translated_Chapter 76

76: Dead People Aren’t as Important as the Living

“It’s just very, how should I say it, verydecadent [tuí fèi – decadent/ dejected].”

“Isn’t it summer vacation now? How decadent can he get? Twenty-year-old young men find fun pretty easily,” Qiu Ci mused.

Su Yuyang, chewing on pineapple, said, “Not sure.”

Qiu Ci, on the other hand, knew a bit more, because Jing Yueming’s rented apartment was still under Qiu Ci’s name.

Jing Yueming hadn’t left his place for a month.

Qiu Ci had been renovating the apartment across the hall and hadn’t seen him while riding the elevator daily.

He was somewhat worried.

He had a second-hand app on his phone that he used to find collectibles.

During his free time, he browsed side hustles and saw this post:

J: Is anyone selling this model of earphones? Lost it after using it for a year, it has great significance, willing to pay a high price. Not sold in the market anymore.

The style of the earphones in the picture looked very familiar. Qiu Ci clicked on the user’s homepage.

It was nearby. No wonder it was recommended to him.

Wait a minute.

The backgrounds of these… pictures.

Besides this post, there were others, like purchasing paints and selling second-hand picture frames.

The background of some of them was Qiu Shi’s studio.

These were Jing Yueming’s posts.

Qiu Ci jumped out of bed.

He registered an online store overnight and acquired earphones from an electronics store on the verge of closing down.

Finally, he commented under Jing Yueming’s post: “Search for this online store on Xprecious [Taobao], they have them for sale.”

The next day at noon, someone indeed placed an order.

After work, Qiu Ci went to ship the item to Jing Yueming.

Even though they were in the same city, he conspicuously used express delivery.

Qiu Ci had a special feeling about this kind of indirect contact.

In the following months, Jing Yueming bought earphones twice more.

Did this kid lose them often?

Lost one, bought another.

Each time he bought one, Qiu Ci went to ship it.

This was how he maintained indirect contact with the young man.

Jing Yueming didn’t step out of his house for two whole months.

This was terrible. Qiu Ci was a little worried about him.

It wasn’t until Jing Yueming went back to school.

He didn’t come home until eleven at night.

He stayed up late in the art studio.

Yes, it was normal for a normal person to have a low period at this time.

At nine in the morning, Qiu Ci timed his descent in the elevator to go to work.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, there was a burst of hurried footsteps.

The person, panting, quickly pressed the open door button.

The elevator doors opened again.

Jing Yueming rushed in and pressed the first-floor button.

Qiu Ci was going to the underground parking garage.

Jing Yueming inadvertently glanced at the man in the elevator. He felt like he wasn’t fully awake: “Are you? From here?”

“Across the hall from you,” Qiu Ci replied with a smile.

The man’s gentle temperament seemed to have captivated the young man.

But now Jing Yueming didn’t have time to care about that.

His 8 AM alarm hadn’t woken him up, and the teacher had just called his name and threatened to fail him if he wasn’t there before the end of class.

When he reached the first floor, Jing Yueming dashed out like the piano that Qiu Ci used to own.

The encounter in the elevator lasted less than a minute, with less than ten words exchanged.

Yet, it left Qiu Ci absent-minded all day.

The kid looked at him like he’d seen a ghost.

Qiu Ci tried to time it again to take the elevator, but he couldn’t run into him.

There was nothing he could do. Jing Yueming also wanted to have an accidental encounter with this handsome man, but he had 8 AM classes on weekdays, and even if he stood guard in the elevator hall at nine on his days off, he never ran into him again.

If he couldn’t run into him in the morning, he could run into him at night. One time, he went out with classmates and came back at two in the morning, running into a man in the elevator who had a unique, complex scent of a bar about him.

Was he always coming back this late?

He was so handsome, with slightly long hair and somewhat feminine features.

Jing Yueming intuitively thought he was gay.

Working for a foreign company was quite relaxed, especially since Qiu Ci was intentionally delegating power. He wanted to promote some young people to take over his position.

Currently, there were some suitable candidates.

In any case, he didn’t have to work overtime, which was great.

After work, Su Yuyang invited him to hang out at the bar.

Qiu Ci was idle anyway.

That night, Su Yuyang also brought him to a gay bar.

Qiu Ci’s interest was so-so.

Su Yuyang was in high spirits, introducing several cute bottoms to Qiu Ci.

“Qiu-ge, there’s bound to be someone you like among so many. Have fun, old virgin.” Su Yuyang mumbled the last phrase softly.

“I’m not interested,” Qiu Ci waved his hand, rejecting the little boy who was trying to cling to him.

Su Yuyang hugged the bottom who had been pushed away: “Wow, if you knew he was also from X University, you would definitely…”

“What? What does that have to do with which university?”

“It’s your Little Jing’s school,” Su Yuyang got too close, and the perfume on his body rubbed off on Qiu Ci’s clothes.

Qiu Ci looked at the little boy: “Which department?”

“Education,” the boy replied confidently.

Qiu Ci just nodded.

He rejected each and every one of the people around him.

He just drank alone, making people think he was some high-quality man whose feelings had been trampled on.

His temperament as an older man was like a top [1], but his soft and beautiful features were like a bottom [0].

The result was that both tops and bottoms kept hitting on him.

Su Yuyang couldn’t help but come over again: “I don’t know why you’re doing this. If you like that kid, just get together. You seem so lonely and pitiful.”

He was very lonely and pitiful, but he didn’t dare to acknowledge Jing Yueming.

In what capacity? A former family member?

Or a substitute.

He downed several shots of high-proof liquor, and his head began to ache.

But his mind was still clear.

Su Yuyang rubbed against him in his arms: “Good brother, just be with me.” He quietly slipped a few condoms into his pocket.

“I’m not kidding with you, Little Su,” Qiu Ci seemed gentler after drinking.

“How about I give you some advice? You pretend to know him, and then he’ll definitely be with you. You just act like you didn’t know that Qiu Shi dated him, and when he finds out, you scold him as aScumbag [zhā nán –Scumbag is a slang term referring to a man who only uses women for their own needs and discards them after they are done] and say he treated you as a substitute.” Su Yuyang’s cheeks were red, and he even imitated lines from a TV series: “Wanwan Leqing [Wǎn wǎn lèi qīng]… Is this ultimately my blessing or my curse!”

Qiu Ci helped Su Yuyang up: “You’re drunk.”

“I drank less than you,” Su Yuyang refused to get up.

“Don’t compare yourself to me. Is the driver here?” Qiu Ci helped him out. The driver was already outside.

After he put him in the back seat, Qiu Ci also got in: “Take me home first. It’s on the way.”

He had also been drinking and couldn’t drink and drive.

Su Yuyang was still muttering.

“Don’t overthink it. Even if he doesn’t know, I still remember. He was my sister’s lover.”

Su Yuyang’s courage was emboldened by the alcohol: “Can the dead be more important than the living? You didn’t say it, but I know you actually really like Jing Yueming, right? Huh? You two write letters and have common interests. You should be together. Or you can let me mediate for you.”

“No need,” Qiu Ci looked out the window in thought, then couldn’t help but ask, “If I want to get to know him, what do I need to do?”

Su Yuyang propped himself up: “First of all, on a rainy day, go to the garden he frequents, and then swing on the swing there. There aren’t any apricot blossoms now, but there are maple trees, which are also very beautiful. Just imagine, you’ll be swinging there, red and yellow maple leaves falling, paired with the sunset, how beautiful.”