Chapter 43

After sending that sentence, Xu Er gave a sudden kick and threw off his quilt again.

You really have some nerve.

You truly have the nerve.

His heartbeat spiked rapidly in that single second, and Song Ruichi's contact label changed to "typing...".

Xu Er stared at the chat screen, watching it jump up by one line.

A brand-new, two-second voice message appeared at the very bottom of the dialogue box.

Xu Er hurriedly clicked on it.

"Babe."

"Ah!"

Xu Er let out a very clear, completely uncontrollable cry.

Then he clamped both hands over his mouth.

Oh my god.

Oh my actual god.

Xu Er was smiling so hard his eyes crinkled into crescents, and he tapped the message to listen to it a second time.

Song Ruichi's "babe" drifted out from the earpiece once more.

The tone lifted slightly at the end, yet remained steady and magnetic.

It sounded painfully good.

Xu Er played it one more time, and incidentally replied to Song Ruichi: "okk received, go to sleep"

Yes, he could act completely nonchalant.

If he didn't sleep now, the sky would practically be turning bright.

Song Ruichi: "Good night"

Xu Er: "Good night"

How on earth was he supposed to sleep after that? Xu Er forced his eyes shut and lay there feigning calmness for a few minutes, but the itch in his heart was simply unbearable, so he picked up his phone again.

He listened on speaker, listened holding it to his ear, listened with earphones.

After listening, he unsatisfiedly scrolled back up through their chat history, once again marveling to himself, Xu Er, you really do have some nerve.

As for how Xu Er eventually fell asleep, he didn't quite remember; reality and dreams had blurred together seamlessly. In his dream, his phone became enormous, and Song Ruichi himself was trapped inside the screen, wearing that black trench coat Xu Er liked so much, both hands shoved into his pockets, eyes smiling as he said to Xu Er, "Little baby Er'er."

Damn it, the alarm clock the next morning was still Song Ruichi's voice. The transition was seamless enough that amidst Song Ruichi's final words of "A new day has arrived," Xu Er slowly blinked his eyes open.

For as long as he could remember, this was the first time he woke up with such absolute clarity, feeling from the very first second of consciousness that last night's sleep had been wonderfully comfortable.

Picking up his phone to turn off the alarm, Xu Er also spotted the message Song Ruichi had sent him over an hour ago: "Morning"

Right, this artist had gotten up at six this morning and was probably already at the event venue by now.

So Xu Er replied with a: "Morning"

And then listened to yesterday's "babe" all over again.

Hehehehe, hahahaha.

Xu Er had plenty of work to do today as well, and because he was going to Song Ruichi's place for dinner tonight, he compressed an already rushed workload even further, operating at 150% efficiency all morning just to make sure he could leave work on time in the afternoon.

During a short midday break, he took the opportunity to check in on Song Ruichi, who was currently lingering on the outskirts of City A.

Xu Er: "Surprise inspection"

Xu Er: "What are you doing?"

Song Ruichi sent over a photo.

It was clearly taken on the fly; the photo showed one of Song Ruichi's fingers pointing at a restaurant across the street.

Accompanied by Song Ruichi's text: "Getting ready to go eat"

Xu Er: "ok received"

Song Ruichi: "And Mr. Xu?"

Xu Er snapped a picture of the folding cot he was about to pack away.

After a moment's thought, though, he took it again.

He should probably show his hand too, right?

Xu Er crossed his thumb and index finger to form a mini heart shape, and sent it to Song Ruichi along with his little cot.

Over there, Song Ruichi was waiting for a red light by the roadside.

The weather was lovely today, the sunlight bright and rich. Song Ruichi used his hand to shield his phone like a little umbrella and opened the image Xu Er had sent.

Then he smiled.

Song Ruichi: "ok, received Mr. Xu's love heart"

Mr. Xu on the other end: "ok, Mr. Xu has to go to work now"

***

Making sure Song Ruichi wouldn't send any more messages, Xu Er finally got out of bed to tidy up his makeshift bed.

Then he thought, shouldn't he tell Song Ruichi that he was actually gay now? Otherwise, Song Ruichi would definitely still assume he was straight.

He only had himself to blame for being so stubbornly adamant last month when he told Song Ruichi he wasn't gay and asked him not to misunderstand.

Look at the mess he'd gotten himself into now.

So how could he bring it up subtly, casually, and without looking deliberate?

In any case, he definitely couldn't just say: Hello Song Ruichi, I'm gay too.

Let's just get to work first.

150% efficiency was no joke. With a flurry of frantic typing, Xu Er actually finished all of today's work a little past three in the afternoon.

As luck would have it, just as he was wondering what to use to kill time, Xu Chen messaged him.

He asked: "Is Song Ruichi at the Xiwu event today?"

Xu Er asked, puzzled: "How do you know?"

Xu Chen: [Weibo link]

Xu Chen: "Oh, it really is him"

Xu Chen: "This blogger is live-streaming the event, and someone in the chat is asking where Song Ruichi is, telling him to film Song Ruichi."

Xu Er clicked on the link immediately and popped in his earphones.

The photo Song Ruichi had sent Xu Er that morning of the venue background was identical to the live-stream backdrop of the blogger right now.

Xu Er switched back to WeChat: "Yeah, Song Ruichi is at this event"

Xu Chen: "Oh ho"

Xu Chen: "This live stream literally just started"

Xu Chen: "Then there's a real chance we might see Song Ruichi"

Xu Chen: "Camping here for a glimpse"

Xu Er: "I'm camping here too"

The blogger's camera angle was fixed, and he didn't seem to have any particular agenda—perhaps he was just bored and turned on a live stream to chat with his followers.

At the moment, he was eating a biscuit, remarking between bites that the biscuit was pretty good, before going on to talk about what he'd eaten today, what he'd seen, and who he had spoken to.

"I see some friends mentioning Song Ruichi."

After chatting for a few minutes, Xu Er finally heard Song Ruichi's name.

On the stream, the blogger continued: "I saw Teacher Song this morning, but it was just a fleeting glimpse, didn't even get to talk to him."

He went on: "Teacher Song might not necessarily show up; he's not in charge of our section ahead," and after a brief pause, he added, "Though you never know, there's a press conference in a bit, he might pop over early to take a look."

As he spoke, he suddenly leaned closer to the screen: "Let me tell you guys, Teacher Song is ridiculously handsome today; he's wearing gold-rimmed glasses!"

He smiled: "My family, do you even know the monetary value of gold-rimmed glasses?"

Some of his "family" members in the chat were already losing their minds with rows of "ahhhhh".

While other family members had no idea who Song Ruichi was and were frantically asking in the comments section.

Seeing everyone so excited, the blogger continued talking about Song Ruichi: "You guys are surprisingly well-informed, even knowing Teacher Song came to today's event."

Xu Chen's WeChat message popped up: "Have you ever seen Song Ruichi wear gold-rimmed glasses?"

Xu Er replied with utter dejection: "No"

He had only ever seen him wear rimless ones.

So naturally, Xu Er went looking for Song Ruichi.

He opened his chat interface with Song Ruichi.

Xu Er: "Did you wear gold-rimmed glasses today?"

After two full minutes, Song Ruichi finally replied: "Yes"

Song Ruichi: "How did you know?"

Fascinatingly, the exact moment these two text bubbles popped up on Xu Er's phone screen...

Song Ruichi appeared in the blogger's live stream.

The blogger was still rambling on about his morning anecdotes, and the "family" members in the comment section who recognized Song Ruichi had already started spamming "ahhhhh".

Naturally, the blogger noticed. He smiled and shifted aside slightly, saying, "Ah, Teacher Song is here."

Teacher Song is here.

A little distance away, standing by the doorway beside the stage, wearing a black suit and trousers with a white shirt underneath, a few strands of bangs swept back, and gold-rimmed glasses, he stood there radiating an intensely noble air.

Xu Er switched back to his chat with Song Ruichi.

Xu Er: "Guess whether I saw you, or saw you, or saw you"

After sending it, Xu Er switched right back to the live stream.

Fortunately, there was a delay in the broadcast, and his switching speed happened to hit the exact timing.

This time, Song Ruichi wasn't searching around. It was as if he suddenly realized something; the very next second he raised his head, his gaze landed directly on the live stream.

And at that exact instant, the comment section below moved at a visibly frantic pace. Everyone went from "ahhhhh" to seemingly conspiring together, changing their script to chorus "husband" one after another.

On the screen, Song Ruichi lowered his head to type again.

Outside the screen, Xu Er received Song Ruichi's typed words.

Song Ruichi: "Where did you see me?"

Xu Er: "I saw you looking for me"

Xu Er: "Guess where I am"

Without missing a beat, Xu Er switched right back.

Luckily the stream was delayed, and his switching speed hit the mark once more.

This time, Song Ruichi didn't look around. He stopped walking, and right in front of the camera, the corner of his lips curved upward.

That smile was absolute devastation.

The comments below were rolling by at blur speed, everyone screaming that their husband just smiled at them, ahhhhh.

Husband, husband, new husband, ahhhhh.

Xu Er pressed his lips together, wearing a smile-that-wasn't-a-smile expression.

What are you all "ah"ing about?

Your husband is smiling at me.

Since that was the case, Xu Er seized the opportunity and joined the crowd in the comment section by typing out a "HUSBAND!!!"

Back to WeChat.

Xu Er: "You look so handsome today"

Xu Er: "I've never seen you wear gold-rimmed glasses"

Song Ruichi: "I forgot to bring those other glasses, they're at home"

Xu Er: "Can you keep wearing these glasses today?"

Song Ruichi: "If Mr. Xu wants to see them, of course"

Mr. Xu sent a happy-happy emoji.

Xu Er: "Mr. Xu wants to see"

On the live stream screen, Song Ruichi answered a phone call and vanished behind the door.

Everyone in the comment section started panicking, asking the blogger if Song Ruichi would appear again, asking where he went, and even urging the blogger to chase after him.

Xu Er tagged along with the crowd, waiting patiently in the stream.

A few minutes later, Song Ruichi's message popped up.

Song Ruichi: "I'm going to work now"

Xu Er asked: "Will you appear on the stream again?"

Song Ruichi: "No, nothing else going on in the hall"

Xu Er: "Oh well"

Song Ruichi: "You can look at me tonight"

Xu Er smiled: "I'll look at you all night"

Song Ruichi: "You may"

Xu Er exited the live stream room and casually informed Xu Chen that Song Ruichi wouldn't be showing up again.

Xu Chen replied with an ok, then asked: "Can you guys just get together today?"

Xu Er slowly typed out a: "?"

Xu Chen: "Hahaha I'm so impatient, I'm so impatient!"

Xu Er: "What are you rushing for?"

Xu Chen: "Wasn't he just chatting with you?"

Xu Er: "Well, duh?"

Xu Chen: "Tsk tsk tsk tsk"

Xu Chen: "And that sudden smile at the camera earlier, that was for you too, right?"

Xu Er: "Well, duh?"

Xu Chen: "Oh yo yo yo"

Xu Chen: "Alright, fine"

Xu Chen: "So can you guys just get together today?"