Chapter 3

Zhao Heyu couldn’t help but feel that his way of thinking simply wasn’t sophisticated enough. He was too simple-minded compared to his highly-decorated shifu, too young and inexperienced to follow his shifu’s train of thought.

“Is that some kind of…lifestyle?” Zhao Heyu asked. “Shifu, did you two fake a divorce just to buy another house?”

“What do you take me for, kid?” Huo Zhixing didn’t feel like shooting the breeze anymore so he paid for his drink and headed home.

Zhao Heyu didn’t follow him but continued to sip his own drink while he contemplated what exactly his shifu and shimu were playing at.

There wasn’t a shred of truth to Zhao Heyu’s speculations. The actual truth was that Huo Zhixing really did like Tong Qiu. There were, however, some serious issues with their marriage.

They met a year and a half ago on a blind date and got along fairly well. When they got married last year, Tong Qiu had been apprehensive and had felt their relationship was progressing too quickly. And so Huo Zhixing had suggested that they reevaluate their marriage after a year and if things weren’t working out, they could simply file for a divorce, no questions asked.

Over the course of the past year, Tong Qiu was almost perfect to a fault. The nature of Huo Zhixing’s job meant that the start and end times for his shifts were ever-changing. He didn’t have many days off either but Tong Qiu never complained. In fact, six months into their marriage, they were actually voted as the police department’s “Best Household”.

Their mutual respect and the courtesy they showed towards each other was much envied by outsiders. No one had guessed the truth, which was that their interactions were awfully uncomfortable and terribly awkward.

It was always ‘thank you’, ‘you’ve worked hard’, or ‘I’ve troubled you’ between the two of them. Even when they were making love, it was like they were walking on eggshells and the act itself was completely devoid of pleasure. Tong Qiu would lie on his back, soundless, and the slightest furrow of his brows would be enough for Huo Zhixing to slow down his pace. Huo Zhixing didn’t know if Tong Qiu got any kicks out of it but he sure as hell didn’t.

At first, he figured Tong Qiu was simply that kind of person and thought, so be it. He couldn’t make things awkward between them just because the sex was bad – one would think he was some kind of animal.

But one day, he accidentally overheard Tong Qiu on the phone with a friend and the few sentences he overheard turned his worldview upside down.

Tong Qiu had said, “I can’t take it anymore. Imagine being sooo close to getting off but instead someone pours a cold bucket of water on you. And the thing is, he’s actually pretty big down there, so I had half a mind to just grab him and make him screw me til I passed out.”

At the time, Huo Zhixing thought he had misheard and could scarcely believe that the gentle, well-mannered Tong Qiu was in fact complaining loudly about his sex life over the phone.

It was kind of exhilarating, to be honest.

Anyone else would have pressed Tong Qiu down that very night and screwed the daylights out of him but Huo Zhixing considered himself a gentleman and felt that he should make some careful observations before making his move.

From that day on, the more Huo Zhixing watched Tong Qiu the more he felt that something was off about him. Whenever Tong Qiu was at home or around him, he would always put on the mask of a perfect husband. And so, Huo Zhixing finally understood what was wrong with their marriage. It could all be summed up in one word – fake.

Huo Zhixing wanted to find some time to sit down with Tong Qiu and have a proper chat so that he could reign in this marriage before it galloped off course. He wanted to tell Tong Qiu that he knew quite a few ways to spice things up and that, in or out of the bedroom, he was more than capable of making Tong Qiu feel good, and could take him to such heights that his soul turned upside down and inside out and was ejected from his mortal body.

If Tong Qiu was willing, that is.

But who could have thought that Tong Qiu would bring up the topic of divorce before they could have that little chat.

A divorce worked just as well, if it meant that Tong Qiu didn’t have to keep pretending around him. Huo Zhixing decided that he would start right after the divorce papers were filed. He would win over Tong Qiu once more and this time, he was going to win over the real Tong Qiu.

—

When Tong Qiu opened his eyes the next morning, his first instinct was to pat the space beside him. He sat up, fully alert, when he remembered that there was no one next to him.

After a year of sharing a bed with Huo Zhixing, Tong Qiu had memorized Huo Zhixing’s work schedule and knew exactly what days he had the night shift, what days he had the morning shift, what days he might be called in for emergencies and what days he slept in because he didn’t have to go to work until the afternoon.

It had become a habit, waking up every morning and reaching over to check if there was anyone beside him. Huo Zhixing’s absence or presence, or the depth of the imprints he left behind were enough for Tong Qiu to figure out what day it was.

But on this particular morning, Tong Qiu was the only occupant of his double bed. There were no imprints to indicate that someone else had slept beside him.

Tong Qiu rolled over, gazed at the light filtering through the curtains and couldn’t help but feel a mix of disappointment and frustration.

It was a little terrifying, how easily habits could be formed. He had to quickly get himself in the habit of breaking old habits.

He climbed out of bed, tidied things up and headed downstairs for a bite of breakfast at a nearby shop before strolling towards the school. It was great living close to work – he didn’t have to leave early and didn’t have to be stuck in traffic on his commute.

Students started greeting him as soon as he arrived at the front entrance. Feng Kaiwen came up from behind and asked, “Tong-ge, are the marks for last week’s test coming out today?”

“Probably,” Tong Qiu replied. “The math and physics grades were released yesterday and the grades for the remaining classes should be out this afternoon. I’ll return your papers to you before the end of the day.”

“C’mon, give me a hint,” Feng Kaiwen wheedled. “I did alright this time, didn’t I? I made a bet with my old man and if I get the highest average in the class, he won’t bug me about Yue-Yue anymore.”

“You’re a tricky one, aren’t you?” Tong Qiu grinned.

“It’s in the name of love, of course. Even if I’m battered and broken, I won’t quit!”

“Your marks for the other two classes are decent but whether or not you place first depends on your literature and English marks.”

Feng Kaiwen hung his head and followed Tong Qiu into the school building, looking deflated and just as worried as before.

Tong Qiu didn’t immediately go to his office. Instead, he went to the classroom and along with the rest of the homeroom teachers, he stood at the door and surveyed the lot of troublesome brats he was in charge of.

Feng Kaiwen had run off to chat with Kan Yue. Their little romance clearly hadn’t been affected by the argument between their parents over the weekend.

Tong Qiu found himself a little envious of his students. They were young and unafraid of mistakes – whether it was making mistakes or loving someone by mistake. Once you reach your thirties, you start losing courage bit by bit to the point where fear becomes your default.

He watched them absentmindedly for a bit longer, until the bell rang and the English teacher came by for the morning readings. Tong Qiu followed the homeroom teacher from the class next door and returned to his office.

Last week was the monthly exams and the marks were due today so all the teachers were busy grading exams. Tong Qiu, too, was swamped the entire morning but eventually managed to finish marking the languages test papers. Asides from teaching, Tong Qiu spent the rest of the day analyzing his students’ grades and figuring out where mistakes were made, who did well, and who did worse than expected. In half a month, the hundred-day countdown to the university entrance exams would begin and the school would again be packed to the brim with students and teachers alike.

During the final class of the day, Tong Qiu called up a student representative to hand out the papers. Their usual practice was to hand out the graded exams for all the classes all at once and allow the students to review their test papers during afternoon self-study. The next day, teachers would start going through the solutions in detail.

Tong Qiu had paid special attention to Feng Kaiwen and Kan Yue’s grades. Kan Yue’s marks were consistent and she was fourth place in the class. Although Feng Kaiwen didn’t manage to get first place, he placed one spot higher than before. The fact that the two students who were dating still managed to get second and fourth place meant that even as a teacher, Tong Qiu didn’t have much to say on the matter.

Their grades might even get worse if they were forced to break up at such a crucial time.

Tong Qiu picked up the calendar on this desk and looked at his schedule. He should find a time to sit down for a chat with both students’ parents.

Other homeroom teachers usually left the school once self-study began but Tong Qiu always stayed behind, regardless of whether he had a class to teach. Occasionally, he would sneak to the classroom to check in on his students but for the most part, he felt more at ease just being there, in case something happened and his students needed him.

For third-year students preparing for their university entrance exams, there were three self-study sessions, the last of which ended at 9 o’clock in the evening.

During the second self-study session, Tong Qiu took a turn around the classroom. As soon as they saw him, a few of his students swarmed up and began asking him questions. Tong Qiu stayed until the start of the third self-study session and only left the classroom when his cell phone began vibrating in his pocket.

“How are things going?”

The person on the other end was Chu Yao, Tong Qiu’s childhood friend. When they were infants, their two families had joked about marrying them off to each other. No one could have guessed that Tong Qiu would veer off track and start batting for the other team.

“It’s going,” Tong Qiu answered. “Busy. Entrance exams are right around the corner.”

“Not that – who cares about those little brats!” Chu Yao said. “I’m talking about you and your man. Did you really get divorced? I saw Auntie this morning but she doesn’t know about it yet, does she? I was too scared to bring it up.”

Tong Qiu’s mother was very fond of Huo Zhixing and ever since they got married, she had started treating him like a second son.

“I haven’t told her yet because I didn’t want her to nag me about it. We did get divorced though,” Tong Qiu replied. “I moved out yesterday.”

Chu Yao let out an ‘aiyo’. “Then you’re living by yourself now, right?”

“You’re plotting something again.”

“I’m not plotting anything. One of my girlfriends opened a bar so come by tonight and we’ll celebrate your return to singledom.”

What was the point of celebrating something like that? Apart from their subpar entanglements in the bedroom, it wasn’t as if Huo Zhixing had treated him badly.

Tong Qiu still felt that Huo Zhixing was a good, honest man, the kind of man that one might not even find with a lit lantern in the dark. And now that Tong Qiu had missed this particular train, there was no guarantee he’d be able to board a better one in the future.

In this world, however, feelings still mattered and the fact that someone was a good person didn’t necessarily justify spending the rest of your life with them.

So despite constantly thinking about Huo Zhixing’s strong suits, Tong Qiu still felt that leaving him was the right decision.

“When and where?”

“Come over right now,” Chu Yao said. “Those brats of yours are all smart cookies. They don’t need you to look after them.”

Tong Qiu wasn’t reassured but after thinking it over he said, “Wait for me for a bit. School finishes at 9:30 so I’ll head over right after. Send me the address first.”

After hanging up, Tong Qiu walked back to the classroom for a quick look. He stood at the back door and peeked through the glass window. Feng Kaiwen was now sitting next to Kan Yue and they were talking seriously, their heads buried in their books. Judging by their expressions, they were completely focused on their studies.

He didn’t stick around for long and returned to the office. At 9:30, he hailed a cab at the school’s front entrance and headed directly to the bar.

The bar owned by Chu Yao’s friend was in a fairly good location on a pedestrian-only street that was frequented by a younger crowd. Tong Qiu used to be the clubbing type but ever since he got married, he had stopped coming to these kinds of places.

He wasn’t too familiar with Chu Yao’s other friends but Chu Yao made a point to introduce him to one particular man in the group.

“This is my shixiong,” Chu Yao tugged on Tong Qiu’s elbow and gestured to the man sitting on the other side. “His name is Fang Baicheng.”

Two years ago, Chu Yao applied to a doctorate program out of boredom and was actually accepted, and had ended up studying part-time while working. It was how she somehow managed to meet a shixiong who was two years younger than her.

“He’s gay too,” Chu Yao whispered in Tong Qiu’s ear. “Not bad of a catch, eh?”

Tong Qiu understood her meaning and smiled helplessly. “What’s with you? Introducing me to potential rebounds already?”

“It’s your call. Who knows, maybe you two will hit it off and you’ll let him take you home tonight.” Chu Yao grinned and gave him a pat. “Darling, even though this shixiong doesn’t wear a uniform – he can’t measure up to Huo Zhixing in that department – word is that he’s got quite a few people pining after him. And I hear he’s fantastic in bed too.”

“My goodness, Miss Chu, you’re becoming more and more progressive, aren’t you?”

“I sure am,” Chu Yao replied. “You’ve taught me well.”

Chu Yao laughed and ran off to get another drink. Tong Qiu thought to himself ‘I wouldn’t dare take credit for teaching you anything’.

Normally, it was Tong Qiu who would seek out Chu Yao for every little thing that bothered him. Chu Yao lived life boldly and with far less restraint. At one point, it was actually under her influence that he tried watching gay porn for the first time (she had gifted it to him as a birthday present).

Their group continued eating and drinking and getting more hyped up but after a while, Fang Baicheng came over to have a drink with Tong Qiu.

Tong Qiu was the kind of person who enjoyed making friends. After all, they lived in a world where one extra friend meant one extra opportunity. Furthermore, Fang Baicheng hadn’t said or done anything that overstepped his boundaries. His looks were acceptable too and there was nothing wrong with having a chat over a few drinks.

It went on like this until midnight when suddenly, police officers arrived at the bar for an unannounced inspection. It was the first time Tong Qiu had personally witnessed an inspection and his interest was piqued by the novelty of it all.

However, his interest faded a few minutes later when he saw Huo Zhixing in the crowd.

Huo Zhixing was wearing his uniform and was easy to spot. With his height and those long legs, not to mention his ramrod-straight back, he looked good enough to make one’s knees weak.

Chu Yao sidled over to Tong Qiu and he heard the note of surprise in her voice as she whispered, “Oh my god, that’s your husband!”