The Third Year After The Breakup, He Knelt and Begged to Get Back Together - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Rats Should Stay in the Gutter…

Even though his body was exhausted, Qi Mingfeng woke up early at 5:30 the next morning.

Pressing down on him, besides the heavy burdens of life, was He Xian’s arm.

Qi Mingfeng sighed helplessly. He tried to move the arm aside, but the movement strained several muscles, making him unable to suppress a “hiss” of pain. His grip loosened, and He Xian’s arm dropped back onto his overworked waist with a thud.

He took a deep breath and thought with grim humor: Does this count as a workplace injury?

He Xian was stirred awake by the noise. “Awake so early?” he murmured dizzily. “The sun isn’t even fully up. Sleep a bit longer?”

“I’m used to waking at this time,” Qi Mingfeng said, his voice raspy.

“Sleep more in the future and change that habit. It’s too early,” He Xian said, his hand sliding downward.

Qi Mingfeng grabbed He Xian’s wrist in alarm. “He Xian, you… you still have to go to work soon.”

He Xian broke free from his grip and pressed his shoulders down, forcing him to face away. “I’m not going to touch you. I just want to see if you’re hurt.”

Only then did Qi Mingfeng stop resisting.

A few minutes later, He Xian gave a satisfied slap to the area nearby. “I applied medicine last night. You’re fine.”

Although the two had done many intimate things in this bed, a sense of human shame still made Qi Mingfeng blush. As soon as He Xian let go, he pulled the quilt over himself.

He Xian also slid back under the covers and pulled him into his arms again.

“You should sleep a bit longer,” Qi Mingfeng urged.

He Xian massaged his waist rhythmically. “I’m not sleeping. If you can’t sleep either, let’s talk for a bit.”

“About what?”

“About how you supposedly went abroad for further studies, yet ended up in such a state.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t go abroad,” Qi Mingfeng replied.

He Xian perked up. “Back then, you cried and threw a fit because you were so determined to go. Why didn’t you?”

Qi Mingfeng didn’t want to talk about it much and said vaguely, “There was an accident.”

“What accident? You weren’t scammed, were you?” The more He Xian thought about it, the more likely it seemed; otherwise, how could Qi Mingfeng have ended up selling alcohol in a bar? He frowned. “Who scammed you? Didn’t Qi Huan keep an eye on you? He’s so shrewd, yet he let you get scammed?”

The two had slept in each other’s arms all night, and their body temperatures had synchronized. Even their body wash smelled the same. Waking early to whisper in the morning, with He Xian showing blatant concern for his past—it felt as if they were truly a couple in a close, seamless relationship.

Qi Mingfeng gazed at He Xian, seeing his own reflection in those dark, deep eyes. He remained silent for a moment, then shook his head and closed his eyes. “I wasn’t scammed. And it’s all in the past; things are fine now.”

Glimpsing the slight fatigue on Qi Mingfeng’s face, He Xian didn’t push further. Because of that phrase “things are fine now,” he felt a sense of fulfillment in his heart.

He pulled the man a bit closer. “I told you not to run off. Don’t go acting on every whim in the future. If you get bullied, tell me.”

Qi Mingfeng gave a muffled “mm.” “I’m a bit sleepy.”

He Xian kissed his forehead. “Sleep.”

Rather than having a heart-to-heart with He Xian, Qi Mingfeng preferred to catch some more sleep.

However, it wasn’t long before he was woken by the sounds of He Xian getting up. He didn’t open his eyes, waiting until He Xian had left the house before climbing out of bed to wash up and begin his busy life of catching up on lessons, streaming, and attending classes.

During this period, he and He Xian had been living in peace. Although He Xian still occasionally had a temper, Qi Mingfeng had gained experience in coaxing him. Especially after shedding his status as a partner and treating He Xian as a boss, his mindset had become increasingly stable.

But it turned out that the fortune teller who told him in his childhood that his life would be bitter and full of obstacles was right.

The traffic to his live stream had stabilized. Due to his high professional standard and good service attitude, the average number of viewers continued to grow. The number of back-end orders for private lessons was also increasing.

His courses had two modes: one was teaching via voice-connection in the live room, which was cheaper but seen by all viewers; the other was private tutoring, where he added contact information for one-on-one sessions at a higher price, scheduled after his morning or afternoon streams.

When he said “higher,” it was actually only 150 yuan an hour. If it was just for practice accompaniment, it was only 80 yuan an hour.

In the past, his appearance fee of 150 yuan per minute plus two zeros wouldn’t even have covered it. Now, at 150 yuan an hour, it was enough to make many people sigh if the word got out.

But there was no other way. He was short on money, couldn’t openly use his former name to earn it, and had no other skills. He could only save up bit by bit.

Going abroad after Qi Huan recovered would also cost money. Saving more now would make things easier later.

With his career looking up, Qi Mingfeng was in a good mood. He hummed a song while brewing a cup of coffee during a break in his stream.

Outside, the heavy rain poured. But when he returned, the live stream room was even more chaotic than the downpour outside.

“Holy crap, I wondered why he used a virtual avatar every day. Turns out the streamer is this ugly.”

“Being ugly is one thing, but he’s a scammer too. Is there anyone else who got cheated by his classes? Let’s start a group.”

“I DM’d you above. My friend and I were both scammed.”

“If I’m not mistaken, the streamer didn’t even get his high school diploma, right? How does he have the face to come out and teach people with this level? Purely misleading the youth. My friend used to sing quite well, but when the teacher asked him to sing on stage yesterday, he used the method the streamer taught and got harshly criticized.”

Qi Mingfeng was completely bewildered.

He wasn’t narcissistic, but he had a normal sense of self-awareness. Even when haters attacked him in the past, no one had ever called him ugly.

And he indeed didn’t have a vocational college diploma… he had graduated from the top music conservatory in the country. Although he had signed with a company in his sophomore year, he had balanced his studies well, and his GPA was excellent.

As for scamming… no one who had taken his voice-connect or private lessons had ever expressed dissatisfaction.

He asked in confusion, “Have you all come to the wrong stream?”

The bullet comments fell silent for a moment, then exploded again.

“Still acting. There’s no way I’d mistake a scammer’s stream. It’s @Fm’s Singing Tutorials.”

“I have the payment records right here. Don’t try to deny it, streamer.”

Qi Mingfeng wanted to explain further, but the live room suddenly froze. A prompt popped up on the screen: Your live room has been banned for suspected off-platform traffic diversion.

He closed the live room and searched for his username in the search bar. Sure enough, he saw many posts slandering him.

They claimed his teaching quality was poor, that he was a scammer, that he was ugly, that he hadn’t finished high school, and the most ridiculous claim was that he was sleeping with fans in private.

Qi Mingfeng clicked on a few and found that the so-called photos of him were actually AI-generated.

Someone in the comments had pointed out the AI traces a minute ago. Recalling something, Qi Mingfeng exited and re-entered—the comment had already been deleted.

The user who suggested he start streaming sent a message.

This Is Music!: Are you offending someone, Brother F? The internet is full of people cursing you. Maybe you should call the police. These law-ignorant people even doxxed you.

Qi Mingfeng: Thank you, but that isn’t my information.

This Is Music!: Should I call that a blessing in disguise…? Brother F, hurry and think of what to do. It’s easy to smear someone, but clearing your name is too difficult.

Although Qi Mingfeng’s live room popularity had stabilized, most viewers were still in the stage of just being interested or having a slight liking for him. Some people defended him in the bullet comments and current posts, but on one hand, their numbers were too small, and on the other, the people attacking him were experienced and well-trained.

It was clear at a glance that a professional troll team had been hired to target him.

Qi Mingfeng pursed his lips.

He had experienced this feeling countless times over the past two years.

Whether he went to a small studio, worked as a tutor, or did any other slightly decent job, he would be fired within a few days.

When he said on social media that he was Qi Mingfeng and wanted to reveal the truth, it was as if he had hit a blocked keyword; first the traffic would be restricted, and then it would be deleted.

When Huan was seriously ill and Qi Mingfeng wanted to crowdfund with medical records, the audit would never pass. Even normal loans were blocked.

If he hadn’t been truly cornered, he wouldn’t have wanted to sell a kidney, let alone sell himself—especially to He Xian.

The phone vibrated. Qi Mingfeng lowered his head and lit up the screen.

There was a new, unregistered text message.

—Rats should stay in the gutter.

Even without a contact name, Qi Mingfeng knew whose number it was.

Qi Mingfeng’s fist was clenched tight. He replied:

—I just need money. Aren’t you afraid I’ll burn the bridge and tell He Xian what you’ve done?

The tone of the reply was relaxed.

—Haven’t you looked for him? Even if you can find him, even if he knows, what would he do to me? Will he help me, or will he help a little toy like you who clung to his thigh for four or five years without even getting a public status?

—Besides, aren’t you afraid those photos will be leaked?

—Such precious things. I’m keeping them safe for you. Maybe one day you can use them as evidence.

Lately, Qi Mingfeng had been working non-stop every day. He woke at 5:30 to wash up and spend an hour writing demos or exercising, then ate breakfast with He Xian. After seeing He Xian out, he went back to stream. At noon, he ate lunch with He Xian—who hurried back and forth every day for reasons unknown—then continued streaming. He had classes in the evening, and if he didn’t, he accompanied He Xian in certain matters, sometimes not sleeping until the early hours of the morning.

Life left him no room for anger or fatigue, but at this moment, the long-accumulated emotions came crashing down.

But there was nothing he could do.

The phone continued to vibrate. Qi Mingfeng glanced at it briefly; it was messages from some of the users who had taken his classes, asking about the situation.

He, who usually replied within seconds if he was free, uncharacteristically ignored them.

A sharp ringing sounded in Qi Mingfeng’s ears, and his brain felt a pain as if stirred by thousands of needles. He pressed his hand hard over his right ear, but the sound seemed to come from within his skull; no matter how he blocked it, it was to no avail.

He felt like a balloon about to burst, urgently needing some way to vent.

He looked around the room and walked to the piano.

He chose a fast-paced piece. At first, he could play normally, but then he got faster and faster. His fingers were almost smashing against the keys, yet he still couldn’t drown out the ringing in his head.

Why were he and Qi Huan so unlucky?

What had they done wrong?

Especially Qi Huan, who had suffered so much since childhood and endured so much pain. After finally reaching adulthood to live a normal life, he had to be dragged down by him again.

He considered himself a law-abiding person who had never done anything evil. Why did heaven treat him this way? And why treat Qi Huan this way?

He could give up his former fame, his money, and everything he owned, as long as Qi Huan could get better and they could live an ordinary life together.

Why was such a simple wish unattainable?!

The veins on the back of his hand bulged. Finally, the piece lost its melody. Qi Mingfeng stood up abruptly and slammed the piano lid shut.