive. What actually stunned Xiao Ji was not so much the man himself but rather how he and Li Chengxiu were acting in the photo.
This was obviously a selfie. The man was kissing Li Chengxiu on the cheek, and Li Chengxiu was leaning into his arms, smiling shyly and avoiding looking into the camera.
Xiao Ji felt that his blood rushed to the top of his head all of a sudden. The phone now seemed like a hot potato to him, and he almost threw it away.
Three letters flashed through his mind: “G-A-Y”.
Such intimate behavior was unambiguous. In combination with Li Chengxiu’s girly appearance, it was easy to come to that conclusion.
Homosexuality was a familiar concept to Xiao Ji. He used to be on a basketball team and suffered a lot of same-sex harrassment there. As a result, he was more or less disgusted by the whole thing.
The thought of him spending more than two months under the same roof with a gay guy made him feel irrationally angry.
He always thought that Li Chengxiu was kind and nice to talk to, and he helped him a lot too. But after finding out about his sexuality, Xiao Ji couldn’t help but suspect that Li Chengxiu had ulterior motives.
At once, Li Chengxiu’s gentle and easy-going nature seemed to have an agenda underneath it, giving Xiao Ji a sense of annoyance that he had been deceived this entire time.
In addition to anger, another unclear emotion appeared in his chest. He didn’t have time to think about it. Instead, he abruptly stood up and approached Li Chengxiu in three big steps.
Li Chengxiu was right in the middle of frying vegetables, so he was a bit surprised.
Xiao Ji held the phone in front of Li Chengxiu, stared him right in the eye and asked, “What is this?”
Li Chengxiu was stunned for a while, looking at Li Shuo who was smiling gently in the photo. There was an immediate sadness in his heart.
If Xiao Ji hadn’t found it, he would have almost forgotten that there was still a photo of him and Li Shuo on his mobile phone.
Xiao Ji looked at Li Chengxiu’s slightly sad expression, and the little flame in his heart rose. He asked nonchalantly, “Are you gay?”
Li Chengxiu looked at the contempt that could not be concealed on Xiao Ji’s young face and felt a little aggrieved. He raised his hand to grab his phone.
Xiao Ji held the phone up higher and continued to ask, “Is this your boyfriend?”
Li Chengxiu was slightly startled and replied in a hoarse voice, “We’ve already…broken up.”
Xiao Ji didn’t know what to feel for a while. But he definitely felt somehow deceived and also so angry that he wanted to punch someone. He threw the phone at Li Chengxiu, turned around, slammed the door and left.
Li Chengxiu quickly picked up the phone and stared at the photo on the screen for a while.
He didn’t know how Li Shuo was doing now[2] and whether Shao Qun had fulfilled his promise to let Li Shuo off the hook. Li Chengxiu wondered if he was already back in China…
Li Chengxiu felt like he was near to tears. He gently stroked Li Shuo’s smiling face on the screen and silently looked at the photo for a very long time.
For the next three days, Xiao Ji did not appear anymore.
Although Li Chengxiu was a bit upset, he didn’t intend to explain anything. After all, they were just friendly neighbors. If Xiao Ji looked down on him, he really couldn’t do anything against it. Because Li Chengxiu was indeed gay.
He just couldn’t help feeling a bit sad.
Although Xiao Ji was impulsive and arrogant, his heart was in the right place. Besides, his youthful vitality and enthusiasm were really infectious. When Li Chengxiu spent time with him, he felt a lot younger. Besides, it was nice to have another person around for some company and to avoid loneliness. But now, this person despised him.
Li Chengxiu stuffed the money that Xiao Ji gave him into the crack of his door, since he thought that the guy wasn’t coming over in the future.
In the blink of an eye, it was summer. Li Chengxiu took advantage of his noon break to remit 1000 RMB to the person who took care of his mother’s grave in his hometown.
He hadn’t returned there since he left Beijing. On the one hand, the cost of the long journey was just too high. On the other hand, subconsciously he was unwilling to return to that place.
There were no good memories left there after all.
When Li Chengxiu got home that evening, he saw Xiao Ji standing on the balcony, obviously waiting for him.
Li Chengxiu came closer, and saw that the youngster’s face was not very good. Both of them were a little embarrassed to face each other.
Li Chengxiu still let him into his apartment.
Xiao Ji entered, looking a bit nervous. Li Chengxiu poured him a cup of tea, thinking that the youngster might want to say something to him, so he sat nearby and just waited.
The expression on Xiao Ji’s face showed his struggle. He hesitated for a long time before he finally said, “I can… try.”
Hearing such confusing words, all Li Chengxiu could say was: “What?”
Xiao Ji’s face turned slightly red and he repeated: “I can… try it with you.”
Li Chengxiu still didn’t get it: “Try what?”
Xiao Ji glared at him. It seemed that he had made up his mind about something, when he suddenly approached Li Chengxiu.
Li Chengxiu didn’t realize what he was going to do at first. When his mouth was already very close to his own, Li Chengxiu’s eyes widened and he pushed the guy away at once.
Xiao Ji was pushed back onto the other end of the sofa. Once he stabilized his body, he looked at Li Chengxiu angrily: “What are you doing!”
Li Chengxiu’s heart was pounding with fear: “What are YOU doing?”
Xiao Ji was annoyed and angry: “Isn’t this why you have been treating me so well? Why are you pretending now?”
Only then did Li Chengxiu finally understand what this youngster was thinking.
With some embarrassment he explained: “You misunderstood…I… I didn’t have that purpose.”
Xiao Ji stared at him.
Li Chengxiu smiled bitterly and said, “I took care of you because you are so young and because we are neighbors.”
Xiao Ji was really furious at this moment. His face turned red, and he jumped up in rage, feeling entirely humiliated.
He has given it a lot of thought these days. He thought that Li Chengxiu treated him really well, he was even quieter and gentler than a woman, he cooked delicious food, and he looked pretty good.
After thinking about it, Xiao Ji felt that he didn’t hate Li Chengxiu at all. Rather, he even kind of liked him. Although Li Chengxiu was a man, Xiao Ji was young and pretty open-minded, so it was not like he couldn’t accept it at all. If Li Chengxiu liked him, he could actually even give it a try.
He didn’t expect that Li Chengxiu didn’t actually have any intentions towards him. So didn’t Xiao Ji kind of make a fool out of himself for thinking too much all this time?
He had always been quite confident about himself, and it was normal for both men and women to like him. So he thought that Li Chengxiu, obviously, must like him. And now it turned out that he misunderstood?! Was there anything more embarrassing than this?
Xiao Ji shouted angrily: “Go to hell!” Then he rushed out the door, leaving Li Chengxiu stunned in the empty and silent room.
