Blank Charge

“Sister-in-law?” Lan Lan stopped his actions and curiously sized up Yang Shiyu. However, he didn’t become reserved and continued leaning against Jin Zhou.

Jin Zhou allowed Lan Lan to lean on him, his gaze unintentionally scanning Yang Shiyu’s face, trying to catch any reaction. However, Yang Shiyu turned his face away and picked up the neglected glass on the table, taking a sip of the drink.

“Jin Zhou, you’re lying,” Lan Lan pouted, leaning on Jin Zhou’s shoulder. “You clearly said you liked my type, so how can you be with someone like him?”

“Did I say that?” Jin Zhou absentmindedly brushed it off.

“You definitely said it,” Lan Lan said unhappily, sticking out his lower lip. “Men’s mouths are just full of lies.”

“I didn’t lie to you.” Jin Zhou casually comforted him, reaching out his hand. “Just trying something different for a change.”

No one took the conversations in the bar seriously. Despite Lan Lan’s appearance of being hurt, he was also an experienced player in the field of romance. It was all for show.

Everyone tacitly played their roles, saying flirtatious words and then doing whatever they pleased afterward, without anyone taking it to heart.

Lan Lan laughed and didn’t pay any attention to Yang Shiyu’s silent presence. He hugged Jin Zhou’s neck and asked, “So when are you going to change back?”

In truth, Jin Zhou’s preferences had never changed. He was about to say a few casual words to brush it off. However, at that moment, Yang Shiyu suddenly put down his glass with a “clap,” the cold sound of impact interrupting the exchange between Jin Zhou and Lan Lan.

Although Yang Shiyu still had his back turned to Jin Zhou and didn’t look their way, Jin Zhou could sense a looming tension.

He felt a sudden sense of guilt and instantly dropped his playful demeanor, maintaining a distance as he asked Lan Lan, “Did you come alone?”

Implication: Go back to your friends quickly.

Lan Lan, being sharp-witted, immediately understood Jin Zhou’s meaning. He smiled cunningly, looked at the silent Yang Shiyu, and asked, “What? Is sister-in-law angry?”

Jin Zhou admitted that he had initially wanted to tease Yang Shiyu, but after a long time with no reaction from him, it became meaningless to continue.

Although Jin Zhou had already come out of the closet among his friends, he was unsure of Yang Shiyu’s stance on homosexuality. Now, looking at that cold back, he suddenly regretted it. Yang Shiyu, being an upright judge, what if he couldn’t accept such things?

Lan Lan clearly had no idea about Jin Zhou’s complex thoughts at the moment. He carefreely walked in front of Yang Shiyu, propped his chin on his hand, and observed the face under the baseball cap.

“Sister-in-law, you’re quite handsome,” Lan Lan blinked. “Why don’t you say anything?”

Yang Shiyu slightly frowned but didn’t turn around, instead looking towards the direction of the bartender.

Lan Lan leaned closer, and their elbows almost touched. He extended his index finger and teasingly traced the back of Yang Shiyu’s hand, asking, “Does sister-in-law also swing that way?”

What “swing that way”? Jin Zhou’s temper flared up as he looked at Lan Lans finger. He sternly scolded, “Lan Lan!.”

Lan Lan withdrew his hand dejectedly, made a grimace at Jin Zhou, and muttered, “Jin Zhou is so fierce I’m just teasing him,” before leaving the vicinity of the bar counter.

Jin Zhou had never gotten angry at his darlings before and didn’t know how it happened this time.

He asked the bartender to change his drink to sparkling water and was contemplating how to explain what had just happened to Yang Shiyu. Suddenly, Yang Shiyu turned his head, his expression devoid of emotion, and questioned, “What does sister-in-law mean?”

Jin Zhou was caught off guard and choked on his sparkling water. He put down the glass and grabbed a tissue from behind the counter, wiping his mouth while saying, “What else could it mean? My wife, of course.”

Yang Shiyu stared at Jin Zhou without moving, his expression unchanged, making Jin Zhou feel a bit restless.

“What? Don’t you like being called sister-in-law?” Jin Zhou was like that. He had regretted teasing Yang Shiyu earlier, but now that he saw no reaction, He needed a response from Yang Shiyu to be satisfied.

“I don’t like it,” Yang Shiyu replied calmly, retracting his gaze.

Well, now Jin Zhou was even more restless.

At that moment,  Hu Zi arrived at the bar counter and patted Jin Zhou’s shoulder, pointing in the direction of the second floor. He said, “Jin Zhou, Liu Yongchang wants you to go up.”

Jin Zhou turned to look and saw Liu Yongchang sitting in a booth on the second floor, surrounded by beautiful women on both sides.

He got off the high stool, gestured with his chin towards the second floor, and asked Yang Shiyu, “Do you want to come up with me?”

Following Jin Zhou’s gaze, Yang Shiyu asked, “Where are we going?”

“To meet my big brother,” Jin Zhou said, “I’ll introduce you.”

Jin Zhou didn’t think it was necessary for those two to meet, but he didn’t want to leave Yang Shiyu alone at the bar counter.

The bar was gradually getting crowded, with people passing by the counter constantly, almost in an overcrowded state.

Yang Shiyu obviously didn’t want to stay in such a chaotic environment. He retracted his gaze, stood up from the high stool, and said, “Let’s go.”

The second floor was still noisy, but there were fewer people, which was much more comfortable than staying on the first floor.

Jin Zhou led Yang Shiyu to sit on the sofa opposite Liu Yongchang. Liu Yongchang apparently didn’t expect Jin Zhou to bring someone along and immediately looked at Yang Shiyu, asking Jin Zhou, “Who is this?”

Although Jin Zhou said he wanted to introduce them, he didn’t plan to reveal Yang Shiyu’s true identity and didn’t want to go into detail about his relationship with Yang Shiyu.

Casually leaning back on the sofa, Jin Zhou rested his arm on the back, saying, “He’s my lover.”

After saying that, Jin Zhou didn’t even look at Yang Shiyu, but he could faintly feel two death glares shooting towards him.

Liu Yongchang asked in surprise, “He doesn’t look like it?”

“He indeed doesn’t,” Jin Zhou knew why Liu Yongchang was surprised. Yang Shiyu was completely different from his other lovers, “He’s a bit taller, but it doesn’t matter, it’s the same when lying on the bed.”

Liu Yongchang laughed knowingly, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, and handed it to Jin Zhou, saying, “Alright, as long as you’re happy.”

Jin Zhou could refuse the cigarette offered by the security guard, but he wouldn’t refuse when it came from Liu Yongchang. He skillfully lit the cigarette, but when Liu Yongchang tried to hand a cigarette to Yang Shiyu, Jin Zhou reached out and stopped him, saying, “Brother Liu, he doesn’t smoke.”

Liu Yongchang showed a surprised expression, took back the cigarette he had offered, and put it in his own mouth, speaking unclearly to Jin Zhou, “A man who doesn’t smoke lives like a eunuch. Why not teach him?”

Jin Zhou suddenly found it funny.

Thinking of this, Jin Zhou finally turned his head to look at Yang Shiyu.

Fortunately, he seemed calm, even more than Jin Zhou had imagined.

“Do you want to learn how to smoke?” The music in the bar was loud, and Jin Zhou didn’t want to shout, so he leaned close to Yang Shiyu’s ear and whispered softly.

The pleasant scent of shampoo tickled his nose, making him feel refreshed in that crowded and chaotic bar.

Taking the opportunity, Jin Zhou took a deep breath, but at that moment, Yang Shiyu suddenly turned his head and stared straight at him, asking, “Will you teach me?”

Their noses were very close, causing the breath Jin Zhou had just taken to get stuck in his chest, unable to exhale.

Yang Shiyu lazily opened his eyes, his gaze focused on Jin Zhou’s face. His thick eyelashes were like two small fans, tickling Jin Zhou’s heart.

Jin Zhou stared blankly at Yang Shiyu, completely forgetting to breathe for a moment. Just when he was about to suffocate from lack of oxygen in his brain, Liu Yongchang timely interrupted the eye contact between the two, giving Jin Zhou a chance to catch his breath.

“You guys can chat. I have a friend calling me over. Wang Darong will be here later, I’ll let you know,” Liu Yongchang said, standing up with his phone.

Liu Yongchang went to a separate booth with his accompanying ladies, leaving only Jin Zhou and Yang Shiyu in the booth.

Jin Zhou suddenly felt a bit stuffy. He tugged at his already loose collar and asked Yang Shiyu, “Do you really want to learn how to smoke?”

“Have I gone crazy?” Once Liu Yongchang left, Yang Shiyu immediately resumed his cold and aloof demeanor. It seemed that in front of Liu Yongchang, he deliberately pretended to be calm to save Jin Zhou’s face.

“If you don’t want to, then forget it. Why are you being so fierce?” Jin Zhou flicked the cigarette ash and instinctively brought the cigarette to his lips. However, he saw Yang Shiyu suddenly frown, so he extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray. “Fine, fine, fine, I won’t smoke either.”

However, even though Jin Zhou consciously put out the cigarette, Yang Shiyu’s expression did not improve. He maintained his stern face and asked, “Who did you just call ‘wife’?”

“Why? Don’t you like it?” Jin Zhou said without seriousness, “If you don’t like being called ‘sister-in-law,’ is ‘wife’ also not acceptable?”

Yang Shiyu’s face darkened a bit, clearly not liking how Jin Zhou addressed him.

But Jin Zhou found it amusing. He reached out and pinched Yang Shiyu’s chin, forcing him to look directly at him, and said casually, “I accept anyone who comes my way. Judge, would you like to give it a try?”

Jin Zhou’s teasing lasted only for a second as Yang Shiyu suddenly grabbed his hand and held it tightly, asking expressionlessly, “Does it make you happy to carelessly tease?”

Honestly, it did.

But Jin Zhou didn’t dare to continue being playful. He patted Yang Shiyu’s hand back and said, “Okay, okay, it hurts, let go!”

Instead of releasing his grip, Yang Shiyu tightened his hold even more. “Don’t use those hooligan tactics on me.”

“Okay, okay, I got it.” Jin Zhou couldn’t help but cry out in pain a few times, but then he suddenly caught a glimpse of Hu Zi standing at the edge of the booth. He forcefully swallowed the pain and looked at  Hu Zi, asking, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” Hu Zi said awkwardly, “Liu Yongchang asked me to inform you Wang Darong is here.”

Upon hearing that, Yang Shiyu let go of Jin Zhou and stood up, heading downstairs. Jin Zhou shook his sore wrist and followed behind Yang Shiyu, but he suddenly noticed that Hu Zi’s expression was a bit strange, so he asked, “What’s with that look?”

“Jin Zhou, “Hu Zi leaned closer to Jin Zhou and whispered, “So, you’re actually the wife.”

Jin Zhou immediately furrowed his brows and said sternly, “That’s bullshit!”