EHEWASS CHAPTER 82

 Chapter 82: Ye Zeqian

In this book’s world, same-sex marriage is legally recognized, and gay people are no longer treated as outcasts.

So when Ye Zeqian said, “I’d like you to pretend to be my boyfriend and accompany me to a dinner,” Li Dong wasn’t all that surprised.

The real reason, of course, was that he already knew the plot, and in the original story the supporting male lead, Xu Chaoyan, fell for Ye Zeqian at first sight.

“Pretend to be your boyfriend?” Li Dong was so taken aback he forgot to move his hands from under the dryer. “What’s your name? And why me?”

Ye Zeqian immediately felt a twinge of regret. He was a known figure in this city, after all, and he didn’t want an outstanding stranger to witness him in such an undignified moment.

“Sorry, that’s putting you in a tough spot. I…” He was about to say, forget it, pretend he had never asked.

“It’s not a problem. I like helping people,” Li Dong said. “I’ve been part of a charitable group abroad for years, and I just got back. Seeing my own countrymen feels especially close to heart.”

“Really?” Ye Zeqian couldn’t help taking another look at him, his favor rising even higher.

He tended to seem a little aloof in daily life. In their social circle, people thought of him as a chilly, refined young master who wouldn’t spare the poor a glance.

That wasn’t true. Ye Zeqian actually had a very good impression of those who did charity and volunteer work.

He himself was a core member of a foundation and donated a great deal every year.

There are people who seem unlikeable at first glance, but once you peel back the layers, you find they’re genuinely decent.

The male lead shou Ye Zeqian was exactly that sort of person.

But he wasn’t perfect, and in certain moments he could still make you want to wring his neck.

“I’m Xu Chaoyan.” Li Dong stepped forward and offered his hand.

“I’m Ye Zeqian…” He came back to himself and realized he had already taken the hand and given his name, as if under a spell.

“Alright,” Li Dong said. “What do you want me to do?”

He was completely serious, not joking at all. That kind of attitude put people at ease.

Ye Zeqian took a slow breath, folded his arms, and said, “My ex brought his new boyfriend to a gathering of our mutual friends…”

He didn’t continue. A smart person could fill in the rest.

“I get it,” Li Dong nodded. “It’s a small matter. Let’s go.”

Ye Zeqian lowered his eyes to the arm held out to him. By his usual temperament, he would never touch a stranger, much less shake hands with one in a restroom.

“Thanks.” Yet this overseas returnee’s gentlemanly manners had won him over.

“You’re welcome.” Li Dong waited until Ye Zeqian had taken his arm, then led him out of the restroom.

“This way,” said Ye Zeqian, guiding him.

He noticed the man at his side was tall, a full head taller than himself.

Long-legged, walking with momentum, perfectly composed.

As if he held the world in his hands, unafraid of whatever might come.

Normally, Ye Zeqian hated that type, the arrogant sort who acted like the world revolved around them, low to the core without realizing it.

Yet today, a stranger rewrote his understanding. So arrogance could also feel this natural.

He spent the whole walk thinking about that and, without noticing, forgot his own obsessive cleanliness and dislike of physical contact.

“What’s going on with Zeqian? Didn’t he say he arrived?” As he pushed open the private room’s door, his ex, Gao Zhen, called from inside. “Why hasn’t he come up yet?”

“Gao Zhen, leave people some dignity,” said their friend Zhang Buzhuo. “Don’t go too far.”

“Buzhuo,” another mutual friend, Qin Shun, said, “this is their relationship problem. We shouldn’t interfere. Let them handle it.”

“Tsk.” Zhang Buzhuo gave a short laugh. “You call this handling it? It’s plain bullying…” Since Gao Zhen had organized the dinner, he couldn’t very well condemn him openly.

“Let’s go in,” Li Dong said after one look at the man beside him, whose expression had tightened.

“Mm…” Ye Zeqian answered. Only then did it hit him that he hadn’t come alone. He didn’t want to imagine what it would have been like walking in there by himself.

With his consent, Li Dong pushed the door fully open, loud enough to draw every eye in the room.

“Zeqian’s here.” Zhang Buzhuo blinked. And who was that?

“Darling.” Li Dong wrapped an arm around Ye Zeqian’s waist and nudged him in closer. “Come on, introduce me to your friends.”

Seven or eight men in the room stared, slack-jawed, swallowing hard.

What on earth was this?

Ye Zeqian was a picky clean-freak with exacting standards. Back when he dated Gao Zhen, he would never have leaned into anyone like this with that little shou look.

On the contrary, he had been proud and stubborn, refusing to show weakness.

Rumor had it he wouldn’t even allow kisses or hugs. There was a period when everyone felt a little sorry for Gao Zhen, because having a boyfriend like him had been like having no boyfriend at all. It was practically a fake relationship.

“Hello, everyone,” Li Dong said, lips tilted in an easy smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Then he looked down at Ye Zeqian. “Your turn to speak, baby.”

“…,” they all thought. Oh my god.

A collective shiver prickled over their scalps. Their expressions were identical, as if they’d all been struck by lightning.

“Who is this? Your boyfriend?” Gao Zhen shoved the clinger at his side away and stood, eyeing his newly single ex. “You found a boyfriend that fast? That’s not like you.”

What kind of person was Ye Zeqian?

Would just anyone be good enough for him?

“His name is Xu Chaoyan. He just came back from overseas to start his own business,” Ye Zeqian said, clinging to Li Dong’s arm and introducing him to everyone. “He’s also my new boyfriend.”

Curiosity immediately swept the room as they sized Li Dong up. First impressions: tall, polished, a quality man.

He was a full head taller than Ye Zeqian, and they made a striking pair.

“Chao Yan, this is Gao Zhen, the ex I told you about,” said Ye Zeqian.

“Hello, Mr. Gao.” Li Dong extended his hand, the expensive diamond watch on his wrist catching the light. “I’ve heard about your history with Zeqian.”

“Heh…” Gao Zhen chuckled, meaning unreadable, and clamped down on Li Dong’s hand. “Xu Chaoyan, was it? Pleasure.”

As a man who lived at the gym, he didn’t believe this refined pretty-boy could have a stronger grip than his own.

“Likewise.” Li Dong blinked, then returned the pressure in one firm jolt. He only let go when Gao Zhen’s face started to look ugly.

Everyone else was no fool, and they had all seen it. Their eyes on Li Dong shifted at once.

“This is Zhang Buzhuo, a friend of mine,” said Ye Zeqian. Seeing Gao Zhen put in his place felt a little satisfying. He lifted his chin and continued introducing Li Dong around.

“Mr. Zhang, hello.” Li Dong’s smile toward Zhang Buzhuo was genuinely warm. This man was upright and loyal.

“Hello…” Outwardly calm, Zhang Buzhuo was a storm inside. He had never imagined Ye Zeqian would pull something like this.

Others might not understand Ye Zeqian’s temperament, but he did. His proud, finicky friend would not find a boyfriend this quickly.

Even so, he was taken aback by Li Dong. Fake boyfriend or not, this was an exceptional find.

At last they reached the final person, Gao Zhen’s new boyfriend, Qiao Fei.

“I don’t really know him, so I won’t be making an introduction,” said Ye Zeqian, skipping over the homewrecker and tugging Li Dong into a seat.

“Then I’ll introduce myself,” Qiao Fei said cheerfully. “I’m Qiao Fei, Gao Zhen’s boyfriend.” Young and handsome, his face shone with confidence and bliss. “Zeqian-ge found a boyfriend so quickly. I’m truly happy for you both.”

“Thank you, Mr. Qiao.” Li Dong’s manners were impeccable, leaving no openings for criticism.

“Mr. Xu,” Gao Zhen said as he sat, “I heard you just came back to start a business. What field are you in?” Hopefully not opening a shell company and calling it entrepreneurship, right?

Li Dong pulled out a chair for Ye Zeqian with care, waited for him to sit, then took his own seat. “Strictly speaking, it’s not that I just returned to start something. I started investing domestically two years ago and registered Xinyi Co., Ltd.”

Xinyi was a trading company that rapidly rose in these two years. Circle rumors said Xinyi’s boss was some wealthy family’s young master.

Wait, Xu Chaoyan?

Gao Zhen’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Xu, what’s your relation to Mr. Xu Yingru?”

Once these three characters Xu Yingru emerged, all the young people present looked surprised, involuntarily straightening their postures.

Because those three characters stood for the most elite old money in A City, the kind no nouveau riche had yet surpassed.

“You know my father, Mr. Gao?” Li Dong asked.

Silence fell over the room, oddly oppressive. Everyone looked at Ye Zeqian, even the previously smug Qiao Fei, whose face had gone sour, as if Ye Zeqian had just slapped him hard.

The most shocked of all was Ye Zeqian. He hadn’t imagined that a random stranger he met in a restroom would turn out to be a son of the Xu family, a pedigree that left Gao Zhen in the dust.

And left himself in the dust, too.

Trace the lineage back a hundred years, and the Xus had been a prestigious clan. Back then the Ye and Gao families were probably still scraping by somewhere unknown.

But Ye Zeqian wasn’t one to broadcast his feelings. His surprise stayed hidden. “Since it’s everyone’s first time meeting Chao Yan, why don’t we all have a drink to welcome him home?”

The glass of wine in front of Li Dong was one Ye Zeqian had personally poured.

That attentive gesture shocked the crowd all over again.

Tsk, tsk. So the new boyfriend was a Xu family young master. No wonder a certain someone had changed his tune so dramatically.

“Thanks, Zeqian.” Li Dong kept his gentlemanly act flawless.

“Yes, let’s all welcome Mr. Xu,” Gao Zhen said, raising his glass. Sourness crept under his polite tone. “Here’s wishing you and Zeqian a loving, everlasting relationship.”

As if. He, Gao Zhen, knew exactly how that impossible man’s mind worked.

This Xu Chaoyan was 99% not Ye Zeqian’s boyfriend. If he was wrong, he’d hand his head over for Ye Zeqian to kick like a ball.

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Author’s Note:
【Second update today. In this unit, our Dong-ge is here to be cool and enjoy being doted on.】

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IsItro: I tried my best not to say anything, but the author’s true calling is definitely in modern stories. Lol! Just the difference in the writing vibe between this and the last, do you feel it?

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