Ye Meng felt that Li Jin Yu had been increasingly flirtatious lately, and she was having trouble keeping him in check. Perhaps it was because she had spoiled him too much. When Ye Meng mentioned this to Fang Ya’en, Li Jin Yu was playing basketball on the court. As if he had heard her, he narrowed his eyes and glanced in her direction, prompting Tai Ming Xiao to shout in disapproval, “Pretty boy! Pay attention!”
He casually shifted his gaze back, lowered his head, dribbled past his opponent, and effortlessly tossed the ball—swoosh, into the basket, bouncing on the ground. His moves were both arrogant and undeniably impressive. His voice was languid as he replied, “How am I not paying attention?”
Damn. Tai Ming Xiao silently cursed. What a weakling. Does he think I don’t know? Those dog eyes of his have been looking outside the court so many times. Still thinking about her, the bastard.
The August heat was intense. Despite it being nearly evening with the sky growing dim, the sunset still scorched their skin. Ye Meng wore a denim jacket on the outside, which looked quite conservative, but what she wore underneath was rather provocative—something with even less fabric than a spaghetti strap, yet seemingly more than a bra. It exposed her small navel and slender waist. Her short skirt revealed straight, well-proportioned long legs. Every part of her was exquisite.
On the other end of the phone, Fang Ya’en was enjoying air conditioning while savoring watermelon. While urging Chen Jia Yu to do his homework, she said, “You spoiled him yourself, so deal with it.”
Ye Meng didn’t feel that way. She leaned back on her hands with obvious enjoyment, her gaze casually watching the man on the court. “As long as he’s not being snarky, I’m quite willing to dote on him. When dating Li Jin Yu, you can’t help but want to bring the best things in the world to lay at his feet.”
Fang Ya’en tossed some crushed ice that Chen Jia Yu had just prepared into her melon bowl, stirred it thoughtfully, and remarked, “Probably because he had such a miserable past. But no matter how miserable someone was, he was still a young master from a wealthy family. Don’t let your maternal instincts overflow too much. You can’t spoil men like this—the more you spoil them, the more of a jerk they become. One day he’ll develop bad habits from all your pampering…”
Ye Meng knew what she was about to say next and quietly moved the phone away. She propped her hands on the edge of the chair, her eyes fixed on Li Jin Yu. He wasn’t looking her way at the moment, bending over to tie his shoelaces. Beside him, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy who had stepped on him accidentally was repeatedly bowing and apologizing. He responded very politely that it was nothing. To be honest, he didn’t look much older than these kids. The young boy casually chatted with him, “Bro, when do you start school?”
“Next month, probably,” Li Jin Yu answered without batting an eye.
Lying to kids again. Lately, Li Jin Yu had been relying on Ye Meng’s affection and becoming completely unrestrained. Even Tai Ming Xiao said he’d been a bit too flirtatious recently—he even knew to use emojis in chats now, rather than just replying with a single “.”
On the other end of the phone, Fang Ya’en was still chattering: “You might as well feed him by hand at meals too. You’ve spoiled him into a complete weirdo.”
Ye Meng looked helpless. “Try dating him yourself and you’ll understand. You simply can’t resist.”
Fang Ya’en half-jokingly said, “Fine, help me make an appointment with Li Jin Yu then. I want to try too.”
“Get lost.”
“I’m being serious with you, don’t take it lightly. Who else has a woman on top during their first time? I can’t find a second example in the whole world—just you, the only one. You’ve spoiled your boyfriend to this extent!”
Fang Ya’en hung up with a “click.”
…
On the basketball court, Tai Ming Xiao couldn’t help but curse internally. These two have probably already been sneaking around, conspiring together. They’ve likely already slept together. His small eyes darted back and forth between them for a while before concluding they had slept together.
Perhaps sensing Tai Ming Xiao’s intense and mysterious stares, Li Jin Yu turned and glanced at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” Tai Ming Xiao hastily replied, his tone somewhat unnatural. “You guys keep playing. I’m going to the bathroom.”
As soon as he entered the bathroom, Tai Ming Xiao sent a WeChat message to Gou Kai, who was on a business trip in England: “Ye Meng came to watch pretty boy play basketball today. I think there’s something weird going on between them. Damn, I hope it’s not what I’m thinking. If it is, I’ll end my friendship with Li Jin Yu.”
His principles wouldn’t allow him to be friends with such a man if Li Jin Yu truly didn’t even spare married women.
Tai Ming Xiao squatted on the ground, covering his eyes in distress, then regretfully pounded his chest twice. He blamed himself—he should never have introduced them to each other in the first place. Wuwuwu.
His phone dinged, and Gou Kai quickly replied.
“Didn’t Ye Meng say she went back to Ning Sui to be with her husband? Why is she back?”
Tai Ming Xiao: “How the hell would I know? Anyway, she came to watch a pretty boy play basketball. And the way they look at each other—I suspect they’ve already slept together.”
Gou Kai: “…”
Gou Kai: “Li Jin Yu isn’t that kind of person. As his brother, you should have some trust in him.”
Tai Ming Xiao: “He forcibly kissed her at the garage that day!”
Gou Kai: “Keep an eye on them first. When I get back, I’ll talk to him.”
“Okay.” Tai Ming Xiao put away his phone and prepared to leave, coincidentally running into Li Chen who was coming in to use the bathroom. He was startled. “Is it over?”
Li Chen stood at the urinal. “What else?”
Tai Ming Xiao: “Where’s Li Jin Yu?”
“Went to buy water.”
Tai Ming Xiao hurried to the shop and then back to the basketball court, which was empty. Finally, he found Li Jin Yu smoking while leaning against a car door in the parking lot. He ran over, not seeing Ye Meng anywhere, and asked bewilderedly, “Where’s the lady?”
Li Jin Yu tapped off some ash, looked at him, and gestured with his chin toward the outside. “Bathroom.”
Without another word, Tai Ming Xiao jumped into Li Jin Yu’s passenger seat like a monkey fighting for territory, slammed the door shut, and said with a serious face: “You… drive me back.”
Li Jin Yu: “You’re abandoning your car?”
“I don’t care, just drive me back first.” Tai Ming Xiao twisted his body like a little wife, looking as if he would never get out of the car.
Li Jin Yu took a drag of his cigarette, looked at him for a while, and then methodically extinguished the cigarette. He nodded lazily and said: “Fine.”
Li Jin Yu hadn’t planned to keep it secret. He had intended to find an opportunity to invite everyone to dinner, and when everyone was present, throw down the marriage certificate to reveal everything. That was his plan. But plans can’t keep up with changes. Li Chen had been abroad for competitions recently, and Gou Kai was constantly on business trips. It was impossible to gather everyone together. Sharing this news via WeChat seemed somewhat insincere, especially after deceiving everyone for so long.
But the situation was gradually developing in an uncontrollable direction.
Tai Ming Xiao had been sitting in the passenger seat for a while, waiting for Ye Meng to return from the bathroom. As he was aimlessly about to turn on the radio, his peripheral vision keenly caught sight of a small white rectangular box.
He was all too familiar with this thing.
In the past, seeing this thing would make his heart skip a beat. When he had a girlfriend, he had to buy one of these things from the pharmacy every month.
By then, Li Jin Yu had already gotten into the car, sitting in the driver’s seat all sweaty after playing basketball. The car window was lowered, with one of his arms resting outside, lounging lazily. He rarely played basketball—he used to play more in school, but in recent years he had hardly been on the court. So it was rare to see this spirited side of him. It was truly heart-stirring, like a boy experiencing his first love. There was an inexplicable rakish air about Li Jin Yu at that moment.
The cicadas were singing incessantly in the trees, and the sunset glow spread across the treetops. What a pure, beautiful evening, full of youthful vitality.
Then a pregnancy test was pulled out from the car’s armrest by Tai Ming Xiao, trembling slightly, with an expression of incredulity and despair, as if wanting to execute Li Jin Yu on the spot.
Tai Ming Xiao: “You scumbag, tell me, what the hell is this!”
The “scumbag Li” withdrew his hand and placed it on the steering wheel. His other hand crushed the empty cigarette box in the car. He glanced up at Tai Ming Xiao and said coldly: “Don’t you recognize a pregnancy test?”
“Whose is it? Ye Meng’s?”
“Mm.”
Tai Ming Xiao’s voice trembled even more. He felt like his brain was about to explode, with every cell in his body screaming to cut ties with Li Jin Yu. His blood rushed uncontrollably into his brain.
Finally, he advised himself not to be impulsive. He took a deep breath and, as if trying to save a wayward youth, calmly said: “Brother, tell me, why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“Why did it have to be Ye Meng? There are so many women in the world! Why her of all people?” Tai Ming Xiao said through gritted teeth, with a somewhat reluctant tone of admission. “Yes! She’s very beautiful, and her figure is sexy as hell, but she has a family! I’ve told you so many times, don’t mess with married women, don’t mess with married women. Are you not listening?”
“It’s not—”
But Tai Ming Xiao raised one hand to signal him not to explain, while covering his face with the other, struggling for words: “Enough, don’t say anything. I know, I have experience with this, I’m a man, I understand.”
Li Jin Yu: “Hm?”
“Women who have been married, who have some experience, they’re indeed better in bed. Honestly, of all the girlfriends I’ve had, the one I miss the most is that divorced one. Every time, I felt like I could die in bed with her!”
“…Which one?”
“It was during college. Anyway, I met this sister who was divorced. She was quite impressive, knew everything, and would just start stripping your pants off, seriously. She opened a whole new world for me. Since then, chastity has been a stranger to me. I still remember the feeling from that night,” Tai Ming Xiao abruptly changed tone, “Listen to me, brother, break it off with her.”
“Open the compartment in front of you, in the center console.”
“Which one?” Tai Ming Xiao was startled, but still reached over. “This one?”
Li Jin Yu lit a cigarette, his elbow lazily propped against the car window, looking down at him with half-closed eyes. He gave a soft “mm” in response.
“And then?” Tai Ming Xiao asked.
The “scumbag Li” didn’t look at him, slowly taking drags off his cigarette amid the gorgeous, sinking sunset. He looked out through the windshield, watching Ye Meng come out of the bathroom. She had already taken off her denim jacket and was carrying it over her arm. That piece underneath had fabric that seemed barely enough to cover anything—she called this the “BM style.” She looked stunningly beautiful in it, and also like someone who would be difficult to pick up. Li Jin Yu narrowed his eyes as he smoked, staring at her, calculating: if this were their starting point, if everything began anew, how long would it take him to get her?
Meanwhile, he continued speaking to Tai Ming Xiao: “Take out the red thing on top.”
Tai Ming Xiao pulled it out.
Ye Meng was still sending a voice message to someone, holding her phone to her mouth, talking as she walked toward them. Li Jin Yu put out his cigarette. “Read it.”
“Marriage certificate, Male, Li Jin Yu—”
“FUCK FUCK FUCK?” Tai Ming Xiao’s voice, shocked, cut through the entire sky, as if even Gou Kai, who was drinking red wine with clients in England, had choked for a moment.
Li Jin Yu signaled to Ye Meng to stop walking. He drove the car over to her, leaning against the driver’s seat, not even bothering to fasten his seatbelt. He pressed the brake, started the car, turned the steering wheel, looking at the rearview mirror while saying—
“Get it now? That small-town husband Gou Kai mentioned is your grandpa me.”