Chapter 54: The Confrontation

For a man, one of the most tragic things in the world is being cheated on by the person he loves. Even worse is being stuck at home and unable to do anything about it while it happens.

Right now, Lu Zhengfei had the misfortune of joining the “betrayed club.”

His phone had been confiscated by Lu Zhongqian and Huang Yuping, leaving him theoretically unable to contact the outside world. Unfortunately, he had a sister who doted on him, and when Lu Yiqin showed him a photo of Chen Qianqing being held by Wang Wulin, Lu Zhengfei’s first reaction was to smash Lu Yiqin’s phone onto the ground.

Faced with his furious expression, Lu Yiqin quickly tried to calm him down. “Brother, I told you he wasn’t a good person! Look at this—barely a few days after you were grounded, and he’s already cozying up to another man.”

Lu Zhengfei’s face darkened. “Who is this?”

“That’s Wang Wulin, the eldest son of the Wang family,” Lu Yiqin replied.

“Where are they now?”

Lu Yiqin hesitated as she gauged his expression. After some hesitation, she finally said, “They’re in D City.”

Lu Zhengfei’s expression grew even darker. He had originally planned to visit D City with Chen Qianqing, but that plan was ruined when Lu Yiqin tattled to their parents about his relationship with Chen Qianqing, leading to his current confinement. At the end of the day, if it weren’t for Lu Yiqin’s meddling, Chen Qianqing wouldn’t have gone to D City and gotten involved with another man.

Lu Zhengfei had always been protective of his sister. He spoiled her endlessly and fulfilled nearly all her requests—except when it came to matters involving Chen Qianqing. Even when she told their parents about his relationship with Chen Qianqing, he wasn’t too angry, just disappointed.

But now, seeing a photo of Chen Qianqing with another man ignited his fury. “Lu Yiqin, how old are you?”

Lu Yiqin was startled. “Brother, what do you mean by that?”

Lu Zhengfei coldly demanded, “Do you think I don’t know his personality? Who sent you this photo? Tell me the truth.”

Lu Yiqin’s eyes reddened, and she snapped, “Why do you trust that fox Chen Qianqing so much? What spell has he cast on you?”

Lu Zhengfei sighed in disappointment. “Lu Yiqin, I care for you because you’re my only sister. But if you don’t understand what a sister’s boundaries should be, don’t blame me for being harsh.”

Furious and trembling, Lu Yiqin shouted, “I hate you, Brother!” before storming out in tears.

Was Lu Zhengfei truly not angry at Chen Qianqing? Of course not—he was livid. The moment he saw the photo, his first thought was to hunt down the “adulterer” and settle the score!

But while fantasies are beautiful, reality is cruel. After sitting in frustrated silence on his bed for a long time, Lu Zhengfei finally got up and headed outside—he desperately needed to contact the outside world.

Meanwhile, Chen Qianqing had no idea his photo had been sent to Lu Zhengfei. Still hungover, he slept soundly through the night and only woke up around ten the next morning.

The pounding headache from his hangover made it difficult for Chen Qianqing to get up, but he eventually staggered out of bed. However, when he took in his unfamiliar surroundings, his mind went blank for a moment.

Fortunately, the confusion only lasted a second before he realized he was in a hotel room.

He was still wearing the same clothes as the night before, with no signs of anyone else tampering with him. Relieved, he stumbled over to the minibar, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and gulped it down.

The cold water helped clear his foggy brain, and Chen Qianqing tried to recall the events of the previous day. Unfortunately, the only thing he could remember was the name Wang Wulin.

When he couldn’t figure anything else out, he simply decided not to dwell on it.

With a lingering headache, Chen Qianqing finished the last of his water. He was about to go wash his face in the bathroom when he suddenly noticed a note on the table. He picked it up and saw that it was a phone number.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Qianqing decided to call the number.

“Hello,” a man’s voice answered. “You’re awake?”

Chen Qianqing asked, “Are you… Wang Wulin?”

Wang Wulin responded, “Yeah, straight to the point—someone took a photo of me holding you yesterday.”

Chen Qianqing replied, “Hmm? What’s going on?”

Wang Wulin said, “It seems to be related to Lu Zhengfei. Is everything okay on your end?”

Chen Qianqing immediately understood the situation and said, “It’s fine, sorry for the trouble yesterday.” He knew his tolerance for alcohol wasn’t great, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

Wang Wulin said, “No need to thank me. I have something else to do. Let’s talk next time.”

Chen Qianqing responded with a hum and hung up. His photo with Wang Wulin had been taken? Chen Qianqing paused for a moment, feeling an uneasy sense that this might not be good. He was well aware of how jealous he could be. When he first found out about Chen Qianqing and Wang Wulin’s friendship, he had gone wild, and seeing a photo would probably make things worse.

Chen Qianqing thought back to how he had reacted when he first learned about the relationship between the original Chen Qianqing and Wang Wulin… Ah, he remembered now—he had probably dragged the original Chen Qianqing back and had a very rough time with him.

But there was no need to worry too much now, as Lu Zhengfei was still locked at home.

With that thought, Chen Qianqing casually went downstairs for breakfast. Just as he was about to head back to the inn, his phone rang again. This time, it was an unfamiliar number, registered in City A.

Chen Qianqing considered it for a moment, then hung up. However, less than two seconds later, the phone rang again persistently.

While walking, he glanced at the number. For some reason, he had a gut feeling that this call was from Lu Zhengfei.

Because the caller kept trying, Chen Qianqing finally answered the phone.

As soon as the voice came through, his suspicion was confirmed. On the other end, Lu Zhengfei’s voice was both anxious and angry: “Chen Qianqing, you’ve got some nerve! Just a few days apart, and you’re already hooking up with another man!”

Chen Qianqing thought, if the real Chen Qianqing were here, he would probably be furious and feel insulted by Lu Zhengfei’s words. But right now… Chen Qianqing just responded casually with a neutral “Hmm.”

Lu Zhengfei continued, “You’re with Wang Wulin, too?! Do you really think I’m locked up at home and can’t do anything about you?”

Listening to Lu Zhengfei, Chen Qianqing started to think about what kind of explanation would satisfy him.

When Lu Zhengfei heard no response, he grew angrier: “Say something!”

After a long silence, Chen Qianqing sighed softly and finally spoke, “You promised to come to D City with me.”

Lu Zhengfei was momentarily stunned.

Chen Qianqing added, “But you didn’t come.”

Lu Zhengfei sounded a little sheepish, “I was locked up by my parents, but I’ll make it up to you later, okay?”

Chen Qianqing didn’t respond. He simply sighed deeply, letting his disappointment show.

Lu Zhengfei panicked, “Qianqing, don’t be mad at me, it wasn’t intentional.”

Chen Qianqing suddenly realized that, in his twenties and in a relationship, he was being somewhat foolish. Or rather, being in love made him act foolishly. This foolishness even made him not want to acknowledge that he and the person on the other end of the phone were the same age. He said, “Lu Zhengfei, handle your family matters first, then we can talk about other things.”

Lu Zhengfei fell silent.

Chen Qianqing asked, “Is there anything else? If not, I’ll hang up.”

Lu Zhengfei finally realized that he wasn’t the one who should be asking for an explanation. How did it end up that Chen Qianqing had the upper hand? It seemed like ever since Chen Qianqing had broken his leg… Lu Zhengfei truly had no way of dealing with him. Chen Qianqing seemed like a completely different person.

Speaking of someone changing, Lu Zhengfei became a little concerned about Chen Qianqing’s mental health. He thought that if something were to happen to Chen Qianqing while he was alone and Lu Zhengfei wasn’t around, it could be dangerous.

However, Lu Zhengfei was overthinking it. To be blunt, Lu Zhengfei himself was the biggest trigger for Chen Qianqing’s condition. Of course, no one dared say this, not even Lu Zhengfei’s good friend Xu Shaoren, who wouldn’t have the courage to tell him such a harsh truth.

Lu Zhengfei said, “I’m not around, but take care of yourself.”

Chen Qianqing replied, “Mm.” Lu Zhengfei was actually saying such useless things. Let’s be real—Chen Qianqing cared about his own body more than anyone in the world!

Lu Zhengfei continued, “I’ll be out soon.”

Chen Qianqing: “…”

Lu Zhengfei added, “I’ll hang up now. Don’t worry about me.”

Chen Qianqing didn’t hesitate to hang up the phone. Those who knew might think that Lu Zhengfei had been locked up by his family, while those who didn’t know might assume he was visiting someone in prison! And as for “don’t worry about me,” there was no such concern from Chen Qianqing at all.

After hanging up, Chen Qianqing leisurely made his way back to the inn.

After ending the call, Lu Zhengfei couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. He thought about it seriously and realized that Chen Qianqing had shown no attachment to him at all during the call.

This realization left Lu Zhengfei feeling dejected. However, he wasn’t the type to easily fall into self-pity, so in the end, he told himself that once he was out, Chen Qianqing wouldn’t be able to ignore him anymore—he was such a pitiful and tragic person.

Chen Qianqing spent over ten days in D City, returning just before school was about to start.

When he got home, Chen Qingyang and the others had also returned from their trip. Liu Huamei asked when Chen Qianqing was going back to school, and he replied that he would be going in a few days.

Liu Huamei didn’t say much, only telling him that when he had the time, he should bring Lu Zhengfei over to visit.

Chen Qianqing heard Liu Huamei’s words, then turned and forgot about them. After all, no matter what it was regarding Lu Zhengfei, he tended to forget it quickly.

And as Chen Qianqing had initially guessed, after being locked up for a month, Lu Zhengfei was finally released. For Chen Qianqing, this wasn’t exactly good news.