"๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐?"
Malo asked, looking at him as he finally gave up on lighting his cigarette and focused on the food set before them.
Yibo studied him for a few seconds, weighing his words.
"๐ผ๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐กโ๐๐๐," he said at last. "๐ผ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐๐โ๐ก โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐."
Malo shook his head while chewing.
"๐โ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐'๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ . ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐กโ, ๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ."
He took another bite and continued eating, clearly not planning to say more. Yibo called his name quietly.
"๐๐๐ฅ๐จ."
Malo looked up.
"๐ป๐๐ค ๐๐ข๐โ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ก?"
Yibo asked bluntly. Malo burst out laughing.
"๐โ๐๐ก'๐ ๐คโ๐ฆ ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข, ๐๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ...๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก. ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฆ๐๐ข โ๐๐ a ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐."
Yibo nodded.
"I do. So tell me...how much?"
"From the looks of it, you've got money, Lion. Which means this story won't come cheap."
"I'll pay whatever you want," Yibo replied calmly. "Just tell me."
Malo nodded, set his spoon aside, and looked at him closely.
"Pepe's father used to be a major figure in the import business years ago. He had a partner...his name was Xiao Dieโฆ"
"What kind of goods?" Yibo interrupted.
"Goods, Lion. Valuable goods."
Yibo said nothing, just kept watching Malo, waiting...
Malo nodded once.
"Powder, ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ. You get it?"
Slowly, Yibo inclined his head, and Malo continued.
"After a while, that partner betrayed him. Pepe's father invested everything into a huge shipment...only Xiao Die knew about it. That same night, Xiao Die came to his house with his men, killed him, took the goods, and left. Pepe says his mother was injured that night and later died from it. He and his sister were locked in a room...they didn't see them. The goods disappeared, and Xiaoย Die vanished."
"Pepe has been living for one thing ever since: revenge for his parents."
"How?" Yibo asked quietly, his eyes fixed on Malo.
"Xiao Die has two children. They don't live with him; they're staying with different people since their mother died. Xiao Die never brought them close because he knows exposing them would be dangerous. He's made too many enemies...anyone he's wronged would gladly take revenge through them."
Malo paused, then went on.
"Pepe has managed to track down where those children are. He wants revenge through them. Right now, he plans to marry one of them. That's all I know, Lion. I don't know what kind of revenge he's planning or why marriage is part of it. He hasn't told me. We just help him with the work, and he pays us."
Each word sank into Yibo, one after another, settling deep in his mind. He understood everything...so clearly it unsettled him. Only one thing remained.
"What's the child's name?"
Malo swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Zhan," he said. "He said his name is Zhan."
โจโจโจ
It was half past nine at night when Zhan finally found a moment to himself....if it could even be called that. He had been on his feet all day since returning to find the house full of visitors.
Uncle Sanxing had come with two close friends, each accompanied by their wives and children, all there to check on Nainai. Aunty Wei was there too, along with her daughter-in-law. The house stayed busy until around six in the evening, when they all eventually left together.
No sooner had they gone than Noni arrived with her own entourage, also there to see Nainai. They sat chatting for a long while, since Nainai knew most of them and shared family ties with some. Zhan moved back and forth constantly, attending to everything...especially Nainai. Ever since she fell ill, she barely liked getting up unless it was to use the bathroom.
It wasn't until everyone finally left that Zhan managed to eat something.
From where he sat, his gaze drifted to Bai, who was completely absorbed in writing his school assignment, and to Nainai, who was quietly busy with her own little tasks nearby.
He loved his life...truly loved it. He loved the life he lived with Nainai, with his younger brother, and with the many people who filled their home. His gaze drifted back to Nainai, and he couldn't understand why, all of a sudden, she had become so consumed with the idea that he must get married. It was as if something had pushed her into it, as if something had stirred within her all at once and planted that urgency in her heart.
Ever since she was discharged from the hospital, she hadn't brought it up again. She no longer looked at him with reproach, didn't complain, didn't say a word. Their lives simply went on, as though all that pressure had never existed...almost as if she herself had forgotten she had ever pushed him so hard.
He remembered his visit to Uncle Elder's house and everything they had talked about. Slowly, he closed his eyes, instinctively reaching for a quiet thought to steady himself...but before he could form anything at all, the phone lying beside him began to vibrate.
Zhan opened his eyes and looked at the unfamiliar number flashing on the screen. He took a breath, then reached out and picked up the phone.
His voice sounded in his ear as he answered.
"Yibo? Dr. Yibo?"
"๐๐๐๐โฆ"
Yibo called him directly, his tone unmistakable. Surprise washed over Zhan and he greeted him quickly.
"๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐?"
Zhan shook his head even though Yibo couldn't see him, glancing around where he sat.
"๐ต๐."
"๐ฎ๐๐๐ . ๐ป๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐."
"๐ถ๐๐๐."
Zhan answered immediately, without thinking. If he had known what was coming next, he might not have replied so quickly.
"๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐."
Yibo said it plainly, without warning.
***
๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐...๐๐ข๐๐จ
The next day was Saturday, so there was no reason to go to work. That was why Zhan stayed in bed until nine in the morning without getting up.
He could hear Bai, Nainai, and Noni chatting noisily in the living room. He had lost count of how many times Bai had come in to check whether he was awake...until Bai finally sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over, peering at his face to be sure he was actually asleep.
He wasn't sleeping. He just didn't want to get up. Lying there felt too comfortable. He wanted to stay exactly where he was, tracing through the events of his life one by one...the things he had faced since childhood, and the things he was facing now.
If he set aside Nainai's illness, he could honestly say that nothing else had truly shocked him. Her insistence on his marriage wasn't new; he had heard it many times before. He had always known that one day she might push him to the limit. That, at least, wasn't surprising.
But what happened last night...what happened late last night...struck him to his core. It shook him, unsettled his thoughts. Even if he tried to convince himself with the same reasoning Aunty Shui and others had used...that maybe there was something between him and Dr Yibo...this was not the form he had ever imagined it taking.
Especially not now.
In recent months, there had been almost nothing connecting them. Work at the hospital had slowed down, and as for Dr Yibo...Zhan could barely remember the last time he had seen him. It felt like more days had passed than he could count on his fingers.
It had been nearly two weeks since Dr Yibo had come in and gathered everyone for a small meeting about the final report they were preparing, the one to be presented to the ministry representatives scheduled to visit for inspection. That day, they had exchanged a single glance...and after that, Dr Yiboย hadn't thought of him again.
And now, out of nowhere, Dr Yibo called him and said he wanted to marry him. The words settled heavily in his chest, pressing down with nothing but their weight.
Zhan turned onto his side, facing the ceiling. His eyes were closed as he replayed the moment...how everything in his mind had gone strangely still the instant Yibo said those words.
"๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โฆ?" Yibo's voice came again, softly, after a long stretch of silence the night before.
What was he supposed to say? What did Yibo think he would say? Yibo hadn't even asked him a question...it was more like he had already made a decision and simply informed him of it. And even if it was a question, there was no answer anyone could give on the spot.
"๐๐๐๐โฆ"
Zhan felt as though Yibo had shifted his position before calling his name again. He swallowed hard and tried to respond, but when his voice finally came out, it barely sounded like his own.
"๐ฐ'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐?"
"๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?"
Zhan repeated the word. The way it sounded to him, he didn't think even a whole week would be enough for the words to fully sink in...let alone tomorrow.
"๐๐๐. ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐"
Yibo replied.
Zhan's thoughts finally began to settle. With Nainai still recovering, how could he even think of bringing up a ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ย anytime soon...whether tomorrow or even two weeks from now? That would only stir up the worry she hadn't fully put behind her yet. So he shook his head.
"๐ต๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฑ๐๐๐โฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐."
"๐ถ๐๐๐. ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐?"
Zhan let out a quiet breath of relief, grateful for Yibo's understanding. When Yibo added, it came almost automatically.
"๐ป๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐."
And the way Yibo said those words...Zhan could still feel the weight of his voice echoing in his ears.
What kind of marriage did he even mean?
Why would Dr Yibo say he wanted to marry him?
Was there something he hadn't understood?
Or did Dr Yibo have some other motive?
Those questions had been circling in Zhan's mind since last night, without a single answer. A hand landing on his chest startled him, he opened his eyes abruptly, snapping back to the present. He hadn't even heard Bai enter the room, much less climb onto the bed.
"What are you doing, Bai?" he asked in surprise, looking at him.
One of Bai's hands held a bottle as he poured tea into it...he didn't like drinking in a cup...while the other rested casually on Zhan's chest.
"Gege, you still hadn't gotten up, so I came to check on you."
Zhan glanced at Bai's hand, then back at his face.
"To check if I'm dead?"
Bai shook his head grinning.
"No. Just to see if you're alive."
Without warning, Zhan grabbed the pillow beside him and flung it at Bai, but Bai leapt off the bed just in time and dashed into the living room, laughing.
"You little brat, Bai, I'll deal with you in this house one day...you'll regret it!"
Through Bai's laughter, Zhan heard Nainai's voice.
"I told him to come wake you up. It's almost ten...if you're well, what kind of sleep is this?"
"But he didn't wake me up," Zhan called back.
"I did wake him...see, he's talking now!" Bai said, still laughing.
"Leave him alone," Nainai replied. "He's answering me in his sleep. And you're just bullying him, Zhanโฆ"
Bai burst into another round of laughter just as Noni pulled the curtain aside and peeked in, holding the bowls Nainai had finished using for breakfast.
"Leave them, Zhan. If you're feeling fine, go back to sleep. It's your day off anyway...what would you even do if you got up?"
Zhan smiled faintly.
"Honestly, Noni, I just don't feel that great."
"That happens. You're human, after all. You work so hard every dayโฆ"
She let the curtain fall and turned back to Nainai.
"Have you heard about Hanyi, Tutu's daughter? She teaches at an elementary school, but they say she was dismissed because of a theft incident at the school."
"Oh? They dismiss teachers for that?" Nainai asked.
"Well, it's not a government school...it's a private one. You know how they are; they're trying to protect their reputationโฆ"
Their conversation drifted on while Zhan listened quietly. Then he sat up, stretched, and slid off the bed. Catching his reflection in the mirror, he saw his hair sticking out in all directions...clearly messy after removing his ribbon and going many days without a triming.
He turned back to the bed to look for the ribbon, retied his hair, and made a mental note to buy more later. He was down to his last one. He'd used small hair band since he was young, and they always seemed to disappear. Bai's ribbons were too big...his hair was long, almost like a girl's, and thick despite how smooth it was. If it wasn't tightly tied, it puffed up instantly, and using a big ribbon only made it look excessive.
Zhan turned to straighten the bedsheet when his eyes fell on his phone, vibrating beneath the fabric. At the same instant, his mind registered the number on the screen...the same number Dr Yibo had called from last night. Everything rushed back to him at once, the sharp realization hitting him that none of what happened yesterday had been a dream.
His long fingers picked up the phone as he stared at the number again. Before he could finish reading it, the call ended. He began to scan the faint digits listed as a missed call, but before he reached the end, the screen changed...another call came through.
He read the number again, once more, and waited until it was almost about to disconnect before finally answering.
"๐ฏ๐๐๐๐,"
Zhan said softly as he turned and sat on the edge of the bed. When Yibo replied, his voice carried a different tone from the night before...low, slightly rough, the kind that belonged to someone who had just woken up.
Zhan closed his eyes at once, struck by something that passed straight through him. At the same time, Nainai's and Noni's words faded from his thoughts.
"๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โฆ" Yibo replied, then added,
"๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐."
"๐๐๐. ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐."
Zhan answered quietly, his fingers unconsciously moving over the phone. Instead of responding, Yibo simply called his name, the way he always did.
"๐๐๐๐."
"๐๐๐โฆ"
Zhan replied, his gaze lifting to his reflection in the mirror across from him.
"๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐...๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐?"
Yibo raised the teacup in his hand, took a sip, and set it aside. He counted the silence stretching through the line. When it became clear that no answer was coming, he spoke again.
"๐ฐ'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โฆ ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐?"
This time, Zhan felt as though he needed to gather himself before speaking.
"๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐โฆ"
"๐พ๐๐?"
"๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐."
Yibo nodded slowly, understanding...and appreciating the honesty in his answer.
"๐บ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐?" he asked directly.
Yibo truly meant it. If Zhan agreed, he was ready to do whatever it took. He had already made up his mind. Even though everything had only happened yesterday, there was nothing in the world he believed could make him change it.
Marriage was not a small matter...he knew that. If someone had told him just yesterday morning that he would be saying the word marriage today, he wouldn't have believed it himself. Especially not with Zhan, the one he had deliberately kept his distance from for so long.
But ever since Malo began explaining things to him...since the moment the pieces finally fell into place...his thoughts and calculations had shifted all at once. Especially after he questioned Malo further and confirmed that neither the Zhan nor his family had any idea what was being planned.
"I told you ...Pepe is dangerous. No one knows his true nature. He hides everything he does. Even when his wife began to question him, he found a way to turn everyone against her...his relatives and hers...and then divorced her."
"What do you think he'll do to the man if he marries him?" Yibo asked.
Malo shook his head.
"I don't know, Lion. But Pepe has no conscience. I realized that from the way he deceived one of his own boys. Whatever he plans won't be good. He has ways to control him...he could kidnap him, do whatever he wants. But instead, he insists on marriage. Whatever he's planningโฆ it's not harmless."
With those words, Yibo saw Zhan's face clearly in his mind...and remembered what Zhan had told him days earlier.
"My mother passed away. I don't even know where my father is."
Back then, Yibo had understood there was far more hidden in that sentence. So many things he had wanted to untangle, to ask about. But the way he had restrained himself, refusing to cross any line with Zhan, had kept him firmly at a distance.
Now, pieces of the story were reaching him on their own.
Zhan's face appeared before him again. Something deep...something tied to protectiveness and compassion...flooded Yibo's chest at once. He found himself stepping into unfamiliar corners of his own heart, gathering everything he knew he felt for Zhan and pulling it together into one place...feelings he had long pushed aside, telling himself they were impossible.
He kept listening to Malo as he explained, in even clearer terms, who Peng really was and what his intentions were, as far as he knew. Inside his mind, only one question kept repeating: How do I stop Peng from what he's planning?
Where would he even begin? Could he confront him directly and stop him? And how? What did he have that would allow him to stand up to a man Malo had just described in such detail?
Even if he could, it would take time...time he wasn't sure he had before Peng's plans became reality.
If he went to Zhan and told him everything, would Zhan believe him? And even if he did, what about Zhan's parents?ย Parents who had trusted Peng for years...how could that trust be broken in such a short time?
Questions piled up in his mind, countless and unanswered, from the moment he parted ways with Malo until he reached home. One thing, however, became clear to him: he had to find a way to stop what Peng was planning. Even if he didn't know Zhan personally...if he had only heard this was happening to someone...he would still feel compelled to intervene. But this was Zhan, someone he knew, someone his heart had already placed in a different, special position.
So how could he possibly stand by and let something like this happen to him?
He thought briefly of the police, but dismissed it just as quickly. He had no evidence...Peng hadn't committed any crime yet. Going to them now would only complicate matters. No, he had to move carefully, quietly, in a way that wouldn't alert Peng until it was too late to recover.
But what was that way?
That was when the word marriage surfaced in his mind.
If he stepped forward and said he would marry Zhan, it would be the fastest, cleanest way to crush Peng's plans before time worked against him. After the marriage...once Zhan was safely with him...he could then find a way to catch Peng red-handed. And when everything was finally resolved, he would let Zhan return to his own life.
He would not betray the values he had set for himself from the beginning. His own life carried too many unresolved fractures; he would never pull Zhan into them and risk destroying a future Zhan could still build...a future that might help him leave behind the pain of his past, not sink deeper into it.
He would marry him solely to protect him from Peng. And whatever he felt for Zhan, he would never allow it to become a doorway for harm to reach him. He would protect him...even if what he was about to do meant crossing lines set by his own rules and the life he had carefully constructed.
That was why his question to Zhan now was sincere: How would Zhan know if he wanted to marry him?
Because knowing the danger approaching him, there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep it away...without Zhan ever realizing what had been closing in on him, without letting the situation spiral into something worse.
Zhan's silence stretched on, long enough for Yibo to understand that, just like many times before, there would be no immediate answer.
He leaned back into his chair, resting his head against it, one hand lifting to support his neck out of habit.
"๐๐๐๐โฆ"
"๐๐๐โฆ" Zhan replied softly.
"๐ฑ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐," he said gently.
"๐ฐ'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?"
๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, 9 ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐บ
2026
๐ก๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐น๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฐ๐โค๐