Did My Wife Break Up With Me Today? - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Caught Red-Handed

Braised pig’s trotters…

Why was it pig’s trotters again?

Chen Kongqing stared at the three words on his screen and paused.

Dr. Xu had mentioned pig’s trotters yesterday as well. It seemed Dr. Xu truly did have a fondness for them.

Azurite: [Dr. Xu, you really like pig’s trotters too. /[Hehe][Hehe]] Azurite: [A local classmate took me to a place once; the flavor was excellent.] Azurite: [When are you free, Dr. Xu? I’ll book a table in advance.]

He held his phone and waited for a while, but received no reply. The sky was completely dark now, so Chen Kongqing decided to head into the subway first.

The sky was indeed dark, but Xu Jingmo’s expression was even darker.

Who likes eating pig’s trotters?

He felt like he should just take a carrot and stuff it into this rabbit’s mouth to keep it full. Anything to prevent him from opening his mouth and nearly provoking him to death with every sentence.

“Black Cat Detective” let out two “meows” and rubbed against his pant leg. The man looked down, and the kitten meowed again, its voice soft and fluffy.

Two seconds later.

He slowly crouched down, scooped up the tiny kitten, and carried it back to its bed. “Do you want to eat a carrot?”

“Meow!” The kitten gave a short cry, seemingly saying “No.” Then it meowed twice more.

Xu Jingmo arched an eyebrow. In his palm was the warm, soft kitten, like a cup of flowing liquid. “What, do you miss that rabbit?”

“Meow meow~”

Xu Jingmo’s lips curved. A trace of a smile flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly masked by a deepening layer of loneliness.

“I miss him too.”

[Miss you, babe.]

Chen Kongqing looked at the message Ling Xiao had sent him and honestly didn’t know how to respond. He decided to finish taking his medicine before replying.

Over the past few days, his emotions had stabilized significantly, and the physical discomfort had weakened along with his stress. That “situation” from the other day hadn’t happened again.

This allowed Chen Kongqing to breathe a massive sigh of relief. If that condition became the norm, wouldn’t he be at risk of… “propping up” at any moment? That would be too…

Luckily, it hadn’t become a regular occurrence. He finished his medicine and crawled into his covers. His phone buzzed several times. They were all messages from Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao [Pink Heart]: [Why are you ignoring me?] Ling Xiao [Pink Heart]: [Asleep?]

Azurite: [I was just washing up.] Azurite: [Aren’t you in closed-door training?]

Ling Xiao [Pink Heart]: [Yeah, they’re about to collect our phones.] Ling Xiao [Pink Heart]: [Will you miss me?]

Chen Kongqing looked at the messages, but his heart was perfectly calm. This was the exact atmosphere of chatting with Ling Xiao that he had dreamed of before. Now that it was real, he found he didn’t feel much of anything.

Ling Xiao [Pink Heart]: [If you don’t talk, I won’t see it.]

Chen Kongqing: [Mm.]

He pursed his lips and typed that single word of confirmation. He then added: [Train hard. Good luck with the game!]

…

Ling Xiao looked down at that formal reply. He felt an indescribable sensation in his chest. Why was Chen Kongqing being so indifferent lately? It was like he was a different person.

Did he really know something? But if he did, this shouldn’t be the reaction. There was a sense of unreality in his heart.

“Who are you messaging?” Gu Chengjing held a basket for the phones, his expression unreadable. “Him?”

Ling Xiao startled, turned off his phone, and tossed it into the basket. “No, just messaging my parents.”

Only the two of them were outside the arena.

Gu Chengjing said in a low voice: “Will he come to watch the game?”

The air seemed to freeze in that moment.

“Ling Xiao, what exactly do you want?” Gu Chengjing spoke almost through gritted teeth.

“We’ll talk after the game, okay?” Ling Xiao frowned and stood up.

Gu Chengjing: “And you won’t drag it out after the game?”

Over the past few years, it had always been Ling Xiao chasing him everywhere. He hadn’t cared who was by Ling Xiao’s side because he knew that as long as he beckoned, Ling Xiao would choose him. But this time, it felt different.

“He did suffer a very serious injury for my sake, after all.” Ling Xiao lowered his gaze, not looking at him. “I need to think about how to handle this.”

“Fine. I hope you can come up with a solution that satisfies me as soon as possible.” Gu Chengjing carried the basket away without looking back.

The outdoor air remained frozen. Cold wind blew in gusts, and there wasn’t a single star in the pitch-black sky. It was as if dark clouds were brewing a storm intended to destroy everything.

…

The following days were filled with terrible, biting winds. The winter wind in Kunming was like a blade; when it hit you, it wasn’t just cold, it was painful. Bone-chilling pain.

Chen Kongqing spent several days straight in the lab. Finals were approaching. His research on omics technology in medicinal plants hadn’t yielded full results yet, and there were exams and various assessments…

He was so busy he didn’t even have time to visit “Black Cat Detective.” He could only watch the videos Dr. Xu sent during his meal breaks.

Lnk: [Video.mov] Lnk: [The basketball game is the day after tomorrow. Are you free to go?]

Chen Kongqing was eating a beef “Guokui” (flatbread). It was a bit cold now and hard to chew. His brain stopped for a few seconds.

The basketball game. He had almost forgotten. The day after tomorrow was the preliminary round of the inter-school league.

Azurite: [I’m going.] Azurite: [Are you coming too, Dr. Xu?]

Lnk: [Yes. Ling Xiao’s parents aren’t in the country; they asked me to go and check on things.]

Azurite: [Ohh.]

Having known Ling Xiao for years and being in a relationship for nearly six months, Chen Kongqing actually knew very little about Ling Xiao’s family background. He only knew Ling Xiao came from a well-off family, nothing more. Ling Xiao had never asked about his background either.

He finally swallowed the dry piece of flatbread: [Then we can cheer for Ling Xiao together the day after tomorrow.]

While waiting for a reply, the youth finished the flatbread with some plain water. He had to speed up his progress if he wanted to see the game.

Returning to the heated lab, he uncharacteristically sneezed a few times. Du Song teased him: “Who’s that? Who’s thinking about our little Kongqing?”

Chen Kongqing rubbed his nose and joked: “Maybe someone is angry with me and talking behind my back.”

Indeed, someone was angry. Throwing yet another fit he had no right to throw.

…

Saturday arrived quickly—the opening day of the basketball tournament.

As the host, Kunming University was flooded with students and teams from other schools. The campus was open to the public, parents, and media. The grounds were suddenly teeming with people.

Chen Kongqing specifically wore a milky-yellow padded jacket today. He had checked the almanac before leaving, which said yellow was auspicious.

The arena was massive—luckily so, as it needed to hold so many people. The youth walked into the venue, rubbing his cheeks which had been numbed by the wind. Ling Xiao had arranged a front-row seat for him, and he was tilting his head to look for the row number.

“What are you looking for?” A familiar male voice drifted into his ear.

Chen Kongqing looked up to see a tall, upright figure. It was Xu Jingmo.

“Dr. Xu, you’re here!” Chen Kongqing smiled, his eyes curving like crescents.

Xu Jingmo looked at him: “Just arrived.”

Chen Kongqing: “I’m looking for my seat. Ling Xiao left me one in the front row. Where are you sitting, Dr. Xu?”

The youth’s face had two pink flushes “kissed” by the wind, and his pupils were sparkling. Xu Jingmo locked eyes with him, paused for two seconds, then looked down at his own ticket.

Chen Kongqing looked at the printed text: “Row 2, Seat 4. I’m Row 2, Seat 3. We’re right next to each other!”

The “rabbit’s” tone was light and cheerful, and his smile was even sweeter than before.

Xu Jingmo slowly looked away, his fingers inadvertently crumpling the ticket. “That’s good.”

“I was planning to go backstage to see Ling Xiao first. Want to come, Dr. Xu?” He felt he should cheer for Ling Xiao in person before he hit the court. He had even ordered a bouquet of flowers, specifically requesting some Trumpet Creeper (Lingxiao) accents, though he wasn’t sure if the florist would have them in this season. Even if his feelings for Ling Xiao were complicated, they were still dating, and he wanted to take the relationship seriously.

The man beside him moved his lips. After a few seconds, his voice was heavy: “Alright, let’s go take a look.”

On the way to the backstage area, the youth beside him walked with a light step, seemingly eager to see Ling Xiao. Xu Jingmo didn’t know if his decision to follow was the right one.

He didn’t want to come because he was afraid of seeing the “rabbit” love someone else. He came because he was worried that “someone else” didn’t love the “rabbit.”

As they neared the locker rooms, Chen Kongqing ran into a group of teammates from their school’s team. Leading them was Zhang Cheng. Beside him was Xiao Bao, the one he had drunk with before.

“Hey, Kongqing? Cousin?” Xiao Bao saw them first and ran over.

Xu Jingmo nodded politely. Chen Kongqing smiled: “Xiao Bao, are you guys about to go on?”

Xiao Bao: “We’re heading to the front. Ling Xiao is still in the locker room; said he wanted to change his shoes.”

“Okay, we’ll go find him then,” Chen Kongqing nodded.

“Alright! Remember to cheer for us later too, no playing favorites!” Xiao Bao teased.

Chen Kongqing replied earnestly: “I’ll definitely cheer for everyone.”

The groups parted. Chen Kongqing and Xu Jingmo walked side by side for about another fifty meters. There were several rest areas backstage. Chen Kongqing wasn’t sure which room it was.

“Is it this one?” Xu Jingmo looked at a door slightly ajar with a sign that read [Kunming Basketball Team]. It likely meant the Kunming University team locker room.

The man stepped toward the half-open door. His foot crossed the threshold.

Chen Kongqing was about to follow, but the Xu Jingmo in front of him suddenly backed out abruptly.

“Oof…” Chen Kongqing stepped back quickly to avoid crashing into Dr. Xu’s back. Dr. Xu’s back was like a steel plate; if he hit it… he didn’t want to end up needing a metal plate in his nose too.

Xu Jingmo turned around suddenly, his expression stiff. Chen Kongqing found it strange. “Is it not this locker room?”

Xu Jingmo fixed his gaze on his face and pursed his lips. “It is.”

“Then why aren’t we going in?” Chen Kongqing felt things were getting even more unusual.

But the man stood his ground, neither moving nor answering. The youth frowned in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Xu Jingmo looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back. Chen Kongqing finally took a step forward himself toward the ajar door.

“Chen Kongqing, don’t go.” Xu Jingmo suddenly reached out, his voice low and his breathing slightly ragged. “I’ll tell you what’s happening inside. Don’t look.”

Those words.

That tone.

The youth’s wrist twitched, and his eyes seemed to be filled with a giant block of ice.

Xu Jingmo spoke softly, his eyes appearing to try and melt a bit of that ice: “Don’t go in.”

“No. I want to see.” He wanted to see. He wanted to see the bloody truth. Only then could he pull away with absolute finality.

He shook off Xu Jingmo’s hand and walked into the room without looking back. His hand gripped the cold, sharp handle. At that moment, he suddenly felt his strength vanish. From his fingertips to his arms, even his internal organs were trembling.

Three seconds later.

Chen Kongqing gripped the handle tightly and pushed the door open with every ounce of strength he had left.