His Honey Chapter 9

Chapter 9

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In the car, Wei Boheng smiled and asked Xiao Yichi, "I said in the text message this afternoon that we'd go out for a late-night snack, how about it, are you still in the mood?"

Xiao Yichi retracted his gaze from the side mirror. In the past, he would have shown interest, but tonight he felt sick to his stomach. He apologised, "Sorry, I might have eaten too much on the boat and feel a bit of indigestion now."

Wei Boheng didn't mind and said with concern, "Is your stomach feeling upset? There are gastrointestinal pills in the storage compartment in front of you, do you want to take some to ease it? I put a spare thermos cup in the back seat, drink some hot water."

Xiao Yichi thanked, "No no, it's fine, just let it digest for a while."

"Okay. Tell me if you're really uncomfortable."

"Thanks."

Two men who met on a blind date and had a pretty good impression of each other, at night.

If they really wanted to deepen their understanding, there were a lot of things that could be done, but unfortunately, they could only call it quits tonight.

Before getting out of the car, Xiao Yichi said to Wei Boheng, "Thank you for sending me back. I'll definitely treat you to a snack sometime to make up for it."

"Okay, I'll wait." Wei Boheng responded with a smile.

Xiao Yichi watched the car drive away before taking a step.

He went to a nearby convenience store and bought a can of fish and a pack of cigarettes, then slowly padded towards the small park.

He opened the can and it didn't take long for the little wild cat to come running, burying her head and eating ferociously.

Xiao Yichi quietly watched as she finished eating and licking.

One person and one cat stared at each other for a moment, and the kitten turned around with her big belly and leaped into the grass without a sound.

The cat ignored him.

Xiao Yichi went home and closed the door. The lights of the high-rise building were very bright, even without turning on the lights, the light from the balcony had already illuminated half of the living room.

He stood in the unlit half of the dim space for a while, and then went to take a shower.

When he came out of the bathroom, his washed hair was not completely dry and was still dripping. He picked up the newly purchased cigarettes and walked out to the balcony. With a pop, the flame of the lighter jumped up. Xiao Yichi bit lightly on the cigarette, turned his face sideways to get closer and lit it up.

The taste of tobacco entered his lungs.

He carelessly sat down on the rattan chair, straightened one leg, bent the other, and stepped on the edge of the rattan chair.

During the day, when Yu Zhinian said "pure, fiery love", his eyes were sincere and passionate, as if a clam that had been tightly closed had cracked open, and the pearl inside could not be blocked and spilled out.

At that instant, Xiao Yichi's heart tightened violently. He really didn't expect that Yu Zhinian's outlook on love was so similar to his.

It's not strange to have such thoughts in your teens and twenties, but there are not many people who look at relationships this way after having experienced many ups and downs.

Moreover, Yu Zhinian is an elite figure who has been immersed in the circle of power and fame for a long time.

It's like catching a glimpse of a pure white soul in a worldly jungle of flowers and wine.

Xiao Yichi held the cigarette between two fingers, tilted his head, and exhaled smoke.

It's just that he doesn't have exquisite skin, and he doesn't deserve to get close.

He never thought that there would be a day when he would raise his "appearance" to this level of consciousness and seriously think about it.

Perhaps this is an era of elaborate whitewashing. No matter how many books you've read, how many roads you've travelled, your face needs to be groomed and sculpted so that people can see it at a glance and judge your worth.

He clearly fell behind.

Yu Zhinian stood on the side of the road until a horn blared and brought him back to his senses.

Ye Zhaolin lowered the back window to show his face, "Why are you still here?"

Maybe he drank and ate too much, so his stomach wasn't too comfortable.

Yu Zhinian didn't have the heart to drive, so he said, "I'm not feeling well, let me take your car."

"Okay, I'll have someone drive your car back."

Yu Zhinian opened the car door and got in. "Okay, thanks."

Ye Zhaolin smiled wryly, "You're welcome. I still have to trouble Fangda to go all out for my prenuptial agreement."

Yu Zhinian returned, "Don't worry, if you give enough benefits, there won't be any lack of effort."

"Hahaha! I love your sharp tongue!"

Yu Zhinian returned to his home, and the lights came on one by one with his footsteps.

He stood in the living room. Perhaps because he had an upset stomach, he didn't even care to pay attention to the paintings that he would have stopped to view in the past.

He was too out of sorts during the day.

Xiao Yichi, who was experienced in the affairs of the world, would probably find him childish when he heard him say that.

Inexplicably, he wanted to compete with the other, not wanting to fall behind.

More than a week passed.

On a night of overtime work, Yu Zhinian sat in the office, idle for a few moments, and accidentally clicked into Xiao Yichi's WeChat moments.

A few days ago, he went to eat a late-night snack; on his day off today, he went to a car dealership to look at cars. All of them were accompanied by the words "accompanying a friend".

The three words.

Yu Zhinian clicked into Wei Boheng's WeChat moments.

The angle at which the photos were taken was different, but the content of the photos and the date of posting were the same.

Heh. Looks like they're progressing quite well.

Auntie Pan made a trip to her hometown and came back today, and Yu Zhinian went to the airport to pick her up.

Auntie Pan had a pretty good time and was all smiles as she handed Yu Zhinian a bag full of souvenirs.

"So much." Yu Zhinian smiled and carried it. In the past, Auntie Pan felt sorry for Yu Zhinian's hard-earned money and didn't want to buy too many things.

"Hey, half of this is for Yichi, he likes to eat good food, so I bought it for him. Give it to him one day when you invite him to your home." Auntie Pan had it all planned out for Yu Zhinian.

"..." Yu Zhinian settled Auntie and the souvenirs, got into the driver's seat, and said while starting the car, "I reckon he doesn't have the time lately."

"What's wrong? Is he busy with work?" Auntie Pan was curious.

"He has a new blind date, and they should be getting on well."

"... Is that so?" Auntie Pan was speechless for a while, digesting the news. At the end, she lamented, "That's right, love is free nowadays, everyone has the right to choose." She smiled again, "It's okay, you can send it to him when you're free, getting to know each other is fate."

"... Okay."

Xiao Yichi emerged from the hospital after finishing his onboarding physical examination and received a call from Auntie Mai.

Shan Shan was pregnant with her second child, and Auntie Mai had gone to another city to take care of her for a while.

"Lord Auntie, how may I help you?" Xiao Yichi greeted the caller with a smile.

"Yichi ah, do you have a new blind date?"

Xiao Yichi stopped at the pedestrian safety median. He wanted to wait for Auntie to come back before telling her, after all, it's not a serious matter that needs a special call.

"Mhmm, a friend introduced me."

"How is the other person?"

"He's very nice, he's a lawyer too, out running his own law firm."

"Oh – that... how are you progressing?"

"Not bad, at present we're still at the stage of getting to know each other. When we have time, we'll ask to go out and meet."

"Sounds pretty good. Wait for me to come back, then you can properly tell me about it."

"Okay, I was originally thinking the same thing. How are you doing over there?"

The two chatted for a while, and Auntie Mai eventually came back to Xiao Yichi's life matters, "Yichi, you don't have to worry about Auntie. Seriously find someone who is good to you and loves you. Auntie Mai will look for you again, let's meet a few more people. Don't be pressured either, have a good chat with this one now and see."

"... I understand."

After a few more words, they ended the call.

Auntie Mai knew, she should have heard about it from Auntie Pan. And from whom did Auntie Pan learn about it?

Xiao Yichi suddenly felt a little annoyed. In fact, it was nothing. The aunts were so enthusiastic about their affairs, maybe Yu Zhinian said it casually when he wasn't paying attention. But his heart was inexplicably angry, it's my business, not yours.

Yu Zhinian sent a message to Xiao Yichi: Auntie Pan came back from her hometown and bought you some souvenirs. When you are free, I'll take them over to you.

However, the message had been sent for two days, and Xiao Yichi hadn't replied.

On the third day, Yu Zhinian returned to the office after the meeting and checked again, but there was still no reply. He threw his cell phone on the desktop.

"Nan Jing," he pressed the landline intercom, "bring in that draft of the easement agreement from yesterday."

There was no response on the other end.

Very good. The kid has been caught red-handed.

Yu Zhinian walked out of the office and swept a glance at Nan Jing's workstation, there was no one there.

He headed for the tea room.

"... I heard that it was an ex-boyfriend... who came directly to the law firm..."

"... fight..."

The tea room was full of assistants who seemed to be chatting about some gossip. Yu Zhinian stood in the doorway and deliberately cleared his throat. "Kids, it's work time."

The assistants were startled and turned around all with apologetic looks of being caught in the act. "Hello, Lawyer Yu." After greeting him, they hurriedly dispersed like birds and beasts.

Nan Jing quickly walked to Yu Zhinian's side, "Boss, I'm sorry, I just heard some big gossip and forget things as we chatted."

Yu Zhinian squinted at him. This kid was still trying to divert his attention with gossip.

Yu Zhinian said to Nan Jing behind him as he walked back, "Then tell me, see if this gossip is big enough to keep me from telling your grandfather."

Nan Jing pushed up his glasses, "Lawyer Wei Boheng, who has worked with you before, I heard that his ex-boyfriend directly approached his law firm last night and argued with him. His current boyfriend seemed to be there as well, and it seems that they fought afterward..."

Yu Zhinian stopped violently. Nan Jing didn't brake in time and directly hit his back, "Boss?"

"A fight? Ex and current?" Yu Zhinian's brows furrowed.

Nan Jing touched his bumped nose, "That's what the rumours say. After all, last night's incident was already after hours, so not many people saw it, and the people who work there are all self-proclaimed decent people, even if they see it, it's not good to immediately gossip and take a cell phone out to photograph it. At that time, it seemed to alarm the security guard. But we also heard about it."

Xiao Yichi, you'd better not be one of the parties involved in the rumours. Yu Zhinian assigned a task to Nan Jing, "Go and find out the truth about the gossip and come tell me."

Nan Jing blinked, surprised at this unfamiliar task.

Yu Zhinian reminded him, "Still not going?"

Nan Jing didn't forget what Yu Zhinian had just told him, "That means this gossip is big enough? You won't tell my grandfather?"

"I'll tell you when you find out the truth." He just wouldn't give the poor kid a break.

Nan Jing acted immediately.

The truth of the gossip was that Wei Boheng's ex-boyfriend had gone to the law firm to harass Wei Boheng. Xiao Yichi had originally arranged to meet him downstairs, but when he was late, he went up to look for him. At that time, Wei Boheng and the other party were in the middle of an argument. Xiao Yichi went over and stood in the middle. The other party wanted to push Xiao Yichi in a moment of agitation, but he was pinned down by the latter on the countertop of the front desk.

"This gentleman, have some manners, okay?" Xiao Yichi warned.

"Let go of me!"

Someone alerted the security guards who arrived, "What's going on? What happened?"

Seeing this, Wei Boheng hurriedly said, "Yichi, let go of him, he's not worth it."

Xiao Yichi let go of his ex-boyfriend. The latter saw that the scene had gotten bigger, looked deeply at Wei Boheng and walked away with resentment.

The drama ended hastily, and the original plan of meeting up to watch a movie was also disrupted.

They ended up driving to the beach.

After listening to the waves for a while, Xiao Yichi looked at Wei Boheng and asked with concern, "Has your mood calmed down a bit?"

Wei Boheng smiled at him, there were apologies and helplessness in his smile. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this kind of thing."

Xiao Yichi didn't care and comforted him, "It's okay, I think it's quite refreshing."

"... He kept sending me messages before, wanting to get back together with me. I ignored him and changed apartments. I didn't expect him to directly come to the law firm." Wei Boheng smiled bitterly, "I guess the entire lawyer circle in the central business district will know about this tomorrow."

They sat on a rock on the beach. Wei Boheng bent his legs, resting his jaw against his knee, "Why do you think I fell in love with this kind of person?"

Xiao Yichi looked at the stars over the sea. "... When I was young, I thought that the person I liked had to be tall, rich and handsome. But in fact, tall, rich and handsome is what he is, and it doesn't have anything to do with me. Just because he's tall, rich and handsome doesn't mean he won't be abusive at home. Sometimes people like another person not necessarily because they are well off, but rather, the things they have experienced together are unique, and those things have created chemistry with one another. Honestly, have you ever had memorable moments with your ex-boyfriend?"

"... There were." Wei Boheng bared his heart, "It's precisely because there were that made being betrayed by him all the more unbearable... After breaking up, I didn't block him... Going out with you, I purposely took several photos and uploaded one from time to time. Why should he be the only one who gets to live freely and happily? I want to show him that I'm living a good life now too."

Xiao Yichi asked him, "Do you want to get back together with him?"

"... I don't know. All I have now is hatred for him." Wei Boheng sullenly explained.

He apologised to Xiao Yichi again, "I'm sorry. I feel like I used you. You were so serious about finding your other half, but I was insincere and mixed in too much selfishness. Da Shan was right to worry."

Xiao Yichi reached out and ruffled Wei Boheng's hair that was messed up by the sea breeze, "Don't blame yourself. To be honest with you, a relationship experience that is too smooth is not something I look forward to. Relationships have to be like persimmons, they are sweeter only after being frosted. Sometimes, you have to wait, wait for the fruit to ripen after the storm, and then ripen a little more. In the moment when it's about to be ripe, pluck it off, the sweet and full juices will almost break out of that thin layer of skin. At this time, take a bite, and I think it must be sweet to your heart."

Wei Boheng laughed, "This is really an appetising metaphor."

"Hahaha! Speaking of which, I'm hungry, shall we go eat something?"

"Okay."

After finishing his snack, Xiao Yichi sent Wei Boheng back and took a taxi himself. He called Da Shan in the car and asked him to find someone to secretly protect Wei Boheng.

After Da Shan understood what happened, he asked Xiao Yichi, "... So do you two still have any scenes?"

Xiao Yichi shrugged, "Depends on fate."

Soon, Nan Jing had poked around the ins and outs of the gossip.

The rhythm of his knock revealed his urgency. Yu Zhinian let him in, "Speak." He signed the documents while waiting for the report.

"Boss, it turns out that Lawyer Wei's current boyfriend is Xiao Yichi! Do you think it's a coincidence?! I knew he had returned to China, but I didn't expect him to be in the same city as us..."

"Are you sure the two of them are in a relationship now?" Yu Zhinian looked up and interrupted him, asking.

"Uh," Nan Jing was stunned, "Lawyer Wei's assistant said that Lawyer Wei has been having more private appointments lately, so I reasonably speculated..."

"That's not substantial evidence. As a lawyer, be careful with your words."

Nan Jing reflected, "I'm sorry, I know I was wrong." He then remembered that Yu Zhinian had asked him about Xiao Yichi, "Is Reporter Xiao the object of any client's attention?"

"That's something I can't reveal to you for now."

Nan Jing had to give up, "Okay."

Yu Zhinian put down his pen, "Back to the point, the ins and outs?"

"Oh." Nan Jing recapped the situation piece by piece, and at the end, he took out a USB flash drive and placed it in front of Yu Zhinian, "I also got the security footage from that time."

"Well done. As for your grandfather, I'll praise you appropriately."

Nan Jing pushed up his glasses, his expression a little joyful and proud, "Thank you, Boss."

As Nan Jing prepared to leave, Yu Zhinian called out to him, "'Hitting someone' is not the same as 'self-defence', since you know the truth, isn't it..."

Nan Jing understood at once, "Reporter Xiao is my idol, I will definitely defend him and clarify the facts."

After Nan Jing left, Yu Zhinian clicked open the surveillance video file to watch it.

After watching it, he pondered for a moment, his years of experience as a lawyer had made him accustomed to making foolproof plans. He dialled a number. "Hello. I'd like to ask you to send someone to protect someone... Not a prominent figure, he was a journalist before and now he's a teacher. He's had a bit of a dispute with someone recently, and the 'client' is worried that he'll be retaliated against... Yes, the sooner the better. Okay, thanks. I'll send you his information later."

Not long after he ended the call, a new message came in on his cell phone.

Xiao Yichi finally replied to him.

When he received the news that Yu Zhinian had brought him some souvenirs, Xiao Yichi was in a dilemma. It was from Auntie Pan's heart, but he really didn't want to see Yu Zhinian.

He wanted to reply to him the next day, but when Wei Boheng was harassed by his ex-boyfriend, he forgot about it.

After Xiao Yichi replied to the message and Yu Zhinian agreed on a meeting time, he suddenly remembered that Wei Boheng had said that "the entire lawyer circle in the central business district will know about this".

Good things don't leave the door, but bad things spread a thousand miles. Especially this kind of relationship dispute, it's very easy to add fuel to the fire and turn it into distorted gossip.

Wouldn't Yu Zhinian know about it as well? Xiao Yichi thought for a moment, Lawyer Yu shouldn't have this kind of leisure. If he heard about it, he would probably have a worse impression of him.

Xiao Yichi shook his head, what was he doing thinking about this?

Yu Zhinian drove to the small park near Xiao Yichi's neighbourhood after working overtime.

Xiao Yichi had just finished feeding the cat when Yu Zhinian appeared.

"These are the souvenirs." Yu Zhinian handed over the bag and Xiao Yichi took it, "Thank you, and thank Auntie Pan for me."

The handover was complete, so they could have said goodbye.

Yu Zhinian asked, "... Have you been busy lately? I never seem to receive any messages back."

Xiao Yichi smiled lightly, "Sorry, I was busy with something, so I forgot to reply."

Yu Zhinian felt that Xiao Yichi's attitude had changed since the end of the yacht party. Could it be that he had established a relationship with Wei Boheng when they spoke that afternoon?

"... How are you and Lawyer Wei progressing lately?"

What does how it's going have to do with you? Do you care? Or do you want to tell Auntie Pan again?

Fire leapt up in his heart. Xiao Yichi responded, "Lawyer Yu, if you have time to care about Wei Boheng and I, why don't you care about yourself and stop being a little trumpet all the time."

Yu Zhinian narrowed his eyes, "... Little trumpet?"

"My personal matters, I will personally talk to my aunts without going through you; to put it bluntly, my matters have nothing to do with Lawyer Yu. Whether you did it mindlessly or intentionally, please shut up."

The street lights were not very bright, and both of their faces were illuminated with a mixture of light and darkness.

Yu Zhinian countered, "... Don't worry, I can't say anything to Auntie Pan about boring gossip like 'current man and ex are fighting'."

Awesome. Now not only was his own face value not enough, he wasn't even good at handling people anymore.

Xiao Yichi laughed out loud, "Yeah. I'm sorry, you must feel so ashamed to have actually been on a blind date with someone like me." The extreme anger instead calmed down. He hung his head, "It's been hard on you."

"..." Yu Zhinian clenched his hands into fists and pursed his lips. The only thing in the small park was the sound of insects, which became increasingly quiet.

Xiao Yichi concluded, "... Lawyer Yu, we don't need to contact each other in the future. I will find an excuse for the aunties. During this period of time, I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Yu Zhinian was sick. With a heavy cold, his whole body was groggy, and even speaking was very laborious.

He got up from the bed with great difficulty and called the neighbourhood's exclusive housekeeping team, who immediately responded by sending someone over to take care of him.

When he returned last night, he took a cold shower, drenching himself from head to toe in an attempt to calm his chaotic and overwhelming thoughts and emotions.

So today he had to take a leave of absence and stay home. He had taken very little time off from work because he was too busy to get sick.

But now his whole body was sore and weak, and not only could he not walk, he could not think either.

He hated it when he was lying in bed and couldn't think with his brain, because then he could only be ruled by the feelings in his heart.

Luckily, the professionals arrived to diagnose him and prescribe medication in a timely manner.

He took the medicine and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up, his head was not so heavy. The nursing staff came over to measure his data and told him to continue to rest well before they would wake him up again when it was time to take his medication.

When he was sick as a child, Auntie Pan would stay by his side and gently touch his head; when he refused to take his medicine, she would gently coax him and accede to all kinds of unreasonable and ridiculous requests.

It wasn't just the medicine that worked.

Now that Auntie Pan was older and he had grown up, he couldn't be like he used to be.

"Mr. Yu, would you like something to eat? I'll arrange it for you?" The nursing staff thoughtfully asked.

Yu Zhinian shook his head, "Go and do your work, I'll lie down for a while."

"Okay."

He was the only one in the large bedroom.

His heart was empty.

He flipped open the covers, got out of bed, and went to the closet.

He opened a box under the cabinet and inside was a very old Snoopy.

It was Auntie Pam's first birthday present to him. The Snoopy was half his height at the time, and now it seemed so small and compact that it could only nestle into his arms.

He went back to bed, holding Snoopy in his arms.

He had parents equal to no parents, and one of the happiest moments of his childhood had been watching Auntie Pam clean Snoopy – carefully undressing him, wiping him down carefully, complete with his long ears, and finally leaving him bare to dry on the rooftop, watching him still grinning foolishly.

Zhinian, Snoopy is not stupid, he smiles no matter what he encounters, that's what's called smart.

Auntie Pan, unfortunately I can't do that.

He hugged Snoopy tightly.

How long has it been since he met Xiao Yichi? It's not like they're a couple, but his heart felt so uncomfortable.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: January 3, 2024