Blinded by Lust chapter 23

In the quiet room, in a familiar environment, Wu Bie opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Based on his internal clock, he estimated it was around 8 a.m. He grabbed his phone—it was exactly 8 a.m.—and a good morning message from Zhanyan made his heart race.

Everything that happened last night replayed in his mind like a slideshow: he took Zhanyan to watch the fireworks, they kissed, Zhanyan agreed to be with him, and most importantly, she even called him husband.

Husband?

Wu Bie squinted his eyes, savoring the memory of the word. It was all Zhanyan’s fault for calling him that so suddenly. She refused to say it again afterward, so Wu Bie felt like his memory was blurry and unreal, as if it had all been a dream. But it really happened.

“Morning, wifey. Have you had breakfast?” Wu Bie sent a voice message to Zhanyan, trying to act cool. But when no response came, not even the “typing” indicator, he muttered to himself, “What’s she up to?”

Finally, Zhanyan responded.

But it wasn’t a video call, voice message, or even an audio clip.

“Morning, Ge.”

The words were plain, but Wu Bie could imagine her tone. Not calling him “husband” now, huh? He understood—girls could be shy. Terms like that wouldn’t always be thrown around casually.

“Is it inconvenient right now?” Wu Bie, despite his rugged exterior, was actually quite observant. Given how proactive Zhanyan usually was, her not immediately video-calling meant something was up.

Sure enough, Zhanyan replied with a simple “mm,” followed by another message: “My parents are here.”

Well, that was rare. Wu Bie had a bit of a grudge against Zhanyan’s parents, thinking they didn’t treat her well. But it was still a good thing they were visiting. He consoled her, “I’ll check in with you later. You should talk with your parents.”

Meanwhile, Liu Fei and her husband were listening to Huo Zhanyan’s medical report. Young people recover quickly, and Huo Zhanyan’s test results were good.

“Judging by the patient’s positive attitude, standing up again is only a matter of time.”

Liu Fei was rather surprised. “Didn’t you say earlier that he wasn’t cooperating?”

The hospital had been concerned earlier because Huo Zhanyan seemed to be refusing treatment as a way to get attention from his parents. However, at some point, Huo Zhanyan began actively cooperating with his treatment and taking his condition more seriously.

“Before, there was a lack of cooperation and a very negative attitude, but recently things have improved quite a bit.”

No matter what, this was good news. After seeing the doctor off, Liu Fei felt much more relieved as she looked at Huo Zhanyan.

“Xiao Yan, you’ve finally grown up and realized you shouldn’t be so reckless.”

Huo Zhanyan couldn’t be bothered to explain to them. He reached under his pillow to touch his wig. He was worried—at this rate, would his wig still be presentable?

His parents expressed their concern with heartfelt words and even brought up his studies and future career.

“It would be best if, after you graduate, you could help us at the company, just like your older brother.”

Huo Zhanyan didn’t reply. He had never thought that far ahead, but his parents’ reminder made him realize that he should start planning. He wanted to be with Wu Bie, but he was still in the hospital and couldn’t do anything yet. Once he could stand up again and finish university, what kind of job could he do to support both himself and Wu Bie?

What was he good at? What did he like? Motorcycles, maybe?

“Is there nothing you want to say to us?” Perhaps noticing that Huo Zhanyan had been silent, Liu Fei took the initiative to ask.

He hadn’t thought much about his career, and, snapping back to reality, Huo Zhanyan asked, emotionlessly, “When are you leaving?”

Liu Fei: “…”

There was no point in talking anymore, so the couple didn’t stay in the hospital room much longer. Before leaving, they gave Huo Zhanyan one last deep look. Liu Fei couldn’t understand when their relationship with Huo Zhanyan had grown so distant.

….

After washing up and changing clothes, Wu Bie felt refreshed. He hummed a tune as he went downstairs for breakfast. To his surprise, the cafeteria was almost empty, with only a few sailors scattered around eating.

“Where is everyone?” Wu Bie casually filled a bowl with plain congee and some pickled vegetables before approaching the group.

One of the sailors, yawning, replied, “We’re actually the early ones. A lot of people played around all night yesterday. After breakfast, we’ll wake them up for their shift, and if there’s nothing else, we’ll go back to sleep too.”

These guys! Playing for so long! The captain should have set a better example. It seemed like Wu Bie was the only diligent one, always dutiful and responsible. Without him, this ship couldn’t function.

As he ate a couple of mouthfuls of congee, he looked around. The cafeteria was eerily quiet. Something felt off. Right! Tan Yi! Where was Tan Yi? He hadn’t seen him since yesterday.

Mr. Zhang had also gone out last night. If most people had been up all night, surely Mr. Zhang had been caught up in it too. So who made breakfast? Who else but Tan Yi? But where was Tan Yi?

Wu Bie suddenly remembered the voice he’d heard in the hallway last night. It had definitely been Tan Yi’s voice. Who was he talking to? What had happened?

“Who made breakfast?”

The sailor, barely keeping his eyes open, took a few seconds to respond to Wu Bie’s question. “Tan Yi, of course. Mr. Zhang didn’t come back until this morning.”

“Where’s Tan Yi?”

The sailor shook his head. “I don’t know. Breakfast was here when we came, but we didn’t see him.”

After breakfast, Wu Bie still hadn’t heard anything from Zhanyan. The sailors on duty were dozing on the deck, and most of the others were back in their rooms. Bored, Wu Bie stood at the bow of the ship, enjoying the sea breeze and taking videos.

He had missed the sunrise, but the seascape at this time was still beautiful. The deep blue ocean shimmered in the sunlight, and the waves rippled like irregular crystals.

“I’ll take these for Zhanyan.” Wu Bie, out of habit, took several photos, planning to pick a good one to keep. But the sound of two people arguing interrupted his thoughts.

“Let go of me.” Was that Tan Yi?

Wu Bie was now extra sensitive to Tan Yi’s voice, probably because he had heard it often but hadn’t seen the person lately.

Again with this phrase? Wu Bie was confused. Who was Tan Yi talking to? Curious, he followed the source of the voices.

“There’s no one else around. What are you pretending for? Weren’t you the one who crawled into my bed? Now that you’ve gotten off, you don’t recognize me?”

The man’s voice was deep and lazy, his tone far less mature than his voice suggested—almost childish, and strangely familiar.

There were so many people on board, it was hard for Wu Bie to immediately match the voice with a face. Who could it be?

“It’s not… It’s not like you say… You’re twisting the truth. I went to the wrong room…”

The man teased, “You’ve been on this ship longer than I have, and you went to the wrong room? Come on, find a better excuse. You’re all about that gay stuff, aren’t you? Aren’t you gays all into men? Shouldn’t you be secretly happy? You already did it. You weren’t acting like this while doing it. Why are you playing hard to get now?”

Gay!?

The shocking conversation made Wu Bie’s mind buzz. How could there be so many gays in this world? Were gays taking over the world?

“I didn’t! I didn’t! Stop talking nonsense! Mmph…” Tan Yi tried to explain, but it sounded like his mouth was covered, and his voice cut off, leaving only a short whimper.

The two’s movements grew louder and clearer. Instinctively, Wu Bie lightened his steps, sneaking toward the corner. The shadows of two closely entwined figures were cast on the lifeboat.

Wu Bie cautiously followed the shadow, peeking ahead. Tan Yi was being held by a tall figure, pressed against the railing in a kiss.

This man looked familiar. Wu Bie tilted his head for a better view, and when he recognized the man’s side profile, he froze. Wasn’t that Qin Mochong?

“Mmph…” Tan Yi struggled, trying to push Qin Mochong away, but Qin Mochong was too strong and didn’t budge.

Wu Bie was so shocked he nearly screamed. He clutched his chest, retreating several steps to where they couldn’t see him.

“Ah…” He groaned softly. His clear eyes, his innocent heart, had been hurt by gays yet again. He was starting to hate them.