ZS | Chapter 23

Everything around him blurred, and only Gu Zheng’s touch remained clear and real.

Gu Zheng got into bed, the mattress sank in, and Zhuo Hang sank into the soft bed.

His body was scorching hot, and hot breath filled his ears.

Zhuo Hang often thought that if his father had resisted temptation 27 years ago and refused his mother, maybe he would not have come into this world to suffer. So whenever a girl took the initiative to show interest in him, his first reaction was always to refuse, like a trauma stress reaction, avoiding any behavior that might produce offspring.

Good-looking Chinese people were very popular in the sexually open United States, and to avoid endless harassment, Zhuo Hang kept away from crowds and shut himself off.

Over the years, Zhuo Hang had controlled his desires very harshly, and the result of overcontrol was this, he gradually became someone without desire.

And Gu Zheng had reignited his desire.

Gu Zheng had his eyes half-lidded, looking very pleased, and Zhuo Hang leaned toward his mouth, taking back his own cigarette.

Their clasped hands passed on pleasure, excitement rose together with the smoke, and the feeling of being controlled by desire was strange.

His brain lost control over his body, driven by instinct, and Zhuo Hang wound himself around his leg without anyone teaching him.

Zhuo Hang had never touched himself, much less done this with anyone else, like an ascetic monk who lived in purity and desirelessness. Today the monk broke his precepts and ate meat, and suddenly felt that the meat products he had refused to eat all these years were not that hard to eat.

They were even a little tasty.

Gu Zheng occasionally adjusted his posture, and the shoulder blades under the movement of his arms rose up, like a hawk spreading its wings and about to fly, wild and unconstrained.

Because being indulgent with someone of the same sex would not produce offspring, Zhuo Hang relaxed his guard and let the invisible desire turn into liquid, filling him up.

Their foreheads pressed together, Gu Zheng took the cigarette back into his mouth, his gaze hazy.

Outside the window, the sun was setting, and the naked body was dyed a deep red. The moment the red sun fell below the horizon, the cigarette burned out.

They shared the same cigarette in the setting sun.

Zhuo Hang seemed cold on the outside but was sultry to the bone, and Gu Zheng had developed a taste for it, becoming somewhat fascinated by the cold body.

He bit his neck.

Zhuo Hang’s chest rose and fell more quickly, and he let out a nasal sound.

A man's ridiculous pride was sometimes tied to duration. Gu Zheng could not take the teasing, so he covered his mouth.

Zhuo Hang could not breathe, his eyelashes fluttering rapidly, his chin lifting to reveal his slender neck, fragile like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Gu Zheng could not withstand that stunning face, turned his head away, kept silently chanting lust is emptiness in his heart, and unconsciously slowed his hands.

Zhuo Hang was dissatisfied, flipped him underneath himself, braced his knee against his leg, and switched to a rhythm even faster than before.

Not listening or looking still was not enough, he had to force someone to surrender. Wasn’t that playing dirty!

Gu Zheng did not want to be faster than him, so he played dirty too, took his earlobe into his mouth, and said, “You’re so lewd.”

His pale face instantly flushed red, and Zhuo Hang’s eyelashes were veiled in mist, fragile and captivating.

Gu Zheng’s head heated up, and Xiao Gu trembled, spitting white foam.

Zhuo Hang looked a little surprised, his lips parting and closing as if he were about to say something mocking. Gu Zheng instantly switched to eight times the speed, wishing he could strip Xiao Zhuo raw.

As the lights came on, the overlapping bodies glowed with a faint suggestive light, and the frozen shell cracked inch by inch, revealing a crystal-clear inside.

Zhuo Hang shed his hard shell and turned into a docile little sheep, soft to the point of collapse.

Gu Zheng kicked off the sheet and covered them with the blanket, treated the groggy Zhuo Hang like a human pillow, and fell into a deep sleep.

They welcomed Xiangcheng’s first snow in their sleep.

*

Zhuo Hang did not know how long he had slept, and when he opened his eyes, he saw only silver all outside the window. Gu Zheng was lying beside him with arms and legs flung wide, having stolen all the blanket and woken him from the cold.

The Green Water Ghost, with the guzheng as a pillow, lay quietly on the nightstand, and Zhuo Hang glanced at the time, ten o’clock.

He had slept for about 15 hours, and since falling into debt, he had not slept this soundly in a long time.

His body was sticky, and thinking back on yesterday’s absurd conduct, Zhuo Hang wanted to wake up the culprit who had made him dirty and caused him to wake up frozen.

But seeing Gu Zheng sleeping so soundly, he could not bear to.

There was no rush to go home anyway, so why get up so early?

Zhuo Hang took a shower, got dressed, placed his office supplies in the corner of the desk, hung his cashmere coat neatly in the wardrobe, put his shoes into the storage box... After he had tidied everything up properly, he pulled a blanket over himself and lay back down on the bed to scroll on his phone.

After the market opened, Baiyuan New Materials, affected by yesterday’s stock price drop, triggered panic selling. Fortunately, Baiyuan New Materials quickly launched a capital counterattack, and it was expected to pull back today’s drop before the midday session.

Financial media rushed to report the company’s positive news, and pointed out that there was a very high probability that short sellers had been meddling in the stock drop, with the possibility of the securities regulator stepping in to investigate not ruled out.

Short selling was uncommon among retail investors, but it was a common tactic of capital, and the securities regulator usually did not intervene. Moreover, Zhuo Hang’s operations had been legal and compliant, so even if there was an investigation by the securities regulator, he was not afraid.

However, it could not be denied that short selling did indeed intensify stock market fluctuations, cause a broader market stampede, and even trigger a financial crisis.

For this short sale, Zhuo Hang had borne enormous pressure. If not for Gu Zheng’s full support, he very likely would have gone to prison for breaching contract and being unable to repay the client’s principal.

After this battle, he would not consider using this kind of aggressive method to make money again.

Cheng Zhi called, and Zhuo Hang was afraid of waking Gu Zheng, so he went out to the balcony to answer.

“Xiao Hang, your dad hit me, Mom doesn’t want to live anymore.” His mother’s voice was mixed with a thick crying tone, and it did not sound like acting.

But his father had cared for her very much all these years, giving her whatever she wanted. How could he bear to hit her?

Zhuo Hang asked, “What happened?”

“The Xiangcheng mall didn’t get auctioned off, and the family couldn’t raise enough money for bankruptcy restructuring, so your dad sold my bag.” Cheng Zhi cried pitifully. “One of your dad’s calligraphy pieces could buy me dozens of bags. He has a safe full of paintings and calligraphy, and he actually sold my bag!”

“What’s even funnier is that the Beishi shopping center also has no one taking it over, so even after he sold my bag, he still couldn’t pay back the money.”

Compared with his mother’s bag, Zhuo Hang cared more about the consequences his father would bear for being unable to pay back the money.

“How much is still missing for the restructuring?” Zhuo Hang asked. “If the family has no money, can we apply for bankruptcy directly?”

Cheng Zhi sneered. “There’s still 300 million missing. If you ask me, we should have gone bankrupt directly in the first place! Your dad cares too much about face, and now he’s in too deep, running around borrowing money. Even the houses have been taken as debt collateral, and he still thinks about those few paintings and calligraphy. When the liquidation day comes, we’ll all be sleeping on the streets!”

“But our family has been in debt for more than a day or two, and it’s not like there’s no way to make money. Father wouldn’t suddenly hit you over these little things, would he?”

Zhuo Hang suspected that his mother had been too loose-lipped and said something she should not have said to his father, after all not everyone could tolerate her as he did.

Sure enough, Cheng Zhi got so angry that she changed how she addressed him and burst out cursing, “A while ago Haonan Industrial was willing to put up money to take over Zhuoshi, but Zhuo Youzhi, for some reason, refused their boss. I asked him, is refusing investors a sign of a sick brain? and then I got hit.”

“Zhuo Youzhi has narrow vision and a small scope, he was born in this life without any fortune or wealth. He can’t pay back the money and still drags us to suffer, he should be the one going to jail!”

The bitter, cutting words were more piercing than the biting winter wind, like a sharp knife stabbing into Zhuo Hang’s chest.

The father who bought his mother bags, watches, and jewelry would actually beat his wife over a couple of arguments?

The mother who listened to his father in everything and was cultured and proper would actually want her husband to go to prison?

A family built with money fell apart after taking on debt.

So his father’s doting on his wife had been performed for outsiders, and his mother’s gentleness and virtue had been performed for his father, and they had put on a family for him.

Only now did Zhuo Hang understand that there was no love between his parents, they were only a relationship of interests.

In The Truman Show, he was the only one who was not an actor.

When Gu Zheng woke, he saw Zhuo Hang smoking on the balcony.

Snow was falling outside the window, and the slender figure curled up in the corner looked pitifully thin.

Gu Zheng hurriedly put on a piece of clothing, held the cashmere coat in his arms, and pulled open the balcony floor-to-ceiling window.

Zhuo Hang’s feet were covered in cigarette butts, the cigarette box was shriveled, and the cigarettes were all gone.

Gu Zheng walked over and draped the coat over him. Zhuo Hang looked up, the corners of his eyes red, as if from the cold.

A man almost 30 would not freeze himself into catching a cold and looking for trouble for no reason, something must have happened.

Snowflakes flew about, whitening Zhuo Hang’s hair. Gu Zheng took a cigarette box from his trouser pocket, held his hand, frozen stiff, and asked softly, “Still smoking?”

Zhuo Hang had wanted to smoke a few cigarettes and go back to the room, but he had not expected to smoke an entire pack.

He had thought Gu Zheng would ask him “What happened,” but he had not expected Gu Zheng to ask him “Still smoking?”

Gu Zheng sat down beside him, pulled open the cashmere coat and slipped inside, cigarette in his mouth as he borrowed a light from him.

“When I argued with my dad, I always wanted to smoke. If the cigarettes are gone, it really is uncomfortable.” Gu Zheng said, “But I only have this one pack. If you smoke it all and still want more, then you’ll have to go downstairs and buy some yourself.”

He did not ask what happened to him, understood his fragility, and stayed with him in the sadness.

Wrapped in the cashmere coat, they watched the snow on the balcony and smoked all the cigarettes.

Gu Zheng kept sitting beside him, asking nothing and saying nothing.

Yet Zhuo Hang suddenly felt that winter seemed not so cold anymore.