Hearing You Say Love chapter 77

Online Dating with the Male Idol Using a Little Toy

Su Ming was upset about this matter for several days. In the end, it took Zou Beiyuan wearing the white apron again to cheer him up.

During this time, Su Mo came by to update Su Ming on the progress of his marriage to Qu Yanxi.

Thanks to the Su family’s meddling, the Su and Qu families had completely fallen out. Qu’s father explicitly stated that if Su Mo married into their family, he wouldn’t pay a single penny in dowry.

Su Zhishong, of course, wouldn’t accept this and threw out plenty of harsh insults, accusing the Qu family of being shameless. For once, Su Mo stood up to him. To marry Qu Yanxi, Su Mo argued with Su Zhishong in front of the Qu parents, enraging Su Zhishong so much that he almost suffered a stroke on the spot.

When Su Mo told Su Ming about this, he was almost in tears. He never expected that the parents he had always loved so much would care only about face and the dowry when it came to his marriage. He was deeply disappointed in them.

After hearing this, Su Ming did not comment on the actions of his parents but, with a serious expression, used sign language to tell his brother: If they won’t contribute any money, I’ll prepare some dowry for you.

Zou Beiyuan, sitting nearby drinking Pu-erh tea and eating melon seeds, nearly burst out laughing upon hearing this and agreed: “Right, right, I’ll contribute some money too for your dowry.”

Su Mo: “…”

Su Ming glanced at Zou Beiyuan, then continued signing: Besides, over the years, you’ve given me quite a bit of money in rewards. I’ll just treat it as saving for you, with interest.

Su Mo widened his eyes, nervously asking, “W-what rewards?”

Zou Beiyuan immediately put down his cup and stood up. “I just remembered I have something to do. I’ll step out for a while.”

Su Ming took Su Mo’s phone from his pocket, unlocked the screen with his face, and quickly found the Jam Comics hidden in the App library.

“Zou Beiyuan!” Su Mo glared at Zou Beiyuan, who was quickly leaving the scene, and gritted his teeth, “You betrayed me!”

…

Afterward, Su Mo did get married, and Zou Beiyuan gave him a new car as “dowry.” This matter was finally settled. However, that was already in the summer of the following year.

One Sunday afternoon, Zou Jingnan went to her aunt’s house to visit her grandmother and learned the major news that her brother had come out. She immediately called Zou Beiyuan to accuse him of secretly being gay and using Su Mo’s cousin to deceive her. She was extremely angry and demanded that Zou Beiyuan take her out for a meal to apologize.

Zou Beiyuan, annoyed by her nagging, said, “I’ll transfer the money to you on WeChat. You and your classmates can go eat.”

“No way!”

Zou Beiyuan: “I’ll transfer 10,000.”

Zou Jingnan was unyielding: “Not even 100,000! You can’t insult me with money! You and Su Ming, together with Su Mo, deceived me. You must take me out for a meal and apologize in person! Have you ever treated me like your sister? Why am I the last one to know about your sexuality?”

While she was speaking, Zou Beiyuan put the phone on speaker, casually listening while flipping through signed papers for Su Ming. Lazily, he said, “I’m not gay. It’s just that my boyfriend happens to be gay.”

Zou Jingnan angrily cursed, “Yes, Yes, you’re straight, you’re as straight as the perm I just got!”

The sibling’s conversation made Su Ming laugh. He put down his pen and signed, Let her come to the house. I’ll cook for her tonight.

Zou Beiyuan, feeling sorry for Su Ming’s tired hands, said, “No need, there’s no need to cook for her.”

Zou Jingnan shouted, “Zou Beiyuan! I heard you! I’m taking the subway now. You better treat me to something expensive!”

After hanging up, Zou Beiyuan asked Su Ming, “Do you really want her to come eat here? What about these signed papers on your table?”

Su Ming thought for a moment and signed, Help me put them away first.

Zou Beiyuan helped Su Ming put the signed and unsigned papers into boxes, took the sample comics to the bedroom shelf, and checked the living room for anything that might reveal Su Ming’s identity. Only then did they head out to the fresh produce market together.

When Zou Jingnan arrived, Su Ming was busy in the kitchen, and Zou Beiyuan, wearing an apron, was assisting him. Zou Jingnan stood at the kitchen door for a while, and all her resentment dissipated. She felt the scene was so warm that it made her want to cry.

For the first time in her life, she saw her brother wearing an apron, washing vegetables so skillfully.

The two men stood together, silent, but their actions were perfectly coordinated.

Su Ming looked so fond of her brother, his eyes practically sparkling when he looked at him.

Such obvious affection, she should have noticed it earlier.

Zou Jingnan couldn’t continue watching; if she did, she would only cry at the scene.

— Zou Beiyuan, the typical straight man, had found a boyfriend. When she thought about herself, at nineteen, still never having even held a boy’s hand, she immediately felt the bitterness of this dog food.

During dinner, Zou Jingnan suddenly remembered something and pointed her chopsticks at Zou Beiyuan: “The first time I met Su Ming, you said he had someone he liked. Could it be that you two were already together back then?”

“Not yet,” Zou Beiyuan recalled the event clearly, since it was the first time Su Ming kissed him, and it was Su Ming who initiated it. “We weren’t together when we had dinner at the hospital. We only got together later that night.”

Zou Jingnan silently took a bite of fish, feeling aggrieved, and muttered, “…Stop feeding me dog food. We single dogs have dignity too.”

Zou Beiyuan laughed, “You shouldn’t have asked.”

Zou Jingnan, teary-eyed: “Woof woof.”

…..

After dinner, Zou Beiyuan dutifully went to wash the dishes while Su Ming cleaned the table. Zou Jingnan, sitting on the sofa, sent a voice message: “The pre-sale starts at 7:30 tonight, only five minutes left. Let’s grab it together.”

The other person, a girl, answered coolly, “Okay.”

Zou Jingnan, clearly anxious, reminded her, “Don’t forget, okay? I’m telling you, the single-volume of Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail’ is selling hotter than any of the previous comics. If I miss it, I’ll cry to death.”

The girl responded, “Don’t worry, if you don’t get it, I’ll go to the seafood market and get it for you at a high price.”

Zou Jingnan: “No! Help me grab it seriously!”

The girl replied, “Got it.”

Su Ming froze for a moment, then remembered that his own comic book was on pre-sale that night.

He withdrew his gaze from Zou Jingnan and walked expressionlessly into the kitchen with a plate.

A few minutes later, Zou Jingnan’s cry of despair echoed from the living room: “Ahhhh! It’s sold out instantly! Did you get it?”

The cool-sounding girl replied, “What? It’s started? Wait, I’ll finish this round first.”

Zou Jingnan angrily shouted, “Li Hanzhao! I knew it! I’m cutting ties with you!”

Meanwhile, Su Ming, who was cleaning the kitchen counter, was silently processing the chaos.

Zou Beiyuan had been in the kitchen and didn’t hear the earlier part of the conversation. He turned on the faucet to wash the pots and, seeing Su Ming’s expression, smiled and said, “Don’t mind her, she has occasional outbursts. Just get used to it.”

The sound of water splashing made it hard to hear what was being said next, but from Zou Jingnan’s reaction, it seemed that the other person was trying to calm her down.

Su Ming smiled faintly and signed to Zou Beiyuan, Later, let’s surprise your sister with a gift.

So, when Zou Jingnan left Su Ming’s house that day, she became the first person online to get a signed copy of Rabbit Conspiracy, Wolf Trail Volume 2. She walked out of the house floating on air.

…

Time passed, and in early November, they attended the wedding of Chen Muchao and Lin Shanshan, where they also ran into Cheng Jianyun.

Zou Beiyuan as Su Ming’s boyfriend officially added Cheng Jianyun on WeChat and mentioned that he would rely on Director Cheng for Su Ming’s speech therapy in the future.

Although his words were polite, Cheng Jianyun felt that he was staking his claim, subtly telling Cheng Jianyun:

“Su Ming is mine.”

Cheng Jianyun had never been interested in women, and likely wouldn’t be interested in men, but the way Su Ming looked at Zou Beiyuan—like the whole world had faded away, leaving only Zou Beiyuan—made him feel a strange emotion, something that wasn’t quite jealousy, but a slight ache in his heart like a small stone thrown into a calm lake, sending ripples through his thoughts.

After the wedding, Zou Beiyuan had only a few more days left with Su Ming.

Lately, every time they made love, Su Ming couldn’t help but cry. Su Ming said it was because it hurt, but Zou Beiyuan knew it was because Su Ming didn’t want him to leave.

Even though there were times when Zou Beiyuan was gentle, Su Ming still cried a lot.

Zou Beiyuan had wavered countless times, wanting to stay with Su Ming or take him away, but despite Su Ming crying, he never once mentioned retreating.

He felt that, at the very least, he should be as brave as Su Ming.

On the third day before leaving, Zou Beiyuan’s luggage was nearly packed, and Su Ming gave him a pretty pink box to take with him.

The box was small, and inside it was something resembling a pink phone with a screen, accompanied by a pink charger.

Zou Beiyuan picked it up, puzzled, and asked, “A pink phone? For me?”

Su Ming tapped the screen, unlocked it using Zou Beiyuan’s birthday, and many buttons appeared, labeled with terms like “speed control,” “temperature control,” “frequency control,” “manual tuning,” “synchronized image,” and so on.

The functions looked complex, as Zou Beiyuan didn’t fully understand what the labels meant, but he had a hunch it wasn’t exactly innocent.

He raised an eyebrow and, with a half-smile, asked, “What’s this?”

Su Ming took out his phone and typed, [Didn’t you read that comic? Online Dating with my Male Idol Using a Little Toy]