Blinded by Lust chapter 16

Satisfied with the arrangement of the shells according to his own taste, Wu Bie dusted the sand off his hands and got up to head toward the cargo ship.

Seeing this, Tan Yi hurriedly followed behind him. “Wu Ge, what are you going to do next?”

Before the ship set sail, the next thing would certainly be to video chat with his beloved Zhanyan.

Such a private matter couldn’t be shared with others, so Wu Bie made up a random excuse. “If there’s nothing to do, I might just watch a movie in my room.”

Wu Bie’s long legs and big strides made him walk fast, and Tan Yi had to jog to barely keep up.

“Wu Ge, you haven’t been coming up to the deck to hang out much lately.” Tan Yi remembered that Wu Bie used to love hanging out on the deck—fishing, diving, swimming, or helping out the sailors. But now, he hardly saw him there.

Wu Bie was still admiring his handiwork, wondering if Zhanyan would like it. He casually replied, “Huh? It’s too sunny. I just stay in my room to watch movies.”

“Can I join you?”

“Huh?” Wu Bie, with one foot on the ladder, thought he must have misheard.

Tan Yi raised his head, the glaring sun blinding him. He couldn’t see Wu Bie’s expression clearly against the backlight. The sun parched his throat, and he swallowed, the action scraping his throat painfully.

“I… don’t have a computer… and I’ve run out of mobile data…” Tan Yi carefully bit the inside of his cheek. “No one talks to me.”

On the ship, from the captain to the sailors, except for Mr. Zhang, Wu Bie was the only one who would talk to him. Tan Yi knew it was probably because he was too effeminate. On this ship full of men, he was heavily excluded. In a place with so many men, everyone admired strength, and just not being sneered at was already a concession.

Wu Bie was an exception. He seemed like those other men, yet somehow different. He was fiery and straightforward, but he was easier to talk to and more sympathetic.

If he were a bit more proactive and pleaded with Wu Bie, would their relationship become closer?

Feeling the gaze from above, Tan Yi lowered his head quietly. He didn’t dare to meet Wu Bie’s eyes, as if afraid that Wu Bie might see through his thoughts. The immense psychological pressure made him regret speaking up in the first place, wishing he hadn’t put himself in such an awkward position.

After a long while, feeling dizzy and as if he might faint any second, Wu Bie suddenly spoke, “Come with me.”

Tan Yi joyfully lifted his head, and Wu Bie was already ascending the ladder. He quickened his pace, striving to catch up.

Inside the cabin, the crosswind dissipated the heat. Several times, Tan Yi looked up at Wu Bie’s back, feeling an inexplicable sense of peace. He couldn’t help but step where Wu Bie stepped, following closely behind him.

Until the two of them reached the door of Wu Bie’s cabin, Wu Bie’s deep voice sounded, “Wait a moment.”

Tan Yi was a bit confused, not understanding what Wu Bie meant by “wait a moment.” The next second, Wu Bie came out of the room and shoved a laptop into Tan Yi’s arms.

Tan Yi instinctively took it, holding the laptop awkwardly. “Wu… Wu Ge…”

“Take it to your room and check the D drive,” Wu Bie waved his hand. “Go on.”

“But…” Tan Yi wanted to say something more. This didn’t seem right; he thought Wu Bie had a soft spot for him.

Wu Bie clicked his tongue, clearly a bit impatient. Their relationship wasn’t good enough to watch a movie together, and his purpose wasn’t to watch a movie either. With Tan Yi around, how could he video chat with Zhanyan?

Before Tan Yi could say anything more, Wu Bie closed the door without another word, no longer paying attention to Tan Yi outside. He turned back, clicked away at his phone, and carefully selected two photos he was somewhat satisfied with before sending them to Zhanyan.

“I just went ashore to pick these up. How do they look?”

Zhanyan replied, “Are these the starry sand you mentioned? I can’t really tell; they don’t seem special.”

Of course, you can’t tell from a photo. Wu Bie was eager to offer Zhanyan something valuable, and he was much more patient with Zhanyan.

“It’s because the resolution is too low. If you saw the real thing, you’d really see the stars,” Wu Bie probed. “How about a video call to show you?”

Huo Zhanyan glanced at the caregiver who was still busy beside him. The issue with the wig had already been hard to explain, and if he dressed as a woman in front of her, it would be difficult to manage.

He wanted to video chat with Wu Bie, but the conditions weren’t right—not only was there a caregiver, but doctors and nurses occasionally came in, and it was broad daylight. He was really afraid Wu Bie would discover his secret.

“Let’s do it tonight, Ge. It’s not convenient during the day.”

Wu Bie could understand since Zhanyan was recovering from an illness. He rationally understood, but after being refused, he still felt a bit sour inside.

He teased Zhanyan on purpose, “I’m not free tonight.”

“What are you going to do?” Huo Zhanyan thought. Wu Bie was on the ship, and there were no other activities at night; he couldn’t be going ashore to drink, right?

Wu Bie deliberately teased her, “Do you really want to know? Beg me, and I’ll tell you.”

He thought Zhanyan would be a bit reserved, but unexpectedly, she softened right away, “Please, Ge.”

So straightforward, Wu Bie couldn’t bear to tease her anymore. “The ship is setting sail tonight.”

“Huh?”

You could almost feel Zhanyan’s disappointment just from the text. Wu Bie held back his laughter, adding, “We’re heading to another port in Cherbourg. We’ll arrive tonight, but it might be a bit late.”

“Oh.”

Hearing Wu Bie say this, Zhanyan finally relaxed.

“Can’t bear to be away from Ge, huh? Were you afraid I’d be unreachable again for half a month at sea?” Wu Bie was almost beside himself with pride.

Zhanyan’s message came slowly, “Yeah, when you’re at sea, you contact me whenever you want. When you don’t want to, you don’t even reply to one of my messages.”

Ouch.

Wu Bie took a sharp breath. He had just praised Zhanyan for being straightforward, but she sure held grudges. How long had it been, and she was still bringing up old matters?

But girls need to be coaxed. Wu Bie lowered his stance, “I promise, this time I won’t ignore your messages. I’ll buy satellite data to make sure I can update you.”

Sure enough, though she held grudges, Zhanyan was easy to appease. A few words, and she was completely compliant.

“By the way, didn’t I tell you before that the sunrise in Cherbourg is beautiful? The other port has the best view.”

Zhanyan replied, “Then I’ll wait for you tonight.”

Even before the wait, just with Zhanyan’s words, Wu Bie felt incredibly happy. Still, he replied to Zhanyan, “Don’t wait.”

Staying up late isn’t good for her health. Zhanyan was still recovering and needed to rest well.

Wu Bie added, “You should sleep early tonight. When you wake up, it’ll be almost dawn on my side, just in time to watch the sunrise. Don’t stay up; I read online that staying up late isn’t good for young girls.”

“You stay up late too, though. I want to keep you company.”

Wu Bie was so blissfully dizzy, completely lost, his hands trembling as he typed, “It’s different for me. I’m working. A young lady like you should rest well.”

After the caregiver left, Huo Zhanyan took the initiative to call Wu Bie. Hearing her voice was indeed more captivating than plain text; it conveyed emotions clearly.

In the afternoon, there were footsteps outside Wu Bie’s room one after another. He guessed they were making preparations for setting sail, so he couldn’t keep sticking around with Zhanyan.

“They’re making preparations to leave the port. I need to go check it out.”

“Oh.” Zhanyan’s mood was low. They were at a sticky stage in their relationship. Even if it was just a few hours of separation, just a nap, it was still hard to part.

That “oh” felt like it was pulling at Wu Bie’s heart. Even before the call ended, he was already missing her.

“Hey, why are you unhappy again?”

Zhanyan dragged out her words, “Ge.”

“Hmm?”

Zhanyan took a deep breath, “It’s nothing, just wanted to call you. You can hang up.”

Wu Bie’s heart was on edge, holding his breath, waiting for what Zhanyan would say next. But then she just said “nothing,” leaving him feeling empty.

The two of them kept going back and forth with “you hang up” and “I’ll hang up” for ten minutes. Wu Bie still hadn’t left the room when someone knocked on his door, finally interrupting them.

“Wu Ge, we’re going ashore to buy some instant noodles and snacks. Do you want anything?”

Everyone else was busy, and he was here chatting away. Wu Bie felt quite guilty. He covered the phone, speaking softly to Zhanyan to say goodbye, “I really have to go check things out now. You hang up.”

Zhanyan didn’t act coy this time, simply saying, “Safe travels,” before hanging up.

After a busy tone “beep,” Wu Bie let out a long sigh. It was truly a sweet burden. He moved his lips, stretching his stiff smile, and deliberately used a loud voice to respond to the people outside.

“You’re here!”

Seeing Wu Bie come out, someone smiled and asked, “Wu Ge, what do you need? I can go buy it for you.”

Since they would soon be docking, Wu Bie only asked them to bring some drinks and cigarettes. Anything else he could buy himself after they got ashore.

Just as a few sailors were about to leave together, Tan Yi came over, hugging the laptop. “Wu Ge, your laptop.”

Wu Bie almost forgot about it. He took the laptop and casually placed it on the table. “Done watching?”

“Yes, thanks.”

There were many people here, and the sailors’ eyes kept sticking to Tan Yi, making him very uncomfortable. He couldn’t say much to Wu Bie and had to leave.

After Tan Yi left, one of the sailors nudged Wu Bie’s waist and asked, “Wu Ge, when did you get so close to that kid Tan Yi?”

“I haven’t, have I?” Wu Bie thought that, except for Chen Xian and a few old colleagues on the ship, he treated all other colleagues equally.

Someone else let out a mocking laugh, sounding a bit malicious. He lowered his voice intentionally, “That kid Tan Yi, he’s so effeminate.”

It seemed he wasn’t the only one who thought so. However, Wu Bie believed his evaluation of Tan Yi was quite objective, without any emotional bias. But the sailor’s words carried a kind of contempt that was uncomfortable to hear.

“Do you think he might be one of those… homosexuals?”

Wu Bie’s face fell. He didn’t care whether Tan Yi was gay or not, but the word “homosexual” made him sensitive. It always reminded him of someone he didn’t want to think about.