Chapter 19#
The Phoenix Man (5)#
“Sure, please wait a moment.”
After waiting two minutes, Qiao Yi smoothly obtained a steaming hot hand-grasped pancake.
He had been intently watching the vendor skillfully flip several pancakes, and only when it ended did he realize that the number of people around him had suddenly grown particularly large.
Frowning, he squeezed out of the crowd with difficulty. Qiao Yi thought to himself, if he ever passed by here again, he definitely wouldn’t come to this stall—who knew why there were so many people.
Eating either on the street or in a taxi wasn’t a good choice. He entered the university and found a bench to sit on, taking a bite of the hot hand-grasped pancake.
The outer layer of thin pastry was both crispy and crunchy, the whole pancake was especially soft, and even the lettuce was fried to perfection.
He looked down; it was just an ordinary hand-grasped pancake with lettuce, but the vendor had rolled it up beautifully and attractively. The fillings like cucumber shreds and radish were generous, balancing flavor with aesthetic appeal, and the vendor himself was very clean—he wouldn’t personally handle money or give change.
No wonder business was so good right from the start. If he had the chance next time, he might still wait at this stall.
After slowly chewing and swallowing the entire pancake, Qiao Yi brushed off any accidentally clinging crumbs, then headed home.
The family only owned one car, which Qiao Yi’s mother had bought when he got married. It was registered under his name, but since Qiao Yi hadn’t learned to drive in college, Wang Cheng had always been the one driving it.
It seemed that before the divorce, he would have to get a driver’s license.
As Qiao Yi walked past the university gate, a student shoved a flyer into his hand. Although he had never done similar part-time work, out of politeness and consideration for the other person’s hard work, Qiao Yi usually accepted such flyers and threw them in the trash later.
This time was no exception. He took the flyer and glanced at it casually; it read: “XX Aerospace Driving School.”
He looked at the law firm across the street from the school, then back at the flyer, and an idea formed in his mind.
An hour later, he took out his keys and entered the house.
Wang Cheng immediately greeted him: “What did you eat outside? Are you hungry? There’s fruit and snacks at home. If there’s something you want that we don’t have, I can buy it for you?”
Wang Cheng’s fawning attitude made Qiao Yi feel somewhat uncomfortable. He thought back; in Qiao Yi’s memory, except for the very beginning when Wang Cheng hadn’t yet won him over, every time Wang Cheng adopted this attitude, it was because he wanted something. For example, asking Qiao Yi to introduce Wang Cheng to Qiao Yi’s uncle, who was now Wang Cheng’s boss.
Or else it was because he had done something to upset Qiao Yi, or something that would upset him.
Standing still, Qiao Yi carefully studied his nominal husband. Those caught up in a situation couldn’t see clearly; the original Qiao Yi might not have perceived it, but as an outsider, he could clearly see Wang Cheng’s guilt.
Imitating the tone of Qiao Yi’s speech, he placed the briefcase in his hand on the coffee table and sat down on the fabric sofa in the living room: “What guilty conscience do you have that you’re suddenly being so nice to me?”
Wang Cheng laughed: “Isn’t it because I’ve been putting my little prince through hardship? You know, parents can’t bear to see their children suffer. Back home, my dad never let me do this or that; he only wanted me to study well. I really haven’t been doing well these past few days, but I’ll make it up to you double, okay?”
With this attitude, if the Qiao Yi who loved him saw him being so cooperative, he would definitely feel overjoyed and forgive him long ago.
Qiao Yi once again carefully examined Wang Cheng from head to toe: “Where’s your wedding ring?”
Wang Cheng froze for a moment, then looked at his own finger, acting very panicked: “Where’s my ring?!”
He slapped his forehead in a sudden realization: “When I was rummaging through things in the car, I think I took it off and left it there.”
Qiao Yi watched his performance. Clearly, Wang Cheng’s acting was quite exaggerated. If the previous Qiao Yi hadn’t noticed, it was either because he was blinded by false sweetness or because he trusted Wang Cheng so much that he believed whatever he said.
Emotion was indeed a terrifying thing; it could not only make people lose their wits but also blind them. Thinking about emotions, he thought of Yu Ke, and his eyes dimmed slightly.
Sensing that Qiao Yi was in a bad mood, Wang Cheng quickly tried to remedy the situation: “I’ll go down and look for the ring! Qiao Yi, help me search too.”
Glancing at him, Qiao Yi still went along with his act. In the end, he watched as Wang Cheng found the ring from under the car seat, looking elated.
After retrieving the ring, Wang Cheng said again: “Help me put it on, okay? I’ll never lose it again from now on.”
Qiao Yi wanted to say “put it on yourself,” but looking at the ring, he remembered something else. In the end, he silently put the ring on Wang Cheng’s finger and said meaningfully: “I hope you remember what you said today.”
It was only seven o’clock when he went upstairs. Qiao Yi habitually watched the news, then a financial program.
Wang Cheng sat beside him playing on his phone and casually asked: “Why have you suddenly started watching this kind of thing?” Previously, Qiao Yi would only scroll on his phone, and the TV at home was basically never turned on—it was just decoration.
“The company leaders said to pay more attention to current events,” Qiao Yi said without changing his expression.
In high school and college, sometimes the school would require teachers to arrange for students to watch these things, so the excuse was plausible. Wang Cheng didn’t think much of it.
After finishing the news he wanted to watch, it wasn’t even nine o’clock. Qiao Yi washed up early and lay down on the bed. Nine o’clock, for most young people, was when the evening was just beginning.
For Wang Cheng, going to bed so early after a shower was clearly a hint. He hesitated in front of the mirror for a long time, performed self-preparation and lubrication, wore nothing under his bathrobe, and then entered the master bedroom.
After he had prepared everything, dawdling for a long time and building up all his mental fortitude, he found that Qiao Yi had already fallen asleep, breathing very steadily.
He glanced and noticed that a flyer from a driving school and a receipt had appeared on the bedside table.
Qiao Yi wanted to learn to drive—why? Wang Cheng’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly recovered. After all, the family only had one car, and they didn’t have any savings right now. If both of them needed a car, they would definitely have to buy another.
And at that time, Qiao Yi’s parents would certainly help out. That would all be marital property after marriage, so even if he had to chip in, he wouldn’t lose out.
No, he definitely had to contribute. If Qiao Yi’s parents paid for everything, they would most likely give it directly as a gift to their son, especially since there had been conflict before.
Wang Cheng thought about the car issue and forgot about Qiao Yi going to bed so early.
The next morning, he turned off the alarm clock beside him, planning to make breakfast and continue maintaining his good husband image. But when he turned his head, he found that the pillow beside him was empty.
When had Qiao Yi gotten up so early?
He called Qiao Yi’s phone, only to find that his phone was still at home. By the time he changed clothes, the front door opened, and Qiao Yi walked in, wearing sportswear, having been for a run.
His face was flushed, and there were sparkling beads of sweat on his forehead.
“Why did you suddenly think of going for a run?”
“My mom forwarded me a public account article yesterday—‘A 20-Year-Old White-Collar Worker Dies from Overwork’…” Qiao Yi’s attitude was very frank; this was the truth and not a lie.
Wang Cheng said “oh” and didn’t think much of it.
“By the way, you want to get a driver’s license—why?”
“I had to go out for something yesterday, but the travel experience was not very pleasant. I feel it’s better to buy my own car.”
“But we don’t have much savings at home.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll borrow money from my parents.” He planned to go back to his old trade, first doing short-term investments to earn the money for the car. But Qiao Yi’s savings were indeed very small, so he would definitely need to borrow some principal from Qiao Yi’s parents.
Qiao Yi’s parents had Qiao Yi as their only child. What difference was there between borrowing and giving? Wang Cheng relaxed, but felt a bit bitter inside. Sure enough, having a well-off family allowed for such indulgence. If it were him, with that money, he would definitely invest it. Qiao Yi only knew how to enjoy himself, wasteful and extravagant.
Because he had to work during the day and attend driving school in the evening, Qiao Yi’s life became very busy, leaving little time for intimate activities with Wang Cheng.
At first, Wang Cheng found it somewhat uncomfortable, but he quickly got used to the change. After all, this was a good thing for him. Although he didn’t exclusively like women, having to lie beneath Qiao Yi always made him feel uneasy.
Even though both were men, Wang Cheng’s father, who had given birth, handled all the household chores at home, while his other father did nothing but earn money—wouldn’t even pick up a fallen bottle. Probably influenced by his own parents, Wang Cheng didn’t want to suffer the same grievances as his father. If it weren’t for Qiao Yi’s fear of pain and the fact that he was considered to be marrying up, he would never have agreed to be the bottom.
That day, he left work on time again. A colleague teased: “Why have you been leaving so early every day lately?”
Wang Cheng laughed: “I need to prepare dinner for the one at home.”
The colleague said enviously: “Your wife is really lucky.”
Wang Cheng smiled without saying a word. He went downstairs, glanced at his watch, then took off the ring and placed it somewhere in the car. He dialed a number that frequently appeared in his call history but was always deleted after the call ended: “Yu Zhao? I have two movie tickets here that someone gave me. Do you have time to watch a movie?”
After finishing his driving lesson, Qiao Yi walked over to the hand-grasped pancake stall, only to find that the hand-grasped pancake guy wasn’t there.
He came by at this time every day, was good-looking, and always ordered the same thing. The neighboring stall owners were all familiar with him. The plump auntie selling meat-filled buns said: “Are you looking for the hand-grasped pancake guy? He packed up early today. Seems he had plans with a friend.”
Qiao Yi ordered a meat-filled bun. As the auntie made it, she chatted: “That guy is very hardworking. We’re only allowed to set up stalls here in the evening, but he goes to the nearby market every morning to sell. He also has elderly family to take care of… But recently, it seems he’s started dating someone. Whoever ends up with such a good person will definitely be very happy.”
Qiao Yi wasn’t really interested in strangers’ affairs. After receiving the meat-filled bun, he got into the car he had booked in advance and left. In the car, he took a bite of the bun… It was really bad. He kind of missed the hand-grasped pancake guy.