Act 20: Impossible to Compromise
Liang Ze: What? None of them?
Mei Bian: Ah, that…
Liang Ze: Why?
Mei Bian: This…is not suitable for publication.
Liang Ze: How can it be! It"s the right pixel scale! Xie Jin Yan told me as long as it"s over 300 pixels it would be fine.
Mei Bian: That"s not the problem.
Liang Ze: Then what is?
Mei Bian: Do you seriously want to choose that photo?
Liang Ze: Of course! Each one is very memorable!
Mei Bian: …
Liang Ze: Have you heard of a tribal chief?
Mei Bian: You… If you wrote an African theme, I can force myself to use it.
Liang Ze: Ah! Ehem! I understand! You suggest that I should wear a stylish tailored suit like a big boss of a private bank? That won"t work! The protagonists in my book are all women! The only men left are…a bandit leader, a foreign exchange student, and a mayor"s son…
Mei Bian: Mister Liang!
Liang Ze: What?
Mei Bian: We just need you to adorn a simple and plain look, you don"t have to cosplay into anyone!
Liang Ze: But what I gave you are the most simple and plain look I got! Or how about the one with leopard clothing? That"s very primitive!
Mei Bian: …I"ll transfer you over to Director Xie.
Liang Ze: Ah? What? Don"t transfer!
After Xie Jin Yan received the call, Liang Ze basically only said ah, yes, understood; there was no quibble. Xie Jin Yan arranged everything very quickly and neatly, no later than this Friday that he should submit photos of him in a suit and shirt to her. No further discussion.
Zhong Yue Wen sat in the backseat with her hands clutching at her belly, as if she was afraid that the child in her womb would have heard something bad. At this time, she was bearing a grudge against her husband, she was sure that she could drive herself to the clinic for the checkup, even though her belly is a bit big, she is not in her first trimester!
"Sister-in-law!" Liang Ze hung up the call and then looked up at the rear view mirror, "Look at what those editors are thinking! They all said to not want to use those photos as profile picture on the book cover, I gave them so many photos yet they don"t like any, now I have to take new photos in suit and leather shoes!"
Zhong Yue Wen wanted to pretend that she did not hear him, but Liang Ze"s voice was very loud, and she wasn"t deaf, so she helplessly said, "…Then just take one donning a tailored suit and leather shoes, after all you write literary fiction."
"But I"m a wild man, they don"t know how to appreciate my tribal chief"s photo!"
"…"
"Sister-in-law, you"re saying I don"t look handsome in those pictures?!"
"Handsome! We don"t hang it up in our living room if not handsome, right?" Zhong Yue Wen bit down on her lip. She devoted a prayer to the Buddha in her heart: Buddha, I"m not deceiving people…
"That"s right!" Liang Ze smiled happily, "Only our family has good judgement! Hang Hang also said handsome!"
Zhong Yue Wen closed her eyes to get some sleep, the air blowing from the aircon in the car made her feel very comfortable. Honestly speaking, she had this tremendous worship towards Hang Hang, what kind of genie can cope with such weirdo?
Ah, right, according to Zhong Yue Wen, Hang Hang is a very kind genie. This little brother does not even have a slightest character of a woman. Liang Ze being together with a man may cause Liang Bin to be confused, but Zhong Yue Wen did not find it surprising. What kind of person Liang Ze is? He is someone that not any ordinary person can understand. She just did not get Hang Hang, how such a handsome, gentle, and tender person… willingly jumping into this h.e.l.l hole. This is insane! Liang Bin said, Hang Hang is very happy with Liang Ze =.=
Zhong Yue Wen is a pet-lover, she used to have a dog. But when she was pregnant with the first child, she had to send the beloved small dog away. And after she had given birth, it was too dangerous to keep the dog around the baby, so the dog was staying with her parents until it pa.s.sed away. Zhong Yue Wen was grieving for quite some time; she and the dog had a good beginning, but at the end, the dog did not get to see her at its death, so it did not close its eyes. Later on, she had wanted to raise another one, but Liang Bin wanted to have another child; therefore, she gave up on that thought. She understood that Liang Bin wants to have a son, because they really cannot rely on Liang Ze for that. This time they had calculated it well, and as expected, it is a boy; Liang Bin was very happy, but it was only him feeling extremely pleased with this pregnancy, Zhong Yue Wen, however, was not pleased. Following that, Liang Bin decided that she should quit her job, saying she needs to take it easy at home. Zhong Yue Wen could not stand it! She was very bored, during the day, Liang Bin goes to work, Xiao Cui goes to school, meaning there are only her and the housekeeper Aunt Li in the house. But then, Aunt Li took her leave for the Spring Festival holiday, the new housekeeper is a young person, and is very agile; but, when it comes to chatting, the person just disappears. Why is it so hard to find someone to talk to now? She could not call her friends or colleagues, because they all have work, no one can spend all their time on the phone just to talk with her; she could not call her parents, because they really cannot talk for too long; going for a walk or going shopping is impossible, because she is already getting tired just after two steps.
And then Zhong Yue Wen suddenly thought about Hang Hang. Zhong Yue Wen has a very good impression with Hang Hang, he is a very delicate and gentle man but he is not overly feminine; she especially liked how he is very soft spoken. Zhong Yue Wen had decided that after giving birth to this baby, she would like to finally have a dog, thus she gave Hang Hang a call. Since then their friendship had been established and getting stronger every day. Several times, Zhong Yue Wen had wanted to come to Hang Hang"s shop to kill time, but she was being prohibited from doing so. Hang Hang was even more strict than a doctor, not just stopping her from coming to the shop, he even deliberately had disinfected the whole body of the dog that he brought over to her, done so carefully that every crook and nook of the nail was clean.
After getting to know Hang Hang, Zhong Yue Wen also began to understand his character more; therefore, she began to feel worried. She was afraid to lose Hang Hang more than Liang Ze. It was only a matter of sooner or later. It had made her so worried that Hang Hang had become the only topic she discussed with Liang Bin every day in his hours after work. Liang Bin did not think of it too badly, just said that all human beings will be blessed if Liang Ze ever is going to break up with Hang Hang, because then he will lock himself away and spends all those time on his writing. Liang Bin did not forget to remind his wife to not get too close to their "younger brother-in-law", they had learned their lessons! b.l.o.o.d.y lessons! Zhong Yue Wen once had a very good relationship with Liang Ze"s second girlfriend, even though the girl is pregnant but not with Liang Ze"s child, she still attended the baby"s full moon party. But the good time only lasted for a few days, then they never crossed path again.
{Translator Note: Chinese celebration of baby"s first full month is called "full moon" or "full month" – According to Chinese custom, when a baby turns one month old, a ceremony is held to celebrate his/her first full month of life (the Chinese term translates as “full moon” or “full month”). This coincides with the end of the new mum’s confinement period, and both mother and baby are formally introduced to the extended family and friends. For many of them, this will be the first time they are meeting the new baby.}
"Ah! Sister-in-law!" Liang Ze drove Zhong Yue Wen to the front of Gynecology Clinic of Beijing University, he suddenly remembered something very important, "Shuaige told me to give this to you."
Zhong Yue Wen took a look, it was Zhang Park annual tickets.
"Shuaige said that if you"re bored, you can go to the park to get some fresh air."
Zhong Yue Wen looked at Liang Ze, biting down on her lip to refrain herself from saying this out loud: I"m begging you to not cause another break up again. She really tried to not say that out loud, because she did not want to jinx it =.=
Liang Ze watched as Zhong Yue Wen stepped carefully into the clinic with her big tummy, he heaved out a sigh. He also wanted to have a child. Unfortunately, he could not give birth to one.
What more annoying than this is that recently he did not feel that great when having s.e.x with Hang Hang. The moment he opened his eyes and saw Hang Hang"s little brother, he immediately got soft. He just really could not accept him in bed. He even started to avoid him at night.
When he got home, Liang Ze pulled out the photo alb.u.m and carefully examined each picture. He had looked through the whole alb.u.m, but could not find a photo with a suit. The only one that meets the requirement was the one from his graduation. But…besides him, other people are also in the photo.
Looked at the large group of people in the photo, Liang Ze suddenly remembered of Zhang Nan and Chen Li Jie. They are his college friends. Those two were always taking good care of him. Zhang Nan and Liang Ze were both roommates, every day he would fetch a basin of water for him, also would save him a spot in the library, and bring back meals to him at the dorm. Just that, he did not know what topic they both can converse about. Chen Li Jie is two years ahead of him, but whenever he found some important information for studying, he would give him an extra copy, often taking him to go see movies, occasionally giving him gifts and presents, which made Liang Ze feel confused and uncertain. In fact, people tend to get attracted to a particular type of person. With Liang Ze"s EQ, he would have never known these two were attracted to him. Not just that fitness coach and Hang Hang are being attracted to him…
{Translator Input: in China college, you have to go get your own water for daily routine like showering, face washing, etc. Some time, the place you get the water is very far away from where your room is.}
Liang Ze"s impression with Chen Li Jie had soon been blurry, they both got to know each other less than a year. He only remembered him as a very special and good brother, when he graduated, he even went to the station to send him off. Chen Li Jie patted his shoulder and said, "brother, take care." Not long after, Chen Li Jie went abroad and settled oversea, and Liang Ze also lost contact with him. Two years later, Liang Ze received an email from Chen Li Jie that he is getting married. In the invitation, the names were Jessie, Jessie; everything was written in "he", "his", "him"; Liang Ze replied back with a silly face saying that he has not changed, still cannot identify between "he" and "she". He even sent a Chinese porcelain to the "bride". He did not think much about the "he" in the invitation, or thinking about their friendship was so lightly weighted, yet this person specifically wrote him of such good news.
When Zhang Nan left, Liang Ze also went to send him off; at the airport waiting room, Zhang Nan hugged him and whispered, I will miss you. Liang Ze also said, me too. When the plane had boarded up in the sky, Liang Ze"s eyes were getting moist, although he did not talk to him much, he knew that they are good buddies; and, this time he returned to Shanghai, he would never come back to Beijing again. Zhang Nan had asked Liang Ze to come to work in Shanghai, but Liang Ze did not want to leave Beijing; and he did not think much of it. They also had lost all contact.
At this moment, when looking at his graduation photo, Liang Ze suddenly remembered the two best buddies he had during college. He heaved out a regretted sigh for their "friendship".
***
Ying Ying had noticed that these days Hang Hang is feeling down, and when she asked him what wrong, he always replied back with "nothing". But Ying Ying totally did not believe his words, she had talked about it with Hai Hong, and Hai Hong also felt the same.
At this time, Hang Hang was feeding all the animals being left here for foster care, yet his mind was not here. Recently, he felt agitated by a series of the Idiot"s behaviors — he had started to refuse to have physical contact with him. He was quite clever in his refute, for example, "Shuaige! Let"s watch a movie!" Or "Shuaige! Take a look at Ikkyu and Long Long!" Or another time, "Shuaige…I"m so dead tired today, I"ve used up all of my brain cells." For half a month, Liang Ze did not even let Hang Hang touch him. Although Hang Hang is a gentleman, he is also a man with a s.e.xual need. Liang Ze came to the shop every day, but often left around ten o"clock; even if he was to stay over, he would bring up those excuses above.
Hang Hang did not want to force Liang Ze, he really could not have Liang Ze being forced to do something. But Hang Hang felt very irritated, extremely irritable.
That night, he was at his wit’s end, so he made a post on a forum.
【BF doesn"t want to have s.e.x with me, what should I do?】
The details were about the situation between him and Liang Ze.
He received the following replies:
#1: Nonsense, he"s straight! Just lie down and let him do you!
#2: Praising the boss, you"ve found your prey! The hunter is very happy (☆＿☆)
#3: Why you don"t want to be on the bottom? Just be happy without any limit!
#4: Read, purely pa.s.sing by =.=
#5: Maybe your technique is not that great?
#6: You f.u.c.king pig, is your brain being washed by the s.e.xual desire? How come you don"t want to be 0*!!!! [T/N: in Chinese slang, 0 = bottom; 1 = top; using your imagination what 0 can be imagined as and 1 can be imagined as heheheheh]
#7: Break up, break up, after you break up with him, I"ll comfort you, being shy…PS: Are you handsome? Very manly?
#8: The so-called love is just spiritual opium, you haven"t listened to what Karen Mok* sang! [T/N: Karen Mok/Mo Wen Wei – one of the leading Chinese actors and pop stars. She has won the Golden Melody Award three times, has released over 20 solo CDs, has acted in over 40 movies and has over 36 million followers on Chinese microblogging site Weibo.]
#9: Your BF is mistaking his feeling for you as love, right?
…….
Several comments replied back on his thread, they came in like an irrigation, most of them was telling him to break up and forget this love, the rest was recommending him to do the most basic thing…to be on the bottom.
Hang Hang read through each comment that night, yet not one even suggested an answer that he wants.
Should he…really be on the bottom?
Hang Hang immediately shivered as that thought crossed his mind. He is Hang Hang, smart and clever, very handsome, gentle and kind, and very resourceful person, a very manly…1 (top), but now his reputation is being destroyed by that Idiot?
But…Hang Hang was being swayed.
His whole life, he had determined him as his partner for the rest of his life, then what is so wrong to let Liang Ze top him?
His cell phone suddenly "laughed" and made Hang Hang shiver up his spine. He opened the text message.
{Translator Input: Probably Hang Hang"s message ringtone is Liang Ze"s laugh, that"s why his cell phone laughed XDDDD}
【Shuaige! I need to take some pictures!】
Hang Hang was a bit confused 【What?】
【The publishing house wants to have my photo on the book, I submitted some to them but they don"t like those pictures, saying those are inappropriate, they want one where I"m in suit! f.u.c.k! 】
【……What pictures you submitted to them?】
【The photos from the alb.u.m that I"m very proud of!】
【What should I do? Is there any photography studio near by?】
Hang Hang held onto his cell phone thinking, Qi Ji"s friend has a photography studio, but is now a good time?
【Wait for me a bit, don"t get too worried.】
【Shuaige, I love you! Chu!】
He stared at the words "I love you", Hang Hang heaved out a sigh, and then called Qi Ji. Qi Ji said that he will contact his friend, half an hour later he called back saying everything is done, but it would be late into the night, he got them an appointment for 10:30pm to 11pm; because some model booked his friend for an earlier slot. Hang Hang said thank you. Qi Ji also said that the studio does not provide clothes or costume. .
"Liang Ze, the photographer said to come to his studio at Tiananmen Square at the East Gate." Hang Hang hung up his call with Qi Ji and then called Liang Ze.
"Ah! Ok! Where is it? How I didn"t know?"
"Very easy to find, I know where."
"Sure! What time?"
"A bit late, around 10:30 to 11."
"That"s fine!"
"Just that…"
"What?"
"The place doesn"t provide clothes."
"Ah?" Liang Ze exclaimed at the other end of the phone.
"Other than that, everything else is good."
"How is that! I have to buy clothes on my own?"
"Tell the publishing house reimburse you for that." Hang Hang sighed.
"No, that"s not the problem, the point is…I have never bought a suit for myself…"
"You…"
"True. I didn"t wear one at my brother"s wedding."
"…"
"Shuaige, you come with me to buy one!"
Hang Hang looked up and stared at the table clock, it was a bit over four.
"Alright."
"Then I"ll come over to pick you up, wait for me!"
***
When the two of them got to Oriental Plaza, it was a little over five; Liang Ze and Hang Hang entered a shop, from time to time Hang Hang would ask "How is this set?" Liang Ze would reply with "looks good". They walked around the shop for more than an hour, Liang Ze still could not decide which suit is better =.=
Oriental PlazyIn the end, Hang Hang had to decide for him, he chose a black suit, which is in style and cla.s.sic, his shirt and shoes picked out by the sale a.s.sistant. The mix match looked really good, so he told the Idiot to go try them on; however, the Idiot did not bother to try them on as he already swiped his credit card to pay.
Hang Hang asked why he did not try them on, Liang Ze only giggled and said, "Shuaige, you picked them out for me, so they definitely look good!"
At that moment, Hang Hang could feel a flow of warmth spreading through his heart.
They had dinner at a Cantonese restaurant in the shopping mall. There was still a lot of time left until their appointment, so they both ate very slowly, and decided on not consuming alcohol, so they would not make unnecessary mistakes during the photo shoot. This time the Idiot was very determined on taking good shot for this photo, he wants to pa.s.s it within one go, so that he does not have to be in "contact" with Xie Jin Yan.
After the Spring Festival was over, "Undefeated Bloom" had officially entered its designing and planning phase for the book. Xie Jin Yan only called him whenever she needed him for something, Liang Ze would sometimes picked up, sometimes not, but when Xie Jin Yan became the primary contact person for him, he began to get impatient and impolite; he preferred to talk to her through messenger if he could, avoided receiving her calls whenever possible. Later on, Xie Jin Yan also noticed that Liang Ze has been avoiding her, so she let other people contact him in her place. Xie Jin Yan could not understand Liang Ze, so she could only a.s.sume that Liang Ze does not want to mix private life with work, therefore deliberately avoiding her, giving her the impression that he is a good man. Although he is a few years younger than her, she already put him on her "keeper" list; but, she had decided to respect his decision, she would wait until this book gets published and be on shelves before making her move. She wanted this book to take up all the top spots on all ranking charts. In fact, when she first read the ma.n.u.script of this book, she found that the author is someone of extraordinary; later on she found out the author is Liang Ze, she had then started her planning. Xie Jin Yan is at the age to get married, not that she does not want to get married. The only problem is she wondering if Liang Ze thinks of her as a frivolous woman, but who is Xie Jin Yan? She always has it her way!
When the clock hit 10, the shopping mall also closed down for the day; Liang Ze and Hang Hang exited the mall then. During dinner, they got to talk a lot, mostly about happy events. Hang Hang had long known that Liang Ze and him are only not compatible when it comes to s.e.x, in other aspects, they have no problem. At this moment, his love for him is so overwhelming, so… he can not lose him. Hang Hang told himself, I cannot lose him.
When they got to the photography studio, it was not yet 10:30; there were a few other people exiting the studio as well. Liang Ze walked into the studio together with Hang Hang, looking for Qi Ji"s friend. Hang Hang had known this friend of Qi Ji, but was not too familiar. This person and Qi Ji met in Paris, at that time Qi Ji was doing some research, this person is a very well known photographer. In foreign country, two men with Asian features coincidentally met, so obviously they chatted up a good conversation, and they even kept in contact after returned to their homeland. One time, Hang Hang was getting nosy and curious as to why they have no progress in their relationship, Qi Ji said, "of course there’s no progress, because he has a BF." Hang Hang was very surprised at the time, that was not like Qi Ji at all, he even knew the other person has a boyfriend! Regretfully, no romance has sparked between them. Hang Hang was certain that Qi Ji must have liked this man.
"h.e.l.lo." Hang Hang walked up to Qi Ji"s friend for a greeting.
Yi Ke Feng was adjusting his camera lens, he looked up and saw Hang Hang smiling widely, unconsciously he also smiled along, "h.e.l.lo, you’re Qi Ji"s friend, right?"
This was the first time Hang Hang gets to meet Yi Ke Feng. Qi Ji had never introduced them.
"Hang Hang?" Yi Ke Feng stretched out his hand.
"Yes, please pardon our suddenness."
"Don’t be too formal, Qi Ji always talks about you."
His hand was quite big, and his grip was firm, Hang Hang could feel the warmth spreading out from their touching palms, plus that smiling face, such a gentleman att.i.tude, which made Hang Hang think that Qi Ji has very good eyes with making friends. Even though… it was a bit uncomfortable. Since they were younger until now, only he can be Qi Ji"s close friend. Tsk Tsk, he often hears about me, looks like their friendship is not so shallow!
"Who wants to have his picture taken?" Yi Ke Feng looked around, and there was not a second person in the room.
Hang Hang was a bit startled, he looked back and his Idiot was nowhere to be found!
"Liang Ze!"
Hang Hang exited the studio and into the hallway, Hang Hang found Liang Ze was staring in a daze at the wall with scattering black and white photos in all sizes.
"What"re you looking at?"
"This is art…" Liang Ze lamented.
"Nonsense!" Hang Hang shook his head.
"Uh."
"Let me introduce, this person is Yi Ke Feng, here is Liang Ze."
Liang Ze looked at the person in front and suddenly blurted out, "he is also a Shuaige!"
Hang Hang felt like digging up a hole and jump in, just like a stupid gra.s.s!
Yi Ke Feng was also being startled, but he still mildly said, "the changing room is over there."
"Ah, OK! I know where!" Liang Ze was a bit hyper but then he remembered that he left the clothes in the car, "Hold on, I need to go get my clothes…"
"No rush, take your time." Yi Ke Feng laughed watching Liang Ze exited the store, his eyes then landed back on Hang Hang, "you guys are the last clients today, so no need to rush."
"Ke Feng, I’ll leave first, remember to lock up." someone came over to greet them with a big bag in hand.
"Sure, no problem."
"We"re causing you trouble, aren’t we?" Hang Hang felt a bit worries, this is what Qi Ji called arrangement? Obviously he made people work overtime! Sure enough, he could see that both Liang Ze and Qi Ji are people who have no… common sense.
"Not at all, Qi Ji said that you guys are in a hurried."
Liang Ze came back with the clothes, he went to the changing room and changed out his clothes, not bother to take a look at them. There was no mirror in the changing room, he tried to look around himself, but there was no way he can see his outfit in full, so he got a bit uneasy. Liang Ze really dislikes wearing a suit in his life.
He was pondering should he come out or not, Hang Hang came in, "have to wait for a bit, Yi Ke Feng said…"
He got stunned. He regretted scolding Liang Ze earlier for being such a stupor. In retribution…now he also turned into a stupor =.=
"I look stupid?" Liang Ze saw Hang Hang got dumbfounded, thinking that he must look very silly in a suit.
Hang Hang looked at Liang Ze, walked over, just like before he thought that… very handsome.
"Very stupid right?" Liang Ze turned panic, "Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds from the publishing! I told them that…"
Lips were sealed with a kiss.
Liang Ze did not expect Hang Hang to kiss him. He was taken aback, it was not good to push him away, so he just silently accepted the kiss. It was just kissing, nothing so bad.
Yi Ke Feng walked back from choosing the right camera, he got to see Liang Ze and Hang Hang kissing. He unknowingly pressed the capture b.u.t.ton, not even taking out the film in the camera. That scene was so harmonious, so warm. A gentleman in suit and tie, another gentleman in casual clothing that fills with a sense of happiness. Their height is approximately the same as they kiss each other, so naturally simple, but particularly moving.
Because he continuously pressed on the b.u.t.ton, the shutter sound alerted the other two. Through the lens, he could see them getting surprised and shocked at being caught red hand.
"Sorry, don’t mind me, it’s my habit, seeing such scene I can’t help but taking pictures…" Yi Ke Feng found his action to be quite rude, so he quickly apologized.
"Are you going to sell them to the tabloids?" Once Liang Ze said these words, the faces of the other two men immediately turned gloomy.
"Stop overestimate yourself." Hang Hang blocked Liang Ze"s face to explain.
Yi Ke Feng laughed heartily. These two people are very interesting. It is true that Qi Ji"s friends are not just ordinary people.
Proofread: Mari