Chapter 58: Shameless Male Fox Spirit

Cheng Ye knelt before Jiang Xue. He seemed to have known this day would come sooner or later, so the words he spoke were very calm. “I’m sorry, Auntie Jiang, but I will not leave Jiang Shi.”

Jiang Xue’s expression changed instantly. “What do you mean?”

Cheng Ye said, “I promised Jiang Shi that even if my legs were broken, I would crawl back to his side. If you want me to leave Jiang Shi, there are only two possibilities: either Jiang Shi doesn’t want me anymore, or I die.”

“Cheng Ye!” Jiang Xue’s face was ashen. “How old are you two? Do you even know what love is? Always talking about dying for love. Do you even understand what love is?”

“I don’t understand,” Cheng Ye said honestly. “But I know that I will die without Jiang Shi.”

Jiang Xue’s eyes turned red with anger at his words. She grabbed a plate from the side and smashed it across his face.

Bang—

Cheng Ye didn’t move, not even turning his head. He took the hit head-on. In a short while, blood started to well up on his forehead.

A piece of porcelain had cut his forehead, leaving a gash with flesh and blood exposed.

Cheng Ye, his face covered in blood, remained kneeling, his back straight as a ramrod, refusing to back down even an inch.

Jiang Xue was trembling with rage, but seeing Cheng Ye’s blood-covered face startled her. She opened her mouth to say something, but thinking of Cheng Ye’s defiant attitude just now, she closed it again.

After a few seconds, she finally spoke. “I didn’t come here to make things difficult for you on purpose. Auntie knows it hasn’t been easy for you. You’re both in your third year of high school, and I don’t want this to affect your studies. But this thing, it’s wrong. Since ancient times, where… where have there been two men…”

Jiang Xue lowered her head and wiped away a tear. “What kind of sin have I committed… The child I gave birth to was raised in someone else’s house since he was little. He finally comes back to my side, only for me to have to face this. How am I supposed to face his dead father in the future?”

“Cheng Ye, I can say with a clear conscience that I have never done anything to wrong you. I didn’t know you well when you were little, so I didn’t help you much, but I never said a bad word about you. Later, when Jiang Shi came, I saw how pitiful you were and thought of letting Jiang Shi have another friend, so I let you two interact…”

The thought of this made her furious. “But how did you repay me?” She reached out and pushed Cheng Ye’s shoulder. “Tell me! How did you repay me!”

She cried as she spoke. “Can I just beg you? Let Jiang Shi go, and let my family go, please…”

Cheng Ye stood as firm as a mountain. Faced with Jiang Xue’s hysteria, he only lowered his head. “I’m sorry. If you’re angry, you can hit me or curse me. You can even break my legs.”

A leg in exchange for Jiang Shi; Cheng Ye felt it was a bargain.

He knew what Jiang Xue was thinking, and he knew she was playing the sympathy card with him. If it had been anyone else, they might have really been consumed by guilt, but Cheng Ye was a heartless monster.

He was cold-blooded and selfish. He could understand Jiang Xue’s tears, but when those tears fell on him, they were just salty water.

Jiang Xue suddenly flipped over a chair and stood up. “You really think I don’t dare to hit you, don’t you?”

“No, I know your character.” As Cheng Ye spoke, he grabbed the stick used to bar the door from behind him and handed it to Jiang Xue. “If hitting me will make you feel better, you can beat me to death or cripple me.”

He was dead set on not separating from Jiang Shi. Jiang Xue snatched the stick from his hand, raised it, and brought it down hard on his back.

Jiang Xue only looked thin and weak, but she had done manual labor for years, so the strength in her hands was considerable.

Cheng Ye let out a muffled grunt. The next second, the door was slammed open with a bang.

Jiang Shi stood at the entrance, his face pale at the sight inside. He stumbled over and snatched the stick from Jiang Xue’s hand. “Mom! What are you doing!”

Jiang Xue was knocked back a step by the collision. Seeing Jiang Shi, she completely lost control of her emotions. “What am I doing? I’m going to beat him to death here today, to stop him from seducing you into doing disgraceful things.”

“Mom…”

Jiang Shi threw the stick aside and wrapped his arms around her. “This is a matter between the two of us. If you want to beat someone, you might as well beat me to death too!”

Jiang Xue’s expression was uglier than ever before. She tugged at Jiang Shi’s arms but found she couldn’t pull them away. Her face was grim.

“Don’t think I don’t know. If it weren’t for Cheng Ye shamelessly following you and seducing you, would you have gotten together with him? In the beginning, you couldn’t even stand the sight of him. He followed you around like a dog. If I…”

Jiang Xue was filled with regret. “If I hadn’t let you two meet in the first place, none of this would be happening now!”

“Cheng Ye…”

She called out his name, almost grinding her teeth to dust. “I saw you were pitiful and gave you food and drink. Jiang Shi saw you were pitiful and paid off your debt. Is this how you repay my family? Do you have a heart! How is my Jiang Shi supposed to face people in the future! How am I supposed to face people in the future!”

Cheng Ye didn’t speak, silently offering the stick again.

Jiang Shi slapped the stick out of his hand and raised his voice. “What’s there to be ashamed of? Being gay is not a sickness!”

“Not a sickness? How is it not a sickness? Go out on the street and see, where are there men together with men? You’ll be cursed and stabbed in the back for it!”

“Then do you think being cursed at is more important, or my happiness is more important?”

Jiang Xue fell silent.

After the silence, she covered her face and wept. “Jiang Shi, Mom has wronged you. I wasn’t by your side since you were little. I don’t know why you’ve become like this, but I don’t blame you. It’s all Mom’s fault. If you feel I’ve been bad to you in any way, or haven’t satisfied you, you can tell me. Just don’t be like this, please…”

Jiang Shi held her hand, his face unreadable, but his back was tense like a fully drawn bowstring.

A few seconds later, he released her hand and let out a breath. “Cheng Ye, you go out first. I need to talk to my mom.”

Only then did Cheng Ye panic. He shuffled forward on his knees and reached for Jiang Shi’s hanging hand. “Jiang Shi…”

Jiang Shi gave his palm a light squeeze, but the words he spoke were unquestionable. “Out.”

In the end, Cheng Ye went out.

The doors and windows were shut tight. The sky was getting dark. The broken porcelain shards gleamed with a sharp, cold light.

Jiang Shi righted the fallen chair and pulled Jiang Xue to sit down.

He squatted in front of her like a small child, his voice very gentle. “Mom, sexual orientation is innate. Do you know what innate means? It means I was born liking men. It has nothing to do with Cheng Ye. Even without him, I might still fall in love with another boy in the future.”

“Nonsense!” Jiang Xue’s body was tense. “How could it be innate? Who is born liking men? It must be Cheng Ye who seduced you.”

“Yes, even if he did seduce me, if I didn’t like men, would I be with him? Let me give you a simple example. You and my aunt grew up together. My aunt is very good to you. Would you fall in love with her?”

Just imagining herself with Liu Yuying made Jiang Xue feel as disgusted as if she had swallowed a fly.

She couldn’t win the argument with Jiang Shi’s twisted logic, so she could only say, “You’re young, you’re at an impulsive age. How can you know what is like and what is love?”

“Cheng Ye is very good to you now, but people change. He’s good to you now, and you’re willing to die to be with him. But what about later? Can you guarantee he will be good to you for a lifetime?”

She gently stroked Jiang Shi’s soft hair. “Jiang Shi, Mom only has you. Listen to Mom and break up with him. To put it bluntly, he has no one to rely on. If something happens, he can just walk away. You’re different from him.”

“You’ll have to go to university, work, and start a family in the future. Right now, you think it doesn’t matter, but the judgment of the world can kill. The gossip from just one village can drown a person, let alone a bigger place.”

Jiang Xue gently and meticulously combed through Jiang Shi’s hair. Tears rolled down from her eyes, splashing into the part in his hair.

“Mom doesn’t want you to have such a hard life in the future. Even a man and a woman in love might not make it to the end, let alone two men.”

The moment she had picked up the sickle, Jiang Xue had been very calm. She didn’t believe her son would like Cheng Ye. She didn’t think Jiang Shi would willingly be with Cheng Ye.

She thought that Jiang Shi must have been tempted, must have been forced.

If that was the case, the sickle in her hand would have swung at Cheng Ye’s neck without hesitation.

But a person’s smile and eyes couldn’t lie.

No matter how prejudiced or hateful Jiang Xue was towards Cheng Ye, she had to admit that Jiang Shi liked him.

Liked him to the point of complete willingness.

But she was not willing.

“Jiang Shi… can you consider this Mom begging you? You and him, it really won’t work…”

Jiang Shi buried his face in her lap.

“But Mom, no one will ever treat me as well as Cheng Ye does.”

…

Cheng Ye sat at the entrance, his face covered in blood. He couldn’t hear what was being said inside, only the occasional sharp syllable from Jiang Xue.

He didn’t treat the wound on his face. The blood flowed out and then coagulated in the cold wind.

His face also turned a deathly gray.

He didn’t know how long he waited. The sky grew dark, and the light rain grew heavier, falling in flurries, as if heralding snow.

With a crash, the door was pulled open. Jiang Xue came out, dragging Jiang Shi with her.

Both of their eyes were red. Jiang Shi followed behind her, looked up at Cheng Ye, and sniffled.

Cheng Ye immediately stood up.

Jiang Xue stood between them, protectively shielding Jiang Shi like a mother hen. “What are you doing! What! Who let you come over? You back off!”

Cheng Ye stood his ground. “Don’t bully Jiang Shi. If you’re angry, just hit me.”

He was about to go find the stick.

Jiang Xue said, “Is he my son or your son? Is it your place to manage him?”

Cheng Ye stammered, “It’s my fault. you can’t blame Jiang Shi.”

Jiang Xue cursed him, “It was your fault to begin with. Bah! You shameless male fox spirit!”

Cheng Ye stood in the yard, tall and covered in blood. Jiang Shi couldn’t help it; he turned his head and let out a short laugh.

Then he was glared at by Jiang Xue.

Jiang Shi composed his smile and slowly blinked at Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye’s outstretched hand retracted. The grayness on his face receded, and as if a weight had been lifted from his chest, he let out a deep cough.

“Auntie Jiang…” he said, “Don’t get sick from anger. I’m tough. It doesn’t matter how you hit me. It’s me who is shameless. I had improper thoughts about Jiang Shi, but I will be responsible. I swear, if I dare to do anything to wrong Jiang Shi, I’ll die a horrible death.”

A man’s oath was like a fart.

Jiang Xue dragged Jiang Shi home.

After taking two steps, she turned back, shoved aside Cheng Ye who was blocking the door, and with a crash, pulled the door open and took back the pork leg she had brought earlier.

As she was leaving, she stood at the doorway and spat at Cheng Ye.

“I’d rather feed this meat to a dog than give it to you.”