No Ghosting Allowed

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Now Zhou Cangshan couldn’t pretend not to have seen it. He widened his eyes and stared at the dark screen for a while, then suddenly turned his head to look at Jiang Man on the sofa, unbelievably saying, “Zhou Qingbo… Is there something off between him and Pei You?”

After all, in Zhou Cangshan’s conservative and simple worldview, men rarely interacted with each other so intimately… and ambiguously.

It was the end of the workday, and Jiang Man was half-lying on the sofa watching a drama. When she heard his words, she glanced lazily at Zhou Cangshan and said, “You’ve only noticed now?”

When Zhou Cangshan was on a video call with Zhou Qingbo earlier, he had the speakerphone on, and Jiang Man was listening in as well. Although she didn’t see the screen, just from Zhou Cangshan’s expression, she could guess the situation with a high degree of accuracy.

“Yeah,” Jiang Man reached out and pressed pause on the drama, then propped up her head with her arm, nodding with an “of course” expression, and said, “Yeah, there’s definitely something off.”

Zhou Cangshan: “…”

Jiang Man’s attitude was so natural and nonchalant that Zhou Cangshan was momentarily stunned by her response, almost failing to catch the second half of her sentence.

The thought process of a straight man was obviously a bit slow. Zhou Cangshan’s face showed a rare expression of bewilderment. He pointed at Jiang Man, then hesitated and pointed at his phone.

“What do you mean?” Zhou Cangshan asked.

“What do I mean?” Jiang Man chuckled softly, swaying on her tiptoes and implying something, she said, “What do you think it means, what does your wife mean to you?.”

Zhou Cangshan: “…”

The rigid Zhou Cangshan obviously had little grasp of homosexuality among men. He visibly hesitated for a moment, took a few seconds to process, and then suddenly realized Jiang Man’s implication.

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“You—” Zhou Cangshan stood up abruptly and said incredulously, “Are you saying he and Pei You… they—”

“Mhmm,” Jiang Man raised an eyebrow, saying, “You’ve only realized now.”

“What about you?” Zhou Cangshan asked incredulously, “You’ve known for a while?”

“You could say that,” Jiang Man sighed softly, somewhat frustrated by Zhou Cangshan’s slowness or maybe mocking his straightness, “Just a few hundred years earlier than you, maybe.”

Zhou Cangshan: “…”

In a matter of minutes, Zhou Cangshan had encountered too many unexpected situations. His mental processor momentarily short-circuited. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to deal with “Zhou Qingbo turning out to be gay” first or inquire about “how Jiang Man knew about this.”

So, he took a deep breath, paced around the room for a couple of rounds, forcefully gathered his scattered thoughts, and tried to extract a thread of understanding from within.

“Is it possible that it’s a misunderstanding?” Zhou Cangshan furrowed his brows, struggling to say, “How did he suddenly become gay?”

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“What do you mean suddenly?” Jiang Man laughed, “when did Xiao Qingbo tell you he wasn’t?”

He hadn’t actually. Zhou Cangshan thought.

He furrowed his brows, although he said “misunderstanding” on the surface, he had mentally run through Zhou Qingbo’s emotional experiences over the years.

Soon, he realized that this might indeed be true.

Compared to his peers, Zhou Qingbo’s emotional history and experiences were abnormally lacking. Other boys his age would have crushes on girls at 18 or 19, pursue gorgeous women at 22 or 23, and at the very least, they would have a childhood sweetheart. However, Zhou Qingbo had none of that. He was almost like a monk.

Zhou’s parents had been worried about his marriage before, wanting to introduce him to girls his age, but he had brushed them off with a few words, saying he “didn’t want to fall in love.”

Zhou Cangshan had thought he just didn’t like being controlled, but now it seemed there was a different reason.

The more Zhou Cangshan thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. The frozen frame from the video call kept replaying in his mind like a brainwashing movie, repeating over and over again.

In the Zhou family, Zhou Qingbo was more like his mother, while Zhou Cangshan was more like his father. His personality and nature were just like Zhou Jianguo his father, he was conservative and rigid, he wouldn’t budge an inch.

Being gay was clearly beyond the acceptance range of the “traditionalist.” Zhou Cangshan’s heart sank, and his expression turned unpleasant.

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“What are you doing?” Seeing his expression worsen, Jiang Man put down the tablet and wondered, “Xiao Qingbo hasn’t murdered anyone or committed arson. You’re not really going to meddle in this, are you?”

“No.” But Zhou Cangshan evidently didn’t think of this as a mere “meddling” affair. His expression turned serious. Without a second thought, he grabbed his phone and dialed his secretary while saying, “I need to ask him about this.”

On the other side, Zhou Qingbo had no idea that the affair between him and Pei You had been exposed.

He had spent these two days feeling particularly comfortable. He didn’t have to get up early to work, nor did he have to nervously search for Pei You among the rubble. Perhaps his “cross-country rush” had genuinely touched Pei You, because Pei You had been remarkably attentive to him these past two days, looking after him frequently. Except for the slightly painful moments when cleaning and changing his wounds, he was at ease and relaxed most of the time.

After resting in bed for two days, Zhou Qingbo’s fever quickly subsided. He was soon full of energy and back in good health.

Seeing Zhou Qingbo’s spirited state getting better by the day, Pei You breathed a sigh of relief. While he relaxed, he also needed to brace himself occasionally to deal with some lingering issues that had arisen unexpectedly.

“You scolded me that day,” Zhou Qingbo tugged at Pei You with one hand, slightly narrowed his eyes, and softly complained, “You never used to scold me before. Why are you not cherishing me after getting me now?”

Pei You: “…”

“It’s not that” Pei You also knew he wasn’t genuinely complaining. He just wanted to seize the opportunity, so he awkwardly responded, “I’m just worried about you.”

“But you made me really sad.” Zhou Qingbo blinked his eyes, and repeated it again. As he spoke, a hint of aggression suddenly appeared in his eyes, but his tone remained soft and gentle, “Think of a way quickly, or my heart will break.”

Pei You felt somewhat exposed under that gaze. He uncomfortably bent his fingers and slowly drew a conclusion from looking into Zhou Qingbo’s eyes.

He won’t give me an answer, Pei You thought. He wants to see me take the initiative.

“Closed-book exam” was a bit challenging for Pei You. He could only seek some help from his past experiences. So, Pei You pondered for a moment and cautiously leaned forward, attempting to kiss Zhou Qingbo’s cheek.

Zhou Qingbo slightly narrowed his eyes, not avoiding or saying anything, evidently consenting and encouraging this action. Pei You felt somewhat relieved, understanding that he had found the right approach.

He raised his head slightly, preparing to place the next kiss on Zhou Qingbo’s lips , but then he heard the door to the room creak open, pushed from outside.

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