Ex-boyfriend

When Xu Yue woke up, his forehead was still aching. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on the bed in the bedroom. The light in the room was dim, the curtains were drawn tight and the only light beside the bed was turned on. He shifted his eyes and saw Chu Yi sitting on a chair by the bed, focused on peeling an orange.

　　Chu Yi’s head drooped slightly, revealing a small section of his graceful nape.

　　Xu Yue stared at him for a while before his memory gradually returned. He remembered that he was supposed to go to the C City overnight, but he didn’t expect to be knocked unconscious as soon as he walked to the door.

　　Who could the culprit be other than Chu Yi?

　　Xu Yue touched his forehead and struggled to sit up. Hearing the movement, Chu Yi raised his head, smiled slightly and said, “A’Yue, you are awake?”

　　He handed the peeled orange to Xu Yue’s mouth, “You’re hungry, right? Have some.”

　　Xu Yue didn’t take the orange. Instead, he said, “What did you use, to knock me unconscious?”

　　Seeing that Xu Yue was not eating, Chu Yi stuffed the orange into his own mouth and chewed slowly, before answering, “The glass that you usually drink water from. Rest assured. I have decent sense of measure. In case you were knocked silly, won’t I be at a loss?”

　“What time is it now?”

　　Chu Yi looked at the tightly closed curtains and said, “You have been out for only a while, so it’s still 25th of December.”

　　Xu Yue suddenly remembered that before he fainted, Su Yanwen had been knocking on his door. He hurriedly asked, “Where is Yanwen? Did he go to C City by himself?”

　“You really care about him, don’t you?” Chu Yi snorted coldly and continued, “I have done everything that needs to be done, including dealing with the matter at factory in City C. All I had to do was to make a call and naturally someone would settle the matter.”

　　Xu Yue knew that Chu Yi had the ability but he could not understand the motive. “Why are you doing this?”

　“Of course, to not let you go.” Chu Yi said naturally, “As I said earlier, tonight is very important for me. It’s you who refused to believe.”

　“You sure can adapt[1].”

　　Chu Yi said with a smile, “I like to call it ‘prewar diplomacy’[2].”

　　Xu Yue couldn’t help but get angry. He was about to retort when he heard a ‘boom’ from outside the window.

　　Chu Yi rose upon hearing the voice and opened the curtains with a ‘swish’.

　　Xu Yue’s bedroom was fitted with floor-to-ceiling glass windows providing an excellent view. At that moment, when the curtains were parted, splendid firework exploded against the indigo night sky. The variegated rays of light dragged their long tail, dazzling the entire room with their prismatic radiance.

　　Chu Yi stood by the window, watching those fireworks that soar to the night sky one after the another and faded away after the resplendence. He stared at the sky for a long time and said with a sigh, “It’s really beautiful.”

　　Xu Yue felt moved in his heart and suddenly realized that fireworks were arranged by Chu Yi.

　　The fireworks made Chu Yi’s profile look extraordinarily handsome. He watched it for a while, turned his head unexpectedly, smiled happily and said, “A’Yue, it’s the 26th.”

　　After the 25th is the 26th. It was the most normal thing. Xu Yue didn’t understand what’s there to be so happy about it. He lifted the quilt intending to get out of the bed and walk to Chu Yi’s side. But felt that something was off as soon as he moved his feet and heard a resounding clink. He followed the sound and found his right foot bound by a long iron chain!

 Xu Yue was stunned and asked while shell-shocked, “What is this?”

　“Oh,” Chu Yi said calmly, “It’s just a chain.”

　　Xu Yue’s palms were sweating. He said, “This is not some ordinary chain and I had no such thing in my house.”

　“I had prepared it in advance.”

　　Chu Yi walked back to the bed again, stretched out his hand, fiddled with the iron chain and listened to its clink. He seemed quite happy. “Just a little fun, A’Yue. Did you not like it?”

　　Xu Yue calmed himself down and glanced at Chu Yi coldly.

　　Chu Yi softened his voice and said, “A’Yue, I just want you to stay.”

　　Xu Yue felt his head hurt again.

　　He originally thought he knew Chu Yi well. Chu Yi was coddled, self-willed and unscrupulous, but he had never crossed the redline like this. What had happened to him in those years abroad? The Chu Yi in front of him seemed to be a stranger.

　　He thought for a while and then said, “Where is the key? Unlock the chain.”

　“The key is with me. It’s not time to unlock yet.”

　“Chu Yi, you have to know that no matter how powerful and influential a person is, it is impossible to do whatever he wants.”

　“I don’t intend to do whatever I wanted.” Chu Yi approached Xu Yue’s face and whispered, “All I want… is you.”

　“I don’t understand …”

　“Of course, you don’t understand.”

Chu Yi chuckled lightly. The desolate and endless night scene outside the window reflected on his face, a visage more moving than ever. He said, “A’Yue, you’ve never known how much I love you. I even killed for you.”

[1] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘换种方式’ ‘huàn zhǒng fāngshì’ which can mean ‘to take another route’, ‘to adopt a different style’. Here it refers to Chu Yi switching his tactic – how his gameplan shifted from gentle coaxing to violent knock out.

[2] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘先禮後兵’ ‘xiān lǐ hòu bīng’ which literally means ‘first courtesy, then troops’. It refers to negotiation before outright warring.