Evil Love Appears chapter 72

“Fu Xiaoyu, don’t you have any photo editing apps on your phone?”

Xu Jiale observed Fu Xiaoyu carefully as he started learning photo editing from scratch, resting his chin on Fu Xiaoyu’s shoulder and peering at the phone screen.

“Well, I don’t usually take many photos,” Fu Xiaoyu replied. At the moment, he had just finished downloading an app and was diligently studying it, bowing his head.

Suddenly, he smelled Xu Jiale’s minty breath approaching, and felt a heavy weight on his shoulder.

He thought Xu Jiale was in a hurry, so he nervously selected an automatic beauty filter and turned up the intensity.

“…” Xu Jiale fell silent instantly, squinted his eyes, and took Fu Xiaoyu’s phone to look at it again.

Damn, with this level of beauty filter, Xu Jiale’s eyes looked sharp and bright, but Fu Xiaoyu looked miserable.

His naturally round cat-like eyes couldn’t withstand such aggressive enlargement, especially combined with a strong slimming effect, which made Xu Jiale inhale sharply.

Is this the beauty filter that compensates for the difference in looks?

“Is this okay?” Fu Xiaoyu surprisingly asked.

“Give me the phone,” Xu Jiale said, holding a cigarette in his mouth. Without lighting it, he took Fu Xiaoyu’s phone.

Step one: remove the beauty filter.

Step two: use the eye enlargement function separately, and then…

Xu Jiale’s fingers stopped suddenly, and after a while, without doing anything, he casually handed the phone back to Fu Xiaoyu. “I looked carefully, and I think my eyes are quite handsome.”

After saying this, he lit a cigarette without engaging in further conversation, but the flames were flickering and unsuccessful.

Fu Xiaoyu turned around and used both hands to shield the cigarette from the wind.

Their noses were almost touching, and as the flames flickered, Fu Xiaoyu suddenly said softly to him, “Xu Jiale, I also think you’re handsome.”

Xu Jiale smiled faintly and didn’t respond. Instead, he stood up, holding the cigarette in his mouth, and then leaned down to hold Fu Xiaoyu’s hand. “Let’s go and look at the sea up ahead.”

The sea breeze messed up their hair, and with the flash from the camera making their eyes squint, they didn’t look particularly handsome.

But it seemed like none of that really mattered—

In the picture in front of the camera, they looked very happy.

So, this was already a perfect photo.

The end of the slope had been sealed off for safety, so Fu Xiaoyu leaned on the railing and looked out.

Xu Jiale put his arm around Fu Xiaoyu’s waist from behind, held a cigarette, and suddenly laughed softly. “I mean, this posture, isn’t it like the one from Titanic?”

Fu Xiaoyu also laughed, showing his white teeth.

He playfully took the cigarette from Xu Jiale’s hand, which resulted in him taking a deep drag and then coughing several times.

“Hey—”

Xu Jiale immediately reached out to try to get it back, but this guy was surprisingly agile and managed to avoid it.

Having drunk a bit of alcohol, Fu Xiaoyu’s cheeks had a slight blush, and he held the cigarette with his slender fingers, looking provocatively at Xu Jiale.

Xu Jiale didn’t say anything, he just pushed Fu Xiaoyu against the railing and then leaned down to kiss Fu Xiaoyu’s lips passionately.

The bitter taste of the cigarette lingered on their lips and tongues and was a little choking.

“Umm… Xu Jiale,” Fu Xiaoyu gasped softly, and a spark from the cigarette between his fingers happened to be blown onto Xu Jiale’s arm by the sea breeze, causing him to flinch, but even so, he didn’t let go of Fu Xiaoyu—

He almost wanted to devour Fu Xiaoyu.

They kept kissing until Fu Xiaoyu’s phone in his pocket received a few WeChat messages, which interrupted them. Xu Jiale pulled back slightly and said softly, “Aren’t you going to check it?”

Fu Xiaoyu opened his phone, and his eyes were fixed on the screen for a while. He seemed lost in thought.

Curious, Xu Jiale also glanced at it—

Aunt Tang: Xiaoyu, are you okay? Did you have a fight with your dad?

Fu Xiaoyu’s fingers rested on the screen, but he seemed hesitant about what to reply. Within a few seconds, another message came in.

Aunt Tang: It’s because of your boyfriend, right? Your dad seems genuinely upset this time. When he comes back, he doesn’t eat or speak; he just lies in the room alone. How about you? How are things on your end? Do you have any problems?

Fu Xiaoyu finally replied cautiously with a few words: “Auntie, I’m fine.”

Aunt Tang: That’s good. Don’t worry. I’m here for your dad on this side. Take care of yourself. Your dad is still in a bad mood, but I’ll call you in a couple of days, and you two can talk it out properly. Don’t let this small matter affect your relationship, okay?

“Okay.”

After typing this word, Fu Xiaoyu deleted it and rewrote a sentence.

Fu Xiaoyu: Auntie, I won’t contact dad for a while.

He sent this message, locked the screen of his phone, and put it back in his pocket.

Xu Jiale had been watching Fu Xiaoyu all this time. He waited for a few minutes until the usually silent Omega gazed at the sea and whispered, “Actually… I don’t know if what I did was right.”

“I rarely argue with Fu Jing. But I often… imagine scenes of arguing with him in my mind. Those fantasies always make me feel relieved.”

“That feeling is like deep down in my heart, I’ve always been secretly looking forward to this.”

Fu Xiaoyu’s voice was slightly hoarse, and he chuckled with a touch of irony.

Xu Jiale didn’t interrupt his narrative; he simply stood there quietly, listening.

“The words I said were harsher than any of my previous imaginings. I told him that I’ve despised him touching me since I was a teenager. I even told him that I’ve never been happy when I’m around him. In the end, I told him directly that if he must interfere with my relationship with you, then we should cut ties. I don’t care.”

“Xu Jiale,” Fu Xiaoyu said softly, “From childhood to now, I’ve always wanted to rebel like this, but it’s strange. When this actually happened… why do I not feel the satisfaction I imagined?”

When he said the last word, he couldn’t help but turn his head and take a deep drag of the lady’s cigarette he had between his fingers.

This time, Xu Jiale didn’t stop him but said quietly, “Fu Xiaoyu, do you actually hate Fu Jing?”

Fu Xiaoyu fell silent for a long time, and perhaps the word “hate” was too heavy for him to answer immediately.

“I actually hate Murong Jingya,” Xu Jiale suddenly said.

Fu Xiaoyu turned abruptly, and he saw Xu Jiale gazing at the sea, saying, “Our culture emphasizes filial piety, so when it comes to ‘hating’ one’s parents, it always feels like a great taboo. It’s as if parents are always right, always doing things for their child’s good, so ‘hate’ becomes improper, unethical. It took me a long time to admit to myself that yes, I do hate Murong Jingya.”

“And then…?”

Fu Xiaoyu couldn’t help but ask softly.

“After admitting it, I suddenly realized that ‘hating’ one’s own father isn’t that frightening.”

Xu Jiale smiled faintly and took the cigarette from between Fu Xiaoyu’s fingers, taking a casual drag before continuing, “Closing your mouth doesn’t make the wounds go away. On the contrary, admitting to ‘hate’ as an emotion means I’ve finally faced the fact that I was hurt—Murong Jingya did cheat on my day and hurt him, in the process hurting me.”

“Hate isn’t scary. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that in this world, perfect parent-child relationships are rare. There are always many scars, much pain, and hate is always there. The hardest part… isn’t hate.”

“…. what is it?”

“It’s loving alongside the hate,” Xu Jiale turned his head slowly and said, “It’s recognizing that in parent-child relationships, love and hate naturally coexist.”

Fu Xiaoyu’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

Even before Xu Jiale could fully interpret what he had said, Fu Xiaoyu couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.

“Xu Jiale, I don’t know what to do.”

He hugged Xu Jiale  tightly.

“Don’t rush.”

Xu Jiale said softly, “If you completely hate him, then sever the relationship. I won’t advise you to reconcile because it’s unnecessary. But I guess… you don’t truly hate him.”

“Xu Jiale, am I…”

Fu Xiaoyu raised his head and said softly.

His voice trembled, and of course, he wasn’t completely hating Fu Jing, and that’s why he felt anxious and uneasy.

Xu Jiale held him while taking a drag of his cigarette.

“You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Xu Jiale said softly, “Xiaoyu, you’ve grown up, you have your own career, you earn your own money. Perhaps, before this incident, you didn’t even realize that you already have the ability not to be manipulated by him and not to fear him. In that family, he used to be the one who made all the decisions, the one who held the control. Tonight, you occupied the pinnacle of power in your confrontation with him for the first time, didn’t you?”

“Yes…”

Fu Xiaoyu replied in a hoarse voice.

He couldn’t help but think of what he had felt earlier, hearing Fu Jing sobbing on the flower bed while speaking on the phone with Tang Ning behind the curtains.

He thought of Fu Jing’s forced, intimidating demeanor when facing him, even though his fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

Yes, it was his first time truly holding absolute power in his confrontation with Fu Jing.

But that feeling wasn’t one of joy; it was tinged with fear.

“You’ve used power to defeat him, so you won’t be happy, of course.”

Xu Jiale gently stroked Fu Xiaoyu’s hair, and his gaze, deep and tinged with sadness, said, “You’re father and son; you should communicate with love, not power. But this lesson is too difficult, for Fu Jing, for you, even for me, it’s too difficult.”

“Give yourself some time.” He squeezed Fu Xiaoyu’s hand and said softly, “And give Fu Jing time. Don’t rush for reconciliation, and don’t fear a temporary rupture. Tang Ning is with Fu Jing, I’m with you, okay?”