Chapter 41#

Playboy (11)#

From Lu Yi, he learned that Li Tang liked Rong Huan, and it wasn’t just ordinary liking. He didn’t confront him immediately but instead recalled carefully, discovering that his cheap grandson might really be coveting his own grandson.

Then, he went directly to see his stepson, visiting the Li family, demanding that his stepson hand over all the keys to Li Tang’s room.

The couple was reluctant, but Old Master Rong could be considered the family patriarch. Thinking it wouldn’t be anything serious, they sold out their son.

As a result, after thoroughly searching the room, they found a large pile of love letters, a diary filled with youthful, immature emotions, paper covered in Rong Huan’s name, and a bunch of messy memories the two had shared.

Indeed, the uncle and nephew had a good relationship, and a good relationship could develop into such a twisted affection.

“Beast! A disgrace to the family!” The Rong family still cared about their reputation. After confirming this, the old man almost fainted from anger. Once he barely recovered, his first thought was to tell his son to stay away from Li Tang.

After all, love could make people lose their minds and rationality. Li Tang was a young man, but his son was no longer young. He couldn’t allow something that would besmirch the family name.

Of course, he also had to order the younger generation of the Li family to keep their son in check. Li Tang was an adult; he couldn’t be treated with the standards of a seven- or eight-year-old child. If something like this happened again, Li Tang would never be allowed to set foot in the Rong family home again.

Naturally, the fewer people who knew about such a scandal, the better. He didn’t want it to become public, as long as both sides restrained each other.

Li Tang’s parents were equally shocked. After being scolded, the couple discussed it. Now that Li Tang was still at school, once he graduated, they would quickly send their son abroad. With distance, his feelings would fade.

After instructing Li Tang’s parents, Old Master Rong had the driver take him to his son’s current residence to meet him in person.

Rong Huan naturally stated that he had absolutely no interest in Li Tang. He hoped his father could accept Lu Yi, but Old Master Rong still refused to budge. The two argued again and parted on bad terms.

To be precise, Old Master Rong was especially displeased, while Rong Huan was now focused solely on “eloping” with Lu Yi to enjoy their time alone together.

The two young people decided on their plan and acted on it. Before anyone else could react, they efficiently handled all the paperwork and left the country.

Since they handled things separately, relying entirely on their phones and other communication tools, the father, although he liked to control his son, wasn’t so perverted as to monitor every aspect of his life.

As for Lu Yi, he had even less to arrange. Once all the formalities were done, before leaving, he treated his roommates to a farewell meal, briefly explained the situation, and caught the same day’s flight to meet up with Rong Huan.

They were already in the second half of their junior year. Even without going abroad, people often traveled for internships or work. Such partings were very normal. His roommates simply said they’d keep in touch, and it wouldn’t affect their friendship.

Over on Li Tang’s side, the matter was temporarily settled. Meanwhile, Old Master Rong had a grandson of an old family friend returning from abroad. This young man, Shi Fang, was also in the arts. In this circle, there were many men who liked men. Shi Fang wasn’t as brave as Rong Huan; he only came out to his parents in the past year or two when they pressured him heavily to marry.

But his family was more open-minded than the Rong family and accepted the fact much faster. Since he was returning to the country this time and there was a suitable match in the circle, he thought of Rong Huan and wanted to introduce them.

In families like theirs, relationships were mostly kept within the circle—familiar acquaintances with known backgrounds and similar worldviews.

The old man met the young man and found him exceptionally handsome and spirited. Crucially, he studied art, so he and Rong Huan would have common ground. They seemed like a perfect match.

From every angle, he seemed to crush the poor boy Lu Yi. With this in mind, he planned to find a way to get Rong Huan to attend this disguised blind date.

But when he called, Rong Huan’s phone was disconnected. He sent the butler to inquire, only to find out that Rong Huan had gone abroad days ago, behind his old father’s back.

He immediately checked on Rong Huan’s boyfriend. After sending someone to the school to investigate, sure enough, Lu Yi was also missing. And based on the information gathered, the two had likely taken the same flight.

What else was there to think? Clearly, the two had eloped to resist the feudal patriarch. “Eloped” was an exaggeration; they had gone openly as a couple. Two unmarried young men could go wherever they pleased.

Rong Huan, born from the deceased first wife, had been the most obedient and well-behaved son as a child. But now that he was grown, he had become the biggest headache.

The old man was so furious at his rebellious son, who was no longer young, that his heart ached. But no matter how angry he was, it was useless. The situation was what it was. Even with his vast connections, he couldn’t immediately reach abroad and drag his son back.

Besides, the world was big. Even if he had the ability, he’d first need to know where they were.

There was no choice. He couldn’t find them, so the matchmaking plan fell through. But he couldn’t tell outsiders that it had failed; otherwise, he’d lose face.

Faced with his old friend’s inquiries, the old man had to say his youngest son was disobedient and that there was no hope.

The friend said: “Ah, they’re all like that. They love to play. My son is the same. He went to Africa for inspiration. When he came back, that fair face of his was chapped like a turtle shell. It was heartbreaking to see.”

Hearing this, Old Master Rong became dissatisfied with his old friend’s grandson. He said “for inspiration,” but it was just an excuse. If the friend’s son really ended up with Rong Huan, he’d always be away for photography and inspiration. Given how clingy Rong Huan was with his little boyfriend, he definitely wouldn’t be able to stand that.

Thinking about it this way, maybe Lu Yi was better.

Bah, Lu Yi was no good either—a gold-digging pretty boy. Young and inexperienced, they’d break up sooner or later.

Old Master Rong’s daily three self-reflections: Did the little brat come back today? No. Did the little brat call to apologize today? No. Did the little brat break up with that pretty boy today? Still no.

After asking these three questions, he felt even more depressed than before.

But depression didn’t help. Meanwhile, Lu Yi and Rong Huan were having the time of their lives abroad.

Perhaps because he had been too stressed in his own world and was finally dating properly, Lu Yi relaxed a lot. He balanced his career while paying great attention to spending time with Rong Huan.

Happily passing half a year, they accumulated a big pile of postcards. Then they gathered them all and sent them in one go to Old Master Rong.

While the old man was at home worrying day and night, these two were carefree and having fun.

This comparison made Old Master Rong extremely annoyed. Since he was unhappy, he decided to make others unhappy too. He immediately took photos of all the postcards and sent them to the newly graduated Li Tang.

Li Tang’s parents had thought that love would fade with time and distance. After all, feelings don’t last when you’re far apart.

But Old Master Rong clearly didn’t think so. Before this, Li Tang had had quite a few boyfriends, but wasn’t he still pining after Rong Huan?

As the saying goes, “The one you can’t have always stirs your heart.” With Li Tang’s personality, he wouldn’t give up so easily.

Although Old Master Rong didn’t like Lu Yi either, at least Lu Yi had no blood relation to him. These postcards were annoying to look at, but they were perfect for irritating Li Tang.

Sure enough, after seeing these photos, Li Tang, living up to expectations, ended up in the hospital again from anger.

Because of the previous conflict, the gentle beauty Wen Shu, who had been with Li Tang, had also broken up with him. Although he really liked Li Tang, Wen Shu couldn’t stand having a man whose heart was always occupied by another man—especially when that other man was his boyfriend’s uncle.

Anyway, the situation was too messy for Wen Shu, who liked to be straightforward in relationships.

When the postcards arrived, Old Master Rong immediately sent people to check the sender’s address. But when they traced it, the senders had left a few days earlier without disclosing their destination. All the old man could do was curse his little brat and the man who had lured him away.

Later, the postcards started coming more frequently. Sometimes they had photos of Rong Huan alone, but mostly they were pictures of the two together, often with arms around each other or holding hands, looking very intimate.

Every time he sent a postcard or photo, Rong Huan would write a line or two on the back. One was to report safety to the family back home, and the other was to boast about his boyfriend.

Of course, later on, “boyfriend” became “fiancé,” and then “husband.”

The two got married in a simple little church, where the pastor gave them his best blessings. The way they presented their married status to Old Master Rong was through a photo of two hands clasped together, wearing matching wedding rings, along with a local marriage certificate.

Same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in their home country, but it was legal in the country where they got the certificate.

No matter how unwilling Old Master Rong was, the deed was done. And since the two seemed to be doing very well, his heart gradually softened.

After getting the certificate, Rong Huan finally called home.

Hearing the familiar voice, Old Master Rong first tore into his unfilial, ungrateful son, then said, “This year for New Year’s, bring him back. If you don’t come back for the holiday, that’s really disgraceful.”

Although the old man was still stubborn, these words were essentially an acknowledgment of Lu Yi. For Rong Huan, that was enough.

Before New Year’s, he dragged Lu Yi back to the country.

Almost everyone from the Rong family came. They exchanged pleasantries and didn’t say anything to spoil the mood.

That day, Li Tang also came. Old Master Rong hadn’t really wanted Rong Huan to see him, but after thinking it over, he figured that a direct confrontation would be more effective in making Li Tang give up, so he let him in.

Li Tang’s expression was absolutely awful. He stared straight at Rong Huan, noticing that compared to over a year ago, Rong Huan had become even more attractive, with happiness written all over his face.

He didn’t cause a scene that day. He just watched Rong Huan the whole time. When Rong Huan and Lu Yi drove off, he finally got into his father’s car to go home.

Seeing the two of them together, Li Tang felt an immense sense of unwillingness. He couldn’t accept that his little uncle had been taken away, especially by someone who was his ex-boyfriend—someone who had been so lovesick as to drink poison over him.

It was absurd and unbelievable, yet that absurdity was the truth.

Since his little uncle had learned of his feelings, and after breaking up with Wen Shu over a year ago, Li Tang hadn’t really dated anyone.

He firmly believed that he was special to Rong Huan. Someone like Lu Yi was just lucky to be with Rong Huan during a phase of intense dopamine.

At the Rong family home, seeing the couple’s wedding rings, he felt extremely jealous.

But he consoled himself: that marriage was only valid abroad. In their country, same-sex marriage wasn’t legal, so that marriage certificate had no legal force.

Back then, he had exposed the matter to the old man because the old man had a strong personality and believed in matching social status. There was no way he would agree to Lu Yi.

He never expected that the fire he lit to burn Lu Yi would end up burning him instead.

But that was fine. He still had a trump card.

In China, marriage wasn’t simply the union of two individuals. It also involved the whole crowd behind them.

Buying a pig depends on the pen—that was the idea. Although Lu Yi seemed to be doing well now, with a prestigious school offer and some small achievements in his own business, his background was his downfall.

Outside the Lu family home, one phone call summoned a sycophantic voice: “Young Master Li, what do you need us to do?”

Li Tang said, “Tomorrow, go wherever I tell you. We’re going to make a big scene—the bigger, the better.”

On the other end, Lu Yi’s father agreed and hung up, then told his wife, “We’ve got work tomorrow. Dress up pathetically and do a good job.”