Don’t Ignite It chapter 36

L

During dinner, when they were halfway through their meal, Xu Ping arrived. She had probably just finished a meeting and was dressed in a black suit, her hair neatly tied up at the back of her head. She had applied just a touch of lipstick, but it made her look stunning to the point where one couldn’t look directly at her.

She and Xu Zhan were siblings, but their personalities were completely different. Perhaps it was because she had risen to a high position in the government at a young age, even if she didn’t make a fuss, she was hard to ignore.

As soon as she arrived, the household became busy again. The kitchen staff prepared dishes and served soup for her, while her parents asked if she was tired from the rush and insisted she eat quickly and rest.

Xu Ping answered each question before turning to look at the newlywed couple beside her.

She said to Xia Yu, “I’m sorry I came late when you rarely visit.”

Xia Yu quickly shook his head.

He wasn’t very good at dealing with elders, and Xu Ping was nearly ten years older than him, making her seem like an elder. Although he liked Xu Ping, he felt a bit uncomfortable around her. In reality, he was more like a younger brother, smiling somewhat shyly.

Xu Ping had a different opinion of Xia Yu than her parents. She thought Xia Yu was actually quite well-behaved. He had a fox-like appearance, but his personality was a bit clumsy. He smiled at whoever treated him well.

She also smiled and picked up a piece of steamed pork with her chopsticks, saying, “Eat more; you both are too skinny.”

Xu Ping’s way of expressing care was straightforward: she gave money and fed people.

Xia Yu was already full, but there was another piece of meat in his bowl. He wore a troubled expression and said, “Thank you, Sister.”

Xu Zhan chuckled nearby.

However, within a few seconds, his bowl also had a roasted quail in it. Suddenly, Xia Yu couldn’t help but laugh too.

Because of Xu Ping’s arrival, the focus at the dinner table smoothly shifted towards her. Everyone revolved around Xu Ping.

After dinner, Xu Ping went into her father’s study to discuss work with him.

Xia Yu endured downstairs until nine o’clock, playing the role of a wallflower. After nine o’clock, he was finally liberated and could return to the room with Xu Zhan.

When they stayed at Xu’s house, Xia Yu and Xu Zhan naturally shared a room. Fortunately, Xu Zhan’s bed was large enough, and there were enough blankets for each of them to have one, so they didn’t disturb each other.

In the morning, while the housekeepers were cleaning up, Xia Yu would put the extra blanket back in the closet, and over the years, since he visited so rarely, no one had noticed anything.

Now out of sight of the rest of the Xu family, Xia Yu finally collapsed onto the bed like a salted fish.

“I’m free,” he sighed. “This evening felt like going to war. I wasn’t even this nervous when facing the headmaster at school.”

Xu Zhan changed his clothes while laughing at Xia Yu’s words. “You’re too nervous. My parents won’t really make things difficult for you. Just be yourself.”

“Really?” Xia Yu propped himself up on his arm, jokingly saying, “Your mother looks at me as if I’m Pan Jinlian.”

Xia Yu had no doubt that in Mrs. Xu’s eyes, he was the image of a potential adulterer.

However, in the past, he could courageously complain, but now… Xia Yu touched his nose somewhat uneasily. He really couldn’t say that Mrs. Xu had wrongly accused him.

When Xu Zhan heard the words “Pan Jinlian,” he laughed even harder.

He told Xia Yu, “My mom actually pulled me aside just now and reminded me that Lu Zhao often comes to Chuan city nowadays. She asked me to be careful and not give you two a chance to rekindle your old relationship.”

Since the last incident with the photos, Xu Zhan hadn’t heard Xia Yu mention Lu Zhao again. He didn’t know if the two were still in contact, but he used his mom’s words as a joke to tell Xia Yu.

Xia Yu, however, didn’t find it amusing.

In fact, he didn’t feel burdened by the affair with Lu Zhao. He and Xu Zhan had their own arrangements—Xu Zhan had Ruan Sen, and he had Lu Zhao. They didn’t owe each other anything.

But perhaps because he was at the Xu family’s house today, he thought about his relationship with Lu Zhao, thought about how Xu Zhan held his hand and walked down the aisle, thought about how they were always seen as a couple by outsiders. His heart inexplicably felt a bit heavy.

Xu Zhan didn’t hear a response and turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

He felt that Xia Yu’s mood didn’t seem to be very good.

“Nothing.”

Xia Yu sat up on the bed and scratched his messy hair. “I’ll go take a shower first.”

While Xia Yu was taking a shower, he didn’t take his phone with him. He left it on the bedside table.

It was just twenty minutes or so, and no one would be looking for him anyway.

As Xia Yu showered, his mind wandered back to the first time he came to the Xu family’s house.

It was a month after he and Xu Zhan got married. Their honeymoon had ended, and he had no reason to keep avoiding it.

He followed Xu Zhan into this ancient Chinese-style courtyard, where Xu family relatives were all present, dignified and elegant, sitting in the living room, gazing at this “newcomer.”

Their gaze carried a subtle scrutiny.

In the center, Mr. and Mrs. Xu, with an indifferent expression, didn’t seem too pleased to see him.

At that time, Xia Yu hadn’t fully recovered from the blow Lu Zhao had dealt him. He was still quite thin, and his health wasn’t great.

He actually didn’t care much about other people’s opinions. Could they hurt him more than Lu Zhao already had?

Besides, the Xu family valued their reputation, and no one would engage in petty actions to harm him. Most things were handled politely with Xu Zhan as the spokesperson, and he just received red envelopes on the side.

Looking back now, Xia Yu thought that Xu Zhan was truly a good person.

If the roles were reversed, he might not have been as considerate as Xu Zhan. For a fake marriage partner with no deep emotional ties, he could easily have ignored Xia Yu.

But Xu Zhan did care, quietly handling many things for him. As a result, the Xu family gradually warmed up to him, and everyone began to put on friendly faces when they saw him.

So, over the past few years, whenever the Xu family asked them to visit, Xia Yu didn’t refuse.

Xia Yu even felt that it was a miracle that he hadn’t fallen in love with Xu Zhan.

Xu Zhan was handsome, gentle, considerate, and respectful of all his hobbies. He was also very close to Xia Yu’s family. He was like a perfect partner one would find in a dream.

In contrast, Lu Zhao seemed to be all flaws, except for his face. He was practically worthless.

He used to think that it was okay to live like this for a lifetime, with a false sense of calm, distant relatives, and the kind Xu Zhan. It wasn’t bad at all.

But just now, sitting next to Xu Zhan, he couldn’t help but wonder if he could really live like this for the rest of his life, especially when Xu Zhan had already developed feelings for someone else.

He had to entangle someone as good as Xu Zhan and play out a bizarre drama.

While Xia Yu was showering, Xu Zhan was outside organizing his things.

When Xia Yu’s phone rang, he was still thinking about finding a Qing Dynasty historical document and didn’t pay much attention. He picked it up without looking and held it to his ear.

“Hello?” Xu Zhan asked absentmindedly, “Who is this?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and no one responded.

“Hello?”

Xu Zhan found it strange. He lowered the phone and realized it was Xia Yu’s phone. The name on the screen read “L.”

Xu Zhan thought it might be a client from the gallery. That’s why they weren’t responding; they probably didn’t know who he was. But he answered anyway, as it would be impolite not to answer Xia Yu’s client.

“Sorry, I’m Xia Yu’s husband,” Xu Zhan politely explained. “I accidentally picked up the phone, and he’s currently taking a shower. I’ll have him call you back later.”

There was still no response on the other end of the line, but the call wasn’t disconnected either. It felt like a silent tug-of-war.

Xu Zhan furrowed his brow, beginning to find the call strange. He had an inexplicable feeling that the other end of the line was like an empty black hole, eerily silent and unsettling. He patiently asked again, “Can you hear me talking?”

This time, the call was hung up abruptly, with a faint click, as if the caller had hastily ended it.

Xu Zhan looked bewildered, wondering if he had done something wrong.

At that moment, Xia Yu emerged from the shower. He was drying his hair and walked over to the bed, intending to find his own phone. But he noticed that Xu Zhan was holding it.

Xu Zhan handed it to him and explained, “There was a call just now, and I answered it thinking it was my phone. The caller didn’t say anything, and I told them you were in the shower and would call back later.”

Xia Yu casually said, “Could it be a scam?”

“I doubt it,” Xu Zhan replied.

Xia Yu lowered his head and checked the call log. The name on the screen was “L.”

It was the nickname he had given to Lu Zhao.

Xia Yu stared at the name for a long time, lost in thought, until Xu Zhan asked him who it was, snapping him back to reality.

“Should I not have answered that call? Who was it?” Xu Zhan seemed concerned.

“No,” Xia Yu shook his head, fabricating a lie, “It’s a client from the gallery. I’ll call them back later.”

He said as he headed towards the balcony.

On this late autumn night, the balcony, being open, was quite chilly. Xia Yu sat on a wicker chair, hesitating for a moment before returning the call.

The call was quickly answered, but no one spoke; only a few stifled coughs could be heard.

Xia Yu thought to himself, maybe Lu Zhao was smoking again. He started the conversation, “It’s me.”

As for why he said that, both of them knew it all too well.

Lu Zhao gripped his phone tightly. He was also on the balcony, and despite wearing a coat, he felt a bit weak due to his recent fever. He hadn’t reached out to Xia Yu for a few days, not only because he was extremely busy with work, but also because he was running a fever and didn’t want Xia Yu to see him in a rare state of vulnerability. It was a rather pointless sense of pride.

But he was used to it.

He had just finished a heated argument with the senior executives of the group in a meeting, discussing plans for the next quarter. The argument had left him in a terrible mood and made him suddenly yearn to hear Xia Yu’s voice.

But when the call was answered, it wasn’t Xia Yu’s voice that came through the phone; it was a somewhat unfamiliar male voice asking, “Who is this?”

Lu Zhao was taken aback for a moment.

A few seconds later, the voice on the other end said again, “Xia Yu is taking a shower. I’ll have him call you back later.”

Lu Zhao’s blood seemed to freeze in an instant.

He didn’t know what to say.

When he had hung up the phone earlier, he had so many things he wanted to tell Xia Yu, even if it was just asking what Xia Yu was doing tonight.

But now he didn’t need to ask.

He already knew the answer: Xia Yu was with Xu Zhan.

He heard Xia Yu’s voice faintly in the distance, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Lu Zhao blinked and asked, “What do you want me to say?”

His voice carried a hint of sarcasm, “Did Xu Zhan get suspicious when he saw it was my call?”

He actually wished Xu Zhan had seen his name flashing on Xia Yu’s phone screen.

But Xia Yu interrupted his thoughts, “He doesn’t know. I changed your contact name. It’s not ‘Lu Zhao’ anymore; it’s just the letter ‘L.’ Xu Zhan thought you were a client from the gallery.”

The letter “L.”

That answer didn’t surprise Lu Zhao either.

In extramarital affairs, that was the most basic trick: hiding a secret lover behind a false contact name. His name had been erased, leaving only an “L.” Apart from Xia Yu, no one knew that this letter represented a six-year-long story.

Unable to hear Lu Zhao’s response, Xia Yu felt inexplicably irritated.

His fingers traced aimlessly on the balcony railing. After a while, he realized that he wasn’t just tracing; he was writing Lu Zhao’s name.

Xia Yu stopped his fingers.

He exhaled a breath and asked Lu Zhao, “Why did you call me? Is there something you need?”

“Nothing,” Lu Zhao coughed again, trying to hide his discomfort. “I just wanted to know what you’re doing, where you are.”

His voice was calm, and he concealed the hint of bitterness that had slipped through earlier. He quickly regained control of his emotions, behaving like a considerate lover who knew he had no right to ask too much.

Xia Yu sensed the indifference in Lu Zhao’s voice.

Actually, he didn’t really want to tell Lu Zhao that he was at Xu Zhan’s family home, but when he looked back at the brightly lit bedroom behind the curtains, where Xu Zhan was picking up a book, he decided to tell the truth.

“I came with Xu Zhan to his family’s house today. I’m staying overnight to spend time with his parents.”

He knew this would hurt Lu Zhao, but his heart had truly grown cold.

He touched a thorn on a cactus on the balcony, as if in a silent battle with himself, wondering why he should still be soft-hearted toward Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao deserved it.

He had already said he didn’t love him anymore, but Lu Zhao had insisted on clinging to him, just like he had years ago.

So now, he had also learned to treat Lu Zhao the same way.

One mistake was enough.

He didn’t want to fall into the same trap a second time.

Xia Yu sighed softly. In the moonlight, his face looked like a perfectly sculpted but cold statue.

“Do you have anything else to say?” Xia Yu’s tone was frosty. “Xu Zhan is waiting for me, and there are many people at his family’s house. It’s not convenient to chat with you.”

Lu Zhao could hear the indifference in Xia Yu’s voice.

In fact, he did have something to say to Xia Yu. He wanted to say, “I have a fever, can you be a bit more lenient with me when I’m sick? I really want to see you now. I want to have dinner with you tomorrow and go on a date. I also bought the action figure you like; I want to give it to you.”

But in the end, he didn’t say any of that.

He still couldn’t bring himself to show weakness, and he didn’t know how to win Xia Yu’s affection.

He muttered quietly, “Nothing else. Goodnight.”

After these words, Xia Yu promptly hung up the call.