Lin Mingyuan once again returned home after midnight, Zhao Yunxiao, who pretended to be asleep, slowly got out of bed after the person next to him snored soundly and gently walked to the bedside of Lin Mingyuan to pick up his mobile phone from the bedside table. Then Zhao Yunxiao went out of the bedroom and leaning against the wall at the door, he opened Lin Mingyuan’s mobile phone, only to find that it had a password lock. After trying several passwords that Lin Mingyuan might use, Zhao Yunxiao mockingly rejoiced that Lin Mingyuan still kept the habit of using phone numbers as passwords; using digital passwords instead of pupil recognition.

After checking some obvious information in Lin Mingyuan’s mobile phone, Zhao Yunxiao returned to his bedroom and put the phone back in its original position. Without going to bed again, Zhao Yunxiao left the bedroom and went to the living room.

——Mingyuan, are you ready for my birthday present?

——You’ll find out next week.

—— I just can’t wait. How many days can you stay with me next week?

—— I have ten days that are completely yours. Baby, I’m sorry to put you through this. You should know that I can’t get a divorce.

——I know, I understand you, I just want you to have me in your heart.

Zhao Yunxiao felt that he didn’t need to read any further when he saw these messages, his eyes were bloodshot after a night of checking information in the living room. He went into a dressing room to change his clothes before going out and left before Lin Mingyuan got up, he didn’t want to see the other person now. After wandering around the nearby garden for two hours he estimated that Lin Mingyuan had already left and returned home.

When he got home, Lin Mingyuan was gone. There was a note on the coffee table, which was left to him by Lin Mingyuan. [Yunxiao, you don’t take your cell phone with you when you go out? I’m going to work. I may not be back for dinner tonight. Don’t wait for me. I’ll accompany you to see your father on Saturday.] Tearing up the note and throwing it into a trash can, Zhao Yunxiao went upstairs to pack his bags. He can’t stay in this house even for a moment longer so he simply packed a suitcase of clothes. Zhao Yunxiao did not drive, but called a taxi to take him to the airport. After buying a ticket to T area, Zhao Yunxiao called his father.

“Father, I’m going on a trip to T area, I won’t be able to see you this weekend.”

“A trip? Go ahead, go ahead. You alone?”

“……Mingyuan and I decided it on whim.”

“Ohhhh, that’s good then, you two have fun and try to bring back a little bundle of joy.”

Zhao Yunxiao’s tears fell silently.

“If I could, I would. Father …”

“Hmm. What’s wrong?”

“…… Father, can you prepare the room I have at home for me, when I get back from T area I want to come home for a couple of days.”

“Sure. Mingyuan is so busy, you can totally stay at home.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Zhao Yunxiao just said a few more words for fear that he would start to cry. When he hung up his phone someone came over and asked him what happened. A neuter sat in the airport crying, which naturally attracted the attention of many people. Zhao Yunxiao just said that he missed his father, so airport staff sent him to the airport’s neuter lounge and poured him a cup of hot tea. After drinking the tea, Zhao Yunxiao became much calmer as he waited for more than a hour before boarding the plane heading to T area.

After flying for two hours, he arrived in T area. Zhao Yunxiao got into a special car at the airport prepared for the transportation of neuters and asked the driver to take him to a hotel called Banhai. Because he was a neuter the hotel allowed him to check in at the lowest discount and offered fruit refreshments and so on. Neuters were absolute darlings in this world, but Zhao Yunxiao was not happy with it at all.

Lying on the bed in the hotel room, Zhao Yunxiao made a phone call to Guo Xinglei. It’s impossible to hide it forever so he had to make arrangements first. He will not pretend that nothing has happened and continue to be with Lin Mingyuan even if he was celibate for the rest of his life, he did not intend to share his lover with others, not to mention, Lin Mingyuan’s heart was no longer with him. Zhao Yunxiao could not help but laugh at himself, he was afraid that he was one of the few neuters that had been cheated on.

He told Uncle Gao about Mingyuan and was not surprised that the other party was furious after hearing this, Zhao Yunxiao pleaded: “Uncle Guo, please help me persuade my father about this matter. Even if we separate, I don’t want to fight with Mingyuan. We might not become friends but there is no need to become enemies. I will apply for a divorce with the Marriage Superintendent. As long as it can be proved that I am in love with someone else, it will not affect Mingyuan. Uncle Guo, please help me. “

“Why do you still care after he treated you like this? Your father will definitely fight with Lin Mingyuan after he finds out!”

“I love him, or I used to love him a lot. It’s my own choice, I can’t blame anyone. Liking someone, maybe there is a statute of limitations, Mingyuan has just passed it. He loves that person so I will let them be together. Uncle Gao I am still young so I can still change my life so letting go of Mingyuan is the best choice. Otherwise even after divorce I will not be able to become free of him.”

Guo Xinglei took a few stifled breaths and said: “Okay, I promise you. When you come back I will find a suitable person for you. But Yunxiao, you have to promise uncle Guo that you will be strong for your father’s sake. There are a hundred better people than Mingyuan waiting for you. Uncle Guo is sure that as soon as you get a divorce, the people who will come to your door to propose marriage will surely crowd the door of your house.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll take a break in T area so when I come home I will be in a good mood. By then help me persuade my father.”

“…… It’s fine. Or, your father and I can come to T area to be with you.”

Zhao Yunxiao actually missed his father, and what he wanted most at times like these was to be held tightly in his father’s arms for comfort. He suppressed his sadness and went back to the phone call just to hear Guo Xinglei say: “Yunxiao, your father and I will be there on the weekend.”

“…I’ll go back on Tuesday. These days, I want to be alone. “

“Alright but you have to call me every day, I will keep it a secret from your father for the time being. “

“Good.”

After chatting with Guo Xinglei for a long time, Zhao Yunxiao calmed down Guo Xinglei. After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yunxiao’s mood was no longer as sad as before. Even if it was just for his father alone, he had to persevere.

Hotel managers and housekeeping supervisors took special care of single neuters people who lived there so not only Zhao Yunxiao’s room was discounted by 40%, but all his three meals a day were also free. Since he was alone, the hotel manager also sent two bodyguards to protect Zhao Yunxiao on the floor he was staying on so that he wouldn’t be disturbed by other single pure males.

After staying in the hotel for three days, Zhao Yunxiao mostly stayed in his room. On Monday morning, after having breakfast in his room, Zhao Yunxiao put on sunglasses and a hat and came to the lobby of the hotel. In the guest lounge, he took a magazine and sat waiting. Just before 10:00, two guests entered the hotel, a man and a woman. The two quickly completed the check-in procedures and went to the elevator entrance. Zhao Yunxiao got up and went back to his room after the two left.

Zhao Yunxiao didn’t want to spend too much effort on a divorce, and he also didn’t have much strength to talk to Lin Mingyuan. Lin Mingyuan’s mobile phone message said that the two would come here for a holiday, so Zhao Yunxiao also came. Today was Monday, which was that woman’s birthday. Zhao Yunxiao avoided the two and waited until Tuesday for a showdown.

Since the discovery of Lin Mingyuan’s affair, Zhao Yunxiao’s mental state has been very poor. In just a few days he lost weight and had insomnia since that day. Today, he called the room service and told them he would go to the restaurant for breakfast. Zhao Yunxiao took a bath, changed his clothes, and went out after getting refreshed.

When he came to the restaurant, Zhao Yunxiao chose a seat by the window. As soon as he appeared, he attracted the attention of single men in the restaurant. The waiter in the restaurant stopped a few men who wanted to come forward to strike up a conversation with him but Zhao Yunxiao didn’t even realize this.  He stared at the entrance of the restaurant and didn’t even notice what breakfast the waiter brought him.

After waiting for more than half an hour, the people Zhao Yunxiao was waiting for arrived. During this period, he did not drink a sip of water or eat anything. Among the ten neuters in the restaurant, only Zhao Yunxiao was alone and all men without a partner were staring at him. The man and woman who entered the restaurant noticed the strangeness in the restaurant after choosing their seats. They followed everyone’s eyes and also looked at him. Then their expression changed dramatically, and the man stood up quickly with a look of panic.

Zhao Yunxiao stood up and walked out, then the man ran after him after he left. While the woman’s face was white as a sheet of paper as if she didn’t know what to do. This phenomenon drew the attention of many people, and some bold bachelors beckoned the waiters to go and find out what had happened.

When he came to the small garden of the hotel, Zhao Yunxiao sat down on a wooden chair. Not long after, Lin Mingyuan, who had hurriedly come after him, also arrived. He slowed down as he walked to Zhao Yunxiao, for the first time he was out of words in front of Zhao Yunxiao.

“Divorce.” Zhao Yunxiao looked down at his feet and said calmly.

Lin Mingyuan said hurriedly: “Yunxiao, let me explain!”

Zhao Yunxiao with a still lowered head said: “Mingyuan, don’t let me think you are a man who can’t take responsibility. I went to the office to see you the other day, and I saw you get in her car in the parking lot.  There was my car parked right next to hers, you didn’t even notice. “

Lin Mingyuan squatted down, anxious to explain but Zhao Yunxiao just asked: “Did it start last year?”

Lin Mingyuan swallowed and said guiltily: “Sorry, Yunxiao, I just, just…”

“You just fell in love with her, she is your baby.” Zhao Yunxiao raised his eyes, his gaze making Lin Mingyuan flustered: “I am sorry I took a peek at your cell phone and knew that you would be here so I waited for you here. I’m going back tonight, and I’ll explain that I like someone else so you can get married in the future. Mingyuan be good, don’t make my memory of you worse.”

Lin Mingyuan opened his mouth, but was speechless, in the end he could only say: “I am sorry… ” Zhao Yunxiao stood up and left without looking back, not letting Lin Mingyuan see his heartbroken tears.

Leaving the garden, Zhao Yunxiao went back to his room to pack his luggage. He had already booked his return ticket for 10 p.m. Because he wasn’t sure when he would run into Lin Mingyuan today, Zhao Yunxiao specially booked his ticket for the evening. However when he was checking out his room he could only think of  Lin Mingyuan and that woman. It was still early so Zhao Yunxiao left his luggage at the front desk and left the hotel with a one-shoulder messenger bag on his back. There was a natural lake near here so he wanted to go for a walk. According to the book, looking at the beautiful scenery when you are in a bad mood can make you feel better.

He didn’t eat for almost a day yesterday, and just  drank a glass of water in the morning. Zhao Yunxiao was very hungry, but he had no appetite. He even wanted to throw up when he saw the food. He thought that Lin Mingyuan should like women… Although neuters could have children, by contrast, women were still more beautiful and had better figures. Lin Mingyuan’s father was a neuter, but his brother married a woman. He heard that both his father were very dissatisfied with it and his brother was cut off from his family after he got married. Maybe it was because of this pressure that Lin Mingyuan married him… but why him? Zhao Yunxiao didn’t want to think of himself in the worst way, but it was difficult.

Feeling a little dizzy, Zhao Yunxiao sat down on the rock by the lake. The water of the lake was crystal clear and the sun was reflected on the sparkling surface of the lake. When he saw something moving in the lake, Zhao Yunxiao bent over and reached out to catch it. Suddenly he felt dizzy and fell headfirst into the lake.  At the moment when he fell into the water, Zhao Yunxiao was still wondering: [Was the water on the shore always so deep?] 

“Someone’s fallen into the water!”

Vaguely hearing someone shouting, Zhao Yunxiao struggled to climb up the bank, but his body grew weaker and weaker, and then, he lost consciousness.

Father …

 

Edited by: Xiamen

 

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