Part Twelve: Brothers (4)

Xia Zhi devoted all of his enthusiasm to this task, not only casting a net within his close friends and acquaintances in search of a suitable candidate, but going so far as to register on a dating website. He posted all of Magician’s requirements but unfortunately he didn’t have a photo of Magician so there was a lack of inquiries.

“Give me a picture of Magician.”

“Why do you need his picture?” Recently, Ye Qia had been leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. The two of them practically never came across each other. When they finally caught a meal together, Xia Zhi brought this up. Ye Qia asked strangely, “You’re not going to use it for a voodoo doll, are you?”

With an expression full of black lines, Xia Zhi exclaimed, “No way!” Then added, “At most, I’d color his teeth black or something.”

Ye Qia rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just tell me what you need it for?”

Xia Zhi suddenly grew red as he stammered, “For a dating site.”

Ye Qia paused mid-chew and frowned, asking with a mouth full of food, “For what?”

“A dating site.”

“You signed him up for a dating site?” Ye Qia finally swallowed the spinach in his mouth and asked with a strange look, “Dating site? Just how keen are you on this?”

“Why can’t I be?”

“Because if things don’t work out, you can get fucked to death by me.” Ye Qia was completely incredulous. “You would give up a perk like that? Are you okay?”

Xia Zhi had no way of refuting this, other than the fact that he had underestimated his own resolve and jealousy.

“Just watch me!” Xia Zhi hurriedly shoved his bread in his mouth and said angrily, “I’ll definitely sell him off!”

Ye Qia declined to comment, slowly chewing as he stared at Xia Zhi. The one being stared at was completely unaware, throwing his whole self into this “project,” seeing Magician as a thorn in his side. So long as this thorn wasn’t pulled out, he wouldn’t rest.

Seemingly moved by his determination, Ye Qia actually gave him a picture of Magician where he was on some balcony, perhaps secretly taken. Magician wasn’t facing the camera, but staring off into the distance with an expression of melancholy. There was a hint of sadness in his features as if he was thinking of someone.

Xia Zhi was a bit stunned after receiving this picture, looking at it for some time before saying, “Who took this photo?”

“I did.”

“What? Xia Zhi’s eyes widened and he stared at the picture some more. The longer he looked, the closer his brows drew together. “When?”

“A long time ago.”

Xia Zhi slowly narrowed his eyes and raised his chin, looking ready to explode at any moment. “You took a photo of Magician, kept it for so long, and it’s even in such a style. The picture looks really old…well okay, not that old, but what’s the meaning of this?”

Ye Qia answered calmly as if he’d been prepared, “I even won an international photography award before.”

“You even do photography?”

“Yes, do you want to see my works?”

“Alright.”

Afterwards, Xia Zhi followed Ye Qia to that “villa playroom” and looked at all kinds of “naked art portraits” for an entire afternoon. It was a magnificent scene with close-ups of the human body filling the walls. There were men and women and people of every color and race, even someone who’d been dyed blue.

Admittedly it was a rare sight to come by, but after he emerged from the basement, he was ready to collapse.

“Too fucking weird!” He let out a deep breath and said in exasperation, “Why did you take so many photos?”

“Are you disgusted?”

“A little.”

“Frightened?”

“Somewhat. I want to hit someone.”

Ye Qia didn’t take offense, nodding as he said, “Oh, then it’s a success.”

With a blank look, Xia Zhi asked, “What?”

“I have a client who wants to roleplay being captured by a psychopath, so I set up such a place.” Ye Qia said with satisfaction, “Since you find it perverse, the mood should be enough.”

Xia Zhi said in annoyance, “You brought me here just to be your test subject?”

“Didn’t you previously tell me not to test things out on others? That you have a high tolerance for experimentation and I can test on you as I please. Who was it that said this?”

Xia Zhi opened his mouth, then swallowed his excuses, saying, “So is your photography award fake?”

“Certainly not.” Ye Qia looked through the storage closet and actually pulled out a trophy and certificate. He handed them over to Xia Zhi and said, “I thought about being a photographer in the past, later I ended up dropping the idea.”

Xia Zhi received the items for a look and asked, “These are fake, right?”

Ye Qia glared at Xia Zhi. “In any case, I’ve given you a picture. Get on with your business.”

“No problem!”

Xia Zhi began to be very busy. Every weekend he was swamped. He rushed off first thing in the morning, bringing all sorts of men to cafes, tea shops, Western restaurants, and all sorts of places. He even scheduled a meet up at a flower shop, standing there for a full hour with a bouquet of roses for the blind date. It happened to be raining that day and he was soaked to the bone.

In the end, Magician came and exchanged a word or two before leaving. As he left, he drove away rather fast, drenching Xia Zhi in muddy water. Xia Zhi returned home and threw a tantrum at Ye Qia. Once it had blown over, he began to prepare for another blind date the next day. It went on like this for nearly half a month. When the weather became so hot it made one want to shed their skin, things finally took a turn.

“You haven’t given up yet?” It was yet another weekend. Ye Qia discovered there was no one next to him the moment he opened his eyes. He went to the bathroom and found Xia Zhi shaving, then couldn’t help but ask, “How long are you prepared to toil for?”

“It hasn’t been a month yet!”

“It’s almost a month, there’s just three days left.”

“Well then aren’t there still three days?”

“And if you’re not successful after three days?”

“Either way, I’m not giving up.”

Ye Qia watched as Xia Zhi violently brushed his teeth and sighed. “Have you ever considered that Magician doesn’t actually want to be set up?”

Xia Zhi’s brushing slowed down. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, spat out the foam, and said, “I know.”

Ye Qia’s gaze became gentler as he said in amusement, “Then what are you working so hard for?”

“I’m not giving up.” Xia Zhi very quickly rinsed out his mouth and said angrily, “There’s no way I’m letting him have any delusions about you!”

Ye Qia laughed and walked over to the sink, hugging Xia Zhi from behind as he rested his chin on Xia Zhi’s shoulder. “There are actually other ways of making him give up.”

Xia Zhi’s lips curled unhappily. “I don’t want you to have to handle everything. I’m a man, too.”

“This is basically an issue I caused.”

“Solving a wife’s troubles is a husband’s duty.”

Ye Qia laughed and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on Xia Zhi’s neck. “Alright, then I’ll just see how you manage your duty.”

Three days later, Xia Zhi sent off the last blind date and dejectedly looked at Magician who wore a fake smile across from him. In the end, he had failed.

Magician had rejected all of the blind dates. Among them, there was no lack of those with the desired requirements. Now he sat there triumphantly and said lazily, “Is there anyone else? Might as well bring them out now.”

Xia Zhi immediately had the urge to murder someone. He decided to reveal his last big play.

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