PD Chapter 14: Hah, Men
by RAE“Ding—”
A WeChat message came in.
[1]: A new bar just opened on Ya An Road. Want to go have some fun tonight?
“What’s with that look?” Wen Zhixu walked out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of cola chicken wings. He glanced at Wen Xunchuan, who was staring intently at his phone screen like he was in a trance, looking a bit unnatural.
Wen Zhixu set the plate down on the dining table and wiped his hands on his apron, casually asking, “Got something going on?”
Hearing the question, Wen Xunchuan quickly shook his head, obviously trying to cover something up. He locked his phone screen and placed it face down on the table, shrugging. “Nah, just spam messages.”
He grabbed a chicken wing, took a bite, and gave Wen Zhixu a thumbs-up, praising, “Master chef skills here.”
“Just some home cooking; make do with it.” Wen Zhixu smiled, picking up a wing, peeling off the skin, and removing the bones before feeding the tender meat to the Border Collie lying next to the table.
“It’s really good. I haven’t had home-cooked food in ages,” Wen Xunchuan said, grabbing a piece of pork rib. “Living off takeout every day is killing me. At this point, just smelling it makes me want to puke; I’ve practically got a conditioned response.”
Wen Zhixu looked a bit surprised. “Didn’t you go home yesterday?”
“Yeah,” Wen Xunchuan sighed, “But just as I picked up my chopsticks, someone flipped the table.”
“…Trying to set you up again?”
“Don’t even bring it up; it’s a headache.” Wen Xunchuan waved his hand dismissively and focused on gnawing on his ribs.
The Border Collie, done with the chicken, wagged its tail and cozied up to him, rubbing against his leg affectionately. Wen Xunchuan gave it a light tap on the head, scolding, “Go find your real dad.”
Wen Zhixu shook his head helplessly and got up to open a can of dog food, placing it in front of the dog.
–
He Linzhou had just finished his shower. Towel-drying his hair, he glanced at his phone. His earlier message still lay there in the chatbox, unreplied to by Wen Xunchuan.
He sent over a question mark, and this time, a reply came quickly—a red exclamation mark along with an icy note:
[Message sent, but it was refused by the recipient.]
He Linzhou, in his twenties, had never been rejected like this before. He yanked the towel off his head, face darkening as he cursed inwardly, Damn, playing hard to get and really getting into it?
Despite how much he liked Wen Xunchuan’s face, all this unpredictability was wearing on him.
He Linzhou never lacked money, never lacked partners in bed, and certainly never lacked admirers. The one thing he did lack was patience—no matter how good-looking the face, after a while, aren’t they all the same?
Wen Xunchuan was just relying on his looks to play hard to get, wasn’t he? Well, screw that!
He irritably tapped his screen a few times:
[Are you sure you want to delete the contact “Chuan” and erase all chat history with this friend?]
–
Wen Xunchuan was about to open the door when his phone suddenly rang. As he answered it, he opened the door, releasing the leash, and patted the obediently squatting Border Collie on the head, saying, “We’re home, baby.”
He walked in with Chun Mei, closing the door behind him. On the other end of the line, there was only silence. Wen Xunchuan waited patiently for a couple of seconds, but there wasn’t even the sound of breathing. He asked, “Hello? Who’s this?”
“…Baby?” The voice on the other end finally spoke, sounding a bit annoyed. “Didn’t you say you never bring people home?”
The slightly accusatory tone rubbed Wen Xunchuan the wrong way. Not answering, he instead asked with some impatience, “How did you get my number?”
“Was it so hard to find your number?” He Linzhou’s voice sounded irritated. “You aren’t… forget it. Hanging up.”
Before Wen Xunchuan could respond, the call was cut off.
He looked at the call-ended screen in confusion, then shoved the phone back into his pocket, fully focused on the simple pleasure of petting the dog. “Come here, baby, let your godfather give you a nice scratch!”
–
[Are you sure you want to delete the contact “Chuan” and erase all chat history with this friend?]
Staring at the delete prompt that popped up on his screen once again, He Linzhou clicked [Confirm] without hesitation.
After deleting his WeChat contact, he also erased the phone number he’d gone through so much trouble to get, which had barely sat in his contacts for two minutes.
Fuming with unspent frustration, he tossed his phone onto the bed, opened his closet, and pulled out an outfit, getting ready to hit up that new bar on Ya An Road for some wild fun. But just as he finished changing and stood before the mirror, his motivation to go out suddenly vanished.
Screw it.
All men are such a**holes.