Chapter 36: The Gift Card
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Shi Wenze let Lin Su have the bathroom first and went to Xu You’s room to take a shower. Outside, the night market noodle stall was bustling. The aroma of chicken broth mingled with the patrons’ spicy requests for less scallions and extra chili drifted through the window. The scene was lively but lacked romance. Shi Wenze figured Lin Su probably wouldn’t like this atmosphere and decided he should hurry up and look for a new place.
Lin Su had the same view outside his window but wasn’t too bothered by the noise. In fact, the smell of chicken noodles was somewhat tempting. If he hadn’t eaten that dry pot earlier, he might have gone downstairs for a bowl.
But thinking of the dry pot reminded Lin Su of Boss Lady Ah Hong, her seven storefront properties, and his own mysterious “status”—like it existed but didn’t. He wished he could send a mass text: “If you want to chase me, come find my boyfriend.” Lost in these messy thoughts, he stepped barefoot out of the bathroom. There was no bath mat outside the door, and the cold floor instantly woke him up.
Shi Wenze sat on the edge of the bed, drying his hair and wearing his oversized “pure desire” T-shirt. His damp hair stood up in chaotic little arcs, as if carefully styled by Cupid himself, arrows flying randomly. Lin Su had to admit—this was a masterstroke.
“Come here, let me dry your hair,” Shi Wenze called.
Lin Su kept a shred of reason, wanting to remind his boyfriend—still technically a future boyfriend—that his grammar was terrible and probably wouldn’t understand. So he sat beside him. Shi Wenze plugged in the hairdryer and started gently drying. Lin Su’s eyes wandered idly, first catching the big dinosaur on Shi Wenze’s chest, then drifting down. The loose shirt rode up as Shi Wenze raised his arm, revealing… a matching dinosaur on his shorts. A whole set. Shi Wenze was definitely particular.
Though the shorts looked far newer than the shirt. Lin Su guessed Shi Wenze didn’t usually wear pants to sleep. The pampered college guy must have put on dinosaur shorts just for his sponsor. Not exactly the makings of a romantic love story—more like a comedy. Lin Su and the dinosaur exchanged a long look, and he considered unsubscribing from this service.
Shi Wenze switched off the dryer. “What are you looking at?”
“My shorts,” Lin Su replied.
Shi Wenze took this as the perfect start to a romantic evening, grabbed Lin Su’s hand, and kissed it, voice low and husky. “What’s so special about the shorts?”
Lin Su was still lost in dinosaur-land. “I’m checking if they’re Xinjiang cotton.”
Shi Wenze was speechless. The greatest distance in the world was that you couldn’t broadcast what you were thinking, while what he was thinking could make the evening news. Patriotic Shi Wenze silently vowed to check the label before buying clothes next time.
Lin Su picked a softer pillow, not wanting to talk about it anymore. “Let’s sleep.”
The one-meter-eight bed was just right for two grown men each over six feet tall—only the blanket was a bit small. Shi Wenze kept the light on, casting a warm glow. After a while, he scooted closer and said, “The blanket’s not enough.”
Lin Su glanced over and saw Shi Wenze’s shoulder was mostly uncovered. He pulled the blanket over a bit more. The scent of shower gel and shampoo mingled in the pillow space, finally giving the night a touch of softness.
Shi Wenze grabbed the blanket corner—and Lin Su’s hand holding it—and pulled him close. “Hold me a bit.”
Lin Su asked, “So you’ve completely stopped talking about renewing the card?”
“I thought about it, but what if you said no?” Shi Wenze said. “So I’m changing my sales strategy—forcing a gift card.”
This “Tony move” was technically illegal but effective. Lin Su didn’t want to report him to market regulators. He just felt the qilin’s body heat was absurdly high, making him sweat. When he tried to move a bit, Shi Wenze held him tighter.
Lin Su patted his back, a little helpless. “I’m thinking of letting you chase me a while longer.”
Shi Wenze buried his head in Lin Su’s neck. “I know.”
Lin Su ruffled his hair and felt that voice sounded almost pitiful. Ridiculous—he had every right to feel that way, given how terrible he’d been in high school. Yet there was something cute about this soft, harmless, whiny green dinosaur lover. Lin Su just couldn’t say no. So he indulged him again.
He gently pushed Shi Wenze away, then leaned back in to lick those soft lips. Shi Wenze’s eyes darkened red. He reached out and switched off the light, then clasped Lin Su’s fingers tightly, deepening the kiss. He bit him slowly, as if biting away the air itself. Lin Su had to open his mouth to breathe and heard him say “I love you,” rough and chaotic but tender.
In the darkness, they clung to each other. Lin Su’s palm pressed against Shi Wenze’s chest, exploring beneath the dinosaur outfit. Gotta say, this gift card had a surprisingly wide range of services. The summer breeze curled a corner of the curtains.
They both stayed up late, so it wasn’t until after ten the next morning that Shi Wenze was woken by his buzzing phone on the bedside—a trivial sales call. Half-asleep, Lin Su drank half a bottle of water, then handed the rest to Shi Wenze. “What time are you going to work?”
“Director Zhou hasn’t called me yet,” Shi Wenze tossed the empty bottle aside and reached out for Lin Su. “Sleep some more.”
“It’s already noon.” Lin Su mumbled, then lay back down. Shi Wenze wrapped his arms around him from behind, holding him tight. “Are you hungry?”
Lin Su wasn’t hungry, just tired. He barely spoke before drifting back to sleep, not knowing how long he slept. Half-dreaming, he heard someone talk nearby, so he pulled the blanket over his head.
Shi Wenze smiled and crouched by the bed. He gently pulled down the blanket a little so Lin Su wouldn’t suffocate, stared for a moment, then bent down and kissed his warm nose. Finally, he got up and left for work. Before heading out, he sent Xu You a WeChat message, warning him not to wander into his bedroom when he got home. Xu You was half-dead from cramming for his exams and had to put up with shameless texts that made him feel the world had gone cold and life utterly hopeless.
Lin Su, on the other hand, had taken a brutal nap and woke up at 2 p.m. Groggily, he found a note from Shi Wenze by the bed—there was food in the kitchen, and he’d get off work soon.
He checked his WeChat and saw over a dozen unread messages. Expecting some sweet love notes from his… well, boyfriend? Future boyfriend? Whatever the tense, he opened the messages only to find they were all from his sister, gushing about the joy of seeing her idol up close. She’d written long little essays, using her brother’s WeChat as a draft folder, planning to copy-paste them later.
With a sisterly heart he couldn’t refuse, Lin Su replied, “Since you like it so much, I’ll ask about the after-party.”
“Don’t!” Lin Lu called instantly. “Watching him from the audience is enough. No need for close contact. Otherwise, I won’t have any space left for imagination.”
Lin Su felt caught—those words sounded like a secret had been uncovered. Was his sister mocking him? He gave a quick, vague reply to brush her off, then headed downstairs to eat. After finishing, he left without a second thought—refusing to let any shady business force more unwanted gift cards on him.
So, Shi Wenze ended up making daily trips to Qinghu Garden again. The tattoo parlor’s small canteen had to close for a few days. Xu You sat alone in the kitchen holding a pink plate, feeling its color was unbearably tragic, losing his appetite entirely and just wanting his beloved spicy chicken back.
Xia Jiayang’s event was at a grand theater. Shi Wenze didn’t remember to check the lineup until that morning. After searching for the star list, he was puzzled and called his star-chasing mentor.
“There’s no Xia Jiayang here?” he asked.
“Xia Jiayang is part of the EK group,” Lan Weiwei explained.
Shi Wenze circled the name and took notes seriously. “Oh.”
“Still haven’t finished your task?” Lan Weiwei sounded annoyed at his efficiency. “Forget it, I’ll get a friend to take you backstage. You should get a photo and autograph.”
“You have that kind of hook-up?”
“This group isn’t hard to chase,” she said, tapping on her phone and sending him a business card. “My friend’s here for another shoot, but she can sneak you backstage. If you have any trouble, just ask her.”
Shi Wenze wasn’t planning to give Xia Jiayang’s autograph to Lin Su, but he didn’t mind hooking up his little sister.
After a few WeChat messages, the friend cheerfully gave the time and place. Shi Wenze called Lin Su, lying that he might be late from unexpected overtime.
“Okay, I’ll take a cab,” Lin Su said casually. He grabbed a green T-shirt from the closet but stopped—Xia Jiayang would be dazzling on stage, and he’d be lost in green down below. Bad omen. So he got ready for the concert, feeling both numb and tired.
Shi Wenze raced on his motorcycle like a kid desperate to meet his idol. He found Lan Weiwei’s friend—a girl in her early twenties—who warmly welcomed him backstage and gave him a glossy photo. Pointing, she said, “There’s Jiajia. See him? Want me to take you over?”
“No, thanks,” Shi Wenze replied. It was his first time asking for an autograph and felt twice as hard as getting director Zhou to sign a sick note. Trying to appear like a sincere fan, he stopped Xia Jiayang.
“Excuse me, can you please sign this? My little sister really likes you.”
Xia Jiayang smiled and took the pen and photo. “Of course.”
Shi Wenze added, “Her name is Lin Lu—Lin as in forest, Lu as in dew.”
Xia Jiayang signed it with a “To” and drew a little heart next to the signature. Mission accomplished. Shi Wenze felt fandom wasn’t so hard after all. After several thanks, he left backstage just as Lin Su called.
“Where are you?”
“At the entrance, coming now.” Shi Wenze jogged over. “Where’s Little Lu?”
“Right next to me,” Lin Su said. “We’re waiting at the ticket gate.”
They waited about ten minutes before Shi Wenze arrived, panting.
“The backstage was a bit far,” he said.
Lin Su frowned. “Didn’t you come from the parking lot?”
Shi Wenze handed over the envelope with his big brother’s indulgence. “Got a Xia Jiayang autograph for Little Lu backstage.”
Lin Su was furious. “You went to see Xia Jiayang without me?”
Only Lin Lu’s world was complete—she gleefully pulled out the photo and looked up confused. “Bro, this is Mu Fengrui’s autograph, not Jiajia’s. Did you get the wrong person?”
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