After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Kissing

Even after returning to the Zhao family and meeting the crème de la crème, Zhao Jingqun was a little surprised. “…How old are you?”

Even if he started counting from kindergarten, two walls of awards was easily two hundred or more. If this country bumpkin had been studying for ten years, that would be eight or nine awards per semester.

Tao Ning was in the middle of remaking the bed for him. Tao Yuan was a little careless, and the four corners of the duvet were all bunched up. If Zhao Jingqun had slept on it like that for a night, the blanket would have turned into a giant dough ball by morning.

He shook out the duvet and said, “Eighteen.”

Zhao Jingqun watched his busy back. When he bent over, a flash of his fair, slender waist was exposed. He looked away and asked, “What month?”

“April.”

Zhao Jingqun raised an eyebrow. “Quite young. How old were you when you started school?” He was curious where this country bumpkin got so many awards.

The hand that Tao Ning used to shake out the blanket paused. He looked back. Because it was midday, the lights were off in the room, making his eyes behind the lenses look blurry. But Zhao Jingqun felt as if he could see a hint of “are you that bored?” in those unclear eyes.

His smile didn’t falter. He asked again, “How old, dummy?”

The term of endearment had already changed to “dummy.”

The system commented, “He’s so annoying.”

Tao Ning agreed. “Mm.”

But he still answered obediently, “Eleven.”

At that time, the Tao family was so poor they couldn’t even make ends meet. His three sisters never went to school, and neither did Tao Ning, who was the only adopted son. If Tao Yuan hadn’t insisted on taking him with her back then, Tao Ning would probably be illiterate by now.

At that moment, the system said out of nowhere, “You wouldn’t have become illiterate.”

Tao Ning asked, “Why?”

But the usually talkative system didn’t answer. Instead, Zhao Jingqun was stunned for a second. “Eleven?… What grade are you in high school now?”

Tao Ning said, “Going into my junior year next semester.”

Zhao Jingqun frowned slightly. “…You finished twelve years of school in seven years?” That meant he was getting fifteen or sixteen awards every year.

Tao Ning finished making his bed. He nodded at the question and pointed toward the corner. “That cabinet isn’t being used. You can put your luggage there.”

Zhao Jingqun looked away and followed the direction he was pointing.

Near the corner was a single-level cabinet with a dark red, painted surface. Its four corners were chipped, revealing the blackened wood underneath. It was very short, only reaching his thigh. In contrast, the other cabinet next to it had two levels, a white painted surface, and looked brand new.

Zhao Jingqun raised an eyebrow and without a word, dragged his suitcase over to the white cabinet and opened it.

The moment he did, a faint lemon scent instantly filled the air. There weren’t many clothes in the cabinet, mostly neat shirts and long pants that were washed so much they had faded to white, similar to what Tao Ning was wearing, except his were shorts.

Zhao Jingqun’s eyes landed on a few small pieces of fabric. There wasn’t much fabric, and most of it was white—very white, as white as the boy’s skin.

After a few seconds, the smile on Zhao Jingqun’s face vanished, replaced by a slightly somber expression. He slammed the cabinet door shut, the tips of his ears a little red.

He still didn’t say anything and dragged his luggage back to the old red cabinet. He opened his suitcase and began putting his clothes inside one by one. But halfway through, a slightly damp smell came from inside, like old, moldy hay.

Zhao Jingqun closed the cabinet door and looked at Tao Ning, who was already sitting at the desk, reading something. “What was this cabinet used for?”

Tao Ning didn’t look up. “Pig feed.”

Zhao Jingqun: “…”

Every piece of clothing he had put in there was worth thousands of yuan. The dummy’s words made Zhao Jingqun laugh in anger.

The sun was bright outside, and the desk in the room was next to a window. A camphor tree grew outside the window, and sunlight danced on its palm-sized leaves, then fell into the book the boy was reading. Another part of the light gently rested on the side of the boy’s face. His back was slightly hunched as he lowered his head. His features were blurry in the fading light. His short bangs caught a bit of the light, turning into little specks that merged with the words on the book’s title page—Hopeless Straight Man Falls for Sweet Little Gay.

“When a girl chases a guy, it’s a breeze. But when a guy chases a guy, it’s a mountain of flesh. So when you’re a cute little gay and you unfortunately fall for a straight man, don’t despair or drink herbal medicine to fix yourself.”

He flipped the page.

“The first step you take now is to constantly give him longing looks and subtly expose your firm butt at all times.”

“Remember, when you’re giving him longing looks, you should wear short shorts to make him wonder, ‘does he like me?’ And when he can’t hold it in anymore and asks you, you should act surprised and innocent and say, ‘how could you think that, big brother…'”

Zhao Jingqun was entranced by the side of the boy’s face. After a moment, he seemed to wake up and looked away. But after a while, the boy in the distance still didn’t move, and his fair cheeks were a little pink.

What book could be so engrossing? The sun isn’t shining directly on him, so why is this dummy blushing?

Zhao Jingqun’s eyebrows raised. He slowed his steps and walked over.

The system reminded him just in time, “Dummy, dummy! He’s coming. Hurry and put away the manual I gave you!”

In the past, Tao Ning would have asked why, but after reading a few of the manuals recommended by the system, like Igniting the Internet: Seductive Little Submissive, Dominant Campus King with a Baby, and Unlucky Straight Man Targeted, he felt that these books might not be appropriate for sharing. Besides, this was related to his mission, so it was better if no one found out.

So the moment the person behind him arrived, Tao Ning quickly covered the manual with the two men kissing on the title page with his math workbook, then picked up a pen and started doing math problems.

Tao Ning thought he was fast, but the even-faster Zhao Jingqun had seen all his movements, not to mention the lingering heat on the boy’s cheeks.

Before Zhao Jingqun could speak, Tao Ning asked first, “W-What’s wrong?” He didn’t look at the man and his question was a little shaky. There was none of the confident authority he had when he said “pig feed” earlier, which made Zhao Jingqun even more curious about what book he was reading.

But seeing how shy this dummy was, he knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer. He had to be patient and find out himself without alerting him.

He smiled and said nonchalantly, “Where’s the shower? I’ve been tired all morning. Shouldn’t you, as the host, take me to wash up?”

Shhh…splash.

The tip of the pen on the paper paused. Tao Ning turned his head and seriously looked at the man, who was standing a little crooked with his hands in his pockets, as if to see if he was really serious.

After a moment, Tao Ning nodded and stood up. “I’ll take you.”

Zhao Jingqun followed Tao Ning outside. The moment he closed the door, he looked back at the desk.

The two of them walked to the back of the house, near the back wall of the main hall. To the left was a chicken and duck coop enclosed by a fence, and to the right was a shed built with plastic.

A rooster expressed its displeasure at the two people who had interrupted its courting. “Cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo.” It flapped its wings, kicking up the dry hay in the coop. The hot summer breeze blew a strong stench of chicken manure at the two of them. But both of them looked unfazed and didn’t bother with the rooster that had been kicked out by the hens.

Tao Ning extended a slender finger and pointed at the shed covered in layers of white plastic. “You shower in there. You’ll need to bring your own clothes.”

“And hot water?”

“There’s solar power inside.”

Zhao Jingqun let out a chuckle. “Pretty advanced.”

Tao Ning didn’t reply. He assumed his job as a guide was done and was about to leave, but Zhao Jingqun didn’t let him. “You go first.”

Tao Ning refused. “I shower at night.”

People in the mountains weren’t used to showering during the day because they would be working all day, so they would only shower after they came back at night. Some people were so tired they would just go to bed without showering. Tao Ning had to go tutor someone later, so he couldn’t shower now.

Zhao Jingqun was still smiling, but he wouldn’t back down. The silver earrings on his ear glinted in the sunlight. “I’m afraid of the cold. You go in and warm it up for me first.”

Tao Ning hadn’t been outside for long but was already a little dizzy from the sun. He didn’t believe the man was “afraid of the cold.” He was about to refuse, but the system let out a strange sound. “Dummy, agree to it! Based on my strategy guides, he wants to spy on you in the shower. Give him a little ‘wet-body seduction’ and make him desperate for more!”

Tao Ning: “…”

He didn’t think those strategy guides were right, and this wasn’t part of the mission. So he refused without a second thought. “I’m not showering. Xiaomeng is coming to shower later. You can wait for him to warm it up.”

With that, Tao Ning walked away without looking back, leaving Zhao Jingqun standing in the sun, his smile slowly fading. After a moment, Zhao Jingqun kicked a stone into the chicken coop, then, to the angry “cock-a-doodle-doo” of the rooster, he returned to the room.

When he went in, the room was empty. Zhao Jingqun couldn’t help but frown. Where did he go in the middle of the day? His eyes caught a glimpse of the desk, and he immediately saw the book hidden under the math workbook. He walked over without hesitation.

Just as his hand was about to touch the boy’s secret, a gust of wind blew in, and the glass window rattled. In that instant, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured directly over the man’s head, extinguishing all his curiosity. Zhao Jingqun suddenly retracted his hand, his expression becoming extremely ugly. He stood there for a few seconds, then turned and walked away from the desk.

He sat on the bed, his brow furrowed, and began to look at the room again. He realized that the place he was about to sleep was very close to the boy’s bed. So close that if he tossed and turned a few times at night, he could end up face-to-face with the boy.

“…”

Zhao Jingqun took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. He didn’t care if he was indoors or outdoors; he just smoked. After a few seconds, he put the cigarette in his mouth and got up, walking to the red painted cabinet that the boy had said used to hold pig feed. Just as he had done when he arrived, he took his clothes out one by one and put them back in his suitcase.

As he was leaving with his suitcase, he ran into Tao Yuan, who was coming to bring him some fruit. “Jingqun, where are you going?”

When she saw the cigarette in his mouth, Tao Yuan couldn’t help but say, “Ningning’s health isn’t good. He coughs whenever he smells smoke. I’ll have to ask you not to smoke in front of him next time. It’s best if you don’t smoke at all! That rascal has a lot of problems and loves to complain, so I don’t even dare to take out a cigarette. You’re not that old, Jingqun, so you young people should smoke less…”

Zhao Jingqun just stood there and waited for her to finish.

Tao Yuan rambled on while putting fresh oranges on the desk. She turned around and asked again, “Hey, Jingqun, where did you say you were going?”

Zhao Jingqun, who had not replied at all, said, “To take a shower.”

Tao Yuan was surprised. “Then why are you taking a suitcase with you? Jingqun, don’t mind our simple conditions. The shower is just a plastic shed, but it has everything. It’s not worse than what you have in the city. You just need to take your clothes in. Did Ningning not take you inside to see? That rascal, he’s like a block of wood around strangers. He just left you here and went out. I’ll give him a good talking-to when he gets back…”

Zhao Jingqun put out his cigarette. “Where did he go?”

Tao Yuan said, “He should be at Pockmark’s house tutoring. He’ll be back soon. Jingqun, I’ll go turn on the solar heater for you.”

Zhao Jingqun watched her leave and stood there for a moment, his expression slowly turning sullen. He kicked the suitcase and then went back inside.

The sun was slowly setting. Around five in the afternoon, Zhao Jingqun came out with a towel on his head. The smell of food was already coming from the kitchen. Tao Yuan was wiping her hands on her apron and muttering, “Why isn’t Ningning back yet?”

Zhao Jingqun’s hand, which was wiping his hair, froze. “He doesn’t have a phone?”

Tao Yuan sighed, her voice both loving and proud. “He won’t let me buy him one. He says he doesn’t need it…” As she spoke, she seemed to remember something, and her voice became softer, with a hint of worry in her eyes.

Zhao Jingqun hung the towel on the bamboo drying rack and said, “I’ll go find him.”

Tao Yuan, who had a smartphone that cost her four or five hundred yuan, added his number and gave him an address.

Zhao Jingqun remembered the way. After committing the address to memory, he walked toward the door. He opened it, and the door let out a “creak”—

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