Chapter 7 The Way of Fishing "Baby, who is he?"...

As soon as the question was asked, he clenched his fists nervously and glanced tentatively at Xing Lan.

“Brother Yan.” Xing Lan met his gaze calmly and said indifferently, “I am very grateful that you were able to help me get this opportunity in front of President Chen.”

"I hope our relationship can be as friendly and sincere as the collaboration between our two companies. As a friend, I admire your excellent work ability, but that's all. I'm sorry."

He used euphemisms, but his meaning was clear; he was about to open the door and go inside.

Yan Jie had been waiting outside for so long, and was unwilling to be rejected so quickly. In desperation, she grabbed his arm again and refused to let him go.

"Can't you really give it a try with me?" Yan Jie asked eagerly. "From the first moment I saw you, I had a strong feeling—you and I are kindred spirits."

"similar?"

Xing Lan's tone grew increasingly cold. He hated being physically pulled like this, which made him feel disrespected and like an object to be manipulated.

"You mean, if I wanted to pursue someone, I would disregard their wishes completely, brazenly wait outside their house in the middle of the night, and continue to pester them even after they have clearly rejected me?"

Yan Jie then noticed that Xing Lan's expression had become very displeased, and hurriedly let go, explaining, "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant..."

Just as the two were at an impasse, the smart lock beeped.

The door was opened from the inside.

Li Baidong, dressed in casual, relaxed home clothes, looked leisurely at the two people outside the door against the dim overhead light.

The three people stood in their own positions, maintaining an awkward distance that was neither too close nor too far, like the three vertices of a triangle.

An eerie silence suddenly fell over the air.

Outside, Yan Jie's expression went from stiff to incredulous, while Li Baidong's eyes remained innocent and relaxed, like a devoted husband who waits for his partner to come home every day, gentle and obedient.

Yan Jie carefully considered his words, about to ask Xing Lan what was going on, when he heard the tall boy in the room suddenly laugh and ask, "Baby, who is he?"

“Baby?” Yan Jie repeated incredulously.

Xing Lan felt her left eyelid twitch suddenly, tilted her head slightly, and coughed awkwardly.

But there was no rebuttal.

Li Baidong reached out and pulled Xing Lan close, placing his warm, large palm on Xing Lan's slender waist. He whispered affectionately in Xing Lan's ear, "Come in, baby. I just made dinner, all your favorite dishes."

Yan Jie stared at the distance and actions between them that clearly went beyond that of ordinary friends. After realizing the approximate relationship between Xing Lan and the boy in front of him, his expression became increasingly unpleasant.

After Xing Lan stepped into the house, Li Baidong was about to close the door when he caught a glimpse of Yan Jie still standing there. He then remembered to ask, "Who is this guest...?"

“A friend from a partner company,” Xing Lan said indifferently without turning her head.

"Oh, I see." Li Baidong frowned, clicked his tongue in apparent regret, and turned to Yan Jie apologetically. "Oh dear, I didn't know we had friends coming today, so I only cooked for two people. I'm sorry."

He raised his phone and said, "How about I order takeout now and we add something to our meal?"

"No, thank you." Yan Jie watched Xing Lan's departing figure, feeling a pang of heartache. He forced himself to say hastily, "No need to trouble yourself. I suddenly remembered I have something to do, so I'll be going now."

"Ah, okay. Take care then." Li Baidong smiled politely, but closed the door so fast it was almost a blur, mercilessly cutting off Yan Jie's lingering gaze on Xing Lan.

-

When Xing Lan sat down to eat, Li Baidong sat opposite him looking at his phone, glancing at him cautiously every now and then, wanting to look but not daring to.

Xing Lan paused, looking directly at him: "What do you want to ask?"

"Hmm?" Li Baidong blinked innocently. "I don't have anything to ask."

"It's best if there isn't." Xing Lan's tone was completely calm as she lowered her head and continued eating.

If all of Li Baidong's little schemes were visible balloons, they would probably be floating all over the room by now. Xing Lan knew without a doubt that this kid was hiding a lot of silly things.

Sure enough, in less than five minutes, the other side couldn't hold back any longer.

He put down his phone and asked, eager to ask, "Bro, did that guy just now like you?"

"I was listening at the door... no, I noticed the way he looked at you was a bit off." Li Baidong lowered his voice and asked in a low voice, somewhat curious, "Is he... is he gay?"

Xing Lan unconsciously clenched her fist, her fingertips lightly scraping across her palm.

Then, he softened his tone and said casually, "So what if I'm gay?...You find it disgusting?"

"Of course not!" Li Baidong immediately shook his head and said, "I just think... gay people are actually quite rare in real life, so you must have been quite surprised when he suddenly confessed to you, right?"

“Not surprising.” Xing Lan glanced at him without any emotion. “Because I’m the same as him.”

Li Baidong was taken aback: "The same as him?"

“I also like men,” Xing Lan said slowly and deliberately, “but don’t worry, I have no feelings for him.”

Before Li Baidong could react, Xing Lan narrowed her beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly before standing up and added a sentence to him, word by word.

"Neither to you."

After a half-second pause, she said, "Don't pretend to be my boyfriend in front of others in the future. I don't need you to help me out of this situation."

After saying that, he picked up the bowl and chopsticks and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes without looking at Li Baidong again.

Xing Lan could roughly guess Li Baidong's current reaction.

Like any straight man who suddenly finds out his best friend is gay, he would first be a little surprised, then start to carefully recall the details of their previous interactions, worry a little about whether Xing Lan might secretly have a crush on him, and finally slowly accept it with an tolerant attitude, trying to convince himself that it's not a big deal.

He was completely wrong.

After he left, Li Baidong sat alone at the table, his long bangs hanging down, his handsome features appearing somewhat dim in the night light outside the window.

The monotonous sound of water came from the kitchen. He licked his lips, and after a moment, a quiet and slightly gloomy smile appeared on his face.

"..."

It's okay if you don't have any feelings for me now; you'll like me soon enough. Li Baidong thought.

Dear brother, I will make you my baby, all by yourself.

-

After Li Baidong moved in, he bought a lot of cute kitchen utensils online, including a pastel pink frying pan in macaron colors, cartoon dishwashing sponges shaped like puppies and kittens, and even the handle of the kitchen knife was decorated with a row of cute little bears with different expressions.

Xing Lan occasionally goes into the kitchen to cook a simple meal, feeling as if she's playing a pretend game of being a chef in kindergarten.

One evening, he discovered that even the spatula in his house had been replaced by a co-branded version featuring a plush pig.

"How old are you? Can you buy fewer of these weird-looking things?" Xing Lan said coldly, raising her hand to turn the spatula around and put it back into the container, so that the smiling pink pig's head on top could no longer be seen.

Hearing the sound, Li Baidong came out of the room and said with a smile, "Because using cute things makes me feel better, and they also look better on camera. Every time I post a video, a lot of fans in the comments section ask me for the same items."

Xing Lan pursed her lips and remained silent, then turned to get something from the refrigerator.

Li Baidong quickly followed behind, saying very solicitously, "Brother, you've been busy all day, go and rest. What would you like to eat? I'll make it for you."

"No need," Xing Lan refused. "It's quite late, you should go to sleep. I'll just make myself a bowl of noodles."

"Instant noodles are so unhealthy, bro. I'll cook you a bowl of wontons, it'll be quick." Li Baidong said, affectionately pushing Xing Lan's shoulder and leading him to the living room sofa.

Xing Lan is very thin, with a very clear outline of his back bones, and his shoulders feel a bit rough to the touch.

Li Baidong lowered his eyes gently, a fleeting look of heartache passing through them where Xing Lan couldn't see.

After Xing Lan sat down on the sofa, he went back to the kitchen and started putting wontons into a pot. Amidst the rising steam, he casually asked, "Brother, when...when did you find out you liked boys?"

Around puberty, Xing Lan realized that her sexual orientation was different from that of most boys around her.

Although he is physically attracted to men, he has always had a very low libido in this area, so he has been a loner for many years and has never thought about developing a short-term or stable romantic relationship with anyone, nor has he ever been madly in love with anyone.

When she first entered college, she rebelled and, in order to go against her father, dated a guy who played in a band. They broke up not long after they started dating because of all sorts of messy things and his unstable emotions.

When he was dumped back then, he wasn't particularly sad. His regret was less than when he went to Haishi for a trip. Because of a week of heavy rain, he never got to see the supposedly beautiful sea when the weather was clear.

Xing Lan paused in her swiping motion on her phone, and like a teacher giving a physiology lesson, she answered him simply: "Sexual orientation is innate."

Since the day he learned that Xing Lan liked men, Li Baidong's attitude towards him has not changed at all. He remains warm and friendly, and he gets up early every day to make breakfast and lunch for him.

Xing Lan didn't think revealing his sexual orientation to his roommate was a terrible thing. He just liked men; it wasn't illegal or criminal, so it wasn't anything special to mention, and there was nothing to hide.

“I used to like someone too.” After a long silence, Li Baidong suddenly said, “He was very handsome and gentle. From the first moment I saw him, I liked him very much.”

“He is different from everyone else in the world. He is the best person I have ever met. If I hadn’t met him, I might have given up on school long ago and would probably be wandering around like a stray dog ​​in some dirty internet cafe right now.”

"He is very talented, so I want to try to become a better person."

Xing Lan looked up at the kitchen and saw Li Baidong staring intently at the bubbling wontons in the pot. His expression was somewhat forlorn, yet also seemed to be somewhat happy, like a silly boy deeply in love.

Xing Lan thought for a moment and asked him, "You like her so much, does she know?"

Li Baidong shook his head.

Why not tell her?

Li Baidong suddenly smiled and said in a lighthearted tone, "Brother, do you know how to fish?"

"fishing?"

"Be patient and make thorough preparations before the fish will take the bait," Li Baidong explained with a smile. "If you cast your line too easily and accidentally scare the fish away, I'll be heartbroken."

"What kind of twisted and heretical doctrines are these?" Xing Lan thought.

After a while, the wontons that Li Baidong had carefully cooked were ready.

He tasted it and found the saltiness to be just right, so he excitedly ladled a bowl for Xing Lan. Just as he was about to hand it to him, he accidentally slipped and fell heavily to the ground with a "thud." The bowl in his hand shattered on the ground, and the hot soup that splashed out instantly scalded his hand red.

Xing Lan heard the noise and rushed over to see what was going on. She found that one of the Little Prince's toy balls had rolled to the edge of the kitchen floor and had been stepped on by Li Baidong.

He frowned, quickly helped the man up from the ground, and out of the corner of his eye noticed that the man's hand was covered in red marks, which looked shocking.