Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Frightened out of her wits, An Xiaxia asked in a tiny voice, “Are you alright?”
Qi Yanxi wrapped his arms around her and rubbed against her shoulder like a puppy. There were a lot of tears.
An Xiaxia was flustered. “Um… Don’t cry, Qi Yanxi. Come with me upstairs! I’ll get you something yummy!”
She couldn’t let him stay here, blocking the cafe entrance.
Qi Yanxi followed her upstairs obediently and sat down on the sofa. He then yelled in his drunk voice, “Where are you? Xiaxia, I need you here…”
An Xiaxia poured him a glass of water and tried to make him drink it. However, Qi Yanxi knocked the glass over, splashing the water everywhere.
“Hey, what do you want?!” An Xiaxia pouted angrily.
Seeing this, tears welled up in Qi Yanxi’s eyes again. He then tugged her sleeve. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
An Xiaxia’s vexation evaporated at once at his tentative tone.
Heaving a sigh, she rubbed Qi Yanxi’s head. “Alright. Now, tell me. Why are you crying?”
Qi Yanxi pursed his lips. “No one likes me. My dad has never liked me since I was little, nor has my mum. Sheng Yize is a jackass! He picks on me all the time…”
Poor kid. That was such a sad life… An Xiaxia went on rubbing his stubby hair sympathetically.
Qi Yanxi rubbed his head against her palm and went on pouring out his grief. “And there’s my stepmother. She’s the bad woman! She’s always badmouthing me to my dad and she wants me dead… I’m so scared… But my dad never believes me when I try to tell him… ”
His voice trailed off almost into a whisper, which made An Xiaxia’s heart ache for him.
She didn’t want to see Qi Yanxi like this. To her, Qi Yanxi should be that unruly devil with boundless enthusiasm. Why did he turn into this fragile boy after he was drunk?
“When I was a kid, my parents would kick my ass together whenever I made trouble… It hurt so bad, but I was so happy every time, because they finally bothered enough to pay attention to me, instead of running their company…” Out of the blue, Qi Yanxi began to talk about his childhood again and he sniffled in grievance.
An Xiaxia couldn’t decide whether to cry or laugh. She held a tissue to his nose and he obediently blew into it. He then said contentedly, “Xiaxia, you’re the best.”
An Xiaxia sighed. She was beginning to see it now — Qi Yanxi wasn’t as incorrigible as he appeared to be. He was just a defiant adolescent that tried to make his family care about him by doing all those outrageous things.
“You’re a good man. They don’t deserve you.” An Xiaxia could only comfort him with such feeble words.
Qi Yanxi shuddered, then hugged her even tighter, almost knocking her to the floor.
“Xiaxia… Why won’t my dad like me like your dad does? He’d rather choose my stepmother’s son! Qi Yue likes men, but my dad doesn’t find him gross at all…”
“Everyone has the right to choose who they like. Even if it’s beyond your understanding, the least you can do is respect their choice,” An Xiaxia cajoled him placidly. “There’s nothing wrong with liking men. It’s your choice not to accept his sexuality, but it would be foolish of you to take it to heart. Qi Yanxi, you’re surrounded by a lot of people who like you as well. Think more about the happy things and forget about the unhappy ones…”
“Do you think everyone is as forgetful as you are? Remembering only the good things and throwing away the bad ones?” Qi Yanxi grumbled, then wiped his eyes and nose on An Xiaxia’s clothes.
“What are you doing?” A cold, disgruntled voice rang out. The hugging duo turned to the voice in unison.