Hearing You Say Love chapter 63

 Feeding the Rabbit

On Tuesday afternoon, Su Ming first went to the hospital to bring food to Teacher Song, then drove to a restaurant Chen Muchao had reserved.  

By the time he arrived, Chen Muchao and Ling Shanshan had already ordered food and were seated in a booth waiting for him.  

Su Ming handed a pack of cigarettes to Chen Muchao, who accepted them with a smile. “Once I finish these, I’ll quit too.”  

Seating himself across from them, Su Ming signed: You’re going healthy too?

This question made both Chen Muchao and Ling Shanshan smile sweetly. Ling Shanshan took a bright red wedding invitation from her bag, handed it to Su Ming with both hands, and said with a grin, “Once we’re married, it’s about time to start planning for kids. So I made him quit smoking early.”  

Su Ming’s eyes widened in surprise, a big smile spreading across his face. He signed enthusiastically: Congratulations!!!

The invitation included both Su Ming’s and Zou Beiyuan’s names, inviting them to the wedding.  

Seeing their names written together for the first time made Su Ming feel a bit emotional. Putting the invitation away, he signed: I’m so envious of you two.

Chen Muchao chuckled. “No need to envy us. Aren’t you and Little—Zou Beiyuan doing great too? Bring him along when you come.”  

The wedding was scheduled for a little over two weeks later. Su Ming wasn’t sure if Zou Beiyuan would be in Rong City then.  

He nodded: I’ll give you a big red envelope.

“Of course!” Chen Muchao said with a laugh. “When Shanshan and I have a baby, you’ll be the godfather.”  

Although Su Ming wasn’t fond of kids, he knew he’d adore Chen Muchao and Ling Shanshan’s child. Smiling warmly, he agreed: Sure.  

All three of them understood sign language, so chatting over lunch was easy, though they occasionally drew curious stares from other diners.  

As the meal neared its end, Su Ming suddenly asked Ling Shanshan: Can you resend me the information about the speech therapy center you mentioned? I accidentally deleted it.

Ling Shanshan paused in surprise, then quickly took out her phone. “Sure, I’ll send it now. I have it on my phone.”  

Chen Muchao raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Changed your mind?”  

He knew Su Ming hadn’t deleted it by accident. Su Ming had been resistant to speech therapy and had likely deleted the information on purpose before. But now, he was bringing it up on his own.  

Su Ming’s expression didn’t change: No, just curious.  

“Oh~” Chen Muchao nodded knowingly. “I thought maybe someone had convinced you.”  

Su Ming met his gaze for three seconds, then glanced at Ling Shanshan, who was looking at him expectantly. His face flushed slightly as he admitted: Zou Beiyuan is leaving soon. I want to make phone calls with him more convenient in the future. 

Chen Muchao, aware of Zou Beiyuan’s plans to take Su Ming with him, asked, “You don’t want to go with him? Long-distance calls every day?”  

Holding his soup bowl, Su Ming took a sip and nodded: I’m not going.

“You could go,” Chen Muchao suggested. “Bring all your art supplies. If I need anything from you, we can still collaborate online.”  

“No way,” Ling Shanshan interjected before Su Ming could respond. “He doesn’t know the language. Even running errands would be a problem without Zou Beiyuan. What if they fight? Su Ming would have nowhere to go.”  

Chen Muchao clicked his tongue. “But being so far apart isn’t ideal either. Zou Beiyuan is handsome and wealthy—what if someone else steals him? I’ve heard the professional boxing scene is pretty wild.”  

Ling Shanshan rolled her eyes. “If he’s so easily taken, he’s not worth keeping anyway. Someone better will come along. Su Ming, you’ve got plenty of admirers, right?”  

Su Ming: …  

Shanshan, you’re terrible at comforting people.  

He signed: I’m not planning to go.

After a pause, he added: I don’t think he’s that kind of person. Don’t talk about him like that.

Ling Shanshan agreed that Zou Beiyuan didn’t seem like someone who would stray, given how much effort he had put into learning sign language for Su Ming.  

Later that afternoon, Ling Shanshan shared in their small group chat that Su Ming was considering speech therapy and encouraged Zou Beiyuan to support him.  

As a result, over the next two days, Su Ming received random messages of encouragement.  

For example, after sending a sketch to Zou Beiyuan, he would receive: [Baby, your drawing is amazing, just like your beautiful voice.]

When he cooked himself a bowl of tomato and egg noodles and sent a photo, Zou Beiyuan would reply: [Baby, you’re incredible. I can smell the delicious aroma through the screen. I wish I could eat your noodles and hear your voice.]

And when he visited Teacher Song video-calling Zou Beiyuan at the hospital, Zou Beiyuan would loudly call his name and insist he respond aloud. After Su Ming managed a small sound, Zou Beiyuan would immediately text him: [Baby, you’re amazing! You have the most beautiful voice in the world!]

Su Ming: …

My boyfriend seems a bit… off.  

Such a headache.  

Even though Su Ming and Zou Beiyuan were in separate cities, they ended up communicating more than when they were together, as they were constantly messaging or video calling on WeChat.  

This meant that Su Ming spent a lot of time flirting, no, chatting with Zou Beiyuan.  

By Wednesday, Su Ming managed to barely meet the submission deadline for Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail Chapter 23, uploading it to the website’s backend.  

Meanwhile, in Ninggang, Zou Beiyuan had just returned home.  

He’d been at a dinner meeting where he couldn’t avoid drinking a considerable amount of alcohol, leaving his mind a bit hazy.  

While undressing to shower, a reminder popped up on his phone: [Feed the Bunny].  

This was a weekly Thursday midnight reminder he’d set to ensure he didn’t miss Su Ming’s updates.  

Half-dressed, he sat on the edge of the bed, shirtless, and opened the Jam Comics App.  

The user “Shu Jun Yi Mo” had already arrived early, and the system was broadcasting a large reward:  

“Shu Jun Yi Mo rewarded 50 fruit baskets for Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail.”  

Normally, this person only tipped five fruit baskets per update. Why fifty today?  

Raising an eyebrow, Zou Beiyuan instinctively dropped 100 fruit baskets as his response.  

The system immediately flashed a golden notification:  

“User 7115464 rewarded 100 fruit baskets for Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail.”  

His position as the top supporter was once again unshaken.  

Before reading the new chapter, he glanced at the comments section and saw the top comment: “Happy Birthday, Teacher!”

Zou Beiyuan froze. Was today Su Ming’s birthday?  

Scrolling down, the comments were filled with neat rows of birthday wishes.  

Immediately, he wanted to video-call Su Ming, but as his finger hovered over the button, he hesitated.  

He realized he’d never seen Su Ming’s ID or asked for his exact birthday. What if today wasn’t Su Ming’s real birthday but just a symbolic date tied to his pen name Shu Yu Ming Jin? If he wished him now, he’d expose the fact that he was secretly following Su Ming as a fan.  

After some thought, Zou Beiyuan knew someone who wouldn’t get Su Ming’s birthday wrong: Su Mo. He called him.  

Su Mo, surprised to get a call at this hour, answered nervously, “What’s wrong?”  

Zou Beiyuan asked directly, “Is today Su Ming’s birthday?”  

“Huh?” Su Mo was caught off guard. “Yeah, didn’t you know?”  

“Now I do. Thanks. Bye.”  

Su Mo: “Oh. Bye.”  

But before hanging up, Zou Beiyuan added, “Wait. What kind of birthday gifts does your brother like? Do you have any family traditions for birthdays?”  

Su Mo replied, “We haven’t celebrated birthdays together for over 20 years. If you’re planning to celebrate with him, just get him a cake. He’s never had a birthday cake that was truly his.”  

“Why?”  

Su Mo was silent for a moment. Zou Beiyuan didn’t press further and ended the call.  

One minute later, user 7115464 made another move, tipping 520 fruit baskets, this time with the message: “Happy Birthday to Teacher Shu!”  

Su Mo: ?  

He immediately called Zou Beiyuan back, and as soon as it connected, he blurted, “Did you just send those 520 fruit baskets?”  

Zou Beiyuan: “…”  

“It was you. You’re user 7115464,” Su Mo stated firmly.  

It all made sense now—no ordinary reader would spend tens of thousands of yuan on tips every update, let alone fight for the top spot by dropping hundreds of thousands in a single night.  

Realizing he’d been exposed, Zou Beiyuan’s drunken haze vanished. Calmly, he confirmed, “Yes. And you’re Shu Jun Yi Mo, right?”  

Su Mo: “…Yes.”  

The line went quiet.  

Then, at the same time, they asked, “Does Su Ming know?”  

And simultaneously answered, “No.”  

Su Mo: “Okay, keep it a secret. My brother doesn’t know I’m aware he’s Shu Yu Ming Jin.”  

Zou Beiyuan: “Deal. You keep my secret too. Su Ming doesn’t know I know it’s him.”  

After exchanging assurances, a sense of camaraderie formed between the two.  

Breaking the silence, Zou Beiyuan asked again, “Why did you say he’s never had a birthday cake of his own?”  

Su Mo paused before explaining, “When we were kids, our parents only bought one cake for birthdays, and it always had my name on it. Ever since Su Ming learned to read, he’s never touched the birthday cake again.”  

“I see,” Zou Beiyuan said. “I’m hanging up now.”  

Though he had many responsibilities in Ninggang, Zou Beiyuan immediately booked the earliest flight back to Rong City.  

He wanted to see Su Ming before noon the next day, carrying a cake with only one name on it: Su Ming.