Let’s talk about that guilty secret.

That day, Qian Wang and Sun Kan were being ambiguous in his private office. When Lao Wang pushed open the door, which he had forgotten to lock, the two of them hadn’t pulled apart yet. Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep French kiss; Sun Kan was innocent, and at most, they were just playfully poking at each other like kids playing house.

Qian Wang leaned against the desk, holding the frightened and stiff Sun Kan, gently asking the brother he had grown up with, “Is something wrong?”

He wasn’t worried about Lao Wang seeing them; their bond was life-or-death. Qian Wang leisurely adjusted Sun Kan’s belt, and the atmosphere grew even thicker.

Lao Wang’s expression was somewhat strange as he glanced at the boy who had his back turned and then turned to leave.

As he left, he casually remarked, “Take care of yourself.”

Qian Wang was a bit confused. He turned back, pondered for a long time, and felt it must be related to Zhao Ziqiang. After thinking it over, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it might be something bad.

He guessed correctly. In fact, when Lao Wang arrived at Qian Wang’s office to deliver an invitation from an old classmate, he looked up in the corridor and saw Zhao Ziqiang hurrying past. Upon opening the door, he was greeted by an awkward scene of Qian Wang and his student making out.

Feeling anxious, it turned out that once he got to his office, Lao Wang received a text from Zhao Ziqiang:

(Who is that? I need the information.]

Lao Wang was a righteous person, and after struggling for a while over whether to tell the truth, he decided to betray his brother.

He really disapproved of the things Qian Wang was doing. It wasn’t exactly betrayal; after all, he thought Zhao Ziqiang was genuinely living well with Qian Wang, and there was no need to ruin it over a momentary issue. Zhao Ziqiang was a sensible person and wouldn’t necessarily make a scene. Perhaps clearing things up would lead to a solution.

However, he never expect that Zhao Ziqiang acted decisively and went straight to confront Sun Kan about that matter.

Being severely reprimanded by his parents, Sun Kan was, of course, in need of some comfort.

After comforting Sun Kan, Qian Wang braved the cold and accompanied him to press down the streets. They ate some oden at the night market and shared a sweet kiss under the streetlights. Such little romance left Qian Wang, who was in his thirties, quite satisfied.

Even so, he still had to go home….

When Qian Wang returned, he found Zhao Ziqiang lying on the floor, scrubbing the crevice with a toothbrush. When he was angry, he liked to clean; it was his way of not disturbing others, which could be seen as a positive trait.

Zhao Ziqiang had his pajama pants rolled up to his knees and was scrubbing a piece of tile with bare feet, biting his lip and not even glancing at the person entering the room.

Qian Wang wanted to tell him to put on his slippers but remembered they had underfloor heating. He thought about telling him to put on gloves while cleaning but recalled that Zhao Ziqiang had asked him to bring a pair of gloves from school a couple of days ago, which he had forgotten.

In the end, what came out of his mouth was, “You haven’t shaved recently…”

Zhao Ziqiang didn’t say a word and scrubbed even harder.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Qian Wang closed his mouth, avoiding the freshly cleaned area, and entered the bedroom.

At eleven o’clock at night, the cleaning work was finally done. As Qian Wang was thinking that there was only one bed and that Zhao Ziqiang couldn’t possibly not sleep, Zhao Ziqiang indeed came in, wearing a long t-shirt and tight-fitting boxers, slipping under the covers without saying a word.

Qian Wang snuggled over, touched the shoulder of the person turned away from him, and sniffled, “I’m sorry.”

Zhao Ziqiang didn’t move, his eyes blankly staring at the wardrobe by the bed. After a long while, he softly said, “I love you. Good night.”

With those words, Qian Wang finally felt at ease, turned over, and fell asleep.

Yet the silence left Zhao Ziqiang pondering: What about you?

New Year’s Eve.

Zhao Ziqiang opened his eyes to see Qian Wang smiling and texting.

“What are you doing?”

“Replying to a student.”

“Which one?”

Qian Wang, with a calm expression, turned his head and said, “You don’t know him.” After saying that, he flipped over and continued to enjoy himself.

When Zhao Ziqiang entered the bedroom from the kitchen, Qian Wang had already gotten up to wash up. Zhao Ziqiang took a moment to compose himself, leisurely walked over, and picked up a phone that was identical to his on the bedside table. Just guessing the password, he knew it right away—it was Sun Kan’s birthday. This was Qian Wang’s habit, his passwords were usually related to whatever he was interested in at the moment. Fortunately, he had asked Lao Wang for that kid’s birthday since Sun Kan was also one of Lao Wang’s students.

The latest multimedia message opened up to a face with a greenish tinge at the corners of the mouth, striking a standard “trying too hard” pose, making it extremely boring! Zhao Ziqiang huffed and put the phone back just as it was.

He rubbed his left chest, continued to make the bed, and tidied up the room.

This year, maybe he could watch the Spring Festival Gala or something…

As the music of the Spring Festival Gala started playing, Zhao Ziqiang promptly fell into Qian Wang’s embrace.

After watching for an hour, Zhao Ziqiang thought it was only natural to feel tired since he had gotten up early in the morning. Qian Wang held him in his arms, and they became sore from supporting him after a while, so he had no choice but to gently place him on his lap.

At around nine o’clock, Zhao Ziqiang woke up.

“How’s the show…?”

Qian Wang curled his lips. “Same as usual.”

“Oh…” Just as Zhao Ziqiang was about to lie back down to sleep, Qian Wang quickly raised his phone. “Lao Wang is planning to call me out for a few drinks. Are you coming along?”

Normally, Zhao Ziqiang would absolutely refuse to go. God knows how much he hated crowds.

However,

“Hmm, okay.”

Qian Wang’s expression changed slightly. “You really want to go?”

“Yeah, I’ve never been before. Since you’re here this year, might as well join in the fun.”

Qian Wang hesitated as he changed clothes. Just before heading out, he paused.

“What did we eat for dinner? My stomach doesn’t feel quite right. I need to use the bathroom.”

Zhao Ziqiang leaned against the shoe cabinet at the door, lit a cigarette, and blankly stared at the bottle in the corner while dialing a number. Sure enough…

“The number you have dialed is currently busy, please…” He hung up, took off the shoes he had just put on, and lay back down on the sofa. “This year’s Spring Festival Gala is really strange; there’s even magic?” Zhao Ziqiang muttered to himself.

Qian Wang came out of the bathroom, his hand weakly covering his stomach,

“My stomach is really uncomfortable. I just told Lao Wang that I won’t go…”

Zhao Ziqiang smiled and glanced at him, pointing at the TV, “Look, magic.”

Qian Wang felt impatient and fiddled with the remote control.

“The young guy is pretty handsome.”

The two exchanged a knowing glance, then turned their eyes away, the moment holding no particular meaning.

In the end, they went to bed before finishing the Spring Festival Gala, sharing the same bed but having different dreams, both thinking about each other, which was quite funny. Just past eleven, Zhao Ziqiang turned over, looking seriously at Qian Wang, who was also staring intently.

“Teacher, I love you. Good night.”