Hearing You Say Love chapter 29

He’s Not Pure at All!

Approaching 6 PM, Su Ming sent a message to Zou Beiyuan: [I’m getting a bit hungry. Should we go out for dinner?]

After sending the message, he saw that the chat window showed “the other party is typing,” but after two minutes, no reply came.

Su Ming couldn’t figure out what was going on with Zou Beiyuan. Hadn’t the atmosphere been great all day?

When they were coming down the mountain, Zou Beiyuan even held his hand, and while waiting for the bus, they had embraced in public.

Even if it’s just brotherly affection, today they should at least have achieved the small goal of two good buddies sleeping in the same bed, right?

So why was Zou Beiyuan suddenly upset?

Su Ming rolled on the bed with his blanket, burying his face in the pillow in frustration.

He had gotten up too early that day, climbed the mountain for most of the day, and now he was exhausted, sleepy, sore all over, and still very hungry.

Torn between putting on his pants to go out for food and staying in bed to wait for Zou Beiyuan to return, laziness won out over hunger, and Su Ming decided to keep lying down.

He sent a message to Chen Muchao: […]

Chen Muchao immediately replied with curiosity: [Did you make a move?]

Su Ming: [Crying.jpg No, he left me in the room alone and went out. It’s been almost two hours, and he hasn’t come back. Do you think he ran away?]

Chen Muchao: [No way…]

Su Ming: [I feel like such a failure. I’ll never be able to draw a good adult comic again; everything I create will be soulless.]

Chen Muchao: [Don’t worry, you have such a rich theoretical knowledge base. You’re standing on the shoulders of giants! Just make sure to link theory to practice.]

Su Ming: [Maybe I should try forced love? But I can’t beat him, damn it!]

Chen Muchao: [Su, calm down.]

Su Ming: [Crying.jpg I hate straight guys.]

Chen Muchao: [Good luck.jpg]

After some idle chatting, Su Ming couldn’t hold on any longer and closed his eyes, falling into a sleepy haze.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard a knock at the door. Groggily, he got up from the bed to open it.

Zou Beiyuan entered, damp from the rain, holding a bag with two takeout boxes inside.

He didn’t look at Su Ming, just placed the food on the small wooden table and said, “I asked the owner, and he said the town’s Siu Mai dumplings and tofu pudding are quite delicious. You should try them.”

Su Ming poked at his rain-soaked shoulder, making him look at him. Then, using sign language, Su Ming asked: Have you eaten?

Zou Beiyuan glanced at his hand, quickly averting his gaze. “I’m not hungry.”

Su Ming wanted to say more, but Zou Beiyuan kept looking at the bed, then at his phone, avoiding eye contact.

Feeling a bit deflated, Su Ming sat down and started eating.

Even until bedtime, Zou Beiyuan stayed in this strange mood, which made Su Ming feel an obvious sense of distance.

He even began to wonder if he had done something to offend Zou Beiyuan.

But then again, Zou Beiyuan had helped him wash his clothes, so Su Ming guessed that his sudden gloom wasn’t about him.

Last time they slept together, it was the same bed but with different blankets.

This time, they slept in two separate beds altogether.

If this trend continued, next time they traveled, they might have to book two rooms.

The night was deep, and outside the window, the rain continued to fall softly.

Inside the room, the lights were off, and it was dim. Su Ming saw Zou Beiyuan leaning against the headboard, his phone screen still lit.

After hesitating for a while, Su Ming sent a message: [You seem a little upset.]

He immediately heard Zou Beiyuan’s phone vibrate.

A few minutes later, Zou Beiyuan replied: [No.]

Su Ming: [Yes, you are.]

Zou Beiyuan paused for a moment before replying: [Go to sleep.]

He was clearly upset, it was so obvious.

Su Ming continued asking: [Why are you upset?]

Zou Beiyuan: [It’s nothing.]

Su Ming, rarely getting frustrated with him, said: [There is something. I won’t be able to sleep unless you tell me.]

This time, Zou Beiyuan stayed silent for even longer.

He typed and deleted several times before sending: [I just found out a friend of mine lied to me.]

Su Ming: [Did they lie about money?]

Zou Beiyuan: [No.]

Su Ming: [Did their lie cause you any loss?]

Zou Beiyuan: [No.]

Then what are you upset about?

Su Ming tried to comfort him: [People usually lie for a reason. If they don’t have an ulterior motive, maybe they just didn’t want to tell you the truth for some reason. It might not even count as a lie—maybe they had no other choice.]

Su Ming lay on his side in bed, holding his phone, looking at Zou Beiyuan, who was also looking at him. They stared at each other in the dark for a moment before Zou Beiyuan looked away and started typing on his phone.

Su Ming received a message simultaneously. Zou Beiyuan asked: [What kind of reason would they have?]

… How would I know?

Su Ming had to make a guess: [Maybe they didn’t want to worry you or thought you’d overthink it. Could your friend be going through some kind of hardship?]

Going through hardship?

Zou Beiyuan thought to himself: This friend of mine has been deaf since childhood. His family was indifferent to him, and he didn’t get a cochlear implant until he was 16. He couldn’t speak, and from 18, he lived on his own, having to cover all his expenses.

He indeed has many hardships in life.

Zou Beiyuan: [Yeah.]

What did “yeah” even mean? And then?

Su Ming was about to say more but noticed that Zou Beiyuan had placed his phone on the bedside table.

Did this mean he didn’t want to talk anymore?

So strange, Su Ming thought. Why is he being cold toward me when it is someone else who lied to him?

It’s not like I was the one who lied to him.

Is that person such an important friend? Important enough to affect how he feels when he’s with me?

Su Ming sighed internally. Straight guys are so hard to figure out.

Feeling a bit annoyed, he took off his cochlear implant, placed it on the bedside table along with his phone, and turned his back on Zou Beiyuan.

….

The next morning, early in the day, room service delivered their dried clothes. Zou Beiyuan, still in a bathrobe, opened the door to take them.

The rain had stopped.

In the next room, a family with kids had gotten up, and the two boys were noisily playing in the hallway.

Su Ming wasn’t woken up by the noise and was still sound asleep.

Zou Beiyuan closed the door and sat down by the bed.

The golden sunlight filtered softly through the curtains, giving the room a warm, cozy feeling.

Su Ming lay on his back, his black hair spread out on the pillow. He didn’t seem to be sleeping comfortably; his brow was slightly furrowed, as if he was unhappy even in his sleep.

Zou Beiyuan glanced at the cochlear implant on the bedside table and knew that Su Ming couldn’t hear him, but he still raised his voice and called out, “Su Ming.”

As expected, there was no reaction.

His phone rang. Zou Beiyuan picked it up to see it was Zou Jingnan.

“Who’s the friend you were talking about last night?” Zou Jingnan called her brother before class. “I couldn’t sleep all night out of curiosity! Tell me already!”

Zou Beiyuan: “It’s no one…”

“Male authors from Jam Comic, I know the pen names of most of them. Just tell me, and I’ll help you figure it out.”

“Forget it,” said Zou Beiyuan. “I don’t want to know.”

Last night, he had called Zou Jingnan to ask if male authors who write BL comics are usually gay.

Zou Jingnan told him that some are, some aren’t, and that a few are even married with kids—straight men who write BL purely as a way to make a living.

“I explained this to you before, didn’t I?” Zou Jingnan found her brother’s question odd and teased him a bit.

At the time, with his complicated emotions, Zou Beiyuan had accidentally let it slip, and Zou Jingnan had guessed that one of his friends was a Jam Comic author, making her very curious to know who it was.

But of course, he wasn’t going to tell her that the friend was Shu Yu Ming Jin (Su Ming).

Because knowing Zou Jingnan, she’d immediately rush out of school to meet Su Ming.

Checking the time, Zou Beiyuan reminded her, “Aren’t you going to class? You’re going to be late.”

“I’m already in class,” Zou Jingnan whispered, still unwilling to give up. “Just give me one clue. I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Focus on your studies.” Zou Beiyuan responded coldly and hung up the phone.

He had already missed the truth once because of his preconceived notions. This time, Zou Beiyuan wanted to figure out Su Ming’s sexual orientation on his own.

Besides, this guy wasn’t as innocent as he seemed.

To think he had once believed Su Ming to be pure, like a blank slate.

But in reality, Su Ming, who seemed as virtuous as a prince, was wilder than anyone. Underneath, he had a daring streak.

And there was something even worse.

Su Ming had lied to him.

But so what?

With all the impure thoughts he had about Su Ming, could he really claim to be blameless?

With a sigh, feeling deflated, Zou Beiyuan collapsed back onto the bed.

…

Su Ming had struggled with insomnia last night and didn’t fall asleep until very late, finally waking up naturally around 10 a.m.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that Zou Beiyuan was already dressed, sitting by the window, fresh and clean, waiting for him.

The sofa by the window was a bit low, making Zou Beiyuan’s tall frame look a little awkward. His long legs were casually crossed, his expression neutral as he leaned his head on his hand, looking at his phone.

Because of the backlight, he looked like he was sitting in the shadows.

“So handsome,” Su Ming thought to himself, stealing a glance at Zou Beiyuan.

When Su Ming sat up from the bed, the mattress made a slight sound.

Zou Beiyuan looked up and saw that the oversized T-shirt Su Ming was wearing was already wrinkled from sleep, the collar crooked to one side, revealing half a shoulder with drowsy eyes.

Su Ming sat there dazed for a while, then put on his cochlear implant.

Zou Beiyuan said, “Go wash up. We’ll go have breakfast later.”

Su Ming seemed not fully awake yet. His eyes focused for a moment before he nodded at Zou Beiyuan, then lifted the blanket, got up, and stood at the side of the bed, facing away from Zou Beiyuan as he tied up his hair.

The hem of the T-shirt was lifted slightly with his arm’s movement, faintly revealing the curve of his hips and the edge of his white underwear.

His slender waist was hidden under the shirt, but the roundness of his hips gave a hint, leading downward to a pair of long, straight, pale legs that had almost no gap when pressed together.

Zou Beiyuan’s heart skipped a beat, and a line from the rabbit character suddenly hit him—”Do you want to do it in this position?”

!

Zou Beiyuan stood up in a somewhat flustered manner, grabbing his packed backpack. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Su Ming glanced back at him and then walked into the bathroom.

…

On the way back to Rong City, the two of them still didn’t talk much.

Zou Beiyuan still looked a bit unhappy, but before getting into the car, he bought Su Ming a box of sliced Hami melon to eat on the way.

The fruit was bright yellow and very sweet.

As Su Ming ate, he fed some to Zou Beiyuan who kept driving.

They arrived back in Rong City quite early. Zou Beiyuan had to go to the gym for training, so he casually asked Su Ming what he planned to do next.

Su Ming answered elegantly in sign language, saying he had to rush to meet a deadline.

Zou Beiyuan raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, Hmm, so you’re going home to draw adult comics, huh?

….

In the following days, Joyce designed an entirely new training plan for Zou Beiyuan based on his current condition, so Zou Beiyuan had much less free time than when he trained by himself.

Aside from running at night, the time he could spend with Su Ming had significantly decreased.

Sometimes, he was busy; sometimes, Su Ming was busy, and even the nightly runs became hard to maintain every day. In the past few days, they had only met twice.

One of those times was when Su Ming ran into him while throwing out the trash downstairs.

That day, Su Ming was wearing a light pink short-sleeved shirt, and his loose pants draped over his feet. His bare toes peeked out from his slippers, and as soon as Zou Beiyuan’s gaze landed on them, Su Ming’s toes curled slightly, and the cute tips turned a little red.

It made Zou Beiyuan want to step on his bare feet with his own.

Zou Beiyuan thought: Even when he’s just throwing out the trash, he’s dressed so… sexy.

The more he looked, the less straight Su Ming seemed.

Before, Zou Beiyuan had been blinded by his appearance. But now, he realized that Su Ming’s entire body radiated with a yellow glow.

So, during their next night run, Zou Beiyuan used the method that Zou Jingnan had taught him to observe Su Ming.

According to Zou Jingnan, gay men have a very obvious trait: if they meet a pretty woman or a handsome man on the street, their eyes will always follow the handsome man.

That day, whenever Zou Beiyuan saw someone he thought was pretty or handsome, he would turn to see where Su Ming was looking.

But every time, Su Ming was looking directly at him, not sparing a glance at anyone on the street.

The test was ineffective, and instead, Zou Beiyuan felt his cheeks heat up under Su Ming’s focused gaze and slightly parted lips as he breathed.

His gaze was too pure, and the way he looked at him was as pure as the snow on a mountain. Zou Beiyuan couldn’t help but be drawn to his beautiful eyes.

Zou Beiyuan told himself, Don’t be fooled by his face! He’s not pure at all; he’s lewd on the inside!

Su Ming, not understanding what was going on, showed a puzzled expression, looking confused and innocent—just like that pretending-to-be-clueless rabbit.

….

It was another Wednesday, and after showering, Zou Beiyuan lay on the bed, waiting for the midnight update of Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail.

That week, they had gone hiking for inspiration, and Zou Beiyuan was eager to see if anything from their reference material appeared in the latest chapter, maybe even scenes they had experienced together.

In the story, Wolf Jue and Rabbit Zhen hid in the forest, evading their pursuers, and eventually reached the border. After climbing over the last mountain, they would arrive at the territory of the wolf tribe.

In the early morning, they descended the mountain, encountering squirrels, monkeys, and snakes along the way. Zou Beiyuan couldn’t help but smile when he read this part, as they were the same animals he and Su Ming had seen during their descent down the mountain.

Then, the wolf made the rabbit angry and used cabbage leaves and carrots to make Siu mai dumplings to cheer the rabbit up, making Zou Beiyuan smile again.

Thinking back to that day when he had inexplicably left Su Ming alone, he wondered, “Was Su Ming also mad at me back then?”

Did the Siu mai dumplings and tofu pudding I bought cheer him up?

This chapter didn’t have any explicit or sexual content; instead, it had a warmer, more tender tone.

Perhaps it was the rabbit’s naked seduction, or the rabbit’s total dependence, but Wolf Jue, during their escape, gradually developed feelings for the rabbit and even started thinking about taking the rabbit back to live with the wolves.

But how could the rabbit survive in a wolf pack?

Wolves naturally eat rabbits. How could Rabbit Zhen survive by following the wolf?

The last part showed the wolf and rabbit sheltering from the rain in a pavilion in the mountains, with a distant view of the wolf tribe’s court.

The misty rain made the mountain scenery as beautiful as a painting, but the subtle sorrow of their impending separation seemed to hover over them.

Zou Beiyuan found himself emotionally invested, unwilling to see them part and hoping that Su Ming wouldn’t separate them in the story.

At that moment, a system message suddenly popped up at the top of the screen: “Shu Jun Yi Mo rewarded ‘Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail’ with five fruit baskets.”

Zou Beiyuan remembered this ID—Su Ming’s top sponsor on the ranking list.

This website was really annoying.

Readers giving rewards was fine, but why call it a “top sponsor list”?

Su Ming was a legitimate comic artist, but having a “top sponsor list” made it sound like some borderline streamer with a wealthy benefactor at the top.

The top sponsor’s nickname was decorated with flashy effects, different fonts and colors, and even a small pink heart floating above it.

Zou Beiyuan looked at the name, “Shu Jun Yi Mo,” and found it very annoying, so he clicked the reward button and selected a basket of fruit ×100.

The system prompted that his balance was insufficient.

Zou Beiyuan added 50,000 yuan to his account.

As he continued to give rewards, golden light kept flashing across the top of his phone screen, giving him the prestige that a wealthy reader deserves. But after spending 50,000 yuan, he still couldn’t surpass Shu Jun Yi Mo.

Fueled by a desire to win, Zou Beiyuan continued to top up, and only after spending 110,000 yuan did he finally manage to overtake Shu Jun Yi Mo.

He hadn’t set up any personal profile. His avatar was the default, and his nickname was a random string of numbers generated by the system.

Zou Beiyuan felt satisfied as he saw that string of numbers taking the top spot on the sponsor leaderboard.

But just a minute later, Shu Jun Yi Mo sent another 100 fruit baskets, instantly reclaiming the top spot from Zou Beiyuan.

Thus, the battle for the top sponsor spot began that night…

Su Ming was completely unaware until he was woken up the next morning by a call from Chen Muchao.

Chen Muchao sent him a screenshot: [You’re trending.]

Su Ming, still drowsy, saw that his pen name was in a prominent position on the trending list.

He had always kept a low profile, never even attending book signings. There wasn’t a single photo of him on the internet. Unless one of his comics suddenly became a massive hit, his pen name hardly ever appeared in the public eye.

But his latest comic hadn’t even finished yet. It was doing fairly well, but not enough to make him trend, right?

Su Ming opened the trending list, found his pen name, and clicked on it.

[@MangoPudding: This Shu Jun Yi Mo has been a long-time fan of Shu Yu Ming Jin, always donating 500 yuan every time there’s an update. And now, out of nowhere, someone overtook him overnight.]

[@JasmineMilkTea: The number guy dropped 500,000-600,000 yuan on Shu Yu Ming Jin in one night! Absolutely insane.]

[@MatchaLatte: Can being the top sponsor get you close to Shu Yu Ming Jin? If so, I’ll donate too. dog.jpg]

[@Chuanbei: Two rich people battling for the top spot on Shu Yu Ming Jin’s sponsor list. Jam Comics is making bank.]

Su Ming was fully awake now.

What the hell is going on…

He opened Jam Comics and saw a flood of reward notifications, so he messaged Chen Muchao in a panic: [Help! Is someone trying to sponsor me? Why don’t they just transfer the money directly to me??]

Chen Muchao: [Did you show up at any event recently?]

Su Ming: [I haven’t attended anything! Do you think it’s some kid using their parent’s phone?]

Chen Muchao: [That’s hundreds of thousands… That would be one careless parent.]

Su Ming: [I’ll ask the editor to check.]

Su Ming messaged the editor, asking them to verify the user behind that string of numbers.

Shu Jun Yi Mo was an old familiar face. Su Ming knew him, as he’d followed his work since his first comic. Initially, the donations were small, a few yuan here and there, gradually growing to hundreds at a time.

Su Ming had mentioned in both his social media and comics that readers didn’t need to donate to him, as his income from royalties was already substantial. But Shu Jun Yi Mo remained consistent, donating every time there was an update.

Normally, when authors receive large donations, they draw special pieces or scenes as a thank-you, but Shu Jun Yi Mo never requested anything specific.

Whenever Su Ming messaged him, he’d simply say, “Please keep up the good work.”

Over time, everyone got used to it. Old readers knew that Shu Yu Ming Jin had a wealthy and loyal fan.

Su Ming assumed he was just a reader from a very wealthy family.

But this string of numbers was suspicious.

The account was newly registered, with a default avatar and nickname. The only thing in its favorites list was Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail.

It was hard not to think that this was aimed directly at the author.

Su Ming was baffled. He had never encountered someone so foolishly rich.

By the afternoon, the editor got back to him: [Mr. Su, we’ve verified that the account is indeed being used by the reader themselves, and all donations were made by them.]

Su Ming: [An adult?]

Editor: [Yes.]

Su Ming: [Did they say what they want?]

Editor: [They said they want to be your top sponsor. embarrassed-face.jpg]

Su Ming: […Thank them for me.]

Still feeling uneasy, Su Ming sent a private message to the reader on Jam Comics: [Hello, thank you for your support. If there’s a particular character or scene you’d like to see, just let me know, and I’ll do my best to fulfill your request. Also, please don’t feel the need to donate anymore, it’s really too much.]

Zou Beiyuan had just finished training and was leaving the gym when he saw the message.

That day, he and Su Ming had agreed to have dinner together, and Su Ming was making his favorite fish soup.

He stared at the words “I’ll do my best to fulfill” for half a minute before replying to Shu Yu Ming Jin: [Anything?]

Su Ming was cooking at home, biting the soup spoon, and took a screenshot of the message to send to Chen Muchao: [What does the sponsor mean by this?]

Chen Muchao: [Maybe he wants you to draw R-rated art of yourself?]

Su Ming: […I’ve never shown my face. Even if I drew you, he wouldn’t recognize it.]

Chen Muchao: [Then what are you worried about? Just draw whatever he asks for.]

Su Ming: [Good point.]

A minute later, Zou Beiyuan received Shu Yu Ming Jin’s reply: [Anything.]

He was at a red light, and his scalp tingled as he read the message—anything?!

Su! Ming!