Hearing You Say Love chapter 1

Red Alert

Five hours ago, the Meteorological Bureau of Rong City upgraded the orange rainstorm warning to red.

The highway was closed, so Zou Beiyuan had to take a detour of several dozen kilometers, not returning to the city until after 11 p.m.

There were few cars on the road.

A lime green BMW M5 drove into the heavily flooded streets of the old town. Rain pelted the windshield, and even though the wipers were working furiously, they were no match for the storm. The rushing water made it impossible to see the road.

The car’s phone rang three times. Zou Beiyuan furrowed his brows, pressed the answer button, and remained silent, waiting for the other side to speak.

A deep-voiced middle-aged man spoke: “Xiao Bei, you’re back in Rong City?”

Zou Beiyuan didn’t reply, but the man clearly already knew the answer. “Stop messing around and come back quickly.”

Zou Beiyuan looked coldly at the rain, “Uncle Jiang, do you think I’m messing around?”

Jiang Pei sighed, speaking with the tone of a concerned elder. “You’re still too young to understand how things work in this circle. The boss is doing this for your own good. After all, he’s your father. Everything he’s doing is paving the way for you.”

“He’s doing it for himself,” Zou Beiyuan paused, then added coldly, “It just makes me sick.”

Jiang Pei sighed again. “How can you say that? Do you know how much money the boss has invested in you?”

Jiang Pei was his father’s confidant. Zou Beiyuan knew his father was listening in on this call. He smirked sarcastically, “Do you know how much money I’ve made for you?”

There was silence on the other end. Zou Beiyuan stared at the water, which had already spilled over the curb, uncertain of how deep it was.

A Volkswagen drove past in the opposite direction, its tires half-submerged in water, sending up waves that merged with the heavy rain, reflecting a pale yellow light.

After a long silence, the voice on the other end softened, as if coaxing a child. “Xiao Bei, maybe you should take a break. We can postpone the fight and reschedule. The company will give you a month off.”

Zou Beiyuan knew full well that if he didn’t return to fight in the boxing championship, his father’s company would lose the millions of dollars it had invested. Jiang Pei’s persistent persuasion was all because of this.

“I said I want to terminate the contract. He agreed.” These words were meant for his father.

“Don’t say things out of anger. Your father was upset at the time. How could he agree to terminate your contract?” Jiang Pei half-advised, half-threatened. “Xiao Bei, I’m telling you, if you terminate the contract with your father, no company will dare sign you, and you won’t have any more fights to compete in.”

“Oh,” Zou Beiyuan replied calmly, “Then I won’t fight anymore.”

“Xiao Bei…”

Jiang Pei was about to continue persuading him, but Zou Beiyuan ended the call.

Taking a deep breath while gripping the steering wheel, he realized the situation was getting worse. The water was too deep, significantly hindering the car’s movement, and he could even feel the car beginning to float slightly.

Zou Beiyuan stepped on the accelerator, intending to speed through, but suddenly, the engine stalled.

“Fuck!” Zou Beiyuan cursed, picking up his phone to call the insurance company for a tow truck.

The insurance company said their rescue vehicles were all busy and asked him to send his location and take some photos of the scene. They would send someone over later.

Frustrated and wanting to curse, Zou Beiyuan stared at the still-lit phone screen. He glanced out at the curtain of rain for a few seconds before finding Xu Jiadi’s number in the call log and dialing it. The voice on the other end was low, “Beiyuan, you’re back?”

“No,” there were faint footsteps on the other end, then the voice got a bit louder, echoing slightly, “I’m at the hospital. My grandma’s not doing well again.”

“Alright, I’ll hang up.”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I’m hanging up.”

The wipers had stopped, and in the confined space, the only sound left was the rain pounding on the car.

Zou Beiyuan suddenly remembered a heavy rainstorm from his childhood. He was sitting on the back of his mother’s bicycle, tucked inside her oversized raincoat, as they made their way home along this same narrow, bumpy road.

More than a decade had passed, and now the roads in Rong City were getting wider, but the old town still flooded whenever there was heavy rain.

Zou Beiyuan opened the car door, letting the filthy water flow into the car. The car body was completely submerged.

Standing at 189 cm, his height made him tower over the car. The floodwater was now nearly up to his knees.

Heavy rain poured down on him, and within less than a second, he was drenched.

Following the insurance company’s advice, he took a few photos, planning to go home first, leaving the car here to wait for a tow.

In this terrible weather, it was impossible to hail a taxi, but fortunately, home wasn’t far. He could walk back through the water.

Then, he remembered that the 4S shop had given him an umbrella when he picked up his car, and it seemed like it was tossed in the trunk. He opened the trunk and bent down to search for it.

The small space was packed with fishing gear, and the black umbrella was probably buried underneath. He searched for a long time but couldn’t find it. Standing up, he closed the trunk, ready to give up when suddenly, an umbrella appeared over his head.

He turned around in surprise and saw a somewhat familiar face. It was his neighbor from across the hall, someone he’d bumped into several times in the elevator.

Zou Beiyuan remembered that this person had always seemed rather aloof.

Although the man wasn’t short, Zou Beiyuan was so tall that the man had to look up to meet his gaze.

The man struggled to hold the umbrella with one hand, while raising his phone with the other to show Zou Beiyuan the text on the screen: “Need help? My car is behind.”

Zou Beiyuan stared at the screen for two seconds, then looked at the man’s face. His first reaction was, “Is this guy mute?”

Following the man’s gaze, he looked behind them and saw a black Audi Q5 with its lights flashing, parked on the sidewalk behind them. The sidewalk was slightly elevated, and the water had only submerged half the tires.

Water dripped down Zou Beiyuan’s face. “Give me a ride home?”

The man nodded.

He seemed a bit older than Zou Beiyuan, with his slightly longer hair tied back. He had a calm, gentle demeanor, and his appearance was quite pleasing to the eye.

Standing close together, Zou Beiyuan noticed his gold-rimmed glasses and the slightly widened phoenix eyes behind them, which gave off a faint sense of youthful naivety, a bit at odds with the man’s calm appearance.

Somehow, the irritability that had been gnawing at Zou Beiyuan all evening began to dissipate. He smiled, sighing with relief, “Thanks.”

The man pointed at Zou Beiyuan’s car, asking with a look: “What about it?”

Zou Beiyuan knew what he was asking and explained, “I’ve already called the insurance company. I’ve taken the photos, and they’ll send someone to tow it later.”

The man nodded, motioning toward the Audi with his thumb, signaling for Zou Beiyuan to follow him.

Zou Beiyuan, being tall, naturally took the umbrella and tilted it toward the man as they walked.

But the umbrella was small, and it barely covered both men—especially with someone as big as Zou Beiyuan. Their shoulders pressed together, and each got half-drenched by the rain.

The man stepped ahead slightly, creating some distance. Zou Beiyuan lengthened his stride to catch up, and soon they reached the car.

“Go ahead, get in first.”

The car was still running.

Zou Beiyuan held the umbrella, opened the driver’s door for the man, and waited for him to sit down before walking around to the passenger seat.

Both of them were soaked, wetting the car’s interior, dirtying the leather seats and floor mats.

As Zou Beiyuan fastened his seatbelt, he said, “Let’s exchange WeChat contacts. I’ll send you the car wash fee later.”

The man didn’t respond immediately. Zou Beiyuan noticed he was holding an earphone and wiping it with a tissue, likely because it had gotten wet in the rain.

Looking at the man’s serious profile, Zou Beiyuan recalled that on the day he moved back to Chengdu, this man had helped hold the elevator for him when he was moving his luggage.

Because of that brief interaction, Zou Beiyuan had always greeted him when they met, but the man’s responses were always cold, just a nod of acknowledgment.

So it turns out his cold demeanor was because he couldn’t speak.

After drying the earphone, the man hung it on his right ear. A small round piece stuck to his head, which he covered with his half-long hair.

Zou Beiyuan pointed at the device, “Is that a cochlear implant?”

Su Ming glanced at him, nodded, and pressed the electronic brake while stepping on the brake pedal.

“Let’s exchange WeChat,” Zou Beiyuan repeated, stretching out his phone. “I’ll send you the car wash fee later.” Afraid the man would refuse, he added, “Don’t be too polite about this; otherwise, I’ll feel bad.”

Su Ming looked at the QR code on the phone, his heart skipping a beat.

I’m going to add his WeChat!!

But he remained calm on the outside, simply taking out his phone and opening WeChat to scan the code.

Su Ming’s WeChat name was just two simple letters: “Su.” Naturally, Zou Beiyuan asked, “Your last name is Su?”

Su Ming lowered his head and typed his full name in the WeChat chat box.

“My surname is Zou,” Zou Beiyuan said. “Zou with an ear radical, Bei from Beijing, and Yuan as in distant.”

Su Ming nodded, looking ahead. The windshield wipers and streetlights cast shifting reflections in his glasses.

The rain grew heavier, and there wasn’t a single person on the sidewalk. Broken tree branches littered the road, and the car lanes had turned into a river.

A few cars behind them followed slowly.

There was no music playing in Su Ming’s car. It was eerily quiet inside, in stark contrast to the storm raging outside, like a solitary ark in the apocalypse.

They turned onto Fuyuan West Road, where the water was shallower. Su Ming drove off the sidewalk and picked up some speed. Before long, they entered the underground parking lot of Tianhe Mansion.

The two of them, drenched, stepped into the elevator.

Su Ming was slightly better off, his upper body not as soaked, while Zou Beiyuan looked as though he’d just been fished out of the water. His black t-shirt clung to his body, revealing defined muscles.

The mirrored elevator doors reflected the bulging chest and toned abs under his wet shirt, his arms looking powerful.

Strong, but not overly exaggerated, exuding a masculine beauty.

Like a young wolf, ready to pounce.

His thin casual pants were also soaked through, and beneath the hem of his shirt, a faint outline of something quietly resting could be seen—a size on par with those characters Su Ming had drawn in his comics.

Su Ming paused briefly, then discreetly shifted his gaze.