Did My Wife Break Up With Me Today? - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: “He is waiting for me to come home for dinner.”

The rabbit froze.

Confusion filled his eyes, but he asked nothing. He hadn’t yet processed why Dr. Xu would suddenly make such a request. If he remembered correctly, he was the one with Skin Hunger, wasn’t he? Dr. Xu didn’t have it. Why would he suddenly want to hug him?

Before he could find an answer…

“Uhm.”

In the next instant, he was enveloped in a warm embrace. It felt like being placed in a vast, calm, warm ocean—a place that could accommodate and accept his everything.

However, the ocean seemed to be restraining itself. Restraining the tide of love from becoming too turbulent. Restraining itself so as not to scare the rabbit away.

Chen Kongqing had long yearned for such an embrace. So, now that he finally had it—even if the reason was a bit mysterious—his body felt an unprecedented level of comfort.

“It’s been hard for you all these years.”

Xu Jingmo held him tightly, arms locked around him, pressing the rabbit into his chest. His nose was filled with that faint herbal fragrance. His breath hitched; he couldn’t help but be greedy for the scent.

The rabbit, pressed into this warm, damp embrace, needed several seconds to process the words. Was he just comforting me? Is this the empathy of a psychiatrist?

Actually, Chen Kongqing himself didn’t feel particularly sad. Although the boarding school conditions were average, the people he met were very kind. There, no one laughed at him for not having a father, and no one mocked him for being unwanted. After all, everyone was there because they were in the same boat.

“Thank you, Dr. Xu,” the rabbit said with a smile, his tone light. As he spoke, he even patted the man’s back with his “paw.” For a moment, it looked like the rabbit was the one doing the comforting.

“But I’m really fine.” Yes, the rabbit even started offering comfort back. He lightly rested his hands on the man’s thick shoulders and gave a gentle push.

But Xu Jingmo held him even tighter, the corners of his eyes reddening slightly. His palms gripped the rabbit’s thin shoulders; if he could, he wanted to bury his face in the crook of the rabbit’s neck and never look up again.

“Do you blame them?”

Do you blame me?

“Them? My mom?” Chen Kongqing felt his back being squeezed even tighter; it was getting a bit constricting. “No, my mom did her best. I don’t blame her.”

For the next few seconds, the man just held him in silence, his strength not wavering in the slightest.

“Cough…” Chen Kongqing really felt like he was being smothered. “Dr. Xu… I’m a bit… stuffy…”

Only then did the strength embracing him finally loosen. Chen Kongqing let out a sigh of relief, faint pink clouds floating on his cheeks. “I’m really okay, Dr. Xu. I’m planning to head to the market. What else do you want besides the braised pork trotters?”

He stood up from the sofa, preparing to head out; if he didn’t go now, he wouldn’t catch the fresh produce. Seeing him get up, Black Cat Detective trotted over on its little pads to assert its presence.

He had forgotten to make milk for the kitten again.

The man still sitting on the sofa, seemingly knowing the rabbit was about to go for the milk, spoke gloomily: “I fed him this morning.”

“Meow~” Black Cat Detective grumbled, eyes wide. “Meow meow!” The last two cries were directed at Xu Jingmo.

Chen Kongqing went over and stroked the kitten’s head. “Are you hungry again?”

“I just fed him not long ago; feed him again at noon.” Just as Xu Jingmo was about to suggest going to the market together, his phone rang at an inopportune time.

Chen Kongqing rubbed the kitten’s round head twice more. “I’ll feed you at noon then. Wait for me to come back.” The kitten rubbed obediently against his palm.

Xu Jingmo hung up the phone. “Sorry, I have to go to the hospital. I might not be back so soon.”

“Oh, okay.” Chen Kongqing nodded. “Will you be back for lunch, Dr. Xu? I’ll go to the market and cook.”

Clearly in a hurry, the man headed for the entryway. “I’ll be back. Do you know exactly where the market is?”

“I do. Go ahead if you’re in a rush, don’t worry about me,” Chen Kongqing replied.

Xu Jingmo looked down while changing his shoes. “Okay, we’ll keep in touch via phone.”

Before leaving, the man smiled very gently at the “one cat and one rabbit” in the house. Chen Kongqing also curved his lips and said “Bye-bye.”

…

The sound of the door closing was the same as always, yet completely different from before.

When he lived with Ling Xiao at Tianyue Apartments, Ling Xiao was always going out. Every time the door closed, the apartment would fall into a dead silence. He would always curl up on the sofa in a daze, his heart feeling empty. He would feel anxious and afraid, always worried that Ling Xiao would be angry about something. He was always prone to a “breakdown” when he was alone.

But now, he didn’t feel that at all. His heart was steady, and his body was comfortable.

“Mimi, how about I buy you some canned food?” He picked up the kitten and spun around. It felt like a beautiful life was waving to him from ahead.

Until…

At the market, when he needed to pay for the pork trotters, he had to turn on his phone, which had been off since last night. The moment the signal bars appeared, a flood of messages popped up. Aside from app notifications, they were all WeChat messages and missed calls.

Unsurprisingly, they were all from Ling Xiao. He opened WeChat and let out a sigh to pay for the meat. Afterward, he ignored the red dot next to Ling Xiao’s chat box, calmly finished his shopping, and walked back toward the apartment.

The chat box popped up with a new message. The rabbit pursed his lips and finally decided to click in.

Ling Xiao: [Chen Kongqing, I don’t agree to the breakup.] Ling Xiao: [I don’t agree.] Ling Xiao: [I already broke it off with Gu for you.] Ling Xiao: [And yet you’re actually hooking up with my cousin? Do you know how old he is?] Ling Xiao: [Truly disgusting.] Ling Xiao: [Are you blind? Choosing him?] Ling Xiao: [Doesn’t he just have some stinking money?] Ling Xiao: [Where are you now?] Ling Xiao: [Don’t you dare keep your phone off.] Ling Xiao: [Chen Kongqing, you’re the one who provoked me first.] Ling Xiao: [Don’t think you can just leave like this.] …

Looking at the strings of messages, Chen Kongqing felt no real ripple in his heart. He just felt annoyed and messy. The good mood from this morning was broken. Regarding these slanders and accusations, he had no desire to explain anything. He simply and cleanly blocked Ling Xiao’s WeChat and phone number.

There. Peace at last.

“If you don’t want to live a peaceful life, I don’t mind calling your parents and telling them about your conduct issues,” Xu Jingmo spoke flatly, looking at the veins bulging on Ling Xiao’s forehead.

“Xu Jingmo!” The man’s momentum clearly weakened, but he still gritted his teeth. “You’re using my parents to threaten me?”

“Yes.” Xu Jingmo looked calm, even taking a sip from the coffee cup on the table. “If you continue to harass Chen Kongqing.”

The young man across from him was so angry he was about to jump out of his skin.

“Xu Jingmo, you stole your cousin’s boyfriend, and you have the nerve to say my conduct is a problem?” Ling Xiao clenched his fists. Even with new injuries on top of old ones on his face, he looked ready to fight at any moment. “And here I thought I respected you.”

But the man opposite him remained elegant and composed.

Xu Jingmo slowly set down his porcelain coffee cup, his eyelids lifting lazily. “If he were yours, would you need to fear him being ‘stolen’?”

“You!” Ling Xiao was momentarily silenced, but then he seemed to think of something and smiled, licking his teeth. “Just because he’s not mine doesn’t mean he’ll be yours.”

“Tch.” He let out a disdainful snort, staring viciously at Xu Jingmo. “You have no idea how many years Chen Kongqing has liked me. He’s just in a fit of pique right now, that’s why he’s acting so impulsively. And even if he really doesn’t like me anymore, he won’t choose you, Xu Jingmo.”

The consistently composed man finally seemed to be pricked a little, but he remained outwardly unmoved. “That just shows you don’t know him at all.”

“You’re the one who doesn’t know him.” Ling Xiao sneered. “Do you know how much older you are than him? Sure… you’re good-looking, but do you know how many handsome guys chase him? They’re all handsome guys our age. Are you sure you can beat them? No matter how calculating you are, you’re old. No matter what I am, at least I’m young.”

“You are young. Young… so you have nothing. So you are foolish, irritable, and promiscuous.” As Xu Jingmo spoke, his expression turned frosty. “I may not know how many years he liked you, but I know that from now on, he will never like you again. And you—if you harass him again, I will have your parents educate you properly, including but not limited to cutting off your cards and rent. I know you’re young, and being young means being poor. When that happens, you can beg your cousin, and I might consider giving you a little relief out of pity.”

The young man felt like his lifeline had been pinched; his face turned a choked red. “Xu Jingmo… you’re so damn disgusting. Stealing someone’s partner and then shifting the blame…”

Hearing this, Xu Jingmo raised an eyebrow, his eyes glinting with provocation. “I’m sorry, but you are no longer Chen Kongqing’s boyfriend. You have no standing to criticize my moral character.”

Ling Xiao was red-eyed with rage. After a long while, he seemed to think of something.

“You really think he doesn’t like me anymore?” The man seemed to have found another breakthrough. “He still has me on WeChat. And you probably don’t know—his profile picture is a pot of Trumpet Creepers. We bought those together.”

(The same pot of Trumpet Creepers that Chen Kongqing had later thrown away with his own hands.)

At this thought, the corner of Ling Xiao’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. It was true. The rabbit’s WeChat avatar had never changed; it was still a hand-drawn picture of those flowers.

Xu Jingmo clenched his jaw, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

It was at this moment that the phone on the edge of the table lit up. Two messages popped up.

Azurite: [Dr. Xu, send me a message when you’re almost back.] Azurite: [I’ll start stir-frying then, so the food stays hot.] Azurite: [Jade Rabbit Stir-frying.jpg]

Looking at the messages, the man seemed to gain a massive surge of confidence. Those phoenix eyes lifted nonchalantly. “I’m sorry, I have to go now. He is waiting for me to come home for dinner.”