Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The more Su Tinghe thought about the drink Su Qingyue had handed him, the more he felt something was off. Recalling what Shang Huoyong had said after being drugged, Su Tinghe suddenly pieced together everything that had been unclear before.

After realizing this possibility, Su Tinghe's first instinct was to call Shang Huoyong and tell him. But as soon as he unlocked his phone, he remembered they were in the middle of a cold war and reluctantly turned it off again.

That evening, when Shang Huoyong called again, Su Tinghe deliberately let it ring a few times before answering.

Shang Huoyong said, "Why didn't you answer my call?"

Su Tinghe avoided looking at Shang Huoyong on the screen and replied slowly, "...I didn’t hear it."

Shang Huoyong said, "You hear it now."

"Mm," Su Tinghe responded faintly.

"Quite the temper," Shang Huoyong said, his lips curling to one side. "Did you have fun today? I see you bought so much."

Su Tinghe frowned, puzzled: "How do you know I bought so much?"

"You used my supplementary card. How do you think I know?" Shang Huoyong replied.

Su Tinghe's eyes widened, momentarily stunned that Shang Huoyong knew all about his spending.

"Seems like you're not happy," Shang Huoyong remarked, his lips curving deeper as he observed Su Tinghe's stunned expression. "You didn’t buy enough today. Go ahead and buy more tomorrow."

Ignoring Shang Huoyong's teasing, Su Tinghe shot back, "Did you have a reaction because of the drink I handed you?"

At this, Shang Huoyong's lips immediately straightened. "If you already know, why ask?"

Seeing Shang Huoyong's reaction, as if suspecting it was all staged, Su Tinghe grew angrier. "Do you realize that drink was actually handed to me by Su Qingyue?"

Shang Huoyong frowned slightly, his gaze piercing through the screen at Su Tinghe. "What else did he do?"

"He didn’t do anything," Su Tinghe said after a moment’s thought. "But a waiter told me Mr. Shang wasn’t feeling well and slipped me a room key for 1407. I rushed upstairs to find you without checking the room number, but when I left, I realized we were in room 1413."

Shang Huoyong paused, then said, "I see."

"What do you see? You don’t see anything. You know nothing." Su Tinghe grew more irritated the longer he looked at Shang Huoyong. Having said his piece, he abruptly hung up the video call.

Su Tinghe’s temper had been particularly bad lately. Shang Huoyong stared at the disconnected phone screen, replaying everything he’d done recently but finding nothing amiss. He tried calling Su Tinghe again, but there was no answer.

In a rare moment of uncertainty, Shang Huoyong paused his work to ask Assistant Song, "Have you ever had a partner suddenly ignore you?"

Assistant Song immediately understood the implication and analyzed seriously, "This usually happens when you've done or said something you shouldn’t have. Think carefully, Mr. Shang, at what point did Young Master Su's expression change? That might give you a clue as to what you did wrong."

Shang Huoyong coldly glanced at Assistant Song: "I was just asking casually. Don't overthink it, Assistant Song."

Assistant Song: "..."

Shang Huoyong recalled that Su Tinghe got angry after he emphasized he didn't like children. But to Shang Huoyong, this was completely reasonable. Su Tinghe couldn’t get pregnant, and as a homosexual, how could he have children?

Shang Huoyong thought Su Tinghe was being unreasonable. The purpose of this business trip was to avoid Su Tinghe, so Shang Huoyong decided not to contact him anymore.

Seeing that Shang Huoyong hadn’t contacted him for days, Su Tinghe became even more determined to run away. Touching his belly, he muttered to himself, "Baby, it's just you and me from now on. That scoundrel father of yours isn’t worth it."

But where to go? Su Tinghe spent a long time carefully studying the map, unable to decide. However, the general direction was south, as it was winter and the weather would be warmer there.

While Su Tinghe was still undecided about where to go, Shen Shixi came to see him and asked if he wanted to go to Y City. Shen Shixi planned to stay in Y City for a while to relax and seek inspiration for his designs.

Y City is a small county-level city in southern China, known for its beautiful scenery and slow-paced life. Shen Shixi had already rented a small courtyard at a homestay for a short-term stay. Just seeing the pictures made Su Tinghe so excited that he agreed to go right away.

Su Tinghe had already packed most of his luggage over the past few days, and the two quickly booked the nearest flight and set off without delay.

After arriving in this life, this was Su Tinghe's first time taking a plane and traveling to such a distant place. The excitement of new experiences kept Su Tinghe from dwelling on thoughts of Shang Huoyong, and he felt extremely happy about everything.

The news of Su Tinghe leaving the villa and going to Y City was promptly reported to Shang Huoyong by those monitoring him. Shang Huoyong figured Su Tinghe was just out having fun with friends and didn’t think much of it.

It wasn’t until Shang Huoyong got back from his business trip and saw the empty villa that he realized something felt off. Unable to help himself, Shang Huoyong sent Su Tinghe a message, urging him to come back soon. But as soon as he hit send, a red exclamation mark popped up.

"You are not his/her friend. Please send a friend request first. Only after the other party verifies and accepts can you chat."

Shang Huoyong couldn’t believe it and sent another message, but the red exclamation mark appeared again.

Fuming, Shang Huoyong tried calling directly, but after a few rings, a mechanical female voice responded: "Hello, the number you have dialed is currently busy..."

When Aunt Qin called, the call went through just fine.

As Shang Huoyong listened to Su Tinghe chatting and laughing with Aunt Qin, his face stayed blank, but he knew—he’d been blocked.

Aunt Qin shot a glance at Shang Huoyong and asked Su Tinghe over the phone, "When are you coming back? We all miss you, and Mr. Shang has returned from his business trip."

Aunt Qin had the call on speaker, so Shang Huoyong clearly heard the response: "I’m not ready to come back just yet."

Shang Huoyong stayed quiet, his face unreadable, but his breathing grew noticeably heavier.

After the call ended, Aunt Qin cautiously said to Shang Huoyong, "Young Master Su’s still young and loves to have a good time. If you’re missing him, Mr. Shang, you could always go to Y City to see him."

Shang Huoyong gave Aunt Qin a cold look: "Who said I miss him?" Then he turned and went back to his bedroom.

As Shang Huoyong lay in bed scrolling through his phone, he noticed a notification that someone he followed had posted something new. He clicked in and saw that Su Tinghe had posted many updates over the past few days—pictures, videos, all documenting his recent life. Every single post showed Su Tinghe looking like he was having the time of his life.

In contrast, Shang Huoyong felt like a bitter, neglected husband. So he turned off his phone and went to sleep.

The next day at work, Shang Huoyong's phone notification bar alerted him again: "The person you follow is live streaming." Even though Shang Huoyong was in a meeting, he couldn’t help but check out the live stream. Su Tinghe and his friend Shen Shixi were live-streaming a tie-dye clothing-making session.

Shang Huoyong couldn’t hear what they were saying, only seeing the flood of comments and gift animations. Out of nowhere, Assistant Song called out, "Mr. Shang." Shang Huoyong snapped back to reality, quietly put away his phone, and continued the meeting for a few more minutes before calling it off.

Back in his office, Shang Huoyong turned up the volume and caught Su Tinghe telling fans that a new friend would be joining them in a few days. The new friend was in a band, and they would be performing live for everyone.

The comments were buzzing with excitement, with a few asking, "Where’s Tinghe’s hubby?"

Su Tinghe saw the comments and replied, "Him? He doesn’t matter."

The comments exploded—some laughing, some saying "Mr. Shang’s probably crying in the bathroom," others joking about taking his place, and some wondering if their marriage was in trouble.

At that moment, Assistant Song suddenly burst into the office with documents, exclaiming, "Mr. Shang, this—"

Shang Huoyong immediately muted the phone, flipped it over, and shouted, "Get out! Knock before entering."

"Mr. Shang, I knocked for a long time but didn’t hear a response, so I took the liberty of coming in. I’ll go out and knock again," Assistant Song explained as he headed toward the door.

Shang Huoyong called him back: "Come back. What is it?"

Assistant Song could tell his boss was in a foul mood. After nervously reporting, he quickly made his escape.

Shang Huoyong's mood was indeed foul, and it remained so for two more days before he realized it was already New Year's Day. Early in the morning, Shang's mother called, asking him to bring Su Tinghe home for a meal.

With Su Tinghe not even by his side, how could they go back for a meal? Shang's mother was also surprised. Upon hearing that Su Tinghe was out having fun with friends, she changed her tone and said to let him enjoy himself, then asked Shang Huoyong if he wanted to come back for a meal.

Shang Huoyong had agreed, but shortly after hanging up the phone, he noticed Su Tinghe had started another live stream. Today, not only was Shen Shixi in the live room, but also a few members from the band, including Ruan Xiting. The group was lively, enthusiastically promoting their new song, which happened to be the original soundtrack (OST) for the TV series "Yu Lin Ling" that Su Tinghe had invested in. The song had been released on major music platforms at midnight, and they welcomed everyone to support it and the upcoming TV series "Yu Lin Ling."

Upon learning that most of the lyrics for the OST were written by Su Tinghe, the live audience was astonished, realizing Su Tinghe was much more talented than they had thought.

Suddenly, the chat revisited Su Tinghe's previous comment about "he's not important":

"It's great to see our baby isn't just a delicate little wife who can't do anything."

"Baby is so amazing, that guy really isn't important."

"Has anyone noticed how well Su Tinghe and the band's bassist match? Cool guy x sweet bean, anyone supporting this romantic pairing?"

"Turns out I'm not the only one shipping them, they really do match well!"

Seeing these comments, Shang Huoyong's expression darkened deeply. These people used to ship him and Su Tinghe, how could they switch so quickly?

Shang Huoyong quickly commented: "Su Tinghe is married, please don't ship carelessly."

Immediately someone replied: "What's wrong with random shipping? It just keeps my interests varied."

"This person is an overly obsessive fan of Su Tinghe, fantasizing about Su Tinghe, blogger please block this person!"

Before Su Tinghe could block him, Shang Huoyong was reported by some fans in the live room, probably the same people who had previously added him to the fan group and then kicked him out.

Shang Huoyong's expression darkened further. Why could everyone go to Y City except him?

Shang Huoyong immediately messaged his mother saying he wouldn't be coming back for dinner, and booked the earliest flight to Y City.

Su Tinghe, Shen Shixi, Ruan Xiting, Meng Meng, and others were getting ready for a hotpot dinner at a rented accommodation when an unexpected guest arrived.

Shen Shixi opened the door and was surprised to see Shang Huoyong. He looked at Su Tinghe, who was also surprised and then turned to leave.

Shang Huoyong quickly chased after, grabbing Su Tinghe's arm. Su Tinghe, unable to break free, had to take Shang Huoyong to a room and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Someone hasn't come home in a while, so I'm here to bring them back," Shang Huoyong said.

Su Tinghe's cheeks puffed up as he glared at Shang Huoyong, and said angrily, "You don't want me and the child anymore, I'm not going home."

"What!" Shang Huoyong exclaimed, "When did I have a child, I didn't know."

Su Tinghe didn't speak, just touched his belly, looking tearfully at Shang Huoyong, as if he were a heartless scoundrel.

Shang Huoyong: "..."