Chapter 49: Maintaining Male Virtue

Back at the apartment, Li Zimai squatted down to change Cheng Che's shoes.

Cheng Che stared at the swirl of hair on the other person's head, his eyes swollen, and said stiffly: "...I can do it myself."

Li Zimai half-squatted and picked up Cheng Che, sitting him on the sofa in the entrance hall. He continued his movements, pretending to be overbearing: "I want to help my baby change his shoes, you are not allowed to disagree."

The beautiful, clean hands untied the shoelaces and took off the sneakers by touching the heels. He took out the pair of black slippers from the shoe cabinet and put them on Cheng Che's feet, carefully as if he was taking care of a fragile treasure.

Cheng Che's eyes turned red, and he buried his head in Li Zimai's neck. Li Zimai held most of his body in his arms and coaxed him, "Who made our baby angry?"

"...Can you please shut your mouth?" Cheng Che said in a muffled voice.

Li Zimai hooked Cheng Che's legs and picked him up, rubbing his face against the exposed part of Cheng Che's neck. "Then I won't say anything. I'll kiss you, okay?"

Cheng Che raised his head from his arms, took the initiative to block the other's mouth, and sucked fiercely and urgently.

The sizzling sound of water was particularly loud in the quiet space. Soon, the two of them were lying on the bed hugging each other. Cheng Che's legs were wrapped around Li Zimai's waist, rubbing against each other until they became hot. Cheng Che stopped again and asked Li Zimai, "What do you like about me?"

Li Zimai answered directly: "I like everywhere."

Cheng Che pushed him away, turned his back and said nothing, obviously not satisfied with this answer.

Li Zimai sighed, hugged him from behind, and coaxed him softly: "Cheche, I can't answer, I just like you."

"I have a bad temper and I hit people. I hit you before."

"Are you hitting me? You're loving me."

Li Zimai said with a shy face, "I just like how aggressive you are. Can you be aggressive to me from now on? If someone makes you unhappy, just tell me and I'll be aggressive to them instead. You can save your energy to be aggressive to me, okay?"

Cheng Che nestled back into his arms, not saying a word.

Li Zimai hugged him tighter and asked step by step: "Who made you unhappy?"

Cheng Che still didn't speak.

"So what should I do if someone makes me unhappy?"

"Who offended you?" Cheng Che finally spoke.

Li Zimai stated: "My boyfriend said he would accompany me, but he ran away in the middle of the trip and even got involved with someone else. I was very unhappy."

"That's it?"

"Of course not, there are many more. My boyfriend really dislikes me. He thinks I'm nagging, I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, my cooking is terrible, and he also thinks I'm clingy."

"Then you don't want him."

As soon as the word "no" came out of his mouth, Li Zimai lowered his head and kissed Cheng Che's mouth fiercely, biting it as if to vent his anger, "Don't you dare to sow discord between me and my baby. No matter how much he despises me, I love him, I will love him for the rest of my life, and I will never leave him."

Cheng Che saw his own reflection in the other person's eyes, the only shadow that filled the other person's whole world, but he was too timid to respond.

Li Zimai sighed and said, "Cheche, I told you I'm yours. You can tell me everything that makes you unhappy, okay?"

"...I'm not unhappy."

Li Zimai pinched his face and said, "Whenever you frown, you look particularly fierce. Everyone knows that you are unhappy."

Cheng Che snuggled back into the quilt, his voice muffled, "...I just look like this, I'm not unhappy."

Li Zimai also huddled under the quilt. The dark space was stuffy but safe. He reached out to touch Cheng Che's face, but the other party dodged him quickly. The warmth and wetness left on his palm was real.

Li Zimai withdrew his hand suddenly, his palm wrapped around his fingers and clenched into a fist. After a while, he hugged Cheng Che from behind, buried his head in the other's neck, and said sullenly: "Cheche, I am most afraid of you crying. When you cry, I want to cry too. It seems that I am very

No future."

He held Cheng Che's hand and touched his eyes, "Feel it, am I crying?"

Cheng Che pushed him away and denied with a nasal voice: "I didn't cry..."

"Okay, you didn't cry. How could the fearless Brother Che cry? He only knows how to make others cry."

"You're so annoying, I don't want to talk to you."

"Then let me tell you, what do you want to hear?"

"I don't want to hear it."

That night, as long as the neon lights outside the window were on, Li Zimai kept whispering sweet words in Cheng Che's ear, trying to soothe his Cheche to sleep.

Cheng Che probably didn't know how pitiful he was when he was asleep. His skinny body was always curled up, with his knees pressed against his chest and his back arched in the most defensive angle, as if he was afraid of something.

Li Zimai had to exert a lot of energy to make him curl up in his arms. He stroked his back with his palm and sighed softly and helplessly, "Cheche, I'll buy you an ice cream. You won't be sad anymore, okay..."

The next morning, when Cheng Che woke up, he could hear the throbbing heartbeat beside his eardrums. He felt the familiar scorching heat and looked up from Li Zimai's arms. He saw his favorite little mole. The position of his left atrium was fluctuating, and he couldn't tell whether it was peace of mind or anxiety.

Cheng Che got up quietly, covered Li Zimai with a blanket, and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Li Zimai's cell phone was on the kitchen counter, and a voice call came in. The note was [Yang], without any label.

The notes that Lizimai leaves for people are either their full name or their online name followed by a label indicating where they met, such as [A-Jermy Barber Shop]. It is rare for them to leave notes without a name or a label.

The phone vibrated for more than ten seconds and then stopped. After a while, the interface displayed several messages:

Yang: You're coming to Los Angeles next week? What day will you arrive?

[Yang]: Can we meet?

[Yang]: Can you call me back when you have time?

It wasn't that Cheng Che wanted to see Li Zimai's phone, but the phone was placed next to the water sink on the kitchen counter. Cheng Che could see it when he was getting water. He didn't take it seriously. Li Zimai often received some inexplicable messages on various communication apps, and even sexy photos from girls.

I don’t know how many times Li Shen’s contact information has been resold at high prices.

The first thing Li Zimai did when he got up was to find his Che Che and give him a bear hug. Before Cheng Che could break free, Li Zimai let go of Cheng Che and quickly put his phone in his pocket.

Cheng Che then felt strange. Cell phones had never been a defensive item for Li Zimai. Cheng Che knew everything from the room password to the computer and cell phone passwords. But this time, he clearly heard the vibration of the cell phone, but he quickly turned off the screen the moment it lit up.

Cheng Che put down the kitchen utensils and frowned, "Someone just called you."

"Who's calling me...my brother?"

"No, it's a man named Yang."

Li Zimai then pulled out his phone and looked at the screen, seeming relieved. But after a moment, he frowned again and asked tentatively, "Cheche, do you remember when we first started dating and I confessed to you about my ex-ex?"

Li Zimai felt that the word "ex" was really hot to the mouth, and he wanted to travel back in time countless times to beat up his former casual and rebellious self.

Cheng Che didn't show any expression, but the corners of his mouth pursed slightly, clearly unhappy. Li Zimai hugged him begging for mercy, "I didn't do anything. I gave you my virginity."

Cheng Che said coldly: "I don't want to discuss this issue with you."

"Okay, okay, I'll just let you know. This Yang Yanning is my high school classmate. We used to be in the same art troupe."

"oh."

"That's all?" Li Zimai said dissatisfiedly, "Can't you ask a few more questions?"

Cheng Che originally wanted to ask more questions, but after seeing Li Zimai's frank explanation, he felt that he was narrow-minded. If he asked more questions, it would mean that he did not trust his boyfriend.

Li Zimai didn't think so. Although he didn't want Che Che to misunderstand anything, he was very frustrated that Che Che wasn't jealous at all. He angrily lifted Cheng Che's butt and carried him to the kitchen island, restraining him. He said unreasonably: "If someone calls and texts your boyfriend early in the morning, you should grab your boyfriend's ears and make him explain who this person is and whether there is any shameful relationship."

Cheng Che did as he wished, pulling his ears on both sides and asking, "Who is this then? Is there some shameful relationship?"

Li Zimai then smiled with satisfaction, "Of course not, I am Brother Che's man now, and I must uphold the moral principles of a man."

The corners of Cheng Che's mouth turned up, and his dimples appeared. Li Zimai couldn't help himself and pushed him against the kitchen island and kissed him hard. When he was about to go in reluctantly, he was interrupted by a phone call.

This time it's his brother's.

After Li Zimai hung up the phone, he tidied Cheng Che's clothes and said, "I'm leaving soon. My brother sent someone to pick me up."

"Aren't we leaving on Monday?"

Li Zimai said aggrievedly, "Something's urgent over there. They changed my flight and asked me to go to the airport right now. My brother is so authoritarian. I'm fed up with him. We clearly agreed to leave on Monday."

Before the two of them finished being intimate, the doorbell rang. Li Zimai took Cheng Che's hand and said coquettishly, "Can you take me to the airport? I feel bad if I can't see you for a week."

Cheng Che rolled his eyes at him and said, "Can you please stop being so pretentious?"

"Cheng Che...you don't love me."

“…”

In order to cater to Li Zimai's pretentiousness, Cheng Che finally got into the car of Jiang's driver. Unexpectedly, Jiang Xun was also in the car.

The car was a black extended business car. Jiang Xun sat on one side, Li Zimai and Cheng Che sat opposite, and the assistant was in the passenger seat. Cheng Che said hello, and this time Jiang Xun was obviously much more "enthusiastic", at least he smiled.

Li Zimai refused to let go of Cheng Che's hand no matter what, and he could be so affectionate in front of Jiang Xun.

Cheng Che noticed Jiang Xun's gaze and felt a little uneasy. He lowered his head and saw that the other person's luxurious and shiny leather shoes were so out of place with his own gray sneakers with frayed edges.

Li Zimai instructed Cheng Che, "Put aside Teacher Zuo's project for a few days and prepare for the English exam first. If you don't get enough rest in the dormitory, come to my place and pretend you're looking for a place for me."

Cheng Che said "hmm" as a response.

Li Zimai continued to nag, "I'll call you every morning at seven."

Jiang Xun stated calmly, "At home, I called you to get up at 8 o'clock to eat breakfast, but you refused."

"I finally got a day off and I'm sleeping in, why should I get up for breakfast?"

Jiang Xun didn't intend to argue with him about breakfast. He said with a straight face, "Don't be willful when you go to your mother's place this time. Take care of the concert for her before going to the company. Come back after you've finished your business."

When they arrived at the airport, Li Zimai wanted to take Cheng Che to the lounge, but Jiang Xun interrupted him and said, "Cheche has his own things to do. You should be more careful."

Li Zimai said dissatisfiedly: "You are not allowed to call my Cheche like that."

Cheng Che: “…”

Li Zimai wanted to kiss Cheng Che goodbye, but he had to give up because of the presence of the light bulb. His Che Che was too shy to do anything affectionate in public. He hugged Cheng Che and said reluctantly: "I will miss you, and you should miss me too."

Cheng Che felt embarrassed and ashamed, especially with the CEO standing next to him. He didn't understand how Li Zimai could be so shameless.

After seeing Li Zimai off, Jiang Xun politely asked, "Xiao Che, are you going back to school or the apartment?"

Whether it was "Xiao Che" or "Che Che", it was extremely inappropriate when it came out of Jiang Xun's mouth. Cheng Che forced himself to accept this name and replied: "I'll take the subway back to school. Don't bother you."

Jiang Xun suddenly said sorry, then took the phone handed to him by his assistant. Cheng Che stood there, not knowing whether to leave or stay. He was not quite able to handle such a situation.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Xun continued, "I'll take you home, let's go."

On the way back, without Li Zimai, the two quiet people rode in the same car. When they reached the school gate, Jiang Xun said, "If you need anything, you can contact me."

Cheng Che took the black and gold-embossed business card handed to him by his assistant and said thank you. The "President So-and-so" in Chinese and English on it was so impressive. Cheng Che once again deeply realized that Li Zimai was a young master raised in a wealthy family.